Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/13 - Thanks

I’m becoming addicted to BBC mystery series broadcast on Cablevision Channel 21. The latest is DCI Banks, set in contemporary Yorkshire, a large county in the north of England, whose largest city is Leeds, the site of the famous live Who album. I’ve watched at least four of the 14 episodes filmed so far, and find it engrossing. It stars Stephen Tompkinson, a veteran of European TV. I scanned his credits at IMDb and did not spot a single movie appearance, which seems odd, as he is excellent in the title role. Only two people have rated it, so I wouldn’t put much stock in the 6.5 out of ten. It’s a lot better than that. Perhaps they are comparing it to the novels of Peter Robinson, on which the show is based. Readers seem, as a rule, dissatisfied with film adaptations. This is at least the fifth such series that has hooked me while I was channel surfing. The others are Foyle’s War, starring Michael Kitchen, set in Hastings during WWII; Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh, set in modern Sweden, based on the novels of Henning Mankell; Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn, set in modern rural England, based on the novels of Ann Cleeves; and my favorite, Zen, starring Rufus Sewell, set in modern Rome, based on the novels of Michael Dibdin, which aired only three episodes and apparently has been discontinued. Each runs about 75 minutes, without commercial breaks. Since only a handful of each is filmed, it seems to guarantee care and quality. Of course, they are often grim, dealing with the ugly side of human nature. I enjoy these programs so much more than the mystery novels I‘ve sampled. Perhaps at the end of the day it's simply a good way to escape oneself and the troubles of the real world. Or maybe I've just chosen the wrong books.

There is great news out of Hollywood. Steve Martin, 64, has become a first time dad. I remember a friend reacting negatively when Tony Randall, who was even older, had a child. His perspective was that of a young father who looked forward to sharing his children's youth. Mine was that of a middle age man who regretted not ever having had a child. Even though Randall died a few years later and Martin, heaven forbid, might die tomorrow, I think both children would be extremely grateful to have been given life. I've enjoyed Martin's work through the years. I'm sure he will love the kid to death and that his wealth and young wife, 41, will provide the care the physical limitations of his age might prevent. Congratulations, sir, and long life.

I had a couple of great moments operating the floating book shop today. Lev, one of my best customers, stopped by and bought three classical CDs -- Chopin, Strauss and Grieg - and a Jeffrey Deaver audio book. Later, old Simon, bless his heart, came walking up East 13th, pulling a cart laden with a dozen books, most of them hardcover best sellers. Months ago he mentioned how much he enjoyed pianist Carmen Cavallaro's work. I remembered the name because it's Italian in origin and because a classmate of mine, whose dad's plane was shot down in Korea, was named Cavallaro. The junior high up the street from my old house is named in his honor. Anyway, among Marie's latest music donation was a disc featuring The Poet of the Piano, who began playing at three, came to prominence in the 30's, and died in '89. I gave it and a Billy Eckstine CD to Simon, who must have given me 100 books by now, and he was thrilled, which thrilled me. Thank you, sir, and to Lev and to the woman who bought a Fern Michaels romance.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/12 - Whew!

The Olympics will add golf and eliminate wrestling, as it moves further from any pretense at ideals. This is obviously a money move, bringing in big names to attract big dollars. Golf has four major prizes: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. A gold medal would be perhaps fifth, although I think a pro would rather win the FED-EX Cup too. There is nothing a wrestler would rather have than an Olympic medal, second is his country's title. I love golf and do not watch any wrestling matches these days, even the silly antics of the WWE, so I'm not speaking from an agenda. This move strips the dream of hard working young men who yearn for a single moment in the sun, one that would quickly be forgotten by the general public, in favor of a privileged few who bask in the spotlight regularly, although they too work extremely hard to stay there. It is a travesty, par for the course the modern Games has taken, and, for me, another reason to boycott them.

Nancy Gotter Gates writes novels whose protagonists are older than 55. From the pictures of her on the web, she seems well past that age. I just finished one of her mysteries, When Push Comes to Death, which features a familiar theme -- the amateur female sleuth. It's set in the area of Greensboro, North Carolina, where the author lives. It is solid, if unspectacular, the plot, characters, events and motivations all plausible. And she did it all in 250 pages -- most refreshing. It kept me guessing. I did not know who the killer was until it was revealed. The dialogue is only okay. The prose is smooth, although it could have used another wash to remove redundancies. She has had ten novels published. Her last two are available only in Kindle, which, given her age, surprised me. I'd guess most of her audience is senior, probably female and, in my discussions with readers on the street, most people in my age group prefer print. On a scale of five, I rate When Push Comes to Death three.   

I was really nervous this morning when I drove to the doctor for the results of the blood and urine tests I did two weeks ago. It had been three-and-a-half years since my last check up. A lot can happen in such a span. To my relief, the numbers all were good. My blood pressure is a tad high, lower than two weeks ago, but out of medication range. I'm surprised it wasn't higher, given how anxious I was. All that's left is a cardiogram next month. No one in my family has ever had a heart problem.

It looked like I wasn't going to be able to operate the floating book shop, but, as I waited, grumbling, for a parking spot to open up, a young mom piled her brood into an SUV sitting in the best possible space and soon drove away. What luck. I was able to duck inside my car, out of the stiff wind, a couple of times to warm up, and I'm set until Friday. Fortunately, the sun emerged late in the session. My thanks to the ladies who bought books.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

Selling My Books on the Streets fo Brooklyn 2/11 - Potpourri

Last night this-TV (111 on Cablevision) ran Game of Death (1978), starring Bruce Lee, who died in 1973. According to IMDb, the film was crafted using old, unused footage and a look-alike. It’s by no means good but it's noteworthy for its odd cast. Playing a reporter, it was Gig Young’s last appearance. He committed suicide that year at 64, although not likely because of despair in having acted in such a flick. Hollywood veteran Dean Jagger played the crime boss, and he had six more credits after that and died at a ripe old age in 1991. TV’s Wyatt Earp, Hugh O’Brian, was the second villainous banana. The flick’s most memorable scene is a fight between Lee and basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, all seven feet of him! Chuck Norris also had a brief role that IMDb lists as "fighter." It is rated 5.7 out of ten. It's strictly for fans of chop-socky and those of us smitten with a lust for movie trivia.

I cruised to the Grammy’s three times last night, hoping to catch a live performance, even though I'm unfamiliar with 99% of the nominated songs. I caught only commercials. At the same time NBC, probably raising a flag of surrender to CBS, ran a sort of documentary on the Saturday Night Live of the ‘80’s, post the original crew and creator Lorne Michaels, who has long since returned. It was actually interesting. The show was on life support until Eddie Murphy was brought to the forefront. Joe Piscopo provided a significant assist. I’d completely forgotten a lot of the players, i.e. Gary Kroeger and Robert Downey Jr.. I have no idea what the quality of the show is these days. I haven’t watched it in years. It’s certainly had many great moments in its long history, including the appearance of music artists. Last night’s show aired 30 second clips of performances by the likes of Bruce Hornsby, Tom Petty, and the Cowboy Junkies.

I’ve finally heard a decent counter argument against the use of drones, offered in a letter to the editor in today’s NY Post. Although the scenario is very unlikely, the writer wonders what the reaction would be if Russia were to execute a strike in America to kill, say a Chechen, terrorist it considered a danger to its country. Nice reasoning, but it still doesn’t change my opinion. I accept that we are at war. Many people do not.

I used this rainy day to do the annual maddening task of tax filing. Despite the advantages of doing it online, and the fact that my return is fairly simply, it is an exasperating process, and I'm relieved it's done. I lose about nine bucks on the ordeal, the fee minus the return on my state and city taxes. I get zero from the feds, as expected. I wonder if I would have gotten more had I not reported my street income. I do it not out of good citizenship but because I don't want to tangle with the IRS mafia, although the odds are miniscule that such paltry earnings would ever be audited.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/10 - Cloud

My buddy Bags received an unexpected boon the other day while downloading the latest version of itunes (11.0). He once had more than 1000 songs there. Since that was taking up so much space and affecting his PC's performance, he pared the list to about 300. To his surprise and delight, every song he ever downloaded from the store has become available for play in its cloud -- and it doesn't take up any space on his hard drive! If he should want to burn a CD from it, all he has to do is select the tracks and download them. When my desk top crashed and burned three years ago, I lost my whole catalog. I didn't want to go through the hassle of uploading the songs from the CDs I've burned, so I decided to use Amazon to purchase music and store it in Windows Media Player, although I don't like its format. I'm reluctant to download any apps these days for fear of disturbing the sterling performance of my Dell laptop (just jinxed it). But when Bags said the songs were now available in the cloud, I decided to give it a shot. Sure enough, even though it's been more than three years since I've made a purchase at itunes, the songs are there. The only ones missing are those I uploaded from store-bought CDs or those burned by others. One never ceases to be amazed by the genius of the people who come up with this stuff. And perhaps the best aspect of all is being able to access Apple's wide variety of music stations through its mini-player, which I hope is safe to keep open while I perform tasks in another application. When I used web pages for radio, I had the feeling I was being monitored by the Wi-fi network of users I somehow picked up. There are about 20 names on the list. Now playing: CCR's Down on the Corner. I can also create new CDs to burn for sale on the street. Oh, I forgot -- that's illegal. Speaking of which -- given the snowfall yesterday, I wasn't expecting to open the floating book shop today. Since it was so beautiful, I decided to spin by Bay Parkway and see how things looked in front of the Chase Bank at 85th Street. The sidewalk was almost entirely clean and dry. What the heck, I thought. Why not spend a few hours in the sunshine, especially since the forecast calls for rain tomorrow? I didn't sell any books, but I did sell several of the CDs in Marie's latest donation. I'm not surprised the Swing Era stuff has been popular. I'm surprised Russians haven't snapped up the classical artists. Author Bill Brown, who just received a yearly $300 royalty check from Lulu, did, buying a Haydn CD. Thanks buddy, and to all the other customers, and Bags.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3 

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/9 - Snow Day

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a figure who represents human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. He created mankind from clay and gave it the gift of fire to insure its survival. This angered Zeus, who had Prometheus chained to a rock, where an eagle picked at his liver, which grew back each day. He was eventually rescued by Hercules. (Wiki).

I’ve been a member of Netflix for about ten years. At one time my list of DVDs to watch had 300+ titles. These days it’s about 20, mostly foreign and independent films from which I do not know what to expect. It’s been a while since I really looked forward to a movie. Ridley Scott has given us a lot of great grand scale entertainment: Alien (1979), Blade Runner (‘82), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (‘02), so it was with great anticipation that I popped Prometheus (2012) into my player. I really enjoyed it, although it borrowed elements from various sci-fi classics, including Alien. But its main story is completely original, and that is what makes it worthwhile and better than most films of the genre. The stunning cinematography (Dariusz Walski) is its main strength, and the gadgetry, sets and effects are terrific. The story is not easy to follow, but in the end I think I got it. The main body of the plot is set in 2093. There are several references to modern pop culture, which seem out of place, unlikely, but that is a quibble. Noomi Rapace, so brilliant as Lisabeth Salander in Stieg Larrsen’s Millenium trilogy, stars as an intrepid scientist searching for the origin and meaning of life. The beautiful and talented Charlize Theron is billed fourth in the opening credits! I was puzzled by her character's coldness until the latter stages. The film does not come to a satisfying conclusion, which probably hurt it at the box office, where it has yet to break even on its $130,000,000 budget, which must have been very disappointing to the film-makers, given that dreck like Transformers earned gazillions. Surprisingly, a sequel is planned. On a scale of five, I rate Prometheus three-and-a-half. It is rated 7.2 of ten at IMDb. I saw headlines of articles that blast the film as completely unoriginal and a rip-off. I disagree that it is completely unoriginal and I think it’s worth seeing. Intelligent sci-fi requires patience. Action scenes don’t come every few minutes. Rapace, 33, half Swedish, half Spanish, perfected her English by watching BBC series and CNN. Here are pictures of her, in character as Lisabeth, and glammed up for a night on the town:

In terms of snowfall, we were lucky in our end of Brooklyn. It was perhaps ten inches. The morning drive to my sister's was a little tough, but by the afternoon the sun was out and the streets were no longer icy. A meteorologist said on the radio that he'd never seen such disparity in accumulation. Some areas had two inches, and I just heard that a town in Connecticut had 40! It looks like the floating book shop will be out of business until Tuesday. My thanks to whomever purchased Killing on Kindle, my first web sale in at least a month.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/8 - Nemo

The nor'easter has a name: Nemo. Right now it looks like the worst of it will be east of NYC, smacking eastern Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts very hard. I moved my car two blocks north, just in case the bay breaches again, although it looks like it won't. I can't take a chance on losing it, although I'd always be able to operate a limited floating book shop featuring only my works. So now the waiting. How deep will the snow be? Will I be able to drive to my sister's tomorrow and do my laundry and visit my friend Bags? I have a shovel in the car. The problem, if there's a lot of snow, will be parking. There will also be winds as high as 60 mph. If the forecast is right, the melting should begin immediately, as the next few days will be sunny and rain is possible for Monday. After last year's cakewalk, it's been a normal winter. When a caller complained about global morning on Mark Simone's radio show this morning, he pointed out something I'd never heard before. The temperatures on Venus and Mars have also risen and, as far as we know, it wasn't caused by any humans living there.

A French study of 60,000 women has found that drinking only one can of diet soda a day increased the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33%. It does not surprise me. There are no shortcuts to good health. That stuff always tasted yucky to me, and I often felt crappy after having one. I'll stick to my one serving of high fructose syrup a day. I love soda, or pop, as my midwestern friends call it, and wish I could have it at every meal. I also wish I could have ice cream and candy every day. Well, I could if I ignored my well being entirely. As if getting older isn't hard enough.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 2/7 - Errors

I recently earned a $35 gift card doing a survey. Since I haven't carried copies of Close to the Edge for about two years, I decided to order a couple, hoping to have all five of my books on display at the floating book shop once/if Exchanges makes it into print. Edge was self-published way back in 2000. I never regretted having done it that way, even though I lost about $500 on the deal, using the strictest calculations. Most of those copies were bought with money and gift certificates I earned on the web, not out of pocket. If I counted those costs as zero, the book would be profitable. Of course, the figures don't show the invaluable experience I gained in what to do with my other books. I have a chance to break even on Adjustments, and I've turned a slight profit on both A Hitch in Twilight and Killing. I managed to sell 348 copies of Edge, but I bought them in such dribs and drabs and often at full cost at Amazon or B&N that I made it virtually impossible to ever recoup my investment in terms of real and virtual dollars. The only way I would is if about 150 people bought it on the web, as it is not available in physical stores. The royalty is $3.59 per copy. The only way those of us at the bottom of the heap would achieve literary financial success would be to generate web sales. With at least eight million titles available, the competition is fierce. Anyway, getting back to my most recent order. The package seemed a little thin. I assumed they had mailed a copy that was on hand and would send the other later. Wrong! There was one copy of Edge and one of The Presbyterian Elder, a guide for those who aspire to that position. I just sent out a second email, explaining the situation. Will they believe me? I'm skeptical. AuthorHouse changed its name from 1st Books Library years ago, perhaps to avoid the stench of the bad ratings it received from disappointed writers. I never had a problem with them until they stopped paying royalties for copies bought with a gift certificate, as if they weren't receiving full value. In my case, they owe me about $25. Instead of getting into a long fight with them, I simply stopped ordering books. This time I should at least receive the seven dollars of royalty, which would make the total cost of the book 22 and change, a potential loss of twelve dollars. If I get the other copy and sell them at ten each, it would be a loss of only two. Either way, it will be such fun to have five of my own books on display, or even four if Exchanges doesn't see the light of day..

In order to secure a favorable parking spot to operate the floating book shop, I left the house an hour before the alternate side regulation expired. Alas, it did not help - no sales today, and it looks like I'll be sidelined at least the next two days. The local news departments are in a panic about the coming storm. This morning WOR-AM's John Gambling welcomed Congressman Peter King to discuss the drone controversy. King facetiously apologized for interrupting the biggest story of all time, the storm, drawing howls from the crew, all of whom could be heard laughing in the background. It was a great dig (pun intended) at the folly that is local news any time a weather event approaches.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3