Upcoming Events:
Thursday, 22 August, 1 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books?”, Fitchburg Community Center, 5510 Lacy Rd., Fitchburg, Wis.
Thursday, 19 September, 6:30 pm
Book Talk, “Why Books, and Why This Book?”, Oregon Public Library, 200 N. Alpine Parkway, Oregon, Wis.
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The Weekly Screed
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#717) Weak in Review by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — My conservative friends think that liberals worship the New York Times — oops. It’s The New York Times, right? (Talk about pretentious!). But reading the Gray Lady is more like meeting an old friend every morning at the…
Read More...FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#715) “I came… for the waters” by David Benjamin KOWAKIDANI, Japan — You don’t have to go far in Japan — maybe 100 yards in any direction — to find something weird. On our way here, we passed by the alleged cradle of the kamaboko, the classic Japanese…
Read More...FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#714) Landfills I have known, B&E’s I’ve committed by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Whenever I’m up in my old hometown, I get flashbacks driving through a broad stretch of manicured parkland on Monowau Street, where it crosses Council Creek. Gravel piles now occupy one side of the…
Read More...FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#713) The ‘right to work’ for nothing by David Benjamin “You got me workin’, boss man, /Workin’ ‘round the clock. /I want a little drink of water, /But you won’t let Jimmy stop…” — Jimmy Reed MADISON, Wis. — The relationship has rarely been amicable between dedicated American…
Read More...THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#712) “You wanna make somethin’ of it?” by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Unlike Ernest Hemingway, Nelson Algren and Opie Taylor, I didn’t engage in a whole lot of pugilism in my school days. Every normal kid in the combative 1950’s had ample opportunity to get beaten into…
Read More...SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#711) A snatch of trade-show jazz by David Benjamin BARCELONA — If it’s March, it must be the Mobile World Congress (MWC). January was Vegas and CES. Been to IFA, NAB, CATV, DVB (in Dublin, with whiskey tastings and dog races — loved that), Electronica, CeBit (in Hanover,…
Read More...TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#710) Overheard at an ISIS barbecue by David Benjamin SOMEWHERE IN SYRIA — A trio of Islamists — Ahmed, Mohammed and Kurlijo — gathered round a campfire, a Christian baby roasting on a spit. One says, “Ah, I love the smell of barbecued infidel in the morning.” “It’s…
Read More...WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#709) The lost Nazi by David Benjamin PARIS — The report is sketchy, as usual. A Parisian living somewhere on the Left Bank went to his cave, or wine cellar, to fetch a bottle. He discerned there a furtive figure — a shadow, really. It flickered across the…
Read More...MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#708) My car, the mother… board by David Benjamin PARIS — Over the past few months, I’ve been conducting an informal survey, asking friends and strangers this question: “What’s the best car ever made?” My dad’s choice was a ’55 Chevrolet Bel Air in which he used to…
Read More...WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#707) I was Charlie by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — MADISON, Wis. — Considering the travesty at Charlie Hebdo this month, you might think that the worst thing that could happen to a satirist is writing (or drawing) stuff that gets him killed. This ain’t necessarily so. Whether…
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