The first day of the trial of retired NYPD detectives turned possible mob hit men was full of screaming as the prosecution presented its first witnesses and the defense went to town. The one witness in the case against Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, who the feds say would kill people for the mob at $65,000 a pop (plus they got a $4,000 monthly retainer), was the mother of a Brooklyn's Nicholas Guido who was killed in his driveway in a case of mistaken identity - Eppolito and Caracappa gave Luchese family hit men the wrong address for a hit on Christmas Day, and the Post used the photograph for its cover. Eppolito's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, went after a former mobster turned government witnesses, and criticized them, saying, "They called each other tough guys, goodfellas - until the jail door shut. Then they wet their pants and called Mommy - the government." more ›

Also, in the NY Times' latest issue of the company newsletter (or what we think is the company newsletter; maybe it's a company newsletter for investors), Times Talk, there was a feature about how many trees went into the production of the November 10, 2004 paper issue. By far, the most trees die for the Business Day sections, 673, compared to the Metro (270 trees) and National sections (83.25). (Here's the PDF of Times Talk; tree stuff starts on page 12.) more ›

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The other Times Talk panel I went to was "Films that Deserve a Second Look" - films that New York Times film critics Stephen Holden, Elvis Mitchell, and A.O. Scott felt audiences missed the first time around. Many of the films they mentioned were victim to just being dumped by their distributors because they were not easily marketable as a teen comedy or date movie. Another problem is that films live and die in one weekend, whether a would-be blockbuster or arthouse film...word of mouth buzz no longer works as well as it used to and the fascination with box office grosses is not helping any. While most films were recent, there were some older films, and by master directors, proving not everyone gets a fair shake based on name alone. There were a few funny questions - one person asked what actors did not deserve to be on screen. A.O. Scott said, "You want us killed, don't you?" before Stephen Holden remarked about the difference between being a good actor and a movie star (some people have that charisma and may not be a good actor, but are movie stars; some of the finest actors don't have that charisma and thus are not stars). Sartorial gossip: Stephen Holden looked like everyone's kind of cranky uncle, in a polo shirt, sport jacket, khakis, and New Balance sneakers; A.O. Scott looked the rumpled academic, white shirt, sport jacket, wrinkled khakis with the cuffs rolled up and brown shoes; Elvis Mitchell looked like a mod rocker in a Prada suit and black boots. Here are the movies they picked - all I wish is that more people, outside of major cities, would be able to hear about these films and watch them. more ›