Saturday, April 23, 2011

Book Review: Autobiography of An Execution by David Row


David Row is one of the best lawyers in the country whose primary job is in dealing with death row inmates. I can find him a bit rambling when it comes to his own personal life (it's called the autobioraphy of an execution...not the autobiography of David Row). But his ideas on the death penalty are thought-provoking and deserve praise for their intelligence and first-hand knowledge. The book wavers between his life outside prison walls and his life while inside those walls; and while personally I wish he'd stick to his cases a bit more and leave more of the personal stuff out, I still enjoy his writing and think it a valuable legal memoir. One particular case in question in this book is gut wrenching, as new evidence comes forth that the man on Death Row may be innocent, yet the state (TEXAS, OF COURSE), goes forth with his execution regardless. It is painful to read and once again reminds us that our legal system, while striving to do be "just", is an extremely flawed system in high need of repair.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Another Round for "Game of Thrones".....


After a quick look at the solid if unspectacular viewer ratings for Sunday's premiere episode, HBO renewed Game of Thrones for a second season. Deadline.com reported that the network "invested in elaborate sets and designs in re-creating the world from George R.R. Martin's books, so a second season was considered a sure thing."

For its debut 9 p.m. airing, Game of Thrones drew 2.2 million viewers. "Encouragingly, in its second airing Sunday, Game of Thrones drew 1.2 million viewers, 60% of its premiere audience.... The highly watched NBA playoff games are considered a culprit for the depressed levels at 9 p.m. and the spiked viewership for the rerun. Overall, the premiere of Game of Thrones averaged 4.2 million viewers on Sunday for the three airings," Deadline.com wrote.

"We are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin’s amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers," said Michael Lombardo, HBO's head of programming.