Thursday, August 30, 2007

Scenes from the City

From Albany we drove to Greenwich, CT and took the train into Grand Central Station. One of the stops along the way.


Mannequin 3: Dexter in the City


I followed the blond back to our hotel.

Snapshot from the cab ride back to Grand Central. We took the subway bags and all to the hotel for 4 bucks and then realized the cab fare was only $6.50 plus tip.

S. took this picture across the street from the station shortly before catching the train and collecting the rental car and heading to Doolittle's house in Mass.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

"...coming home, via Chicago..."

The eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. The pictures of the Chicago skyline did not come out that well due to haziness.


Our hotel in New York after a late dinner and several drinks and an inability to hold the camera still.



We made it back yesterday after a whirlwind tour through NYC, Mass. and Conn. I don't recommend the pace but it was fun even if we had to jettison some of our planned stops. It was great to see at least some of the big city and spend time with family and friends. Details to follow... eventually.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

"East bound and down..."


Tomorrow I am off to Albany and when work is done S. is joining me and we are heading to NYC and points east to visit friends and family. In the meantime enjoy this fun poem. (At first read I can see Keats, Coleridge, Blake, Dickinson, and Tennyson. The other allusions escape me for now.)

The Road to Help

A thong of beauty is a joy forever.
The panty’s over: it’s time to call it a lay.
The shadow of the come of pleasure
and naked singles of the world
are here, under the bush, with her hair.
For Hamlet and Lear are queer.

Myself am help. Shall I part my bare behind?
God bless the grind! I shall walk softly there.
The paths of Laurie lead but to the grove
Of coral babes and amber studs
with black belts in the marital arts.
Of his boners are coral made.

“Dope” is the thing with feathers.
The love of monkey is the root of all evil.
Was she a virgin or a waking dream?
“Deaf,” was all he answered.
‘Tis better to seek, to find, and now to yield
than never to have lust at all.


David Lehman
Poetry
July/August 2007

Friday, August 10, 2007

In the absence of cowbells, more cat pictures.

Iggy is a little broader in the beam than Hopper but he is working on it.



He is also a tad more aloof.




Hopper is now using this as a pillow instead of a cat toy by pulling the strands of yarn out with his teeth.


I am off to Lansing on Sunday and will post if given the chance. Caught up on some movies recently. Really enjoyed Peter O' Toole in Venus but I thought The Good German wasn't ummm....good and The Simpsons Movie was not too disappointing. Have a resplendent weekend.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Athens, GA

Uga- Statues of the University of Georgia mascot where scattered around town like the Herky On Parade statues in Iowa City or the Cows on Parade in Chicago.

The primary reason I was visiting Athens. The project was winding down so I took the opportunity to visit the legendary 40 Watt Club and was fortunate that Jason Isbell of Drive By Truckers was in town to promote his first solo album since leaving the band.


Jason Isbell (above) was excellent as was the opener Justin Townes Earle, (Steve's boy). I thought it was a bit ironic as Justin reminded me of Hank Williams and Hank Williams III sort of reminds me of Steve Earle.



I need to get a new home computer. That is my excuse for taking a month to put pictures up and infrequently posting. I have read some good things of late after the Harry Potter, William Boyd's Restless, which I enjoyed although not as much as his Any Human Heart. I also found an early Alan Furst historical intrigue novel at the library book end store, Night Soldiers which follows a Bulgarian youth around Europe from 1934-1945 from his homeland to the Soviet Union,Spain, France etc...wonderful historical settings, characters transformed from mundane to extraordinary by circumstances, conflicting alliance and betrayals of spies and friends, The Resistance, all in all very solid writing. I love Furst because he expands the conflict beyond Britain, France and Germany to all of Europe before America enters the stage. He also tends to focus on characters who are usually overlooked.

One of Furst's stated background resources is Isherwood's Berlin Stories which I have had on shelf for a couple of years and finally am reading it to continue the theme. One of the two novels in the collection was made into the film Cabaret. If I continue my ambitions I may eventually read the Robert Musil novel of the period that is collecting dust on the shelf, The Man Without Qualities.

Some music to check out.

Jason Isbell-"Brand New Kind of Actress" - The first track from his Sirens of the Ditch album.

Drive By Truckers- "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan cover from the bonus ep that came with their Blessing and a Curse record.

The Drive By Truckers will be at the Englert in Iowa City on October 18th as part of their Dirt Underneath tour which according to the band's web site is going to be "...mostly acoustic and somewhat stripped down mode for an evening of stories and songs." Tickets are on sale now. Some cool posters from some of the cities on the tour on the site too.