Meadowlark Lemons.

Pyramids of Giza (c. 1920) - Autochromes taken by Gervais...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:44:19 -0700

Pyramids of Giza (c. 1920) - Autochromes taken by Gervais Courtellemont and W. Robert Moore for National Geographic.

Video

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:28:05 -0700

Photo

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 15:19:27 -0700

Keith Jarrett - “Entrance” (from Dark Intervals)

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:23:38 -0700

Keith Jarrett - “Entrance” (from Dark Intervals)

Why I Hate the Huffington Post (Part 3)

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:29:00 -0700

Previously: Why I Hate the Huffington Post (Part 1)

Why I Hate the Huffington Post (Part 2)

Portrait of Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor of India (1658-1707)

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:05:44 -0700

Portrait of Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor of India (1658-1707)

“All advertising ages into sinister indictments of our culture.” -Guy Davenport...

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 11:10:38 -0700

“All advertising ages into sinister indictments of our culture.”

-Guy Davenport (“Civilization and its Opposite in the 1940s,” from The Hunter Gracchus: And Other Papers on Literature and Art)

John Harbison - Scene II: Circe (from Ulysses) “Within...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:44:59 -0700

John Harbison - Scene II: Circe (from Ulysses)

“Within the forest glades they found the house of Circe, built of polished stone in a place of wide outlook, and round about it were mountain wolves and lions, whom Circe herself had bewitched; for she gave them evil drugs. Yet these beasts did not rush upon my men, but pranced about them fawningly, wagging their long tails. And as when hounds fawn around their master as he comes from a feast, for he ever brings them bits to soothe their temper, so about them fawned the stout-clawed wolves and lions; but they were seized with fear, as they saw the dread monsters. So they stood in the gateway of the fair-tressed goddess, and within they heard Circe singing with sweet voice, as she went to and fro before a great imperishable web, such as is the handiwork of goddesses, finely-woven and beautiful, and glorious.”

-Homer (The Odyssey Book 10: 210-224, trans. A.T. Murray)

Pavel Tchelitchew - Cache Cache [Hide and Seek] (1940-42) We ...

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:32:00 -0700

Pavel Tchelitchew - Cache Cache [Hide and Seek] (1940-42)

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.

-T.S. Eliot (“Little Gidding,” from The Four Quartets)

Penelope loves philsophy. Our favorite is Plotinus.

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:05:00 -0700

Penelope loves philsophy. Our favorite is Plotinus.

Weather Report - “Tears” (from Weather Report)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:01:54 -0700

Weather Report - “Tears” (from Weather Report)

Photo

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:12:18 -0700

The Kiss of Death

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:02:00 -0700

Chekhov told me once, “You know, I recently visited Tolstoy in Gaspra. He was bedridden due to illness. Among other things, he spoke about me and my works. Finally, when I was about to say goodbye he took my hand and said, ‘Kiss me goodbye.’ While I bent over him and he was kissing me, he whispered in my ear in a still energetic, old man’s voice, ‘You know, I hate your plays. Shakespeare was a bad writer, and I consider your plays even worse than his.’”

-Peter Gnedich, “Memories,” from The Book of Life (1922)

(quoted in Memories of Chekhov, ed. Sekirin)

An Ancient Arrowhead

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:03:42 -0700



Lacquer flakes, bone-dust and water
	made this vermilion color;
And fearful, ancient stains
	bloomed on this bronze arrowhead.
Its white feathers and gold rings
	have now gone with the rain,
Leaving only this angular wolf's tooth.

Riding the plain with a pair of horses,
I found it, east of the courier station,
	among the weeds.
The long wind shortened the day,
	while a few stars shivered,
And damp clouds like black banners
	were hoisted in the night.

Thin demons and ghosts sang
	to the left and the right.
I offered them pressed mutton and cream,
And crickets were silent, wild geese ill and reeds turned red.
The spirit of the whirlwind spat emerald fire
	to bid me farewell.

I stowed it away with my tears.
Its point, crimson and crooked,
	once bit into flesh.
In various districts, young riders ask me
Why I don't sell it to buy firewood.

-Li He (790-816 AD) [trans. A.C. Graham]

The High Llamas - “Barny Mix” (from Beet Maize...

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:26:05 -0700

The High Llamas - “Barny Mix” (from Beet Maize & Corn)

George Steiner: Beauty & Consolation

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:20:44 -0700

Previously: Ligeti (A Portrait)

The Surface of Past Time

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:02:00 -0700

 

(M.C. Escher: "Three Worlds," 1955)

  As one who hangs down-bending from the side
  Of a slow-moving boat, upon the breast
  Of a still water, solacing himself
  With such discoveries as his eye can make
  Beneath him in the bottom of the deep,                     260
  Sees many beauteous sights--weeds, fishes, flowers,
  Grots, pebbles, roots of trees, and fancies more,
  Yet often is perplexed, and cannot part
  The shadow from the substance, rocks and sky,
  Mountains and clouds, reflected in the depth
  Of the clear flood, from things which there abide
  In their true dwelling; now is crossed by gleam
  Of his own image, by a sunbeam now,
  And wavering motions sent he knows not whence,
  Impediments that make his task more sweet;                 270
  Such pleasant office have we long pursued
  Incumbent o'er the surface of past time [...]

-William Wordsworth (from The Prelude, Book IV)

Van Morrison - “Steppin’ Out Queen” (from...

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:31:00 -0700

Van Morrison - “Steppin’ Out Queen” (from Into the Music)

The Body Is the Cause of Love

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:02:20 -0700

The body is the cause of love;

after that, the fortress that protects it;

after that, love’s prison.

But when the body dies, love is set free

in wild abundance,

like a slot machine that breaks down

and with a furious ringing pours out all at once

all the coins of

all the generations of luck.

-Yehuda Amichai (trans. Chana Bloch)

Photo

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:21:44 -0700