Monthly Archives: July 2006

Rachel Loden on Poetry Daily

If you go quickly, you can read a great little poem by Rachel Loden on the Poetry Daily site: “What the Gravedigger Needs” Hotel Imperium is a favorite of mine…

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Reading Proust – 1

A week or so ago I signed up as a member of a small group of bloggers reading Proust. Since then I have been making my very slow way through Swann’s Way (yep, the $8.95 cheap-ass bastard edition– after spot-comparing … Continue reading

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Rainbows End (Vernor Vinge)

This is how much I like Vernor Vinge’s writing: I purchased Rainbows End (there really is no apostrophe in the title) the first time I saw it, in hardback at full cover price, without looking at the price, the blurbs, … Continue reading

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Ernest and Bertram

Presenting Ernest and Bertram. As seen at Sundance and banned by the good folks at the Creative Television workshop. Love the soundtrack…

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Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)

I was excited to discover that– serendipitously– an online book discussion group was going to be discussing Catcher in the Rye just as I was finishing my re-reading. Unfortunately, the second thread in the conversation revolved around whether or not … Continue reading

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RIP: Syd Barrett

On a distant shore, miles from land stands the ebony totem in ebony sand a dream in a mist of gray… on a far distant shore… The pebble that stood alone and driftwood lies half buried warm shallow waters sweep … Continue reading

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Jill Greenberg Photography

Apparently there is some controversy over how Jill Greenberg provokes the small children to cry… I just think the photos are fantastic. Particularly when paired with her monkey portraits!

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Why Dana Stevens Shouldn’t Try to Be Anthony Lane

http://www.slate.com/id/2145157/

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Finishing Salinger; Bingeing on Vinge

Finished Catcher in the Rye. It’s always a pleasure to go back to a book that I loved– and remember so well– from my adolescence. It was a lot like meeting an old friend, one of the ones who could … Continue reading

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Buttonhole Books

Bookslut reports that NPR is asking authors about their buttonhole books, “the ones you urge passionately on friends, colleagues and passersby.” I have a small menagerie of books that fit this cateogry, the ones I have bought– some many times– … Continue reading

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For Gabby

Sometimes there is no direct comfort. The coffee is black sand in my mouth. My blankets are sandpaper. I can’t curl far enough to disappear. I sit and wait but it refuses to rain. These times it’s better to give … Continue reading

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Freedomland

Julianne Moore plays Brenda, who walks through a low-income housing development in a daze, her hands badly cut and bleeding, to the hospital. She’s almost incoherent, possibly stoned, but she tells Detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel L. Jackson) that she was … Continue reading

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Public Access Bully Corner

What’s next for William H. Macy? Besides bleeding… William H. Macy interviewed on a new show from The Simpsons…

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Caught up in Catcher

Re-reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time in a couple of decades. What a splendid book. Like many youngsters, I used to identify with Holden. Now I recognize the strange blend of a character that is at once … Continue reading

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The Myth of Declining Poetry Publication

From 1993-2004, the number of books in the poetry/drama category of US trade publications grew almost four times over. I have no numbers, but I imagine that small press and online publications grew at least 100x. The decline of mainstream … Continue reading

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Fiskadoro (Denis Johnson)

Fiskadoro, Denis Johnson’s second novel, is a post-apocalyptic fever dream set in the Florida Keys, where a large group of people have survived thanks to two missiles that fell to earth as duds. Only the Cuban government– known solely as … Continue reading

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Ange Mlinko on A Prairie Home Companion

Mlinko asks: Why does this feel like some sort of joke at the expense of poets, from beginning to end? Or am I reading too much into another meaningless non sequitur of a role for interchangeable starlets? I answer, in … Continue reading

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MeFi Music Returns

Matt Howie has resurrected Music Metafilter, featuring uploads from (and mostly by) members. For example, here’s a nice little Beatles-ish tune… and a completely different, dreamy, slow piece that left me wanting to hear some more.

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