This week Wire 106 has been a bit hectic between my being away in NYC and then getting sick on my return. Which was further complicated by the fact we are now starting a two week odyssey into radio shows straddled across Fall Break. So, Paul and I decided to do the episode conversations this week by ourselves. This week we assigned Season 2, Episode 12 of The Wire, “Port in a Storm,” as well as the DVD commentary on this episode with producer Karen Thorson and editor Thom Zimny. So in this conversation we discuss both the final episode of Season 2 and their commentary.
What’s interesting about their discussion is how it turns out to be a eulogy for the executive producer, actor, and visual director of the series Robert Colesberry. He tragically died shortly after Season 2 ended due to complications during surgery. “Port in a Storm” was his directorial debut, on top of all the other work he did for the series up to that point. Both Thorson and Zimny laud his achievements, which include providing the series with its filmic vision. What I just discovered after quickly researching Thorson is that she was married to Colesberry, making her commentary on this episode that much more intense.
I’ll be sad to see season 2 go, but I still owe myself a post on the technology in Season 2. Wait for it…..
I was at my brother’s last weekend, and he has an old gold 20″ 2007 iMac that was having compatibility issues with various applications and sites. After looking at it briefly, it seemed the only real issue was the fact it was still running Leopard (OS 10.5.8). Fact is, my brother is not a power user by any stretch of the imagination and, like me, upgrading the OS provides no incentive and offers no pleasure. Fact is, until the computer functioning properly, as in this case, the OS will remain unchanged. And in my brother’s case that means never because he knows even less than me.
I’ve been working with the Shenandoah literary magazine for a while now, and next week they launch their noir issue. The editor, Rod Smith, asked me to try and come up with a logo/ad for 
Last week 
In particular, I think the discussion in episode 8 when we started digging into the questions around money, the Greek, and the implications of a culture driven by consumption was pretty interesting. I want to thank the students that show up for these discussion and continue add thoughtfully commentary. I really like the idea of having ongoing discussions about the episodes , and it will be cool to see all 50 discussions spanning 4 seasons at the end of the semester.
