I picked up a remaindered book by Michael Connelly a month or two ago. The Narrows was published in 2004 and shrink wrapped with a DVD titled “Blue Neon Night: Michael Connelly’s Los Angeles.” On it, Connelly tells a bit about the detective he writes about: Harry Bosch. Excerpts from his stories are read asContinue reading “The Best Music You’ve Never Heard”
Author Archives: Norm Benson
That '70s Stuff
In 1977, I was 26 and had been married a year. See how I dressed and my dining room on the 15 Minute Lunch blog here. After this, go watch Battle of the Network Stars II. Fifteen year old Kristy McNichol is so cute.
That ’70s Stuff
In 1977, I was 26 and had been married a year. See how I dressed and my dining room on the 15 Minute Lunch blog here. After this, go watch Battle of the Network Stars II. Fifteen year old Kristy McNichol is so cute.
Controlling, Preventing, Wildfire in California and Other Pipedreams
I listened to the 27 October podcast of KCRW’s Left, Right, and Center as I do every week. They discussed the recent fires in California (and other political wonkish stuff). In the program, the moderator Matt Miller (holding down the center) wondered whether preparations were adequate and whether money could have been better spent (ratherContinue reading “Controlling, Preventing, Wildfire in California and Other Pipedreams”
We Don't Own a Boat
Two of the happiest days in one’s life are the day one gets a boat… Mary had a sailboat. The storms during the winter had reduced the number of functional cleats to one. During Mary’s ownership, it sank twice (Note the black tube on the starboard side–this is connected to a bilge pump). If itContinue reading “We Don't Own a Boat”
We Don’t Own a Boat
Two of the happiest days in one’s life are the day one gets a boat… Mary had a sailboat. The storms during the winter had reduced the number of functional cleats to one. During Mary’s ownership, it sank twice (Note the black tube on the starboard side–this is connected to a bilge pump). If itContinue reading “We Don’t Own a Boat”
There’s something you don’t see everyday, Edgar
For reasons known only to sociologists and writers (fiction writers are free to make stuff up as long as it sounds plausible), Memorial and Labor Day Weekends provide the bookends to summer for Americans. In that time that we Americans define as summer, Clear Lake squeals (see my previous discussion in Anthropology 101), throbs withContinue reading “There’s something you don’t see everyday, Edgar”
There's something you don't see everyday, Edgar
For reasons known only to sociologists and writers (fiction writers are free to make stuff up as long as it sounds plausible), Memorial and Labor Day Weekends provide the bookends to summer for Americans. In that time that we Americans define as summer, Clear Lake squeals (see my previous discussion in Anthropology 101), throbs withContinue reading “There's something you don't see everyday, Edgar”
So, what happens next?
In Poetics, Aristotle called plot the “arrangement of incidents.” More informally, plot is “one damn thing after another.” It’s the answer to “what happens next?” In order for a story not to feel episodic, this has to be answered satisfactorily. Even if the next event is thirty years in the future, it has to feelContinue reading “So, what happens next?”
Harry Splutter & the Lure of Hollyweird
“When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.” (Raymond Chandler) Epi-soda 14 “Look out!” shouted Hermione shrilly while pointing and hopping from foot to foot. “Wha?” said Harry and Weasel unanimously and also stupidly thinking that she might need to use the little witch’s room again. “Mmmmph”Continue reading “Harry Splutter & the Lure of Hollyweird”
Nullius in Verba 