06 June 2009
23 May 2009
06 April 2009
Remembering Poetry Month
A recent post at Maryanne Stahl's blog linked to a reading of Roethke's 'The Sloth' by an eleven year old American girl named Katherine Mechling. Definitely worth checking out along with the rest of the readings at the Favorite Poem Project.
I think I will ask Katherine to read one of my old poems which I have dusted off for a belated debut in honour of National Poetry Month:
Is it possible I might actually come up with something new this month?
I think I will ask Katherine to read one of my old poems which I have dusted off for a belated debut in honour of National Poetry Month:
the lummoxSince I have posted nothing at all since September of last year, we should probably toast the occasion. I am feeling positively inspired.
the lummox lurks
inside of you
and goes where
you must go
he can’t decide
to sit or stand
so ambles
to and fro
he doesn’t know
how he should act
or how to
wash his face
and always seems
to talk out loud
when you must
go a place
but he is quite
a gentle sort
and easy
to abide
as long as you
remember that
you have a
friend inside
Carrie Berry
21 August 1997
Is it possible I might actually come up with something new this month?
28 September 2008
One ought...
"One ought, everyday at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if possible, speak a few reasonable words."I try. I really do.
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
09 September 2008
08 September 2008
Big Brother is watching
And when things are darkest, I look back.
I could never understand why thousands, maybe millions, of people pay good money every summer so they can leave the comfort of home to fight for a couple of square meters of beach or poolside in foreign climes. Once there, they can spend hours basting their bodies with smelly SPF-stupid lotions (to keep away the cancerous lesions) while exposing as much flesh as possible (to avoid unsightly tan lines). When the sun goes down, these same people lubricate their insides with organ numbing concoctions so they can jockey for position on a noisy dance floor with gyrating sweaty strangers who might later agree to share whatever communicable microbes they have managed to collect along the way. And this is called a holiday. For a couple of weeks maybe they can pretend their humdrum lives don’t exist and come away a few hundred pounds lighter in the wallet but fully appreciative of the homes and jobs they thought they had to get away from.
About three years ago I had to give up the day job and, more importantly, the salary that came with it. Holidays (should I ever fall prey to the mystique) are simply unaffordable these days. But even retirement has its moments, and sometimes you just have to get away from it all: away from answering emails, writing blogs, reading a good book and writing that review afterwards; away from remodelling the bathroom, updating your wardrobe, taking a long walk in the countryside; away from having lunch with a friend, painting that masterpiece, completing that novel.
It is at times like this, I can really appreciate a good bout of depression and the accompanying morass of dark feelings that makes me want to crawl into a cave for a week or two. Or thirteen.
Enter Big Brother. Not Big Brother from 1984, the iconic Orwell novel that shaped my philosophy in those tender years, but the tragically compelling reality TV series produced by Channel 4 in connection with Endemol. I am currently finding my way back from the altered state through which I absorbed UK’s ninth summer series, Big Brother 2008 (UK). As part of the weaning process, I will need to write about the experience in the next couple of blogs.
Nothing compels you to read it.
I could never understand why thousands, maybe millions, of people pay good money every summer so they can leave the comfort of home to fight for a couple of square meters of beach or poolside in foreign climes. Once there, they can spend hours basting their bodies with smelly SPF-stupid lotions (to keep away the cancerous lesions) while exposing as much flesh as possible (to avoid unsightly tan lines). When the sun goes down, these same people lubricate their insides with organ numbing concoctions so they can jockey for position on a noisy dance floor with gyrating sweaty strangers who might later agree to share whatever communicable microbes they have managed to collect along the way. And this is called a holiday. For a couple of weeks maybe they can pretend their humdrum lives don’t exist and come away a few hundred pounds lighter in the wallet but fully appreciative of the homes and jobs they thought they had to get away from.
About three years ago I had to give up the day job and, more importantly, the salary that came with it. Holidays (should I ever fall prey to the mystique) are simply unaffordable these days. But even retirement has its moments, and sometimes you just have to get away from it all: away from answering emails, writing blogs, reading a good book and writing that review afterwards; away from remodelling the bathroom, updating your wardrobe, taking a long walk in the countryside; away from having lunch with a friend, painting that masterpiece, completing that novel.
It is at times like this, I can really appreciate a good bout of depression and the accompanying morass of dark feelings that makes me want to crawl into a cave for a week or two. Or thirteen.
Enter Big Brother. Not Big Brother from 1984, the iconic Orwell novel that shaped my philosophy in those tender years, but the tragically compelling reality TV series produced by Channel 4 in connection with Endemol. I am currently finding my way back from the altered state through which I absorbed UK’s ninth summer series, Big Brother 2008 (UK). As part of the weaning process, I will need to write about the experience in the next couple of blogs.
Nothing compels you to read it.
29 June 2008
Bet you can't list just one
Had to jump in on Ken Armstrong's Movie Meme (I love lists almost as much as I love movies). The difficulty is in choosing only one for each category as my film addiction started at age four. My choices are among the first that came to mind, not necessarily the best for a particular category. I've stolen the last two questions from Jim Murdoch's post.
1) List one movie that made you laugh: Clerks
2) List one movie that made you cry:
Everything makes me cry. I cry when I listen to music, when I read books, when I peel onions. I am always getting handed a hanky (and sometimes they are clean). The one that made me cry most recently was Big Fish.
3) Name one movie you loved when you were a child:
Alice in Wonderland was the first film I saw in a theatre and it made a tremendous impression even though it took many more watchings to absorb all the subtext.
4) List one movie you've seen more than once:
I saw Georgy Girl 37 times the year I lived in New York (1966-7). It may have been because they served free coffee and donuts in the lobby. A girl has to eat.
5) One movie you loved, but were (in some company) embarrassed to admit it: Love Actually
This film could slot into a number of these categories. I expect to watch it a few more times.
6) One movie you hated: Caddyshack
This seems to be a 'guy' movie – all my peers at the time just loved it, but I thought it was stupid.
7) List one movie that scared you: The Ox-Bow Incident with Henry Fonda
I was reading the book for school so thought I would watch the film when it came on in the late hours. I was alone in the house and was afraid to go to sleep afterwards.
8) List one movie that bored you: Waterworld
Most of the earth's surface is covered in water. I get that. I don't need to have so many panoramic water views to drive the point home.
9) List one movie that made you happy: Truly, Madly, Deeply
10) List one movie that made you miserable: Dogville
But it was an excellent film. I will watch it again someday.
11) List one movie you thought would be great, but it so wasn’t:
Blue Velvet
12) List one movie you weren't brave enough to see: American Pie
Ewww.
13) List one movie character you've fallen in love with:
Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery) in Medicine Man.
14) Name one pointless remake: The Longest Yard
Why would anyone want to mess with the perfection of the original prison football classic?
15) Name your favourite movie of all time:
Giuseppe Tornatore's Un pure formalité starring Gérard Depardieu and Roman Polanski. I saw the French version with English subtitles and the translation captured all the poetry of the original. Brilliant script, Ennio Morricone score, striking visuals and sound effects - a perfect experience.
Gratuitously Irrelevant Eye Candy:
1) List one movie that made you laugh: Clerks
2) List one movie that made you cry:
Everything makes me cry. I cry when I listen to music, when I read books, when I peel onions. I am always getting handed a hanky (and sometimes they are clean). The one that made me cry most recently was Big Fish.
3) Name one movie you loved when you were a child:
Alice in Wonderland was the first film I saw in a theatre and it made a tremendous impression even though it took many more watchings to absorb all the subtext.
4) List one movie you've seen more than once:
I saw Georgy Girl 37 times the year I lived in New York (1966-7). It may have been because they served free coffee and donuts in the lobby. A girl has to eat.
5) One movie you loved, but were (in some company) embarrassed to admit it: Love Actually
This film could slot into a number of these categories. I expect to watch it a few more times.
6) One movie you hated: Caddyshack
This seems to be a 'guy' movie – all my peers at the time just loved it, but I thought it was stupid.
7) List one movie that scared you: The Ox-Bow Incident with Henry Fonda
I was reading the book for school so thought I would watch the film when it came on in the late hours. I was alone in the house and was afraid to go to sleep afterwards.
8) List one movie that bored you: Waterworld
Most of the earth's surface is covered in water. I get that. I don't need to have so many panoramic water views to drive the point home.
9) List one movie that made you happy: Truly, Madly, Deeply
10) List one movie that made you miserable: Dogville
But it was an excellent film. I will watch it again someday.
11) List one movie you thought would be great, but it so wasn’t:
Blue Velvet
12) List one movie you weren't brave enough to see: American Pie
Ewww.
13) List one movie character you've fallen in love with:
Dr. Robert Campbell (Sean Connery) in Medicine Man.
14) Name one pointless remake: The Longest Yard
Why would anyone want to mess with the perfection of the original prison football classic?
15) Name your favourite movie of all time:
Giuseppe Tornatore's Un pure formalité starring Gérard Depardieu and Roman Polanski. I saw the French version with English subtitles and the translation captured all the poetry of the original. Brilliant script, Ennio Morricone score, striking visuals and sound effects - a perfect experience.
Gratuitously Irrelevant Eye Candy:
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