I am on jury duty this week. If you've ever seen the HBO show "The Wire", then you will understand the drug and gun problems that plague Baltimore. However, there are great parts of the city and I love living here. 
If you saw Season 2 of The Wire, it was shot in my old neighbourhood on the water and addressed interesting issues of the fading industrial landscape being replaced by high-rise and high-priced condos and houses on the waterfront.
The old city courthouse where we're deliberating is gorgeous, but I can't sneak a camera in to show you photos. The defense attorney is sporting a nice Goyard St. Louis bag like the one I have, except in black.
Ironically, I've never seen an episode of this show, since I don't have cable!
Update: For you all in Baltimore, you'll get this in four words: Guns. Drugs. Cherry Hill. We found the guy guilty of the drug charges, but didn't have enough evidence for the gun charges, even though we were sure that he had the gun.
Sneak the camera in. :)
ReplyDeleteI am doing a marathon on Sunday to catch up to the final episode. Good times.
The show is brilliant and while the issues examined are those of any city, that Baltimore is the setting makes it particularly meaningful to me. I'm also amused by the roman à clef portrayals of local political figures, and the inside jokes like Robert Ehrlich playing the part of a security guard at the state house.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I bet you're getting lots of drama at the courthouse.
Jury duty is always a good time- no? Did you get Judge Nance?
ReplyDeleteI live for the wire- Ed Norris as a police detective- c'mon genius casting by Pat Moran- too bad they film most of it in a warehouse in Columbia. It will be a shame when its over- although one could argue they have "jumped the shark" this season.
Good luck with the jury duty. What fun...... and all because we bother to vote (that's how we're selected in VA.) "No good deed goes unpunished."
ReplyDeleteE&E, we've got motor/voter here in Baltimore. If you've got a driver's license with a Baltimore address, you're on the jury rote.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love "The Wire". I watched every single episode on discs from Netflix. I love Baltimore, period and couldn't get enough of "The Wire". When I lived in DC I desperately wanted to come back West - but I did tell the now ex-husband at the time that if he would move with me to Baltimore I'd stay on the Beast Coast. He wouldn't, so I left.
ReplyDeleteDecorina... have you watched all of Homicide? That's pretty brilliant, too.
ReplyDeleteDavid Simon, who writes the Wire, did a book called the Corner, which was huge eye-opener!
There is a bar directly below the courthouse called "The Sidebar" where several scenes from The Wire were filmed. Do you remember when the detective died and they laid him out for his wake in a bar? Sidebar. I had the bartender once feel up my leg when I wore velvet boots in there. It's that kind of place.
ReplyDeletei loved the corner- it was a great mini- series on HBO- Aint B-more cool?
ReplyDeleteI should be smacked because I have also never seen "The Wire" - but I heard it was good!
ReplyDeleteGuns. Drugs. Cherry Hill? Yep, got it.
Ironically, I received a jury duty notice last week, but it was for the guy that lived in my apartment before me. I'm not sure what to do with it because the mailman will not take it back.
No worries about not having HBO, the best way to watch the Wire is on DVD. I'm warning you, it may take a little while to get into, but once you start it's like crack!
ReplyDeleteThe police HQ in Season one and two of the Wire take place in my office building.
Anne
If you get a jury summons for a former tenant, scrawl "MOVED - ADDRESS UNKNOWN" across the name and address, and stick the summons into any corner mailbox. It's ridiculous that the mailman wouldn't take it back -- if the guy doesn't show up for jury duty, a bench warrant will be issued for his arrest, and the sheriff will come to YOUR house. Yikes. Dump the thing in a mailbox and be done with it!
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