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When You Walk In The Garden...
Author: Mondobubba    Date: 03/03/2008 13:25:04

These words are familiar to two groups of folks, people what like Tom Waits and people what like "The Wire." I fall into both groups. We are fast coming up on the final episode of David Simon's "Russian Novel for television." This show as you all know is something of a obsession/passion of mine since it first came on the HBO mosheen back in 2002. I will now try to explain why in few short paragraphs.

At first "The Wire" looks like a cops and robbers show. There are cops, lots of them, drug dealers and lots of them too. Into the mix are tossed, snitches, longshoremen (season two), politicians, school kids and now in the last season, newspaper people. But it's much more than that. It uses Baltimore as a metaphor for almost any large sized post-industrial city in the US.

This is a show about a lot of big ideas, about how institutions fail the people who they serve and how people react to that. It has explored what happens to people who have their backs to the wall and are trying by any means to hold on to what they have. The Wire has looked at what happens to people on both side of the law when they try to reform the drug trade. In the fourth season of the show, it looked at school in urban America. It is currently looking at media and its place in the city.

All this would be pretty dry stuff if it weren't for the characters that dwell in the fictional Bawltimore. I will admit there are a lot of them to say the least. Here you will find who's who on the show. Not all of these people have been on the show at one time; for example the Port was only part of season two, the School in season four. Yep that's a lot to remember. I know. Trust me it is easier to follow than you think. All of 'em no mater how minor are very well drawn and compelling. They draw you into their parts of the world, be they cops, drug dealers, longshoremen, kids in school , politicians or newspaper people. David Simon the creator of the show has no mercy with them either. If it fits the plot, a charismatic character will die.

Besides these characters, these oh so real people "The Wire" has great writing. David Simon and his pal, Ed Burns having been a police reporter and a cop respectively they have an ear for the speech of cops and criminals. Simon has hired people to write for the show who understand cities & city dwellers in the post industrial era. Both Dennis Lehane & George Pelecanos have written for the show. If you familiar with either of them, you know how good they are.

So there you have it maybe I've not explained why I find the show so damned compelling but if I've peaked your interest, the first four seasons are available on DVD. Grab a season, it really won't matter which one, watch it. Fall in love with it.

Here is a really great link from Wikipedia on The Wire
 

124 comments (Latest Comment: 03/04/2008 04:14:19 by livingonli)
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Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:14:10
:yawn: Good Morning!

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:15:21
Momma hanging with the peeps over the weekend!

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:18:41
and Raine talking to herself this morning! :P

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:19:10
Good morning everyone.



The mine got extra salty last night and I ended up not getting home until almost 2 AM.



Just think Faye missed the chance to go joyriding with Momma and Buddy from Columbus.

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:24:49
My rant. I wish they could move the NASCAR races to cable after 8 PM so some of us can still get our Simpsons, Family Guy fixes. My DVR records got all messed up.

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:28:09
I saw that Ad. it was nothing more than a fear fear fear fear AD. It made me a little sick.

Comment by shelaghc on 03/03/2008 14:28:29
Nice blog post Mondo. It's sort of hard finding the time to catch up on sixty eps of a series, but when I get my library card I may look into the first season.



Logistically speaking it'd be easier for me to watch it all if I were unemployed, but I sorta like getting a paycheck. *g*



Comment by m-hadley on 03/03/2008 14:29:11
Quote by livingonli: Good morning everyone.



The mine got extra salty last night and I ended up not getting home until almost 2 AM.



Just think Faye missed the chance to go joyriding with Momma and Buddy from Columbus.




Mornin' Everybody,

Still bummed about missing Momma this weekend, but maybe I can now use the Delta credit to attend the meet-up in DC - just thinking

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:29:59
I kinda need a paycheck. But I could use a bigger one.



And I need a lot of down time to watch all my records.

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:33:34
Quote by m-hadley:
Quote by livingonli: Good morning everyone.



The mine got extra salty last night and I ended up not getting home until almost 2 AM.



Just think Faye missed the chance to go joyriding with Momma and Buddy from Columbus.




Mornin' Everybody,

Still bummed about missing Momma this weekend, but maybe I can now use the Delta credit to attend the meet-up in DC - just thinking


Now that sounds like a plan. Hey, if Momma wants to spend an evening drinking, I could think of a perfect meet-up for her.

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:39:04
Does E.D. Hill have any functioning brain cells?





Sanchez, how do you feel about Fran Drescher's Spanish?

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:41:14
The FISA discussion was a pretty good one over the weekend with my dad.



He wasn't sure about it to a good extent. He tried to give me the security aspect, and we talked a lot about how the FISA courts already gave Bush that capability. I told him I thought it was Bull shit that Bush and those that support retroactive immunity don't have enough faith in our constitution.



My dad told me he believes in the constituion, and I said to him then he cannot support the new fisa legislation becuase of the fourth ammendment.



We quickly moved on to discussing Baracks LApel pin. :P

Comment by BobR on 03/03/2008 14:46:28
Morning folks... :coffee:

Comment by BobR on 03/03/2008 14:47:09
Quote by livingonli: My rant. I wish they could move the NASCAR races to cable after 8 PM so some of us can still get our Simpsons, Family Guy fixes. My DVR records got all messed up.


Yeah, that screwed us up too.

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 14:48:25
Hillary's ad, we HAVE seen this before...







Comment by shelaghc on 03/03/2008 14:49:10
I just had an intriguing email exchange.



There's a scriptwriter in the UK named Shelagh Stephenson who has a *very* similar email address to mine. Occasionally I get her email, as I did this morning. Generally the email is business related so I always responde to make sure they know the other Shelagh didn't receive what she may have been expecting. I always write very politely so they get a good impression from one of us Yanks. ;)



The response I got back was as follows:

Thank you for your good wishes for our birthday - and best wishes to you too in the very exciting US election!




Interesting to see they really are watching us here, eh?



Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 14:52:23
Morning! :hug:

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:53:17
Don't forget. Hillary will be on The Daily Show tonight.

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:54:20
Good morning Mala. How was your weekend?

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:54:46
Dennis Kucinich is more of a maverick than any of those right-wing tools.

Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 14:55:59
Not bad, how was yours :)

Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 14:56:55
Quote by wickedpam: Not bad, how was yours :)


Crazy. Too much salt at work. I do have some weekends off coming up. And hopefully I should be getting a 3-day weekend for my birthday.

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:02:08
Quote by Raine: Hillary's ad, we HAVE seen this before...





And this ad generated by a McCain supporter in January...









If Hillary were doing this ad to go after John McCain, then perhaps she would have behooved herself to at least get the nomination. I don't think however it was pointed at McCain, it was a direct attack on BArack, who, within a day had a wonderful response ad to this clusterf*ck.



Has anyone else heard that Senator Clinton never read the 2002 NIE? I am looking for a direct link. But if this is true, then that is devastating news for her.





Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 15:11:05
Quote by livingonli:
Quote by wickedpam: Not bad, how was yours :)


Crazy. Too much salt at work. I do have some weekends off coming up. And hopefully I should be getting a 3-day weekend for my birthday.






Yeah for 3 day weekends and b-days!

Comment by BobR on 03/03/2008 15:11:38
I seem to remember George H. W. Bush castigating the press and comedians for making jokes about Dan Quayle's name.

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:19:48
This article was from last May.



Hillary does not have appeared to ever read the complete NIE regarding the IWR. :(

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:26:45
I really wish I had remembered to tape Larry before we went away over the weekend.

Comment by shelaghc on 03/03/2008 15:28:24
Marion Cotillard is a conspiracy theorist.



In the 2007 interview, Cotillard said that she believed the public was "lied to about a number of things" regarding the 9/11 attacks. She even hinted that the U.S. destroyed the Twin Towers so that they could rebuild them -- referring to the buildings as a "money sucker."



The 9/11 attacks weren't the only conspiracy discussed. During the same interview, Cotillard questions the 1969 moon landing, asking: "Did a man really walk on the Moon? I saw plenty of documentaries on it, and I really wondered. And in any case I don't believe all they tell me, that's for sure."


Comment by livingonli on 03/03/2008 15:31:06
OK, time for another doctor's appointment. See y'all in a bit.

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:31:12
We sent planes into Somalia?!?!?! WTF??!!!









Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 15:32:48
I love Dewy's rattle snake warning! :rofl:

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:33:12
I am experiencing Primary Burnout.





There I said it.

Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 15:33:17
Good Luck Liv! :hug:

Comment by shelaghc on 03/03/2008 15:36:05
Quote by wickedpam: I love Dewy's rattle snake warning! :rofl:






Dewey called? Sam Seder's Dewey?



Oh, we gotta let Sammy know! Does anyone have the audio of the phone call?



Comment by shelaghc on 03/03/2008 15:37:34
Quote by livingonli: OK, time for another doctor's appointment. See y'all in a bit.




Hope everything's okay.



Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 15:39:05
No, Dewy Hopper, I think that's the guys name. He does the news and traffic on the Phoneix stations Nova M stream. I love his little side comments to the storys. Todays was - Experts say if you see a rattlesnake leave it alone and run away. His comment was "like we needed an expert to tell us that"

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:42:22
Quote by Raine: This article was from last May.



Hillary does not have appeared to ever read the complete NIE regarding the IWR. :(
This does not bode well for me. The orginal Blog Sight seems to be down, but this is the

Cached text, found on Google:



Clinton: Rice linked Iraq vote, inspections

Submitted by Monitor Staff on Fri, 2007-12-21 19:47.



Following up on what Ambassador Richard Holbrooke told us earlier this week regarding Hillary Clinton's vote to authorize the use of military force against Iraq, we asked Sen. Clinton today if it was correct that Colin Powell had persuaded her that the resolution could be a vote to avoid war rather than a vote for war.



She replied: "No, it wasn't Colin Powell. it was Condi Rice. Condi Rice told me specifically when I was still weighing all of the evidence, and I had been to the White House one last time -- I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was Oct. 8 -- and I'd had the whole presentation by the CIA and others and I hadn't asked any questions, I had listened. And I went back to my office, and Condi Rice called me and said, You didn't ask any questions, do you have any questions? I said I only have one: Will you use this authorization to put inspectors back in, so that we can find out whether any of this is true, how much WMD he still has or has reconstituted? She said, Yes, that's what it's intended to do. I think Dick might have gotten confused."



Monitor: And you had no reason to doubt her?



Clinton: "I did not.
[...]



there is more, but this is the crux of it.



:bad:





Comment by velveeta jones on 03/03/2008 15:46:43
Morning all. Just a quick "hello" then I'm off to do grocery shopping then to work.



Must raise money to pay for a certain upcoming "vacation". ;)



Really great blog Mondo. I have seen a few episodes of the Wire, but as Velveeta does not have HBO (or any other pay channels for that matter) I am behind in this. Ditto: Survivor, Lost, American Idol, Desperate Houswives and any other "big" show that people talk about.



I have seen a few shows of "Breaking Bad" which I really enjoy.



Anywho: speaking of gritty reality.......... something INSANE took place recently in Miami. Maybe ya'll have touched on it. Let me find the link. It is disturbing: cops in rioting gear busting heads at a peaceful High School demonstration. Yes, I said High School.

Comment by m-hadley on 03/03/2008 15:48:21
Quote by Raine: I really wish I had remembered to tape Larry before we went away over the weekend.


Raine,

The clip of Steph's appearance on Larry King live - for the half hour - is up at Stephanie Miller.com. Steph did use the line "Please call me Stephanie Hussein" Miller

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:51:08
Quote by m-hadley:
Quote by Raine: I really wish I had remembered to tape Larry before we went away over the weekend.


Raine,

The clip of Steph's appearance on Larry King live - for the half hour - is up at Stephanie Miller.com. Steph did use the line "Please call me Stephanie Hussein" Miller
Thanks for the info Faye!!!





(and I see that we have reason to have renewed hope that we may see you in DC!!! )



Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:57:45
Wasn't hillary's campaign song by Celine Deon? Isn't Celene Canadian?!@?!?

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 15:59:55
HIllary's campaign is now hurting the party, dividing the country and just making what was once a decent primary season filthly dirty and nasty. I expect that from the republicans, It makes me sick to see it coming from our own party members.



What the HELL is hillary going to do if she doesn't win this nomination? You think she will be a grown up and campaign for Obama? Would he WANT that kind of campaign style?



It makes me really sick.



I used to respect her, now I just do not know.

Comment by starling310 on 03/03/2008 16:05:43
OMG! Dolly Parton has a new album out.





Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 16:08:24
:wacko: OMG.

Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 16:09:38
Is he eating the mic?

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 16:10:12
Quote by starling310: OMG! Dolly Parton has a new album out.



Hola Chica! YES! I read a wonderful interview of her in... wait for it.... *Interview* magazine.







Comment by starling310 on 03/03/2008 16:12:14
I loves me some Dolly!



Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 16:14:44
YEah not sure how I feel about the uber chants in the video...







Comment by wickedpam on 03/03/2008 16:27:15
Chris said what I was thinking

Comment by Raine on 03/03/2008 16:31:58
http://www.ou.edu/oupd/eyehole1.gif