NCIS: LOS ANGELES: "Blye, K."

NCIS: LOS ANGELES has probed characters' pasts before, in the similarly-titled episodes "Callen, G." and "Lange, H." After this episode, I believe Kensi—established as tough-minded with sniper and hand-to-hand training to match—has the richest emotional past of all. Every episode of this type tries to leave you empathizing more deeply with the character in focus. Not every episode succeeds as "Blye, K." did, in my opinion the best of the series so far. Kudos to Daniela Ruah.

Leap Day

As this day only comes every four years, I figure it's a great day to blog. I've always thought it should be celebrated with a QUANTUM LEAP marathon.

Speaking of which, another of my favorite episodes reran yesterday, "Sea Bride". Sam leaps into Phillip Dumont, who after years presumed lost at sea, returns to stop his onetime fiancee, Catherine (Beverly Leech, a.k.a. Kate Monday of MATHNET), from marrying a mobster. Sam is aided by Catherine's younger sister Jennifer (Juliet Sorci). It's one of several good episodes written by Don Bellisario's ex-wife, Deborah Pratt.

WHITE COLLAR Preview: "Judgment Day"

Today on Crimespree Magazine's blog, I preview tomorrow night's WHITE COLLAR season finale. Thanks again to Crimespree Entertainment Editor Jeremy Lynch and USA Network.

At The 5-2: "Through Pink-Tinged Glasses" by Hal Sirowitz

The 5-2's month of love- and passion-themed poems concludes with a poem by former Poet Laureate of Queens Hal Sirowitz, kindly recorded by Bob Holman. Enjoy.

And a few reminders:

The deadline to enter the NoirCon 2012 Poetry Contest is this Thursday, March 2. The contest features cash prizes of $250 and $150, and the top ten poems as judged by Robert Polito will be published in the NoirCon 2012 program, which resembles a vintage paperback. I hear the deadline may be extended, but to be safe, have your entries postmarked by March 2.

The deadline to be considered for April publication at The 5-2 is March 15. March 15 is also the last day to sign up for the 30 Days of The 5-2 blog tour and be included in the tour schedule that will be publicized on Criminal Element in late March.

I look forward to hearing from you.

A New Criminal Element

Today on the crime and mystery news site Criminal Element, I have a post about crime poetry and the upcoming 30 Days of The 5-2 blog tour.

If you'd like to join the tour, prepare a blog entry about your favorite 5-2 poem, and post it on a day of your choice in April, National Poetry Month. If you don't have your own blog, I can host your entry at The 5-2.

#verseday Sacrifice

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, February 23. My topic this week is sacrifice.

Write a poem based on any interpretation of sacrifice by noon Friday, February 24.

THE BIG BANG THEORY Re-imagined as FIREFLY by Artist Megan Levens

I saw Megan Levens' drawing (cropped and resized below) on Zap2it.com:

I think the characters would match better with Leonard as Mal, Raj as Simon, Penny as Inara, and Amy as River. The rest of Megan's casting works for me.

Taken with the drawing, I clicked over to a video interview of Megan, who's also known for the web comic Somewhere in Between.

WHITE COLLAR Preview: "Stealing Home"

Today on Crimespree Magazine's blog, I preview tomorrow night's WHITE COLLAR, "Stealing Home".

At The 5-2: "Delicious Sins" by Robert Cooperman

Enjoy.

In other news, I'm still deciding on the order of 5-2 poems for April, National Poetry Month. Submit by March 15 to be in the running. I'm also looking for a few good bloggers to fill out the 30 Days of The 5-2 blog tour, including someone to start the tour on April 1 (No fooling).

Also on April 1, I'm pleased to bring to your Kindles and Nooks an ebook version of The Lineup #3, reprinting the work of seventeen of the original nineteen poets, for $2.99. And, though two poets chose not to have their work in the ebook, the complete Lineup #3 can still be printed on demand at Lulu.com for $7.00 + S & H.

UPDATE: Now through February 23, use Lulu coupon code SWEET305 to take 20% off print orders of The Lineup.

#verseday Photographs

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, February 16. My topic this week is photographs.

Write a poem based on a photograph or photographs by noon Friday, February 17.

THE COMEDY IS FINISHED by Donald E. Westlake

Not only have I been reading a galley of this novel, due out February 21 from Hard Case Crime, but I've also read up on how it came to be published. Westlake (best known for the hard-boiled caper novels he wrote under the name Richard Stark, and for the humorous Dortmunder novels) had difficulty placing The Comedy Is Finished, which strikes me as somewhere between Parker and Dortmunder in tone.

Though aging comedian Koo Davis is at the center of the novel, it's a kidnap thriller that breaks into multiple viewpoints, allowing Westlake to explore the attitudes of the time in the personas of Koo, his kidnappers, and the lawmen working to rescue him.

The first Hard Case Crime novel I read was a reissue of Westlake's 361. It, too, was different from everything else I'd read by him. I don't know that The Comedy Is Finished would have been published during Westlake's lifetime, or that readers would have appreciated it during his lifetime. I think it has more impact now, as a companion piece to his better known work.

We Meet Again At Last

Ah, the dreaded day that saps romance of all spontaneity. 'Nuff said?

In eight years of blogging, I've told just about all of my unlucky-in-love anecdotes, but here's one that puzzles me to this day.

At my eighth-grade graduation dance, my sights were set on a girl I'd crushed on for four years. As I worked up the nerve to approach her, another girl asked me to dance. I put out my hands in acceptance, but she ran away crying.

Up to then, she and I had been friendly, but I hadn't been asked to dance much before. I regret if my gesture somehow signaled disinterest or reluctance. I didn't get the chance to ask or explain.

If you'd like six wry stories of love for your Kindle or Nook, buy my ebook Call Me Cupid. If poetry is more your bag, there's my collection We Might Have.

At The 5-2: "Sweet-Talk Me on Valentine's Day" by Clarinda Harriss

A month of love- and passion-themed poetry continues. I thought Clarinda Harriss's poem perfect for the coveted Valentine's week slot. Enjoy.

Meanwhile, many dates are still open for the 30 Days of The 5-2 blog tour. Join us and promote poetry reading/writing in April, National Poetry Month.

Whitney Houston

No matter how far stars have fallen, it's a shock when they flame out. I can't think of Whitney Houston without hearing her once-in-a-generation voice at its peak, without remembering how my 6th grade teacher—who inspired my choice of colleges—wanted "The Greatest Love of All" as her wedding song and invited the class to her wedding to sing it. Ultimately, she was told she couldn't use the song at the ceremony, but rehearsing it was a memory. I didn't attend the wedding, but I made up for it by going to college.

No one knows yet what led to Whitney's death, but I regret she didn't preserve her voice. That my mind has preserved it is truly a gift.

My personal favorite Whitney song is "Saving All My Love For You".

Living Vicariously Through Jeremy Lin

I had high hopes for the Knicks going into this season. I thought Carmelo and Amar'e would play better being together from the beginning. The lack of a true point guard was a glaring weakness, though. The team signed mercurial veteran Baron Davis, but he's been sidelined by injury the whole season. Carmelo has three nagging injuries that have kept him out of the last few games, and Amar'e has been away from the team mourning his older brother's death.

In the midst of all this, 23-year-old point guard Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese player out of Harvard, has emerged to help the team win its last five games. A proficient scorer and passer with an understanding of angles, Lin steadies the Knicks' offensive attack. They are also playing better team defense.

It remains to be seen whether Lin will gel with Carmelo and Amar'e when they return, but analysts point out that putting more defensive pressure on Lin leaves his teammates open for easier shots.

Lin's story means even more to me as an Asian American who grew up loving team basketball.

HOUSE Ending After Eight Seasons

Zap2it.com's Rick Porter reports on FOX's announcement yesterday that medical drama House would end this spring.

I caught up with House when the Season 1 DVD set was released. I liked the unexpected way House related to patients and colleagues. I appreciated the puzzle-solving each episode. When House's brilliance had been established, it seemed the writers made up personal challenges to throw his way: a tough cop who pushed back against House's bullying, a rift between House and his original team, a rift between House and Wilson...

House's personality is definitely one of the show's strengths, but overemphasizing personality leads to melodrama, such as House turning the hiring process into a game of Survivor, House toying with Cuddy's private investigator boyfriend, House crashing a car into Cuddy's house.

By all means, shows should run as long as they can, but often that means I lose interest two seasons before the end.

#verseday Lost Love

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, February 9. My topic this week is lost love.

Write a poem about a lost love by noon Friday, February 10.

After NCIS's 200th Episode

The entry title is almost enough to warn you that there are spoilers ahead for NCIS's 200th episode.


Shortly after walking into a diner, Gibbs draws his weapon to confront a hooded figure. Uncharacteristically, Gibbs hesitates and gets shot, sending his life spooling out before his eyes. At the same diner, now bathed in white light, Gibbs' mentor Mike Franks (deceased) asks why he hesitated.

This set off an hour of Gibbs questioning pivotal decisions in his life, an excuse for the retrospective we expect from a touchstone episode. "Life Before His Eyes" didn't rely on archive footage, though. It actually brought back previous cast and recurring characters to play out how their lives might have gone differently.

For instance, what if Gibbs had seen Ari and flushed him out before he had a chance to kill Kate with a headshot? The episode postulates that Tony and Kate would have married and had a child. What if Shannon hadn't testified in Pedro Hernandez's trial for murder? The episode postulates that Shannon and Kelly would have survived and Gibbs would have stayed in the Corps and died for his country, widowing Shannon. All interesting scenarios, but by no means set in stone. There's no way to say with high-definition certainty how one change would have affected the long term.

Gee. I guess it's a good thing I killed my wife's killer in cold blood, or I'd be a basket case living in my basement.

I did appreciate the ending that showed Gibbs hesitated because the hooded figure was the son of a man who, like Gibbs, had done wrong for the "right" reasons. The shot that sent Gibbs's life reeling turned out to be a glance off his shoulder, not serious enough to bench him for long, if at all. (Balloon deflating.)

For many shows, a long run means eventually there's nothing fresh to do. I wish more shows would see it as an opportunity to take chances as it's likely viewers would come along.

Before NCIS's 200th Episode

An hour from now, NCIS will air its 200th episode. I've been there from the beginning. Actually, I've been there before the beginning if you count "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown", the two backdoor episodes in JAG Season 8. I recall how different those episodes were in imagery, pace, and tone. They made me watch.

When Sasha Alexander asked out of her contract in Season 2, NCIS became known for killing off popular characters, following Kate Todd's death with Paula Cassidy's (Jessica Steen) and Jenny Shepard's (Lauren Holly). Since mid-Season 8, though, I haven't feared for any main character's life. Gibbs, who began as a hard-charging yet flawed character, has rounded off into a familiar heroic lead. It's all very comfortable, and could still be comfortable for years.

NCIS's rise to #1 scripted show and its ability to stay there for three seasons is seen as an achievement, but never before have I liked the most popular shows. I can't zone out and just watch anything. I have to be challenged. I have to be moved. I don't know that NCIS can do that anymore.

Deja Blue

My friend John Ricotta invited me to watch the Super Bowl with some of his extended family in Woodside, Queens. I've known the Hekimian-Ricotta clan for sixteen years now, but I hadn't seen many of them in five years, since they threw a surprise birthday party for John.

John's father ordered plenty of food and drink, including pulled pork, American and Italian heroes, chicken wings, macaroni and cheese, and baked ziti. A good time was had by all, especially since the Giants came back in the fourth quarter to top the Patriots again.

I'm not the biggest football fan, and I'm not into commercials or halftime shows, either. I most enjoyed seeing how the family had grown and remained close.

My favorite commercial was Clint Eastwood's halftime ad for Chrysler. I didn't realize it was an ad at the time. Having stepped out for a bite to eat, I thought Clint was giving an off-the-cuff speech, a very moving one at that.

At The 5-2: "Enter the Sandman..." by Nyla Alisia

This week at The 5-2, the first of four love- or passion-themed crime poems in February, "Enter the Sandman: 31S love affair".

Also, many dates are still open for the 30 Days of The 5-2 April blog tour.

#verseday Football

#verseday is a Twitter hashtag I came up with to promote poetry writing. I invite Twitter people to suggest poetry topics by noon Eastern each Thursday. Participants must then draft poems by noon Eastern Friday. The resulting poems can be submitted anywhere.

Even if you've never written a poem before, you're invited. Taking the time to think poetically can help your creativity on other projects. If you'd like to participate, tweet your topics, tagged #verseday, by noon Thursday, February 3. My topic this week is football.

Write a poem about football by noon Friday, February 3.

30 Days of The 5-2 Blog Tour

Last year, we had a blog tour to promote The Lineup #4 through April, National Poetry Month. I'm planning a similar tour this April, including five Monday stops at The 5-2.

All dates are open as of now except these five Mondays (April 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th). If you'd like to participate, pick your favorite 5-2 poem so far, and prepare an entry to post to your blog on an April date of your choice. If you don't have your own blog but would like to participate, e-mail me your entry and I'll post it to The 5-2.

The content and format of your entry are up to you. Expound on why you like the poem, interview the poet, whatever you'd like to do.

E-mail g_so AT yahoo DOT com to book a tour date, and I'll fill it in on the tour schedule.

Also, I have yet to choose the 5-2 poems for April. I expect the site will get more visitors for National Poetry Month, but I have the same high standards for the April poems as for any on the site. Submit today.