"How to Tell New Teachers"

...is my latest poem published in The Orange Room Review. Thanks again to editors Corey and Rachael Cook.

VCR Alert: "Ice Queen", "Meltdown"

If you missed the JAG episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", which served as the back-door pilot for NCIS, USA is running them back-to-back tomorrow from 7:00 to 9:00 AM. I believe this is the first time they'll be shown in syndication.

UPDATE: When Gibbs and crew were introduced in the backdrop of JAG, they seemed like slick intruders. Now, watching the two-parter for the first time in four years, it plays as just another case for NCIS. Of course Gibbs would suspect Harm. Of course Tony would banter with his squared-away female teammate. Of course Ducky would go off on tangents. Of course Abby would squirm in her "court clothes." Bellisario's vision for the show and the team's dynamic was in place from the beginning and hasn't flagged.

It's a kick to see Gibbs, Tony, Abby, and Ducky interact with Harm, Mac, Bud, Coates, and Chegwidden.

English Subtitled in English

It's hard enough for English-only speakers to understand other languages; subtitling accented English erodes comprehension instincts even further. It's the latest on my list of banes of civilization. Feel free to comment with yours.

I've Finally Seen: BRICK (2005)

...And I like almost everything about it: the casting, the pacing, the music, the feel. I only had a problem with the dialog. Brick is clearly an homage to detective noir, but I wanted the dialog to sound like high school kids talking, not 40s slicksters.

Maybe the point is that outsiders don't understand kidspeak. I can accept that. I especially liked the scene wherein The Pin's mother serves Brendan apple juice. She is so far from and oblivious to the world right under her feet.

"Heather be thy name."

Zap2it.com reports on an ABC pilot starring Heather Locklear. Of course I'll be watching.

ANDY BARKER, RAINES Week 2

Andy Barker was a bit less funny this week, but still solid and watchable.

I'm not sure I like knowing that Raines's visions of dead people aren't ghosts but figments of his imagination fleshed out as he learns more. It isn't all that different from what any cop does, yet it seems gimmicky as presented. I have a better feel for Raines's brand of humor, though it still seems out of step with the show's overall somber tone as evidenced by its main title sequence and theme music.

Added to the cast this week was Madeleine Stowe as Raines's psychiatrist. It's good to see her again. I was pretty sure Raines would lose going head-to-head with CBS's Shark Thursday nights. Apparently NBC anticipated the same thing. Next week Raines moves to Fridays at 9:00 PM.

Laura Lippman Day

Declared by Jim Winter, today is Laura Lippman Appreciation Day. As with Bruen Day, I fail to see the point. Laura's friends and fans are legion.

Her first Tess Monaghan book, Baltimore Blues, was featured on DetecToday in 2002, but, at the time, I'd read mostly first-person P.I. novels. I found third-person novels harder to get into in general and thus delayed my appreciation of Laura's work a few years.

Then, two summers ago, I found my mood had changed. I read Baltimore Blues in a few days and felt the same enthusiasm for Tess and Lippman's style that I'd felt for Robert Parker, Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and others whose work I'd zipped through like an amusement park ride. Tess was the kind of character I wouldn't mind spending eight or ten books with, but I also liked Laura's standalone novels. Precisely because she wrote in third-person, it was easier to shed Tess when I had to and appreciate another of her protags.

I'm glad my reading tastes have broadened enough to enjoy Laura's work, and with each book she continues to push her imagination and descriptive abilities the way Tess pushes herself in her rowing routine.

Studio Briefing: Shatner, Age 26, To Appear With Shatner, Age 76

Producers of Boston Legal plan to use footage from a 1957 Studio One drama, The Defenders, featuring William Shatner, for an April 3 episode. In the old-time episode Shatner's character Denny Crane comes face-to-face with a hostage taker, who has nursed a grudge against him stemming from a court case 50 years earlier. (The original drama also featured a then unknown actor credited as Steven McQueen. No word whether the McQueen footage will also make it into the Boston Legal episode.) The Defenders video was recently found in storage at the former Westinghouse Corporation, which sponsored Studio One, and is available on DVD.

KNOCK, Who's There?

Editor Bryan Tomasovich of KNOCK has accepted my poem "Snowball" for Issue #7 due out in May.

"Seedlings" and "Stars"

...are my two poems available in the Spring 2007 issue of ken*again. Thanks to editor John Delin.

Justice League Animated News

The final 13 episodes of Justice League Unlimited are out today on DVD, but thanks to a pre-order I received the set yesterday. JLU producers had more or less wrapped the show with the U.S. government turning against the League and the ensuing battle. No one expected Cartoon Network to ask for these additional 13 episodes, but the staff had a chance to geek out.

My favorite episode is "The Great Brain Robbery," in which Dr. Fate inadvertently causes The Flash's mind to be switched with Lex Luthor's. This gave Michael Rosenbaum a chance to play Luthor as adult in Flash's body, and let Clancy Brown do his impression of Rosenbaum's Wally West.

Just when I was lamenting JLU's passing, I saw word of the direct-to-DVD Justice League: The New Frontier. The following is from Wikipedia:

Justice League: The New Frontier adapts Cooke's award-winning mini-series DC: The New Frontier. Set in the 1950s, the story bridges the gap between the Golden and Silver Ages of comics in the DC Universe. The film will focus heavily on two main stars, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) and the Martian Manhunter. However, dozens of DC characters could potentially appear, echoing the book's huge cast. "We are going to honor as many characters as possible," Noveck confirms. "The decision has been made, however, that where the story calls for it, we are not going to have just a random 'Joe Blow.' It will be somebody." Also central to the story will be Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman -all of whom played major parts in the mini-series- are expected to play a part in the film.

So far the only characters confirmed are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and Robin. It was revealed in an interview with Phil Morris (who is playing King Faraday in the film) that Neil Patrick Harris will be playing Flash. Ain't It Cool News reported that David Boreanaz will voice Hal Jordan, and Brooke Shields will voice Carol Ferris.[3]

IMDb lists Kyle MacLachlan voicing Clark Kent/Superman

"Look, up in the sky..."

It's the most fun I've ever had on the Internet. Thanks, Patti.

Top o' the Mornin'

Spent a good portion o' the mornin' shoveling my driveway, which was covered in a thick coat of ice that even my best winter shoes slipped on. My goal was to make a path to our mailbox. I should say where our mailbox should have been were it not blown off its post. It's happened a few times this winter, and until we have the time to put up a new box, we've held the current one in place with duct tape. (Thank you, MacGyver.) Mail is, after all, a writer's best friend.

I didn't make it to the mailbox, but I got close enough that the mailman parked his truck and handed me the mail. My work here is done.

A salute to my favorite Irish writers, Jeremiah Healy, Gregory Mcdonald, William Trevor, Ken Bruen, and Robert B. Parker.

Ripped from the Headlines

Zap2it.com reports on upcoming Law & Order: Criminal Intent episodes that mirror the Anna Nicole Smith and Astronaut Love Triangle stories.

Last Night in Crimetime TV

I watched Andy Barker, P.I. starring Andy Richter as a strip mall accountant mistaken for a private eye. Good fun, comedic yet refreshingly earnest. The show was followed by Raines with Jeff Goldblum as a cop haunted by murder victims. It has potential (gulp), but I don't have a feel for its tone yet. I like Goldblum for unexpected comedy in general, but at times Raines seemed so low-key that when he made a joke, I'd go, "Oh, that was a joke."

I'll keep my eye on the ratings. Midseason replacements really have to make a splash.

Smallville: "Promise"

Probably the best, most heart-wrenching episode of the season, full of viewpoint and time trickery that actually works to make events more suspenseful, earned, and important.

Let's get the big news out of the way: Knowing Clark's secrets full well, Lana still marries Lex. The reason she does shows the depth of her love for Clark. And just when you thought Lionel might side with Clark against Lex, he shows himself to be not just evil, but more evil than you could possibly imagine.

Cryptic much? Watch and be astounded.

Yancy Butler

The AP reports Yancy Butler has been charged with driving under the influence after crashing her Saab 900 into a wire guard rail in Connecticut. She was also charged Tuesday with with failure to drive in the established lane.

This is the latest in a line of troubles for Yancy, one of my favorite actresses since she played Eve Edison, android partner to an L.A. cop (David Andrews) in Mann and Machine. She went on to play a thief forced into government service by a shady character played by John Glover in South Beach (1993). Best known for the TNT series Witchblade, she was also in Hard Target with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Drop Zone with Wesley Snipes. Spenser fans may remember her as Frank Belson's wife in A&E's adaptation of Thin Air.

Call for Nominations: 2007 storySouth Million Writers Award

Editor Jason Sandford announces:

The 2007 storySouth Million Writers Award for best online fiction, sponsored by Edit Red, is now open for nominations. Readers and writers may nominate one story published in an online magazine or journal during 2006, while editors may nominate up to three stories published in their magazines during that time.

Nominations will be accepted until April 15. On May 1, the notable stories of the year will be released (as selected by a group of preliminary judges). The top ten stories of the year will be released on May 15, at which time public voting for the overall winner will begin.

As a result of Edit Red's sponsorship, the award features a $300 prize for the overall winner and $50 memberships to Edit Red for each of the authors of the top ten stories of the year.

Complete information, including how to nominate a story, is available at http://www.storysouth.com/millionwriters.html

Jason Sanford
editor
storySouth

For the best writing from the new south, read storySouth at http://www.storysouth.com

Studio Briefing: Superman Promises More Action Next Time Around

Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in last year's franchise revival Superman Returns, has indicated that the producers of the next sequel were sensitive to audience and critical complaints that the film lacked sufficient action sequences. In an interview with the online edition of Britain's Empire magazine, Routh said that the last man-of-steel movie was formulated so that it would show Superman's love for Lois Lane and villain Lex Luthor using that against him. "I just know that in the next film there will be a lot of action and I'm gonna get to fight something, or someone. An enemy with real physical power might be worked in there, definitely." Routh provided no details, saying only that the sequel was about to begin pre-production "so there's a lot of ideas in the air and a lot of discussion about what's going to happen with it. I promise a lot of excitement."

Excuse me, but Superman Returns had enough action. What it lacked was play on the dilemma of Superman and Clark Kent being the same person. The promise of more action doesn't bode well for what I'd like to see: more of Clark juggling his desire to assimilate into humanity and his duty to serve humanity but, in so doing, stand apart.

High (Definition) Anxiety

When his monitor suddenly refused to carry the HD display from his PlayStation 3, my brother decided it was time to buy an HD TV set, On Saturday, he exchanged our digital cable box for an HD box, which then failed to pick up our channel lineup.

The rest of the family had obligations Sunday, so I was left to wait for the Cablevision tech, who determined the HD signal was generally weak on our block. Repairs were conducted for most of Monday while I waited for UPS to deliver the HD set.

Yesterday my time was my own once more, so I wrote poem, caught up on sleep, and watched Casino Royale on DVD. As you might expect, though, my TV-sense was thrown off and I forgot NCIS would be a rerun.

With my evening suddenly free, I joined Crimespace. If you enjoy this blog you're probably the closest thing I have to a friend on the Interweb, so feel free to carry it over there. And if you find any Easter eggs on the Royale DVD, let me know.

Ken Bruen Day

When Sandra Ruttan declared this Ken Bruen Appreciation Day, I didn't see the point. I mean, enough people appreciate Ken to fill several months. In fact, before I'd read a word of his work, I'd heard what a warm, welcoming, great guy Ken was. I'd seen his blurbs bursting with praise for other writer's books. I thought, It's gotta be too good to be true.

And then I met Ken at a signing of Bust with Jason Starr. As soon as we were introduced, Ken's eyes lit up and he shook my hand and I could see it was true. Despite everything he's been through, all the bleakness he writes about, his warmth and good nature remain.

Here's to you, Ken.

So You Want to Write

A friend of Dave White's posted a chapter on the Web for comment and critique. In light of the first few comments, Dave offered some advice on constructive criticism.

Graham Powell commented:

My own opinion is that a critic needs to point out the flaws in a piece of writing, but gently. Flaws can be fixed with more experience, but if the writer gets so discouraged they quit, well, that's

THE END

I commented:

IMO, beginning writers shouldn't post their work where anyone and everyone can read and comment on it. Not everyone is interested in helping the writer; not everyone knows what constructive criticism is.

The best reader is someone the writer respects, who knows when to be hard on the writer.

I agree with Graham that critics need not be absolutely brutal; however, if the writer gets so discouraged he quits, he never had what it takes to be a writer.

Six more words

Just checked S.J. Rozan's Six-Word Stories site and saw that another of my entries won yesterday. Thanks, S.J.

Linda Fiorentino Update

Fiorentino in Where the Money Is

Linda Fiorentino's birthday has rolled around again and a check of IMDb shows that since her last on-camera role in 2002, she's been seen at functions for the Democratic party, splitting her time between New York City and Westport, Connecticut. She has the voice role of Sammy the Giraffe in Madagascar 2, and is looking to produce/direct a few projects. Good luck to her.

"Some believe that there may yet be bloggers of man..."

Late last night, James R. Winter blogged his story for Blog Project 3, "Lady Jade," which he admits is about twice the word limit, but it's good to see a story from him.

John Stickney posted his story, "Just Another Wiseguy", on Monday afternoon, during a gap in my Web search. Sorry I missed you, John.

Crime Scene Scotland editor Russel D. McLean thought he was last to post Monday afternoon with "Nobody's Listening".

And having received the wrong deadline by e-mail, Lyman Feero checked in this afternoon with "Constructing Eugene: A Profile".

With the participation of 23 authors, I am ever more convinced the project needs a name. Thank you, one and all.

Speaking of Blog Stories

The following is excerpted from Courtney Potter's (Zap2it.com) description of tonight's Crossing Jordan:

A serial killer uses his online blog to taunt Nigel (Steve Valentine) with information that leads to a crime scene. As Woody (Jerry O'Connell), Kate (guest star Brooke Smith) and Nigel try to piece the clues together from the victims' own bodies, the killer challenges Nigel to find the next potential victim before it's too late. Meanwhile, Jordan (Jill Hennessy) and Bug (Ravi Kapoor) are forced to audit old files for William Ivers (guest star Jeffrey Donovan), and they find a mistake that may have sent an innocent man to prison.

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield..."

Anthony Rainone spreads the word that Marvel is killing off Captain America in today's issue. I was a big Cap fan growing up, thanks to Reb Brown's 1970s TV portrayal, and a daily cartoon that showed the Hulk, Submariner, Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man. I even watched the 1992 movie with Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, and Matt (son of J.D.) Salinger as Cap,

I mellowed on Cap when I realized his abilities were the result of his voluntarily taking a serum. (Can you say "performance enhancement"?) Still, I'm sorry to see Cap go. Then again, his second run in the comics was the result of The Avengers thawing WWII-era Cap out of stasis.

When in doubt, blog it out.

Bill Crider blogged FOXNews.com's report of a U.S. Army drill instructor accused of forcing a depressed trainee to dress up as Superman and submit to sexual abuse.

Disgusting if true—even moreso to Superman fans—but it brought to mind a Navy SEAL running cadence that, conversely, I quite enjoy:

Superman is the Man of Steel,
But he ain't no match for a Navy SEAL.

Chief and Supes got in a fight,
Chief hit Supes with some kryptonite.

Supes fell down to his knees in pain,
Now Chief's dating Lois Lane.

Back to Buffy

www.latimes.com reports on a comic-book eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer spearheaded by creator Joss Whedon and several of the show's writers.

Name Game

The first blog story project was nicknamed "Junk in the Trunk". The second, about items sold at police auctions, was called "Going Twice". True the third may not need a tag since the stories had to do with blogging, but Blog Project 3 to me sounds too much like Untitled Woody Allen Fall Project.

I invite you to comment with more creative names for the project, and Bryon and Dave can decide which they think works best. My suggestion is "Blogging For Trouble".

Quertermous-White Blog Project III

Below is my contribution to Bryon Quertermous and Dave White's third blog short story project. This time around, the stories had to be 1,000 words or less and blogging had to be part of the plot.


Confession of a Spenser Fan

by Gerald So

Still soaked from the early morning rain, holding his Cuban coffee as if it were elixir, Lt. Ben Cavett, Miami-Dade Homicide, rapped on the door to Interview Room 1. Sgt. Martin Braugher let him in.

Cavett swatted the rain from his eyes, slicked his hair back, and whispered to Braugher, "This the guy?"

Braugher nodded. "All in the file. Gent's been damn cooperative, too. Could've taken his confession myself, but you know, I wanted to go by the book."

"I appreciate that."

Cavett set down his coffee cup and scanned the file on the table. "Paul Sutherland, presumed killed in a Lake Champlain housefire, 1996. Fire was ruled a cover for the murders of your wife and daughter, followed by your suicide." Cavett paused for effect. "You want to take it from there?"

In contrast to the file photo, Sutherland was clean-shaven, his blond hair going white. The gold-rimmed glasses would have made him look distinguished if not for the bags under his eyes. Being handcuffed didn't seem to bother him. "I came to Miami for a convention," he said with traces of a British accent.

Cavett checked the file. "Sleuthfest?"

"I'm a big mystery buff."

"Big enough to come back from the dead?"

"If you read mysteries, you'd understand."

"I prefer romances," Cavett said.

Sutherland smiled despite himself.

"So you attended the convention as a fan?" Cavett asked.

"That's right."

"You didn't come stalking Stu Truly?"

"Absolutely not. His books are too cozy for my taste."

"Cozy?"

"Little onstage violence, more leisured pace as opposed to hardboiled."

Cavett was about to ask what hardboiled meant when Braugher leaned down and whispered, "Mike Hammer."

"So," Cavett said, "you weren't a fan with boundary issues."

"No."

"And you weren't so annoyed with his work—"

"—that I had to kill him? Please."

"Yet you confessed to the arresting officers you did kill him."

"They caught me in his hotel room red-handed, so to speak."

"That's what I don't get," Cavett said. "You beat on him with a cane, then dally to hack into his laptop?"

It was straight from the arrest report. Truth stranger than fiction.

"Not his computer," Sutherland said, "so much as his blog. I wanted his password but he wouldn't, and then couldn't, give it up."

Cavett knew what a blog was, barely.

On a department-issue laptop, Braugher surfed the Web to Truly's blog. Cavett scanned the site and saw nothing special. "Pretty tame."

"As I said, I wasn't a fan, but Truly liked to travel with his digital camera, do impromptu interviews, take pictures."

"So?"

"He would post the pictures to his blog."

"And?"

"One of the people he talked to was Robert Parker."

Cavett blinked. "Robert L. Parker. Miami-Dade Police."

"Robert B. Parker." Cavett could see Sutherland wrack his brain for a reference even a full-time cop might know. "Spenser: For Hire?"

Cavett passed a hand over his head and whistled.

Sutherland's face flushed. He spoke like a teacher to a slow student. "I edged a little too close as Truly took Parker's picture. I had to see if I was in the shot."

Cavett snapped his fingers for show. "Because if someone saw you, they might realize you were a millionaire who should have died eight years ago?"

"I'd have made the connection."

Cavett scrolled the dead man's blog. "I don't see any pictures for the past two weeks."

"I still had to break in. It's possible to set a post to appear automatically at a later date."

Cavett squinted, shrugged. "I'll take your word for it," he said.



###

Notes

I had some dental work done back on February 17, and in the wee hours of February 18 I found myself not in pain but unable to sleep, so I got to work on this story. My two main influences were lateral thinking puzzles (e.g. "A man is photographed with one of his favorite authors. The next day, the man is arrested. What happened?") and the story "Glycerine" by Brian Thornton wherein Homeland Security detains an attendee of Left Coast Crime.

Stumbling on the fact that the Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department is Robert L. Parker, I set my story at Sleuthfest 2004, actually attended by Robert B. Parker.

Thanks to my advance readers, fellow Spenser fans John Ricotta and Brian Thornton.


###

Others Tackle the Topic

Patricia Abbott - "RE: University Protocol on Incidents of Student Plagiarism"

Steve Allan - "Take That, You Prick"

Bill Crider - "The Sunshine of My Wife"

John DuMond - "The Truth Hurts"

JT Ellison - "Bits and Pieces"

Lyman Feero - "Constructing Eugene: A Profile"

Paul Guyot - "As I Lay Dying"

Daniel Hatadi - "Dumped"

Mike MacLean - "How Does It Feel?"

Russel D. McLean - "Nobody's Listening"

Christa M. Miller - "Blogging a Fantasy"

David J. Montgomery - "AmberSki77"

Karen E. Olson - "Smoking Gun"

Bryon Quertermous - "I Am Not Paul Avery"

Anthony Rainone - "Burning Down The House"

JD Rhoades - "Flame War"

John Rickards - "Your Friends"

Stephen D. Rogers - "Comments Enabled"

John Stickney - "Just Another Wiseguy"

Pari Noskin Taichert - "The Cat's Meow"

Dave White - "The Best Blog Story...Ever"

James R. Winter - "Lady Jade" (approx. 2,000 words)

Kay Lenz

Two-time Emmy-winner Kay Lenz turns 54 today. I'll always remember her as high-priced defense attorney Maggie Zombro on Reasonable Doubts. A formidable adversary for Tess Kaufman (Marlee Matlin), Maggie grew into a love interest for Kaufman's investigator Dicky Cobb (Mark Harmon).

Chewing the Fat

The periodontist cleared me to go back to my normal diet, so I went to lunch at Don Filippo's in Carle Place with my brother Henry and his friends from work, James and Albert. To begin, I tore a garlic knot into several bite-sized morsels. I ducked the bruschetta appetizer and ordered linguini with red clam sauce.

One of the staff at Don Filippo's recognized Henry as a cantor at our church. Cool.

After lunch, we went back to the house and headed down to Henry's media room, or as James calls it, The Batcave, and Albert showed off his Nintendo Wii, James showed off his Dell laptop (as powerful as my desktop), and Henry showed of his PlayStation 3. Great to have a chance to try systems I can't afford.

I'll get over you...I know I will.

Posting to the Killer Year blog, Dave White writes:

So, I’ve been really happy lately. I have a good job, a book coming out, and all sorts of other good things happening. I’ve been literally walking around with a goofy smile on my face for the last few months. Like big and dorky and goofy.

Is this a good thing for my writing?

I mean, have you read my Jackson Donne stories? Or any of my stories for that matter? They aren’t happy or upbeat or chipper. They’re pretty dark and depressing. Jackson Donne rarely–if ever–gets a happy ending. And my best stories–”Closure”/”My Father’s Gun”–were written in a haze of anger and sadness. WHEN ONE MAN DIES was written during a year where my love life basically went to hell.

And now… things are good. Too good...

I commented:

You make it sound as if whatever you’re feeling in the moment can’t help but bleed into your writing. That may be true at the earliest stages of brainstorming, but as you polish your writing, it becomes more planned, and you can avoid the gushing that may occur when you speak off-the-cuff, in the heat of a moment.

I don’t have to be in a mood to write unless you count my recalling when I felt a certain way, putting myself back in that mood, and then writing. In general, I find I can’t write about emotional situations unless I’ve already moved past those situations and can reflect on them objectively.

LICENCE TO KILL (1989)

Daniel Craig turns 39 today, and by coincidence I've just re-watched Timothy Dalton's second and last Bond film. While I would say Goldfinger is the best Bond movie, Licence to Kill was my second favorite until last year's Casino Royale. Dalton brought the hard edge and gravitas everyone now likes in Craig's portrayal. The movie also had a high stakes, personal plot: Against M's orders, Bond goes after the drug lord who killed Felix Leiter's new bride and turned a shark loose on Leiter, leaving him for dead.

The supporting cast was strong, led by Robert Davi as the no-nonsense, sadistic Franz Sanchez, Carey Lowell as the independent and well-armed CIA pilot Pam Bouvier, Talisa Soto as Sanchez's woman looking to break away, a young Benicio Del Toro as Sanchez's protege, and least but not least, Desmond Llewelyn in an extended role as Q come to aid 007 off the books.

I was fourteen when the movie hit theaters, the first Bond I could fully appreciate. It seemed much of the audience didn't share my opinion at the time, allowing me to think of Licence to Kill as my Bond movie.

Get Underground

Poetry Editor Marie Lecrivain of Get Underground has accepted my poem "Prince Chow Mein".

By Request

Here's looking at you, K.I.T.T.