28 February 2005
out there
more than one blogger buddy has wonderd out loud if anyone is reading. thru some search I learnd abt sources that I thot trackd links. but Mark Young informd me I was all wrong & pointd me to other sources. I'm still a computer klutz.
27 February 2005
Beckett strikes again
this time he grills Nick Piombino & like his other interviews this one allows the subject to present history & lucidity.
a couple of little things bouncd off the screen at me:
1) early on Piombino was published in American Weave. this little magazine from Cleveland is largely forgotten. if memory serves I first saw it in the stacks at Kent State's library. the first of my several appearances in the magazine came in 1963. its editor was Loring Williams who publishd the work of Cleveland poets as disparate as d.a. levy & Alfred Cahen. I think it's forgotten because the work wasn't always good & there seemd no theoretical base to its editorship. but Williams was an encourager of talent & deserves to be rememberd with respect.
2) Piombino once met Robert Smithson.
a couple of little things bouncd off the screen at me:
1) early on Piombino was published in American Weave. this little magazine from Cleveland is largely forgotten. if memory serves I first saw it in the stacks at Kent State's library. the first of my several appearances in the magazine came in 1963. its editor was Loring Williams who publishd the work of Cleveland poets as disparate as d.a. levy & Alfred Cahen. I think it's forgotten because the work wasn't always good & there seemd no theoretical base to its editorship. but Williams was an encourager of talent & deserves to be rememberd with respect.
2) Piombino once met Robert Smithson.
26 February 2005
25 February 2005
discovery
BBC reports 8 letters Shelley wrote around 1811 have been found in a trunk & will be auctiond by Christie's this summer. in one the poet writes "Christ never existed."
24 February 2005
23 February 2005
"export: writing the midwest"
my thx to Andrew Lundwall for including me in his special section of the new Big Bridge & for using my words to open his preface.
22 February 2005
from the weekend
Luca prefers to remain a man of mystery who doesn't reveal his face online. so here is a photo he took of me at his house with his Bernique Longley print.
& here's a photo I took of the Chihuly installation in the Bellagio lobby:
/
21 February 2005
just back
from weekending in Las Vegas where the weather was dismal.
but I got to spend good time with my internet buddy Luca. we found a real art gallery had spendid dinners at Nobu & Rosemary's indulgd in sweets at Jean Philippe & saw 2 shows: "Forbidden Vegas" with Michael West & "We Will Rock You" with Tony Vincent.
also I was able to reminisce abt my dear friend T.R. Queen with Jodi Perselle Warman his best friend for years. the last time I saw Tom 3 years ago we had brunch at the Palms with Jodi & another friend. he died unexpectdly a month later.
but I got to spend good time with my internet buddy Luca. we found a real art gallery had spendid dinners at Nobu & Rosemary's indulgd in sweets at Jean Philippe & saw 2 shows: "Forbidden Vegas" with Michael West & "We Will Rock You" with Tony Vincent.
also I was able to reminisce abt my dear friend T.R. Queen with Jodi Perselle Warman his best friend for years. the last time I saw Tom 3 years ago we had brunch at the Palms with Jodi & another friend. he died unexpectdly a month later.
17 February 2005
grandparents
/
a hundred years ago today
27 year-old Nicholas Gildzen
married
24 year-old Katherine Bilyk
in Chester PA
16 February 2005
where's the outrage?
let me get this straight (as it were): probably the most homophobic White House ever plants a gay male prostitute in its press corps as a shill to help the press secretary steer away from tough questions.
why isn't this being reportd on network news? why did I find this out via blogs? where are reporters with balls?
I'm sick to death of members of this administration waving their hymnals & covering themselves in the flag while cutting throats with glee. the great Greek playwrights tell me that any day hubris will bring down this president & his ruthless regime. but the honorable profession of journalism isn't hastening the act.
why isn't this being reportd on network news? why did I find this out via blogs? where are reporters with balls?
I'm sick to death of members of this administration waving their hymnals & covering themselves in the flag while cutting throats with glee. the great Greek playwrights tell me that any day hubris will bring down this president & his ruthless regime. but the honorable profession of journalism isn't hastening the act.
15 February 2005
14 February 2005
valentine for Thelma
she was the greatest character actress in the history of American film.
Thelma Ritter was born 100 years ago today.
13 February 2005
Grammy hype
pre-show publicity suggestd some historicity in the duet between Jennifer Lopez & her current paramour. all it showd was why she's better known for her butt than her voice.
then a bit later in the show Queen Latifah let loose. now there was a moment.
then a bit later in the show Queen Latifah let loose. now there was a moment.
12 February 2005
grains
this ayem I read that the Washington Post estimates that presently there are 8 million blogs.
feeling insignificant I turnd off the computer & lost myself in music: Britten's "Peter Grimes" & Elgar's "Enigma Variations."
feeling insignificant I turnd off the computer & lost myself in music: Britten's "Peter Grimes" & Elgar's "Enigma Variations."
11 February 2005
a pause
the mediocrity of this administration has made me so blue. I startd early in the day with a rant abt the president whose very name blackens my lips. but I put it away in draft mode.
my day went on. I read a bit of the Britten bio. then I recalld among my hundreds of old-fashiond videotapes which I never look at was a documentary abt the composer.
how sublime to spend time tonite listening to his music hearing his family & friends speak abt him watching old footage. when Peter Pears describes Britten dying in his arms the tears came. less tears of sadness at a too-early death of an artist but tears of joy that he had such love & achievement in his life.
the only way I'll survive these black times is thru art.
my day went on. I read a bit of the Britten bio. then I recalld among my hundreds of old-fashiond videotapes which I never look at was a documentary abt the composer.
how sublime to spend time tonite listening to his music hearing his family & friends speak abt him watching old footage. when Peter Pears describes Britten dying in his arms the tears came. less tears of sadness at a too-early death of an artist but tears of joy that he had such love & achievement in his life.
the only way I'll survive these black times is thru art.
10 February 2005
coming attractions
over at Really Bad Movies Richard Lopez writes:
working on the thought that perhaps poems can be criticism as well. of course they can, surely, but I've in mind certain kinds of criticisms, such as film criticism. is that too far out for poetry?
not at all Richard. I just wrote a long exegesis but I'm not a scholar & it was getting pretty silly. so I pushd "delete." I'd rather see movies & write poems & wait for yr emerging work.
working on the thought that perhaps poems can be criticism as well. of course they can, surely, but I've in mind certain kinds of criticisms, such as film criticism. is that too far out for poetry?
not at all Richard. I just wrote a long exegesis but I'm not a scholar & it was getting pretty silly. so I pushd "delete." I'd rather see movies & write poems & wait for yr emerging work.
09 February 2005
Dangerous Intruder
Veda Ann Borg wakes up in
a strange bed wearing
a white silk nite gown
she didn't put on
that's what happens
when a movie begins
I've been in
so many strange beds
people talk abt me
behind my back
but like Veda Ann
my arms are full
in the last reel
a strange bed wearing
a white silk nite gown
she didn't put on
that's what happens
when a movie begins
I've been in
so many strange beds
people talk abt me
behind my back
but like Veda Ann
my arms are full
in the last reel
08 February 2005
levy lives
I'm remind'd of the famous poster of d.a. on this day in which the dead poet lives.
this morning I got a call from a writer who was reviewing her contribution to the levy issue of The Serif that I editd in 1971. she calld to thank me for having done it.
just now I rec'd an e from another writer who'd just come across Steve Osterlund's "The Last Time I Saw Cleveland" which I publishd in Toucan in 1970. it references levy.
this morning I got a call from a writer who was reviewing her contribution to the levy issue of The Serif that I editd in 1971. she calld to thank me for having done it.
just now I rec'd an e from another writer who'd just come across Steve Osterlund's "The Last Time I Saw Cleveland" which I publishd in Toucan in 1970. it references levy.
07 February 2005
memory holds only so much
a large part of my past is reclaimd thru photographs. I've been around so long that some moments seem "real" only when I have a photo as proof.
when I last visitd Kent my old pal David showd me one of his albums which had pictures taken at my Twin Lakes house. it was a pool party. Mary & Jake Leed were there. I'd never seen the pictures before & had absolutely no memory of the event.
today Ira Joel sent me one of his welcome packages. he sends old magazines & postcards & clippings. this time he also sent this:
/
I recognize the place as the loft he had on West 27th but I have no memory of the event. it obviously was a dinner & I can recall several of those over the years. it's strange to have such a document. since it's a polaroid I probably saw it only after it was taken & never again in the intervening decades. I'm amazd by all the hair. & how serious I look. but I'm more amazd at how much I've lost. as I continue working on Alex in Movieland I find item after item that exists only in documentation. friends have returnd old letters in which I wrote of things which are gone from memory.
before you tell me I need to think abt going to an institution let me assure you that I still remember a great deal. & the mental stretching that's gone into working on the autobiography has brought back enormous detail. but there is a loss & that sometimes creates sadness.
when I last visitd Kent my old pal David showd me one of his albums which had pictures taken at my Twin Lakes house. it was a pool party. Mary & Jake Leed were there. I'd never seen the pictures before & had absolutely no memory of the event.
today Ira Joel sent me one of his welcome packages. he sends old magazines & postcards & clippings. this time he also sent this:
/
I recognize the place as the loft he had on West 27th but I have no memory of the event. it obviously was a dinner & I can recall several of those over the years. it's strange to have such a document. since it's a polaroid I probably saw it only after it was taken & never again in the intervening decades. I'm amazd by all the hair. & how serious I look. but I'm more amazd at how much I've lost. as I continue working on Alex in Movieland I find item after item that exists only in documentation. friends have returnd old letters in which I wrote of things which are gone from memory.
before you tell me I need to think abt going to an institution let me assure you that I still remember a great deal. & the mental stretching that's gone into working on the autobiography has brought back enormous detail. but there is a loss & that sometimes creates sadness.
06 February 2005
anticipating valentines day
sometimes I google myself just to find where my work gets reprintd. poems pop up in strange places.
this morning I found a valentine I'd maild a couple of years ago:
it's on Jim Beach's mail art site as part of his "Emotion" series. I recall the stain was from a blood orange & each piece featurd clippings from magazines R.B. Sprague gave me & an old newspaper from Ira Joel Haber.
this morning I found a valentine I'd maild a couple of years ago:
it's on Jim Beach's mail art site as part of his "Emotion" series. I recall the stain was from a blood orange & each piece featurd clippings from magazines R.B. Sprague gave me & an old newspaper from Ira Joel Haber.
04 February 2005
in praise of Kent Taylor
Kent Taylor's recent poems are lean & pack a punch. they remind us what an artist he is.
for a review of a career that stretches over the past four decades check out the bibliography of his work postd by Verdant Press.
for a review of a career that stretches over the past four decades check out the bibliography of his work postd by Verdant Press.
03 February 2005
escapism
I knew any State of the Union presentd by this president wd be like smearing frosting on a pile of mold.
so last nite I watchd Lila Lee in "I Can't Escape" (1934). Lila's sister sold real estate in my hometown. she came to visit from time to time. her passions seemd to be books & booze. I adord her.
Lila began her career on stage as a child & became a star in silent films while still a teenager. her leading men were a who's who: Valentino Houdini Wallace Reid Lon Chaney Bela Lugosi & her first husband James Kirkwood. she slippd into talkies with ease but the drinking took its toll & she slid from lead roles in A pictures to supporting parts in stinkers. but I always enjoy seeing her. last nite's film was as slight as they come. she was a high class call girl quick with a quip who goes domestic with a parolee. her co-stars were a pair of forgotten actors who met hideous ends in real life -- Onslow Stevens (who was murderd) & Russell Gleason (who fell out a hotel window).
I fixd green tea to accompany my cappuchino cookies while watching the movie. Lila Lee at her least is more rewarding than Shrub. Lila Lee looms larger in my life than this president. I try to be a good citizen but I can't watch the faux cowboy. that condescending smirk turns my stomach. it's not healthy for me to even look at him. so cookies & tea with a vision of black hair in a bob. Lila esculent in tulle & me resplendent in flannel. together we make it thru the nite.
so last nite I watchd Lila Lee in "I Can't Escape" (1934). Lila's sister sold real estate in my hometown. she came to visit from time to time. her passions seemd to be books & booze. I adord her.
Lila began her career on stage as a child & became a star in silent films while still a teenager. her leading men were a who's who: Valentino Houdini Wallace Reid Lon Chaney Bela Lugosi & her first husband James Kirkwood. she slippd into talkies with ease but the drinking took its toll & she slid from lead roles in A pictures to supporting parts in stinkers. but I always enjoy seeing her. last nite's film was as slight as they come. she was a high class call girl quick with a quip who goes domestic with a parolee. her co-stars were a pair of forgotten actors who met hideous ends in real life -- Onslow Stevens (who was murderd) & Russell Gleason (who fell out a hotel window).
I fixd green tea to accompany my cappuchino cookies while watching the movie. Lila Lee at her least is more rewarding than Shrub. Lila Lee looms larger in my life than this president. I try to be a good citizen but I can't watch the faux cowboy. that condescending smirk turns my stomach. it's not healthy for me to even look at him. so cookies & tea with a vision of black hair in a bob. Lila esculent in tulle & me resplendent in flannel. together we make it thru the nite.
02 February 2005
01 February 2005
a reading & more
fans of Series Magritte will want to seek out the DVD "Mark Young in Conversation with Martin Edmond."
last summer Young sat at a table across from Edmond at University of Auckland. the video begins with the poet reading abt lizards & owls. Edmond nudges Young from time to time but the one pushing the cart is clearly Young. he reads what he wants to & when reveals what he wishes to abt his life & art. we get an indelible image of the young Young playing Bach on a harmonica. that lost music returns as key poems flow thru this production.
at just under 39 minutes it ends much too soon but I know where it is & can return when I need to.
last summer Young sat at a table across from Edmond at University of Auckland. the video begins with the poet reading abt lizards & owls. Edmond nudges Young from time to time but the one pushing the cart is clearly Young. he reads what he wants to & when reveals what he wishes to abt his life & art. we get an indelible image of the young Young playing Bach on a harmonica. that lost music returns as key poems flow thru this production.
at just under 39 minutes it ends much too soon but I know where it is & can return when I need to.
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