Bukowski's Beat - a rhythm I love

Any of you idiots got a corkscrew?

It's not every day you find a wee gem on the Net - though Dog knows there's plenty of them. But I came across Bukowski's Basement and I just had to share it with you.

My first foray into writing was called Tax Office. It never saw the light of day, thankfully, but it was written based on the premise that if Hank could scribble about the Post Office I could find some degree of justification to chronicle my wasted years as a Tax Collector. The difference between my book and Hank's was quite stark. His was great. Mine sucked supreme.

So I was delighted to be reminded of my old drinking buddy Hank...(never met the guy, unfortunately) at this great site that not only reminds one of the style and sentiment that Hank brought to the page, but has a lot of writers aiming to stagger in a similar direction.

There's Flash Fiction and Poems galore. Great stuff! Please click here and enjoy....
Bukowski's Basement

Ken Bruen, synchronicity, and cosmic wellbeing stuff... and me...

I used to be a hippy. I was also a Tax Collector in King's Cross (London, not Sydney) in the late 1980s. But I've always been the kinda guy that reads signs. Take traffic lights for example. If you are at one with the world your traffic lights should be consistently green.

Anyway... before I ramble off on a tangent, as is my natural wont, I'd like to share with you a small incident of the above mentioned synchronicity that I was referring to.

Before I type another word I must tell you I'm currently re-reading Ken Bruen's 'Blitz' and loving his main character, Brant more with every utterance, every page...

Last night I was unable to sleep and doing a little recreational surfing and I Googled Ken Bruen, as I've loved everything he's written that I've so far read (and have no doubts that I'd like the rest either, truth be told), and I stumbled across a Blog call Murderati (the name of the blog spoke to me - and it wasn't the dark rum I was drinking).

So I click on the Ken Bruen Murderati link and start reading...

http://www.murderati.com/blog/2011/4/12/a-ken-bruen-tribute-to-murderati.html

Turns out Ken Bruen, 'the main man' of Irish crime writing recently celebrated his birthday and wrote a wee note to the editors of the Murderati blog... and lo and behold whose name should crop up in the first paragraph? You got it... none other than yours truly. Odd, eh? Gratifying? Most definitely.

I'm still not quite sure if I remember the grand old days that Ken refers to (living in a crummy bedsit and writing Big Issues articles on drug lords and junkies had its high points though between dole cheques).... but what grabbed me most in this post was the emotion, the flow, the honesty the 'feeling'. Kinda got me to wondering if Ken has ever written anything other than crime novels (though he best not stop doing that).

Anyhow... that's all... it felt all warm and fuzzy for a bit. I like that feeling. Excuse me now... must go and write some crime, some more modern noir....

I'd gladly share a fifth with Sir Ken.

Noir Fiction...

Check this out... for some cool Noir Fiction covers...
http://www.philsp.com/mags/black_mask.html

Future Noir?

I like the old stuff. I write the modern stuff - but what is 'Future Noir'? Well, take a dash of Dashiel, a bucket of Bruen, an egg-cup of Ellroy a shot of Vachss and a snifter of the Jetsons and you get creepily close. Blade Runner is modern popular 'Future Noir' at its best - as far as I'm aware.... but you try Googling Future Noir and see what turns up....

A wonderful mixture of rather risque femme fatale types, some Judge Dredd wannabes, Harrison Ford and that's more or less it.

Somewhat surprising from my perspective.

Where is the future of Future Noir? Who is the king or queen of this genre?
I'm looking for Sam Spade with a laser zip gun, electric knuckle dusters and a nuclear-powered car-trans whatzit that makes a cool sound as it glides through the city's ripped backside....

I suppose William Gibson fits the picture perfectly. I've read his Neuromancer and enjoyed it throughly, but I must have missed an entire sub-genre in this area... I'll have to do some more investigating... nothing like new things (even if they're old) to cheer one up...

But in the meantime some latex and superheros will have to suffice...