All posts by Lars Walker

Writing

How now, Dan Brown?

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Patrick O’Hannigan, over at The Paragraph Farmer, discusses an interesting post from Language Log on the (apparently inexhaustible) topic of what a really lousy writer Dan Brown is.

It occurs to me to wonder—why would so many people want to buy and read books written so amateurishly? Granted, the average reader can’t explain the differences between good style and bad, but (within certain limits) every reader can tell a well-written book from a badly written one, because badly written books are—by definition—hard to read. That’s really the heart of good writing—putting down words that convey the author’s exact thoughts in the most efficient, evocative way. If Brown is as bad as they say (I’ve never read any of his books myself), I assume he must be rather heavy going. And yet millions of readers soldier on to the ends of his works. Continue reading How now, Dan Brown? →

Uncategorized

The future of the past

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Tonight, for no particular reason, I’m thinking of things that struck me as wonders of technology, long, long ago in the Age of Analog.

It was my aunt, I think, who gave our family an old black and white TV. I don’t think it was one she was discarding; I have the idea it was a TV somebody had given her, and she didn’t want it. So we were suddenly a family with two TVs, big stuff in the early ’60s. It had a blonde cabinet and was about the size of a Frigidaire. I think it was a Muntz. Dad put it in the hall, upstairs. The only problem was that our antenna was attached to our “real” TV (also black and white), down in the living room.

The solution was provided by my uncle (who sometimes reads this blog). He brought Dad a marvelous new device—an antenna signal splitter. With this piece of electrical wizardry, you could have two TVs attached to the same antenna! Who’d have believed such a thing was possible? Continue reading The future of the past →

Blogs, Socials, Goofing

“From the Frontiers of Science Department”

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The more I see this little piece from Roy Jacobsen’s Dispatches From Outland blog, the more it delights me. (The blog is no more.)

Gaspard, B.F. (2009). On the synchronicity of the discharge of ionized sulfur particles from Io’s polar regions and Ms. Astrid Lingonströtter commuting patterns. Journal of Applied Planetary Research and Ironmongery, 257(1), 77-193.

Publishing

I am Legend. Or Rumor anyway.

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I apologize in advance for the lameosity of this post. My energy is still running low, and it’s bill-paying night (I should have mowed the lawn, too, but I opted to leave it hanging over my head until the weekend, because frankly I don’t give a Damocles), and I’ve got a string of e-mails from the publisher to respond to, regarding final details of the book design. Also they sent me the final page proofs for one last close reading, which will give me a hobby for the next few days. And I promised to post something for my Facebook group tonight.

About a minute ago, bright sunshine poured in through my window for about a minute. This was the first sun we’ve seen today. And probably the last.

It was a short summer, but you’ve got to be prepared for such things under a Democratic administration.

The Vice President warns us to avoid crowded places.

Soon Avoidants will be all that remains of humanity, the only survivors.

Unfortunately, we still won’t be able to reproduce.

Publishing

Rainy mood

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I’m down tonight, and there’s no really good reason. Perhaps I’m getting the flu. Or maybe it’s the wet, cold weather (which I’d consider wonderfully atmospheric if I were in Bergen or London).

I was delighted and amazed at the number of people who immediately joined my new Facebook group (nearly 30 last time I looked). I honestly expected maybe a dozen, tops. So that felt very good.

It is in my nature, though, to respond to every positive experience in a Newtonian fashion, with an equal and opposite reaction.

I got a look at the map for the new book today, and it’s very handsome indeed. The artist approached the actual locations of places with more of an eye to composition than to strict geographical accuracy, though, and I figured we’d have to fight with him some more. But he seems more amenable to revision in this area, which is a comfort.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who joined the Facebook group, many of whom are readers of this blog. It does mean a lot to me, and I’ll try to make it worth regular visits.

I’ll bet I’m getting the flu. Or maybe Ebola.

Fiction

This is not a book review

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This is not a book review. It’s a rant about a book; a book you’ll never read because it’s written in Norwegian and is not (as far as I know) available in this country. (If you’re reading this in Europe—never mind. You don’t want to read it either.)

Several copies of this little paperback were sent, for some reason yet unclear, to our Viking group, and distributed, in spite of the fact that only a few of us could read them. I won’t give the title or author, because I don’t want to torpedo somebody who was kind enough to send free books. And I’m about to say some unkind things. Continue reading This is not a book review →

Uncategorized

Better than he that taketh a city

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First of all, my exacting sense of justice requires me to say a word of praise for my congressman, Keith Ellison. I’ve written harsh things about him here (and surely will again), but in actually trying to do something about the crimes of an African government (and an Islamic African government at that) he’s showing more principle than the average Democrat. More than the average Republican, for that matter.



Saturday was garage clean-up day for the Viking Age Club & Society of the Sons of Norway. Times are lean even for the wolves of the sea, and so we’ve decided to move one of our boats out of paid storage and into the garage of one of our founding members (for slightly less pay). But that required a communal effort to help clean his garage out and install shelves for the Viking stuff he was already storing there. Nature cooperated by not sending the predicted rain, but we still managed to get a lot less work done than we’d planned. We were, however, immensely successful in talking to each other and eating a lot of pizza.

Everyone admired my new book cover.



I had a personal victory in the area of self-control. (May I note, in passing, that I really hate maturity?) Museum Replicas, Ltd., of Atlanta, the budget-conscious reenactor’s best friend, has a clearance sale going on, and one of the items advertised is this Norwegian Viking sword, which I could have had for $160 (plus shipping and handling. Oh yes, I’d have wanted it sharpened too. That’s extra). It’s a great deal, I said to myself. You can’t miss an opportunity like that!

Well, yes. Yes I can. I have more practical uses for the money, and I know it. And, as I replied to myself, Soon I’ll be rich from book royalties, and then I’ll be able to afford an Albion sword.