I’m going south to the Daytona Beach area for a few weeks. From St Augustine’s Spanish fort, down to New Smyrna’s lighthouse, it’s a part of Florida that has some history. And some of that history has to do with the heroic pioneers of auto racing. They were the people who were refining cars—and roads … Continue reading Ghost in the Machine
The Exotic Here and Now
The detective story has endured because it has an inherent story built into it—the uncovering of a mystery through hard work and persistence. It also brings us the eventual triumph of justice over malevolence. While there are traditions that govern setting and character, everything else in the genre is open and available for innovation. Now, … Continue reading The Exotic Here and Now
Spectrum
Sometime when I wasn’t paying too much attention we entered the era of the spectrum. I should have noticed. Einstein’s vision of reality showed us that you can turn a little bit of dirt into enough energy to fuse sand into glass. If you don’t believe me, here’s the math on the chalkboard. E=mC2. How tidy!And … Continue reading Spectrum
Holidays
Download The Holidays The holiday season can get kind of layered around here. We have friends and relations of different faiths, or no faith at all—which is fine too. I suppose religion is baked into the season one way or another, though. I imagine that the derivation of ‘holiday’ comes from the notion of holy … Continue reading Holidays
Gumshoe
The detective sits across from his partner at the back of the diner where he can see the door. His coffee, strong and black, warms his fingers. The remains of a slice of apple pie sits on a five dollar bill at the edge of the booth, for the pretty waitress when she can pull … Continue reading Gumshoe
Christmas Spoilers
December 2022 The Halloween spiders and ghosts are gone from my neighbour’s yard and the Christmas decorations have taken their place in the form of a large inflatable Santa. The big plastic St. Nicolas is a symbol of peace and non-denominational Christian love. It’s also a huge, red bag the size of a Mini Cooper, … Continue reading Christmas Spoilers
On Time and No Nonsense
Are physicists the only folks who wonder about the nature of time? Admittedly, my education prepared me more to spell ‘physicists’ than to share their thought processes, but it seems reasonable to think about one of the fundamental forces that govern our lives. On the other hand, maybe somebody will find out how badly I … Continue reading On Time and No Nonsense
Poems and Rivers
It’s tempting to see a woman as a poem. Men too, but I happen to be thinking about my main character, Carly Rouhl in the Requiem novels. She’s a poem in the sense that she was created with imagined characteristics: appearance, personality, fears and ambitions. She took shape in my mind the way photographs used … Continue reading Poems and Rivers
Bringing Out the Dead
My neighbours across the street are installing cobwebs on their house. They have a large spider web draped over their front yard tree, and an inflatable green spider. They also have three ghosts. These ghosts are recognizable as such because the are draped head to toe in white sheets. I’m not sure where this visual … Continue reading Bringing Out the Dead
Small Bird, Big Sky
I just watched a scene from one of my favorite movies. Again. I must have run this movie a dozen times over the last few months. I’m not going to tell you what the movie was because it’s not an objectively great film, and you probably wouldn’t know it anyway. We all have films that … Continue reading Small Bird, Big Sky
Douglas Cockell 