Chapter 72.3: Even More Competition

This story from the Los Angeles Times made me wince. It hadn't occurred to me that in addition to the writers' strike consigning us all to a springtime of reality shows sprouting up like weeds, it will also pose a new challenge to authors (like myself) hoping to break into the ranks of the publishing world.

Those people who are able to spin teleplays to us over the TV screens are looking for something else to fill their time as the strike continues. So they've turned back to the novels they said they'd write "eventually." Well, Eventually has arrived, and these people should have the discipline to actually finish their work, unlike the people like me who have strong drafts that need a little tweaking but who put that off to do things like attend a Burns Supper on a Saturday night and recover the next morning (to read, mostly).

Ok, that's not so bad. People have to enjoy life in order to write well about it. And I'm not truly threatened by the "increased" competition that's out there, primarily because the industry is so difficult to get into any way that these other writers don't really scare me. What's another hundred zombies (ick) when you're already up against ten thousand?

So bring it on, writers' strike! Challenge me! Challenge us all. As long as we all get some good books out of it, I say: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the competition, I will fear no evil.

Chapter 70.8: Keep the Journey Going!

I have heard some bad news about a TV show that I've come to enjoy. Journeyman on NBC apparently is being cancelled. I'd miss this show, which is well written and entertaining. If you've not seen it, it may sound a little predictable: it's about a man who travels back in time. Yes, time travel has been done -- many times, some not as well as others.

I think I've seen each episode -- which this the third in a row of entertaining Monday night shows on NBC, Chuck, Heroes, and Journeyman -- and with each episode I like Kevin McKidd more and more. I honestly think he's become one of the best television actors going. Those of you who watched Rome on HBO know him as Lucius Vorenus. He made that potentially dour character into a truly captivating everyman (if we were living in Julian and Augustan Rome, that is). And in Journeyman, he does the same thing with Dan Vasser, a talented journalist with a gambling past, a "late" fiance who is a time traveler too, and a wife and child. His brother is a by-the-book cop who used to date Dan's wife, Katie. And Katie is a once and future TV news reporter. While struggling to write enough stories to keep his job, Vasser goes back and forth tracking people who need help. And his departures do not go unnoticed. Once when and his wife are on a plane, for example, he vanishes causing the plane to be returned to the airport since this is post-9/11 America. And that disappearance is often referenced in subsequent episodes.

Anyway, it's well written and it deserves not only to continue but to command a devoted audience. Clearly, such an audience has started to emerge, as people are writing blogs calling for NBC to save Journeyman and starting a petition to send Rice-a-Roni (the show takes place in San Francisco) to the decision makers.

I don't know that my sending a box of rice at the holidays will do anything to change someone's mind, but I don't mind writing a blog entry myself saying Yes, Save Journeyman! I'll keep watching, and I encourage others to do the same. And whatever Kevin McKidd does next, I'll be watching.

Chapter 70: Don't Squeeze the Charmin When You Wipe Your Tears

Mr. Whipple has died. Dick Wilson, who played the supermarket manager in hundreds of commercials (more than 500, according to this article in the Washington Post), passed away on what happened to be National Toilet Day.

Personally, I have amassed an astonishing amount of worthless information in my tiny brain about all manner of trivial matters; yet, even I had no idea there was a National Toilet Day until last week. (Before Mr. Whipple died, mind you. It happens to be a family member's birthday, which became a source of amusement for me and that person's spouse. Tee hee hee!) Whether I'll continue to celebrate the day in which we remember that only 20 percent of the world have access to "improved sanitation," is anyone's guess.

But I enjoyed the Post article, because it was willing to ponder things I'd not seen in print before. I've only talked about these things with my wife and random friends and drinking buddies in bars. Things like: Why do people in commercials wipe toilet paper across their face? How bad was toilet paper in the '60s? Do bears who shit in the woods need soft "bathroom tissue"? And is the aloe in multi-ply toilet paper good for the pipes?

Alas, now poor Mr. Whipple has flushed off his mortal coil. Say hello to the Ty-D-Bowl man, for us.

Chapter 64.5: Hard Day at the Office

I know a lot of people enjoy watching The Office, but I just can't get into it. Sure, it's funny to watch the jokes people play on each other, but I find it impossible to believe that such a group of people could exist. If they did, why should I care? I couldn't picture a boss like Michael Scott actually keeping his job (though the episode in which we learn that his salary is minuscule would help support why he doesn't get fired). I cringe whenever he does almost anything. The only characters with any redeeming qualities seem to be Jim and Pam, and I can tolerate some of Dwight's insane traits because Rainn Wilson is brilliant (loved him in Six Feet Under). But call me crazy, I wouldn't have stayed in that job more than a week.

Chapter 61.9: Leaving on a Soft Note

As a lifelong New Jerseyan, I'm not ashamed to say I've enjoyed the Sopranos. I'm not Italian, so perhaps others can feel properly offended in how the show portrays people who are Italian. But we Jerseyans aren't always well thought of either, and the show didn't exactly make us out to look like the intelligent, fun-loving people we usually are. The show had its moments, of course.

But the final episode was somewhat disappointing. The chief complaint is that it left few things resolved. Sure Phil Leotardo is no more, and I'm not complaining about that. It was time to go, yaknowwhadI mean? And as he looked directly into the camera and waved goodbye to his grandkids in the back of the SUV, every viewer knew what was coming next.

The final moment, however, when the screen went black and the sound stopped, reminded me of an Andy Kaufman special from the late 70s. The screen went to a fuzz and I ended up trying to get the picture back in place by whacking the side of the TV. Then it came back on and in his Latka Gravas voice, Andy was doing the same thing and complaining about how he hates his television. We were all fooled, and we laughed uproariously.

But that was comedy. The Sopranos was more than a dramatic story of a criminal family living in New Jersey. It was a metaphor for life -- from the ducks on the swimming pool at the very beginning, to Christopher's fiance Adrianna puking on the table at the FBI (best vomit scene ever!), to AJ's Hummer catching fire and exploding, to Meadow having difficulty parallel parking as she hurries to meet her family for dinner. And always there's somebody hanging around who you're just not sure about.

Closure? Not in Jersey, apparently.

Ultimately, I'll miss the Sopranos. They were real life. Not my life, of course, but theirs. It was usually interesting. At times shocking. But what kept us coming back was that theirs was a family that kept trying, in spite of themselves. I don't mean the Family, but Carmella, Tony, and the kids. Seeing family relate to each other is always good.