Upcoming Events:
Saturday, 13 December, 6 pm
Book Talk, “Unexpected Variations on the Theme of Christmas,” Garden Wall Bookshop (formerly Kismet Books) 101 N. Main St., Verona, Wis.
Friday, 16 January, 6 pm
Book Talk, Signing and Sale, An Apartment in Paris, Benjamin's Mess, The Gathering Place, 715 Campus St., Milton, Wis.
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The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin “First there was a single truck driver. in Genoa, then another, a friend of his, who went up to Milan… We have a printer in Genoa, he hands bundled papers off to three or four friends, and they spread it out among their friends. One takes ten, another takes twenty. And from…
by David Benjamin “Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” — Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly), Back to the Future MADISON, Wis. — Ever since I watched Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux fighting off the Morlocks sometime during the 80th century in George Pal’s…
by David Benjamin “I had a doctor that gave me a letter — a very strong letter on the heels.” — Donald John Trump MADISON, Wis. — If, around 1960, I’d been a kid in the Soviet Union, it would have been my own private Siberia. If I’d been a kid in France, Devil’s…
by David Benjamin “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” — Richard Milhous Nixon NEW YORK CITY — Car 54 came to a screeching halt in the 700 block of Fifth Avenue. Officers Francis Muldoon and Gunther Toody leapt from their cruiser, drew their weapons and cautiously approached a…
by David Benjamin “On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H.L. Mencken MADISON, Wis. — As best I can guess, I became an elitist during a spelling bee in fourth grade…
Y’know, it’s fake by David Benjamin “Las Vegas is the only place I know where money really talks — it says, ‘Goodbye.’” — Frank Sinatra MADISON, Wis. — The vignettes are haunting, and as commonplace as the little hooker leaflets strewn on the pavement along the all-night electric Strip from the Mandalay Bay to the…
Up against the wall, Grandma! by David Benjamin “I don’t understand why we’re spending all this money on artificial intelligence when we can get the real thing for free” — John M. Ketteringham MADISON, Wis. — According to the latest research, it’s pretty safe to say that the current artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for facial…
Happy Election Year By David Benjamin “I’m a Leninist. Lenin wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal, too.” — Steve Bannon MADISON, Wis. — The byzantine, bumbling Ukraine extortion plot engineered among a motley coterie of Trumpniks, including Gordy Sondland, Mike Duffey, Mick Mulvaney, Rudy Giuliani and, of course, the Orange Don —…
Twilight at the Last Chance Saloon By David Benjamin “Doubting everything may be a workable plan for individual survival in a fracturing media universe dominated by algorithms and digital media of dubious authenticity, but pervasive doubt could just as well bring on civilizational ruin…We’re bringing on a death-spiral of distrust — and I fear that in…
A burrow full of memes By David Benjamin “Liberals want to sit in a circle and share. Conservatives do not want to sit in a circle, and they do not want to share.” — David Blankenhorn, founder, Better Angels PARIS — Not even Noah Webster knew the word “meme” before social media gave voice and…