Shouts From Down Under

Is a book still a book without an effective narrative hook?

Is a poem still a poem, without a rhyme, on inspiration's wobbly throne?

Is wine still wine without olives, to dine?

Invalid Photo #1037950

(http://www.delallo.com/articles/wine-cheese-olive-pairings)

I would think the following clip is an ideal example of a visual narrative hook, produced in video form for your up and coming novel. I want to read it already, and surely it must become a movie some day soon. Due for release in 2015, even the simple words narrated by the author himself, and appearing on the screen, only lend a convincing air to this short read-bait film. It's like a chocolate coated carrot and the readers are chocoholic donkeys. Hmm, OK maybe that analogy is weird and doesn't quite work?

You may or may not know who Marcus Gibson is, but I can assure you, his novel D (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Gibson) was every bit as un-put-downable as I'm sure this new one will be when he's done. The sample paint pot of a strange but invigorating new colour tint, or the equivalent of a pre dinner taster is here.

The Warning...



Speaking of tasters, not that we should worry enough to keep awake at night, wondering what our children or grandchildren will have to cope with post WW3, but this sort of stuck out when I was flicking through Twitter posts earlier tonight.

http://io9.com/a-guide-to-the-most-nutritious-post-apocalypse-cuisine-1675341435...

Then there was the less than appetising moment at the chest freezer, after someone suggested an "ice-cream" or "paddle pop", and I was forced to comply with my wife's command to retrieve the boxes for everyone. Yes, I reluctantly gave in to peer pressure, and dragged my bloated stomach that had threatened to explode over the last couple of days of Christmas overeating. I can't complain about being hungry living here. As I reached in to untangle the frost coated boxes of ice-cream snacks on sticks, I noticed something white and odd shaped sitting on top of a box of frozen prawns. (shrimp)

It was a frozen solid, twisted up tissue. The kind you buy in boxes to use to blow your nose. You know the Dad Joke about going on a holiday, "cleaning out your trunk" that is said to people blowing their nose.
Anyway, I was feeling a bit put off by the sight of someone's tissue in the freezer full of foodstuffs, even though it appeared to be clean and unused. It was screwed up in a strange shape as if preparing it to be jammed up someone's left nostril. Strange behaviour to do this to a tissue, much less drop it into the domestic freezer compartment. But there it was, nestling among the Nestle products.

So, I threw it in my wife's direction, when I returned to the lounge room, arms struggling to contain all the cartons of ice-creams for people to select. Yes, the tissue became the subject of a short discussion, but no owner found, or would admit to ownership of the torn and elasticated Papier-mâché handkerchief.

Speculation was that this was a new invention; the nasal injury / nose bleed ice-pack. I really don't want to think any more on it when I have such a metallic tasting headache - one of those you get when you haven't consumed enough water on a glaring hot day like today. (Its summer here in Tasmania, and finally we have a little heat. Finally.)

My daughter, in her ever original and oddly truncated mind-set (I have no idea where she gets this from (again) ) suggested I Google a guy she'd heard of whose sole purpose in life was to invent new uses for objects so that they became useless in an intellectual way, thus able to label them are pieces of art.

I love this artist's mind. I really do. And I said my daughter's mind was truncated, because I can't remember ever using that word, and everyone should be refreshed as to its meaning.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/truncated

Yes, an Italian artist whose mind weirdness provokes more than a few seconds of thought as I gaze at each piece. Surely he must have some corkers of nightmares when he finally does get to sleep on those nights of Christmas overeating such as we've just had, and especially after a dodgy batch of reheated Spaghetti Bolognaise and lots of vino.

I present to you a presentation from the presenter himself - The man who could invent a book without a narrative hook - and get away with it:

Guiseppe Colarusso...

http://www.technocrazed.com/an-italian-artists-invents-useless-objects-from-ever...

What will they think of next, Kevin?



I DON'T KNOW, DO I?!

Sparky



Photos in this blog entry are from http://media.photobucket.com/user/DaisyCell/media/vintagetypewriterkeys.jpg.html...[term]=typewriter&filters[primary]=images etc