Bullet Points: Drama in Denver Edition

Sorry for the silence of these last couple of days. I’ve been buried in work on my Seattle photographic history book ... which followed all too closely on the hells of my writing a similar book about San Francisco. No time in between for relaxation. (I look back fondly on the days when I had staffers and interns to whom I could assign the work I wasn’t able to do myself.) And what downtime I’ve had at night has been spent watching the Democratic National Convention (excellent reporting from which can be found here). But the rest of this week should offer a return to normality here at Rap Sheet HQ. For now, a few tidbits worthy of your notice:

• The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has announced the nominations for its 23rd Annual Gemini Awards. Among them are a whopping 14 (including a Best Dramatic Series nod) directed at the historical crime drama Murdoch Mysteries, the Citytv series based on Maureen Jennings’ books about 1890s Toronto police detective William Murdoch. According to a press release, “The Canadian industry will gather in Toronto at the Liberty Grand on October 20th, 21st and 22nd to honour and celebrate the News, Sports and Documentary Awards, the Lifestyle, Children’s and Youth Awards and the Drama, Comedy and Variety Awards. The Gemini Awards Broadcast Gala will be presented in Toronto, ON at the John Bassett Theatre on Friday, November 28, 2008.” In the meantime, author Jennings’ husband, Iden Ford, has sent along a link to parts of one Murdoch Mysteries episode available on YouTube, for those of us who don’t live in Canada. I look forward to this series someday making its way down to the States, if only on DVD.

• After a campaign to round up a bunch of missing episodes, Timeless Media Group has announced that it will release a full DVD set of M Squad, the 1957-1960 series starring Lee Marvin, on November 11. I don’t think I have ever seen this series, so count me in to buy or rent the discs.

• Speaking of televised crime dramas, Paul Bishop hopes that Ashes to Ashes--the British sequel to Life on Mars--will show up sooner rather than later on American screens.

• Louis Bayard is the author of the new historical novel The Black Tower, which recruits Eugène François Vidocq, the founder of Paris’ plainclothes police force, to tackle an engrossing 1818 case that involves a murdered man, a suspicious medical student, and the possible reappearance of France’s “deceased” Dauphin, Louis XVII. In an online interview at the Library of Congress Web site, he “says that writing is its own insanity and feels compelled to do it. He discusses the craft of writing detective fiction and how he rides the line between staying true to facts and allowing his imagination to shape his stories.” You can listen to that interview here. (Hat tip to Elizabeth Foxwell.)

• Via Ed Gorman comes word about a fascinating piece having to do with efforts to bring John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee to the silver screen. That article is here.

• John “100 Years War” McCain’s claim that he’s “the original maverick”? Like so much else he says, it’s total B.S., told to an American public he believes is too ignorant to know the difference. But Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown knows the truth. (Hat tip to Lee Goldberg.)

• Because I forgot to mention this before, I shall have to do so now: author-blogger Jeri Westerson has posted a fine piece about Raymond Chandler on her Web site. The piece originally appeared in the May 2008 edition of Crimespree Magazine.

• And what’s the secret to having a long, healthy life? John Mortimer, the 85-year-old creator of barrister Horace Rumpole, says it’s a glass of Champagne every morning. That’s one health plan even I can get behind!