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.

The Mystery Machine

Melissa and I in Morris, PA standing in front of the Mystery Machine trying to figure out where Scooby is!

Williamsport Iz My City

When I decided I was moving to Williamsport, PA, I knew nothing about the city.  Absolutely nothing.  Thanks to a quick search on Youtube, I discovered Mist@cuff. Here's the video:  Williamsport Iz My City-Music Video.  Since the moment I saw this video, I was hooked and Mist@Cuff became my virtual tour guide of Williamsport. 

I have transcribed the lyrics to the song to the best of my ability.  I might be off on a few things.  give it a listen yourself to figure it out.

Here are the lyrics:

WILLIAMSPORT IZ MY CITY

Verse 1-

Welcome to my city, light on lights out.
Work in the daytime chill when the lights out.
No it don't sound right, I've been around right?
We can go to Skatin' Plus, rollin' on the city bus.
Staying out real late, real hard gettin up.
Split like a lumberjack, Sharp when I Crosscut.
Find me at a ballgame, highway, the left lane.
Float like a butterfly, wreck like a hurricane.
Room at Genetti, ready for the little league.
Representing Billtown, cold weather killing me.
No, not literally, I'm just playing around.
Bing's with my Valentine, heart-shaped, laying down.
Mr. Sandman, nope I don't play around.
Pennvale to Newberry in the middle ground town.
Sometimes you can find me on the ball court
or rollin past the Cellblock screaming Will...

Chorus-
Williamsport Iz My City,

Verse 2-

Memorial to Brandon, let's go to the park.
We can catch a bike race, maybe even Go-Karts.
Candy Cane Lane, Denny's or the Walmart,
Dinner at the Bullfrog then it's to the Good Bar.
I thank God, Church goin' Antioch,
Summertime block party, it's gettin really hot.
Two boys, that used to be the spot.
Parked at the lookout, a car with an open top.
And it don't stop, fly like a juggernaut.
Williamsport Millionaire, Lancers up in Loyalsock.
From the south side, east end and back again.
Breakfast at Michael Ross, Lunch up at Timberland.
Yes you can come again.
Next time bring some gas money and a couple friends.
I'm in a black suit, black tie.
I can from the streets, praise God, I'm a new guy.

Chorus:

Williamsport iz my city.




There you have it.  It's close at least. 

My current favorite part:

"Room at Genetti, ready for the little league.
Representing Billtown, cold weather killing me.
No, not literally, I'm just playing around.
Bing's with my Valentine, heart-shaped, laying down.
Mr. Sandman, nope I don't play around. "

Does he play around or not? Will we ever know???

Check out this article in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette for more info on Mist@cuff:
Artice on Mist@Cuff

The Mayor's Silence

This is my cat, Snacks.  For whatever reason, The Mayor of Williamsport, PA, Gabriel J. Campana (see the photo below) has not yet taken a stance on the Snacks issue.  Does the mayor like my cat? I've lived here for over a month now, you would think that the mayor would at least publicly state that he is considering the issue.  the Little League World Series has come and gone, this is not an election year and Campana has already conjured up, seemingly out of thin air, a Kohls in downtown Williamsport (see the Mayor's Wikipedia page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Campana)
So there is no real excuse for this blatant evasion on the Snacks issue.

If the mayor's behavior persists I will have no choice but to march down to City Hall with a megaphone and some clever signs to make my voice heard.

Please join me in my plea:  Williamsport Mayor Gabriel J. Campana- What do you think of my cat Snacks?

The people demand answers.

Meeting Boomer

Mike Collins came to visit over the weekend and we went to a Crosscutters game.  We met the the Crosscutters Mascot, "The Great Boomer" during the 6th inning.  It was one of the highlights of my summer!

Shotgun Shell

Here's a photo of a shotgun shell I found in Centralia, PA.  I am actually surprised we didn't see more considering that we heard a number of gun shots, as well as a mysterious train whistle that we could not locate the origin of.  I assure you the mattress was already spray-painted by the time we arrived.

Centralia, PA

Made it out to Centralia, PA yesterday.  Found this spray-painted couch amongst the trash that people have dumped in this ghost town.

Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon

A few photos from our trip to Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon out near Wellsboro, PA .
8/31/13

It was a perfect, beautiful day.  We even saw two baby bear cubs crossing the dirt road about fifty feet ahead of us.