Books
Book Review: Lee Goldberg’s McGrave is Badass Fun
Feb 10th
Lee Goldberg’s book, McGrave was free on Amazon the other day, so I snatched it up. Last night I was browsing through the over 500 books on my kindle fire, and the wonderful book cover for McGrave just popped out at me. (the cover, pictured to the left is kind of badass to say the least). The book basically screamed, “read me, damn you.” So, I obliged.
Holy crap, this book is insanely fun. I’m not the world’s fastest reader, and with a lot of books, I get easily distracted and take forever to finish. But, I could not put this one down. Sure, I started reading it at 12:30AM, knowing I had to be up at 6AM for classes, but what the heck. I can hate my life tomorrow for the fun I’m having right now.
McGrave isn’t high art. It’s not the type of book you’d see listed in Stuffy Victorian Novels Monthly, and thank God for that. It’s fun for the sake of fun. It’s high impact, high adrenaline, and high class all the way.
McGrave is a cop who is always right in front of havoc. Mainly because he’s the kind of guy who wreaks havoc like waffle irons wreak…uhh waffles. He’s a badass cop who doesn’t answer to any higher authority but the law itself. He causes shootouts, insane car crashes, and millions of dollars worth of damages. Probably why they call him Tidal Wave McGrave.
In this book, McGrave causes a few million dollars worth of damage trying to chase down some German thieves. In the process, he gets fired from the force, pisses off his ex-partner, faces a number of lawsuits, might possibly be charged with attempted murder, and creates an enemy in the form of a German crime ringleader whom he tracks to Berlin. In Berlin there’s another chase after some solid detective work, and things pretty much conclude nicely. No fluff, just solid, additive action from start to finish.
It’s a quick read, and it feels almost like an episode from a 1980′s cop show. The writing style, the characters, the dialogue- the entire time I read it, I kept imagining this on the screen. Would make a fantastic movie series. Think Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop, make him about 100 times more badass, toss in some spectacular explosions, and you’ve got something sort of like McGrave.
How can you not adore a book that includes the line, “The only thing missing is Robert Palmer’s reanimated corpse and it would be the 1980′s all over again.” That alone is, in my book, worth the small price of admission. Just one question for Mr. Goldberg- can we please have some more?
My Experience on the Set of Remaindered (a Lee Goldberg Short Film)
Sep 18th
So, last weekend, I was a production assistant on a short film shot in nearby Owensboro and Henderson Kentucky. Lee Goldberg, executive producer of Diagnosis Murder, writer for Monk, Spencer For Hire, Psych, Nero Wolfe Mysteries, and a whole slew of other well known series, was the director on this project- his directorial debut from what I understand. Nicest guy you could ever ask for– very cordial on set, easy going, more than willing to sign any of his many books for you (if you ever try to get two books signed within 5 mins of each other, use a different name the second go around 
…just a really cool guy all around.
I read the script for Remaindered a few days before the first day of shooting on Friday, and I loved it. It’s comical, there’s a bit of violence, but it’s balanced so well with the light nature of the whole project that it doesn’t ever really get dark in any manner. It’s got some really nice plot twists…I remembering reading– thinking to myself, ‘this seems rather mundane– pretty standard stuff’…until the end where you sit back and smile at the smart ending. Very clever, Mr. Goldberg, very clever, indeed.
So, production assistant isn’t a very glamorous job, and I spent most of Friday night outside just waiting for something to do. I had to miss Saturday’s shooting due to issues at work I had to deal with, and Sunday was fun. I met a lot of nice people Sunday– it was definitely nicer to be inside to see some of the shooting and the whole process as it takes place, even if I was lying on the floor in the produce department cueing extras into the scene for background action. It’s always nice to get any experience possible.
I’m nearly finished with this video and film program at school, hope to move somewhere in the southwest next fall to finish a bachelor’s degree in film or something closely related. My goal is directing, but I do love cinematography- just the way they make things look really fantastic in movies and TV. God knows the raw footage looks nothing like the finished project, and that process is just exciting in a lot of ways.
I’d like to thank Rodney Newton and P.J. Starks, whom I got in touch with about taking part in this whole process. I had a small role, but like I said, any chance to get more experience is worthwhile if you ask me. I hope to get the chance to do some more projects with them in any role they’ll have me fill. Same goes for the rest of the crew- Marx, Lewis, Neil, Sharon, and all the others who couldn’t have been nicer throughout our time together on this project and others.
I’d also like to thank Lee for being a cool guy. Friday night, I approach him, all fanboy nervous (I love Monk and the Monk books he writes), my voice cracking, trying my best not to sound dumb in front of THE Lee Goldberg, and what do I do, I awkwardly mention we had chatted online twice before about his first Monk book, and how I made a big deal about how he had the character of Monk eating cereal and milk (not realizing Monk is deathly afraid of milk). Shooting was about to start again, so our conversation was kind of cut short, so I kept hoping he didn’t think I was bashing him! He took it in stride, making note that around 10, 000 people had told him about the milk thing, totally cool about all of it.
Lee did tell us some really interesting and often hilarious stories while on set…about Hollywood, his experience in writing for TV, and even some of his experiences in years past in Owensboro where he comes to work with the Mystery Writers group.
I got that first Monk book signed and got a second stand alone novel of his signed as well. Now, I just need to get a Burn Notice book signed by his talented brother, Tod Goldberg, who is also an author (of course). Someday.
Can’t wait to see the final product of a weekend of hard work by all. I have a feeling, from what I did see, that it’s going to turn out great. A totally enjoyable experience, and hopefully there will be more to come.
Monk Final Season Premiere (Prize Pack Giveaway- Enter Now!)
Aug 5th
I just finished watching the premiere episode of Monk for the 8th and final season. To celebrate the new season, The Blue Site is giving away a few Monk prize packs.
Don’t miss the start of the 8th and final season of MONK on USA NETWORK, Friday at 9/8c. Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award winner Tony Shalhoub returns as the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk with 16 brand-new laugh-inducing episodes. The final season promises to be a memorable one for all Monk fans. So tune in and watch one of the most successful series in basic cable history give its final farewell. Become a fan on Facebook, Follow Monk on Twitter, and play Monk games on USA’s Character Arcade.
ENTER TO WIN THE FOLLOWING PRIZE PACKS:
Two Winners will receive:
Monk Season 6 & 7 DVD
Monk Novel
Monk T-shirt
Monk Commuter Mug
Five Runners Up will receive:
Monk Novel
TO ENTER TO WIN- Leave a comment below and let me know who your favorite Monk character is. I will choose a random winner from the pool Friday night after the season premiere. I will EMail the winner, so when you enter, you must make sure I have your EMail address. With the commenting system, you can sign in via twitter or facebook or a disqus profile. With facebook and twitter, I can message you somehow, but if you use disqus, it doesn’t list an EMail address on your profile, so please leave it in the comment so I know how to get ahold of you! If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your EMail address you usually use, go to gmail or yahoo.com and create a new address and use it.
Come back to The Blue Site to see if you won, and feel free to discuss the season premiere here with me and the rest of the Monk fans after you watch Friday night! Good luck to everyone!
People Are Stupid: Twilight Tattoos
Nov 23rd
Oh dear lord. People are getting Twilight tattoos now. Not only is the creepy obsession with a teenaged vampire movie scary as hell, these morons had to take it a step further and paint purty colors in their skin to show how obsessed they are.
I’ll be brutally honest with you. I hope they all get a horrible infection from the tattoos and the body part they got the tattoo on falls off. Arm tattoo? Try driving your jetta around now, sucker! Leg tattoo? Well, you want be running any marathons anytime soon…
I’m sorry, but people are stupid…and this is proof.
Catch 22 Book Cover (Photoshop Work)
Nov 2nd
This is a project for class. A book cover for Catch 22. Any feedback is welcome…
(CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL-SIZED VERSION)
Obama Sr. Spokesman, Robert Gibbs Lies Again About Ayers
Oct 20th
Now, I know some of the idiots out there drone on about how the issue of Obama’s close ties to a radical terrorist aren’t important…but, let’s face it, those people are brain dead morons who wouldn’t know important if it bit them in the ass. Of course, the fact that the man has no qualms about being associated with radicals is a legitimate issue, and it brings to mind so many questions I can’t even begin to ask them all.
Well, Obama’s senior spokesman, Robert Gibbs, is fibbing again. This is the same hack who spent 10 mins refusing to answer a simple question from Time’s Mark Halperin* on when Obama knew of Ayers terrorist past. Gibbs was embarassing himself by proclaiming he answered the question when, in fact, he never answered anything. Hint, when campaigns can’t answer questions on a particular subject even after given 10 mins to do so, it’s a safe bet that the candidate is full of shit. Barack Obama is, of course, full of shit when he claims Ayers is just some guy he once served on a board with who lived in his neighborhood. In the last debate, Obama told a bald-faced lied by claiming his political coming out party was not thrown at the home of Bill Ayers and his terrorist wife Bernadine Dohrn. 4 witnesses, there at the party, confirm Ayers set up the party with Obama to start his foray into politics.
* Unfortunately, the Halperin/Gibbs’s video has been removed from YouTube, and I can’t seem to find it anywhere.
So, Gibbs lied to Halperin, changed his story about twelve times, then refuse to actually answer the question like any sensible honest human being would. Now, he’s lying again, claiming that Obama never did a blurd for Ayers’ book. Well, in fact, Obama did, indeed, did a blurb for the book and here it is:
Obama has been consistently dishonest on his relationship with the terrorist, Bill Ayers. He has been proven a liar once again. He’s just some guy who lived in my neighborhood, huh? Yet, you got an advance copy of Ayers’ book, and you actually wrote a blurb for the book jacket praising the book and the man who bombed in an attempt to maim and kill innocent Americans. That alone disqualifies you for any office let alone the highest office in the land, and Obama worshippers who claim this is a distraction are, frankly, bat shit crazy.
MORE: Gibbs on Hannity & Colmes
Free Republic
TownHall.com- Amanda Carpenter
Ace Of Spades
New Fall TV- Dexter, Worst Week, Raising The Bar, and More
Sep 24th
Some items of interest with the new fall TV season…
Dexter is back on Showtime Sept 28. Along with the devilishly funny Californication starring David Duchovny as sex-addicted writer Hank Moody (cruel irony? Duchovny recently came out as a sex addict himself). Love both shows, especially Dexter. Never before did I think I’d love a serial killer and think he was a swell guy. If you’re not familiar with the premise, it’s based on a series of books (the first book, which I have read, is terrible when compared to the television series) about Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami, Dade County who also happens to be a serial killer. The catch is- he only kills bad guys…other serial killers, rapists, those sorts of people. Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under), plays Dexter, and he does so brilliantly. You can’t help but love the character and root for him constantly. It’s a weird feeling watching a guy kill someone, and then find yourself on the edge of your seat praying the cop driving by doesn’t find him. I saw the sneak peek of the premiere episode, and it’s decent. Not much happens, but they introduce some new characters and what seems to be the basic storyline for the season…Jimmy Smits is involved as a local district attorney.
CBS premiered the US version of the British series Worst Week of My Life. The US version is simply titled Worst Week, and it’s nearly as hilarious as the original UK version. I saw the British version on BBC America a couple of years ago, and I laughed out loud throughout every episode. A rare treat, no doubt. The American version changes it up a bit, in the opener the female lead is pregnant and about to get married to her boyfriend. In the UK version, series one dealt with their upcoming wedding and the disasters involved with it and series 2 tackled the pregnancy. Basic premise is- the guy wants his girl’s parents to like him, but he is a complete disaster in nearly everything he seems to do- if he’s not flooding her parent’s basement and destroying the electrical system, he’s busy peeing into a large pot of food thinking it’s the bathroom. There were a number big laughs in the first episode, and I’m pleasently surprised after reading a bunch of bad reviews from fans of the original.
Not sure how they will turn a 16 episode 2 series British series into 22 episodes per season into the forseeable future. But, I don’t even understand how anyone could write one episode of TV and get anyone to watch, let alone 22 every year.
It airs Monday nights on CBS.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar stars in TNT’s new record-breaking series Raising The Bar. He plays an atty in the public defendant’s office who is all about making the law work and it working fair no matter what. He spars with clueless judges and unethical attorneys in the DA. Saw two episodes of this, and it’s actually really good. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I’m actually very much looking forward to the other 2 episodes I have on the DVR.
Gosselaar is wonderful as is the rest of the cast…nearly all of them I’ve never seen before, but it’s well rounded so far, and the numerous characters add their own dimension to the plotlines which works well. I’d recommend checking this one out as soon as you can.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s new season started last week on FX, and it’s crazier than ever. Two eps per week, same as last year…last week we found the gang hunting humans for man meat and hunting former friends for sport. When Charlie asked if it was racist not to kill and eat the black guy, I was cracking up. When Dee pecked like a bird at her burger because the taste of human flesh demanded she eat more and do it now- wow. Great stuff. It seems the stories and gags juet keep getting more insane each time. The show is often hit and miss for me, but if last week is any indication of what we have to look forward to this season- watch this show now! You’ll be glad (and probably a little disturbed) you did.
Finally- Do Not Disturb on Fox. Jerry O’Connell headlines this series about a bunch of idiots in a hotel who…well, they don’t do much. O’Connell is a ladies man who manages the joint, and he can’t stop having sex with all the girls whose uniforms consist of black miniskirts and black hooker boots…there’s a gay guy thrown in for the comedy of it, Reno 911′s Niecy Nash is here as well, but I personally don’t find her one bit funny or even remotely charming. The rest of the cast are throw-aways who could be replaced with monkeys who could perform the mechanical roles just as well. The show might last 6 episodes before being canned, but canned it shall be…the sooner, the better.
According to TV Guide’s new season guide, there are over 200 new shows…lots more to come…
How on Earth is Kevin Smith So Lucky? (or When Did He Jump the Shark?)
Jun 24th
I like Clerks. I think it’s a good movie. Horribly acted, poorly shot, very disorganized overall. But still, it’s witty, it’s got charm, the writing is sometimes clever, and it just made an impact.
So, Kevin Smith made a good movie. ONE good movie.
Mallrats was okay, but it was far too immature and not all that clever. I mean, seriously- ass smell on your hand? This is the humor of slacker potheads. Chasing Amy was just stupid. How Joey Lauren Adams ever got a single gig in acting is beyond me. And that voice? Wow. Pierce my ear drums, will ya? Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back? Well- if you can stand more than 10 mins of this idiotic duo then you’re good to go. More asinine pothead humor for the most part. Fart jokes are cool…to kids. Dogma? Semi-smart, but too often bashes the church Smith sometimes claims he’s part of. Overall, nothing too special here. Chris Rock is, and always has been unfunny. Matt Damon is decent here. Clerks 2- a complete abomination. It’s as if Smith said, “hey, I’m a multi-millionaire, and my fans will go see feces thrown onto film if I attach my name to it…hell, why write a good movie when I can just do that?” It was unfunny, boring, tepid…it’s like- what’s the point? Did you make this film just to say you made the sequel the fans were waiting for? How about you take a big dump in my breakfast now?
So, one good movie.
An Evening with Kevin Smith. Okay, now we’re talking. Listening to Smith go on (and on and on and on- 4 hours long or something like that?) is actually entertaining. I remember being up late one night and seeing this on starz or cinemax or something. It had been on about 20 mins, so I missed that part, but I watched and I could not for the life of me change the channel. I had things to do in the morning, but I couldn’t go to sleep. I had to hear what he said next. Funny stuff about weird meetings with Prince, writing a treatment and script for Superman, talk of Batman and more. This was inside baseball that we all want to hear about Hollywood. Good stuff about his career, happenings in Hollywood, behind the scenes stuff with various projects some of us had no idea he took part in at all. It was funny, it was mostly smart, it was good stuff.
Two good movies then? He didn’t direct this, but he was the star and writer and all that good stuff.
Clerks the animated series I actually liked. Don’t ask me why, but yes- I liked it. A lot. I watched the episodes numerous times (years ago.)
So, I’m watching An Evening with Kevin Smith 2- Evening Harder now on Netflix. I’m about a half hour into about 4 hours, and I’m wondering- why? What’s the point? Where the first one was interesting and usually witty, this so far is…well, it’s just garbage. I guess the stoner humor makes sense now, as Smith himself talks about how he loves to watch Dora the Explorer with his daughter while he’s stoned. Gotta love the fact that anyone can have kids. I’m reading his book MY BORING ASS LIFE now, and it’s interesting. It’s repetitive and there’s not much to it- it’s just a day by day account of what he’s up to…what he’s doing each day. I’m liking it so far, but he does tend to get annoying with the stoner stuff. That and I don’t care to hear about how you “hardcore fuck” your wife. It comes off as the stuff an immature 22 year old would write. But, isn’t Smith in his 40′s by now? Call me a prude.
I do wonder how he got so lucky. I think it mainly comes down to the fact that some people gain fans, and then those fans stick around forever, no matter what. They just cling to the person. Tho, if you watch Evening Harder, you see the audience is comprised of what looks like a bunch of slacker pot smoking 19 year old canadian kids. So, you sort of see why they like his humor.
So what happened to the smart, witty, likeable writing of Clerks? Is this what happens when you seem to have so little drive all you can muster is a film like Jay and Silent Bob? Like I said- I liked Clerks. In fact, I loved Clerks…but it went downhill from there, and it hasn’t started back an upward slope. (Yet?)
Robert Crais talks about Chasing Darkness
Jun 20th
Robert Crais talks about Chasing Darkness
I discovered the Elvis Cole series by joining one of those audio book clubs around 1998. I picked up LA REQUIEM, which is one of the Elvis Cole books. Book number 6 or 7 I believe? Great stuff. Feel in love with the character of Elvis, his silent by deadly partner, Joe Pike, and all the others.
Cole is a man’s man- in town unexpectedly? Drop by and he’ll put some steaks on the grill for you. He’ll sit back on the deck overlooking the canyon and the deer below.
A lady in need of help wants to stop by and maybe hide out with you in your A-frame for a bit? Don’t worry- Cole has a guest room, advanced security, and a custom water heater that allows very long showers without losing hot water (don’t ask me why I remember that, but I always thought it was cool.)
Dealing With Dummies
Jun 12th
I swear, it’s so annoying dealing with dumb people or dumb situations. I’m sitting here TRYING to watch Fear Itself on the local NBC affiliate’s HD feed, but I’m getting piexlation every few seconds, and the audio is completely dropping out every time it happens. I rebooted my box, but that didn’t help anything (and it usually doesn’t), and I can’t even watch this stuff it’s tiling so bad and I’m losing every other syllable.
I’ve had issues with my HD channels before, so many problems that they had to come out and install a brand new line to my place due to such a weak signal coming in. I call the cable company, explain to the woman who answers that I’m having digital breakup in my signal, I’ve had this problem before, it’s only on the HD channels so far as I can tell, and I already tried to reboot my box and that didn’t do anything.
I should mention that I was recording Fear Itself and Swington to the DVR at this time.
The first thing the lady does? She sends my box the signal to reboot it! So, there go my two shows I was recording and wanting to watch (Swingtown was fine, no issued with CBS tonight). She tells me to tune to an HD channel and see if it’s okay. I tell her the first channel I can think of is Universal HD, but I was having issues with NBC. Universal is fine, but I will need to check NBC…
“Okay sir, glad that solved your problem, thanks for calling Insight.” I don’t have the energy to stop her, beause seriously- why bother? She’ll just tell me they’ll send a tech out to look at the issue, and the only available time slots are before 3PM a week from now during the week. I will tell her I work days during the week, and that no one is here to let him in. She’ll say they have a spot a month out after 5PM. He’ll come out and reboot the box, check the signal with a meter, see it’s low, then he’ll tell me he has to call in an order with a line tech and that’ll be another week wait. Meanwhile, they give me a 2% discount for my troubles, I have no HD TV for a month, and the problem comes back in a month.
Why not just listen to me when I say I rebooted the box and it didn’t help? I wonder why they even have a technical question option when you call them, as I’m pretty sure they send you to the same exact person no matter which option you choose. The billing specialist who has been trained to say “let’s reboot your box” isn’t going to help me, and it’s surely not tech support by any definition!
No wonder cable TV companies score so low on customer satisfaction surveys.
That and some idiot spilled coke all over my keyboard (it seems), and now the arrow buttons and the number keys stick. Ugh.
The lightbulb burned out and I don’t want to go out to get another pack of bulbs, so reading more of Kevin Smith’s My Boring Ass Life is out of the question for now…
I’m off to watch Hawaii Oslo on DVD from the library…
Recent Comments