« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
May 31, 2006
Season Wrap-Up
Given how difficult it can be coordinating schedules, we only just finished the finales for the series we have watched as a family. All except Alias that is. We have an entire season to enjoy over the summer so no comments there.
I’ll presume you’ve seen these by now so will discuss without concern over spoilers.
West Wing
It was no Sorkin. The series ended nobly and they went out of their way during the final handful of episodes to make sure all the recurring characters got a moment of screen time. Still, some obvious bits of business were ignored. Given how Bartlet was grooming Sam for an eventual presidential run, a moment between them should have been found (and it also means Sam going back into litigation made no sense). That sense of awe the White House and trappings of executive power was nicely highlight for the John Wells-era characters such as Mrs. Santos and Ronna the new secretary. But, we also ended with Josh and Santos in the Oval Office doing work and it felt time to go.
Gilmore Girls
Amy Sherman-Palladino probably suspected the WB wasn’t going to renew her contract and whipped things into a fine froth in the finale. The Rory-Logan relationship has matured nicely and she’s been a lot more steadfast than before, showing a nice development. She’s is definitely still her mother’s daughter while making choices that are uniquely her own. The series still veers into the absurd more often than it should as seen by Lane’s wedding. Also, Luke feels incredibly out of character as he is willing to put April ahead of Lorelei so finding her in Christopher’s bed also felt wrong. I hope the new show runners make sense out of all this and bring things to a more satisfying conclusion in what is likely to be the final season.
Smallville
The producers must surely miss the fine writing of Jeph Loeb and Mark Verheiden because the soap opera this season was overwrought. Even killing Jonathan Kent could have been handled better. The entire Brainiac/Prof. Fine story arc made no sense whatsoever as it smacked of being made up as they went along. As a result, whatever Fine infected Lex with in the penultimate episode had zero payoff in the finale. The final act had so much that didn’t work – Clark standing there and letting the Phantom Zone device grab him was dumb. And the East Coast blackout of a few years back shows that people don’t randomly panic when the power vanishes. The rioting therefore felt incredibly false and leaving Chloe to presumed rape did the character (and actress) a disservice. Also, the Lionel/Martha budding romance has to be stopped.
Veronica Mars
The final act crammed in so much explication that it was clear the writing staff recognized they overloaded the season with threads that all needed to be resolved. As a result, characters flitted in and out of focus during the final few episodes and then everything was whipped up in a taut and exhausting final hour. Some characters were given proper sendoffs and it sure feels as if they’re writing their people of color out of the series as Wallace is off to college and Jackie is suddenly in Brooklyn. It was also unfair to end the series on a cliffhanger just in case the newly formed CW did not renew the show. Now that they have a 13-episode commitment we can only hope the secret of the briefcase gets dealt with in a tidy fashion. This series still features the best Father/Daughter relationship on any network.
Lost
The two-hours were filled with enough red herrings, explanations, clues and mysteries to keep the fans speculating all summer. As a dramatic cap to the second season, the episode was solid. We got to see where everyone is, most of them placed in some form of jeopardy. But not all, as we saw a tender moment with Claire and Charlie. Every known inhabitant of the island was present and accounted for except Rousseau which begs certain questions. Some have complained this wasn’t as compelling a cliffhanger as last year’s but I ascribe that to a year’s additional familiarity with the characters and mythos. The Others, for example, are a more known quantity now so their threat level is altered. Good news to hear that Henry Gale has been upgraded to regular because he’s just plain creepy.
Desperate Housewives
This is one of those guilty pleasure shows that is more entertaining than not. The finale, though, was not at all what it should have been. Each of the four housewives had their own storylines and flashbacks and at no point did they intersect and act as neighbors, let alone friends. The whole Betty Applewhite story was a misfire from the moment the season opened and ended with a whimper, totally wasting the wonderful Alfre Woodard. People endured life-changing circumstances and suddenly found themselves acting out of character, most notably Zach when he suddenly gained Noah’s estate. Creatively, the show is a mess and the third season really needs to mirror the first, toned down and more intertwined.
Grey’s Anatomy
This series has deserved all its praise. Yes, it’s another medical show and it’s another soap opera. Where this one excels, though, is in how tightly structured the stories are so decisions have consequences and character parallels are wonderfully handled. So many characters find themselves in situations mirroring other themes from the series that it’s got a gravitas you don’t expect. Sure, there’s that surface stuff like McDreamy vs. McVet but listening to each character’s monologue as they talk to their chief shows how well-rounded (and well-portrayed) they have become in a short period of time. Even the characters you aren’t supposed to like (Alex and Mrs. Dr. McDreamy) have their sympathetic qualities so we have no cardboard villains.
Boston Legal
This was a largely disappointing two-hour finale as David E. Kelly’s excesses got the best of him and apparently no one knew to stop him. Plot threads from previous weeks, such as Paul telling Brad not to see his daughter (the cool Jayne Brooke) was ignored when he saw her anyway without consequence. Denny Crane and his west coast doppelganger Robert Wagner were cartoonish and annoying, distracting from guest star’s Jeri Ryan’s more interesting storyline. Similarly, the rivalry between Parker Posey and Julie Bowen was a live-action cartoon, complete with Looney Tunes score. It did a disservice to Julie’s character and it now seems they wrote her out, giving her the happy-ending of marrying a dead man, cancer-ridden Michael J. Fox. When Kelly speaks out on the issues of the day, usually through James Spader and occasionally with Candice Bergen, the show sings and is compelling. This two-hour block was a real waste and a disappointment. We can only hope that the new season will get things back on track or it’ll go the way of Ally McBeal and Picket Fences, brilliant shows brought down by Kelly’s penchant for absurd character tics in lieu of characterization, at the expense of story.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 30, 2006
Back from Balticon
It was like stepping into Earth-2. That was my first thought when I arrived at Balticon on Saturday morning. We decided that with school and work on Friday, there was no way we could be there for the first day so, instead, got up at the crack of dawn and were on the road by 6:30.
At that hour, we zipped through and got the show in 4:20, which is pretty much how we prefer it. The Hunt Valley Inn remains garish with its new color scheme and décor but we will endure. Anyway, the show used the same facility space but things weren’t where we were used to it. Being a more literary SF show, they needed more space for the art show so placed it in the Hunt Room which normally held programming. Registration was off in a corner rather than using the coat check area. Functional, and in some cases an improvement, but odd.
Registration was interesting in that they forgot to have a badge for me. They had one for Kate who was performing, and one for Deb who had been asked to judge, but the other two…nada.
Over the time at the show, I visited with people from the area and fellow professionals, most of whom I haven’t seen in a while. As a result, I had a lovely drink with Connor Cochran and through him met the author Peter S. Beagle. Spent time chatting with Bob Jeschonek and his delightful wife Wendy. Reconnected over dinner with Ann Crispin who I haven’t talked with in ages.
Deb loved it as she actually spent more time than usual talking to several locals she never usually has time to speak with. Since Marty Gear, who has organized the Masquerade for the con since 1979, asked Deb to judge in one e-mail exchange but never confirmed it, I never said a word to Deb. So she was floored when it became a reality (which also meant a trip across the street to the Mall so she could find something to wear that night) and enjoyed the experience immensely. She even participated in the post-mortem discussion Sunday morning. Me, it was an odd feeling sitting there and actually watching rather than judging and beside me were the kids, neither of whom was competing. I’m telling you, it was visiting Earth-2.
Additionally, Deb got to meet author and fellow knitter Brenda Clough. Our families enjoyed a spirited lunch and it was fun to meet Brenda who is also a comics fan and an avowed follower of the
Since the con didn’t schedule me for anything other than Trailer Park or add my name to the web site, I wasn’t surprised at the lack of autographing. Of course, I was bowled over when the only thing I was asked to sign all weekend was the current issue of Weekly World News. Trailer Park went over just fine, and I enjoyed the Q&A exchange that followed.
A highlight, though, had to be a catch-up lunch with Neil Gaiman. One of the reasons we chose to attend our first Balticon was Kate’s desire to see Neil once more, plus the Boogie Knights were invited to sing. Neil somehow actually had a hole in his schedule so suggested lunch. On Sunday, we whisked him away from the hotel and found a rib place nearby so we could chat. For a lovely hour, it was talking about his kids, my kids, some industry stuff and listening to his travels in Australia. Deb had never met Neil and was charmed while Kate was ecstatic over discovering his affection for poet Wendy Cope, someone she had only recently discovered. The conversation was rambling and a treat.
The Boogie Knight show Sunday night had them loose and fun, playing to their packed room audience. It was clear several members in the room had never seen them before and were enchanted. They received a standing ovation which thrilled the group no end.
Monday morning I showed the trailers, dropped Kate at Amtrak to head south to D.C. for the NSEP Convocation (that scholarship I bragged about some weeks back) and then we were hoping to beat the road crush by heading for home. It took about six hours, and would have taken less time had the line for gas been a little shorter or the rest stop lunch break had been some place a little better organized. Still, it wasn’t too bad.
And now we’re all back to work.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:28 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 26, 2006
This Week
The adjustment to being a fulltime freelancer (while still seeking long-term work) has been interesting. Some days I slog through existing assignments and other days I’m either seeking work or stuff arrives in my lap. Earlier this week, I had a few things turn up that were pleasant surprises such as an invitation to write a second piece for Fairfield Magazine. I’m also embarking on a freelance editing project which could be an interesting experience. Additionally, rarely does a week go by when I don’t get stories from Weekly World News dropped in my lap for quick turn around. Yesterday, for example, I wrote two Breaking News stories plus a slightly longer piece, none of which existed before lunch.
On Wednesday, I went into the city to attend a Freelancer’s Bootcamp aimed at how to organize and market yourself. The lead speaker was Allison Hemming from The Hired Guns, who I have had some dealings with. I like Ally and she spoke well, despite laryngitis. The tips and examples were useful and the room was packed with people from all walks of life, from defense contractors to photographers to web designers to marketing folk. If I remain doing the freelancing thing long-term, which it’s beginning to look like, then I need a game plan and this helped.
This morning, though, I was playing politician, invited to attend Special Person’s Day at Holland Hill Elementary School. It’s been ages since I attended any elementary event and forgot how energetic, fresh and innocent the proceedings can be. Each grade sang a few songs and in between we had dramatic readings of the Gettysburg Address, “The New Colossus” and the end of “I Have a Dream.” The songs were all the patriotic ones you would imagine along with the hymns from the various armed forces plus pure Americana like “Take me out to the Ballgame.” A particular favorite was Pete Seeger’s “Inch by Inch.” (Of course, I was incorrectly introduced as a member of the Board of Finance, but that’s an innocent error.)
Afterwards, the Safety Patrol were leading the honored dignitaries into the APR for refreshments when I was stopped by a familiar face. It was Erika Griffin, Kate’s third grade teacher. Kate and Mrs. Griffin enjoyed one of those magical relationships that year, the kind every parent wishes their kid experiences just once during school. She was thrilled but not surprised to hear how well Kate has turned out. I was pleased to see her again and sang her praises to the principal, but he already knew.
This weekend the family is down at Balticon. I’ll be showing movie trailers Monday at 10 and Kate will be singing with the Boogie Knights Sunday evening at 9:30. If you’re there, came say hi.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2006
The Lightest Agenda
We may have set a new record for RTM meetings last night.
It was a short call, just three items to act on. The first two were appointments to a committee and we skipped last week’s committee meetings so held a combined meeting of the responsible sub-committees to meet the candidates. The third item required a meeting of the Whole to hear about how we’ll spend a Block Grant. Pretty basic.
After the committee meetings we held a brief caucus to make sure there were no problems in need of discussion.
I will say this, it may be the first RTM meeting I ever attended without a single member of the public in attendance. Of the three reporters who normally cover this, only one showed up. Sure, it was a light, non-controversial call, but it remained democracy in action.
The meeting itself zipped from event to event and we were done, I think, by 8:30. And then it was two hours of socialable soda time which was more bi-partisan than usual. We swapped party convention experiences among other topics and it was a really nice way to pass some time.
By next month, it’ll be back to work as we start tackling new issues including our portion of new town ordinances to reflect the work of a Blue Ribbon Commission on zoning issues. In fact, we’re forming a committee to draft four ordinances and I have been asked to serve on it as one of the Democratic reps (3 of us, 2 Republicans) so this will be a new experience.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 22, 2006
Mission: Accomplished
It’s amazing how quickly our weekends have filled up through the spring and well into July. As a result, one of our favorite summertime family activities – going to the movies – gets complicated. All of this is preamble for why I’m only now talking about Mission: Impossible III.
I adored the original series, watching it just as Martin landau and Barbara Bain rotated off the show and Leonard Nimoy beamed aboard. I stuck with it until the final seasons as the show stopped being relevant or even as well-done as the past. A lot of that has to do with the changing world politics as well as the evolving nature of dramatic prime time series with a greater emphasis on character and writing whereas M:I was heavily plot-driven.
It was that lack of characterization and plot-heavy mechanics that proved to be the hallmark of the first two Tom Cruise vehicles. M:I certainly had the ability to evolve to a film franchise and Cruise was fine as Ethan Hunt. The problem is, the stories made no sense, eschewing story logic for explosions and a thumping, annoying soundtrack. Heck, even the great John Woo flubbed the second installment.
I was heartened to hear Cruise tossed out all the development on part three when he hired J.J. Abrams. Abrams knows how to do spies well, as witnessed by Alias (concluding tonight…sniff). His plotting was tight, the pacing breathless, and he threw you right into the action. After all, we first met Sydney Bristow as she was captured and about to have her tooth extracted by a malevolent dentist, as he sought information. Then we got to know and fall in love with her.
After two movies, we don’t know a thing about Ethan Hunt. He was barely distinguishable from Cruise and his fellow agents were ciphers – save for the wonderful Ving Rhames who has too much presence to be relegated to the background.
The new film grabbed your attention from the opening, as Hunt was captured and this time the villain, wonderfully played by the great Phillip Seymour Hoffman, wanted the whereabouts of the “rabbit’s foot” or he’d shoot Hunt’s wife. Pull back and there she is, strapped to a chair and scared out of her wits. Now we care, now we want to root for him and find out how the hell did this moment happen.
The story has many of Abram’s bits from the charismatic tech geek to the high-tech look of IMF HQ. The story briskly takes you from Virginia to Germany to the Vatican to Shanghai without losing the audience along the way. We get to see why Hunt risks his home life to rescue Felicity, er, Kerri Russell and what it means to him. Ving gets off some good comments and proves his loyalties time and again. We get some surprise twists along the way so you can’t predict each and every stunt. The M:I bits of espionage and disguise are all there as is a lovely music cue taken from the series that brought a broad smile to my face.
Is it perfect? No. For the second time in three movies, one of the villains turns out to be part of the IMF operation. While we like Ving’s Luther, we still don’t know much about him and the other agents, Maggie Q and John Rhys-Myers, don’t get much personality.
Still, it was an entertaining way to kick off the summer movie season. I’ll be happy should they reteam for a fourth installment.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 21, 2006
Convention Reporting
The Connecticut State Democratic Convention ended early Saturday night and from veteran attendees, it was one of the more eventful conventions in years. It was a mix of excitement, tension and incredible tedium plus mass disorganization which seems to the hallmark of the party.
Friday
RTM Majority Leader Doug Jones collected three of us and whisked us up to Hartford around 3:30. When we approached the Expo Center, there was a crush of volunteers waving placards and signs supporting the various candidates, getting the rush of the day started. The parking lot was packed with cars and we quickly parked and went inside for our credentials. As I handed over Russ Green’s proxy, I realized I didn’t have one for Saturday so, when they weren’t looking, I stole it back for re-use. On the one hand god for me, on the other, bad security.
Most of the candidates had tents propped up and were ready to wine, dine and glad hand people. Ned Lamont’s tent was a wonderful mix of ribs, chicken and crayfish while the Lieberman tent could have been renamed Joe’s American Bar & Grill with your basic backyard barbecue fare. John DeStefano’s tent had a live band playing salsa music keeping things lively.
At 6, properly stuffed, we went into the Center and found the 24 seats set aside for Fairfield. However, as a sign of the organization’s strength, we wound up shifting seats repeatedly with neighboring towns since our 24 weren’t as carefully marked as you would imagine.
We heard nominating speeches and seconding speeches for Lamont and Lieberman, whipping people into a frenzy of cheers every now and then. After each candidate was nominated, 10 minutes was set aside for a “demonstration” which meant the faithful could whoop it up, loud music could blare and time was wasted. Interestingly, Lamont’s demo was muted while Lieberman’s was a predictable medley of tried and true rock songs twisted for campaign purposes. The one interesting choice in Joe’s mix was Pat Benatar’s defiant “Hit me with your Best Shot.” Finally, it was time to poll all 169 municipalities for their vote. And almost each and every town took the opportunity to plug themselves. Fairfield introduced out vote by proudly casting 18 votes for the next true Democratic senator from Connecticut, Ned Lamont and six for Sean Hannity’s favorite democrat, Joe Lieberman. All the slogans probably added a good 20 minutes to the proceeding but you have to love Oxford, which billed itself as a town too small for a slogan.
Lamont needed 15% of the vote to force an August primary. He received 33% which was a pretty loud slap in the face to Lieberman who will now have a fight on his hands to win back the party faithful or do, as promised, and run as an independent. Should be interesting.
Afterward Rosa DeLauro gave Joe’s acceptance speech, since he did after all win the party’s nod for the moment; we flooded outside where Lieberman’s tent had transformed itself into Dan Malloy’s tent. The highlight to tent’s festivities was the chocolate fountain, something I had never before experienced and it was delightful. Members of Malloy’s family worked the room and we got to speak with several of them.
Since we had an early and long Saturday, Doug chose discretion and we headed out relatively early, before 10.
Saturday
Doug collected me at 7 and we were back in Hartford just under an hour later. The tents were busy with breakfast foods and once more Malloy had his people everywhere. I have to give his team credit; the volunteers were numerous and did whatever was required to get the job done.
By 9, we were gaveling back to session although this time we knew where our seats were and didn’t have any fights. Each seat had bumper sticks, jar openers, buttons, water bottles, placards, lawn signs and literature from the various candidates (my thought was the poor maintenance staff when this ended). We spent the morning picking the attorney general, treasurer and comptroller before the first battle, which turned out to be a lop-sided affair as Norma Rodriguez challenged incumbent Susan Bysiewicz. Rodriguez had terrific credentials and would have been fine as our candidate, but Bysiewicz had served well and there was no compelling need to make a change. Out of some 1590 votes cast, poor Norman didn’t even crack 100.
It was 12 or so and we were finally ready for the Governor’s nominations. All morning, DeStefano and Malloy worked the room, row by row. Doug, for example, had still not made up his mind. Both sides knew this and made certain Doug had face time. I watched as Dan Malloy buttonholed Doug in the aisle and they chatted and Dan said, “Name an issue” ready to get into it. Later, Dan found Doug a second time and they spoke some more and no less than thirty seconds later, Doug was then chatting the issues with John DeStefano. It was an impressive sight all morning long.
I also took advantage of being there and being in the thick of it to wander over and introduce myself to John Fabrizi, mayor of Bridgeport. I complimented the work he had done to turn his city around but was curious about a recent development that might hurt their plans to expand their ports to bring more goods to the state by boat, one of several plans to ease traffic on I-95. He had only just heard about it himself so didn’t have much to share but it was a nice conversation anyway.
I had realized along the way that the agenda did not have any scheduled breaks. I wondered about lunch and then realized nothing had been allocated. The Party wasn’t going to feed the throngs and the Snack Bar was poorly stocked and way overpriced ($2 for an 8 oz. yogurt?). DeStefano’s tent apparently put out a lunch, but halfway through serving were told to put it on hold until after the Mayor spoke, presuming a victory. And word had it, the straw polling had John in the lead. I was somewhat envious of the town across the aisle that walked in with plastic bins full of sandwiches, chips, canned fruit snacks and drinks.
Each candidate got their ten minutes for the demonstration and DeStefano imported a high school marching band while Malloy just had the faithful waving their placards and marching about. They were both loud and about equally musical.
The nominations all were said and done and it was time for the voting. All day long I had been buttonholed by Tony “The Pit Bull” Jannotta, making sure I was going to vote things Russ Green’s way, for Malloy. I preferred DeStefano and when casually discussing things with my fellow Fairfielders, more than one advised me to vote my conscience. I really did think John had better plans and was really getting annoyed by the strong arm tactics, which Tony began back on Thursday night. Finally, I voted for John.
While each town chose to ignore the advertising for the morning vote, everyone really laid it on thick for the gubernatorial voting, which only added to the length but also to the fun. Malloy’s people had given out cardstock tally cards so to stay alert, many of us kept score. Interestingly, when all was said and done, no two people had the same totals, including three of us in the same aisle.
When Tony learned I had flipped, he said I had promised, I wasn’t truly representing Russ and while he wasn’t mad, thought I should keep my word and he kept at it for a little while until I retreated to the middle of the row to safer ground. On the other hand, a fellow proxy flipped the other way so the vote totals weren’t really altered. Of course, no one beat up on him.
Once the final voting was done, each Congressional District was re-polled to see who had vote changes. Sure enough, town by town, there were changes, as some absent delegates returned to vote, others got their minds changed. The most dramatic moment came just two rows behind me as one Greenwich woman wavered. Suddenly, a ring of spectators formed around her, clearing seats for rows. There was Dan Malloy, chatting her up, begging to be heard. Joining him was Diane Farrell, the Democratic candidate for the 4th Congressional District (against Chris Shays for those of you keeping score at home) and they were relentless with a TV camera nearby by recording the proceedings. She flipped and a cheer went up as Malloy and Farrell hugged her.
I was steadfast enough that no one came to try and convince me to reverse my vote.
After all five Congressional Districts were heard, then came the challenges. Several towns filed these challengers on unknown grounds and each town brought their delegations, one at a time, to the rear of the stage so they could be heard and rulings handed down. Meantime, the vote tallies appeared pretty close and suddenly we were hearing that the more accurate counts were showing Malloy with a lead. As the process dragged on, as 2 p.m. slipped into 3 p.m. with the challenges continuing, Malloy appeared and grabbed a megaphone and more or less declared victory and rallied his forces. Several minutes later, DeStefano appeared and didn’t declare victory but told everyone to hold tight, stay firm and remain optimistic.
We waited. And waited. It was about 4:30 when finally the challenges were exhausted and Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo (who really should have had someone keeping us informed on what was happening rather than let us grow tired, bored, hungry and annoyed) declared the voting closed. It was several minutes later that we were informed that out of 1607 delegates, there were 1594 votes cast, meaning the winner had to have 798 votes to appear on the ballot. Dan Malloy beat it by 1, with 799 votes to DeStefano’s 795 votes. These races don’t get much closer so that was certainly exciting. We then waited an interminable amount of time for Dan to arrive to give his acceptance speech (I think he went to the movies, we certainly had time to kill). He gave his speech and then DiNardo begged us to stay to vote for Lt. Governor and the Party Platform.
Most of Fairfield had seen enough. Malloy had already chosen Mary Glassman and the Party Platform pretty much said “Do No Evil” so there wasn’t much to debate. Those lingering could do the unanimous voting.
I grabbed a ride home with Heather Dean and we left around 5, first stopping for a snack since we were starved. I walked in the door just after 6, no longer a Delegate, no longer a man to be lobbied or plied with food. It was a stack of mail, a shopping list and routine home chores.
And to think, we get to do this again in just a few years.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 08:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2006
Conventional Wisdom
“Democracy is messy” I was told when I complained about the said state of organization for the Connecticut State Democratic Convention, which opens tonight.
I’m used to an environment that would send out a memo listing all the convention attendees with vital details including, but not limited to: where to be, how to get there, where to park, when to arrive, when you can expect to leave, a schedule of events, suggestions on dress code, documentation you’re required to bring, a review of your obligations, and so on.
Apparently, the Democrats don’t think it’s necessary. Heck, State Central’s web site doesn’t even have the convention schedule posted. I learned more about the event from one of the candidate’s e-mails than from any other source.
I was selected as a convention alternate, to cast proxy votes should a convention delegate not be present when a vote is taken. Last night at the Democratic Town Committee’s District Leaders’ Meeting, I was asked to take a member’s full proxy for the entire weekend. After signing the official document, having it witnessed and exchanging blood rites, he then thought to ask me who I was leaning towards in the key races – US Senate and Governor. Happily, we were both leaning towards upstart Ned Lamont, who represents the state’s anger at Joe Lieberman’s positions and antics. On the other hand, I am leaning towards New Haven Mayor John DeStefano while he was committed to Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy. He said resignedly, “Well, I signed it over so vote how you feel.”
Later, he grabbed me and said he was being pressured to make sure I voted for Malloy and then the strong arm of a party leader showed up, intent on securing my vote. So, I’m somewhat in a bind, preferring to vote my mind but recognizing I am voting as his proxy and have to respect his wishes. Should be fun decided before tomorrow’s vote.
The Convention is spread over two days so today we focus on the Senate race while tomorrow is all about the state ticket. A late challenger for Secretary of State is rumored to be ready to ask for a roll call vote when her turn comes and I can imagine the boredom setting in as all 1607 names are called in order. I’m told there will be tons of campaign literature, hospitality rooms and much speechifying. Should be an interesting, eye-opening experience. Fortunately, I’ll be carpooling to and from Hartford both days with three others so I won’t be the only wide-eyed innocent in the melee.
At our DTC meeting last night, we took some more baby steps towards getting ourselves organized but the lack of a tight and focused agenda still let matters wander. We also had a special meeting anointing Tom Drew as our incumbent candidate for the 132nd State Representation’s seat. He had a great first term and is a terrific guy I will be happy to support and campaign for.
I was selected to be a full delegate to the 28th State Senatorial convention which the State set for Monday night, which of course conflicts with an RTM meeting. At the District Leaders’ Meeting, we were told there was no Democratic candidate and the convention was likely to be canceled. An hour later, the convention was back on so I presume a candidate emerged at the 11th hour. So, I played Pass it Along, and handed off my own proxy for Monday.
More after the convention ends.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2006
Assessing the Upfronts
The Upfronts are over and now we can sift through the tonnage and try and find the trends that will mark the 2006-07 television season.
A growing trend that got solidified was the block scheduling approach. Over the years, prime time dramas have suffered serious erosion in ratings when episodes were rerun. The series with continued stories such as ER suffered even worse than the stand-alone shows such as the myriad Law & Orders. As a result, as summer rolled around, most of those shows were the ones to vanish, as the networks trotted out various summer replacement series. The sitcoms, of course, stayed – for good or ill.
The networks, though, paid for the right to multiple airings of a single episode as part of their license fee. Let’s say they paid $1 million an episode for Surface -- that gave them the right to at least two showings during the season. Now, with dramatic rerun ratings down, they’re reluctant to go that route. Instead, they have been unloading the reruns to cable affiliates (in the case of NBC, over to Bravo) so the rerun would occur within a week of the original broadcast.
However, as premium and basic cable channels grew stronger with their own series, they helped rewrite the rules and shift viewing habits. Shows from The Sopranos to Battlestar Galactica run no more than 13 episodes for what is considered a season. The real reason behind these shorter seasons remains financial but a side effect is that viewers of continued stories have gotten reacclimated to a steady dose of programming. For thirteen weeks you know you’re getting the full season without interruption.
Over in Europe, that’s been the norm for decades, as noted by the incredibly short seasons, as few as six episodes, for shows like Fawlty Towers or Footballers Wives.
Over the last season or two, the networks have figured out that stretching 22-24 episodes across a 35 week season (however that’s calculated) has strained the patience of viewers. No sooner do you reach an incredible cliffhanger on Lost than you have to wait three or six weeks before another episode aired. And then there’d be another break.
Fox made that work to their advantage when they delayed the launch of 24 last season, allowing them to run it uninterrupted from January through May. This year, they repeated the trick and tried a variation by showing half of Prison Break in the fall and the second half in the spring.
Now, series after series has been announced as going to the block approach next season. Old veterans like ER will run about half its shows through the fall, then take a 13 week hiatus (allowing NBC to trot out and sample their crime drama The Black Donnelleys). The show will have a cliffhanger of sorts so you’ll actually be looking for it to return, uninterrupted of course, in the spring. This approach has also been announced for shows on just about every network.
I applaud this approach since it does a few things. First, it makes television more immediate and compelling. By not offering reruns on air (but via downloads, streaming and carrier pigeon), the viewer actually gets more programming choices.
The other trend is that series are looking for ways to extend their brands. There’s now proprietary material available only on the season DVD sets, webisodes, web sites, snippets for cell phones and more to come. NBC apparently insisted that every series next year have something “extra” for viewers to find somewhere beyond the time slot.
As witnessed by the just-launched Lost Experience, if done right, it can be engaging and very entertaining. However, if you’re a TV junkie like me, you don’t necessarily have time to seek out each extra so suddenly you feel like you’ve missed out on part of the fun.
On the other hand, we all need to keep sight of cable remaining in only 80% of American homes and DVR penetration is at 7%, but rapidly growing. That leaves millions of Americans who won’t ever be able to enjoy the full sensory overload the networks and producers are anticipating.
What about the shows themselves? Dunno. Some look great (Studio 60’s clip was very promising), some have solid casts, some look like more of the same. It’s nice to see favorite actors like Greg Grunberg and Victor Garber land safely from the end of Alias.
And of course there remain series conflicts for my viewing pleasure. Tuesdays at 9 with House and <.i>Veronica Mars and Thursdays at 9 with Grey’s Anatomy vs. Studio 60. Deb will process the information throughout the summer and indicate what interests her and since it’ll be just the tow of us come fall, we can watch as our schedule allows.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 16, 2006
Bracelets & Webs
Just a brief note on a busy day.
My essay on the Wonder Woman television series and its place in pop culture has been formally accepted for inclusion in BenBella’s Smart Pop essay collection. The untitled book is also unscheduled.
However, it did earn me an invitation to write an essay for their Spring 2007 collection dedicated to the web-slinger himself. More on that after it’s written and approved.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 03:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2006
And Now we are Complete
The family is once more intact.
On Friday, I drove down to the Washington area in preparation for collecting Kate. But first, I stopped in Elk Ridge to see my old pal Howie. Howard Weinstein and I have known each other since 1976, celebrating our 30th anniversary back at Farpoint in February. He’s semi-retired from writing but is working on a Star Trek eBook as part of the 40th anniversary program from Pocket Books so that’s cool.
He’s a wonderful host. I had to do nothing and could just sit and chat. We also took his adorable welsh corgis Micki and Callie for a nice walk. He subscribes to a digital cable baseball package so we got to watch the Mets get whupped by the Brewers.
First thing Saturday, I was up and on my way. I did pause to help a family with a flat tire and correct their directions since they had made a wrong turn. Then I parked right in front of The Dakota at 9, right on schedule. Kate was ready, having spent much of the previous 12 hours packing. In just under an hour, we made repeated trips until her dorm was mostly empty and the car was mostly full. Good thing we have the mini-van – she has a lot of stuff.
Our drive home was pleasant, with a mix of music from Bruce Springsteen to the Who to Southside Johnny to Elvis Costello keeping us going. She happily knit and chatted as I drove. We got home in plenty of time to have Robbie help us unload before he got ready for his senior prom.
Robbie owns his tux and looks pretty cool in it. His date, Kira, was equally cool looking and together they made a wonderful couple. He reports it was a terrific time and he had a memorable experience, returning home at 4 a.m.
As a result of Kate’s completion of her sophomore year and Rob being out late, our Mothers’ Day was a quiet affair. The weather kept us from working in the garden, the best gift for Deb. It was also her birthday so we showered her with love, cards and some much appreciated gifts. The rec center was unexpectedly closed so our day was largely chilling as the women knit, I read and Rob was a vegetable. Our dinner was nice and we reverted to form and followed the meal with a few hands of cards.
It felt very nice to have everyone together again and all four of us all enjoyed it.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 14, 2006
Closing Out the Bartlet Administration
Tonight NBC will air the final episode of The West Wing, ending seven seasons of one of the most brilliant television series of all time.
Since NBC and the actors couldn’t work out fees that would have allowed them to produce a clip-laden/fresh interview tribute special, they’re rerunning the pilot at 7. So, allow me to pay my own tribute.
Aaron Sorkin caught my attention with The American President and A Few Good Men, two exceedingly engaging and well written movies. The characters had some snap and some personality and the stories were very well structured. As a result, I followed him to Sports Night, one of the smartest and worst-handled sitcoms ABC ever aired. It ended after two wonderful seasons, a great series probably on the wrong network. I can rewatch episodes and be enthralled.
From there, Sorkin created West Wing and rewrote the rules for dramatic television. Just as Steven Bochco’s Hill Street Blues forced viewers to pay attention to multi-layered stories and a huge cast of characters, Sorkin took prime time drama to a higher level. Bocho clearly paved the way and most dramatic television has taken advantage of that, but Sorkin made the biggest jump.
His characters talked, and talked fast. They spoke about ideals, issues, actually had points of view, and had quirks in their personalities so you didn’t know what would happen next. Aided and abetted by director Thomas Schlamme, the series had a look and feel that demanded you pay attention. It really started in the first sequence, as Leo McGarry arrives at the White House for a new day. As written, it was about eight separate moments, but as directed, Schlamme made it one long walking and talking bit, setting the standard. Go back and watch that tonight and you’ll see.
Much has been made of the series showing an idealistic administration, its workers trying to serve the public good. Critics lambasted it as a democratic fantasy but Sorkin strove to show both sides of an issue while still giving you a set of characters trying to achieve an agenda. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a series and its characters having a strong point of view. Too often, even the best prime time shows avoid having their characters actually have opinions on the issues of the day or life itself.
What has garnered less notice is that Sorkin frequently allowed his characters to fail. Personality flaws aren’t that original, but actually having your leads screw up regularly was something novel. Governing and politics means that you will have to compromise and sometimes those compromises come as payment for arrogance or an error of judgment. The characters all have paid prices for their efforts from Bartlet’s Censure by Congress to Toby facing charges for leaking classified information. Josh nearly got fired in the pilot and continued to put his foot in his mouth for seven years.
Sorkin also let us laugh at them every now and then, reminding us that regardless of how smart or noble they are they remain human. Watching CJ fall over when she test fired a pistol or Sam admit to Leo’s daughter he slept with a call girl or Josh spill coffee over his hung-over self showed what a sharp observer of humanity Sorkin can be.
We fell in love with these idealists thanks to stories and plots and issues we hadn’t seen on television before, each hour being a mini-play. The casting was superb so the actors made us believe in the words and topics.
The series was never perfect. But, by striving to do something good and different, we forgave it the occasional flat note or odd-man-out-character (Mandy). Not every episode was the best television that week, but those first four seasons will stack up better than the first four seasons of just about any other drama since Philo Farnsworth (a character near and dear to Sorkin) gave the world television.
I’ll miss the series and its characters, its idealism and its call to do better. Few shows inspire in the same way.
Fortunately, Sorkin, Schlamme and several of their repertoire will return on NBC in the fall. Next week we’ll find out when Studio 60 will air but it has been approved for 13 episodes and for that we should all be grateful.
Fare thee well Bartlet Administration.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:08 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 11, 2006
Quiet Week
Been a quiet week but it could also be the quiet before the storm. There are several projects in the hopper that will either keep me very busy or not. I’m very positive about a few of these options while others are slow to develop so with luck, as they come through I can space them out.
On the other hand, if several get green-lit at once, my time gets filled very quickly.
And old projects also bubble back up. Just this morning I received the galleys to “The Landing Party” my story in Star Trek: Constellations so that requires a final read through. Fortunately, I’ve been given a week on this.
This is not to say the week has been non-productive. I’ve written my usual two pieces for Weekly World News plus started working through one of the Rosen Publishing updates (trimming 47,000 words down to 8000 plus revising statistical information). Spoke to one editor about some articles and spoke to another about essays for a book, plus did revisions to an essay that looks like it’ll be accepted (details to follow). I even spent a good chunk of Tuesday on my original fantasy, something I haven’t touched in a long, long time.
I have a meeting in Manhattan this afternoon which pertains to one of the projects and the one I am most optimistic about even though, if approved, will require a lot of catch-up because, in theory, the project should have started about a year ago.
So, it’s been busy and steady but not a lot of new activity to report. Stay tuned.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 08, 2006
Thoughts on Barry Bonds
I’ve allowed myself plenty of time to get past the emotional, knee-jerk reaction to the whole Barry Bonds situation. However, since he’s likely to hit #714 this week, I thought I’d finally weigh in.
On a purely technical level, Barry Bonds’ record should be allowed to remain intact because the rules of Major League Baseball have virtually ignored steroid abuse when it clearly stared them in the face. Therefore, Bonds took advantage, juiced up, and smacked all those homers.
On a moral level, Bonds’ record of 73 homers in a single season, and his homers over the last five to seven years, should probably be expunged from the record for his blatant disregard for the game and his body.
Barry Bonds is not a stupid man. He knew full well what he has done ever since he grew up at Bobby Bonds’ side, watching the game from an insider’s point of view. He saw players dope up and use whatever substances they could get away with to put a little extra zip on the ball or stay awake for a day game after a night game. Bonds knew enough to hire a good agent and get the best deal possible when his time with the Pirates was up. Bonds knew enough to get a trainer to help develop his body.
To sit there, in a grand jury room, and say he didn’t know what he was putting on and in his body (the “clean and the clear”) is disingenuous. More than enough evidence has come out that Bonds made a determined point to pump up and regain a spotlight he had ceded to Sammy Sosa and more importantly, Mark McGwire. (And yes, on the same grounds Bonds’ numbers should be expunged, so should McGwire’s since his use of Andro was also getting away with doping on a technical matter.)
What amazes me is that guys like Bonds and McGwire resorted to chemical enhancements when clearly neither needed it. Bonds was one half of the dreaded Killer Bs, along with Bobby Bonilla, that made the Pirates a threatening team. McGwire smacked a terrific number of homers with his leaner physique while playing alongside doping king Jose Canseco.
Still, all of the blame for this mess has to be laid at the feet of the owners. They allowed an independent Commissioner’s Office be turned into a stooge’s room that ignored this problem and allowed it to get out of control. As Congress had to step in back during the 1980s drug scandals, Congress had to haul players before them a year ago. The owners, instead, should have been in front of this years ago and dealt with it. They watched the Commissioners of football and basketball take a get tough policy and make it work. Instead, they let Bud Selig run things and run them badly.
As a result, Bonds will get away with eclipsing Babe Ruth, but only on paper. In the hearts and minds of baseball fans -- a unique subset of humanity that can equate sports with poetry – Babe Ruth will remain the greatest hoe run hitter of all time. They will tip their hats to Hank Aaron for surpassing him (also without juicing up) and establishing the American record for career homers.
Bonds did himself in with a surly attitude, refusing to put himself out there to the community, doing the good deeds that match the on field career, and antagonizing the press. He brought this all down on his bald head. I’ve seen some columnists ruminate over the racial factor and I don’t see it. Not at all. Bonds could be black, white, Latino or Asian and still be reviled for his antics.
In my head, I’ve already consigned Bonds’ record to a parallel universe and will not be acknowledging the feat this week because, after all, most of those homers weren’t earned.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:18 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 05, 2006
The Scribe Awards
As previously discussed, I am a charter member of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. One of the many things debated during the founding of the organization, nearly a year ago already, was the creation of Awards to acknowledge the best in our business since media tie-ins may get nominations elsewhere, but never win.
This week, the following was announced and thought I’d share for those interested for any reason.
The Scribe Awards and How You Can Enter
The IAMTW will present six awards in three categories for books (including comic books and graphic novels) published in 2006. We will also honor one "Grandmaster" for career achievement in the field.
SPECULATIVE FICTION (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror)
BEST NOVEL (adapted) - A licensed novelization based on an existing screenplay, whether its a feature film, episodic teleplay, computer game, script, or play.
BEST NOVEL (original) - A licensed, original novel using pre-existing characters or worlds from a movie, television series, computer game, play, or an existing series of novels (ie new novels extending a literary franchise, ie DUNE, James Bond, etc.)
GENERAL FICTION (Mysteries, Thrillers, Westerns, Suspense, Historicals, Romances)
BEST NOVEL (adapted)
BEST NOVEL (original)
YOUNG ADULT (All Genres)
BEST NOVEL (adapted)
BEST NOVEL (original)
GRANDMASTER (For Career Achievement)
The judging committees are made up of three of your peers from within the organization, writers who know the unique obstacles and restrictions that tie-in writers face, because they are tie-in writers themselves. The judges will read all the submissions in their category and select both the nominees and the winners (a system patterned after the Mystery Writers of America and the Private Eye Writers of America among others).
Rules for Submission
Authors can submit multiple titles, but only ONE BOOK PER CATEGORY/ONE CATEGORY PER BOOK (i.e. you can't submit the same book in two different categories or multiple titles in one category. Authors who've done several books in any one category need to pick the one title that seems strongest and submit only that).
Only authors can submit their books for consideration but we encourage you to have your editors/publishers send the actual books on your behalf so you don't have to raid your author's copies or pay the postage.
Judges can submit their work, but obviously not in the categories they are judging.
The book must be a licensed work published for the first time between Jan 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2006. Only books with a copyright date of 2006 will be eligible for consideration. Though novels published through December 31, 2006, are eligible, entrants are required to get copies of eligible work into the hands of the category judges no later than December 1st, to allow adequate time to review the titles. Galleys are acceptable.
All entrants MUST include a cover letter with each book. The cover letter must include the following information: the Category you are entering, Title of the Book, Name of the Author, Publication Date, Editor & Publisher, and email & "snailmail" addresses and phone numbers for the author and editor.
A copy of all submissions—the book and cover letter—should be sent to each judge in the category you are entering and to the IAMTW. Please send an email to tieinwriters@yahoo.com for the list of judges and their mailing addresses. IAMTW members can find the list in the MEMBERS ONLY section of this site.
Submission is free for any IAMTW member. Non-members must pay a $10 fee for each submission to cover our costs (payable via Paypal or by check to IAMTW, PO Box 8212, Calabasas, CA 91372).
A list of all the books submitted will be posted here and updated regularly. The nominees will be announced, to entrants and the media, in February 2007. The location and date of the awards ceremony is TBD.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Eternals Part Two
Woke up this morning to discover that Newsarama has posted the second article I originall wrote for Marvel.com. I also note that despite my request, no one in Editorial (like the ener-knowledgable Tom Brevoort) doublechecked it so at least one footnote is incomplete. Oh well, at least it does set the stage for the forthcoming miniseries, which is looking pretty cool.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 03, 2006
What's Going On
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about the various projects I’m working on so let’s do a quick review:
Weekly World News: Every week I continue to chronicle the adventures of Matt Daemon SOS (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals). I also have written several long and short “news” stories for the paper and continue to have fun. Sometimes I find a single sentence idea waiting in my In Box and get to run wild with it.
Cutting Edge Careers: Artificial Intelligence: Manuscript delivered to Editor.
In the News: Suicide Bombers: Manuscript delivered to Editor.
Star Trek: Corps of Engineers - “Troubleshooting”: Manuscript deliver to Editor.
Star Trek: Constellations - “The Landing Party”: Copy edited manuscript returned to Editor.
The Phantom Prose Anthology - “Ghost Hunting”: Manuscript delivered to editor.
Rosen Publishing’s Database Project: Three older works updated, several more to go.
Scifipedia: Not sure how much I’ve discussed this but I have written about four dozen entries for this new feature over at sci-fi.com. John Douglas, the project editor, was extremely generous in assigning me a broad variety of topics. As of today, only one is on line, the rest will no doubt roll out over the next few weeks. Happily, I got to write about comic strips, comic books, artists, novels, movies and television.
The Eternals: As mentioned on Friday, one of two pieces I wrote for Marvel about this series, is now available at Newsarama. No clue what’s happening with the second piece.
Actionopolis: Just got the outline for this project finalized and will probably start writing shortly. I’ll be talking more about this one shortly. However, the line overall looks very promising. Their first two offerings are available in this month’s Diamond Previews catalogue and worth a look in the Komikwerks sections.
Media Tie-In Novel: Proposal with Licensee.
Media Tie-In Project: Rough outline ready for the editor when he says it’s time to turn it in.
Original Urban Fantasy: This novel outline sits there, waiting its turn.
There remain a few other things in the works but all too tentative to talk about until later.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:55 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 02, 2006
The Budget, Night the Second
The lack of brownies should have been a clue it was going to be a long night.
Last night, the RTM held back-to-back meetings to finalize the budget for 2006-2007. Our first meeting was a special hearing to consider the appeal from the Board of Ed, asking to restore $641,000 to the proposed budget.
The Democrats caucused at 6:30 only to discover our counterparts from the other side of the aisle not only met at 6, but also during the week since our last meeting. Later it showed as several came with prepared remarks filled with statistics to show they’d done their homework.
The room was packed in a sea of white with parents and PTA leaders wearing t-shirts begging the RTM to Restore The Money. There were also principals, administrators and the Board. We also had the full Board of Finance along with the Board of Selectmen in attendance so it was jammed, fuller than last year.
The meeting began with a 15 presentation by the Board and Superintendent. We heard the beginning of a mind-numbing set of numbers and statistics that would mark the meeting. What stuck in my mind was that enrollment for next year was already known to exceed last year’s estimates and it’s something like the fifth year in a row that has happened. Immediately, I flashed on the notion that they should have budgeted for many more teachers plus the staff reserve they were begging to retain. Kindergarten enrollment is up for next year before the usual summer bump and 50 high school-eligible students expected to go to one of the private schools, have opted to stay, skewing the numbers. It sounded like they knew already they’d need 5-8 teachers before the reserve so any comments about returning the reserve funds if unspent was just so much rhetoric. We and they knew they’d hire those five teachers, and maybe more.
The Board of Finance had a 15 minute rebuttal and their chairman ran through a well-prepared set of numbers. As a result, they defended their decision for the budget under discussion and veering into the political realm, he made a set of personal comments that looked and sounded like a campaign speech. Whether he wants to run for the Republican nomination for First Selectman next year or not remains unknown but boy, it had the hallmark of a stump speech.
Then the Moderator opened things up for RTM comment. And we commented at length, with close to 20 members speaking. I even got up to point out that last week’s rejection of bonding to buy technology meant the school faced an additional $150,000 cut meaning the total cut was closer to $800,000 and that seemed too steep to me.
The vote was 28-21-2, lacking the two-thirds majority required to pass the appeal. Then the political games began. Anticipating this, one of our members had passed allowing him, under Robert’s Rules, to appeal the vote. It was seconded and then our majority leader called for a caucus. As we huddled, it was clear we’d try and vote as a block to revote and approve the total amount with the promise that at the next meeting we’d vote to lower the total amount of the Board of Ed budget by some $273,000, leaving the appeal with just enough funds for the five reserve teachers and supplies to outfit five classrooms. The minority leader seemed to think he could sell that.
Once more we filed in. After checking the appropriateness of the actions with the Assistant Town Attorney, we debated the appeal and voted in favor. With the appeal on the table, once more we heard from the various Boards and several RTM members. Our Majority Leader made the promise.
We voted and this time it passed 32-15-2. The cheer from the audience was loud and sustained.
Our 7 p.m. meeting ended at 10:15. Our 8 p.m. meeting began at 10:30.
And once we got through the pledge of allegiance, the Republicans called a caucus. All along, we wondered if they had some diabolical plan that had required all the extra meeting time. In theory, any proposed cuts to the budget were to be proposed last week so department heads affected could be present last night to defend the budget.
As the meeting resumed, we heard the proposed final budget numbers. I then took the microphone to propose a three-part-amendment to adjust the numbers as printed on the Call to reflect the $641,880 that had just been approved, an adjustment from the Chief Fiscal Officer to correct a miscalculation, and a reduction of $3000 as requested by the Registrar’s office. During the caucus, a fellow RTMer and I did all the math long-hand because our calculators and cell phone calculators couldn’t handle nine digits. Thankfully, our numbers matched the Chief Fiscal Officer’s own long-hand annotations.
Of course, that passed.
Then, one of the young Republicans got up to suggest we cut $40,000 from the budget, denying a traffic light be replaced at the intersection near the rec center and train station. He argued that with commercial development underway in the area, that might affect the needs for a light. After it was seconded, I then argued that with the rec center and high school traffic already an issue, the area was also going to receive a teen center in the next year or two so we better get the light added now to handle the increased traffic. Our First Selectman then said the police department requested this item based on safety concerns. Many of the other young Republicans got up to speak against the light. Sure enough, the reduction was approved.
With that, the budget was approved. Another agenda item got approved as almost an after-thought and then we were adjourned. Tonight, the Board of Finance will set the mill rate, the cost per $1000 of home valuation that will be the new tax rate. Once people see their bills in July, it will come as a shock once you couple the revaluation with the new taxes even thought the combined town budget was about a 6% increase.
Some final thoughts: the political rhetoric got pretty plain last night. The Board of Finance kept pinning the Board of Ed cuts on the Selectman, everyone else pinned it on the Board of Finance who approved the budget before coming to the RTM. It can be argued that the Republicans made the symbolic traffic light cut to show they were being fiscally responsible on both sides of the budget. The Democrats could argue that the Republicans were against education and public safety. And the citizenry should be shamed for not coming out for the most important meeting of the year. While the parents packed the room to speak for their children, not a single soul came to speak about any other aspect of the budget – either pro or con.
Interestingly, a bi-partisan group gathered at the local watering hole for the traditional “socialable soda”. The Young Republican I wound up disagreeing with twice and I managed a cordial conversation. Spoke with others from across the aisle and away from the heat of the moment, we all sounded far more rational and reasonable than you’d imagine from the public comments.
The second meeting ended about 11:40 and I got home just after 1. A very long evening with much accomplished and much still to do in an effort to make next year’s budget a less onerous process.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 11:13 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack