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The Wire: Sentencing

Kima Greggs wakes from her coma and finds her voice.  The bulletin board adds more “ARRESTED” tags, but the wires have expired.  With no prospects for obtaining a new surveillance authorization “while Deputy Burrell breathes air”, McNulty suggests that Daniels should take the case to the FBI. Since the city doesn’t want to pursue it, perhaps they can convince a higher agency to take it and run.

imageThe Barksdales put their heads together with their lawyer, pondering the issues, including the D’Angelo problem.image  Lacking the privacy of their old headquarters in the strip joint, they now use a funeral home. Avon says, “It’s . . . → Read More: The Wire: Sentencing

The Wire: Cleaning Up

imageOnce the head of the police has his photo opportunity in front of a pile of seized guns and drugs, the flurry of activity dies down. The chief of police has gone on TV to show how he’s fixing Baltimore, and now it’s back to business as usual.

Daniels and McNulty wait outside of Kima Greggs’ hospital room mulling over the case. Wallowing in self-pity, guilt, and a strong blood-alcohol level, McNulty ponders why he pushed the case in the first place. Reminiscent of the previous episode, Daniels has to talk McNulty out of his funk.  McNulty says, "It was never about Avon Barksdale.  It was just about me." Daniels responds, “You think I didn’t know that? . . . → Read More: The Wire: Cleaning Up

The Wire: The Hunt

imageHell hath no fury like that of a police department with a fellow officer down.  Perpetually pissed-off Major William Rawls takes command of an overpopulated crime scene, showing his bulldog nature in a productive way for once.  Finally we see that he’s got some skill at something other than badgering subordinates. While surveying the scene, Rawls notices that the street signs have been turned, which is why Kima Greggs’ backup couldn’t locate her. She had given the incorrect streets in her communications before the shooting.  (Side note: When I was a kid, I had a friend who used to turn street signs as a prank.  I wonder how many people took wrong turns because of that kid.)

The mood . . . → Read More: The Wire: The Hunt

The Wire: The Cost

imageEnjoying fresh air and clean veins, Bubbles basks in his surroundings on a park bench.  On one side of him he sees kids and moms, playing and blowing soap bubbles. Not far away, he can see a dealer exchanging dollars for dope.  I couldn’t help but think of the Johnny Cash/Kris Kristofferson song “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and the lyrics:

Lord, it took me back to something that I’d lost Somewhere, somehow along the way.

As the token addict of The Wire, Bubbles shows the eternal struggle of a shattered soul, the ups and downs, and most of all, all the things Bubbles “lost along the way.”  After an instant of peace on the park  bench, the mere sight . . . → Read More: The Wire: The Cost

The Wire: Game Day

imageIt’s east versus west in an underground Baltimore basketball game.  Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale recruit ringers for their team, since Avon is "…tired of losing to these Eastside bitches every year."  So we get a little backstory in the opening scene: West Baltimore hasn’t won the cross-town gang game in some time.  The leaders of the Barksdale gang have more than just gang pride, they have team pride, too. The Barksdale’s live in a whole unsanctioned kingdom within the city.

“You got a good heart,” D’Angelo tells Wallace, who is still struggling with witnessing a murder. Wallace can’t recover because he’s suffers from having a conscience.  Poot and Bodie don’t share the same limiting condition.  Bodie in . . . → Read More: The Wire: Game Day

My odd genre combination: technothrillers and family sagas

Marketing does not occur to me when I’m writing a story.  If I followed the market, I’d be writing teenage vampire novels.

After writing several books, I review my titles and think: what kind of reader am I after in an audience?  I have a family saga, a sophomoric comedy, and a technothriller.  In the past, I perceived my audience as a legion of me, myself, and I.  In other words, I assumed my readers would be just like me.  This has not been the case, and simply shows my naivety in understanding the market.  I doubt that I will find that uber-geek military mom out there who is into nanotechnology and farming.

But while I’m still enjoying the life of a writer, I will keep on doing what I have been, and that is this: a story occurs to me, urging itself to be written, and only once it . . . → Read More: My odd genre combination: technothrillers and family sagas

Dogmas of the left and right in America

I always find it difficult to pick Democrats or Republicans as “the correct party” since both camp on polarizing issues that force voters to cherry pick their beliefs.  Ultimately, I have to prioritize which issue concerns me most and choose that party.  This means I get a lot of other baggage – baggage that is important to other people (or companies, since they increasingly fund the parties), but not important to me. In fact, I may end up voting against my beliefs if one issue supersedes other issues.  The problem, however, is that the polarization of the two parties becomes a choice between two extremes.  If only there was a center party.

 

Left

Center

Right

Wall Street is to blame for the financial crisis. Government must halt thieving bankers. Both Wall Street and Government played a role. Shared blame, reform needed. Neither can point the . . . → Read More: Dogmas of the left and right in America

Order of preference for folding laundry

 

Pants:  With pants, there are no surprises.  I fold them in half, find the seam, flop them over my arm, and I’m done.  Perhaps I flop them over again. One flop if the pants will be placed upon a hanger, two flops if placed in a drawer. Furthermore, pants reduce the size of the laundry pile by a significant percentage over shirts or underwear.  Pants folding grants a sense of progress in the journey through the laundry pile. Lastly, pants also provide an excellent base for other clothes to be piled on top.  Pants are the cornerstone of laundry folding. Towels: I would gladly four loads of towels over one load of mixed articles of clothing.  Again, the size of towels makes them natural first draft choices for folding, since the pile will shrivel as each towel departs. Second, towels are highly stackable. They are the closest thing to . . . → Read More: Order of preference for folding laundry

A phone that tells you when you’re sad

On this blog I like to throw a wet blanket on tech news.  Today will be no different. 

Soon, your phone will be able to “know” when you are feeling blue. How will it be able to tell?  By how you are using your phone – or rather, how you are not using your phone. 

From an article[The app] would rely on a bevy of data–location, social activity, physical activity, what a user is doing, etc.–to determine behavior patterns and recognize if they are behaving normally or seem to be deviating from their normal behavior, particularly in ways that suggest depression.

In other words, if you aren’t using your phone enough, you may be deemed depressed by the phone.  I’m not sure yet what the phone will do upon realizing that you are not constantly entertaining yourself with your phone.  Maybe it will extend a robot . . . → Read More: A phone that tells you when you’re sad

If the Creature from the Black Lagoon mated with Ursula from the Little Mermaid…

…you’d get Lady Gaga at the 2012 Grammys.

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