Noises of Nature in the age of Briggs & Stratton--

"In the decades Krause has been recording biophony — he has compiled a library of more than 3,500 hours of pristine natural sound, which he thinks is the world’s largest private collection — nearly a third of the ecosystems he has captured have become aurally “extinct” because of habitat loss or the presence of noise-making machines. In this country, animals are continually forced to compete for bandwidth not only with one another but also with snowmobiles, off-road vehicles, Jet Skis and other loud motorized “toys”..."

really enjoying (as was, yesterday, cat Blinky, ears observing the R.I.A.A. curve)) the incredibly lush and dramatic first piano concerto of Franx Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924). There are apparently about 40 CD's in this series. Frank O'Hara, thou shouldst be living at this hour!

Ladysmith trees

Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary trees

Memorex for the Krakens: The Fall's Pulp Modernism

"The Fall extend and performatively critique that mode of high modernism by reversing the impersonation of working class accent, dialect and diction that, for example, Eliot performed in The Waste Land. Smith’s strategy involved aggressively retaining accent while using - in the domain of a supposedly popular entertainment form - highly arcane literary practices. In doing so, he laid waste the notion that intelligence, literary sophistication and artistic experimentalism are the exclusive preserve of the privileged and the formally educated. But Smith knew that aping master class morés presented all sorts of other dangers; it should never be a matter of proving (to the masters) that the white crap could be civilized. Perhaps all his writing was, from the start, an attempt to find a way out of that paradox which all working class aspirants face - the impossiblility of working class achievement..."

indulge your "ostalgia" with these GDR Souvenirs

"Generally speaking, these things are not valuables; the value they possess lies in their symbolic character. In the main, the materials from which they are made, and the subject matter expressed, reflect the national folklore and craft tradition of the country of origin. Presents from other Communist-ruled countries tend often to be of an unsubtle revolutionary nature, and may carry slogans in favour of peace and friendship, solidarity, or the triumph of socialism..."

The Simpsons Movie Trailer

Downtown trees

Nanaimo trees

great glimpse of Gilbert and George on the verge of a big retrospective--

"They expect Tate Modern to be equally swamped: people are mad for art just now - although, personally, he and Gilbert disdain gallery going.

Gilbert: 'We don't look at other artists.'

George: 'We don't socialise with other artists.'

Gilbert: 'We haven't been to a gallery in 30 years.'

George: 'We don't belong to the gallery-going class, you see.'

So they didn't see Velasquez at the National Gallery? George yelps, as if stung. 'Never! Why would I want to join a long line of middle-class twits? We want to see the world as it is, naked. We left the house the other day at 6.25am, and there in the street was a dead, flattened rat, and a crow feasting from it. That's an amazing image, isn't it? I shall remember it forever.' At the memory of this ravenous crow and its macabre breakfast, the pair of them sip their Nescafe contemplatively..."

new poems from Weldon (above) at Value Village Is Booby-Trapped!!

I'm giving a reading next month, here's the official announcement--

"OPEN TEXT READING SERIES #1
Sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts
& The Creative Writing Program at Capilano College

The Spring 2007 OPEN TEXT series at Capilano College begins on March 1st 2007 with a reading by Nanaimo poet Peter Culley, who will be reading from his new work, "The Age of Briggs & Stratton."

12:30
Cedar 136
Capilano College
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver

Peter Culley, poet and art critic, has published Twenty-one (Oolican 1980), Fruit Dots (Tsunami 1985), Natural History (Fissure 1986) The Climax Forest (Leech, 1995) and Hammertown (New Star, 2003). The untitled second installment of Hammertown is due from New Star in the fall of '08. His writing on artists such as Stan Douglas, Roy Arden, Kelly Wood and Geoffrey Farmer has appeared in numerous catalogues and journals. Culley resides in South Wellington, near Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, BC.


L'Orphee

So much of L' Orphee
plays in the grim middle-aged way
poor Spicer never lived to see
that its like I know better;
ie Jean Marais is how we're
supposed to look on the inside
& those hoopleheads at the Cafe
rioting over Johnny Ray
as Mrs. Mills tinkles at 78
& the Hugo Boss bike cops drop their mitts--
what Martian could have predicted an Elvis
emerging from their thin Hugenot gruel?
Why do the youngsters blame me?
Don't their radios get the CBC?

-- from "The Age of Briggs & Stratton"


For info:
Roger Farr
rfarr@capcollege.bc.ca
604.986.1911 (2554)

http://capilanocreativewriting.blogspot.com


[Coming soon: Marie Annharte Baker, March 7th; Dorothy Trujillo Lusk, March 15th]"





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via metafilter this google video of brilliant lexicographer/editor/writer/dressmaker Erin McKean telling us ten things we need to know about dictionaries...

long trailer for a new film about singer/songwriter Scott Walker

Gung hei fat choi!