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Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category

Closing the Loop

Posted in Books, Fallen Cloud Saga, Seattle, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 20 Mar 2013| 2 Comments »

Simple LivingIt’s pissing down rain in Seattle. The lecherous wind tugs and young women’s skirts as they tick-tock their high-heeled way to work, and the few who bothered with umbrellas wish they’d left them at home. The sky is locked down in gunmetal grey and the sun is a dim memory, consumed by the overhead drear. It’s already been a long work-week for me, having put in three days’ worth before the end of Day Two, and I haven’t slept well for worrying about my family, still roiling from our matriarch’s recent death.

And yet, inside, I’m sunny. (more…)

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Brass Tacks

Posted in Books, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 18 Mar 2013| 1 Comment »

Stack of BooksMy wife and I take walks around Seattle’s Green Lake. It’s one of the best parks in the city, and it’s beautiful at any time of the year. It’s a nice 3+ mile circuit, during which we’d talk about many things, quite often about my writing. My wife (my First Reader) is a great sounding-board for plot ideas, plot problems, character development ideas, etc.

When I sold my first book, our walks had a new topic: which of these lakefront houses would we buy when the money started rolling in?

It’s true. I so firmly believed in the future success of my books and my career as a writer that I was eyeing million-dollar properties. So, what the hell happened? Why didn’t Oprah’s Secret kick in? (more…)

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Big Ben’s Music

Posted in Culture, tagged , , , , , on 15 Mar 2013| Leave a Comment »

A Sixty-Fourth NoteBenjamin Zander is a zealot, and that’s a good thing. He’s zealous about music, specifically classical music.

If you’ve read this blog or my bio, you know I spent many years (decades, really) playing classical music. It was, I thought at the time, the only thing I’d ever do. I played several instruments over the course of my career (but what I always wanted to do was direct!) and though I eventually traded in my viola bow for a St Dupont fountain pen, classical music is still a primary element in my life.

Benjamin Zander knows the power of classical music, first-hand, and has been installing that power in young musicians for nearly 50 years, and in this TED Talk from 2008, he shows us how he does it. (more…)

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Still Standing

Posted in Movies, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 14 Mar 2013| 1 Comment »

There are some movies that have entered the common vernacular. Say “The Maltese Falcon” and people react. Even if they haven’t seen the film, people can describe the Black Bird, probably know it’s Humphrey Bogart, likely know the main character is Sam Spade, and may even know the final line (or, technically, the penultimate line) of the movie.

Well, if you haven’t seen the film, your missing one of the true classics, a movie that stands tall, even now. While today we think it synonymous “film noir,” stacked with great names like Bogie and Huston, Lorre and Greenstreet, was at the time really quite the low-budget, almost “indie” affair. (more…)

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Herculean Misanthropy

Posted in Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 Mar 2013| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, over on Facebook, a friend “Liked” a post that Kevin Sorbo made (which is the only reason it came to my attention). Kevin Sorbo? Oh, yeah, that guy.

Curious, I read onward.

In the post, Mr. Sorbo complained of people who put words in his mouth, people who said he resents helping others. To his credit, Mr. Sorbo does much more than the average person—he funds an after-school program that helps thousands of at-risk kids, he speaks before Congress about expanding his program—and for it I applaud him.

Unfortunately, then he launched into a rant about high taxes and how he pays “way more” than his “fair share.” This was followed by a tirade against those in need, in which he painted welfare recipients as whining obese freeloaders who”just feel like being taken care of.”

I pick on Mr. Sorbo because his post came across my desk, but his attitude—that taxes are too high, and that everyone on a government program is a shiftless freeloader—is common on the right, and while I’ve repeatedly countered the “taxes are too high” argument here and elsewhere (they’re essentially as low as they’ve ever been) what really gets my hackles up is this demonization of people receiving government assistance. (more…)

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We Built This City

Posted in Movies, tagged , , , , , , , , on 11 Mar 2013| 2 Comments »

I don’t like musicals and I don’t like Tom Cruise. Thus, it was unusual to find myself sitting down of a Friday night to watch “Rock of Ages” which, I quickly learned, incorporated both.

It’s not that I dislike all musicals–I even have a few in my DVD library–but spending my first 35 years playing several musical instruments, I sweated in the pit during every school drama production, suffered through interminable summer “Pops” concerts, and endured nearly as many “Holiday Galas.” In short, of musicals I’ve had my fill.

As for Tom Cruise, well, he’s just one of those actors who can’t seem to get out of his own way. Again, my stance is not monolithic; I’ve liked him in a few films, but never as a leading man. When Cruise plays the chiseled-chin hero, the steely eyed fighter pilot lawyer spy covert operative race car driver, I always see the actor behind the mask. In every scene–especially in those critical, top-of-the-trailer tag-line scenes–behind that gritty, squint-eyed glare I see…Tom Cruise, thinking, working hard, working as hard as he possibly can to be that chiseled-chin hero, working his ass off trying to not be Tom Cruise.

At which he fails. But not here. Not in “Rock of Ages.” You see, I have learned a true Hollywood secret: (more…)

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Ineffable

Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged , , , , on 07 Mar 2013| 6 Comments »

Aeons ago, when newspapers were printed on paper and was a young Bay Area boy, I used to open up the San Francisco Chronicle and read Herb Caen’s column.

Yes. I was an odd little boy.

I remember one column in particular, in which Herb talked about one of the local Chinese restaurants playing softball against the SFPD in a charity event. The restaurant had t-shirts printed up for its team players. On the shirts were some characters in Chinese script. When Herb asked them what the Chinese words meant, he was told they translated as “No effing butter!”

Though this went straight over my little pre-teen head (on several levels), I was still smart enough to recognize a punch line when I read one. So I showed it to my dad.

“What does ‘effing’ mean?” (more…)

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