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Brass Tacks

18 Mar 2013 by KRAG

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? Continue Reading »

Posted in Books, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Big Ben’s Music

15 Mar 2013 by KRAG

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. Continue Reading »

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Still Standing

14 Mar 2013 by KRAG

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. Continue Reading »

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Express Delivery

13 Mar 2013 by KRAG

Mahonia after rainThe Pineapple Express.

That’s what we call it, and yesterday, I smelled it coming.

6AM. Dark. Walking between the streetlight pools, heading to the bus stop, the wind picked up. I lifted my head, facing the wind, facing the southwest, and I felt it on my face, felt it warm and moist like a facecloth at the barber shop. I could smell the greenery in it, the lush growth of Hawaii and the tropical waters between. This wind had seen land before, jetting from Oahu to Seattle, bringing us rain and rain and rain.

It blew all day, and today the rain is here. Four to seven inches in the elevations, bringing floodwaters to the rivers, rain to my garden, and warmth to my budding groves.

The Pineapple Express has arrived.

k

Posted in Gardening, Seattle | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Herculean Misanthropy

12 Mar 2013 by KRAG

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. Continue Reading »

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

We Built This City

11 Mar 2013 by KRAG

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: Continue Reading »

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Ten Percent Solution

08 Mar 2013 by KRAG

Back in my “The View from Here” series, I addressed one common problem I called “Wiggle Words.” I cannot now remember where I came up with the phrase–perhaps I made it up; I’ve been known to invent a thing or two on my own–but I absolutely remember where I first encountered the concept.

Ken Rand’s The 10% Solution is one of the best how-to-write books on my shelf. It is short, clear, and has more bang-for-buck within its covers than most books 4 times its length. Ken has had a long career in fiction and non-fiction both, from novels and short stories to ad-copy, news reports, and PR work. In brief: Ken knows writing.

And this book is pure gold. I first read it about fifteen years ago, and I came away from it with two major lessons under my belt. Continue Reading »

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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