I’ve been thinking about metatextuality the last few days. Although there are many types of metatexuality, I’ve been concentrating on fictional narratives in which a character understands that he/ she is a part of a film, television show, or comic book. I watched the Woody Allen movie Whatever Works last night  in which the lead character (played by Larry David) is the only person who knows that he is in a film. That made me think about the old Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd television Moonlighting, in which both actors openly “broke the fourth wall” and talked to the viewing audience. Although these instances certainly exist in film and television, I believe that the comic book is the ultimate metatextual popular culture art form. Although Grant Morrison’s run on Animal Man, in which the title superhero gets to meet his creator, is probably the most well-known, the history of comic books is filled with metatextual stories. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby not being allowed into Reed Richards and Sue Storm’s wedding in Fantastic Four Annual #3. Action Comics #554 in which two children have to create Superman so that he can save the world. Fantastic Four #511 where Jack Kirby is God. The Julie Schwartz 70th birthday issue in Superman #411. Or even the latest Superboy/ Superman/ Superboy Prime Stories in Adventure Comics. Not to mention numerous cover in which a lead character speaks directly to the audience. After giving it some thought, I believe that superhero comic books by their very nature are metatextual. Superhero stories are the new American mythology. This hero narrative consists of hundreds of thousands of stories and works to explain American life.  The two leading publishers, Marvel and DC, have crafted intricate universes for over seventy years and all of these stories fit together to create possibly the most detailed mythology ever written. (DC and Marvel’s heroes have interacted many times and from this viewpoint it would be fair to say that the two universes are now one shared mythology.) These comic book mythologies are built on the same things that all mythologies are; belief. The heroes and their stories exist because the readers say they do. Although the writers give create the characters, the readers give them life. Except for promotion events like his “death,” Superman has appeared in multiple stories every month for over seventy years. He, and other heroes, become a part of the fabric of reader’s lives and no longer are just characters but weekly/ monthly friends. A television show or a movie series are periodic and rarely follow a set schedule. They also always end. A comic book can be counted on to appear monthly (or close to it unless the creative team is terribly late.) This creates a relationship with the reader that is metatextual by nature. The reader becomes part of the hero’s universe and the hero becomes part of his/her’s. Although the hero is not always shown to be metatexually aware, the reader often assumes he/she because of the ongoing relationship. This creates a connection that is rare in any other medium. No wonder I can’t stop buying comic books.

“He’s a sales rep by day but he moonlights teaching creative writing at the community college.”

Does that sound dated?  You don’t hear the word moonlighting very often anymore.   In today’s economy, many people work several jobs while others multi-task several income-producing activities in the same hour. In its day, the word had a pejorative connotation.   It was almost unseemly that someone needed to teach to pull in a few extra dollars.

The NBC-TV show Community — pictured at right — has given focus to the varied — and mostly untrained and uncertified — faculty that ones finds at a community college.   (A television version anyway.)  Teaching there is not a dream job.

Our closest neighbouring university, UOIT (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) actually grew out of Durham College with whom its north Oshawa campus shares space.   Despite the presumed higher academic excellence of Ontario universities,  I’m wondering how much else they have in common.

As a U of T graduate, I’m familiar with the concept that university professors are involved in a variety of research and writing projects.   Many are published authors working on their next tome, and some have a handful of doctoral candidates who they supervise alongside their undergraduate lectures.

But the undergrad lectures at U of T always form the major part of the professors “nine to five” existence, but for a few designated evening classes.   At UOIT, I’m not sure if the professors are moonlighting elsewhere in private industry, or, as in the example above, they regard their private industry job as primary and their teaching of undergraduates secondary.  Which is which?   If the time of day of the lectures, tutorials and labs is any indication it’s the latter.   Their “other” occupation comes first.

Why else would you have lectures at 8:00 AM in a school that is decidedly not crowded?   Or lectures that begin at 5:00 and run to 6:30 PM.    Does that not sound to you like you’re accommodating someone’s “day job?”

Right now, it’s the exams that run until 10:00 PM that amaze me.   I always thought the phrase, “full time undergraduate student” implied someone who takes classes by day.    For some students at UOIT, much of the best part of the day is unstructured, free time, preparing for lectures late in the afternoon or very, very early the next morning.

It’s time the faculty there started putting their teaching responsibilities above whatever else they’ve got cooking.

In light of this Star article exposing the amount of money police officers get paid to moonlight / chaperone for different events and goings-on in the city, I figured journalists can be put to work to do similar thoughtless tasks while getting paid double their salaries. Here are some suggestions as to what we can do for a bit of extra cash:

Extras in a movie – you always see scrums with a hoard of journalists in films and on TV. Why not just hire real journalists? We would probably accept less money than extras anyways.

Call centre stand-ins – If someone in your telemarketing firm has Swine flu, we can step in. We’re used to calling people for hours, being sworn at, making no progress etc…

Supervising - Heck, I’ll watch a pot hole if I can make $64 an hour.

Red-Light Camera – Give us a cherry picker and we’ll take pictures of those assholes who run red lights. If the police can replace inanimate objects, so can we? (in the article, some construction workers replace police with pylons and signs. Shocker.)

Teacher’s Assistant – Will copy edit for beer.

I think those are viable options for extra work. The city should consider spending taxpayers’ money on our needs, it’s only fair.

I’ve got about a month left until I’m no longer a moonlighting weekend doorman for a sleepy commercial building in Chelsea.  I love the lessons you can pick up from new jobs, and even this relatively straightforward one taught me quite a few:

• People want to be listened to when they speak.  Even gregarious types who seem to only want to say something for the sake of having said anything at all appreciate it when you really hear what they’ve said.  New Yorkers know when you’re placating instead of listening.
• If you put up a sign on a door that says “Next Door Please”, about a third of the people who encounter it will ignore its advice.  10 percent will ask the doorman for help with this conundrum.
• Doormen get asked for directions to subways.  A lot.
• A lot of people don’t mind if doormen are able to eavesdrop on their phone conversations, but will clam up if other building residents are within earshot.
• Union doormen take their job very seriously.  Also, a doorman without a book to read is in dire need of someone who will listen.  They’ve been sitting around all day thinking of what to say.
• Doormen hate it when you litter in front of their buildings. It’s like dropping trash into someone’s fish tank at home.
• If you don’t want to write and there’s a sandwich nearby, it will take all of your willpower to choose the writing over the sandwich.
• Any time of day, no excuses, a doorman would love a cup of coffee.  Know how your doorman takes his coffee, and you’ve gained a loyal follower.
• If there’s a clip board with signatures on it, it is dumb to ask “Should I sign in?”
• Sign in.
• Everyone says hello to the doorman.  Nice people also say good night.

moon·light // (mnlt)

n.

 

The light reflected from the surface of the moon.

intr.v. moon·light·ed, moon·light·ing, moon·lights Informal

 

To work at another job, often at night, in addition to one’s full-time job.

We were in Clacton-on-Sea for a long weekend when I came across an advert for new TV channel CBS Drama. It launched last week, and they were making a big deal about screening Dynasty, when I noticed they’re also showing every episode of Moonlighting from the start – news that had Chef in raptures. This is the cult show that starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd as David Addison and Maddie Hayes, hapless private investigators at the Blue Moon detective agency.

Arguably the pinnacle of postmodern TV – in a later series Maddie asks David where he’s been as they walk past a Die Hard standee in a video store window – there’s plenty of wandering off set and in show production references, along with a full complement of shaky cases and 80s outfits. More fun than balloons – all I need to do now is get Sky. Chef’s Kiss!

It’s widely accepted that Moonlighting broke fairly new ground with its combination of mystery-solving, witty dialogue, and sexual tension between Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shephard) and David Addison (Bruce Willis). It’s also widely understood that Moonlighting’s ratings dived during the fourth season, leading to its cancellation.

Why? Commonly, it’s thought that it’s because it fulfilled the tension between the characters in the third season. Its’ contemporary Remington Steele didn’t fare that much better, dragging into a fifth and final season. But that’s not the only reason these series let their viewers down – it’s because both series relied too heavily on romantic tension as a foundational plot device.

Neither show was terribly kind to the women: Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist) was forced to take on nameless, man-without-a-past, bad-boy Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) for the need to have a male partner in her detective business and Hayes was an ex-model, embezzled by her ex-accountant, and with debts to pay. Hayes needed Addison to resurrect one of her failing investments, Blue Moon Detective Agency, as well as to have a purpose in life post-modeling career. Needed. That’s the key word.

Navigating the “will they or won’t they” dynamic is tricky territory. I don’t think detective/crime-drama television series have come back this way since the 1980s. That is, until now: Castle (Andrew Marlowe) and Bones (Hart Hanson). Both series are finding very clever ways to sustain the dynamic, but more importantly to give it real progression.

Why are these two series succeeding where the predecessors failed? The story-telling is far better – with Castle often moving deftly like a Dashiell Hammett mystery and Bones ooing us and awing us with the details of forensic science and technology. It’s almost sci-fi, Stargate geeky. Each episode is equal parts National Geographic and psychological thriller.

However, ultimately, the success comes down to strong, in-depth lead characters as the core, engaging sub-plots, and fleshed out secondary characters . . . who can be foils, but not caricatures. Bones should be commended, next to Battlestar Galactica, for having one of the most racially diverse (and stunning) set of female characters.

Bones and Castle have as leads – strong, beautiful, intelligent, capable, women who do not need their male partners. The interdisciplinary partnership, however, enhances the overall ability to more effectively solve cases. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is a brilliant forensic anthropologist teamed up with confident, intuitive FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) is a hard-boiled, tough, probably Ivy League-educated, NYPD homicide detective in league with insightful writer Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion).

I’m reminded of the best elements of the great noirs of the 1940s with Humphrey Boghart and Lauren Bacall (who were as equal to each other as one could be then). Castle and Bones succeed in part because yes – they are sustaining our curiosity on whether or not the two leads will get together. But only in part.

The dynamic is tricky because if it happens too soon, the viewers lose interest. If the producers wait too long, there is the danger the show will get canceled, or that the viewers will become frustrated and lose interest. My friend Stina asks the question – why have co-worker romantic tension at all? Yes, why have it indeed?

Well, because the dialogue, when executed well, is just marvelous. In Bones and Castle, not only is it intelligent in and of itself, the topic at hand is also intellectual. But a series that relies heavily on sexual tension between two characters, no matter the genre or content of the dialogue, will always fail. (A series that relies only on sexual tension between several pairs of characters is a soap opera – *cough* Grey’s Anatomy.) It may be fun, but it lacks substance.

Whatever happens in Bones, I will be satisfied knowing that Brennan and Booth have came this far – they have transformed each others’ lives. This is not just about witty dialogue and tension – it’s about a genuine friendship and a partnership – a true emotional bond with serious ramifications. Like relationships in my favorite novels, like Diana Wynne Jones’ Fire and Hemlock. Like a Miyazaki film, it sends shivers up your spine. Television rarely enters this territory.

As for Castle, the relationship between Castle and Beckett is so far, more playful. It’s always fun to see her cut him down in her Lauren Bacall/Katherine Hepburn sort of way and to see him catch her off guard. That said, the comic relief is mixed in with some very dark tones of murder cases as well as a sub-plot involving Beckett’s past. I think Castle explores the personal dynamics between those involved around the victim with excellent skill.

Castle is also a fantastic and clever example of life imitating art imitating life imitating art imitating… – and I’ve totally lost track. Moonlighting may have been a spoof of detective series. But Castle takes the best elements – breaking the fourth wall, extremely witty dialogue, and maintains the edge and grit of a real mystery.

Castle is a boyish, playboy, popular mystery writer, who is brought in by the NYPD to help solve a string of murders that mirror those in his novels. In the process, he meets his new inspiration (Beckett) and works out an arrangement (much to her chagrin) to shadow her as research for his new book. That book is actually on our bookshelves. Additionally, the show takes us outside of the homicide lounge and into Castle’s life, which includes his eccentric mother and charming teenage daughter. Castle brings the best elements of comedy sitcoms into a drama . . .which even a lot of non-detective dramas do badly.

It’s Beckett who remains the mystery – to Castle, and to the viewers. Not to mention she’s totally gorgeous with her dark brown hair and enormous green, heavy-lashed eyes, and legs to die for. And jackets to die for – I haven’t seen such great outerwear since Audrey Hepburn’s coats in Charade.

Once you develop great characters, not to say that the story writes itself; but, the viewers are far less likely to be disappointed by what or what does not happen between the leads. One tends to accept it and respects it as the choice of the characters. That my friends, makes a great detective yarn, a great romance, and simply, a great story that keeps me watching week after week. I haven’t had this much fun since reading Nancy Drew novels as a younger girl. And both Castle and Bones make me want to believe that an epic partnership could in fact potentially be real.

by Judi

Clearly, living in LA for four years has its benefits.

5. Jessie Katsopolis’s Dad (John Aprea) from Full House

I remember watching an award show once. Julia Roberts won for something, it must’ve been Erin Brockovich. And she climbs up on stage to receive it and then has a momentary freak-out because Beau Bridges (BEAU BRIDGES) is presenting it to her. I think she even said something like, “Oh my God, it’s Beau Bridges.” And everyone was like really? You’re JULIA ROBERTS. You hang out with George Clooney and Brad Pitt regularly, you’ve met EVERYONE and you freak out over Beau Bridges? What was the last thing Beau Bridges was in, can you even remember? (For the record, I’m so with you, Julia, who is clearly reading this. I once thought I saw Beau Bridges on a flight and almost had a heart attack. He is, after all, the dad from The Wizard).

So here’s my theory. Sometimes, it’s not the fame of the actor you spot in real life, in “the wild” you might say, but what you remember them from. As in, I was walking to work down Robertson Blvd. one day and passed Uncle Jesse’s dad in Full House and I. lost. my. mind. The Julia Roberts- Beau Bridges theory is the only excuse I can muster for my COMPLETELY illogical reaction. I almost attacked him on the sidewalk, such was my joy.

4. Lex Luthor (John Shea) from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

This one was funny. My brother was visiting me. We were in my car, driving through an alley in Santa Monica when LEX LUTHOR steps out from the shadows and walks in front of us. And it was so embarrassing too because I think our jaws dropped at the same time and he turned to look at us, two gaping buffoons, and then smirked and kept walking. On his way to the Farmer’s Market. Lex Luthor wants some fresh produce and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

3. Michael Guerin/Jared Booth (Brendan Fehr) from Roswell/Bones

When I moved to LA, my roommate/soon-to-be-best-friend (hi Bic!) and I spent the majority of our time dealing with living on a new planet (and yes, LA is its own planet. Make no mistake) by hiding in our new apartment and watching hours and hours and hours of Roswell. I think over the course of our tenure as roommates, we’ve watched those DVDs 7,000 times. So when I (finally) got a job in the Star Corridor (the corner of Beverly Blvd. and Robertson Blvd., home of a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf AND a Starbucks across the street from each other, “we met at Starbucks but different Starbucks”) and saw brooding alien Michael Guerin walking across the street, right next to my human body, I almost fell into traffic. I pulled my ass to the corner, called Bic and proceeded to hyperventilate. Over the course of my years in LA, I would see a number of other Roswell cast members- Maria in that Coffee Bean, Tess (you may know her as Claire from Lost) and Alex (Colin Hanks) at Coachella and, yes, my reaction was the same every time. Complete and utter meltdown.

2. Chanandelor Bong (Matthew Perry) from Friends (twice!)

Speaking of the Star Corridor, Matthew Perry clearly has some kind of caffeine addiction. I saw him for the first time at the Starbucks, notable because I was on the phone with my mother at the time who got VERY excited and then said, “Tell him I’m watching Friends right NOW! It’s the one where he proposes to Monica.” Like I was capable of movement, much less approaching him and handing him a cell phone with my mother chattering on the other end about his tearful proposal. More likely, I would’ve gone up to him and told him that his episode of Growing Pains basically traumatized me for life, thanks a lot.

The SECOND time was at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (yup, right across the street. Chandler, like me, is not partial to just one massive coffee chain) and, to my everlasting joy, Bic had met me for a coffee break on her way back from either another dreadful temp job or a depressing interview. We both stood by the counter, waiting for our coffees, and Matthew Perry stood next to us ordering. We conversed THE ENTIRE TIME, mindlessly talking as we both tried not to stare at him. Finally, he left, we sat down and we looked at each other. What the hell were we talking about? She was saying things, I was saying things- she could’ve been talking about elephants and my response could’ve been about arugula. And now we’ll never know.

1. David Addison (Bruce Willis) from Moonlighting

Ah yes, the car sighting. One of my favorites because of the sheer skill involved. Cars, after all, move pretty fast and you’ve got to be able to get a good look and confirm quickly. It’s also good if you’re either alone (so no one can dispute it) or the glimpse is substantial enough that you get immediate confirmation from the other party as well, lest you have a “George Michael on the 405″ incident (Bic saw him, I didn’t but it didn’t stop us from stalking him in traffic for forty minutes) or a humiliating “Simon Rex in a LeBaron” moment which my friends will STILL not let me live down (it was him, I swear. I want those words on my tombstone. Also, their primary argument is that Simon Rex would not drive a LeBaron and I think that’s PRECISELY why it was Simon Rex. Come on.)

The Bruce Willis Sighting is my all-time favorite sighting of all time. I was driving through Westwood one day, in a residential area and pulled up to a stop sign to make a left turn. The car opposite me, a black Mercedes, had also stopped. I waited for it to leave so I could make my left but the car just STOPS in the middle of the intersection. I then realize that the car stopped because the driver was watching a leggy blonde in a sports bra jog across the street, like actually just watching her bounce along. I’m seriously irritated now and just about to lay on the horn when the driver turns to me, smirks, and it’s Bruce Fucking Willis. I just about shat in my pants, SHAT WITH A VENGEANCE.

Recently during a family get together the subject of television came up.  My uncle said he hated shows that have two romantic leads that fight all the time, and how you spend the whole show hoping they will get together but they never do (Of course he also likes westerns sooo).  I almost lost it because I LOVE these kind of shows.  My favorite television shows are the ones that have sexual tension.  I am a sucker for the whole will they wont they, they cant but maybe they can,  scenario.  I can’t get enough of it frankly.  All my favorite shows have this key dramatic ingredient.  In fact I would argue that most of the best shows ever made have had this key ingredient.

What else do I love, BANTER.  I am a huge old movie fan and my favorite old movies all have that quick witty, sarcastic banter that seems to be sorely missing in modern day cinema.  Myrna Loy and William Powel as Nick and Nora from The Thin Man, most Carey Grant and Rosalind Russell movies– His Girl Friday being my favorite of course.  There is nothing better then that quick and smart back and forth.  It is what I aspire too in life and in my own writing.  I always say if I could write the perfect novel it would read like an old movie.

I think this is why Castle on ABC is currently one of the shows I most look forward to during the week.  Just in case you arn’t familiar with it check out the Starter Kit. Alright so Caste has all these key ingredients great banter, but most of all sexual tension.  But sexual tension, while the key to successful show, is a difficult thing to keep up.

Let us consider the phenomenon of fan fiction.  I am not a fan of fan fiction.  Now I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but a lot of fan fiction deeply sucks.  Bad writing or masturbatory story lines aside the main problem with fan fiction is that most of these fans writing it dont really understand the dynamics of what makes a show work.  They are fans not television writers, its only natural.  They don’t understand that careful balance that must be maintained.  It is the same if you youtube just about any television show out there and watch those kinda cheesy but sweet music videos people make for shows.  I recently saw this youtube clip of a scene from Castle and someone commented on it “they need to just get married already and start making babies.”  I had a good laugh about that one.  Here is a prime example of where fans get it wrong.  Okay yes Castle fans, that is what we all secretly want but it wouldn’t make us happy because then the show would be over.  It is rule numero uno, they cannot get together.  It is what I call The Moonlighting Rule. NOOOO not the vampire show, Moonlighting a la Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis.

Here is a show I have actually never seen mainly because it aired the year I was born.  I really should watch it though.  But I know all to well the Moonlighting Rule.  Moonlighting was a very popular series that revolved around the sexual tension between Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis’ characters. What is not to love?  Cybil Shepherd is a great comedic actress and Bruce Willis has always been my older guy crush ever since Harrison Ford crossed over from silver fox to just old.  In Moonlighting they argued and tossed around witty banter to the pleasure of audiences until….  THEY DID IT….  Oh yes finally the writers gave audiences what they really wanted, they consummated that relationship hardcore.  Only to find that it wasn’t what audience really wanted, it might have been what they thought they wanted but it wasn’t what they wanted.  It was a sexual tension suicide.  They finally did it, and now there was nothing to look forward to.  There was no more ,will they wont they because now they did.   The sexual tension was gone and therefore audiences didn’t really care anymore.  And the only thing left for Moonlighting was CANCELLATION!

Sexual tension is a balancing act.  There is a very delicate give and take that has to go on.   We need to think of sexual tension in physical terms, it is all about the build up but there has to be some release, or else you explode.   Let’s take a favorite of mine Bones for example.

I am constantly amazed by the writers of Bones.  They do that thing they do so well.  The key to Bones five successful seasons of anthropology, murder, and Booth and Bones tension is all in the give and take the writers weave into the lead characters’ relationship.  The writers know how to push the characters together and slightly pull them a part again.  They know how to toss us a bone every now and then (No pun intended).  Take the first kiss for example, which audiences didn’t get until season three.  It didn’t come in a dream sequence, which is often writers way around the Moonlighting Rule, no it actually did happen but it was part of a deal between Bones and the reoccurring prosecutor who is feeling “puckish” and agrees to let Bones have a special Christmas with her family in exchange for giving Booth a long wet one under the mistletoe. It gave audiences a taste of what they wanted but not in the context they want it, therefore keeping the sexual tension safe and sound on our television screen where it belongs.  (They did finally have sex in a dream sequence episode where Booth is in a coma and dreaming that Bones and him are married, it was a travesty of a season finale if I do say so myself) There are countless little instances like that, moments that bring them together.  Then there are moments that slightly bring them apart.  Both have dated other people, at one point Booth arrested Bones’ father, recently Booth realized he is in love with Bones but was advised not to take action yet because things must take their natural course.

The writers of Bones have been so good at this balancing act.  They find key moments to give us just a taste of what we want, but  they keep us wanting more.  HOWEVER, this comes at a cost.  I would argue that now in Season Five we are seeing the downfall of this game.  The writers have kept us tagging along thus far but we are starting to get a bit tired.  Think of it this way: If you play tug-a-war with a dog and never let them win, eventually that dog won’t want to play tug-a-war anymore.  While so far I would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with the current season, I find myself slightly ambivalent.  We’ve seen it all before and it is time for a little something new.  The writers of Bones need to shake it up a little.

There are countless other examples of sexual tension.  Growing up  the underrated series The Pretender was one of my favorites.  Here the two main leads rarely are in the same scene together.  You can probably count their face to face interactions over the course of four seasons and two made-for-television movies on your hand.  But still we all secretly wanted Jarod and Ms. Parker to shut up and hook up.  Another really interesting example would be the show I love to hate Prison Break.

OO Prison Break OO Prison Break, you broke my heart one to many times.  As I have time and time again stated on this blog I started out a huge Prison Break fan.  By season 3 though, I wanted to have the writers hanged.  Prison Break started out as a show I tuned in to watch because I didn’t believe it could be done.  No way, I thought, can they base a whole series off breaking out of a singular prison (and in many ways I was right).  BUT it started off looking as though they could.  While the prison antics were compelling, the brotherly relationship sweet, the two male leads very sexy,  it was the unexpected sexual tension between main character Michael and the prison’s female doctor Sara that really got me hooked.  Probably half of the devoted Prison Break fans will tell you it was that relationship that made Prison Break.  I am not sure how intentional it was, in the beginning Sara seems more like a background character but she slowly developed into a show favorite.  It was more than a will they wont they, it was a they can’t situation.  A can’t situation with a glimmer of:  but maybe they can.  The first season, Prison Break writers were experts at giving us little moments of MiSA (as fans call them).  Bread crumbs if you will, then finally they would give us something to really sink our teeth in, something really satisfying to keep us going.  Then they would bust them a part and we would wonder: will Sara ever forgive Michael?  Will Michael ever see Sara again?  It was great fun.

Then season 2 happened.  The prison break finally happened and we got less and less of Michael and Sara together.  But we kept watching because we were hoping they would eventually find each other and that she would forgive him for using her to break out of prison.  And the writers still gave us enough to string us along without letting the tension break.  Then the dark period we know as Season 3 happened and it was all down hill from there.  Season 3, lead actress Sarah Wayne Callies got pregnant and execs decided to work around it by cutting her from half of the season.  Callies apparently wasn’t happy with that and gave the ultimatum either I am in the show or I am not.  For some reason the execs chose not.  So they beheaded her character.  Not those particular studio execs finest moment.  Yes Fox, shame on you for that one.  After a terrible season and fan outrage they resigned Callies and did the whole alive again story line.  Too little too late and frankly those alive again story lines don’t even work on scifi shows.

Like the good Dr. Sara the sexual tension was beheaded.  And in a moment of what I can only describe as terrible writing they finally had the “THEY DID IT” moment, except viewers weren’t really sure they did it because they dont show ANYTHING and they never say they did it but then she is suddenly pregnant so obviously they had at one time, it was just awkward and sad.    Which really sums up the end of what was once my favorite show, awkward and sad.

Awkward and Sad would be the worst case scenario for how sexual tension can end, possibly worse than breaking the Moonlighting Rule.  Of course like all rules, we have this uncontrollable itch to break the Moonlighting Rule. It is just asking to for it.  But if television writers want to protect their show and keep their jobs, they must tread lightly.  Play as close to the edge as possible without going off.  Break the rule, and the chances your show will be canceled are just too high.  In fact I am not sure there is a chance a show could survive after the sexual tension is broken.  But it would be great to be proven wrong.  The writers of Bones had done a fabulous job so far, perhaps one day they will break the Moonlighting Rule and still be able to keep the show going.  But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

So getting back to Castle.  This little show has quite the battle before it.  For the most part it is doing really well.  Still Castle walks this thin line between comedy and drama.  It is after all a “cop” show so too heavy on the comedy and it comes off unrealistic and maybe a bit insensitive.  But part of Castle’s charm is that it is funny.  We have a charming but boyish crime writer who is basing his newest character on a no nonsense female NYPD detective.  The first season started out cute, but I didn’t believe it would last,  because usually anything I like is doomed to fail.   However the writers surprised me and the show started getting better and better.  The same can be said of the second season, the first few episodes were lack luster but the last three or four episodes have been fantastic.

Writers be wary though, keeping this show going is going to be a tight rope walk.   The show straddles the thin line between screwball and cheese.  We like screwball, but too much cheese and audiences might choose to go to bed instead.  Fillion essentially plays himself, and is adorable as always.  Now in the second season I can tell the writers are attempting growth with Katic’s character by utilizing her comedic abilities.  However, Katic was set up as the straight man to Fillion’s character.  Her character is refreshing because she somehow is able to take that tough, focused, no nonsense female cop we so commonly see on television and make her slightly more human by giving her a sense of humor, she isn’t afraid to look a little silly, and she can be a little flirtatious now and then. However she is still the straight man, they need to remember that.  Aside from the comedy there is a good amount of heart in the show.  Unlike so many cop shows now days there is hardly any gore on Castle, it is lighthearted and just plain nice.  You get a lot of the shows heart through Fillion’s character’s family, his daughter and mother, but also in Katic’s Detective Beckett who is dedicated in helping the victim’s families find closure.  Get to cheesy and we loose this heart, we loose the drama.

Tension is key to the charm of Castle.  Once again the writers need to be careful.  The whole basis of this tension is the fact that Det. Beckett is less the thrilled to have writer Richard Castle following her around and fictionalizing her life, unfortunately her boss and the mayor have basically ordered her to comply. She is frustrated by him.  They cannot become too friendly.  Once again, like Bones, they need to give and take away.  Let them get closer and then pull them a part.  For instance, at the beginning of the season Beckett was barely on speaking terms with Castle after he abused her trust by looking into her mother’s murder after she asked him to drop it.  Give and take, just when we think our leads are cozying up something disrupts them and throws them off track.

We’ve got tension.  We’ve got a really layered will they wont they situation.  We have got witty back and forth to rival the best old movies.  All these key ingredients for a great show.  However, that all leads to a lot of pressure to perform.  As long as Castle writers can avoid dropping the ball and can keep up this balancing act, I am thinking we might get a season three.  Of course then it is up to the networks not to screw up and frankly their decisions rarely make sense to me.

This is an interesting one… Many people right now are looking for multiple streams of income through side business or even second jobs.  This article is interesting because while I can side with the employer on this issue ( you should have 100% attention at while at work) I can see the employee issue.

You be the judge by reading it:

http://www.workforce.com/section/03/feature/26/70/42/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ut_four_day_workweek

I think 4  ten hour days are very good for business and this should be looked into by business owners who have the option to do so.  The 9-5 … 5 days a week is an old idea.

1) From part 3 of Held by the Taliban, New York Times reporter David Rohde’s account of his kidnapping and seven months held in captivity by Taliban extremists:

I argued that the United States was not the menacing, predatory caricature that they believed. I also tried to counter their belief that all Americans were astonishingly rich. Nothing I said, though, seemed to change their minds.

One day, I received a copy of Dawn, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, that featured an article on the perilous financial state of The New York Times. I saved the newspaper until commanders stopped by for visits.

Showing them the headline “New York Times Struggles to Stay Afloat,” I explained that the American newspaper industry — as well as the American economy — was in a free fall. They listened to what I said and nodded. Then, they ignored me.

HA! Stupid terrorists. Your naive Pollyannaism about the newspaper industry is downright charming. Maybe I could hand the phone over to a copy boy or a rewrite girl instead? Don’t you even read Romensko?!

Which brings us to:

2) The latest entry from StuffJournalistsLike

#47 moonlighting

“Having money isn’t everything not having it is”

– Kanye West

Journalists go into journalism knowing they probably won’t be able to buy that dream house, take that exotic cruise or pay off those student loans with their day jobs alone.

In order to enjoy the finer things in life like a full tank of gas and not carrying the shame of sneaking in a day-old Starbucks coffee cup to sneak a refill, another thing journalists like is moonlighting.

After seven hours covering city hall for the people, many journalists hang up their reporter’s notebooks, and put on an apron, nametag and hairnet and serve the public in another capacity.

And journalists have perfected the art of being nice to mean people, be it a source or a guy yelling to supersize his fries.

Writing the first draft of history is rewarding but the pay isn’t.

Read the whole post

And finally, 3) from the Onion this week. Ah, but there’s a major factual error in these grafs! Can you spot it? canyacanyacanya?:

Report: Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date

Print journalism owes its solvency to the loyal hostage-takers still paying cover price.

NEW YORK—According to a report published this week in American Journalism Review, 93 percent of all newspaper sales can now be attributed to kidnappers seeking to prove the day’s date in filmed ransom demands.

“Although the vast majority of Americans now get their news from the Internet or television, a small but loyal criminal element still purchases newspapers at a steady rate,” study author and Columbia journalism professor Linus Ridell said. “The sober authority of the printed word continues to hold value for those attempting to extort large sums of money from wealthy people who wish to see their loved ones alive again, and not chopped into pieces and left in steamer trunks on their doorsteps.”

“These are sick, sick individuals,” Ridell added. “God bless them for saving our industry.”

In an effort to cater to their sole remaining customer base, many newspapers have started to run features and advertising targeted at the ruthless abductors. The Washington Post recently sold a two-page advertorial to a popular ski-mask manufacturer, while The New York Times now offers a real estate section dedicated primarily to abandoned warehouses, remote wooden sheds, and converted industrial meat freezers hidden from prying eyes.

Read the whole story.

Did you see it? Here it is: The study was published by the American Journalism Review, an industry publication put out by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland (TerpsTerpsTerps!).

But the study’s author is cited as a professor at Columbia University, publishers of the rival Columbia Journalism Review.

BAM! I guess tough times for the print industry mean even L’Onion can’t afford fact checkers any more. Someone make sure to tell the terrorists.

This is why I stopped freelancing nearly two years ago.  I wanted a “comfort zone” and was driven by a boyfriend-at-the-time to “get a real job” that was “steady” that I could “depend on.”  It was a nice idea at the time and it’s just what I did.  I don’t think such a thing exists anymore and it is something I never believed in anyway.  The reason why I was freelancing to begin with was because I felt to my core that you can’t depend on anyone but yourself to make a living.  I have also worked in radio broadcasting for 11 years now, which is an unpredictable industry to say the least.  I was used to the idea of always having a resume ready to go.

Two years later and single, my core beliefs have been proven right on once again.  The economy is much different than it was then, and in ways I couldn’t have foreseen.  I knew then you couldn’t depend on “father employer” to always provide for you, and today we all see why that is.  When Westwood One told us about our pay cut/furloughs at the end of September, I realized you can no longer depend 100% on a full-time job for income.  Since we got the news, I started talking to friends whose furloughs and pay cuts are more severe than mine, and also to friends who’ve been out of work for over a year now.

The only thing I can conclude from this experience is that every one of us must learn to provide for ourselves.  Here’s what I’m thinking…

My full-time, 40-hours-per-week job no longer pays my bills.  At least, not for the next three months and even after these three tight months are past, it still doesn’t help me meet my financial goals.  However, it does have some benefits I won’t get in freelancing like a paycheck every two weeks.  I do know I will at least get some kind of check every two weeks, no matter how small.

I also get health insurance for a dirt cheap monthly fee.  While I do still get stiffed with a lot of health bills I can’t afford on my salary, I know it could be much worse.  I’ve been there, done that in the days of providing my own health insurance.  I don’t even want to know what that would cost me today.  I am guessing at least $300 a month with expensive copays and prescriptions on top of that.

Another benefit of a full-time job, even if I don’t make full-time pay is sick and vacation time.  If I’m running a fever, I can call in sick, unlike in freelancing where a deadline is a deadline.  I do also have paid vacation time.  It’s so hard to take a vacation or sick day when you are your own boss.  If I am too sick to leave my home, I can call in sick to my full-time job but I’ll still have to turn in my freelance work.  Hey, at least I won’t have to do both.

Having a full-time job also gets me out of the house  five days a week, which is also a plus.  I get to interact with coworkers and learn from them, which is something I don’t get working alone at home. Freelancing interaction for me in 2006-2008 was limited to email, phone, Skype, MySpace, and Twitter.  I spent next to nothing on gas, but I think I also ended up out of touch without all those great “water cooler” chats I have now with coworkers.

So those are all the great things about having a full-time job.  You get sick time, vacation time, a paycheck every two weeks, cheaper health benefits than one can provide oneself, and a sense of community.  Not to mention how good it looks on the resume as you seek jobs.  The best time to get a job is when you already have a job.  I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true.

But when the rent doesn’t get paid…it’s not so fun anymore.  This brings me to the entire point of this post:

Don’t depend on an employer to be your everything in 2009 and beyond!

We have got to be moonlighting on the side, whether it is by selling crafts, cleaning houses, DJ’ing weddings, or walking dogs.  I just don’t see being able to get by on one income anymore like our employers are some kind of gods meant to provide for us.  Being in such a comfort zone is a mistake.

I plan to treat my full-time job as my main source of income and benefits–but not as my only source of income and benefits.  To me now, it’s like just another freelance gig to juggle; the income from it can go away at any time.  When I juggled several freelance gigs, I knew this.  When one gig went away, it didn’t make me sad or angry.  I just moved on to the next gig.

So I can continue to be bitter and angry at my employer for cutting my pay, or I can move on to the next gig.  I think I can accept what I’ve known for years in my gut–that only I can create my income by using my unique talents and ideas to find meaningful work I enjoy that pays the bills.

Too Bad Eugene (2002)

Groundbreaking, influential, important, are not words that come to mind immediately when thinking back on Too Bad Eugene. However, catchy and addictive are two words that best describe this band. Too Bad Eugene formed in the late 90’s when Adam Nigh and Andy Snyder left their band Craig’s Brother to venture out on their own. Joining them on drums was Adam’s brother Sam. I loved Craig’s Brother a bunch when they first came out and I heard some early demos. Sure they sounded a heck of a lot like Lagwagon and the rest of the other Fat Wreckords bands but Craig’s Brother had something special that set them apart from the pack. This isn’t a discussion about Craig’s Brother though, this is about Too Bad Eugene. Anyway, Adam and Andy quit Craig’s Brother shortly after the release of “Homecoming” in 1998 and ventured off on their own to start a new three piece pop punk band. When I first caught wind of the group, I had no idea what to expect. I thought “Sure, another three piece Christian Green Day clone” but boy was I wrong. The band soon recorded some demos and signed with Mike Hererra’s (Mxpx) label “Rock City Recordings” in 1999. The band recorded “At Any Rate” up in Bremerton, WA. at Mike’s own studio and Mike Hererra produced it of course. The album released in 2000 on Rock City Recordings and I remember ordering a copy as soon as it came out. What was it like? Well, it was three piece pop punk in the vein of Nofx, No Use for a Name, Face to Face, and even a hint of Social Distortion. Mike Hererra (Mxpx) even sang back ups on several songs. The songs themselves were fun little ditties about scene politics, spirituality, relationships, punk rock, and even our treatment of the homeless. Bottom line was that it was just a fun record and caused people to talk.

I started the Indie Vision Music online music store in July of 2000 and this was one of the first albums I started carrying in the store along with the other Rock City release from Arthur (Mxpx side project). I just loved it. So there I was, sending my check up to Bremerton and receiving the cds at my address shortly after. After starting Indie Vision Music and being away from the scene for 3 years (I quit in 1997 after doing an EDL show and deciding that marriage was more important to me than being involved in the Music industry), I got the wild idea to start booking shows again. I booked my first set of shows after being back in the “Scene” at a local Church I was attending in San Juan Capistrano. It was to be a 4 week set of shows at the Church with different bands playing each week. I immediately thought of Too bad Eugene for one of these shows and contacted the guys through email about it. They agreed and came down to Southern California (they were Nor. Cal. guys) for the night. I got to talking to them that night about music and Tooth and Nail in particular. They were kind of wary of it but one of them told me that if Brandon Ebel contacted them, they’d probably sign. You see, Rock City Recordings didn’t go over so well because Mike, Tom, and Yuri were incredibly busy with their work in Mxpx and didn’t have much spare time to run a record label. So this left Too Bad Eugene on their own. When I was running the IVM store I had Brandon Ebel’s email addy and I would send him over suggestions of bands to sign or look out for. He probably tossed my emails but he did listen a few times when I made a few comments about Too Bad Eugene wanting to sign with T&N. I gave him their contact info and the rest is history.

Too Bad Eugene signed with Tooth and Nail Records in 2001 and began work on their followup to “At Any Rate” soon after. The album was titled “Moonlighting” and was released in 2002 on the Seattle label, Tooth & Nail Records. I was eager to listen and got a promo disc of the album (I ran an online store so I got freebies all the time) and immediately jammed it into my car stereo. I was impressed but at the same time, I thought it was lacking a little in the musical delivery. The album had a more subdued feel to it and wasn’t quite as, how do I say it, “electrifying” as before with “At Any Rate”. It was less punk rock and more straight up rock. The album also had a more straight forward spiritual bent to it than in the past. Songs like “Premodern Donna”, “Theological”, and “Soli Deo Gloria”, pretty much say it all. “Moonlighting” although not my favorite of Too Bad Eugene’s two releases, is still a favorite punk rock album of mine to listen to. If you get a chance to buy “At Any Rate”, I strongly urge you to do it. I booked the band one more time in 2002 at Chain Reaction in Anaheim when I did shows there and Too Bad Eugene nicely showed up to play a show in honor of “Moonlighting” releasing. That would be the last time I’d book them and one of their final shows. Adam and Andy didn’t do much for a few years until they started under the name “Thrush” and released an ep called “Aeon” in 2006, independently. That sadly, was the last I’d heard of those guys. They’ll be missed for sure and their talent is certainly still present in these two albums I still own.

Too Bad Eugene on the web: Myspace, Itunes, Wikipedia list of Tooth and Nail releases.

Listen to: “Drawing Straws” (Taken from the “At Any Rate” album)

Listen to: “Hypothetical” (taken from the “At Any Rate” album)

Listen to: “Premodern Donna” (taken from the “Moonlighting” album)

Lyrics to “Drawing Straws” off of “At Any Rate” (2000)

Poor man sits all alone
Counts about nothing he owns.
You see him there but you walk on by
His cup of change is running dry

His whole world is cold and gray
He didn’t eat a single thing today
But that don’t phase you at all
Cause you got your life together and you’ll never fall.

(Chorus)

When I see through the eyes of the One who gave us His Son
And loves us all the same, I can’t just walk away
Cause how could I defend when I’ve got so much to
lend So quick to turn my back to anyone that asks

You say he’s just a thug
Hooked on alcohol and hooked on drugs
But you’re human just like him
And when God gives you His grace
He know that you’ll still sin
Don’t close your mind so tight
Nothing you say will make it alright
And this person still won’t have home
Except these streets that he’s always roamed

(Chorus)

There’s not much difference between us
We’re all just drawing straws and he got the shorter one.
We see an ugly dirty bum
It’s in your point of view and he’s so beautiful seen through…

(Chorus)

Too Bad Eugene "At Any Rate" (2000)

Too Bad Eugene "Moonlighting" (2002)

Spoiler alert for non-US fans of tv series “Bones”.

In the first episode of Season 5, aired in the US last night, Booth finally realises he is in love with Dr Brennan (aka Bones). This is a moment “Bones” fans have been waiting for since the very first episode of season 1.

So will season 5 be the season that Booth and Bones finally get it together? The chemistry between the two has always been the glue holding this show together. The frustration of the will-they-won’t-they is what keeps fans on the edge of their seat.

It’s a classic tv plot that never fails to hook me in, the couple you know would be perfect together if only they could just make it happen. Every week you tune in just to see their relationship blossom and hopefully develop into a romance. The first kiss which has you gasp with delight or the first admission of love which makes your stomach flip, well thats how it is for me anyway.

Then again I’ve always been a sucker for romance in all my favourite tv shows it’s the love story which keeps me watching every week for example in Lost it’s the Kate and Jack story, in Harper’s Island it was the Abby and Jimmy story and last season in Grey’s Anatomy was all about Yang and  Hunt for me. 

But what happens after the couple get together? Does a show like “Bones” lose some of its appeal if Booth and Bones become a couple. Do we just enjoy the chase?

I’ve always found watching a couple fall in love on screen is always a lot more interesting than watching a loved-up couple struggling with the realities of being together.

One show which had a similar problem was the 80s detective show “Moonlighting” starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd. Once Bruce and Cybill finally got together the show lost it’s magic and was cancelled.

So the end of Bones may be near……….

A British policewoman was recently arrested for moonlighting as a hooker, how dope is that?  That might be about as good as the Indianapolis officer that was working as pimp with his wife last year.  The 29 year old started with the police in Northumbria, UK in 2002 and became a $200/hr hooker in 2006.  I guess the benefits package for police in the UK must suck.

Full story @ the Guardian.

Sometimes a little extra work in the evening isn’t so bad….in fact, it can be a darn good time!  One such time is going out for a little 3500 foot moonlit climb up one of Colorado’s most scenic roads.  I’m talking about a late night ride up the Old Fall River Road in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  It’s only possible about 4-5 times during the riding season and perhaps the last available option is September 4th, however the 5th was close enough for me and four others to enjoy the moon’s light. 

I wasn’t kidding about the work… Old Fall River Road is, well “old”, as in before pavement, and a mountain bike is the weapon of choice due to some soft spots hidden in the shadows.  The fun starts at about 8,500 feet and climbs to 11,800 feet through some grades of 16%.  At times, the tree cover casts some pretty good shadows on the road and riding in the dark can tend to flatten some of those grades, but the drops of sweat on the top tube tell the real story.  This road is also one way so once you start…….there’s no turning back and the park ranger who asked what we were doing at the Lawn Lake Trailhead at 9:30PM made sure we knew that fact! After arriving at the Alpine Visitors Center, 11 miles away from the car, the way down involves descending Trail Ridge Road, so bring lights and red flashers.  Not so fast though! The visitor’s center is at 11,800 feet and Trail Ridge tops off at 2,200 feet, so you have a bit more climbing before breaking out the warm clothes.  Yes, 12,000 feet can get mighty chilly so bring a pack with some extra layers!

Now you’re ready for the fun part.  If you’ve ever driven this road during the day you know how much traffic it can see.  Descending it at midnight you’ll be lucky to see three vehicles on the way down but be careful when opening her up all the way… Elk are mighty big and don’t use headlights…however, they do have horns! (I know, I know, but antlers didn’t sound right!)  The total mileage for this ride is 29.5 miles so that means 16 miles of it is pure adrenalin pumping downhill all the way back to the car.

Visit http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=650125246420066949 for complete ride details.

Another adrenalin filled event this past weekend was the Fort Collins Tour de Fat.  Each year I attend this spectacle and each year I am even more amazed at the engineering marvels and costumes that show up better than the year before.  The size of the crowds both taking part in the parade and lining the streets are also hard to imagine if you haven’t experienced the event first hand.  This year an estimated 10,000 characters took part in the festivities, so you better start thinking now for that original get up for next year.  Check out some of the pictures from the day here – > http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchista/sets/72157622150157735/show/

If you missed the event, or just can’t stand to put the cruiser up just yet, there is still time to sign up for the LEE’s sponsored Tapas ride.  Cruise to three of the areas finest destinations for fine food and drink while dressing in your “finest”  cruiser garb.  Space is limited and there is a fee.  Visit LEE’s more more information and registration.

Ok, I admit, I don’t always wear my helmet when riding my bike, but this weekend I witnessed countless numbers of families riding with the kids wearing helmets and parents NOT!  Now you may not be riding fast with your kids, but things happen, and if you think it is possible for your child to bang his/her noggin from three feet off the ground there is a good chance mom and dad could do it from six feet of the deck. Just sayin’…..

Enjoy the sunlight while it’s here and get out and ride… just remember to put a lid on it!

Steve Lacey

Ah yes, Hudson Hawk. Rarely has a movie been so bitterly and savagely vilified, not only by critics, but even by many of the people involved in making it.

Richard E Grant, for example, who plays one of the main pair of villains alongside Sandra Bernhard, is scathing about the production in his book of published diaries, With Nails.

In fact, long before the film opened, in 1991, there were brutal reports in the press about problems on set, with suggestions that star and co-writer Bruce Willis – then at the height of his early-career fame thanks to the Moonlighting TV series and the first two Die Hard movies - was letting his ego run wild on set, with the film’s director Michael Lehmann (who was himself a hot property after making the acclaimed 1989 film Heathers) sidelined as a result.

It’s certainly true that the movie was one big vanity project for Willis and his pal and co-writer, musician Robert Kraft and that the film that emerged from the troubled shoot was somewhat uneven.

And yet, I’ve always had a soft spot for Hudson Hawk.

It’s far from perfect but no way on earth is it half as bad as the hatchet-job reviews that met the film’s original release would suggest. In fact, it’s very funny, if you can tune in to its off-the-wall humour.

Indeed, that wackyness - along with the fact that, whether it was warranted or not, Willis provided the Press with plenty of ammunition to let them take him down a peg or two after his meteoric rise to stardom – was a big part of the problem for the film. You see, it was marketed as a Die Hard-style action movie when, as anyone who has seen the film knows, it’s actually a surreal, slapstick comedy.

In fact, it’s almost Pythonesque at times. For example, at one point master thief Hudson Hawk (Willis) and his partner in crime Tommy “Five Tone” (Danny Aiello) jump out a upper-floor window to escape their pursuers and then we cut to them simply landing on chairs in the next scene.

Like I said, it’s certainly an uneven film. It’s funny, it’s hip and it’s pretty smart, dealing in a Da Vinci Code-style conspiracy long before Dan Brown made such a thing flavour of the month. Willis and Aiello make for charismatic (if admittedly slightly smug) heroes and there are some pretty impressive stunts and action sequences. It also has some notable co-stars, including James Coburn as a corrupt CIA agent and a pre-NYPD Blue David Caruso in a very small supporting role.

On the downside, Grant and Bernhard were two of the most annoying (and not in a good way) villains ever to grace to big screen. And Andie McDowell as an undercover nun, who at one point impersonates a dolphin… well, the less said about her the better.

Hudson Hawk was a massive box-office flop at the time and ”won” several Razzie awards. However, the film has gradually built up a cult following over the years and is now no longer universally hated. It is is even, according to Willis in an interview on the latest DVD special edition, in profit.

I started this blog entry by saying that I’ve always had a soft spot for the film. And, in a funny way, it holds some special memories for me of a certain period of my life.

I saw it twice on the big screen when it was first released in 1991 (admittedly the second time was more by accident than design due to a breakdown in communications during a night out with pals) and therefore probably personally contributed half its total UK box office take.

And I remember, in the early 90s, haunting a few USENET newsgroups (going by the net nickname Kerr Avon) and, in particular, the CINEMA-L LISTSERV group, trying to convert non-believers to the cult of “Hud Hawk” – which helped while away many enjoyable hours in a job (my first after leaving university) that I hated.

But enough of the nostalgia, here is the film’s signature scene, in which Willis and Aiello carry out one of their trademark heists, which require split-second timing – but rather than use stopwatches to synchronise themselves and keep on schedule, they like to utilise the rythm method…