–Now that Jose Canseco got his can kicked all over an MMA ring, some are wondering, “Is Canseco’s MMA career over?”  I don’t know what dictionary those people are using, but I’ve never heard the word “career” defined as lasting one minute and 17 seconds . . .

–There’s a lot of tension around Manny Ramirez and the All-Star game.  Even though Manny violated baseball’s drug policy he’s getting plenty of votes anyway, and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said he’d love to see Manny in the All-Star game.  Can’t blame him.  He spent $25 million on Manny, so the least he could do is make a couple of bucks off jersey sales.

–After going through some highly publicized troubles with gambling and drinking, Charles Barkley can’t wait to do it all over again.  Barkley said he’s still drinking, just not driving, and that he misses betting on football and will likely do it again in the near future.  So, to all of you who think honesty is the best policy . . .

–The University of Memphis is in some hot water after allegations that Derrick Rose’s college entrance exam scores are fraudulent, and that ex-coach John Calipari knew it.  Memphis could face disciplinary action in the form of losing their Final Four banner from the 2007-08 season, but nothing will happen to Calipari or his piles of money; and nothing will happen to Derrick Rose, his piles of money or his NBA Rookie of the Year award.  So for those of you out there who think cheaters never win . . .

–NBA sources are continuing to hint that the Los Angeles Clippers have gone from wanting to use their No. 1 pick on Blake Griffin to entertaining offers to deal the pick outright.  Nobody knows what’s going to happen, including the Clippers.  This is the most media attention they’ll get for the next year, so maybe they’re just milking it.

–13th-seeded women’s tennis player Marion Bartle had an awful lot of complaints and excuses after her loss in the French Open.  She said other people were “not sportsmanlike” and that the clay at Roland Garros “was the slowest surface on Earth,” and “It was so cold,” and because the “balls were heavy” she “couldn’t hit the balls correctly,” and she’s also ill with a sore throat and a runny nose.  She forgot to add, “The dog ate my talent.”

–For all you NFL gossip fans that are interested, Patriots QB Tom Brady announced this week that his wife, Gisele Bundchen, is not pregnant despite rumors to the contrary.  This is also not “news,” no matter what the Internet tells you.

–Joe Parent, a sports psychologist who specializes in golf, tells us that one of the worst things a professional golfer can do is think too much.  Never think about what you’re doing, just do it . . . and I think John Daly would agree.

–Joey Alfino, Red Editorial Staff.

The first round of All-Star votes are in and, as usual, the fans have gotten it all right. Ken Griffey Jr. is definitely the fourth best OF in the American League!

This also means that it’s time for any self-respecting baseball writer to write a “my All-Stars so far” column. But you know what? I don’t think people really need me to tell them who’s been doing well so far. What’s that? Albert Pujols is mashing the ball and Ryan Braun is crushing it? Surprise!

Instead, I’ll just be hateful and tear people down. Yes, it’s time for this season’s anti All-Stars! The people who stink and can’t hit as opposed to the sluggers who can sleep and still hit. NL only.

First Base–Lance Berkman. The Big Puma has placed more emphasis on “big” than “puma” this year. The Big Sloth?

Second base–Dan Uggla. Dan, it was only an exhibition game! Yes you were historically awful in last year’s All-Star game, but the pressure’s off now dude. No one’s watching in South Florida. It’s ok to hit again. You don’t still have to be ashamed.

Shortstop–Khalil Greene. Supposedly Greene may retire and go back to his South Carolina farm after the season. I’m thinking he might be down on the farm a lot sooner than that.

Third base–Garrett Atkins. Garrett, baby, listen: We know you didn’t take steroids. We know that your production just mysteriously spiked, peaked and then fell off the face of the earth for no reason. We know that. What we don’t know is how much longer you will continue to play.

Outfield 1–Jeff Francoeur. Is it possible that this is the same player who was once the future of a franchise? His OBP of .269 is second worst among all qualified OFs–and 17 points lower than Derek Lowe’s. He’s only drawn three more walks than Jo-Jo Reyes.

Outfield 2–Milton Bradley. Way off course when it comes to every offensive statistic but right on pace with ejections and paranoid ramblings.

Outfield 3–Chris Young. .169–this is what Chris Young is actually batting. Now I know there is a major difference between the minors and the bigs, but do the D-Backs seriously not have anyone in AAA that can’t bat above .169 for 46 games? Maybe a backup catcher?

Catcher–Geovany Soto. Geovany–pssssssssst–the season’s started–it’s time to wake up–they’re playing baseball games. Put simply, when the battery of Zambrano and Soto is going for the Cubs, Zambrano is the power bat. Take it from their SLG percentages, .435 and .277 respectively.

Starting pitcher–Now in all fairness this could probably be any Marlins pitcher at this point (save for Cody Ross and his sparkling 0.00 ERA), but what Ricky Nolasco accomplished before his demotion was truly special–44 ER in 43 IP, a .344 BAA, a 1.81 WHIP. Be kind Pacific Coast League!

Closer–Brad Lidge. After not blowing a save all the way through the World Series last season, Lidge has only not allowed a run in 11 of his 20 appearances. And since May 5, when he gave up a homer to archrival Albert Pujols, he has allowed a run in 8 of 11 games. Uh ohh.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

It is 91 degrees and almost 90% humidity on a sticky Florida afternoon at a central Florida strawberry farm. So what am I doing picking my own strawberries in this clammy and unbearable condition?

Am I trying to re-capture the joy of being a ten year old little girl growing up in the Pennsylvania suburbs, romping through strawberry patches of the U-Pick-em strawberry farms?  I can envision it now . . . my parents sitting back in an air-conditioned car, pointing through the window to my brother and I where the best patches were from their cooled position.

Now that I am grown, I realize we were mere drudges for their fruit fancy. We were cheap child labor, all of four foot tall, sent out to pick the ripest berries on a hot summer afternoon.

Back then we had no idea because my parents made a game of it; which sibling could fill the empty pint with the reddest berries in the shortest amount of time. But now that I am grown and have a child of my own, don’t think the thoughts of child labor haven’t crossed my mind.

So again, why am I picking ripe strawberries on one of the hottest days of the summer? It is National Strawberry Month; and I know the strawberries of Plant City, Florida are worth the mosquito bites, dirt under the finger nails and scorched red shoulders.

These Plant City berries are so unlike the deceivingly pretty strawberries you find in the market, that look like a food prop, but after one bite, you realize they taste like Styrofoam. These luscious beauties taste as good as they look. Sniff them like a fine wine, because they omit a floral perfume unlike any strawberry you’ll get at a supermarket.

If you don’t live in California or Florida, your strawberries may have to travel in refrigeration to freeze their ripening process in order to reach your shopping cart intact. California’s strawberry season runs from April to June and Florida’s is December through May.

As a foodie at heart, there’s a thrill of foraging for a food item at its absolute peak of freshness no matter what it takes.  For this mania, I may have to climb a mountain, fish during a small craft advisory, or perhaps rummage through a mosquito laden field to satiate it.

I can just imagine the scrumptious possibilities: strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, strawberry smoothies, frozen strawberry daiquiris–just to name a few–But through researching strawberries, I found some interesting facts I’d like to pass on.

Did you know?
-Strawberries are a member of the rose family.
-Strawberries are the only fruit known to have its seeds on the outside.
-94% of Americans eat strawberries
-The French considered strawberries an aphrodisiac and a sweet strawberry soup was served to newlyweds.
-During medieval times, strawberries were always part of the menu at prominent events in order to bring peace and prosperity.
-In parts of Bavaria, rural country folk still to this day hang baskets of wild strawberries for the lucky elves that are known to provide healthy calves and an abundance of milk from their dairy cows.
-The name strawberry may have come from the early cultivators who laid straw around strawberry plants as mulch to protect the plant from rotting.
-Strawberries are higher in vitamin C, folate, potassium and fiber than bananas, apples or oranges.
-Studies have shown eating 8 to 10 strawberries a day can significantly decrease one’s blood pressure, which may reduce the risk of heart disease.

COOK’S NOTES:
So as I drive home with my booty of ruby beauties, I plan how they are going to grace my plate, bowl or glass. I love strawberries with alcohol so I’m thinking that the bottle of Cachaca (Brazilian sugar cane liquor) a dear friend just gave us is going to be cracked open.
I’m also a sweet-a-holic. There’s definitely going to be some sugar and fat involved.  I think this is a berry good reason to go off my diet.

STRAWBERRY CAIPIRINHA
1 ½ ounces of fine quality Cachaca
5 ripe strawberries
¼ of a fresh lime, juiced
3 wedges of limes
1-2 teaspoon super fine sugar

Place your ripe berries in a glass and mottle or mash. Add the lime juice, lime wedges and fine sugar and mash again.  Add ice and the Cachaca and shake or stir well.

ULTIMATE STRAWBERRY SHAKE
4 cups vanilla ice cream
1 ½ cups whole milk (more may be needed)
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries
7 tablespoons of sugar
1 vanilla bean, split with seeds removed (optional)

Add all ingredients into a blender except for the milk. Add one cup of milk and start to blend. Add the rest of the milk and continue to blend. You can add more milk if you desire a thinner milkshake.

–Shelly Connors, Red Editorial Staff

–Congratulations to the excellent Barcelona for winning the Champions League. But Manchester United fans should not be too downhearted after the defeat in Rome. United have lifted the World Club Cup, the Carling Cup and the Premier League trophy this term. Which isn’t bad, really.

–Portsmouth are on the verge of being taken over by a consortium of Middle Eastern and Asian businessmen. The move is being fronted by Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim, who led the Manchester City takeover last summer. He’s been muttering the usual stuff about the club having “incredible history”. Yeah, right.

–If Steve Bruce takes Sunderland the post, it will be his seventh different job in 11 years. Sunderland is a bigger club than Wigan, but the move would hardly get Bruce into the upper echelons of management. You sense he’ll never achieve in management what he did as a player.

–The FA Cup has less kudos these days, but Saturday’s final is a huge match for the participants. Everton have their first shot at silverware since winning the Cup back in 1995. And, as skipper Frank Lampard has pointed out, another trophy-less season would be a disaster for Chelsea. Game on.

–No bold predictions so far from the usually brash Aussies, who arrived in England on Thursday for the World T20 and the Ashes. Batsman Michael Hussey, a thorn in England’s side in 2006/07, says the Tests will produce a “very close series”.

–Hussey added: “England have added a lot of depth to their squad over the last couple of years and have got guys playing confident cricket.” The left-hander may have inadvertently damned with faint praise. England would have to be truly awful not to have gained confidence against the woeful West Indies.

–South Africa captain John Smit wants the Springboks to avenge their series defeat to the British Lions 12 years ago. “It shocked our nation and the disappointment was huge,” Smit said. “It’d put a lot of things right if we won this series.”

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer

With the first third of the season in the record books it seems odd to talk about the looming problem of a team sitting in first place in their division. But there is one, it’s a big one and its name is David Ortiz.

The Red Sox, who after last night’s 4-2 loss in Minnesota are tied for first with the suddenly surging Yankees, had been handling the slumping slugger’s plummeting numbers like I handle that strange noise my car makes . . . ignore it.

But just like the strange noises in my car, you can only ignore a DH hitting .193 with one homer and 18 RBIs in the three spot for so long. Manager Terry Francona knows what I’m talking about: dropping Ortiz into the sixth spot.

It seemed, back on May 20, that Big Papi’s problems ended when he hit his first homerun of the season to snap a 149 at-bat dinger-less drought. Since then however, the big Dominican has mustered just three hits in his last 26 plate appearances.

So, what’s this mean for the Red Sox?

Well, a team like the Sox can afford the luxury of a wait-and-see attitude, especially when you have a hitter like Jason Bay on the payroll with 14 homers and 48 RBIs already. Maybe moving Papi down in the order will take some of the pressure off and revitalize his bat. But if by July (and definitely by the All-Star Break), Ortiz is still struggling to find his swing it may be best for Boston and the nation to bench the beloved power hitter, or–dare I say it–use him as trade-bait.

It’s simple really, a team with expectations like the Red Sox cannot have a DH averaging less than .200 if they plan a return trip to the playoffs . . . that goes double when you’re in the top-heavy AL East.

But in the quote-unquote post-steroids era, what this ongoing slump means for Ortiz is much more serious.

Now there could be any number of reasons to explain Papi’s dwindling numbers this season: he’s thinking too much, he’s trying to hard, he still suffering from the wrist injury sustained last season, he’s no longer batting in front of former teammate Manny Ramirez.

But then there’s the other reason, though relatively unspoken I can’t be the only one thinking it; he’s off the juice.

Now I personally have no proof of Ortiz and steroid use, but there are some facts as hard to ignore as his numbers.

For starters, his former teammate and close friend was just caught and suspended for having a banned substance in his system.

With the Twins he was a slim 26-year-old with 58 homers in 1,477 at-bats for a rate of one homerun every 25.5 at-bats. From 2003-08 with Boston, Ortiz beefed up and launched 231 homers in 3,154 at-bats for an alarming rate of one every 13.65 at-bats.

Papi has endured numerous injuries over the last three years including irregular heartbeat and musculoskeletal problems, both known side-effects of steroid use.

Even Ortiz himself admitted not being sure if he had ever used before, citing a shake he used to purchase from a Dominican GNC store.

Now, of course this is all purely circumstantial evidence and can never prove anything in a court of law. I will give Papi the benefit of the doubt and say this is merely a long slump he will bounce out of.

But I won’t bat an eye if Selena Roberts publishes a new book titled Ortiz.

–Aaron Whitebread, Red Editorial Staff

I can’t really start this article without saying a heartfelt goodbye to the Blackhawks and the Hurricanes.  May your drives be mighty, and your putting accurate.

See you guys next year.

Otherwise, it actually happened, it’s gonna be a replay of last year.

I can’t help but wonder what Marian Hossa must be thinking.  I mean, wouldn’t it be the best kind of dramatic irony if the team he chose, because he thought he was sure to win the Stanley Cup, were to loose to the team he left last year.

Or what about the fact that at the beginning of the season the Pittsburgh Penguins looked like they weren’t even going to make it into the finals.  Then, they fire and replace their head coach, make a few transactions and now look leaner and meaner than ever before.

AND THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS ARE ALL JUICED UP ON STEROIDS!!!!!! (Okay, okay, this may just be an allegation and really have nothing to do with anything, but c’mon say it ain’t so Ovetchkin.  Not to mention, we may have to start using baseball’s “asterisk” system when it comes to our hall of fame, but that’s another story for another time).

But truly, the most exciting story line of them all comes from the most obvious part of this whole matchup:  The Crosby, Malkin, Staal line are gonna be up against the Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Hossa line for the Stanley Cup.

MMMMM, I can already hear the gas emissions as I crack open my beers and taste the crunch of my tortillas as I get ready to take these finals all in.

Since I’m on the subject of watching the games, here’s a little schedule primer.  The first two games, May 30th and 31st will be on NBC, CBC, and RDS, however, games three and four in Pittsburgh June 2nd and 4th will be aired on Versus, CBC and RDS.  The rest of the games will be played out on the 6th, 9th and 12th and will once again be aired on NBC, CBC and RDS.

Hey Bettman!  Are you perhaps kicking yourself for not signing a TV contract with ESPN, not only did an incredible TV audience miss the legendary Washington, Pittsburgh series this year, but they may just miss out on this bloodbath; great job at opening up the American market.

Back on to the series itself.  While I love Detroit’s grit, I‘ve developed a bit of a sweet spot for Pittsburgh over the course of the Playoffs.  I think I would love to watch Sid the kid raise the Stanley Cup over his head with Evgeni Malkin.

Either way though, I think we’re in for something special.

–Ryan Matwiy, Red Editorial Staff.

Manchester United can have no complaints. Barcelona fully deserved victory in last night’s Champions League final.

There were no excuses from Sir Alex Ferguson about refereeing decisions, only an acknowledgement that they were beaten by the better team on the night.

Fergie was understandably disappointed with his team’s defensive display after they conceded goals scored by Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi, describing the defending as “shoddy”.

Cristiano Ronaldo, for once, was not the best player on the pitch as Messi and Andres Iniesta shone.

Ronaldo was clearly frustrated at not being the main act, his petulance coming to the fore again.

After the match, Ronaldo refused to commit himself to United amid renewed speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid.

That will be the cue for summer-long rumours, with some suggesting he is on his way out of Old Trafford and others claiming he will stay put. Wake me up when it has all been resolved.

Another player whose future remains unclear is Carlos Tevez, who came on as a substitute in Rome.

Much has been made of the fact that Tevez was the only player who failed to board the flight back to Manchester.

Was that significant? Maybe he was taking advantage of a last-minute package deal at an Italian holiday resort to save a few quid.

United chiefs will not want to be held to ransom by the Argentinian star’s representatives so that may force Ferguson to make plans for the life without him.

Other changes are also certain to be on the cards as Sir Alex looks to keep things fresh and improve the level of competition for places.

United’s failure to successfully defend their Champions League crown will leave Fergie more determined than ever to succeed in Europe.

What does the future hold for elder statesmen Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes?

Giggs was ineffective last night while Scholes was among the substitutes.

Both could be given lesser roles next season with younger players introduced.

Three trophies in a season would be classed by most clubs as a major achievement but you can’t help thinking that Fergie will be thinking more about the one that got away.

–Nick Johnson, Red U.K. Editorial Staff

Forget Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers’ 32-15 record is made all the more impressive by the total absence of a different player–Russell Martin.

Remember him? The home run hitting, base stealing phenom of a catcher who was supposed to bury all remaining L.A. memories of Mike Piazza?

Martin burst on to the scene in 2006, clubbing 10 homers and stealing 10 bases while appearing in 121 games for the Dodgers.

A year later, his coronation was nearly complete as he hit 19 homers and stole 21 more bases in his first full season. He drove in 87 runs while batting a cool .293, impressive totals for someone manning the backstop.

All that was left was 2008–the year he would drive in 100 runs, bat .300, steal 25 bases and mow down baserunners like Yadier Molina.

Only his numbers showed an across the board regression. While still above average for a catcher, his 13 round trippers, 18 thefts and .280 average were well below what people had in mind for their once in a generation catcher.

Still, because of the solid overall nature of the stats and Martin’s pedigree, a “bounce back” season was expected in 2009.

Puzzlingly, though, Martin’s shown even more backslide.

Only four days away from June, he has yet to homer and has swiped only five bases. His 20 RBIs are good for only sixth on the team and only two more than the notoriously light hitting Juan Pierre has (and in 43 more ABs than Pierre).

Perhaps even more head scratching is Martin’s suddenly ordinary defense. After finishing third in the majors in caught stealing percentage in 2007 (a year in which he, somehow, won a Gold Glove), he fell to tenth in 2008 and is currently tied for seventh. He throws out only one out of three runners. Not bad, but nowhere near elite.

By the same token, his .270 average is still good for seventh in the majors among catchers, and his 20 RBIs are eighth, but his zero home runs have him behind the likes of Jason LaRue and Michel Hernandez. His production is being dwarfed by Rod Barajas.

Worst for Dodgers fans is probably that fact that Martin only batted .200 in the playoffs last year, and aside from a solo home run in game one of the NLDS, exhibited no power.

So what happened to all the promise? All the power? All the speed? All the defensive prowess?

Is it overuse?

The 306 games he has played the last two seasons (even with some of the those games at 3B) are indeed staggering for a catcher.

But Martin is only 26, and Pudge Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Jason Kendall all played over 150 games in some of their best seasons.

Was it inflated expectations?

Surprisingly, Martin only hit 33 home runs in the minor leagues, spanning 392 games. He also only batted .281. Not the signs of a future major league superstar.

Or is just a bizarre case of a player peaking early before slowly fading into oblivion (see Ben Grieve, Mary Cordova, Angel Berroa)?

Whatever it is, Martin may not be 2009’s most analyzed power drought (David Ortiz) or even its most mysteriously disappearing catcher (Geovany Soto–more on this later). But he is a sphinx of unfulfilled expectations and fading, would-be superstar glory, and one that few saw coming.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Caught in his newspaper’s downsizing, Jack McEvoy wants to hand in one last big story before he’s replaced by a much younger and much less experienced reporter. Determined to write the definitive story of his career, McEvoy begins to investigate the case of Alonzo Winslow, a teenage drug dealer who claims to have been set up as a murder suspect.  

Before long, McEvoy finds himself also set up to take the rap for a murder–that of the reporter who was going to take over his job. And, as if life wasn’t complicated enough, he’s renewed his old affair with FBI agent Rachel Walling as well. The Scarecrow (Little Brown 2009, $27.99) is typical Michael Connelly–edge of the seat mystery with mesmerizing plots and compelling characters.

This one takes us in the world of cutting edge technology where the villain hacks into the Los Angeles Times’ Website, brutally tortures and murders women, uses computers to put the blame on others and creates a sexually perverse chat room to “capture” his victims.

Going up against this cunning, McEvoy and Walling find themselves battling both a killer and a bureaucracy to solve the murders and save their lives.  Connelly took a break from murder and mayhem to talk to Red.

I don’t scare easily and I was pretty sure you wouldn’t kill off Rachel or Jack; and yet I was still really anxious when they met up with Carver.  Do you feel that sense of anxiety when you write?  You take your characters and your readers into some pretty dark places, do you go there yourself or are you too much in control?

I don’t generally descend into the darkness I write about. I do some research but I wouldn’t call it participatory. There is a moment in this book–I don’t want to give too much away–where Rachel is in some real danger, and I was caught by surprise by how much I like her as a character and what I should or shouldn’t have happen to her in this situation.

I read a response you had to a question where you said you don’t really plan your story line out ahead of time and yet your books seem to be tightly plotted and everything makes sense in the end, how do you do that?

Rewrite. I do a lot of reading and rewriting of each draft. It allows me to hide things better, make other things clearer and most of all it allows me to fine-tune the plot and make sure everything fits together in the end.

You’ve cited The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler as having the most influence on you.  Do you feel his influence in L.A.?  Have you ever gone to visit some of his old haunts?

I have visited places from his books but not from Chandler’s life. On a few occasions I have written about places he wrote about as well.

You have a several lead characters–Harry, Jack and Mickey–how do you decide which one to write about next?

It seems to be different every time. Harry Bosch always seems to get the first look. I love this character and realize that because he is aging in real time, I have limited time to write about him. So, most of the time, I am thinking about Bosch and figuring out what I can say about him next. But sometimes I get an idea, or hear a story that sparks an idea, and I feel like I have to follow it. With The Scarecrow I was inspired by seeing the downward spiral of the business I was a part of for so long and loved. It made me want to write a newspaper story that would reflect all of this, and so the next step was the main character. The choice of Jack seemed obvious.

Will Rachel ever get her own series?

Maybe. I like the character a lot.

A former newspaper reporter, bestselling author Michael Connelly expounds in his latest book on what’s happening to the industry and his fears that once newspapers are gone, corruption will become more rampant.  

Though his novels are set in Los Angeles, Connelly recently moved to Florida where he is at work on his next book due out this September. In the meantime he’s on a cross-country book tour, but took time out to chat with Red about his latest book.

Like Jack McEvoy, you were snatched up from another newspaper by the Los Angeles Times.  Are there other similarities between you and Jack?

There are not too many similarities in our lives but we share the same sort of view of journalism. When I write about Jack, I don’t think in terms of what this character would do in the situation at hand. I think in terms of what I would do. I think that makes him a lot like me.

What’s happening to Jack is happening all over the country to reporters. I read an op-ed piece that said the fewer newspapers we have, the more corruption we’ll have.  What’s your take on that?

As Jack says in the book, corruption will be the new growth industry. The local newspaper was a watchdog over government. When you lose that component, be prepared for the consequences. I really doubt this is something that can be picked up by the Internet. The local paper is an institution. The Internet is diffuse. A blogger reporting on governmental malfeasance won’t be heard in the way a newspaper reporter can be heard.

You’ve moved back to Florida but The Scarecrow is set mostly in L.A.  Will any of your lead characters migrate to Florida?

I doubt it. I remain fascinated by LA. I don’t live there full time anymore, but I go back all the time. I am going to keep writing about it.

Would Harry or Mickey be the same if they didn’t live in L.A.?

No, they wouldn’t be. I think L.A. is part of each character and this underlines why I won’t be writing about Florida. I write about L.A. and use these characters to do it.

Tell us about the move, what made you decide to go back?  And was it hard adjusting?

I think change is good. I wanted a big change and moving 3,000 miles away from the place I write about was just the ticket. The only adjustment was that I had to increase my physical research. I had to go back to LA and go to the places I was writing about because I didn’t want to get them wrong. The result is that I think the books I have written in Florida are better and more accurate depictions of LA.

I keep reading about how fatherhood has changed you–and Harry–but I haven’t come across much about your child or children or family life.  Is that something you can share with us?

I pretty much keep that side of my life private. What I want to say about fatherhood hopefully comes out in the books. Harry has a daughter my daughter’s age. So does Mickey Haller.

Can you tell us about your next book?

It’s called 9 Dragons. It’s a Harry Bosch story in which the events surrounding a murder investigation leads him to Hong Kong, where his daughter happens to live with his ex-wife. So I think–hope–that issues involving the relationship between Harry and his daughter come to the surface. The middle third of the book is set in Hong Kong. The book is sort of set up like a Hieronymus Bosch triptych.

Sounds great.  Can’t wait to read it.

Thanks.

–Interview by Jane Ammeson, Red Editorial Staff

For the past few days, the tech and television industries have been flirting with each other in a bar we’ve been in before.  It’s the same sort of relationship that brought some of the video game industry’s most successful titles to the big screen–Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Doom and God help us, Bloodrayne and Bloodrayne 2.

Rumor has it that next up along these lines is a marriage between Twitter–an online community that needs no explanation by now–and reality television.  Is this a bad idea?  Oh yes.  Yes it is. Which is why we should all prepare ourselves for its arrival.

Initially this story began popping up in gossip blogs all over the place, and was at first thought to be Twitter’s idea.  In an article from the New York Times on Monday it was reported that Twitter “says it wants to be doing a TV series,” and that the social media monolith had teamed with Reveille productions and Brillstein Entertainment Partners to create an unscripted show that would “put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format.”

Wait . . . “on the trail” of celebrities?  Is it paparazzi camp?  What would you call the show?  “I want to get punched in the face by Woody Harrelson”?

Anyway, as with most initial gossip/entertainment columns, this is really only half-truth.  Yes, it’s true that some unidentified group of suits out there is trying to figure out a way to harness Twitter, but it is not Twitter’s brainchild.

On Twitter’s official blog, Co-founder Biz Stone put things straight by saying, “Just to be clear, Twitter is not making a television show,” and he wrote this in a post entitled, “We’re Not Making A TV Show.”

But that doesn’t mean the show won’t happen.  Twitter has indeed signed a “lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement” with Reveille and Brillstein that “helps them move forward more freely,” according to another post on Twitter’s blog.

Basically, this means that television producers, like the countless apps that take advantage of Twitter’s open nature, are free to create a show that leverages Twitter’s existence without actually holding Twitter accountable for the program, however that turns out.

So there you have it.  Love Twitter or hate Twitter, you’ve got admire their savvy.  They stand to make a make a lot of money from a television show they aren’t actually making, but it doesn’t mean the show itself is going to be any good.  At all.  Ever.

Not that the show’s (lack of) potential quality is a good enough reason to abandon the idea.  Face it, Twitterverse; we all know the show will be bad and we all know it’s going to be made anyway, because quality programming has nothing to do with reality television.

Reality television was never supposed to be good.  It’s supposed to be addictive–a guilty pleasure that you don’t have to hide–and it’s very good at what it does.  Twitter is ripe for the exploiting, I mean picking, right now.

People love Twitter, and now reality television is going to punish us for liking something by forcing it down our throats.  It’s the “Smoke up, Johnny!” approach to programming.  Hurry up and burn through the product/concept before the profit potential dries up faster than an American Gladiators reboot.

Did you know that 10 million people tuned in to the season premiere of Jon and Kate Plus 8?  It used to be that watching a family work through its problems would be good television.  Now we just like to watch them fall apart.

Hate the idea of a Twitter television show all you want, folks, but when it comes to some reality television, just because it’s a bad idea doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea–bad ideas make money too.

Just ask Jon, Kate or any of the Eight.

Sure, it might be wrecking their marriage, but the ratings are through the roof!

–Joey Alfino, Red Editorial Staff.