Real Life Imitates The Wire, Again: Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon Indicted

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, frequently critical of The Wire for its “overly negative” portrayal of crime and corruption, was indicted today after a three-year investigation.
Dixon was charged with four counts of perjury and two counts of theft over $500, as well as theft under $500, fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and misconduct in office. The [...]

Life imitates The Wire? Maybe not…

The complete five season box set release has spawned some new Wire reviews and recs.
Ran across this article at CNN.com.   The reviewer offers high praise for the series but grew up in West Baltimore and says he feels The Wire is bleaker than the world he grew up in.
Why did Cutty give Dukie such a [...]

Life imitates The Wire, episode 11,876

Rachel Maddow had Princeton’s Melissa Harris-Lacewell on last night to discuss the drama surrounding seats in the US Senate opened by Obama’s appointments. Naturally, the discussion focused primarily on the Blagojevich scandal.  Watch the entire segment to hear Dr. Harris-Lacewell’s parting admonition:
View “Rachel Maddow video: Senate scramble“

Omar the Socialist vs Joe the Drug Dealer

If WordPress.com allowed embedding of Comedy Central videos, you would be watching David Simon on last night’s Colbert Report right here in the comfort and ambience of NuPac.
But noooooooooo, they don’t.  So, here.
I love that David Simon always seems cranky, even when he’s laughing.

Down to The Wire today in Raleigh

Well, it WAS his favorite show, after all

This is good strategery, given that Maryland is already strong blue.
via Huffpo
Tomorrow, members of the cast of the Peabody Award-winning drama series The Wire will attend a Backyard Brunch for Barack in Raleigh. Seven of the show’s cast members will visit the Tarheel State in support of the change Barack Obama will bring across the [...]

Simon’s tribute to Ashley: video now up

The video from the DePaul University College of Communication commencement has been posted. David Simon’s introduction and remarks start at about the 27 minute mark.
Thanks again to Jim King for keeping on top of this for us.
More about Simon’s decision to speak at the ceremony here and here.

“I owe him a trip to Chicago and a morning spent in a funny hat and gown.”

A surprise from today’s Chicago Tribune
David Simon pays tribute to a ‘Wire’ fan
It’s not terribly unusual for television writers to form bonds with the people who watch their shows. What David Simon is doing for a “Wire” fan this weekend, however, may be a little unusual.
Simon, the creator of “The Wire,” will be in [...]

Info re David Simon @ DePaul commencement

Thanks to Jim King for info re David Simon’s involvement in the upcoming DePaul commencement activities. Per the DePaul site, the date of the ceremony is June 15. (at the improbable hour of 8:30 a.m.)
For those who may not have been around earlier, here’s the backstory.

HBO has crack

There are some very entertaining wastes of time over on the HBO site. Check out the eye candy at The Wire Season 5 NY Premiere. We’ve seen some of these before, but there are a few new pictures, including a dearly departed character.  It’s a slideshow so be sure and hit “Next.” These [...]