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Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/31 - Rollie & Co.

RIP Rollie Massamino, 82, a coaching lifer and larger than life character whose emotions were usually quite clear. He started at the high school level, winning a state championship in Massachusetts. From there he moved on to the college game, where he was very successful. His Villanova team pulled off the greatest NCAA tournament upset in the history, truly March madness. Seeded eighth, the Wildcats laid waste to their opponents, going on a run that can only be described as unconscious. They beat mighty Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing, in the final, the lowest seed ever to have won it. Massimino was at 'Nova from '73-'92. He then did a modestly successful two-year stint at scandal-scarred UNLV before moving on to Cleveland St., the only place he failed to create magic. Passionate about the game, he stayed in coaching, working for 12 years at NAIA Northwood in Florida, which later became Kaiser. He took his squads to ten post season tournaments, finishing as the runner-up one season. Despite his age, he was still coaching in 2017. Kudos, goombah.



Also in sports: the University of Florida has suspended ten players prior to its first game this weekend, which is in keeping with the reputation it has established through the years. Student athletes indeed... And in hockey, Phoenix Coyotes' captain Shane Doan has announced his retirement. Remarkably, in this age of free agency, he spent his entire career with the franchise, which began as the Winnipeg Jets. He scored 402 goals and had 570 assists. Kudos, sir. Although new management did not show him any appreciation, fans did in his final game:


Economic growth for July was revised upward from 2.6 to 3%, providing more hope that recovery is finally underway. Unfortunately, there are many potential landmines domestically and internationally that may blow it all to hell. Congress has shaken its stupor - at least temporarily - and provided Texas with needed funds. Hopefully, the money will be used wisely, but one can never be too confident when politicians are involved. Remember the pork that was added to the Hurricane Sandy relief bill. Now that the most vulnerable areas of Houston are obvious, experts should devise preventative measures. Then again, given the amount of rainfall, maybe very little can be done in that regard.  

"Stupid is as stupid does," as Forrest Gump's mom said. Two men allegedly demanded cash at the register of a Baltimore bar, where a group of police officers were gathered for a retirement party. The morons were chased down and arrested. The station-house is across the street from the pub. (From Yahoo's Odd News, in my own words.)

My thanks to the kind folks who bought and donated books on yet another day of spectacular weather in NYC.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/30 - Big

RIP Brooklyn born Bernard Pomerance, 76, who wrote the highly successful The Elephant Man, which won the Tony for Best Play in 1979. It ran 916 performances and was made into a film for television using the original cast. It has seen many revivals, playing to sold out houses. Although Pomerance wrote several other plays that reached the stage in London, his adopted home, none garnered the attention of The Elephant Man, at least as far as I know. The part has been played by Philip Anglim, David Bowie, Mark Hamill and, most recently, Bradley Cooper. No make-up is used in the stage role. The actor is required to get at the essence of Joseph Merrick strictly through skill. The 1980 Hollywood film of the same name, directed by David Lynch, was not an adaptation. Having used the title and drawn on much of the original content of the play, the production company was successfully sued by Pomerance. The late John Hurt was the star - in full make-up. The movie received eight Oscar nominations, including one for Hurt's performance, but won none. Here's how Hurt looked in the production:



And here's Bradley Cooper as Merrick:



And here's the real Merrick, who died in 1890 at only 27:



And here's the author, who gave these memorable lines to Merrick: “Sometimes I think my head is so big because it is so full of dreams. Because it is.” 


In an ad in today's NY Post, Apple Bank boasts of its "great" CD rates: Six month: 1.01%; one year: 1.25%; two year: 1.60%. It's wrong to blame banks for such paltry returns. In an effort to bolster the stagnant economy, the Fed has kept interest rates near zero for about a decade. That hasn't spurred robust growth, but raising rates may hamper it. It's a damned if you you do, damned if you don't situation.

My thanks to the three elderly Russian women, one who bought two books in her native tongue, the other who made a three for one swap, and Natalia, just back from summer at her daughter's in Monticello, who bought three. Thanks also to the woman who purchased A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick, one of the better mysteries I've read, and Moonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark. While waiting for customers to come along I witnessed an interesting scene. Vehicles headed in either direction on Avenue Z were awaiting the change of light. A thirty-something woman in an SUV noticed that the cop at the wheel in the squad car beside her was speaking on a cell phone, and she called him out on it. She said she had her four children in the car, and told the one beside her to take a picture of the law-breaker. The cop let the car coast ahead as far as possible to get out of the frame. I could not see the kid, so I don't know if the violation was caught on camera. The woman used a civil tone. I wonder if she'd once been nailed for the same act. Lady, you got big ones. Kudos.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/29 - Genius

From Yahoo's Odd News, in my own words: Two geniuses dressed as nuns attempted to rob a bank in Pennsylvania. They walked in, one brandishing a revolver, demanded money, but left without taking any. Maybe they experienced an epiphany that changed their minds.

Here are ten common health practices that are actually harmful, from an article at listverse.com, edited by yours truly: Hand sanitizer creates wrinkles on hands, as it dries out skin. It also contains chemicals (aside from  alcohol) that may be harmful if used frequently. Most importantly, the use of it is creating more resistant bacteria and viruses, super-bugs... Much like hand sanitizer, the frequent use of antibiotics is helping to create resistant bacteria. Also, birth control pills are rendered useless while taking certain antibiotics... Bottled water companies do not want anyone to know that minerals humans need to be healthy are filtered out of their product... A significant number of the elderly are addicted to painkillers prescribed by doctors. Prolonged use of narcotics may change brain chemistry. The changes may be irreversible and possibly cause the onset of dementia... Benadryl, an over-the-counter medicine, is used by millions of allergy sufferers. Recent studies have found that prolonged use can lead to a significantly higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s... The main place that viruses and colds end up are in health-care facilities. Why? Because that's where sick people go to get better. Go only when it's absolutely necessary... Chicken and fish are recommended as the best ways to acquire the protein one would get from red meat, yet some types of fish contain mercury, which can cause serious issues when ingested... Margarine was meant to be a healthy, fat-free alternative to butter. Recent studies have found it to be harmful, as it contains trans fats... Many believe that a gluten-free diet is healthy. It may be anything but. Just because a cookie contains no gluten does not mean it is harmless. It contains sugar and butter, empty calories... Heavy exercise in a swimming pool is not recommended, as it may cause strain on the heart, and body temperature is not maintained well... You've been warned.

I'm so concerned about Alzheimer's and dementia that I search for clues that I might be heading for it. Lately, I'd been using the eff word a lot, as well as other choice phrases, inwardly and outwardly. A few days ago I decided to stop doing it just to show myself that it isn't out of my control. So far I've done well, clipping in half those few words that do escape me. Anyway, there was encouraging news on this front in the Weird But True column in today's NY Post. Researchers at Rochester U. in upstate NY asked 1000 people about 400 daily habits such as singing in the shower and swearing, and found that potty mouths tend to have a higher IQ. Smarty-pants folks are also more likely to walk around the house naked. Given those three criteria - I'm a fu... (oops) genius!

It seems like the disaster relief folks in Texas learned a lot from the mistakes post-Katrina.

My thanks to the woman who purchased two books in Russian and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and to the gentleman who bought The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr, a Sherlock Holmes mystery from the author of  The Alienist, a novel for which Random House paid Carr an advance of $60,000. Paperback rights were sold at auction to Bantam for $1,001,000. The book made Publishers Weekly's list of best-sellers in April 1994, and during that summer reached number four on The New York Times Best Seller list.



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

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Monday, August 28, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/28 - Faces

RIP Tobe Hooper, 74, who in his second feature film directed what is now an acknowledged classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Its bizarre characterizations and graphic violence have creeped-out audiences since its release. Made on a budget of less than $300,000, it has returned more than $30 million at the box office through the years. Although the film's success led to steady work, Hooper never approached those heights again. He was given directorial credit on the hugely successful Poltergeist (1982), but he was replaced on it somewhere along the way by Steven Spielberg, so it's impossible to know who was responsible for it. He had modest success with a two-part TV adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot (1979). IMDb lists 37 titles under his name as director, 16 as writer, nine as producer, six as actor, three as composer (including ...Chainsaw...), two as editor and one as cinematographer. Only two of the cast amassed a significant number of other credits: the late Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface, had 29, and Edwin Neal, who played the Hitchhiker, has 61 to date. John Dugan, who played Grandfather, did not appear in another film for 20 years, when he did a sequel, and it was another 13 years before he experienced steady work, 18 more credits listed under his name. The late Marilyn Burns had only 11 credits, most of them as a "scream queen." Here's a quote attributed to Hooper: "You've got to send a physical sensation through and not let them off the hook. I like to make it faster and faster and faster and pumping and banging until I get into you." He certainly achieved that in his masterwork. Well done, sir. Here's a pic of the iconic Leatherface:


And here's one of Marilyn Burns having fun on location:



Frozen out of a favorable parking space at my usual nook, I took the floating book shop to an alternate site and got lucky. For a while it looked like the only sale would be a children's book bought by a woman who had her granddaughter in tow. My spirits lifted when I spotted Danny sauntering toward me. He bought about 15 works of non-fiction from history to economics to self help, including Total Memory Makeover: Uncover Your Past, Take Charge of Your Future by Marilu Henner. She has hyperthymesia, the ability to remember specific details of virtually every day of her life since she was a small child. She was a regular in two hit TV series, Taxi, in which she appeared in 114 episodes, and Evening Shade, in which she did 98. Six times she has played the mom of the heroine of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries based on the characters created by Charlaine Harris, who is also responsible for the Sookie Stackhouse series which led to the creation of the True Blood cable series, which shot 81 episodes. Henner has also starred in scores of movies on the big and small screen. She has written at least ten works of non-fiction, all but one, an autobiography, focused on health. Her parents were both in their early 50's when they died. She is 65. Kudos, ma'am. Here's a pic of this fantastic woman:



My thanks also to the other kind ladies who purchased books, and to the Russian gentleman who bought a CD compilation of romantic classical works.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Sunday, August 27, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/27 - Blasts from the Present & Past

As expected, the Philadelphia Phillies are suffering through a horrible season. They are 30 games out of first and may lose 100 games. But there's hope for the future in the form of OF Rhys Hoskins, 24, who has become the first player in MLB history to hit 10 home runs in the first 20 games of his career. He didn't get his first hit until his third game, and first homer until his fourth! He is on fire. Kudos, young man.

I'm not religious, but a quote from Franco Zefferelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977) has frequently come to mind lately regarding the frenzy to topple statues. When the mob accosts the adulteress and a leader asks Jesus what should be done with her, he says: "He among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." The actual quote from the King James Bible is clumsy: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Who the heck among the human race, especially those who have wielded power, would stand the litmus test demanded by the left? Many of their own icons, including FDR and Margaret Sanger, would not pass.

Last night on its Svengoolie program, MeTV ran Murders of the Rue Morgue (1932), starring Bela Lugosi. Running only 61 minutes, it was typical of early talkies in that the actors employed emotive techniques from the silent era. In researching the film at IMDb, I was surprised at yet another name that had previously escaped my attention - director Robert Florey, who was born in Paris in 1900 and made his first appearance on the silver screen in 1916 in a French production. He emigrated to America in the early '20's and learned the film business from the bottom up. He has six titles as an actor listed under his name, 15 as a writer, and 113 as a director, mostly of B movies before he segued into TV in the early 1950's. He did 36 episodes of The Loretta Young Show, 38 of Four Star Playhouse, 32 of Schlitz Playhouse, and multiple and one-shot stints at the helm of popular fare of the era, including The Untouchables and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He passed away in 1979 at 78. Kudos, sir. Here's a picture of him:



And here's a still from The Fever episode of The Twilight Zone, which Florey directed. It starred the great character actor Everett Sloane and first aired in 1960:



My thanks to the elderly woman who made a four-for-two swap of books in Russian, and to Kimberly, who purchased The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second part of Stieg Larsson's millennium trilogy. An Italian American who looked to be in her 20's, Kimberly has been posting her poetry on Instagram and getting good feedback. She may want to do a book. I told her about Create Space, where she would be able to get it into print for free. Best of luck, young lady.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Saturday, August 26, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/26 - Where Is Everybody?

For the second straight week I had to consult the web on the interpretation of a film. Last time it was Enemy (2013), starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Last night I watched Bokeh (2017), courtesy of Netflix. It's the story of two young Americans on vacation in Iceland who wake up to find themselves completely alone. All messaging on the internet has ceased, as has voice mail. Rather than go the typical sci-fi route, co-directors and co-screenwriters Geoffrey Orthwein and Andrew Sullivan chose to explore the characters reaction to the situation. After the initial shock, the male adopts a positive attitude, the female a negative one. Each is understandable, although the latter's is frequently trying. The woman, who has a religious background, is blown away that what has occurred. "It doesn't make any sense," she says several times. She is homesick. The male is energized by the freedom he now has. Unfortunately, that's basically all there is. No explanations are rendered. This is a strict character study. One aspect that bothered me is the woman not proposing the learning of navigation in order to get back to the states by boat. Of course, the pair might have perished in the attempt but, given what occurs, it would have been a better fate. I think their starting out on such a journey would have been a far better ending. Of course, in a work such as this, I may be missing a point being made. Credit must be given to the creators for presenting something different in their first big screen effort. I would be remiss not to mention cinematographer Joe Lindsay, who captured Iceland's beauty wonderfully. According to a review by Tasha Robinson at theverge.com, the film was done in summer, when the country experiences 23 hours of daylight. Shooting at three in the morning captured the requisite desolation perfectly. Young veterans Matt O'Leary and Maika Monroe are excellent in their roles. Despite their youth, each has amassed a considerable list of credits. 3000+ users at IMDb have rated Bokeh, forging to a consensus of 4.9 on a scale of ten, too low in my opinion. Granted, it is slow moving and bleak, but it is worthwhile. Fortunately, it runs only 90 or so minutes. The title is a photography term - the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image. I relate it to the reality of the characters' existence against the backdrop of the unknown. Here's a still from the movie:


While Texas is being battered by a hurricane, NYC is in the midst of a run of beautiful weather in what thus far has been a near ideal summer. My thanks to the gentleman who bought Nora Jones' breakout CD, Come Away with Me, which features one of my all-time favorite tracks, The Nearness of You, written by Ned Washington and Hoagy Carmichael in 1938 and rendered so touchingly by Jones. No matter how many times I play it on guitar, I can't get it right. My thanks also to Mr. Conspiracy, who purchased a pictorial on tools, and to Johnny, who bought thrillers by Wilbur Smith and John Sandford. The 30 or so books in Russian in my current inventory must have limited appeal. Despite careful scans by several passersby, not one sold.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Friday, August 25, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/25 - C'est La Vie

Here's a list of the best selling authors worldwide since 2001, according to telegraph.co.uk: 1. James Patterson 2. JK Rowling 3. Nora Roberts 4. Dr Seuss 5. John Grisham 6. Stephenie Meyer 7. Dan Brown 8. Nicholas Sparks 9. Janet Evanovich 10. Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). The only name that surprises me in Evanovich. Although I know she is popular, I had no idea it's to such an extent. I find it hard to believe she has outsold Danielle Steel, Mary Higgins Clarke and Stephen King the past 17 years. I haven't kept a record, but I'd bet I've sold far more books on the street by Steel than any other author.

Here are the best books, so far, of the 21st Century, according to librarything.com: 1. Atonement by Ian McEwan 2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 3. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 4. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 8. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 9. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 10. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I've read only number one, which is excellent. I've seen the adaptation of the second, which I enjoyed, so I won't be reading it, even though I know there is usually a big difference between a book and a film based on it. I've sold many copies of Larsson's first in the millennium series. I wish I'd read it before seeing the Swedish adaptation, which I loved. That novel has received more praise than any other, any genre, from my customers. I'll be on the lookout for the others except for numbers four and nine, as I've read books by those authors and, these days, I restrict myself to only one of an author's works. A book also has to conform to my page count requirement, roughly 350 at present.

New Jerseyian Jeffrey Riegel, 56, passed away last Friday. He'd promised friends a funny message in his obituary. A rabid football fan, he asked to have eight Philadelphia Eagles as pall bearers so they could let him down one last time. He'd owned season tickets more than 30 years and never saw the team win a Super Bowl. Eight friends wearing Eagles jerseys laid him to rest. (From Yahoo's Odd News, in my own words.)



Unable to land a favorable parking spot at my usual nook, I took the floating book shop to the Sheepshead Bay promenade. It was a nice change of pace. The photo above is the view I had. I parked near a small tree that provided ample shade. My thanks to the young woman who bought a Kathy Reichs' thriller, and to the elderly one who purchased a book on Yoga in Russian. The highlight of the session was a conversation with a middle age woman who'd worked until recently in the fashion industry at Ralph Lauren for about 20 years, putting in long hours. She was glad to leave, as the stress was becoming too great. She's spent the summer decompressing, going to nearby Manhattan Beach most days. She asked how much the books were. "One or two dollars," I said, certain she wouldn't be interested in any of mine. Sure enough, she was drawn to A Hitch in Twilight and Billionths of a Lifetime. She held me to the prices I cited. One of the reasons I acquiesced was that I wanted to make sure I left with a little money to show for my efforts. The sale will be worth it if she reads the books, which she may not now that she no longer commutes. Oh, well, C'est la vie. The sale of other books more than makes up for the loss.

And here's where I picked up dinner:


Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Thursday, August 24, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/24 - Japan's Banana

I've read translations of Japanese novels by Mishima and Shusaku Endo, and found them worthwhile, so I didn't hesitate to begin Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen. It's the story of a woman in her early 20's whose last close relative, her grandmother, dies, leaving her virtually alone in the world. The narrative, only 105 pages, portrays how she deals with such incredible loss. At one point she thinks: "Someday, without fail, everyone will disappear, scattered into the blackness of time." Overall, the novel isn't as heavy in tone as that sentence implies. The plucky protagonist lives "normally," but cannot help falling into existential musing, such as: "I had become hardened. Was that what it meant to be an adult, to live with ugly ambiguities?" She finds: "Everyone we love is dying. Still, to cease living is unacceptable." She will not give in to despair: "People are not overcome by situations or outside forces; defeat invades from within." Late in the novel she refers to herself as an "action philosopher." Only the hardest hearts would not root for her. The title refers to her favorite room. She is studying to be a chef. The large paperback Washington Square Press edition I read includes a 41-page story, Moonlight Shadow, Yoshimoto had written years before. It too is about a young woman dealing with loss. The difference is that it has a supernatural twist. It includes this beautiful passage on the last page: "One caravan has stopped, another starts up. There are people I have yet to meet, others I'll never see again. People who are gone before you know it, people who are just passing through. Even as we exchange hellos, they seem to grow transparent. I must keep living with the flowing river before my eyes." Are these works profound or merely simplistic? I tend toward the former, although I felt something was missing, perhaps lost in translation. Translation from Chinese or Japanese literature seems daunting. The reading of symbols rather than letters seems bizarre. Anyway, 164 readers at Amazon have rated Kitchen, forging to a consensus of 4.2 on a scale of five. First published in the late '80's, it has gone through 60 printings in Japan alone. At last check, it was ranked 14,357th, which is phenomenal given that there are more than 13 million books listed at Jeff Bezos' behemoth. Born in 1964, Yoshimoto has won several literary prizes. She named herself after Banana Flowers, which are edible. Megan Backus did a great service in rendering these two works into English. I was disappointed at not finding any information on her on the web. Here is a layout of an unknown novel in Japanese, which clearly shows how different in style it is from western works:



It seems that America's two major political parties are bent on suicide. The Democrats have tilted way left and embraced the ludicrous assault on statues, and the Republicans are paralyzed by their division into right, center and slightly left factions. Who knows where this is headed?

The Dodgers' Rich Hill, 37, a crafty lefty, had a memorable night in Pittsburgh. He took a perfect game into the ninth when an error allowed a base-runner. He took a no-hitter into the tenth that was broken up by second baseman Josh Harrison, who hit a home run to win it for the Pirates, 1-0... Another lefty was also disappointed last night, in Baltimore. Orioles' closer Zach Britton had saved an American League record 60 straight games. He allowed a run to the A's in the ninth, which tied the game. The O's still managed to win. The major league record is 84 straight saves, accomplished by former Dodger Eric Gagne.  

Book donations outpaced sales by a ratio of about 25 to 5 today. The inventory is again ridiculous. Four of the five sales were of books in Russian, the other Zolar's Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Dreams, all bought by women. My thanks, ladies. Thirsty Dave, lead singer of country swing band Western Caravan, and his wife Candy donated a large box full of good stuff, although half will probably be tough sells, as some are more intellectual challenging than most people seek, or by writers outside the mainstream. Then again, many times I've been surprised by the selections of certain customers. Thank you, Dave & Candy.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/23 - A Hollywood Stalwart & More

My9 is into season nine of The X-Files. Last night it broadcast the first two episodes, which featured a perfectly cast Lucy Lawless as a genetically altered super soldier. I had zero recollection of them, although I'm pretty sure I stayed with the original run of the series until the bitter end. During commercial breaks, I switched to ThisTV, which was airing Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), a cheesy sci-fi flick starring Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald. Unfamiliar with it, I looked it up at IMDb, where it is rated 5.3 on a scale of ten. The parts I caught were silly fun. It was directed by the late Lamont Johnson, who I remember as having had a solid reputation. He has 81 titles listed under his name as director and, surprisingly, 44 as actor. His most notable work came in TV, where he began in the mid '50's. He worked on just about every popular show. He did ten episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel, 14 of Peter Gunn, eight of Dr. Kildare, eight of The Twilight Zone, 24 of Matinee Theatre, and lots of one or two-shots. He was also at the helm of many big screen releases. His best work came in TV movies, which garnered him two Emmys: Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985) and Lincoln (1988), a miniseries. He also did the then controversial The Execution of Private Slovik (1974), the story of the only American killed for desertion since the Civil War, and That Certain Summer (1972), one of the first films to examine the then taboo subject of homosexuality. Here is a quote attributed to him: "Projects about human problems, about the testing of the human experience, about the pressures which exist upon human beings in a difficult world, are what really involve me. The traps people get into and have to battle out of are the elements of drama with which I like to deal." He passed away in 2010 at 88. Well done, sir. Here's a picture of him at work:



And here's a still from the Nothing in the Dark episode of The Twilight Zone, which first aired in 1962 and starred Robert Redford as the Angel of death - talk about perfect casting - and Gladys Cooper:



Just when it seemed political correctness couldn't get any more absurd, it has. Robert Lee was scheduled to cover a game from the University of Virgina. ESPN re-assigned him for fear his name would be offensive to certain viewers. Here's a photo of Mr. Lee:


The floating book shop didn't do nearly as well as yesterday, but it was still a good session, as a number of my favorites stopped to chat and the weather was spectacular. My thanks to the woman who bought a book in Russian, to the one who purchased one on Yoga, to the one who chose a large pictorial on Feng Shui, to the man who bought one on writing, and to Mira, just returning from a yoga class. She beamed when I showed her a copy of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, which she read long ago in her native Ukraine. She was especially thrilled because Eugene O'Neill, the subject of her senior thesis, based one of his characters on Bulgakov's. She intends to give the novel to a professor who has never read it. Tomorrow she will begin her final semester at St. Joseph's College, where she is majoring in Literature. She's taking 16 credits. As if that's not daunting enough, her thesis will be due in December. All the best, my dear.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/22 - Tough Decisions

I hadn't watched a political speech in decades. I find them ridiculous. As I was scanning with the remote control, President Trump's address was being broadcast on several channels. I stopped for what I thought would be a moment. I was riveted. Although it was understandably short on specifics, it was impeccably delivered. It was impossible to tell if he were reading from a teleprompter or a written speech. Then again, in the long run, style is meaningless. It's substance that counts. I'm not going to pretend to know what the right course of action is in Afghanistan, although I am concerned that a pullout would lead to exactly what happened in Iraq, which became a haven for ISIS requiring more bloodshed. I was hoping there would be a reasonable counter argument in the newspaper. Here are excerpts from retired Army Colonel Ralph Peters' response in today's NY Post: "In 2001, we did the right thing by going to Afghanistan to slaughter terrorists. But we were fools to stay. Afghanistan is strategically worthless... In Afghanistan, we’re the Redcoats... more Afghans will volunteer to die for the Taliban than for our dream of a “better” Afghanistan. Nor could the Taliban have survived without support among the population... We can justify a limited presence in Afghanistan, perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 troops total, for the purpose of killing international terrorists. And we need not stop providing arms to Kabul. But it’s time to stop giving blood... I hope I'm wrong... We cannot save a country that won’t save itself." Good luck, Mr. President.

I'd guess that most people would like to believe in karma, believe that those who perpetrate evil will eventually suffer it too. An item in the Fast Takes column in the Post brought a smile to my face. Hamas, which sponsors suicide attacks, is now suffering them from ISIS. Embarrassed, the terrorist organization has found the perfect scapegoat, blaming Israel. How typical.

Green Bay Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix showed support for fallen police officers during the team' Sunday night pre-season game. He wrote the names of four police officers who have died in the line of duty on his shoes. He tweeted that he wanted the families of the fallen to know they had his support. The four officers he recognized are from the area of Florida where he was raised. During his three years at the University of Alabama, he studied criminal justice. He is working on his degree off-season. I hope he doesn't get flak from yahoos. Kudos, sir. (From Yahoo Sports, in my own words.)


My thanks to the Russian gentleman who got things rolling at the floating book shop by overpaying for six classical CD's, and also to the man who bought Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned; and to the burly guy I flagged down on his bike, who always asks for novels by James Patterson. He purchased not only Pop Goes the Weasel and Kill Alex Cross but also Mario Puzo's Fools Must Die, a pictorial on Prince George and his parents, Will and Kate, and a three-CD compilation of Bing Crosby songs. Then a woman showed with two bags of books, most of them business oriented, and three in Russian, which two young women bought. Four of the non-fiction works also sold, among them the ever popular

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

 

by Stephen R. Covey. Finally, Ira bought Music Business Primer by Diane Sward Rapaport.
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Monday, August 21, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/21 - A Mensch Passes

RIP Jerry Lewis, 91, a true mensch, a rare performer larger than life. IMDb has 74 titles listed under his name as actor, 23 as director, 20 as writer, but those are naked numbers that fail to express his cultural impact. His manic personality complemented Dean Martin's suave cool perfectly. As a team they were the top box office drawer in America from 1950-'56. And his popularity continued after the act broke up. He was the top box office drawer in '57, '59 and from '61-'64. He did Broadway and also cut an album, Jerry Just Sings, which cracked Billboard's top 20. A single from it, Rock-a-Bye Your Baby," hit #10. He taught a film class at the University of California. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were his students. He hosted his own talk show. He was very credible in drama, his most notable role in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982), starring opposite Robert DeNiro. Under his leadership, $2.5 billion dollars were raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Here are a couple of telling quotes attributed to him: "I was about as discreet as a ... bull taking a piss in your living room." And: "I was nine all of my life. Nine is innocent. Nine has a tremendous sense of humor and nine sees everything." Well done, sir. All at once: "Hey, laaaaaadee!"

I believe the individual mandate, which fines those who do not have health insurance, is as Un-American as any law ever enacted. The initial numbers of its impact are public. In 2015 4% of tax filers were fined. Somehow that added up to $3 billion. That total will be higher for '16 and '17, as the fine nearly doubled. For shame.

My thanks to the young woman who purchased a Nora Roberts romance, and to her male companion, who bought The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher; and to the woman who bought Sojourner Truth Ain't I a Woman? a Scholastic Biography by Patricia C. McKissack,and a hardcover book on fighting diabetes through natural remedies. My thanks also to Herbie, who donated two novels. Of course, today's main topic of conversation was the eclipse. Just about all my well-wishers mentioned it. By the time I pack away all the wares into the old Hyundai I'm so bushed all I want to do is get home, pour cold water on my head, snack, read, and nap. Coming out of CVS at about 2:25, I looked toward the sun, which one is not supposed to do, even while wearing sunglasses. The glare was too great. I had to settle for photos posted on the web.


Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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Sunday, August 20, 2017

The Writer's Life 8/20 - Taking Stock

Jonathon Trugman writes about Twitter in an article in today's NY Post. He wonders how a company that has 300 million users daily, that the President of the United States uses frequently, has failed to find a way to cash in big on its popularity. Its stock price continues to languish, last trading at $15.99. I too am puzzled. I bought 100 shares at 30 a couple of years ago. Chipotle, despite its recent and frequent salmonella troubles, last traded at $311. Tesla, which has yet to show big profits, last traded at $347. Bitcoin, which few people, including me, understand, last traded at $4110! Investors are snapping up shares of the latter two based on potential. I guess they see none in Twitter. I'll stay with it, as I did with Facebook, on which I earned a handsome profit. Another article in the Post cites the buybacks companies have been doing the past two years of their own stocks, which has contributed greatly to the current rally. It wonders what will happen when this practice slows down or stops. Whenever I worry about a collapse, I remind myself that interest rates are near zero. People who want a decent return are still buying stocks, as are pension funds and 401k plans. Bank account and CD interest returns are laughable at present. There's really no place else to put money other than safety deposit boxes or mattresses.

Here are the top ten stocks of all-time according to an article at fool.com by Sean O'Reilly: DuPont (NYSE:DD) trading since 1904, up 1,279%. (One of my winners.) General Mills (NYSE:GIS) since 1898, up 5,443%. Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK) since 1877, up 5,402%. ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) since 1882, up 4,132%. Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) since 1885, up 1,078%. UGI Corp. (NYSE:UGI) natural gas company since 1885, up 1,897%. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) since 1891, up 5,180%. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) since 1893, up 4,806% (Another of my winners.) Colgate Palmolive (NYSE:CL) since 1895, up 7,814%. PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) supplier of paints, coatings, special materials and fiberglass since 1899, up 6,858%. The reason Microsoft and Apple aren't on the list is because they haven't been around long enough. Anyone who has a pension plan or 401K or a mutual fund may own all or several of these great stocks.

The floating book shop reduced some of its stock today. My thanks to the gentleman who kicked things off by purchasing a paperback thriller in Russian; to the woman who overpaid for 366 and More Questions and Answers, which is designed for kids; to the ever gregarious Carmine, who bought Nelson DeMille's The Gate House and two books by Kahlil Gibran; to the gentleman who bought Suze Orman's Women and Money; to the sweet Russian grandma who selected Stephen King's The Running Man and Jonathan Kellerman's Over the Edge; to the gentleman who bought a hardcover thriller in Russian; and to the gentleman who purchased a fantasy and a book on Feng Shui. I'd seen the latter term countless times and finally thought to run a search on it. According to dictionary.com, it is defined as: "the Chinese art or practice of creating harmonious surroundings that enhance the balance of yin and yang, as in arranging furniture or determining the siting of a house." Mr. Conspiracy told me he was once contracted to renovate an apartment. While discussing the project with the female resident, a limousine pulled up and two beautiful young woman got out and began strewing rose petals in a path for an immaculately dressed male. "Who's that?" said Mr. C. "Mister Woo," the woman replied, beaming. He was an expert on "Fong Shway," as Mr. C, aka Steve, pronounces it. By the way, ying and yang are defined as: " two principles, one negative, dark and feminine (yin) and one positive, bright and masculine (yang) whose interaction influences the destinies of creatures and things. Yes, Grasshopper. Here's an example of a Feng Shui designed room. What differentiates it from basic design is beyond me:

Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
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