Month: January 2005

I :heart: the Simpsons

Writer guy

Homer is my favorite Simpson. I admire the consistent and dense beard stubble and his passion for donuts, cheap domestic beer and cheese slices. Regardless what Fox pays the dream team of Harry Shearer, Julia Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Dan Castellenata – the voice actors that bring the Simpson to life – the benefits of their hard work are beyond equal.

The Simpsons humble beginning also impress me. The series grew from a sketch on the Tracy Ullman Show. Matt Groening, author of the cult comic strip Life is Hell didn’t want to corrupt his beloved characters. So when Fox asked for a short piece for television, he crafted a new family on demand. The Simpsons were in a fact a throwaway piece of work. Seventeen years later, that “throwaway” still brings home the Benjamins.

Which sure proves the old saying, future value is impossible to predict.

New Stuff

Writer guy

John Lennon once said, “a conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words.” From the deafening response to the last blog, there’s enormous interest in international crime and justice blurbs among readers. Right? Perhaps I’ll just keep this hobby to myself. 😉

I’m posting half of a short story early next week. It has nothing to do with Mike Brody, or any other writing project. Stylistically it differs from those projects and the writing on this blog. The official plan: post in a blog entry, allow comments, then revise based on the comments. I’ll post the corrected first half and everyone can comment again. If it works, then we cycle through the second half. This way anyone can read it and only those who register can comment. A fair and workable arrangement.

I’ve promised this before, but it meant finding the right story, one that interested yet didn’t consume me. There’s only room for so many obsessions in my life. This semi-detached approach lowers my defenses enough so that I can receive the comments.

Hopefully this works out.

The news, blogable or not?

Writer guy

I’ve always been a bit of a crime and justice report junkie, even without a TV. By the way, the TV was not stolen and I’m not Amish. There’s just no TV set here, OK? Some people don’t have telephones either.

Most crimes that the local news covers are robberies, break-ins, assaults and such. National crime stories involve terror plots, kidnappings or serial killers. While more gripping, relishing such stories is on the creepy side. International stories, though, are a treasure trove of entertainment. The fact that the crime didn’t occur on my continent provides an appropriate backdrop for laughter. Lots of it.

Today I turn to Brussels, where a bank robber serving a four year sentence on armed robbery set a new precedent. Certainly, armed robberies happen in the United States. But this armed robber wrote off the cost of the gun used in the crime for tax purposes and the court system ( presumably the same one that sentenced him ) upheld the deduction.

You know, I just can’t make this stuff up. 😉

Perhaps a weekly entry that feature bizarre international crime and justice stories might be of interest? Please sound off in the comments.