vic fortezza

I re-watched The Departed (2006) last night, courtesy of Netflix. I'm glad I did. As is the case with many of Martin Scorsese's films, it improves with the second viewing, once the shock of the violence, profanity and cynicism become secondary to the engrossing story and wonderful performances. Leonardo DiCaprio is not appreciated enough. He is terrific, as usual. The film is actually a remake of Internal Affairs (Hong Kong, 2002), which I have not seen. Viewers will be forced to figure out a few instances in the plot that remain unexplained. It does not detract from the power of this near great endeavor, which won Oscars for Best Film, Editing, Directing and Screenplay (William Monahan). I chose it over PBS' airing of Howard Hawks' classic screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby (1938), starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. I prefer drama to comedy. I can't get into sitcoms, which seem nothing more than set-ups for one-liners. Friends is one of the most revered and critically acclaimed shows of all time. So far I haven't been able to watch more than a minute at a time. I had the same trouble initially with Seinfeld, not because of one-liners, but because I couldn't stand a lot of the things George did. When I finally got inured to him, I realized the show's genius. It is a penetrating look at modern life and, in the case of Mr. Costanza, a reflection of impulses that tempt most of us but that we almost always reject....

Friday the 13th proved lucky for the floating bookshop. I took the show to Park Slope, which surveys have cited as the most literate neighborhood in Brooklyn. One guy in particular lived up to that assessment, buying a book on string theory, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. I am in awe of people who understand that stuff. I read Stephen Hawking's book, which was supposed to be easy, and failed to make any sense of it. Another gentleman purchased John Steinbeck's classic, Of Mice and Men. A woman bought three Debbie Macomber novels. And then Ruth happened along, cane in hand, and noticed the sign I was wearing around my neck: Brooklyn Author, Check Out My Books. She has relocated to San Francisco and happened to be home on family business. She bought A Hitch in Twilight. She, too, was a big fan of The Twilight Zone while growing up. Thanks, folks. The returns are in - the Obamas paid a lower tax rate than the White House secretary. Anyone surprised? Do as I say, not as I do is the first law of politics. Last night I watched another of the music tapes I made long ago, this one in 1992. It began with several black and white clips of Elvis' early appearances on TV shows, culled from a special narrated by Priscilla. Those were his best days by far. Anyone who thinks his Vegas years were his best is in severe need of therapy. Also on the tape...

Unable to find any program to my liking last night at ten, I gave the remote a spin around channels not included amongst my favorites, and came upon Newt Gingrich giving an address at Wesley College in Delaware. He touched on the common conservative economic talking points: drilling, deregulation, lower taxes, elimination of the Capital Gains Tax, all of which I agree with. He also mentioned a way to tackle the college loan problem, which some predict will be worse than the mortgage debacle. He cited College of the Ozarks, in Missouri, which does not charge tuition for full time students. Instead, they must work 15 hours per week on campus, and two 40 hour weeks during school breaks. It dubs itself "Hard Work U." Unfortunately, it has an enrollment of only 1500. It is billed as a Christian Liberal Arts college. Wouldn't it be great if other schools experimented with the same financial approach? Hearing about this small school, it reminded of another I'd been meaning to research for a long time, although I've known of it since the late '60's, when I attended Western Michigan University. In fact, I helped a kid I coached draft a letter to it. Hillsdale is another Liberal Arts College. It was the first in the United States to prohibit discrimination, writing it into its charter. Study of the Constitution is required of all students. It is currently offering a free online course, which conservative radio host Mike Gallagher is taking. The school is...

Whew! Charles Manson has been denied parole for the twelfth time. Had me worried for a while. I read an interesting tidbit about Masters champion Bubba Watson. He claims to have never taken a golf lesson. At least we have one thing in common. His dream was to play in the NBA. I'd say he found a better one. A basketball championship is shared with players and coaches. The famed Green Jacket is his alone. Jack stopped by the floating book shop today. He had a bit of trouble yesterday in Union Square Park. As he was setting up his Occupy Wall Street T-shirt and button concession, he was approached by a Parks Department Officer, who asked to see a vending license. Of course, Jack being Jack, he doesn't have one. He told the guy to take a hike. A while later the guy returned with other Parks Department Officers and two cops. Jack, surrounded by 100 of his OWS brethren, tried to talk his way out of a summons by splitting hairs, saying he doesn't sell the stuff, he merely accepts donations to the cause and thanks people by giving them his wares. His fine is $250 if he pleads no contest and settles by mail. It would be $1000 were he to take his case to court and lose. Instinct tells me he will ignore it. I sensed he wasn't telling me the whole story, as his buddy was fined only $25. If any authority figure tells me to...

There's a lot of good stuff in the news today, the most important a report of a cyber warrior, who has dubbed himself The Raptor, claiming responsibility for going after sites friendly to Jihadists. He took them down for two weeks and left messages taunting them. He has a Twitter account and claims to be retired military, with a son currently serving. The government and military claim ignorance of the attack. Whoever it is, please keep it up. Even those who do not follow baseball must have heard about new Florida Marlins' manager Ozzie Guillen's incredible gaffe, professing his love for Fidel Castro, completely forgetting what a large part of the team's fan base thinks of the dictator for life, who confiscated the wealth of their ancestors and sent many to prison never to be heard from again. This again proves that intelligence and baseball acumen are not necessarily synonymous. Management has suspended him for five games. Of course, he can circumvent this by declaring himself manager for life. It's now official, all precincts having reported: The father of the year is England's Bertold Wiesner, who died in the early '70's. The prolific Brit ran a fertility clinic, opened post-war, and was its largest donor. It is believed he is the father of 600. The item led the incomparable Hondo, the NY Post's droll baseball handicapper, to crack that it is believed that Wiesner is the first person to have died of carpal tunnel syndrome. My schedule was out of kilter...