tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post6941745555444588836..comments2023-12-04T09:59:55.778-08:00Comments on the glade of theoric ornithic hermetica: Kate and Sarah, Kate and Amelia, Kate and Kate . . .Steven Famahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886207582824520804noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-57298639691852880292009-10-24T19:57:05.237-07:002009-10-24T19:57:05.237-07:00Geez, Kirby, your idea is silly.
Durbin's poe...Geez, Kirby, your idea is silly.<br /><br />Durbin's poem is a set of erotic dreams . . . and it's clear from the poem, plus I said it two or three times, that it's not just about Palin.<br /><br />But that you did get scared or concerned after reading Durbin's poem does says something about how good it is, that I gotta admit. <br /><br />And you do get me thinking about poems that are tirades, hard-ass take-no-prisoner types of things. <br /><br />Off the top of my head, I think of: <br /><br />-- Harry Crosby's <i>Mad Queen</i> (1929), particularly the one in there in which he puts about 150 curses, quite vile ones, on the city of Boston;<br /><br />-- Robert Duncan's "Uprising (Passages 25)" [a most excellent skewering of LBJ, including saying that "his name stinks with burning meat" and mentioning "the very glint of Satan’s eyes . . ."; <br /><br />-- and oh yeah, what do you know, one of your favorite poets, Gregory Corso, who in "I Am 25" shouted "I HATE OLD POETMEN!" and then said he was going to befriend the old guys, get into their homes, then "rip out their tongues."<br /><br />I'll think of others. But it seems to me that Boston, LBJ, and old poetmen have done all right in in spite of the poets' (to use your term) "angry rhetoric." <br /><br />More than that, we all are BETTER, far BETTER, for what those poets have done, and what Durbin does in "23 Erotic Dreams . . . ".Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-51250794142714218242009-10-24T15:22:35.695-07:002009-10-24T15:22:35.695-07:00This kind of angry rhetoric can lead to violence. ...This kind of angry rhetoric can lead to violence. I hope that no one hurts Sarah Palin or her children.Kirby Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05952289700191142943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-31625103798201609472009-10-15T20:00:07.021-07:002009-10-15T20:00:07.021-07:00Dear Admiral,
I mentioned a few reasons in the m...Dear Admiral, <br /><br />I mentioned a few reasons in the main post for why I think "23 Erotic Dreams" is a good poem .<br /><br />If I were to circle a few of the words I wrote, they'd be "transgressive" and "sharply severe" and "take down of Palin and the disturbing stereotyping that surrounded the woman" and "riotous."<br /><br />I do appreciate you stopping in and leaving a comment. I clicked through to your "The Angels Within" blog. You put a lot of thought and work into your posts, and that's impressive. Especially if you are an Admiral at the same time, running a big ship and all. <br /><br />More seriously, I don't agree with some of the things you write on your blog. But I agree with you views that the NEA / government should not directly fund the arts. The late great artist Bruce Conner published a compelling Op-Ed piece on that subject about 12 years ago, and he convinced me it ain't right, and hurts creative artists.Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-40451571961162397752009-10-15T19:08:08.028-07:002009-10-15T19:08:08.028-07:00How can you review "Erotic Dreams" favor...How can you review "Erotic Dreams" favorably with a straight face? LOL, give me a break.Admiralhttp://arrd.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-88331772335705999842009-10-11T11:21:04.537-07:002009-10-11T11:21:04.537-07:00Conrad--I do think P. Hilton is very interesting--...Conrad--I do think P. Hilton is very interesting--especially as someone who has crafted her own fame when essentially she has no substantial talents or desires other than to "be famous". She also, as you point out, has no problem making fun of herself (is self-aware), which makes her more difficult to dismiss. One wonders if she is out to mock our notions of celebrity and our obsession with them as god figures--very interesting indeed.<br /><br />I also think she is quite smart, smarter than people give her credit for. I'd certainly be interested in reading poems about her.<br /><br />And I am a huge fan of Mina Loy.Kate Durbinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12221111356404338316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-7854505627253301112009-10-11T10:14:30.230-07:002009-10-11T10:14:30.230-07:00cer tainly Mina Loy
and
(maybe) Louise Brooks?cer tainly Mina Loy<br /><br />and<br />(maybe) Louise Brooks?Ed Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285310130024785775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-42245680817846265352009-10-11T10:12:14.705-07:002009-10-11T10:12:14.705-07:00Kate,
certainly tragic she isn't (at least no...Kate,<br /><br />certainly tragic she isn't (at least not yet)but Paris Hilton does have this interesting self-reflexive thing about her. That mock-ad she did for McCain was an eye-opener for me.I tend to see her a little differently now<br /><br />She's a creature of pure Spectacle, and for that she's worthy of poetry, too.<br /><br />By the bay, wouldn't you include Mina Loy in that mix?Conrad DiDiodatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312831623791642286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-81760901177995072572009-10-11T10:00:51.918-07:002009-10-11T10:00:51.918-07:00she's good.. re:freshing..
thanks for the intr...she's good.. re:freshing..<br />thanks for the intro<br /><br />you know:<br /><br />words don't fail the poet<br />the poet fails the wordsEd Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285310130024785775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-88608056584688055372009-10-11T09:54:27.271-07:002009-10-11T09:54:27.271-07:00Conrad,
Both Monroe & Earhart are in my colle...Conrad,<br /><br />Both Monroe & Earhart are in my collection, for those reasons you've outlined above. <br /><br />I considered Lindsay Lohan for the collection as well (not Paris Hilton as she's not really a tragic figure), because of her connection to Monroe (she did a series of photos w/ Bert Stern, recreating Marilyn's Last Sitting for New York Magazine, and in some ways sees herself as the new Marilyn). So I think you are right that one day poems will be written about these new icons--but they may come sooner rather than later!Kate Durbinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12221111356404338316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-17306561689637100572009-10-11T06:35:37.949-07:002009-10-11T06:35:37.949-07:00Steven,
I meant it in all of those senses you'...Steven,<br /><br />I meant it in all of those senses you've delineated. She's good matter for poetry: Durbin's tone & language are exactly suited to her subject. I'm a little taken with her in the same way I've been taken with Marilyn Monroe, failed tragic heroines whose personal attractiveness rather than shielding served (to my mind) to illustrate the more culturally interesting 'iconicity' (if you know what I mean)<br /><br />One day poetry will be written about Paris Hilton (don't laugh)Conrad DiDiodatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312831623791642286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-88170287563604155672009-10-10T19:17:04.185-07:002009-10-10T19:17:04.185-07:00Dear Conrad,
hmmmm . . . as a kid and still toda...Dear Conrad, <br /><br />hmmmm . . . as a kid and still today, what attracted/attracts me to, and fascinated/fascinates me about, Amelia Earhart, was that she flew planes across oceans, and tried to take one 'round the world, when not (m)any women did that, and then at the height of it all, vanished. She's adventure and exploration, a pioneer, and mystery -- a great mystery.<br /><br />None of that really fits with "cute" for me, since the term, by its dictionary definition, strongly implies daintiness. However, I can go with the word's alternative definition: keen - clever - shrewd.<br /><br />As I suggested (in passing, I know) in the post, there continues to be a high level of interest in Earhart. See for example the long article about her by Judith Thurman in the September 14, 2009 issue of <i>The New Yorker</i> (it mentions some of the books published in the last couple of decades, including recently). Earhart in that way remains "hot," seventy years after she disappeared. <br /><br />Durbin's poem -- and maybe I should have said this better -- imagines a more human figure than the women of whom we (me) often make a myth, and of course also gives a try, a good poetic try, at providing a "solution" (my word) the great mystery of her vanishing.Steven Famahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13733977161680651117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83923751899084745.post-18863551578450446692009-10-10T18:35:11.287-07:002009-10-10T18:35:11.287-07:00I don't know about Durbin's 'Earhart&#...I don't know about Durbin's 'Earhart' poem but Amelia sure was cute, eh?Conrad DiDiodatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18312831623791642286noreply@blogger.com