News outlets around the world are reporting that Edvard Munch's paintings "The Scream" and "Madonna" have been recovered.
I was at the Munch museum in Oslo not two weeks ago. You'd think the police could have worked a little faster! I'm pissed... (tee hee)
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Lofoten Images III
Note the hand of the cloud monster in the background as it attempts to pull itself up and over the mountains.
Technorati Tags: Norway
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
Lofoten
We hear the music of the spheres:
Earth tilts away, and the sun dips
behind the mountains earlier each day,
rises later from the sea.
Gulls fall silent then slip
away in the gathering dark.
Fishermen prepare seines and boats
for the long night-days trailing
fruitful lines in the maelstrom.
Their eyes tell you that soon
the only sunlight they will see
must reflect first off moon and snow.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
On vacation...
Tomorrow, I head out for three weeks in lovely Denmark and Norway, where I will meet up with my good friends Rus, Paula (whom I will be meeting for the first time but who is a dear, dear friend nonetheless), Helm, Carol, hopefully Judy (though we haven't heard from her in a while), and our Norwegian host, Aisha. Every time we get together, it's been a blast, and this time will be no different for sure.
In any case, if I don't manage to blog while overseas, I wish you, my dear readers, a great August. I'll post pictures when I get back.
In any case, if I don't manage to blog while overseas, I wish you, my dear readers, a great August. I'll post pictures when I get back.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Two Years!
Today marks two years of FFTMC. Hard to believe, I know. It's also my nephew's 8th birthday today, whatever that strange little coincidence means.
Anyway, to celebrate (or start you laughing with derision, or simply to drive you away never to return), here is my first post, once again, in all its glory.
Graffiti
Lost in a crowd
I feel the secret thrill
of the middle aged
walking through in the bad
end of town in daylight
"Don't be scared
it's only street art"
scrawled on a wall
bikers and hookers
smiling at me
I'm not scared, oh no
just getting old
so I start a blog
maybe go to a rave tonight
drop some E
(or does "drop" apply only to acid?)
A better and cheaper solution
than buying a Ferrari
maybe buy a can of spraypaint
spray this on a wall
maybe need some editing though
I know I won't anyway
nor drop the E
but starting a blog
harmless fun, no?
Anyway, to celebrate (or start you laughing with derision, or simply to drive you away never to return), here is my first post, once again, in all its glory.
Graffiti
Lost in a crowd
I feel the secret thrill
of the middle aged
walking through in the bad
end of town in daylight
"Don't be scared
it's only street art"
scrawled on a wall
bikers and hookers
smiling at me
I'm not scared, oh no
just getting old
so I start a blog
maybe go to a rave tonight
drop some E
(or does "drop" apply only to acid?)
A better and cheaper solution
than buying a Ferrari
maybe buy a can of spraypaint
spray this on a wall
maybe need some editing though
I know I won't anyway
nor drop the E
but starting a blog
harmless fun, no?
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Poetry, Anniversaries
Friday, July 21, 2006
Robin Robertson
Thanks to my good friend Carol and the Canadian poetry journal Arc, I recently discovered Scottish poet Robin Robertson. Arc is running a series of "introductions" as part of a Scottish-Canadian poetry exchange, and Robertson is the July feature. This is a fine, well-written introduction to his work, but Carol, who is an extraordinarily insightful reader of poetry, has also contributed a fine post on Robertson on her blog.
The Arc article mention's Robertson's poem "Wedding the Locksmith's Daughter", which is a wonderfully musical, dark and erotic love poem. But I guess to describe it as a mere "love poem" is to do it an injustice (even though I have always felt that love, viewed by so many as an inappropriate topic for the modern poet, is still the purest motivation for poetry I can think of), since the poem works on so many levels: the physicality of erotic love; the perfect, complementary mesh of two minds ("Sunk home, the true key slots into its matrix"); the ecstasy of text and music finding their perfect matches ("the the way the sung note snibs on meaning/ and holds"); how the lines of a poem can fit together with such ease to produce such a rich picture (Dactyls, iambics —/ the clinch of words — the hidden couplings/ in the cased machine").
I need to get ahold of Robertson's books and study them. Here is a poet who, in the few poems that I have read, speaks to me in a way that I have only experienced with writers like Robert Frost, Elisabeth Bishop and Jane Kenyon.
Thanks Carol!
The Arc article mention's Robertson's poem "Wedding the Locksmith's Daughter", which is a wonderfully musical, dark and erotic love poem. But I guess to describe it as a mere "love poem" is to do it an injustice (even though I have always felt that love, viewed by so many as an inappropriate topic for the modern poet, is still the purest motivation for poetry I can think of), since the poem works on so many levels: the physicality of erotic love; the perfect, complementary mesh of two minds ("Sunk home, the true key slots into its matrix"); the ecstasy of text and music finding their perfect matches ("the the way the sung note snibs on meaning/ and holds"); how the lines of a poem can fit together with such ease to produce such a rich picture (Dactyls, iambics —/ the clinch of words — the hidden couplings/ in the cased machine").
I need to get ahold of Robertson's books and study them. Here is a poet who, in the few poems that I have read, speaks to me in a way that I have only experienced with writers like Robert Frost, Elisabeth Bishop and Jane Kenyon.
Thanks Carol!
Technorati Tags: Poetry, Poetry Journals, Robin Roberston, Scottish Poetry
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Canoe Quest
People who know me know I'm a canoe nut. So when a friend of mine pointed me to this very cool site--Jay's Great Canadian Canoe Quest--I knew I had to blog it. This guy is paddling solo through Canada's vast Boreal forest along one of the old voyageur routes to raise money for CPAWS, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
The guy is courageous and strong, and he seems to know what he's doing. He built the canoe himself, and it's gorgeous!. He's already travelled well over 2000 km, but still has a ways to go before he reaches the Arctic Ocean. At this point, I think the last part of his trip is going to be cool (as in brrrrrr.).
Jay is keeping a journal, which has an RSS feed (here). I know I'll be following this with interest. It has been a long-time dream of mine to travel Canada's north. This summer, I'll get to at least travel north of the Arctic Circle for the first time, albeit in Norway, but one day, I really want to see some the vast wilderness that is northern Canada.
The guy is courageous and strong, and he seems to know what he's doing. He built the canoe himself, and it's gorgeous!. He's already travelled well over 2000 km, but still has a ways to go before he reaches the Arctic Ocean. At this point, I think the last part of his trip is going to be cool (as in brrrrrr.).
Jay is keeping a journal, which has an RSS feed (here). I know I'll be following this with interest. It has been a long-time dream of mine to travel Canada's north. This summer, I'll get to at least travel north of the Arctic Circle for the first time, albeit in Norway, but one day, I really want to see some the vast wilderness that is northern Canada.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Interesting lecture by Katherine Barber
Katherine Barber, editor of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and often referred to as Canada's word lady, recently gave a half-hour lecture entitled Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to Do with Pigs for the TV Ontario series Big Ideas, a TV program dedicated to the art of the lecture. Fortunately, for those of us, me included, who do not live in Ontario, the program also offers the audio portion of its broadcasts as a podcast. Barber's lecture--the title of which is also the title of her new book--is a brief but fascinating trip through the history of the English language. She's funny in a geeky sort of way, and she provides some really interesting examples of how and why English is such a strange and wonderful language. You can download the audio file (about 13 MB) here. I highly recommend it.
I also recommend the Big Ideas podcast itself (subscribe in iTunes here or get the XML feed here). The program has featured a wide range of speakers (including such notables as Steven Pinker and Bill Clinton) on a variety of topics. It's almost always a worthwhile listen.
I also recommend the Big Ideas podcast itself (subscribe in iTunes here or get the XML feed here). The program has featured a wide range of speakers (including such notables as Steven Pinker and Bill Clinton) on a variety of topics. It's almost always a worthwhile listen.
Technorati Tags: Podcast Review, Podcasting, English
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
A couple of poetry sites well worth a visit.
The first is the Poem of the Week site of Canada's poet laureate (the position currently being filled by Pauline Michel). A wealth of fine Canadian poetry here for the reading. My only grip is that it doesn't seem to have an RSS feed. I sent a comment about that to the contact e-mail address. We'll see where that leads.
The second is the very cool Quickmuse site. Sure, it's poetry's answer to speed dating, think of that what you may. And though I suppose the process can be manipulated somewhat, it is undeniably cool to watch a poem come into being one second at a time.
The second is the very cool Quickmuse site. Sure, it's poetry's answer to speed dating, think of that what you may. And though I suppose the process can be manipulated somewhat, it is undeniably cool to watch a poem come into being one second at a time.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
The end of an era
I go away for a few days fishing and stuff HAPPENS! Our cute little chick with a mohawk has turned into a bonafide gangly teenager. I knew they grew fast, but this is ridiculous.
I took this picture this morning, and by this afternoon, S. and I had become a couple of empty-nesters. Either the little guy fell out of the nest to his doom or he fledged successfully (I'm hoping the latter, of course) and is now trailing after his parents begging for food and possibly the keys to the car.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Gone fishing...
According to recent CBC story, Quebec's mosquito population is currently three times it's normal size and exceedingly hungry because of our cool spring thus far.
This unfortunate situation coincides with my annual spring fishing trip, which starts tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
I write this to inform you that I won't be blogging for the next few days. If you don't hear anything for a week, you might possibly assume that I ended up as the main course of a black fly feast, but I hope to return triumphantly with a cooler full of trout. Last year will be hard to beat, when I caught a 5.5 lb speckled (I swear it's not photoshopped ;-)
In the meantime, I give you a recent poem, composed in happier times (i.e., before the black fly and mosquito larvae hatched).
Winter Wren
Perhaps jealous of the sound—a rivulet trickling
down to wash stones and fallen branches—
the winter wren sings its spring digs,
a tangled rising-and-falling in the brush.
I stop and listen, feeling every moment
the trill must soon stop—surely this
small brown creature cannot go on so,
drowning out the stream; it must be all lungs.
It does end, of course, and the sublime eternal
duet of water and earth emerges in the ensuing
quiet, seeming to pick up where the bird trails off,
dipping up and down over moss and twig.
The wren again inhales damp May air;
it cannot sing forever, though it will die trying.
This unfortunate situation coincides with my annual spring fishing trip, which starts tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
I write this to inform you that I won't be blogging for the next few days. If you don't hear anything for a week, you might possibly assume that I ended up as the main course of a black fly feast, but I hope to return triumphantly with a cooler full of trout. Last year will be hard to beat, when I caught a 5.5 lb speckled (I swear it's not photoshopped ;-)
In the meantime, I give you a recent poem, composed in happier times (i.e., before the black fly and mosquito larvae hatched).
Winter Wren
Perhaps jealous of the sound—a rivulet trickling
down to wash stones and fallen branches—
the winter wren sings its spring digs,
a tangled rising-and-falling in the brush.
I stop and listen, feeling every moment
the trill must soon stop—surely this
small brown creature cannot go on so,
drowning out the stream; it must be all lungs.
It does end, of course, and the sublime eternal
duet of water and earth emerges in the ensuing
quiet, seeming to pick up where the bird trails off,
dipping up and down over moss and twig.
The wren again inhales damp May air;
it cannot sing forever, though it will die trying.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Fratricide?
A couple of days ago, I peeked into the nest and was saddened to see only one chick left, plus the unhatched egg (which was finally booted out today on to our patio). The surviving chick's two siblings either died of the heat (we had some unusually warm weather for May), starved to death, or the biggest chick pushed the others out of the nest. In any case, yesterday I looked in the grass below the nest and sure enough found the two dead chicks, only slightly putrified (thank god!).
And then there was one... This little guy seems pretty vigorous though and is growing fast. So far, these tenants aren't as messy as I thought they would be, owing to the parent's disgusting habit of... well, if you saw the video, you know what I'm talking about. But hey, if it keeps the deck clean, who am I to complain?
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Sidewalk translation
In the comments to my previous post, meb kindly gave me permission to translate her ephemeral cinémotscope #3. We had some serious rain yesterday, so this piece is undoubtedly nothing more than random bits of chalk floating through the Montreal sewer system right now. Ironic how much crap gets published these days, but this little gem ends up--literally!--in the gutter.
As is usually the case, it sounds better (flip-flops and all) in its original version. If you haven't yet done so, I highly recommend watching the video, since that's all that's left (sniff).
DRAWING YOUR VOICE
--by meb
Write around the holes
Between the lines of others
While out for a walk
See in the letters
Proof of one’s
own fingers
A drawing of things
Undrawable
As is usually the case, it sounds better (flip-flops and all) in its original version. If you haven't yet done so, I highly recommend watching the video, since that's all that's left (sniff).
DRAWING YOUR VOICE
--by meb
Write around the holes
Between the lines of others
While out for a walk
See in the letters
Proof of one’s
own fingers
A drawing of things
Undrawable
Technorati Tags: Poetry, Poésie, Translation, Montreal
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sidewalk poetry
Over at the blog of fellow Montreal poet MEB is the latest in her installment of Cinémotscopes. It's in French and I wouldn't presume to translate it without her permission (if you read this, MEB, let me know if I can, or point me to your own translation for my pretty much unilingual anglophone readership). But even if you don't read French, the sound of her flip-flops as she pans over the poem is very cool and worth a look in and of itself.
Monday, May 29, 2006
The landlords are perverts...
...spying on their tenants, even taking videos of their most intimate moments, such as when they eat the excrement of their children (toward the end of the video). Hey, who said nature is pretty. Hope you didn't just eat. You've been warned
Lodgers... the saga continues
So three of the four eggs hatched last Wednesday and this is what they looked like. Basically little balls of fluff. But it's amazing how fast these little creatures grow. Almost literally before your eyes. The parents are not very happy with their landlords, I suspect, as we are very nosy and noisy, especially with the warm weather of late. But if you sit quietly on the deck and don't move too much, they will eventually come and feed the young.
As you can see (pic 2), now that the little buggers have grown a bit, they've taken to sporting Mohawks, as the young folk are wont to do. I wonder if the parents don't think it's a little early for such experimentation. Likely they're just relieved they haven't gone in for tattoos and nose rings.
As I mentioned, the parents are not to happy with us and are not above giving us the evil eye (pic 3). Our revenge is to hang our laundry on the line. It's pretty funny to see them trying to keep their balance on the clothesline as we move it out.
Technorati Tags: Flicker
Thursday, May 25, 2006
A few poetry links...
I was away last weekend and so was not around to read the article on Internet poetry by Frank Wilson of the Philadelphia Inquirer when it came to press. As Rus Bowden has mentioned on several occasions, Frank is a great friend of on-line poetry, and his blog, Books, Inq. is a good read for bookworms and has recently become an on-line poetry clearinghouse as well.
People who know me, know I'm a big fan of podcasting, so I thought I'd point to a few recent podcasts I have taken in that have dealt with poetry. (BTW, contrary to popular belief, you don't need an iPod--or even an mp3 player for that matter--to listen to a podcast. You can just download the file to your computer and listen to it there if you so desire.)
The excellent CBC program Ideas now has a podcast: The Best of Ideas Podcast. The most recent program features three short interviews with poets Billy Collins, Bruce Meyer and Sheldon Zitner on the uses, the sound, and the meaning of poetry. Worth a listen, especially for the Collins and Zitner interviews. (Download the mp3 file here; subscribe to the RSS feed here; subscribe in iTunes here.)
The Bionic Genius Roundtable. I don't listen to this podcast regularly, but they did an amusing interview with Billy Collins last month (it was BC's first ever appearance on a podcast). (Download the mp3 file here; subscribe to the RSS feed here; subscribe in iTunes here.)
Let me know what you think of these, and if you know of any others, I'd love to hear about them.
People who know me, know I'm a big fan of podcasting, so I thought I'd point to a few recent podcasts I have taken in that have dealt with poetry. (BTW, contrary to popular belief, you don't need an iPod--or even an mp3 player for that matter--to listen to a podcast. You can just download the file to your computer and listen to it there if you so desire.)
The excellent CBC program Ideas now has a podcast: The Best of Ideas Podcast. The most recent program features three short interviews with poets Billy Collins, Bruce Meyer and Sheldon Zitner on the uses, the sound, and the meaning of poetry. Worth a listen, especially for the Collins and Zitner interviews. (Download the mp3 file here; subscribe to the RSS feed here; subscribe in iTunes here.)
The Bionic Genius Roundtable. I don't listen to this podcast regularly, but they did an amusing interview with Billy Collins last month (it was BC's first ever appearance on a podcast). (Download the mp3 file here; subscribe to the RSS feed here; subscribe in iTunes here.)
Let me know what you think of these, and if you know of any others, I'd love to hear about them.
Technorati Tags: CBC, Podcasting, Poetry
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The poetry of hockey
OK, the title is just to legitimize my posting this in my artsy blog, but since nobody is reading my brilliant piece over on Newsvine, I thought I'd post it here too.
Just so you know what you're getting into when you click (and you will click, won't you?), it's a piece on the real reason fans of the Edmonton Oilers (a hockey team for the uninitiated) are so happy their team is doing well in the playoffs.
Just so you know what you're getting into when you click (and you will click, won't you?), it's a piece on the real reason fans of the Edmonton Oilers (a hockey team for the uninitiated) are so happy their team is doing well in the playoffs.
Technorati Tags: Hockey, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, NHL, Stanley Cup
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