"The Wire" on HBO

Pondering the great homing pigeon panic
Is it microwaves? Cell phones? Pigeon lovers' minds are racing over just what might be causing their formerly unerring birds to fly the coop.

The Hamilton racing pigeon flyers have lost plenty of pigeons this year. But they're not alone. The whole country began hearing about roaming homing pigeons a few weeks back, when Philadelphia area clubs suffered the sensational and mysterious loss of some 1,600 of 2,200 racing pigeons launched in Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

[John] Butler's big rumble theory is no more far-fetched than most of the theories as to why the pigeons' usually precise homing systems are going awry. Butler, a retired printer who's been racing pigeons since he was a boy, thinks the birds may be telling us something, their erratic behavior a kind of early warning system.

Sleek racing pigeons should not be confused with the scruffy "rats with wings" that beg for food in the street. These are elegant, intelligent, highly trained and conditioned, and sometimes quite expensive birds. Not long ago a Taiwanese syndicate paid $1 million for a single male bird, according to Tom Erskine, a Hamilton club flyer who is chief copy editor for the nationally prestigious Racing Pigeon Digest. The million-dollar pigeon won't be racing anymore, but he'll get a $5,000 stud fee each time he mates.

Phone. 001 (410) 962-0330
Fax 001 (508) 992-9398

Who did that version of "Walk on Gilded Splinters"? I was thinking maybe Steve Earle since he was hanging around for the finale, but don't find it at Allmusic. The likeliest candidate I see there is Duane Allman, does anyone know if that's correct?

Lieutenant Dennis Mello Played By Jay Landsman

is this what yr takling abt milo

ps don't buy the mass-market paperback of Homicide, the printing runs too close to the binding (like a lot of mass-markets). I'm going to shell out $15 for the new trade paperback tonight.

...ok

and that public health advocate who was in the meetings with the mayor et al, after they found out about bunny's dastardly plan, was the former mayor of baltimore who got slapped for his flirtations with decriminalization (the most dangerous man in america!).

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=938577&sidelines=1

http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/2006/07/ehrliching_the_.html

Also, not so much Pelecanos writing this season. Although, you can feel his influence. Later in the season?

Snoop was in the Times

Snoop and Chris: television's cuddliest couple?

Black atheletes weigh in on the Wire in general and Omar in particular.

so good; SO SO good

hahahah

am... not flabbergasted as to its quality, but certainly taken back... uncompromising is often an ill-judged way to describe a tv show but wd stake tht it fits here... the attention to, observance of, the formalities of policing and the legal requirements is stunning

a lot of the acting is stunning (w.poss exception of mcnulty who sometimes sounds a bit cereal-box american)

it is VERY good when for some reason I wasn't sure it would be

he is from sheffield!

i just got into it in the autumn, am up to end of s02. i sort of remember some noise when it came out but at that point i was dubious too, not sure why, probabyl similar reasons to tracey hand. david simon on the commentary is very... uh, high-minded, and i feel easier with, say, 'the shield'.

but mind is now blown and i join the chorus saying it's the best thing ever. i think watching one a week would be a difficult memory test -- seeing it on dvd quite quickly probably makes it 'easier'.

goddammn i didn't know it was so recent that it came o'er here.

his mindboggling first role:

"2point4 Children" .... Parachute Instructor (1 episode, 1994)
- Fortuosity (1994) TV Episode .... Parachute Instructor

damn.

oh, here, i knew i read this somewhere - from the new york times..
"Wherever I go the real hard-core dudes come up to me and confide in me," said Mr. Elba, who over the years has been approached by dozens of drug dealers identifying with Stringer. "I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: 'Hello, mate. My name's Idris and I'm from London.'" Mr. Elba burst into an exaggerated version of his cockney accent. "I don't want to break the illusion."