Thursday, January 22, 2015

Fire in the hole!



My favorite TV show came back on the air this week. Yay! Okay, it’s one of my favorites. Justified. US Marshal Raylon Givens, shoot first and ask questions later. Dewey Crowe, idiot redneck. Boyd Crowder, a bank-robbing white supremacist. Ava, widow, Boyd’s former fiance.  This is grunge southern fiction at its best.

The show is based on characters by writer Elmore Leonard. Some may remember his other well-known books, made into movies:  Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction, Three-ten to Yuma, Kill Shot to name a few. Leonard was brilliant. Gritty realism. Strong language.  He wrote ten rules for writing good.  He summed up the ten rules in one sentence.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
 
The TV show got its name from the opening scene. Raylon gives a gangster type an ultimatum. Get out  of town or be shot.  Heck. Watch it for yourself.




Ron D. Voigts writes dark mysteries. His latest book Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Daphne: Dr. Crane, your Glockenspiel has sprung to life!

Daphne Moon makes a great study of how to develop a great character.  She’s earthy, funny, and easy to love.  When she first makes her appearance on the Frasier TV show, she comes across as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, needing refining and direction from Professor Henry Higgins. At other times she is sophisticated and luscious. She tells stories laced with humorous metaphors and may be a bit psychic, according to Granny Moon.  Throughout the first seven seasons a romance develops between her and Frasier’s brother Niles.

When she and Niles dance the tango:
Daphne: There’s only one rule when dancing the tango.  Our bodies must be in constant contact without a sliver of daylight between us.
Niles: I can do that.

Daphne talking about her love life with Niles, and at this point she doesn't know his true feelings for her.
Daphne: I have been keeping myself on the shelf lately. I’m feeling a little like the good china.
Niles: Someone should be eating off of you every day.

When Niles and Daphne chop some vegetables for a salad.
Daphne: When I was little I actually thought celery was the meanest vegetable. Radishes were the smartest. Beets were the policemen.
Niles: What sort of personality do carrots have?
Daphne: I try not to think about that when I’m chopping them.

Here are more scenes from a YouTube clip.



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Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries. His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.



Friday, January 2, 2015

Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs

I'm usually a day late and a dollar short.  Missed the boat.  Didn't see the big picture. Didn't get it. Trying to figure out what the big deal was.  TV show Frasier was like that.

Here's a show about a psychiatrist doing a talk show on Seattle radio. Yawn! Boring. Well, so I thought and didn't bother giving the show a chance. Then a few months back I caught the last few minutes of the final show and thought it sounded sorta interesting.  Maybe I should catch an episode.

Lucky me.  Netflix had the whole series. No surprise.  Netflix is gaining the corner on the old television shows market. Yeah. I know what you're thinking. What about Hulu Plus and that other streaming service? But I don't subscribe to them, so Netflix it is.

I watched the first episode and it caught my eye.  I already mentioned Frasier's part in the show, but he has a brother Niles who is also a head shrink.  Put them together and you have a Lucy and Ethyl. Kinda.  Niles tricks Fras into taking in their Father, Martin Crane, an ex-cop who retired after taking a bullet to the hip.  Fras is not happy and gets more unhappy when Marty brings along his beat-up old recliner. The chair is obviously an eyesore among Frasier's tasteful decorating. But then Fras learns that Eddie is still around.

"Oh, no, dad, no, not Eddie."

"But he's my best friend."

"But he's weird. Gives me the creeps. All he does is stare at me."

"Aw, it's just your imagination."

Then we learn that Eddie is a dog! Here is a cut from YouTube.




Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries. His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.