#i was wondering who directed it and it's PMG!?!!

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

Miami Vice S1E8: No Exit

Bruce Willis plays one of the sleaziest villains in all of Vice, directed by David Soul.

One of my favorite early episodes-- this is definitely a good candidate for trying to convince someone to watch Miami Vice. Fair warning that it’s fairly upsetting!

While Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) directs 3 episodes of Vice, David Soul (Hutch) only did this one. PMG’s episodes are brisk, sarcastic, and laden with visual metaphor. This episode from Soul is dark, contemplative, and artistically spare. Both directors, however, use music absolutely beautifully, and seem to understand the almost visceral connection between Sonny and Rico, even this early in the series. It’s a shame we never got another Soul episode, but this one is damn good.

I love that Tubbs mentions that he is scared of machine guns, because it’s something that sets him apart from the other men in the department. He’s willing to admit his weaknesses and fear and isn’t as wrapped up in the I’m-the-toughest-cop-here machismo bullshit. His ability to be a little more honest with himself is almost certainly a protective factor in terms of why he doesn’t crash and burn quite as badly as the other characters over the course of the show.

Poor Lester the bug man. Lester is one of those early Vice characters who was clearly intended to be recurring, but he mostly spends the beginning of this episode trying to explain how his tools work while Tubbs is like “shut up I’m creepily looking at ladies through a telescope” again. Jesus, Tubbs.

Sonny and Rico are so fucking mean to Paul, the FBI agent who is supposed to be going undercover. Sonny jokes that the guy “must’ve taken drama in high school” and Rico patronizingly says that he “thinks they’ll handle it.” Then they proceed to send Rico, who has like 3 months of inconsistent undercover work under his belt, and whose Jamaican accent occasionally sounds Transylvanian, to do the job instead. Great work, boys.

God. Just-- the way Sonny is simultaneously truly, genuinely, and deeply concerned about Rita and wants to get her out of Tony’s grasp, and yet in the next breath he’s utterly manipulating her so Vice can use her. “Can you do that, Rita?,” he asks her, looking desperate and mournful, “Can you buy us some time?” It’s so goddamn bald-faced. You wonder if he justifies it to himself-- he has to make her do this to save her-- or if he just goes home hating himself that night because he knows what a bastard he was for even asking.

The sequence that follows is utterly wrenching. Tony offers Rita earrings, and when she doesn’t react with the level of excitement (fawning?) he was hoping for, he slowly stalks her down the spare, white hall and then slaps her so hard she falls to the ground. It’s a repetition of the same slow, white-backgrounded violence from the interrogation scene in Calderone’s Return pt. 2; it’s shot and framed like Tony is a horror movie monster; it’s set to the tinkly, synthy, shmaltzy strains of Stay with Me by Teddy Pendergrass. The intentional musical mismatch makes it all the more painful to watch; the age-old excuse that abuse comes from love or the fear of losing the victim’s affection falls apart when a love song is juxtaposed with such stark violence.

I think it’s very telling that Sonny’s call to Rita after he witnesses this (and, rightly, blames himself for it happening) is shot with him standing in almost exactly the same way at the exact same kind of payphone as when he calls Caroline in the pilot. In both cases, he’s calling theoretically to offer some kind of support or reassurance, but in actuality appears to need reassurance himself. He wants Caroline’s confirmation that she did love him once; he wants Rita’s forgiveness. Sonny’s ongoing issue with women comes from the same place as his issues with his self-esteem; he sees himself as a hired weapon at worst and a protector of the innocent at best. When he fails to protect someone, especially a woman or a child, his self-image starts to collapse. He doesn’t believe he’s good for anything else-- so in S1, he asks those he’s failed for reassurance that he is still a good protector. In later seasons, he just believes he really isn’t good for anything.

Sonny: Well, time for you to go to jail / Tony: No one can ever make me go to jail / Random government agent: Yeah uhh so we use him for proxy wars in the Southern Hemisphere, you know how it is with the US government and guns and cocaine and something something contras, so uh, yeah, he can go free

....but Miami Vice definitely is just about speedboats, right

I consider the ending of this to be the most classic/the “ur” Miami Vice Freeze Frame ending. It’s perfect, because like. Yeah, sure, there could be a denouement, but... why bother? There’s nothing that can be said that hasn’t already been said, and nothing that can fix what has happened that wouldn’t utterly undermine the themes of the story. It just sucks! The system is corrupt! They failed because they were set up to fail! You can’t fix the justice system from inside the justice system! This is the theme of the series in one abrupt freeze!

Okay. Okay. So. If Don Johnson is to be believed, he got Bruce Willis either the role or the audition for the role here. And he knew him because Bruce Willis was a waiter at a restaurant he liked. Not to put my tinfoil hat on or anything, but I find it utterly hilarious that Phillip Michael Thomas and not Don “hey boss, I need you to give a job to this hot talented waiter I know” Johnson has a scene here where he and Bruce Willis feel each other up in a men’s room. Look up photos of DJ and Bruce Willis from the 80′s. Look at DJ’s face and tell me I’m wrong.

[estherax]

It’s not much to go off but I’m wondering how you feel about this? twitter dot com /martinluiga/status/1664288105376149504?s=46&t=GBiqosepIlUwin1chhX-zg

Thank you for sending me this tweet! I would have never seen it otherwise.

I completely agree that drawing so much attention to Kurvitz's unprofessionalism takes away from the main point.

However, completely ignoring employees' claims also feels very unfair; since one of the points of contention is unfair dismissal their statements could be used as evidence for workplace misconduct. I even looked up estonian labor law; I believe prior warning is not required if the contract breach is particularly severe, which is what I bet ZA/UM will go for in court with the entire "trying to sell the IP was the last straw" nonsense.

To me, the most frustrating part is the lack of concrete evidence. All we have are press releases, which are very biased and contradictory. And now the PMG video I guess. It's extremely difficult to anticipate a certain outcome based on the information we have now.

The PMG documentary definitely could have been better. The heavy focus on employees' opinions gave us more insight, but it also led to the majority of the video being focused on Kurvitz's behavior. I wish it was made clear that the legal dispute was initially about the share acquisition; unfair dismissal is just a consequence of that and it should be addressed separately.

The interviewer denounced Kurvitz's behavior and made sure to express worker's concerns to him in the interview, but I didn't see the same energy for Kompus and DE's IP being literally stolen from Kurvitz. Sure, they talked about the money and Haavel's involvement, but I'm curious how Kompus would've answered a direct question about taking the IP away from the game's creators. I believe Kurvitz and Rostov are still both minority shareholders, so they might still be able to block the decision to sell Elysium, but it doesn't grant them the right to use the IP since it technically belongs to a subsidiary of ZA/UM UK.

Idk if I'm reading too much into this, but I'm unhappy with the conclusion of the documentary. The wording comes off as quite one-sided: "the potential conspiracy", "if anything illegal has happened" is not really on the same plane with "this email is outrageous, I don't like where it's coming from", "Robert has entirely dismissed any criticism". I'm guessing the intent was to showcase both sides, but the conclusion definitely draws attention to Kurvitz's workplace misconduct. In my opinion, the email is unpleasantly vague, but the interviewer also gives it the most uncharitable interpretation. Mind you, he is completely correct in criticizing Kurvitz's behavior, but the video treats the dismissal and the share acquisition as the same issue, so denouncing Kurvitz here might make it seem like he can be blamed for the entire conflict.

This situation is a prime example of "stuck between a rock and a hard place", but what I'm trying to say is: I believe Kurvitz is still in the right when it comes to the ownership of DE and it's unfair to only support him under the assumption he's a perfect human being, who's never done anything wrong in his life.

I really hope the morality question won't interfere with the legality question. These two cases are not even about the same thing, and while workplace misconduct is clearly wrong, in this circumstance it's used to divert attention and make it seem like Kurvitz deserves to lose the rights to the game, since his employment at ZA/UM is directly tied to his access to Elysium's IP. If you ask me, being rude and not doing your job is not really comparable to laundering millions of euros, fraudulent share acquisition and ousting of employees while taking advantage of their creation.

[goldeagleprice]

Letters to the Editor (Oct. 17, 2017)

John Mercanti (right) signs a book for dealer Ken Viets before being approached by a retired teacher with an opinion on handwriting. Mercanti’s wife, Marianne, looks on.

Mercanti schooled on signature by retired teacher

Your experience with the “cursive collector” brought to mind a rather humorous encounter at our PAN 2016 Fall Coin Show and Convention. John Mercanti attended our show as he has periodically done in the many years past. He has always tried to help us out with his appearances.

We had a book-signing table set up. John was graciously signing his silver Eagle books and anything else that collectors brought and wanted him to sign. The line progressed without a glitch until it came to an old retired school teacher that had been waiting and observing the process. When it came to his turn, he directly instructed John not to sign his book in that scribble that he calls a signature. John paused and asked him how he would like him to sign his own signature. The old fellow replied that he was a retired school teacher and illegible handwriting would not be tolerated. He instructed John to long-handed and cursively make all the letters in his name legible and correct so there would be no question as to whom the signature belongs. John, not wanting to receive an “F” on his report card, kindly complied. Thank God for his artistic skills and his ability to render the task with ease as directed.

The old teacher kindly thanked him and left. John, his lovely wife Marianne and I looked at each other in confused bewilderment, wondering if the encounter really just happened. I suspect that we won’t see that signed copy on eBay, but it is certainly one of a kind!

Pat McBride Address withheld

  Hobby loses honest, trusting dealer in Leon Hendrickson

I had met Leon Hendrickson several years ago at the MSNS in Dearborn, Mich. As you can imagine, he was quite busy and saw me standing there. He saw that I had a paper bag taped up and asked what I had. I told him I had 104 Ike dollars, would he be interested? He said yes and made me a very generous offer, which I gladly accepted. I gave him the bag and he turned to his son, David, and told him to pay me. I asked him to check the contents to be sure, and he said, “Why should I? You told me what you had.” It could have been a bag full of washers for that matter. He said he took me at my word as were all his transactions. That’s the sort of man he was, trusting and honest. He will be missed.

I also would like to comment on “Viewpoint.” Kudos to Frank Robinson on his comments on Jim Klein’s view on coin cleaning. If it weren’t for cleaned and damaged (holed, bent, etc.) coins, I never would have completed my 19th century type set, not to mention my 18th century set as well, sans the 1796-97 half dollar. The cost would have been too prohibitive. (Anyone have a cleaned, holed, bent, beat-up one to sell?) Frank Henry Address withheld

  Why the big deal over asking prices now?

I wish to comment on the letter about the asking prices of “Pawn Stars.” Back in the stone ages of the ’70s and ’80s, there was the Graysheet for coin prices. I considered myself lucky if I got 50 percent of Graysheet values, so what is the big deal of this happening now? John Benson Prescott Valley, Ariz.

  ANA World’s Fair of Money returns to Denver with gusto

The American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money, 126th convention, was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colo., Aug. 1-5. The last ANA WFOM held in Denver was in 2006, and that convention had no official auction and was held in the very back of the convention center. This event had two, a Heritage auction and a Stack’s Bowers auction. Both of these auctions had thousands of lots that realized tens of millions of dollars in sales. The majority of items in all the sales sold for excellent prices.

This World’s Fair of Money was held in the front of the convention center on the second floor. The convention had more than 500 bourse tables, which included 21 club tables, eight government agencies (that featured the annual World Mint Passport), the U.S. Mint (with a special set of coins that drew large crowds trying to purchase them) and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (with their special drawing for the Spider Press prints, the U.S. Post Office and FedEx, a fantastic ANA Museum Showcase, a Kids Zone Treasure Trivia area, dozens of well-done competitive exhibits (kudos to Robert Rhue for winning the Howland Wood Best-in-Show award with his exhibit titled “The Colored-Seal Notes of Colonial Georgia”), daily Money Talks educational programs, an important ANA District Representatives meeting, an author’s table, Coin Collecting 101 classes, a Maynard Sundman/Littleton Coin Co. Lecture Series, ANA Legacy Series and reception featuring Barbara Gregory interviewing Tom and Ken Hallenbeck, a Scout Merit Badge Clinic, the official ANA coin and supply dealer Whitman Publishing, and the official ANA grading services NGC and PMG along with many more grading services.

Numismatic publisher in attendance included F+W Media/Krause Publications (it is always nice to get the new annual Coin Show Calendar sponsored by Numismatic News) and Amos Press/Coin World.

Several off-site dinners and meetings by different coin clubs and organizations included PNG, NLG (congratulations to Bank Note Reporter and Coins magazine Editor Robert Van Ryzin for being awarded the NLG Clemy Award), CONECA, TAMS and others.

There was a well-done official program, ANA official medals and ANACS provided cloth bags for everyone who attended the convention. The Elongated Collectors featured a rolling machine and an area featuring the special elongated made for this convention. Concession stands were kept very busy.

The Friday night ANA Awards Banquet was also very nice, and the silent auction was very successful.

A special thanks to Michael “Miles” Standish, who had his head shaved by special guest Rick Harrison of “Pawn Stars” to raise money for the ANA and the Standish Foundation for Child & Family Centered Healthcare, a nonprofit devoted to helping sick children.

An admission is charged for both of the ANA annual coin conventions for non-ANA members. Once again the board and staff came up with a slabbed silver medal for new members. If you don’t belong, visit www.money.org and join the association. Join, not just for a possible slabbed medal you may get, but for the many educational opportunities the ANA will have available to you as a member. Many of the activities held at this event including the official program are possible because of the generous support of the convention sponsors and patrons. Without their support, we don’t think the association could even have a convention the size and scope of what was held in Denver. From our perspective, the convention was well-attended and most of the dealers we talked to had an excellent convention. This is also a great location for a coin show. The immediate area of the convention center has many excellent hotels, restaurants and reasonable rates for parking.

It takes many months to prepare for a convention of this magnitude. We want to thank the following for tireless and dedicated service: Convention Manager Rhonda Scurek and Exposition Manager Sam Joseph along with their entire staff, Executive Director Kim Kiick and her staff, President Jeff Garrett and the board, and especially Host Chair Steve D’Ippolito along with Honorary Host Chair Gerome Walton and their committee. Thanks to the Colorado Springs Numismatic Society for hosting the event. Thanks again to everyone and anyone we missed for their work to make this a very successful WFOM in Denver.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the Sunday, Aug. 6, Golden Day 50th anniversary of ANA headquarters dedication in Colorado Springs. We took the bus that was arranged by ANA for a modest fee to headquarters on Sunday morning. Upon arrival, ANA staff members checked us in for the event. It has been quite a while since we were an ANA headquarters, and we were very pleased with the way the exhibits were presented to attendees. Several food venues were set up including a fantastic cake that resembled the ANA headquarters. We had Hall of Fame Inductee Raymond W. Dillard prepare special rolled coins (1967 and 2017 half dollars) commemorating the event Considering how tired the ANA staff had to be, everyone was smiling and thanking all who attended for supporting the ANA. Many of them returned to the convention center on Monday to help break down the just completed WFOM convention. It was a grand celebration that we think everyone who attended (probably 150 or more) enjoyed immensely. Thanks to ANA for setting up this event for the membership.

We hope to see you at the next two ANA conventions: the National Money Show in Irvine, Texas, March 8-10, 2018, and the World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia, Pa., August 14-18, 2018.

John and Nancy Wilson ANA National Volunteers Ocala, Fla.

  This article was originally printed in Numismatic News. >> Subscribe today.

  More Collecting Resources

• If you enjoy reading about what inspires coin designs, you’ll want to check out Fascinating Facts, Mysteries & Myths about U.S. Coins.

• Is that coin in your hand the real deal or a clever fake? Discover the difference with U.S. Coins Close Up, a one-of-a-kind visual guide to every U.S. coin type.

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