Homicide & The Wire

   

Some photos of my new stomping ground – the second one reminds me of the build up scenes in Spielberg’s ‘War of the Worlds’ – not that Janusz Kaminiski is in the same league of photography as me of course. Nice to see ‘Cool as Ice‘ on the CV Januz !!

Now that I have a proper commute I have resumed reading books, which is one small consulation for the two and a half hours of travel I manage on a daily basis. Given that I have something of a backlog, and the new William Gibson novel is out shortly this is tolerable. I also have this puppy to devour, as well as a selection of film related literature I picked up in LA.

I’ve just finished this terrific book, whose popularity resulted in the commissioning of the superb ‘Homicide‘ TV series.  As a treat to myself, I have just bought the entire seven seasons from ebay – £80 for 132 episodes plus obligitory extras – should keep me occupied for a while. There is one story in the book which perfectly illustrates the gallows humour that pervades the Baltimore Homicide Unit. When one of the detectives announces he has diabetes and is at risk of dying, one of his colleagues puts up a chart in the department meeting room which is divided thus: ‘People who give a shit if Lt. Kincaid Dies’ and ‘Those Who Don’t Give a Shit if Kincaid Dies’. Fellow officers then proceed to fill in the latter section with individuals such as ‘Kincaid’s Wife’, ‘Kincaid’s Partner’, ‘Mother Theresa’ etc. Well, it made me laugh anyway, so much so that I got a few stares on a packed morning District Line train. Hey, like I said to a friend recently – the world needs laughter…..

 

The same creative crew behind ‘Homicide’ are also responsible for one of the finest TV shows in recent years, which is saying something considering the pedigree of ‘The Soprano’s’, ‘Deadwood’, ‘The Shield’, ‘Six Feet Under’, ‘The West Wing’ – well, I could go on. I’m speaking of course about ‘The Wire‘. For my money, this is the closest a US TV series has come to reaching the depths of a well written novel. Fantastic and highly recomended.  

Oh, and completely unrelated – Here is a hilarious wiki page on one of the portly Ninja’s classic romps – ‘Taft, with Masu’s help, assures that the refinery does not go on line, using Seagal’s trademark blend of aikido and terrorism‘ still makes me laugh….