In a New Place

 In a New Place

Snailing our way through 
the ashtray with a chip 
on our shoulder: I have 
to shout over the shrill
and the cat nearly collapses.  

Enormous, useless trucks
burn by outside in the false
alarm summer and teetering 
autumn night; and day: open
morning windows, shuffle books
and mugs of pens around. Plato

hits the floor with a bright bruise
on his cheek. Up the volume, shut
the stove, drink the newspaper with 
coffee: Multi-Region Breakfast Blend. 
Leg taps its nervous paranoia before work 
in a sterile, obtuse town with severe strangers.

Cup of Gold

John Steinbeck

I'm glad I'm not much of a rum drinker because I've lost my taste for all things Captain Morgan after reading this, Steinbeck's first novel.

How does a human being have their first attempt at writing a novel be this good?

The writing is fantastic, and the portrait of Captain Henry Morgan as a brutal and ruthless pirate is incredibly believable.

I will never again be able to see a bottle of Captain Morgan Rum without thinking of the sacking of Panama(The Cup of Gold) and Morgan's obtuse lust for the beautiful woman known as "La Santa Roja."

Steinbeck so well illuminates this horrific time in the history of the western world that it is hard to take.

It makes me want to drink...whiskey.

Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsport, PA

A view of the countryside from Wildwood Cemetery

A Tombstone in Wildwood Cemetery

Wildwood Cemetery is one of my favorite spots in Williamsport.  I first came across the cemetery out on a meandering walk.  I've since gone back and taken some photos.

The Cemetery has been around since 1863 and is probably the most beautiful cemetery that I've ever been too.

Here's their website: http://www.wildwoodcemeterypa.com/

Civil War Memorial at Wildwood Cemetery

Heart of Darkness

I view this book as a serious critique of imperialism. I will somehow have to find and read Chinua Achebe's famous lecture, "An Image of Africa: "Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'". I do not see this book as racist, rather, (and this may be wishful thinking on my part) I see it as a story with a main character (Marlow) being dragged out of his ignorant stupor and awakened to the horrors of imperialism and the racism it cannot exist without.

As far as the writing goes, Conrad is my man. Intense, unrelenting, and truly dark. One of the darkest books I've ever read. I was thinking of Lord of the Flies and Edgar Allan Poe a lot while reading this.

Ok, I will also admit that it was incredibly difficult to not think Apocalypse Now while reading this, it's such an awesome film, is it not?


The short story that accompanies Heart of Darkness is also incredible. "The Secret Sharer" is a bizarre and eerie story about a sea captain who, one night, encounters a man attempting to climb up the latter of his ship, subsequently discovering that the man is his doppelganger and also a murderer.

Plus they use the word "poop" a lot in the story (another word for the stern deck of a ship.)
Ah.. simple pleasures.

Joseph Conrad

 Here is a link to Chinua Achebe's Lecture: http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html

Here is a link to the Joseph Conrad Society: http://www.josephconradsociety.org/

Scam #9

I found this little zine in a record store in Philadelphia for $3.00. I picked it up because I had a long drive ahead of me and figured it would keep me occupied. I honestly wasn't expecting very much from it because I arrogantly assumed I'd heard this story a thousand times and wouldn't have anything interesting revealed to me (see Get in the Van, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and countless other accounts.) Well, I was pleasantly surprised, this little zine packs in a lot of information and does so in an almost academic way with footnotes and deep analysis of events; info culled from various interviews with band members and other eyewitnesses. Great Stuff, Erik Lyle has done a great service to this pivotal, monumental album.

If you see this zine pick one up!

Ogden Nash

I love my copy of this book: Hardcover, dark red with gold print, missing the dust jacket, published by Little Brown and Company in Boston, in 1940.

Contains an inscription on the title page: "To Evelyn: So that Ogden's use may remind you of my abuse of the language- Steve, 1940."

Nash was a really clever and talented guy, almost all of these poems have at least some lines that will make you smile; some poems are just brilliant.

Crazy rhyme schemes, the occasional made up word. Funny and lots of fun.

Postscript: Ogden Nash was on a U.S. stamp, it was the first stamp to ever contain the word SEX. Awesome!

Ogden Nash

Website to check out for all things Ogden Nash: http://www.ogdennash.org/

Invisible Kitties

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Absolutely incredible. I want to kiss Italo Calvino's brain. Who comes up with an idea like this? Marco Polo and Kublai Khan have a conversation describing imaginary cities while not speaking the same language, thus leaving EVERYTHING up to interpretation. As with everything I've read by Calvino this book is written with a profound beauty, almost magical, it is concise and elegant, nearly perfect.

Most Important part of this review: Reading this has prompted me to write a sequel in which Kublai Khan and Marco Polo discuss Imaginary Cats called, you guessed it, Imaginary Kitties. I am just bursting at the seems with inspiration right now.