The Barksdales put their heads together with their lawyer, pondering the issues, including the D’Angelo problem.  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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-sentencing/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-cleaning-up/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-cleaning-up/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:08:53 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2159 Once 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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-cleaning-up/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-hunt/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-hunt/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:10:29 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2149 Hell 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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-hunt/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-cost/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-cost/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:21:07 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2139 Enjoying 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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-the-cost/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-game-day/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-game-day/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:54:27 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2131 It’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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/the-wire-game-day/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/my-odd-genre-combination-technothrillers-and-family-sagas/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/my-odd-genre-combination-technothrillers-and-family-sagas/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:33:09 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2121 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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/my-odd-genre-combination-technothrillers-and-family-sagas/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/dogmas-of-the-left-and-right-in-america/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/dogmas-of-the-left-and-right-in-america/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:01:14 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2119 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

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]]> http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/a-phone-that-tells-you-when-youre-sad/feed/ 0 http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/if-the-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-mated-with-ursula-from-the-little-mermaid/ http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/2012/02/if-the-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-mated-with-ursula-from-the-little-mermaid/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:00:51 +0000 petera http://www.peteranthonybooks.com/?p=2109 …you’d get Lady Gaga at the 2012 Grammys.

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