#Michael Ballard

[willowmosby]

Seven Seasons & a Movie

I have now finished all 7 seasons and the Movie of Homicide: Life on the Streets. Well actually I finished it yesterday but I needed to process (ie Read as much fanfic as i could my hands on) but now I am ready to info dump, forcing all of you to hear my thoughts on a show that aired over 20 years ago in a similar way to my CSI Post.

The TLDR is Homicide is a really well built show that more people should watch. There are things that you don't agree with but it mostly feels like those things happen because its grounded in reality. Also i can't think of a procedural that does continuity as well as this one did.

Sorry that this is so goddam long & Spoilers incoming.

Lets talk seasons:

1 &2: they are short enough that they feel like one continuous season. the Adena Watson case starts as something for the show and the characters that, honestly, never goes away (I personally feel like the arabber did do it if your curious). I feel like these seasons are a masterclass in introducing characters and a formula. also name another show where a season one case is refenced every season including the end.

3: the 22 episodes season is were H:lots hits is real stride. Season 3 has some episodes that will live rent free in my head for ever. Crossetti, the last of the watermen, the city that bleeds arc those are the stories that I'm really going to remember.

4: The season of 2 part episodes, I think this is the season we really start to see a shift with the addition of Kellerman and the promotion of Howard and demotion of Russert the characters get to be put in new and unique postions.

5: While I would say season 3 has my individual favorite episodes I think 5 is the shows most compelling. Some people do bad things some people do good things. It was hard to watch some of those things but it never felt like the show was going to hard or jumping any sharks.

6: Don't getting me wrong their were some bangers, looking at you Subway and Finnegan's wake , but i did start feeling the weight of this show a bit more in this season. Some of the new characters don't work for me.

7: Some of the new characters still didn't work for me but some of them were a lot better. I feel like this was Bayliss season to win or lose and in a way that just makes sense for the series. I think that there are very few shows that can say they stuck the landing as well H:lots dose.

The movie: listen "avengers assemble" has nothing on the montage of the detectives getting the call that Gee's been shot. Some of this was probably because i knew this was the end of the line for the story but i genuinely was really moved by a lot of the movie. The Scene between Pembleton and Bayliss deserves every award possible.

The characters (kinda in order of how long they were on the show):

Steve Crosetti: I'm going to be honest besides his obsession with the Lincoln assassination the reason he is memorable is because Lewis remembers him. His death means something for everyone but I can't pretend like I remember a great deal about his life, which i suppose is a morbid point the show likes to make a fair amount

Rene Sheppard: At the other end of the only here for about a season, she is one of the better late season additions. I think they were trying something interesting with her to examine what it means to be a female detective in a male dominated squad. unfortunately i don't think the show had enough time to make a clear arc for her.

Michael Giardello: His relationship with his father was compelling and I never minded seeing him on my screen, but also i don't know he wasn't my favorite no real reason just didn't know him long enough.

J.H. Brodie: Fuck him, honestly. This is the clearest example of how I will forgive a character for anything except being annoying & without purpose.

Staurt Gharty: I really didn't understand the choice for him to come back after that one guest spot. I had moments were his presence meant that other character had some great development but i still don't like the guy.

Paul Falsone: Ehhh he had his moments I actually quite liked him when he was paired with Ballard and Stivers but I also i don't know i think its fair to say I have a bias for characters who are there for the long hall and he unfortunately doesn't benefit. The scene where he and Kellerman pulled their weapons on each other kinda ate though.

Laura Ballard: Kinda in the same boat as Falsone, I appreciated what they were going for and I definitely think there was a lot of good. I didn't like when they had her kinda go out with Bayliss but thats not really her fault you know. It was also interesting to hear an outside perspective of Baltimore.

Beau Felton: I love to hate this guy. I mean what a fucking mess (affectionate). He was never my favorite and he doesn't seem to be that great of a detective but you know I valued what he did on the show.

Stanley Bolander: What a guy, i mean he's just some dude. He and Much are hilarious. I don't know what else cause like he's just a very solid detective who is sometimes a bit annoying but in like a fun way.

Jullianna Cox: At the start there was a bit were i felt like she was only there cause they knew they needed more female characters but i do think they found a way to make her compelling. I mean she can be toxic as fuck, like she and Kellerman needed to attend AA soooooo badly, but i enjoyed having her on my screen.

Terri Stivers: Do I maybe have a weakness for Butch women? Yeah okay but shes just so cool and so good at her job and I love her okay. She's the only one that comes out of the Mahoney chaos with any sense of high ground and I love that for her.

Mike Kellerman: I mean this guy, this guy he feels like every time he tries to do something right he just diggs himself further and further away from what would actually help him. He is the example of how I should hate a character for everything they do but I just can't cause he's just so damm compelling. The scene where he tries to commit suicide, I don't know it really fucking got to me.

Megan Russert: I really love what she was able to do for the show. She was able to play equal to Giardello and she made her own path. She has also actually good a the political game, well mostly good at it. She had her own way of keeping people in line which I appreciated.

Kay Howard: You know this is my girl. You know it. I love her. I know she has her faults and her arrogance but I don't care i can forgive it all. I think she's a great detective and a great leader. I really felt the loss of her in last two seasons of the show. I wish I had something more intelligent to say or something to make it sound less like I am just a simp for her (which to be fair i kinda am but i do think there is more than that). There is a whole essay in my brain as to what Kay Howard means to me as a Queer woman, I mean I don't actually think she's a lesbian, but she's definitely got something LGBTQ+ going on.

Ed Danvers: Okay so technically he might be a reoccurring character but he deserved a mention. As an avid SVU watcher i enjoy a good ADA or in this case ASA. He really dose know when to deliver and he really urns the times when tells the detectives they don't have enough and the times he goes along with their longshots.

Frank Pembleton: There is a reason people think of him as the main character in an ensemble show and its well deserved. Get him in the box and this man shines. He isn't without his arrogance but he gets the job done every single time, even when maybe he should let sleeping dogs lie. He and Bayliss have one of those sexually charged relationships that just make TV work. also got to love a Guilty Catholic tm.

Al Giardello: Name a better leader i dare you. This guy cracks me up like he takes absolutely no shit from his detectives. I feel like there are some really shinning moments that get overshadowed by the flashier Pembleton and Bayliss. His talk with Megan about being a darked skinned black man and the episode where he kills a man are some of my personal favorites in the show. I almost cried when it was reveled he actually died in the movie.

Meldrick Lewis: He has some clear issues with women that I don't love but other than that he's really fun. He just seems like the kind of guy who just keeps going but he gets paired with partners who have some more serious issues. Again the Scene on Kellermans boat is a brilliant piece of acting. I know he was actively involved in some shady/ bad decision but I don't know I just don't blame him for it.

John Much: The reason Homicide was even on my Radar is because of his time on SVU and the man did not disappoint. I mean his conspiracies and crashouts are stuff of legend for good reason. I think the character is also really interesting as a lot of the harsher edges he has on Homicide get buffed out on SVU. I think if i actually met him in real life i would hate the guy but he's great TV. I also just have to take a moment for the scene in the sniper episode where he has an absolute crashout over the possibility of seeing Howard get shot again and Howard is just in the car going "what the fuck john". got to be a top ten moment of the show for me.

Tim Bayliss: I mean just has to be one of TV's greatest characters. He's haunted by a case he didn't solve. He had sex in a coffin. He's Bisexual, He's a Buddhist (?), He's a cop, He's a murderer, He's the new guy, He's the burn out. I could never wright fanfic for this show because there is no way I could do him right. He just so soft and kind but also so angry and harsh. I guess the implication is he commits suicide after the series but I think I want to live in the world where he just goes to jail.

Ships:

Note: I love shipping so I have to talk about it, but as the the low number of fic on Ao3 and lack of ship names implies i'm not sure if its a popular topic for this fandom so..... i guess what i'm saying is that these ships really are base off of my read of the show which i can't pretend is particularly impartial or astute.

Pembleton/ Bayliss: the best iteration of the partners in love bit can't/ won't get together. Like their are so many homoeotic moments but there are also plenty of moments where your just like these two men are so co-dependent and only one of them is aware of that. From blowing smoke in Bayliss's face, to " the sin is not your own", to "yeah i loved him" to " absolve me frank". I mean truly no one is doing it like them. 1000/10

Mary Pembleton/ Frank Pembleton: They are very lovely and I feel like i had to have a chance to mention how much I like Mary. I do feel like they work on their marriage in a way that isn't perfect but is more than most shows do. 10/10.

Russert/ Giardello: What? your saying you don't see it? It just they feel like they are so well matched and have great chemistry. not alot to say just that i think they would be good together. 9/10

Russert/ Felton: Girl you know you can do better. I feel like the sex was probably good though. 4/10.

Ballard/ Bayliss: Bad. I didn't like it for either of them. The writers were trying to work on some stuff and it didn't work. 0/10.

Cox/ Bayliss: Again not good, but at least everyone knew it wasn't good. 1/10.

Cox/ Kellerman: I mean its toxic as fuck, but i also kinda fuck with it. you know. 7/10.

Ballard/ Falsone: Okay they were just so sweet. I really thought they were fun. And i feel a bit bad saying this but i do think them being a couple made me enjoy them both a lot more then before they had a thing. 10/10.

Stivers/ Lewis: I fucked with it at the start, but then the show stopped pushing it for very good reason. Like they both had some bigger issues happening. 5/10.

Howard/ Munch: Okay this one is a little bit cause I read fanfic about them post series,and little bit cause I want my favorite characters to be happy. But Its mostly cause like i actually do see it. I genuinely think that out of all the detectives Howard worked best with Munch, they had a mutual respect and care that should be surprising but really works well and so yeah I ship it. I'm okay if others mark it down as a Brotp but I think it works romantically as well. 10/10.

Howard/ Danvers: Howard says he's great in bed and they stay friends after wards so you know can't be bad. 8/10.

Thanks you so much for reading if you made it this far. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts. I may be moving on to a new show, but I promise you tumblr i have some more H:lots content cooking cause I feel like there need to be more for such a good show!

[science70]

Michael Craze and Anneke Wills as Ben Jackson and Polly Wright, photoshoot for the Radio Times Doctor Who 10th Anniversary Special, Stiffkey Marshes, Norfolk, 1972.

Photography: Allan Ballard

[doyouknowthismusical]

[transistoradio]

Four Penguin SF novels with cover art by David Pelham.

[rolandrockover]

Rock and Roll from Nine to Five

WARNING! This entry explicitly aims to compare rock music with sausage products.

I can't help but think I have to resign myself to being a victim of my impressions and my imagination, because now I'm already picturing Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons as butchers behind the counter, trying to sell their bologna.

And inevitably linked to this, I also imagine them making these cold cuts all by themselves in the back room of the abattoir. But there's no real reason to worry, because these sausages and hams aren't made from animals, but from old Kiss songs, however not quite exclusively.

The question I asked myself beforehand was what ingredients were needed if they wanted to write a rock anthem like Stand from Sonic Boom (2009), for example. And if they were more or less shamelessly stealing from their own repertoire the whole time anyway, why not directly from their two best-known anthems? And well, what could that be other than Rock and Roll All Night (1975) and God Gave Rock n' Roll to You II (1992) ?

If you wish, you can now imagine Paul and Gene in a blood-stained butcher's smock with meat cleavers in their hands, preferably with a somewhat nasty smile in their faces. Ready to do what they have to do. And that means first of all chopping off Rock and Roll All Night's main riff and verses without further ado, and then cutting them into a goulash laid out in very generously sized chunks. Its precious chorus they leave in one piece.

And poor God gave Rock n' Roll to You II awaits the same fate and also gets mercilessly separated from its verses with hard cuts, while most of it ends up in the garbage can, because it is the chorus that is of particular interest to them. Which nevertheless they cut into two large pieces, and only the harmony part in the chorus at the end, remains in one piece. Just like the chorus of Rock and Roll All Night.

And let's not forget the secret ingredient, or as I call it, the red herring, namely a nice fillet strip of Alice Cooper's No More Mr. Nice Guy's (1973) catchy solo hook between the intro and the first verse, which is presumably intended to prevent Rock and Roll All Night from being recognized too quickly. Who knows?

Now watch them throw the whole lot into a pot, stir it roughly, and then add some of this stuff which uses an enzyme to fuse the proteins in the pieces of meat together to form a new, almost homogeneous whole sausage-like piece. Just like the ham from the supermarket refrigerated counter. It would probably be silly to imagine how they press all this stuff into a casing to give it a wonderfully oversized sausage shape, but it has to be done now, otherwise something would be missing. But let's just leave it in the refrigerator for a while to work. We can always save it for later to cut it into nice big round slices and then put it on a sandwich.

We can of course have a chat about all the offal, the pieces of bone used for the gelatine and all the binding agents I haven't mentioned so far another time.

No highlighted links today. It was crackbraining enough to write it:

Stand (2009)

Rock and Roll All Night (1975)

God Gave Rock n' Roll to You II (1991)

Special Guest Appearance: No More Mr. Nice Guy (1973)

[stillunusual]

Now reading....

[briefbookreviewsuk]

Brief Book Review - The Waiting by Michael Connelly

A Brief Book Review of The Waiting by Michael Connelly .

Released as a hardback edition by Orion in the United Kingdom on 22nd October 2024. A Ballard and Bosch thriller !

In cold cases it's not the hope that kills you, it's the waiting.... LAPD Detective Renée Ballard ,head of the Open Unsolved Unit gets a DNA hit in a case that has gone unsolved for 20 years.

A recently arrested man is genetically related to a serial rapist who terrorised the City of Angels. But when the relative is revealed it's the last person you want to accuse unless you are 100% sure...

Another great Ballard and Bosch thriller from Michael Connelly ( though mostly Ballard !) - well worth a read !

#book #bookreview #books #thriller

Check out my review :

[pier-carlo-universe]

L’attesa. Michael Connelly torna con un thriller mozzafiato tra misteri e cold case. Recensione di Alessandria today

Michael Connelly, uno dei maestri del genere thriller, ci regala con "L’attesa" un altro capitolo indimenticabile delle indagini di Renée Ballard e Harry Bosch

Michael Connelly, uno dei maestri del genere thriller, ci regala con “L’attesa” un altro capitolo indimenticabile delle indagini di Renée Ballard e Harry Bosch. La combinazione di suspense, dettagli investigativi e profondità emotiva rende questo romanzo un capolavoro per gli amanti del genere. Trama del libro Quando Renée Ballard, detective del LAPD, scopre un collegamento genetico tra un uomo…

[dahliavxvii]

Graham's solo album Line Up includes covers of many people's songs.

So I see when the owner of an online record store wrote an introduction, she mentioned names like Chuck Berry, Russ Ballard, and Ray Davies, "The songs inside are works of these famous musicians!"

Me (secretly sighed): "So long ago…

[c2e1-book]

Experience the Gritty World of "The Late Show" – Free Audiobook!

Looking for a thrilling, action-packed crime novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat? "The Late Show" introduces you to Renée Ballard, a determined and fearless detective working the night shift in the LAPD. With relentless dedication, Ballard tackles some of the city’s darkest cases, navigating the dangers of the streets while facing challenges in her personal and professional life.

If you're a fan of gripping crime fiction with strong female leads and high-stakes investigations, this audiobook is a must-listen!

Best of all, you can experience "The Late Show" for Free on Audible! Click the link below to start your thrilling journey with Renée Ballard:

🎧 Get The Late Show for $0.00 here. https://amzn.to/4gsHQSU

Dive into the heart of crime-solving today—start listening now!

[donospl]

Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 2 odcinek 28]

premierowa emisja 7 sierpnia 2024 – 18:00 Graliśmy: Hamilton de Hollanda, Gonzalo Rubalcaba  “Blues Lundvall” z albumu “Collab” – Sony Music Brazil Nasheet Waits “Snake Stance” z albumu  “New York Love Letter (Bitter Sweet)” – Giant Step Arts Tarbaby “Dee Dee” z albumu “You Think This America”  – Giant Step Arts Ola Kvernberg & Trondheim Symphony Orchestra “The Purple Jack – Overture” z…

[bevanne46]

The Seattle Thriller dancers will be at the Ballard Locks this weekend performing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance for the public.

[kenttsterling]

Can Chris Ballard get right QB for #Colts? Is #iubb back to elite? Dan and I talk through those questions and more!

[stillunusual]

Now reading....

[fashionsfromhistory]

knowing Michael Shannon, I wouldn't be surprised if he did in fact read 'The Garden of Time' by J. G. Ballard and chose this suit as a reference to the end.

[jesuisgourde]

A list of all the books mentioned in Peter Doherty's journals (and in some interviews/lyrics, too)

Because I just made this list in answer to someone's question on a facebook group, I thought I may as well post it here.

-The Picture of Dorian Gray/The Ballad Of Reading Gaol/Salome/The Happy Prince/The Duchess of Padua, all by Oscar Wilde -The Thief's Journal/Our Lady Of The Flowers/Miracle Of The Rose, all by Jean Genet -A Diamond Guitar by Truman Capote -Mixed Essays by Matthew Arnold -Venus In Furs by Leopold Sacher-Masoch -The Ministry Of Fear by Graham Greene -Brighton Rock by Graham Green -A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud -The Street Of Crocodiles (aka Cinnamon Shops) by Bruno Schulz -Opium: The Diary Of His Cure by Jean Cocteau -The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson -Howl by Allen Ginsberg -Women In Love by DH Lawrence -The Tempest by William Shakespeare -Trilby by George du Maurier -The Vision Of Jean Genet by Richard Coe -"Literature And The Crisis" by Isaiah Berlin -Le Cid by Pierre Corneille -The Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon -Junky by William S Burroughs -Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes -Futz by Rochelle Owens -They Shoot Horses Don't They? by Horace McCoy -"An Inquiry On Love" by La revolution surrealiste magazine -Idea by Michael Drayton -"The Nymph's Reply to The Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh -Hamlet by William Shakespeare -The Silver Shilling/The Old Church Bell/The Snail And The Rose Tree all by Hans Christian Andersen -120 Days Of Sodom by Marquis de Sade -Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke -Poetics Of Space by Gaston Bachelard -In Favor Of The Sensitive Man and Other Essays by Anais Nin -La Batarde by Violette LeDuc -Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov -Intimate Journals by Charles Baudelaire -Juno And The Paycock by Sean O'Casey -England Is Mine by Michael Bracewell -"The Prelude" by William Wordsworth -Noise: The Political Economy of Music by Jacques Atalli -"Elm" by Sylvia Plath -"I am pleased with my sight..." by Rumi -She Stoops To Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith -Amphitryon by John Dryden -Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellman -The Song Of The South by James Rennell Rodd -In Her Praise by Robert Graves -"For That He Looked Not Upon Her" by George Gascoigne -"Order And Disorder" by Lucy Hutchinson -Man Crazy by Joyce Carol Oates -A Pictorial History Of Sex In The Movies by Jeremy Pascall and Clyde Jeavons -Anarchy State & Utopia by Robert Nozick -"Limbo" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge -Men In Love: Masculinity and Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century by George Haggerty

[arbitrary line break because tumble hates lists apparently]

-Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky -Innocent When You Dream: the Tom Waits Reader -"Identity Card" by Mahmoud Darwish -Ulysses by James Joyce -The Four Quartets poems by TS Eliot -Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare -A'Rebours/Against The Grain by Joris-Karl Huysmans -Prisoner Of Love by Jean Genet -Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell -The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren -Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates -"Epitaph To A Dog" by Lord Byron -Cocaine Nights by JG Ballard -"Not By Bread Alone" by James Terry White -Anecdotes Of The Late Samuel Johnson by Hester Thrale -"The Owl And The Pussycat" by Edward Lear -"Chevaux de bois" by Paul Verlaine -A Strong Song Tows Us: The Life of Basil Bunting by Richard Burton -Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes -The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri -The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling -The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling -Ask The Dust by John Frante -On The Trans-Siberian Railways by Blaise Cendrars -The 39 Steps by John Buchan -The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol -The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol -The Iliad by Homer -Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad -The Volunteer by Shane O'Doherty -Twenty Love Poems and A Song Of Despair by Pablo Neruda -"May Banners" by Arthur Rimbaud -Literary Outlaw: The life and times of William S Burroughs by Ted Morgan -The Penguin Dorothy Parker -Smoke by William Faulkner -Hero And Leander by Christopher Marlowe -My Lady Nicotine by JM Barrie -All I Ever Wrote by Ronnie Barker -The Libertine by Stephen Jeffreys -On Murder Considered As One Of The Fine Arts by Thomas de Quincey -The Void Ratio by Shane Levene and Karolina Urbaniak -The Remains Of The Day by Kazuo Ishiguro -Dead Fingers Talk by William S Burroughs -The England's Dreaming Tapes by Jon Savage -London Underworld by Henry Mayhew