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July 31, 2006
Summer Sizzler
The countdown to Cairo continues for Kate (and the rest of us).
Yesterday she danced in competition for the last time in probably a year. There was a Summer Sizzler in Hackensack, NJ yesterday and we all attended. Mikey, her dance partner, bused up from D.C. Saturday night and at the crack of dawn Sunday, we were rocketing through I-95, making the trip in a crisp 50 minutes, arriving just before 8.
They danced quite a bit early on and then there was a loooong break before they were scheduled to compete. The morning session was Silver-level Smooth and in several instances, they were the only competitors. In the one case where they were matched up against 4 couples, they took first which was a thrill.
Deb converted the senior prom dress she made Kate into a Smooth dance outfit, using leftover fabric to fashion a matching vest for Mikey. Together, they looked pretty terrific on the floor.
In the afternoon session, they tired their hand at Silver-level Latin dancing and didn’t make it to the final round. They had fun, recognized their flaws and realized that with minimal rehearsal over the summer they were still competitive. They’re already scheming how quickly they can get back into competition shape after her return from the Middle East in June.
Robbie had never seen Kate dance competitively before and he was pretty fascinated by the whole thing.
We watched, cheered, foraged for lunch (you know how hard it is to find a functioning deli in Hackensack on a Sunday?), snapped pictures and generally had a fine day. It was a long one, too. We returned home after 5 and after a break, set about to barbecue up some fine food.
After dinner and dessert, we sacked out on the couch to watch My Favorite Year (one of my favorite films and one Kate and Mikey had never seen). Mikey fell asleep at one point, no surprise, but at least Kate enjoyed it.
With competition done and both economics and summer camp counseling drawing to a close, all thoughts turn to packing, organizing, and making certain nothing is left unattended to.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 28, 2006
Is the Price Worth It?
Money Magazine named Fairfield the 9th best place to live in the United States. It’s great news, it’ll help real estate values and everyone has reason to be proud.
However, there’s a price to be paid for such attention.
This morning, I was walking along Post Road, one of the town’s two main drags, and was astonished to realize that the number of locally owned stores was rapidly dwindling. The small building that housed Fairfield Glass and a dance studio had been torn down and the workers were halfway done constructing a new building that would be anchored by a bank. In fact, the number of bank braches taking root in town reminded me of weeds settling in among the other businesses.
Another structure, across town, has housed a local grocery for years. Their lease is up on July 31 and the landlord jacked the rates up much higher. Why? Because he can, since, after all, Fairfield is a desirable place to live and do business.
The IGA was beloved by the elder citizens in that neighborhood and the owner had a nice rapport with them. The landlord, though, wanted more revenue and word leaked he was speaking with Walgreen’s and CVS. Julie DeMarco, my pal on the RTM, and several others, led a massive letter writing campaign to convince the landlord to deal fairly with the IGA and also put the pharmacies on notice that they were not welcome.
The local officials made numerous calls and applied as much pressure as they could, but it was a private matter so they could only do so much.
Word leaked last week that both CVS and Walgreen’s were going to bow to the pressure. People were cautiously overjoyed.
This morning the death knell was reported in the paper. Despite finally meeting the landlord’s asking price, the IGA was told their business was no longer desired. They would have to vacate by September 1 so Walgreen’s could begin t renovate the building and move in.
There’s a price to pay for being so desirable.
Fairfield has lost many of the “Mom and Pop” stores over the nearly fourteen years I’ve lived in town. The vanishing has quickened over the last year. Two of the town’s long time old style bars closed within weeks of each other in early summer. The restaurant Kate waitressed at a few summers back, also shuttered it doors. Other businesses have been displaced time and again as more chains move in to town.
There’s nothing wrong with chains. But as rents rise across town, since after all we’re a desirable place, those are increasingly the only ones who can afford to do business here. As a result, the town’s unique character, one of the reasons we placed high on the magazine’s list, will fade away and we’ll be indistinguishable from so many other towns up and down the Eastern seaboard.
There’s a price to pay, and some times you have to wonder if it’s worth it.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:49 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 26, 2006
People are Noticing
My long time pal, Tony Isabella, continues to remain a friend and a fan. The following appears over at the Comics Buyer's Guide website.
TONY’S OTHER ONLINE TIPS
for Monday, July 31, 2006
Back in the day, way back in the day, when Comic Buyer's Guide was a weekly tabloid and a recent acquisition of Krause Publications of Iola, Wisconsin, I wrote a column called “I Cover The Newsstand.” For the column, I would search through the non-comics magazines and other publications that were part of the enormous product mix at my Cosmic Comics store, hunting for items of interest to comics fans. It was as ephemeral a column as you could imagine, notable mostly for the second-rate hard-boiled private eye persona I would assume for its introductory paragraphs.
Back then, I got a kick out of tabloid newspapers like the National Enquirer, The Globe, The Star, The Sunand, especially, the wild and wacky Weekly World Ness with its reports of UFOs, sea monsters, alien visitors, and Bat Boy. After I closed the store and retired the column, I rarely even glanced at those tabloids, though, every few years. I’d buy a copy of Weekly World Ness when a particularly goofy headline caught my eye.
Fast forward to 2006. Weekly World Ness once again manifests on my personal radar by virtue of comics friends and acquaintances going to work for it. Jeff Rovin, the editor of Martin Goodman’s short-lived Atlas Comics in the mid-1970s, is the editor-in-chief. Long-time DC Comics editor and writer Paul Kupperberg, is the tabloid’s senior editor. Bob Greenberger, another former DC editor, writes for the paper under his own name and various aliases. I rediscover the tabloid when Bob uses - with my permission - my name in one of his “Matthew Daemon” articles. I pick up a couple of issues of the paper before and after my featured appearance and, next thing you know, I’m a subscriber.
Weekly World Ness [American Media; $2.99 per issue] is always good for laughs in the form of articles like “T-Rex Terrorizes Trailer Park” and “Vampire Cat Captured!” But, also worth noting are the comics references in the paper, the comics pros contributing to it, and its weekly comics features.
Recent articles have included a piece on the discovery of the first comic book ever - written and drawn by Michelangelo - and another on the public outrage over a new comics title starring a super-hero who not only fights evil in the nude, but who also has the power to strip his fearsome foes buck naked in seconds. The first article was illustrated by Mike Kaluta, the second by Dick Giordano. John Byrne has also contributed spot drawings to the paper.
There are three half-page comic strips running weekly in the paper. After a long run as an ongoing prose feature, most recently written by Greenberger, ghostbuster “Matthew Daemon” is now being written and drawn by Mike Collins. It was in one of Greenberger’s Daemon prose piece that I made my guest appearance.
“Spycat” was created by Dick Siegel and is currently being drawn by Ernie Colon, probably best known for his work on Richie Rich. The title hero spends most of his time battling terrorists in Iraq and other Middle East locales.
“The New Adventures of Bat Boy” stars the beloved creature who was a fixture of Weekly World Ness covers for years. Danielle Corsetto is doing a great job fleshing out Bat Boy’s history and supporting cast. I’d love to see her create a full-length Bat-Boy comic book. Half-a-page per week isn’t enough for me.
“Weird Picture Search” by Sergio Aragones is a full-page attraction week after week. Hidden within these incredibly detailed drawings are specific objects to be located by readers. A scene of animals performing an opera will have ten hidden treble clefs. A look at a witch’s den will have ten hidden broomsticks. As is usually the case with his drawings, Aragones includes other visual gags for his sharp-eyed readers. If you look closely, you’ll can see his “Groo the Wanderer” character in the witch’s den piece.
Weekly World Ness is a fun way to kill a half-hour once a week. I recommend checking out an issue and, if you enjoy it, get a yearly subscription that will bring your per-issue cost down to a bargain 75 cents. On our usual scale of zero to five, this check-out-line classic earns three out of five Tonys.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 07:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 25, 2006
How I Spent my Birthday Evening
I think I’m getting the hang of this.
This being an active voice on the RTM. Last night I gave up birthday cake with the family in order to attend the monthly meeting. Based on the committee meeting last week, I knew this was going to be a long, probably contentious one.
At caucus, I found myself rather vocal for one of the issues and then vented over the Board of Ed already pointing fingers in the press for the larger-than-expected enrollments, claiming if they only hadn’t had their budget trimmed they’d be able to have smaller class sizes. I see trouble ahead on that front.
Anyway, our meeting proper started off on a self-congratulatory note since Money Magazine named Fairfield the 9th best town to live in America (and first in the entire northeast).
The first item was a modification of language to the retirement documents for Firemen and Policemen, allowing retirees to do part time work for the town without their benefits being affected. Since the jobs under discussion are things like crossing guards, it’s not like people will be retiring early to get their pension and then fight one another for a $12 per hour job with crappy hours. Still, this merited some spirited debate as one suggested this would lead to cronyism and others worried that available non-former town employees would be ineligible for jobs. Of course, this all started because the jobs were being advertised because no one was lining up to be a Starter at the Golf Course.
The next item was the one I was most passionate about. For the second time we were dealing with a bonding issue, providing funds to buy technology for both the town and the schools. As I mentioned last week, the Board of Ed and Central office have a perception problem that needs addressing. Like I expected, my fellow Representatives jumped all over the bonding on several fronts including using this to beat up on the school side for all sorts of problems.
I had already been convinced by the town’s IT leader that the town side desperately needed the money to upgrade six servers among other issues. At caucus I argued several points, including the need to make sure the townside not suffer for the RTM’s frustration with the Board. We had discussed amending the item to just fund the town side and chose to pocket the notion until we had a sense of the body. Well, once the beating up started, I checked with our Assistant Majority leader and got the nod to try the amendment. So, feeling unexpectedly nervous about making the move, I got up, said my piece, proposed the amendment and sat down.
Sure enough, one official after another got up to stress the need and importance of the full funding measure. Only one person spoke out in favor or my plan. I could tell I was going to get shot down and a role call vote had it 7-29. On the other hand, the additional levelheaded debate seemed to work and the full measure overwhelmingly passed so I felt that I took one for the team and everyone got his or her money.
We moved through the other items without too much trouble until we got to the fire suppression expansion plans. We were being asked for additional funds to expand the program to cover additional streets plus make up the difference for rising paving costs. All well and good until one rep got up to argue things weren’t as they seemed. Some streets, he said, had been ignored, others not covered enough. He proposed an amendment to change some of the specs, the First Selectman asked him to alter the specs, which he agreed to. Then our Fire Chief basically said the Selectman’s idea wasn’t workable. And the debate raged on but at no time did the rep point out his street and home was affected, we had to figure this out late in the process on our own and to me that was disingenuous.
Five people sat through the entire proceedings since they wanted to make sure the funding was passed and their street was properly protected. As things heated up, our Moderator quietly suggested to the Minority Leader that we cool people off with a caucus. As we filed out, the neighbors admitted they were impressed by our volunteerism and putting up with the political process.
In the end, the silly amendment was withdrawn in lieu of three RTM members being appointed liaisons to the project, ensuring the money was being well spent and the right streets were protected in the right ways.
We gaveled business closed around 11:20.
Then, my second meeting started.
The Zoning Ordinance Committee convened for its organizational meeting, as announced, and we quickly reviewed what was required of us. I was named chair (largely because no one else wanted it) and we picked next Monday for our first meeting. This should be interesting.
I was one of four winding up going out for the “socialable soda”, a nice way to wind down a long, late night that ultimately left the town in better shape – we’re going to build some senior housing, we’re upgrading the technology in town, we’ve approved the final funds to finish rebuilding a bridge and more homes will be protected without endangering our firefighters. A long, tiring night, but certainly a worthwhile way to welcome my 48th year.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:39 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 24, 2006
Birthday Notes
Turning 48 isn’t a big deal, another number truth to tell. However, a pal sent me this link and it’s kinda neat to see who I share the day with.
You said your birthday is 7 / 24 / 1958 which means you are 48 years old and about:
41 years 9 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 89
37 years 1 month younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84
34 years 1 month younger than George Herbert Bush, age 81
26 years 10 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 74
24 years 8 months younger than Larry King, age 72
18 years 6 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 66
15 years 1 month younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62
12 years 1 month younger than George W. Bush, age 59
7 years 0 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54
2 years 9 months younger than Bill Gates, age 50
2 years 1 month older than Cal Ripken Jr., age 45
7 years 11 months older than Mike Tyson, age 39
12 years 0 months older than Jennifer Lopez, age 35
17 years 5 months older than Tiger Woods, age 30
23 years 11 months older than Prince William, age 23
and that you were:
43 years old at the time of the 9/11 attack on America
41 years old on the first day of Y2K
39 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
36 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
35 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
34 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
32 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
31 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
27 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
25 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
24 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
22 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
21 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
17 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
16 years old when President Nixon left office
13 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
10 years old at the time the first man stepped on the moon
9 years old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated
7 years old during the Watts riot
5 years old at the time President Kennedy was assassinated
a 1 year old when Hawaii was admitted as 50th of the United States
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:49 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
What a Day!
On Sunday, I stumbled downstairs to make the coffee and get the day started. As I walked into the kitchen, I saw a bag of NY Mets’ branded peanuts, two three-packs of Cracker Jack and atop the stack, an envelope from Stub Hub. Within the envelope were four tickets to the day’s Mets game along with a pre-paid parking pass.
My brother arranged for the tickets, the family arranged the surprise. Apparently, this has been in the works for two months and Deb made certain the day was clear. Of course, she didn’t align the game with the fact that Kate’s dance partner was spending the weekend with us as they prepared for next week’s New Jersey competition. He was brought in as a co-conspirator.
The previous night, for the first time, the surprise was almost spoiled. We attended a showing of A Prairie Home Companion (a movie more entertaining than I ever imagined) and saw friends. Janet says to Deb, “I saw you at Shaw’s but I guess you didn’t see me.” Since I had done the food shopping earlier in the day, I gave her a look but she tried to cover it. I suspected it was birthday-related but not certain how.
Anyway, Kate comes downstairs and to celebrate, makes everyone blueberry pancakes. I’m assembling sandwiches and we’re all on the go since we now have schedules to keep. By 10, we’re on the highway and by 10:50 we’re safely parked at Shea. (I’m surprised to see that they’ve already started digging up the parking lot where the new stadium is to be constructed.)
We put Mikey on the 7 into Manhattan and then que up to enter the stadium nice and early, hoping to catch batting practice. It’s somewhat cool and very gray thanks to heavy cloud cover but it’s expected to be a dry day. First, security sends me back to the car with our soda cans and then we get to our seats to learn BP was canceled. Our seats are Field Level, just passed the infield dirt, about twelve rows back. Terrific. The kids spend the next hour or more camped out by the Mets’ dugout, hoping for autographs. No such luck. Deb’s brought her digital camera and happily snapped away throughout the game.
The Mets are playing the Astros and we are treated to Roy Oswalt, a quality pitcher, taking on rookie Mike Pelfrey. Despite the home team jumping out to a 3-0 lead, they play sloppily, without any real energy and slowly give way to the Astros, ultimately losing 8-4. The vaunted bullpen failed to throw strikes and Aaron Heilman actually let a runner reach base by jogging and not running to first with the ball. It wasn’t pretty.
Around the fifth inning, Kate tugs on my arm and yanks me to look at the scoreboard. There it says Happy Birthday Bob Greenberger. She had written them weeks ago – her contribution to the day – and crossed her fingers since the Mets accept the wishes but makes no guarantees about actually running the names. After attending games there for 40 years, I finally see my name on the scoreboard. Talk about cool.
Despite the loss, we enjoyed the day immensely. The drive home was uneventful and we then dined out at Taco Loco, a Mexican restaurant we haven’t been to in years. Before leaving to eat, I received my gifts (basically Sunday was my birthday since we’re all busy today, the real birthday): some books, some CDs, a new polo shirt and a pair of fuzzy dice with the Mets logo which will decorate my WWN cube.
You can’t ask for a better celebration.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 21, 2006
Abusing Their Position
I’ve been meaning to write about this but have found myself busier than usual and I’m not even at the San Diego Comics Con.
A few days ago, I was incensed to see that Congress was attempting to limit the scope of the Federal judiciary system. The House of Representatives voted 260-167 to prevent Federal Courts from considering challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge was first introduced in 1892 when Francis Bellamy, a private citizen, drafted it to use while Chairman of the State Superintendents of Education, a part of the National Education Association. The original wording was, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The Pledge caught on and spread. In 1923, the first alteration occurred at the National Flag Conference when “my flag” became – over Bellamy’s objections -- “the flag of the United States of America.”
Then, in 1954, at the height of Cold War hysteria when we’d do anything to prove we were worthier creatures than the godless Communists, the Knights of Columbus massed a huge campaign to add the word “under God”.
I’ve always found the addition of those words troublesome because they weren’t added for anything other than political reasons. To some, the words meant the pledge had become a public prayer.
The challenge currently before the Courts rankles the country’s conservatives because people dare to think differently. People dare to express individual thought or choose to express their affection or disgust with the leadership of this country by acts such as the burning of the American Flag.
The Conservatives whine about “activist judges” when those every judges rule regularly on how the laws passed at the local, state and federal level embrace or embarrass the Constitution. 50 years ago, conservatives no doubt complained bitterly when “activist judges” struck down segregation, integrated the schools or upheld a woman’s right to choose.
And when the conservatives get riled up, they go on the warpath and try to dictate to the rest of us how to live and think. The Conservative Right Wing has such a hold over the Republican Party that the vote this week went pretty much along part lines. A similar bill in the Senate has wisely never even made it out of committee.
The Founding Fathers created the system to ensure checks and balances between the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches and I am deeply offended one is trying to enact laws to inhibit the other from doing its duty. When one branch exceeds it charter, such as the Executive branch’s warrantless searches, that’s one thing. When a court is told what cases it can and cannot hear, that’s something else entirely.
It’s something we need to be vigilant about and make certain that those in favor of laws that restrict our freedoms in favor of a specific ideology be exposed, criticized and hopefully, drummed out of office.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 19, 2006
Bad Perceptions
At our Committee meetings on Monday, it became apparent that the Board of Education and Central Office have a serious perception problem to overcome.
The July RTM meeting was supposed to be a light one—in fact, we were hoping to do a Committee Meeting of the Whole prior to the our meeting on the 24th to give us a break. The Call, though, kept growing with various items requiring our attention and action.
So, Monday night I ducked out of the heat and headed over to Town Hall. Fortunately, we were meeting in combined committees to save our presenters some wear and tear, since a mere 3 members of the Finance Committee were present.
We worked our way through the items, most of which merited some questioning and consideration but the one that derailed us involved the schools. Back during the budget process, there was a bonding request for $300,000 in order to buy technology for the schools and the town. Despite being told for the previous two budget cycles that the RTM disliked routine items such as buying technology being bonded, here it was again. So, rather than vote on the substance, the RTM rejected the bonding request, sending a signal.
The request was trimmed to $260,000 and was resubmitted to the Board of Finance. They extracted a promise from First Selectman Flatto and Superintendent Clark that this would never, ever be bonded again. To sure his sincerity, Ken drafted and issued a new policy on what should and should not be bonded going forward. Still, we were being asked to approve this one last bonding request so the schools won’t fall further behind.
Once we got done quizzing people on the merits of bonding, we got to the substance of the request. A little more than half the money would go to schools, fulfilling only half of their original technology request with the remainder going to the town which is also behind on its hardware and software needs.
It became clear that the majority of the RTM is convinced the Schools play fast and loose with their money and if they really wanted to, could find the spare cash within their existing budget. After all, now that the current fiscal year has closed, it turns out there was plenty of cash leftover which got transferred from account to account to balance the accounts that actually came up short.
I fear the matter will be shot down next Monday, not because anyone wants to short-change the teachers or students, but because they feel the school side has drained more than enough taxpayer money over the last few years. The Board pleads poverty every year but always manages to find the money they need for things important to them – or that is what the RTM thinks. Whatever the reality, the Superintendent has a lot of fence mending to do between now and next Spring.
Forget that if the bonding issue is shot down again school will come back next year with a huge request to “catch up” making next year’s budget fatter or that the town will get screwed in the process. This debate alone should prolong the night’s meeting.
At least the Committee night ended on a positive note as the wonderful Julie DeMarco showed me a ton of research she had done for our Ordnance Committee, which will have its first organizational meeting mere moments after the RTM meeting adjourns next week.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 18, 2006
Sunny & Jesse Sitting in a Tree...
I’m a fan of continuity and shared universes. Always have been, always will be, I suppose.
I’m one of those people who enjoys the sly wink and nod when elements of one universe are snuck into another.
As a result, I’ve been watching with slightly more than idle curiosity how Robert B. Parker has been expanding the world of Spenser. First, he created Jesse Stone, another heroic male with issues, and set him in the same world, using the cops Belson and Quirk to link them together. Similarly, he created Sunny Randall for the actress Helen Hunt, and plopped her in the same world, using the same cops.
With each passing book in the Stone and Randall series, the world shave meshed closer and closer. Sunny now sees Spenser’s main squeeze, Dr. Susan Silverman, as her shrink while Stone has dallied with top lawyer Rita Fiore. Spenser and Stone have even crossed paths but never formally worked together.
Parker’s latest, Blue Screen, takes a big leap and pairs up Jesse and Sunny as lovers. While ostensibly an entry in the Sunny series, it really is the beginning of something entirely new. In the last Stone novel, Night Passage, we were led to believe that Jesse and his ex-wife might have a chance together. Here, time has passed, and Jesse has learned she is now sleeping with the new station manager where she works. To him, this is a final straw.
Sunny, meantime, also closes the door on her ex-husband, Richie, when she hears that he and his new wife are expecting a child.
She carries this baggage with her when a bodyguard job turns into murder investigation. Her charge, an Amazon of a woman with some self-esteem issues, may be a murder suspect when her assistant is found murdered. Sunny is engaged to shift from protector to investigator and finds sparks when she first speaks with Stone, the Chief of Police where the murder occurred.
For the rest of the engaging novel, we find them drawn together, coming together and dealing with the newfound emotional entanglements, just as each decide to free themselves from the past.
Parker’s books are wonderful reads, quick and engaging with a surprising amount of characterization and insight offered despite his spare writing style. While all three series continue chugging along, I do wish there was a bit more variety in the set-ups. Clearly, Parker likes dogs and makes certain people to bounce quips back and forth surround each protagonist. Is characters don’t make love as much as they “bop” one another, a verbal tic that needs some variety.
As I finished the new book this morning, I found myself real curious to see where he takes the new relationship and how much Jesse will factor into future Sunny novels and vice versa. Unless they are destined to meld into one new series entirely.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 16, 2006
The long, long plank
The joy that was Pirates of the Caribbean had a lot to do with the visual references to the delightful attraction at the various Walt Disney theme parks. It also played with the usual assortment of pirate lore clichés and then the icing was Johnny Depp’s marvelous performance. One reason his Captain Jack Sparrow was welcomed by audiences around the world (except my mother) had to do with everyone else around him playing things straight. Even Geoffrey Rush’s undead pirate captain was serious, even touched with some pathos as he could not enjoy his apples or wine.
Dead Man’s Chest offers more of the same but in a less satisfying manner. The long running time has been an issue for some and I don’t mind a long film if it does something with the time. Here, it does not use the footage wisely. Set pieces that echo the first film, are blown out of any sense of proportion and things seen once in the film get played again and again.
That sense of Captain Sparrow being the circular peg in a square world is even mentioned as a problem to be addressed. Yes, the world was changing and it’s interesting to see the rise of the first big business as a threat – the East India Company.
However, we then get the stereotypical island natives that revere Sparrow as a god and they’re played broadly and to a degree, I was offended. Sparrow’s escape is in competition with his crew’s as both are both stretching the imagination and go for cheap laughs rather than any sense of excitement. We get another swordfight and at first it’s interesting because it’s one on one on one but then it gets to stretching things out by putting them atop the water wheel. Sorry, one being good enough to stay atop the moving wheel might be plausible but all three, and fighting one another? Nope, sorry.
The kraken’s repeated arrival is also overdone until we finally look inside its maw in one of the film’s best images when we last see Captain Sparrow as he truly is, not performing for an audience.
The script does a reasonable job of creating a new problem that connects the first film to the third and works more than it doesn’t. The weakness, though, is that we really don’t learn anything new about Sparrow or even Will Turner. Elizabeth, at least, proves she doesn’t have a fear of heights, is a quick study at swordsmanship and is a master with a marionette. About the only thing new here is we finally get to see Sparrow work his wiles on a woman – Elizabeth – so we better understand why women thing well of him and still want to slap him for being a cad. The tension between Sparrow and Elizabeth is surprising and refreshing and what Elizabeth does towards the end is one of the more dramatic moments in the movie.
Will remains noble and swell and a fine catch as a husband but his reunion with his father as well as his first meeting with Captain Jack both fall flat. More should have been done in both cases.
Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones was an actually nuanced performance in a film filled with too-broadly played parts (including Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma). Kevin R. McNally’s Gibbs is another character who helps ground things before they spiral out of control.
The final set up leading us to a third and final film is particularly satisfying as was the final moment that had my audience cheering. (Not the bit post credits, which was cute but inconsequential as opposed to X-Men 3.)
Overall, I was entertained but wanted to be entertained and satisfied and that’s where the movie fails me.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 14, 2006
Busy Political Week
Been a busy week for government work and boy, am I ready for the weekend.
Monday night we had our monthly Democratic Town Committee Meeting. As usual, the district leaders met for an hour and we debated many of the same items we debated the previous month. After two meetings’ worth of discussion, we essentially punted on the decision between holding our November fund raising dinner and a December holiday party or combining them. Rather than lead, we handed it off to the Fund Raising committee, hoping they can succeed where we dithered.
The rest of the meeting had representatives from the key local and state races come visit. All that is, except someone from the DeStefano for Governor campaign. While I prefer DeStefano to Dan Malloy, Malloy clearly has a better operation in place that may prove the difference during the August 8 primary.
I also spent time this week on getting our Ordinance Committee organized. I had been misinformed that our organizational meeting could be private but was corrected. We have to publicly notice it complete with Agenda. Thanks to the Town Clerk, I took care of all that and we’ll spend 10 minute formally organizing after our RTM meeting on the 24th, making a potentially late night that much later.
Then last night, I attended my first meeting as a member of the Cable Advisory Council. A subcommittee on Government Access issues (dubbed GAT) was meeting and by coincidence the state DPUC issued a ruling yesterday that set tongues wagging, making the debut meeting something to behold.
Essentially, a portion of our cable fees are collected and devoted to Public, Education and Government public access channels. In 1998, Cablevision was found deficient in its attention to these channels and subcontracted the business to a firm called Sound View. Sound View took the position that centralized Area 2 programming made the best sense and has crammed the three channels with stuff no one watches (a lot of religious meetings and non-Area 2 specific programming).
Refranchising hearings have begun and the general consensus is that Sound View sucks and should be removed from the equation. Meantime, the town of Milford petitioned DPUC to regain control of their G channel so Town Specific programming could run. DPUC’s interim ruling yesterday granted permission but attached a bunch of provisos that showed they didn’t clearly understand the issues at hand.
Given the way state laws run, all parties have until the 24th to file responses so everyone from Milford’s Mayor to Cablevision is scrambling to figure out how best to object. Nothing like hitting the ground running…
No sooner did I get home then I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the RTM majority leader reviewing the Agenda for the month since we have our Committee meetings next Monday.
And tomorrow I’ll be walking part of the district with our State Rep Tom Drew.
Who knew local political life could be all consuming?
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 11, 2006
Things That Aren't
Writers, it has been said, are a superstitious and cowardly, lot. As a result, most of us refuse to submit anything to anyone without having some trusted peer review it. Many writers belong to small groups that meet in person or on line and trust one another to be brutally honest with their feedback.
I’ve never belonged to such a group, more through happenstance than design. Still, I have come to rely on selected folk for their feedback for most of my work and return the favor whenever asked.
Back at DC, maybe a year or so ago, Michael A. Burstein, good friend and frequently nominated writer of short stuff, showed me a link to an article that caught his fancy. He thought it would be an excellent jumping off point for a story. I agreed and he went off and wrote something and showed it to me. I gave it a read, offered a series of constructive comments and he thanked me.
Time passed and Michael got busy and did other things and never quite got back to the story.
When he learned that Stanley Schmidt at Analog was looking for novellettes, Michael remembered the story. By then, he had a day job and other projects he was working on, and he couldn’t seem to find the time to get back to it. He then surprised me by suggesting I take a crack at the revisions using my old notes.
This came during those long, lonely months in the basement office so I grabbed at the chance to work with a pal. I did a quick draft, he tweaked, I tweaked; his delightful and patient wife Nomi then edited it. Michael dubbed it swell and sent it in.
Weeks passed and finally Stan wrote back that he was pleased with the story and wanted to buy it, but it needed some more tweaks. Michael asked me to take a stab, which I did. I rewrote, he tweaked. We mailed it off.
Last week Stan deemed himself satisfied and confirmed that he was buying the story, “Things That Aren’t” for a future issue of Analog.
He then wanted to know what we had in mind for the sequel.
“Sequel?” we asked one another in shock. Then I had an idea. Then Michael had an idea. Now we have to figure out which one works best.
News on the publication date to follow but as you might imagine, I am thrilled and delighted Michael thought enough to invite me to share in the creation. Additionally, getting into one of the most respected SF magazines around is something I never imagined happening. Trés cool!
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:49 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 10, 2006
Back from Shore Leave
As usual, Shore Leave was a wonderful weekend, that left the family, entertained, elated, and exhausted. There was not enough time to see everyone or attend all the interesting discussions. We saw some surprise people and indulged our wackier sides (at least 2 of us did). Details follow.
Friday
Left work early, raced back home, helped load the car and then braced ourselves for a long trip south. To minimize delays, we picked up Boston Market for later consumption and got on the highway. Surprisingly, it took the usual 4:30 to get there, arriving just about 8. Score one for us.
My first obligation was the Meet the Pros party and I was seated between Christopher Bennett and Bob Jeschonek so there was some fine banter back and forth. My pal Kevin Dilmore gave me my usual supply of Kansas BBQ sauce for which I was grateful.
While seated, I looked up and was shocked to see the smiling visage of Richard Pini. Turns out he and Ray Villand are old friends so when he saw Ray and I (and a few others) were at the show, he figured it was worth coming down for a look-see. He was pleasantly surprised the people at Registration knew him and gave him a comp pass.
I was also amused to see a steady stream of teen girls stopping by my table to inquire if I knew where young Robbie was. This was to be a weekend-long theme.
Saturday
First up was my usual hour of chat and movie trailers. I had a good-sized audience and we had a good time together. I then ceded the stage to the Boogie Knights, which had a fine performance. Kate’s college (and Cairo-bound) buddy Taylor had joined us for the weekend so it was her first exposure to another side of my daughter. She is a fellow sci-fi geek and was delighted by the proceedings.
We then scurried to the programming area where Robbie was moderating a panel entitled “It’s Not your Father’s Star Trek”. Not only did have an audience of people not related to him by blood, but he actually held his own with the freewheeling discussion.
I then spent the afternoon scurrying on an off stage, playing emcee. In between, I visited with folk and spent some time catching up with Mr. Pini, with whom I have not spoken much since I left DC. He look fit and happy, curious as the ElfQuest’s future and so am I.
Our 5 p.m. authors’ panel got moved to 4 p.m. but half the authors missed the announcements. Those of us who did show up weren’t quite sure of the topic or who was to moderate, so we scrambled on the stage and vamped. With the schedule in flux, things were running late so we were cut down to maybe 45 minutes but managed to chat about the 40th anniversary of Star Trek.
Peter and I then went over introduce ourselves to William Schallert, who at 80, looks and sounds good. We chatted about his various film and television works, and got a chance to express our admiration for his work. I did much the same with Kent McCord.
From there it was our annual dinner with Howard and Susan Weinstein plus Mike Friedman. And then it was back to the hotel for the Masquerade. For a change, I was not judging and got to sit and enjoy the proceedings.
Robbie, Ariel David and their friend Marina entered the competition with a Harry Potter-theme. Dressed as Slitherin, complete with hand-knit scarves in the school colors, they performed a song, written by Robbie, recorded by Kate, to the tune of “Springtime for Hitler”.
The final entry was a rare group effort by the Boogie Knights. Dressed as various mythological creatures, they recreated the opening from the stage version of The Lion King. With their newly purchased headsets, they managed to sing and majestically arrive from all corners of the ballroom and wowed the crowd. They took not only first prize in the Circle of Champions category but won a Judge’s Choice Award.
The judges went off to do their thing and the Knights, after a quick change, took the stage for the halftime show which was filled with delightful touches. During Kate’s solo, her chorus members inhaled helium to better replicate the sound of Munchkins. For their finale, a wave was started followed by people holding up flashlights and opened cell phones so the ballroom was filled with lights ala your usual rock concerts. As the Knights noticed, they were caught entirely by surprise. They received a standing ovation for the wonderful set.
Afterwards, Peter, Mike and I did a run-through of Mystery Trekkie Theatre. Given the 40 entries in the Masquerade, we got a late start and I began nodding off, missing cues. Clearly, none of us are cut out for late nights of working any more.
Sunday
Given that I didn’t get to bed until after 2 a.m., I wisely chose to marshal my resources and slept through the Authors’ Breakfast, getting up in time for the Star Trek Chronology panel. It was a lovely give and take, the room filled largely with fellow authors and editors and pals from the Trek BBS.
From 12 until 3 I was running from panel to panel. First, there was a discussion on the Corps of Engineers, which Keith DeCandido moderated and it was challenging getting a word in around Kevin, Dayton Ward, Bob Jeschonek and Terri Osborne. Twas fun.
At 1, a gaggle of us discussed the future of Star Trek, another vague authors’ panel. I convinced Allyn Gibson to moderate and it turned into a very thoughtful, encouraging discussion.
At 2, we had the traditional Bob & Howie Show. Given that we were both on the 1 p.m. panel and Howie was going over time, I sprinted to our room to find a patient crowd. The hour flew by and we had a good time.
There was some time then to finally eat lunch and catch up with some friends.
By 5, though, it had come time to be silly. Our opening skit for MTT was one of our more elaborate gigs. Arriving on stage in wings, bobbing antennae and magic wands, Mike, Peter and I then began “Fairy Home Companion” with snippets of oddities. When we got to the adventures of “Gay Noir, Fairy P.I.”, out came Corin Nemic (from Stargate for those unfamiliar) with a large pair of wings and his own wand. He fell right into character, hamming it up for the astonished and amused audience. From there, we segued into “Encounter at Farpoint” the musical with Peter and Kate singing “Rotten Old Q” to the tune of “Cotton-Eyed Joe”. With each verse, Robbie, Ariel, Marina, their friend Alyssa, and John Scheeler all took the stage to do the “Cotton-Eyed Joe” line dance. Then, finally, out lumbered a Mugato (actually T. Alan Chafin in Kathleen David’s costume) who joined the line.
As the song ended, the Mugato’s head came off revealing Alan as the Mad Scientist and we bantered until the movie sign sounded.
We then skewered “A Private Little War”, which, once you get past our mocking, retains relevant arguments about warfare proving the power and strong writing that has helped the original series endure.
Of course we used it to poke the current Administration’s Iraq policies which got a loud, positive response from the audience. The rest of the sophomoric humor was also appreciated and the con came to an end with a room of people leaving with smiles on their faces.
Probably ten minutes after the lights came up, we were in the car and headed north. Dreading the Jersey shore traffic, we braced ourselves for a very long ride home necessitated by Monday morning work obligations. Surprisingly, despite some volume, we made the trip in 5 hours with the one delay being 30 minutes for paving on the Saw Mill River Parkway. Amusingly, we drove past the van ferrying Keith, Terri, David Mack and Marco Palmieri in Maryland but I doubt they noticed.
And now it’s back to our mundane working day lives.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 02:40 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 07, 2006
Emmy Complaint
So here’s the thing: I know awards of any kind are entirely subjective. Still, when there’s a general consensus among the public, you tend to expect certain things. For example, everyone knew Brokeback Mountain was a superbly made movie and deserved an Academy Award nomination.
I also know that people watch way too much television. That should, I would think, include members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Still out of all the major (and even minor) awards shows, the one that seems most out of step with the public consciousness remains the Emmy Awards. I find that odd given how much television we all watch and talk about.
As a result, in looking over yesterday’s nominations I remain genuinely amazed at how clueless the membership appears. What’s worse, steps taken to correct the oversight (so credit to the Academy board for finally addressing the problem) didn’t work. This year, the top 15 nominations in every category were reviewed by a special panel to finalize the nominations.
The final list came out yesterday and it was received with a collective sense of surprise…at the lack of fresh names. As usual, anything deserving on UPN or WB or even Sci-Fi were ignored despite critics and audiences raving about certain shows or performers.
Personally, I was disappointed to see the brilliant writing and Lauren Graham’s work on Gilmore Girls got passed over for a fifth straight year. Battlestar Galactica has some strongly written episodes and some nice performances that might have deserved a nod, but it got technical nominations for things like costumes.
You also have to scratch your head how Martin Sheen, who had little work with this season, got another nomination for West Wing but Hugh Laurie got passed over for his superior work on House. Speaking of that show, Sela Ward deserved a guest star berth. At least the academy acknowledged Michael J. Fox’s fine performance on Boston Legal.
It’s getting to the point where I suspect the Academy needs to make certain the voters have actually watched any of these shows or perhaps instill term limits. Or, maybe add actual fans of television to aid in the nomination process. I certainly don’t want the Emmys turned into the People’s Choice Awards, but clearly something drastic needs to change.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:53 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 04, 2006
Shore Leave Schedule
The Shore Leave schedule is up and I’ll be both very busy and very tired.
For those keeping score:
Friday
10 p.m. Meet the Pros party. Come bring your books, or buy them from the dealers in residence, and get them signed by one and all.
Staurday
10 a.m. An hour of chat, movie trailers and stuff. (Valley Room)
5 p.m. Star Trek Authors: a stage crowded with authors vying to get the mike away from Peter David or Keith DeCandido (Hunt Room)
Sunday
10 a.m. Star Trek Novel Chronology: I’ll be mostly sitting off to the side, listening to Jim McCain and Alex Rozensweig explain how they make all the Bantam and Pocket novels fit in a consistent timeline. (I’m there largely because the comics material was first organized by me while editing the comics at DC.) (Salon B)
12 p.m. Star Trek: Corps of Engineers: Keith will discuss the series’ relaunch this fall and then Kevin Dilmore, Dayton Ward, Terri Osborne, Bob Jeschonek and I will tell him how it could have been done better, or something like that. (Salon B)
TBA: The Bob & Howie Show: the annual schedule filler where Howard Weinstein and I share news tidbits, discuss the current state of Trek, television and baseball among other oddities.
5 p.m. The Future of Trek Authors’ Panel: Whoever’s left at this hour will chat about the topic, keeping fans engaged until the con’s finale… (Salon A)
6 p.m. Mystery Trekkie Theatre: Peter, Michael Jan Friedman and I skewer yet another beloved episode. (Valley Room)
And the kids have their own schedules:
Kate
Saturday, 11 a.m: Boogie Knights performance (Hunt Room)
Saturday, Masquerade halftime: Boogie Knights performance (Hunt/Valley Room)
Robbie
Saturday, Noon: It’s Not Your Parents’s Star Trek, with Ariel David and Ethan Wilson (Salon B)
I’ll also be handling emcee duties throughout the weekend so they have me on the run. Also, the late finish means a long and late drove home since most of us have to be at work Monday morning.
Hope to see many of you there.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 02, 2006
Week the First
So, you wonder, how was it being back at work in the city? What’s it like sharing space with Bat-Boy?
First of all, you know how you feel after slipping back into the routine, coming back from a vacation. Instantly, the vacation feels like a long ago, distant memory when it was just 48 hours ago?
The six month hiatus from commuting felt the exact same way. Same train, same seat, some companions. Comforting in a way.
American Media, which owns Weekly World News is at 32nd and Park, directly across the street from where I started by career at Starlog, so it felt like coming full circle.
The offices are lots of cubes, clustered down different aisles and each magazine team tends to stay amongst themselves. As AMI shifts personnel between NY and their Florida HQ in addition to selling off some of the magazines they acquired from Weider, people are constantly shifting. I took a cube that I know to be temporary, separated a bit from my two colleagues on the paper. By the end of the week, one of them was moved next t me and we’re all going to be relocated to be together at some future point.
I have more space in my cube than I did at Gist, which wasn’t even a cube but a small section of a long work space. I started with a PC but needed a Mac, which didn’t arrive until Thursday. I’m still not connected with the network where the WWN files are stored so I’m doing everything via phone and PDF.
Essentially, I have been brought in to build systems to better track the work from between editorial in NY and production in FL. The goal is to expand the WWN brand and to do so, keep things streamlined and running smoothly. So far, I’ve drafted some schedules and charts, astonished that a newspaper in existence since 1979 had no set schedule except a due to the printer date.
The people are nice; some have gone out of their way to introduce themselves. It’s definitely a more relaxed, casual atmosphere than it was at DC or Marvel, which is amazing since most of AMI’s work is weekly publication.
With each day I’ve been a little busier which is nice. I find myself missing some of the writing for the paper but don’t mind being in on some of the brainstorming.
All in all, not a bad first week.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:45 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack