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Tuesday, June 4, 2019

KHIT Reporting from Body-More Murdaland

A.K.A. Baltimore, Maryland.


A "graffiti" screen shot from HBOs' 89 hour masterpiece "The Wire."

Back during my second tenure with the Nevada-Utah HealthInsight Medicare QIO (the 2005-2008 "DOQ-IT" initiative), I was sent to the eClinicalWorks Boston area HQ for a week of hands-on training on their eCW ambulatory EHR. One night while surfing the TV channels in my hotel room I ran across "The Wire." I'd not even been aware of it.

I was stunned, mesmerized, instantly hooked. I eventually bought the DVD box sets for all five seasons, and have watched each episode therein at least a dozen times. I can cite verbatim large swaths of the screenplay.

Yeah, I know. Get a life...

From The Wiki:
Set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland, The Wire introduces a different institution of the city and its relationship to law enforcement in each season, while retaining characters and advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in chronological order: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news medium. The large cast consists mainly of actors who are little known for their other roles, as well as numerous real-life Baltimore and Maryland figures in guest and recurring roles. Simon has said that despite its framing as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are committed."

Now Cheryl and I live here, in the venerable bucolic, Colonial "shire" that is the "Homeland District" not far from Johns Hopkins University. Mere blocks away, on the east side of the north/south York Road, police helicopters routinely circulate amid recurrent news reports of "shots fired." A recent NY Times article featured a graphic depicting a cluster of notably violent areas. Midway down was a cluster of central American countries--El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua--with the city of Baltimore right in the mix.

Whatever. I will be buying one of these t-shirts. Saw a huge mural poster on the wall of a church a couple of blocks from our house.


Repeatedly, when I tell locals that I just moved here, I get "condolences." "What? Why? Did you kill someone and have to escape California?"
Our son Matt lives here, in Pigtown with our delightful future daughter-in-law. She's a Baltimore native and an environmental engineer with the state of Maryland. They love it here. After Matt lost a second sister to cancer last year, he's our last kid standing. Moving close by was a no brainer. Our CusterFluck of a transcontinental journey is beginning to fade into a dull irritating memory. Baltimore it is. Gotta find ways to serve productively.
Baltimore is getting a lot of stuff right. Note my permanent links column hard link on the right above the fold--"Healthcare for the Homeless."

BTW, see also my April 22nd post "An #Earthday reflection from Baltimore."

I also need one of these for my yard. They're all over Homeland.


JUNE 15TH UPDATE ERRATUM

An outraged neighbor just posted about this bit of "witty" vandalism on Nextdoor.com.


I wouldn't be surprised if the perp was Biff from Delta House at Loyola University Maryland just down the street.
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More to come...

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