The Writer's Life 3/25 - Farewell & Debut

RIP Garry Shandling, 66, who died suddenly. His comedy was always fresh and inventive. His first breakthrough came as a writer for Sanford and Son, for which he wrote four scripts. He also did one Welcome Back Kotter. He made a significant mark in stand-up, but his most outstanding contributions came in two cable series for which he wrote extensively, It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show, the latter an inside look at a faux talk show host ala Johnny Carson, for whom Shandling substitiuted on The Tonight Show many times. He directed three of those. I thought it was outstanding despite gratuitous profanity. In his career he compiled 24 credits as an actor. He received 19 Emmy nominations for his series work, winning one for the finale of Sanders. Here's a link to a two-minute clip I love, preceded by a 15 second ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ag66zAXVg (Facts from Wiki & IMDb)

Last night at ten ABC premiered The Catch. The show follows the exploits of a woman who runs an investigative agency on the hunt for high end criminals, one of whom is her fiance of one year, who disappears with more than a million dollars that was to go to the purchase of a house, setting up what figures to be a long arc. It looks like it's going to be slick and glossy. I'm not optimistic, but I'll probably watch the next installment. The episode featured several music tracks, the use of which usually annoys me, but one really stood out: Fireball by Pitbull Featuring John Ryan, an uptempo blend of funk and hip hop that rocked. Here's a link to the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL9nWJrzVeg

For the past year or so, I've been working with Reportez.com, which is affiliated with IBM. I scan the mail I receive each day, which includes stuff they send. I guess it's a check on the efficiency of the post office. Last month the scanner stopped working. I was able to manually enter the codes of the envelopes they sent, but nothing else. A representative phoned me. They would not send me a new scanner until they received the old one. They must have appreciated that I wasn't trying to jake them. My earnings skyrocketed. I just used the $20 gift card at CVS. It's my third pay out with them. Not bad for a few minutes work each day..

I faced a choice today regarding the floating book shop: take the easy way out and set up at my usual nook, or take advantage of the school holiday and set up outside John Jay H.S. in Park Slope, which would be risky given the chance of rain and the notorious dearth of parking in the area. I lucked out on parking, finding a spot 100 feet from the corner of 4th Street and 7th Avenue. And fortune shined on me further when an old timer donated ten thrillers, half of which are by the late Vince Flynn. I felt bad that I had none for him, at least that he hadn't read. For the first two hours, it looked like I was headed for the dreaded goose egg. Then a fellow Italian-American, on his way to Good Friday services, came along and bought Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore and a bio of Krishnamurti. He asked if I knew of him. I'd only heard the name and assumed he was some sort of philosopher or guru. According to the gentleman, K was once believed to be the reincarnation of Jesus. My thanks, sir, and to the middle age woman who bought two works of non-fiction.

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/