vic fortezza

I've spent too much time at the computer today. The floating book shop was rained out, so I had a lot of hours to kill. A few days ago I mentioned that I was working on publishing a screenplay, All Hallows, to Kindle. The original manuscript was uploaded to my first PC with a scanner. The file required a huge clean up. The typical screenplay format seems foreign to Kindle. The first few uploads were a complete mess. I may have solved most of the problems. I took a quick look at the latest upload before taking a much-needed shower. There are still some problems in the early pages, where unintended indentations occur. If that's the worst of it, I'll go ahead with the process, buy a copy and see if the problems appear in the finished version. When I uploaded Killing, any paragraph that began at the top of a page had no indentation. I emailed Amazon and the techie said the aberration might not appear in the marketable version. He was right. I'm planning to offer it for .99 cents. The file is 66 pages and can probably be read in one sitting, two at the most. Many lines consist of only two words, i.e. Sheriff: What? I have nothing to lose. It's been on the shelf in my closet for almost 20 years, and in files on my PCs for ten. In fact, it had been so long since I'd thought about it I'd forgotten I'd put it...

Last night I watched yet another adaptation of an enduring literary classic, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Basketballs, episode two of the current BBC series Sherlock, which brings Holmes and Watson into the present age. Thankfully, it put fresh, high tech spin on the story. It would have been pointless to do it the same way. There are 20 versions of the spooky tale listed at IMDb, including a couple of silents and several in another language. The highest rated, 8.9, was made in the Soviet Union (1981). There is one I hope I never see, rated 4.4, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore as the immortal leads. The very thought makes my flesh crawl. The 2012 version scored 8.4. The 1988 version, starring Jeremy Brett, who seems to be the favorite Holmes of fans, was rated 7.7, tied with the 1939 version starring my favorite portrayer, Basil Rathbone. The 1959 version, starring Peter Cushing, is rated 7.0. My favorite, a BBC production starring Richard Roxburgh (2002), rated only 6.5. The hound had a truly demonic, frightening dimension probably attributable to CGI. In the literary hall in heaven, Sir Arthur must be beaming. Here's a picture of my favorite version: Since age has turned us into girly-men, Cuz and I cancelled our weekly round of golf rather than risk getting caught in the type of downpour we laughed off not so long ago. Of course, the rain has yet to materialize. I was able to set up shop...

I'm experimenting with Kindle again. Some time in the early '90's I wrote a screenplay, All Hallows, wherein five inmates escape from an asylum and terrorize the small fictional town of Bela. What I intended was a revenge of the townies story, pure fun. Throughout I make references (i.e. The Bate-Myers Institute) to film and TV fare baby boomers and media buffs would appreciate, paying tribute to what entertained us, no nudity or profanity, the emphasis on suspense, the potential for violence and breakneck action. I imagined Tom Selleck as the star, a Vietnam vet now in law enforcement, Willford Brimley as the retired Sheriff and Korean War vet, and Rachel Ticotin as the hot station house secretary who was raped years earlier. Each suffers flashbacks the night the story takes place. Anyway, I wasn't able to get anyone interested in it. I think the only person who read it is my niece, Tanya. When I got an email from Amazon the other day suggesting another upload, I thought: Why not? I'll offer it for .99 cents and also make it available for free to the lending library. There's only one problem - formatting. If memory serves me, I scanned the original print manuscript into my first computer. I noticed the spacing was odd in some places and, sure enough, the first upload to Kindle was a mess. I'm now working on cleaning it up. I won't post it unless it looks good. I'll also opt for the generic cover Amazon...

Jon has purchased both Close to the Edge and Killing from me, so when he published a novel through Book Locker I gladly ordered it when it became available at Amazon. I just finished The Man with the Silver Skull Ring, part one of Paradise Lost. I enjoyed it, although it could stand some tweaking. It is more well-written than most self-published books, but not as strong as it could have been. I'm sure I could have eliminated a couple of thousand words from it in places where there is repetition or a bit of overkill. Most readers might not even notice the excesses. Jon, pseudonym Ole Romer, did everything but the cover himself. The story is told from a libertarian point of view, that is, leave people alone to pursue happiness, including vices such as drugs and prostitution. It is an argument for legalization of them, also for the elimination of gun control. Given the fact that a staunch conservative pundit like George Will recently wrote two columns on the futility of the war on drugs, the book couldn't have been more timely. This war has been a costly, abysmal failure that enriches thugs. It is Jon's opinion that legalization is a far better alternative. The hero of the novel owns an island where unadulterated drugs are available in exchange for work, and treatment is available to anyone who tires of usage. If such a measure were undertaken on a national scale, would it be better than what we have...

I caught up to The Ides of March (2011), courtesy of Netflix. It is well worthwhile. George Clooney wore many hats during its production: Producer, Director, Co-Writer and Co-star. He does his usual smooth work, perfectly cast as an ultra-liberal Democrat vying for presidential nomination. The character expresses the views Clooney has so often in interviews, more honestly than President Obama does. After all, there are no consequences to what an actor on script says beyond the parameters of the movie. Ryan Gosling stars as a dedicated campaign worker immersed in the filthy, back-stabbing, cold world of politics. It conforms to my opinion of the people in the field, either side of the aisle, although I believe the right does less damage to us than the left. These liberals are not portrayed in a flattering light, and that honesty is commendable. The supporting cast is first-rate. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood bring their abundant talents to the work, which was adapted from the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon. It is intelligent and thought-provoking. My only misgiving is the climactic incident that brings the story to an ugly head. It seems inconsistent with the character's behavior earlier in the film. Of course, none of us is completely consistent, especially after experiencing what the character in question did. Still, that aspect did not work for me, although an alternative is proposed as a possibility for the behavior. Excuse me while I dance around any chance of...