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Note: Happy New Year, everyone!

A Secret Police Ritual

For those of us outside of law enforcement, there are police rituals known only to cops. One of them is the K party, mentioned in Michael Connelly's crime novel, The Late Show (Little, Brown and Co., 2017), featuring Renee Ballard, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. (The book is a page-turner.)

What is a K party, you ask? It stands for kill party. Connelly describes it this way: "It had once been a secret tradition for officers to gather and drink after one of them had killed someone. It was a way of releasing the tension of a life-and-death encounter."

Connelly probably learned of this "secret tradition" of the LAPD during his time as a newspaper reporter.

It's not far-fetched to assume that such a ritual still exists in the LAPD and other big-city police departments. I'm sure it would be almost impossible to get a police officer today to admit to its existence or their participation in one, fearing the reaction of the public as well as elected officials.

It's also not far-fetched to assume that tensions between the police and the black community being what they are, for the members of that community to say that the "K" in K party stood for the Klan, as in the Ku Klux Klan.

A postscript: The late show referred to in the book's title is presumably what the LAPD in real life call the 11 pm to 7 am shift.

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Note: Today is the first day of winter, my least favorite season. Let's hope spring comes quickly.

Denzel Washington Should Portray The Black Shakespearean Actor Ira Aldridge

The one screen role I would like to see Denzel Washington tackle before he gets too old to do it is the portrayal of the 19th-century African-American Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge (1807-1867), who performed on American and English stages.

After seeing Washington in the film version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Kenneth Branagh (1993), I am convinced he is more than capable of bringing to life Aldridge and Aldridge's portrayal of Othello and other characters.

There is no doubt in my mind that Washington would deliver a tour de force performance worthy of an Oscar--an actor exploring the life and work of another actor.

This could be a film, like Hidden Figures, that would enlighten audiences about a historical figure they know little or nothing about.

The Return Of "The Twilight Zone"

An update of the iconic sc-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) will be available for viewers via the CBS Access streaming service, according to Browbeat, Slate's cultural blog. It will be executive produced by Jordan Peele, the director of the hit movie, Get Out. (At this writing I have not seen the movie yet.)

"Peele will be a great fit for a show that blends sci-fi and social commentary," wrote Marissa Martinelli on the blog.

I hope the reboot will be far superior to past Twilight Zone reboots that weren't as good as the original series created by Rod Serling, who wrote most of  the show's scripts.

One suggestion: There is a young African-American writer of  several horror/fantasy books named Brandon Massey, who lives in Georgia. When I was given his book, The Other Brother, to proofread I thought it was another badly written urban-lit book. I was taken by surprise by the quality of the writing as well as the fact that it was in the horror/fantasy genre. I admit that I have not read Mr. Massey's other books but I am looking forward to doing so. In the meantime, I hope Mr. Massey is considered for a writing job on the Twilight Zone reboot.

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Note: Tomorrow is Human Rights Day.

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Note: December 18 will mark the ninth anniversary of this blog. I'm looking forward to posting new content in the new year.