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for current monkey biz go HERE 4.29: hello there... the meaning of life? from late-spring Ralph and for those of ya in too big a hurry to peruse the linkage found here in a leisurely & comfortable fashion, the truth about George Prescott Bush, from pocho.com ~ ~ ~ Berkeley High provides invaluable assist to puzzled parents & we'll avoid any editorial comment re what passes for science in Florida: professionalism & bust size; mere words are inadequate to express just how grateful we are for this labor of love  4.27: from the alliance of concerned webloggers a heads-up provided by Craig of BookNotes ignorance is NOT bliss what alliance? more 'bout it here YO!, late arriving Monkey-Biznezz! next, on our reading list (actually, after we finish D. Gilb's Woodcuts of Women (Thanks Natazcha!) ~ ~ ~ may the goddess save the soldier in the field if Microsoft has anything to do w/the software ~ ~ ~ nothing funny about this... Unborn Victims of Violence Act & are you the parent of a teenager? beware the sminking chimp's saber-rattling lest your child be fighting to defend Taiwan... now this really makes my day: Record Earnings for Calpine and it may be starting out here on the left coast, but we're all going to be victimized by their greed & rapacity... oh man, this's not funny either, goddammit: chinks, slopeheads, rice eaters, et al and before we getz yr letterz accusing us of some silly shit, remember this greaser/spic/wetback too damn familiar with closed minds and ignorant stupidity... ~ ~ ~ just a little reminder... pay attention & be on your guard, because g. bush jr is in the white house in the spirit of friday follies (but we got to admit to not being fully in the spirit as these be trying times) for you lonely males everywhere, some advice; problems in the love department Binkie? check in with the Love Robot; the perfect poetry link o'the day for how we feelin' today... (pissed off and ready to kick some ass!) George Bush can kiss my ass bushoncrack.com the folly of having an idiot as head of state the word from pocho.com: Ich bin ein beaner okayokayokay, happy 'effin friday to youse too, now stay outta m'fuckin' way or you gonna get your head handed to you...  4.26: “hallelujah.” dumbmonkey's found jesus someone tole'me to "lighten up", so we tryin' to... ~ ~ ~ letter to the editor from today's local fishwrap, Jerome Karabel speaks out Bravo! Bravissimo! ~ ~ ~ John C. is pissed too! j. carroll picks up where he left off yesterday ~ ~ ~ man, are we pissed off.. paid over $2./Gal for gasoline yesterday, and have dusted off the bike... but what really torques me is this bullshit (sorry, yah, NYT linkage): can you say record profits?; most of us must love being reamed by the oil companies here's this from earlier this year, & this from nearly a year ago, so we in a 'hella funk, don't expect much of us round here, not for awhile at least... ohh, & re poetry link o'the day, we apologize, as we not feelin' poetic in the least... 4.25: the esteemed Bill Moyers aside to C. of BookNotes, another fellow Tejano Journalism & Democracy, from The Nation & crediting The Nation again for this information on: The Progressive Challenge ~ ~ ~ one word: splinternets ~ ~ ~ attempting to keep from going under Salon introduces Premium Content undoubtedly a harbinger of things to come... and because he does it so much better than we do... J. Carroll speaks up 4.24: p o s t e r i t y J. Ramone, RIP; and the sad plight of the Penites & Vaginese from Esquire Mag online (& while you're there, check out what Rip Torn learned) ~ ~ ~ Hooray for Berkeley! maybe other cities doing this too, but in Berkeley it seems so right more on biodiesel here & here, AND, on another subject entirely, we think Gwen Knapp is an excellent sportswriter ~ ~ ~ HOLY SHIT!!! watch out if you are "a person of color"... busted for your seat belts?, SEAT BELTS? ~ ~ ~ slow down my beatin' heart... another theory being re-examined ~ ~ ~ you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.. but an occasional visit to wwyw's like peeking out the window... ~ ~ ~ was a year ago today... that the faithful poochster found herself hobbling she's getting along fine these days, thankyavurrymuch, altho not the speedy thing she once was, our walks have become leisurely promenades, and squirrels just jeer at her, as their confidence in their ability to outrun her is justified, but what the hay, right, the ol' gal be a fourteen year old doggie in October... ~ ~ ~ porno, porno, porno erotica, erotica, erotica oh, & for good measure, some extra linky goodness... hmmmmmm, seems time for another shower, perhaps a nice cold one in order  4.23: extra value poetry link o'the day courtesy Salon: Jim Carroll, from Paris Review ~ ~ ~ s e r e n d i p i t y whilst enjoying an afternoon of intense NBA Playoff action, alongside presence of the surprise couple of visitors who decided to drop in on us as "they were in the neighborhood", our Sunday was particularly pleasant and we hope you all had the best kind of weekend, 'tho unfortunately, if like mine, damn thing seems to be gettin' shorter alla time... one of the things we did in between noshing, conversing & watching hoops was go on a little link mining excursion, taking a chance on a serendipitous search trust george bush (something, which after discovering some of what you'll find below, one shouldn't do) for those so inclined, go and look thru the results yourself, as there are many links of interest, several results refer to "Pappy" Bush & others to Shrub-ster Jr., but we'll wager this "apple hasn't fallen far from the tree"... the ol' silverback's taken the opportunity to mine a few choice links for you: we in sort of a quandary as to how to categorize/organize the following, hope you all in a forgiving mood today... folks we have a lot in common with: Bush Backlash; Impeach Bush; (we initially found this letter which lead us to Impeach Bush) The Stolen Election; Resident Bush; Bush, No!; know Candidate Bush; ohhhhh, this getting to be too much like work (and we at work right now too!) so we just going to list a few of the other nuggets of linky goodness we discovered: the Idiot in Chief; A Bush Family Book Burning; Bush's Iron Triangle; Doublecrossed; liar liar pants on fire; Every Baby a Trust Fund Baby; Bush-Cheney Drug Empire; Sins of the Father, Sins of the Son; How Bush made Millions, from the esteemed Bush Watch, doin' it since '98; Florida Follies; Pappy Bush Bush Family Preys; Trust, Honesty, Openess a couple of morons; the skull & bones connection in the spirit of the games of summer; this lastly, re underestimating the resident in chief wanna link to the above? use this ~ ~ ~ a fitting poetry link o'the day for additional poetic goodies go here; using poetry as our guide for our Monday Am (& do we need all the help we can get today) from Sunday Chron book section, on Robinson Jeffers true, this not poetic, but deals w/another favorite subject, a selection of films showcased at the SFIFF available on video; whilst perusing news & fave blogs on Sunday, we came across these items: Excerpt from Meg Greenfield's memoir, from the Washington Post; more on Ms. Greenfield's memoir from the NYT under the heading of donning sheep's clothing, this from ABC News on-line; and oh boy, do we have a lovely bunch of links for your afternoon, but for now we leave you with this interesting place to visit... 4.22: psssst... pass it on and more on election reform ~ ~ ~ celebrating Earth Day...  this was NASA's present to us last year; this page includes this years; (be sure to view the Great Zooms from Space) & jesferdahalibut we include last year's dumbmonkey thoughts ~ ~ ~ the sunday smorgasbord... first, linkage from the sunday NYT mag re that occasionally undeniable impulse; a Salon piece: D. Barash on the Myth; from the LA Times, an trip to Sonoma County; some letters @ Slate re N. Baker & the tempest surrounding Double Fold; & we not be lingering here too damn long, things to do & hoops to watch (YAH BABEEE itzda Playoffs) & in that spirit, this from NYT mag re Knickerbockers; and this from the LA Times on the series commanding our attention 4.21: a work in progress... dubya, dubya, why dubya? 4.20: when we see it, we tell ya 'bout it too... from the New Yorker on-line, Denby on "Center of the World" & refer you to our earlier post of 4.9 ~ ~ ~ cheap wine? cheap wine? CHEAP WINE? must be thinkin' of some other dumbmonkey... our horrorscope for the last week LATE BREAKING HEADS-UP: Nicholson Baker in the Feed Loop, Monday 4.23 ~ ~ ~ whydoncha meet me for a drink at the Hotsy Totsy Club and the ol'silverback's buying... ohh yaaaah... we already know that Tom Green isn't funny, and do we really need another Croc O'crap Dundee movie??? ~ ~ ~ yeeeesh, izda ol'silverback glad it's friday? Do furry mammals of the ursine family perfom their excretory functions in sylvan environments? easy does it now, rain falling outdoors & we be busy on the j-o-b today... some linkage, in the mode of previous Friday Follies: the wizard of whimsy word? word! Word? Word! WORD??? WERD!!!! the werd complete collection of men jokes; wanna bet? Dave Barry on the differences between them & us that link above from the Exit's Bag of Laughs & in the spirit of Friday Folly-ness! the poetry link o'the day More; More? alright, enuf alredddy! 4.19: twenty-five years of MoJo Mother Jones on-line & because we concerned about nearly any appointment made by the moron in residence, this news re Water Czar a somewhat related story re the EPA & our water; & for more thoughtful content on water issues, visit Ms D. for her heads-up on water-related shenanigans in Fla. this from the Guardian re Florida water shenanigans ~ ~ ~ forecast: mostly cloudy, scattered showers... we admit it, we spoiled by our usual 3 or 4 day workweek, w/ a welcome midweek interruption often providing us w/opportunity to indulge ourselves here a little more & at greater length. At the moment "weariness" seems to be the dominant state of mind and our first cuppa caffeinated beverage of choice awaits our attention, so these links for now, possibly more later.. Light & Dust Anthology 12gauge.com Ash ~ ~ ~ We've posted a link to these folks before, possibly 2 or 3 times and we do it again to pass along to some of the new visitors coming our way of late, & to further the dissemination of knowledge... Znet ~ ~ ~ the more, later... inspired by this quote found at today's Daily Bleed: "We are all giants, raised by pygmies, & trained to walk with a perpetual mental crouch." Robert Anton Wilson whilst there, be sure to read his collected previous thoughts R.A. Wilson's conspiracy page interview w/R.A.W. "I like to get stoned and surf the Web..." 4.18: ooooh, media whores, c. hitchens & clintonites... came across this story in Salon during our Am perusal of various & sundry sources, w/link to Media Whores site. not sure what it's all about yet, but if it involves some kind of dust-up w/C. Hitchens, it's gonna be interesting... ~ ~ ~ can you say "overloaded servers?" we be seeking our slavic rootstock... ~ ~ ~ the senator speaks out... Lieberman takes issue w/white house resident and yessssss... yours truly is contemplating getting outta town for awhile, wanna come? ~ ~ ~ f**k starb**ks! give thanks to the indy-espresso jockeys ~ ~ ~ ooooh LaLala! star-spangled panties... ~ ~ ~ midweek melancholy who was the bastard that thought up the 5-day workweek? let's make sure that he didn't breed & leave progeny likely to invent some alternative malevolent soul-killing institution... ~ ~ ~ at the very least, today's poetry link o'the day & while we at it, we include this link as well, maybe make it easier gettin' over the hump today... 4.17: where the hell is Nader??? where are the Greenfolk??? from Salon, some reassuring news ~ ~ ~ yrs truly takes the EZway out, again... Jon Carroll, recalling the FSM geezers gotta stick together... then hie thyselves over to Craig's Booknotes and make sure you read Kosmo's letter to Craig THEN, bag ass on over to S. Baum's Ethel for more chewy linky goodness, and quick, before total decrepitude takes Senor Baum out of the bloggin' game... looks like it's time to bring back the sidebar... ~ ~ ~ the pleasant surprise of light rainfall... in the wee hours, leaving moistened streets & sidewalks, its scent in the air.. again, for the poetry link o'the day, David Meltzer, excerpts from The Beat Thing; and, hmmmmmm, for the more adventurous, this bit of erotic fiction; enjoy yourselves, in a leisurely fashion, perusing Big Bridge; we introduced you to this site via a link posted a day or two ago, Cosmic Baseball Association ~ ~ ~ enjoy a contemplative moment... courtesy Surprise goes Zen 4.16: addle-brained linkage leftover from weekend... from the IHT; a jazz-inspired riff; there's something of interest afoot at Booknotes, & in particular the links beginning Friday; we want to avoid fallin' into our usual trap of fuzzy-thinking, & are mightily attracted to the idea being broached there, the effect that an alliance of webloggers might have in disseminating important information that the "usual suspects" seem to avoid... we'd like to think that information will include a good deal more than the contretemps in Fla & subsequent reality as in terms of "un fait accompli", we can only maintain a vigilant and attentive stance against future stupidities like, ohh, maybe these kind of things.... a refrain we'll hear again; can you say Big Trouble; then we came across this letter from America inspired by this Oliphant cartoon; here's the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change; something related from The Economist; as the present administration seems to be unconcerned with anything outside of the furthering of their own agenda to the exclusion of many crucially important issues facing all of us, where can we go to increase the degree to which we can be more fully and better informed citizens? the d'monkey offers these to share, and if you have some you willing to share, send 'em along to me Counterpunch The Public Interest The American Prospect SpeakOut.com alternewswire Mother Jones Smoking Gun we don't pretend to have a great handle on the things going down out there, & can be overwhelmed by some of the more sinister things that appear to be taking place, particularly in light of our helplessness & inability to do little more than raise a voice in protest. Perhaps we can raise many voices... ~ ~ ~ we hava bad feelink 'bout dis... cheezuz, ya mean it's already Monday? dis does not please us at all, got a full five day workweek ahead of us (& those of ya who know us are aware this is not typical for the ol' silverback)... for the moment, tho, we point you in this direction & we'll attribute source to AP & leave it at that... ~ ~ ~ hey, looky there. After sizable absence, she's back; ~ ~ ~ poetry? are you serious? right now???? damn, you guyz a'tough audience... okayokayokay... over the weekend we linked to something about David Meltzer, here he is interviewing Philip Whalen & who the hell is PW when he's at home, you may ask well, here's a review of some of his work more PW hey, it's baseball season, isn't it? Whalen's "Plus Ca Change" alongside a few more verses by PW & we'll wrap this up with tardy reminder of local readings... SFSU Poetry Center 4.15: for your consideration read the Story... ~ ~ ~ shhhhhhh.... we taking the lazy way out... revisiting last year's effort, wishing you the same kind of peaceful day... ~ ~ ~ whoa! spoke too soon... cannot resist this opportunity to enliven & edify as well as toot our own damn horn loudly on this quiet Am; firstly, again a visit down memory lane, dumbmonkey-style; alongside this item on Nicholson Backer, from the NYT, where we also ran across this piece of news, about which we not sure how we feelink... 4.14: greetings and salutations... plenty of first-time visitors dropping in these days, peruse at your leisure, linger awhile and get a feel for the... ahh... atmosphere.. our particular, oh... j e n e s a i s q u o i s . . . ~ ~ ~ inspired by the discovery of this story in today's fishwrap, immediately thought to ourselves "WhooHoo! just the inspiration we needed!" our poetry link o'the day, hand in hand w/ 1 unit credit in the d'monkey's college of musical knowledge. (excerpt from Meltzer's No Eyes within the poetry link above) Extra Credit Links: D. Meltzer interview from Tattoo Jew Lester Young another title by David Meltzer the Prez, Lester Willis Young Prez, Homage to Lester Young, J. Reid Lester Young photographs take a class w/David Meltzer review of No Eyes Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat... & a yummy treat for you who hung around long enough, The Man I Love, recorded in 1946; Lester Young w/Nat "King" Cole and Buddy Rich 4.13: old age & treachery... will defeat youth & beauty every time... jus'when this ol'silverback was feelink so damnsmart! in email exchange w/Craig of Booknotes, we discover that he had already linked to the FSM information we were barking about below; we like to think we read other's work carefully, & 'dat we so damned smart & all.... well imagine our embarasssment... AND, besides admitting we merely mortal, wanna make sure you're all aware of the interesting goings-on at this location ~ ~ ~ perhaps, it is about time to renew... the commitment & desire to effect change that once took place in Berkeley, during the era of the FSM; we feel compelled to mention this announcement of the digital archive now available at Cal's Bancroft Library, (altho we cannot fathom why the folks at the sfgate cannot effect a link here from the story itself like they did w/this FSM Vets link...) Berkeley Free Speech Movement it kills us, really, to read about the ignorant student asking "who is Agnew?".... ~ ~ ~ hmmmm, izzit jus' us... or does that pic of Jesus (ya' know, Mr. Easter hisowndamnself) making the rounds look like Lenny Bruce or not? (the bearded Lenny o' course, wish we could come up w/full face shot that accompanied this one) oooh, & by the way, happy easter! & jessferdahalibut- more Lenny ~ ~ ~ cozmik accidentz ~ ~ ~ friday the wha???? Friday the Thirteenth, any Friday which falls on the thirteenth day of the month. Friday is the unluckiest day of the week for Christians, who believe that Christ was crucified on this day. They also believe the number thirteen to be unlucky because there were thirteen present at the Last Supper, so Friday the 13th is a double whammy. The superstition of thirteen actually goes back farther. In Norse mythology there were thirteen present at a banquet in Valhalla when Balder (son of Odin) was slain, which led to the downfall of the gods. Around 1000 B.C., Hesiod wrote in Works and Days that the thirteenth day is unlucky for sowing, but favorable for planting. Friday the 13th will happen between one and three times in any given year. the above cadged from the Encyclopedia of Days ain't superstitious ain't superstitious ain't superstitious ~ ~ ~ yaaah, okay, it's a stretch, but here's a somewhat related poetry link o'the day ~ ~ ~ & be sure to stop by Surprise goes Zen and this Must Read and put "a little fuel in your airplane..." thanks to matth/MeFi for the heads-up on latter link 4.12: forcast: continued light & intermittent activity we luvz the photo accompanying this story; best political weblogs according to the folks at Slate; keepin' up w/dem changes... Scherzi & Sospiri is now Eccentric Flower & lastly, for now, this wonderfully cool link, which we credit our discovery of to Mike's Larkfarm ~ ~ ~ forgive us this briefest of links something a little different for the poetry link o'the day ~ ~ ~ a return to normalcy... is not something often said about the d'monkey household, but it does appear that the wee beastie who arrived early Tuesday as unannounced house guest has decided our hospitality is lacking and has set out for a more agreeable location to make itself comfortable in. more details later on today for now, we point in the direction of one of our favorite places, R A L P H & from there, this short piece 4.11: ohhhhLaLa! tres koool...  from the often awe-inspiring APOD ~ ~ ~ Bravo! Bravo! ~ ~ ~ forecast: light & intermittent activity today... primary order of business: poetry link o'the day blast from the past; & here's one a little more up to date... now, for no particular reason at all, here's something yummy for you; & more extra value yumminess (altho we often mistrustful of the origins of some attributed quotations) these from ol' Sam ~ ~ ~ from the Village Voice, in re earlier post on the subject of Blake show at the Met: oooh, we can hear our friends now, (yah, all 4 of 'em) "sounds like JP to me..." mo' extra linky goodness, Blake's The Tyger more! More! Enough Already! ~ ~ ~ the raccoon saga remains ongoing & unresolved, more about that later 4.10: good thing they didn't watch The Postman might've been perceived as an assassination attempt, ya know, bore the poor bastard to death... ~ ~ ~ critter-1; Jim's AAA Pest Removal-0 okayokayokay, looks like d'monkey is playing host to pregant raccoon for another nite, the attic gets too warm too quickly on a sunny day, and the wee beastie appears quite comfortably ensconsed in her new lodgings, so Jim returns EARLY tomorrow Am w/an assistant in tow, and we only have to accomodate ourselves to the idea of beastie scritching and scratching above our heads (THANKS QUEEN BEE!) as we in our bed thruout the nite. maybe is good nite to stay in other bedroom or someone else's house.... AND because we luvz ya (yesssss we do!) and we always give good weight here's today's poetry link of the day we likely be back w/more later---- we likely stay up ALL NITE LONG and write long thingie for y'all just to maintain even strain.... ~ ~ ~ in the spirit of the day; How the Raccoon Got His Coat The Raccoon and the Bee Tree another extra measure of linky goodness: more mythical stories ~ ~ ~ lions, and tigers, and bears... no, more like possums or skunks or squirrels... a very odd morning at chez d'monkey, & to be brief, there's a critter in the attic; friend Garth from Fort Bragg in town for the evening, on his way to Louisiana in the morning and earlier we thought what we heard was simply our house guest moving around in the early Am, but the noises kept up and the strangeness about them was that now it was perceivable that they were coming from above, and our initial thought was someone/something's on the roof, so with faithful poochster in tow (yah, of course, could be a monster ya know!) we go out front and cross the street and walk around the house but do not see anything, so "maybe" we imagine "it jumped off and left..." Back inside now, and the noises more obvious, well, damn, they are right above us, right above our bed. YOW! CREEPY SHITE! gettin' dressed once again (it is early still, just after 5Am) we go into backyard, where ladder is available (used on weekend project) and climb onto the roof, there is a lower section over the laundry room and a "cut-out" exists in small wall there to afford access to attic. Well, the first bit of bad news is the "door" to the cut-out is loose and the space is wide open, and we peer into the space with our flashlight, pointing it to far southwest corner above bedroom and sure enough, we spy the glint of two beady eyes back there, but torso is hidden away so we still uncertain of species, ourowndamnself pretty sure it a possum, a skunk not likely to go climbing up onto roof, and we've spied them previously on roof of cottage in rear of our yard. oh shit, damn, crap, 'dis is all we need to start our day. Already made one call to pest control service, left message & hope we hear from them in timely fashion. Calling in to the j-o-b shortly to advise them we likely be tardy today; we will think positively & hope that this little problem be cleared up soon, kinda funny really, oh man, sure hope that ain't a preggie possum... 4.9: another reason to spend early spring in NYC at the Met, William Blake; heads-up on this from local fishwrap, along w/ this review of Soft Boys show, mentioned at el lobo loco last week... ~ ~ ~ early Am nuggets of linky goodness a new Tom Stoppard play; opening the SFIFF; The Center of the World The Center of the World; the music in the movie; Director Wayne Wang script by Paul Auster P.A.: The Definitive Website ~ ~ ~ fully intending to avoid dwelling on the less attractive aspects of a Monday morning... poetry related link of the day: Happy B-Day Charlie Baudelaire; The Poem of Hashish; some more Baudelaire Le Spleen de Paris & just where the hell did that weekend go? 4.8: sunday mornin' in Santa Rosa makin' wakeup call on Bro K, Liz-Beth & kinder, w/doughnuts & coffee in hand... ~ ~ ~ On This Day: the death of Picasso; Picasso: Creator & Destroyer, from The Atlantic; link & heads-up provided from The Daily Bleed & tho' posted before, it's worth posting again, the On-Line Picasso Project Pablo Picasso from Lucidcafe a little more Picasso from Cosmopolis ~ ~ ~ oooh, almos' forgot... poetry link o'the day yah, we beink vurrrylazy, itza NYT link... 4.7: a calm & peaceful Saturday morning... 
 goshdarnitall, we not awakened by sound of pattering rain on roof & outside window but the scent of rain-rinsed air was heavenly, & the morning so extraordinarily lovely that we took a nice long early Am drive... we're finding much pleasure in April's being Poetry Month, so we share this link from spring of last year, & for this day's link, hie theyselves here ~ ~ ~ & because we luvz t'share: Bill Evans, w/Victor Young & Ned Washington, My Foolish Heart ~ ~ ~ late-breaking newsflash on the face of it, good news for smart folks, then why's it seem that there's so many dummies around? izzit likely 'cause they's indiscriminate breeders? 4.6: dey don' call us an' ol'softie f'nuttin' J.C. does it again had to finish me lunch w/tears in m'eyes... Have a Fine Weekend, y'all.... ~ ~ ~ HOLYBOY! holy shit!!! ~ ~ ~ at last, it is Friday & a rainstorm approacheth... certainly be nice to fall asleep w/the sound of rain falling outside the window, perhaps wake (late if possible) under darkened skies & still hear rain upon the rooftop... today's Poetry Link of the Day (yah, you right, we doin' the plain & simple EZ post today...) ~ ~ ~ waaaal..., the god part's debatable... why god made junk-food from Slate gotta admit to our thankfulness for ben&jerry's, reese's peanut butter cups, caramel corn, See's California Crunch candies, annn..... PORK RINDS! mo' poke rhynnes credit for last link to Lark Farm EXTRA VALUE LINK FROM D'MONKEY ohhh, to spend the summer in Prague, discussing Little Debbie snackcakes.... ~ ~ ~ just which public are they referring to? oh yaaah, don't remind us, the ignorant hordes of the hinterlands... ~ ~ ~ Friday Follies (of a particularly human sort): new major at Yale nostatusquo.com negativland.com DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER! this site by this boob  the most dangerous man alive Oui!, ces't vrai! ciao for niao, you katz & kitteez.... 4.5: quickly now, it's been a long day & we tired... but must note the passing of John B. Oakes, father of the modern Op-Ed page of related interest, some correspondence between J.B. Oakes & B. Russell ~ ~ ~ ughhhh, back to the j-o-b... but first, in the spirit of April as Poetry Month, an announcement: John Ashbery, reading Sun. 4/8, 3PM, Morrison Library, UCB; from the Oct '00 Salon: "Your Name Here"; a bit of commentary from MAP an interview w/Ashbery; critique in progress & now, some of his work: You Dropped Something The Green Dress Caravaggio and His Followers Strange Cinema 3 Poems The Instruction Manual The Spacious Firmanent Going Away Anytime Soon 3 Poems from "Some Trees" 4.4: more more more more stuff, this time inspired by dangerousmeta's mention of Village Voice piece on Andreas Gursky, which reminded us of 1.22 issue of The New Yorker, story entitled "The Big Picture" (Hey! New Yorker! Wake up & realize you been a weekly for YEARS open up those archives & put MORE on-line, keeeeerist... you do want visitors to that weak-ass website, right?) w/nice 2 page spread of "99 Cent", so (who luvz ya babee?) here's some Gursky from jiffysquid; Gursky @ MOMA; Gursky @ Fotomuseum (Jah, babee!) & a few more by Gursky here ~ ~ ~ talk about some chewy goodness... apathetic dan get stuck in yo' teef! tippin' da ol'red fez in dat direction for the link to C. Walken's high step strut, and the "heads-up" linkage to Invader Zim go there & see it all for yourself, babycakes... ~ ~ ~ hi there... we really appreciate your droppin' by, & if you stay long enough to read a bit, oh, 'dat make us SO happy, but we be happier still, if you be sure to visit the esteemed Craig's Booknotes, because he's Paying Attention & making it simpler for the rest of us to do so... whoa, 'dey don'call us dumbmonkey f'nuttin... earlier here we posted Craig's name as Mr. Jenkins we blamez it on our years of abusing various & sundry narcotics but (YESSS, Civility Lives!) Mr. J responded w/very nice note w/ exceedingly polite mention of our error, & if he ever in S.F. Bay Area, dinner's on us...) Late breaking FYI: from newsletter we receive, a call for help: Are We Helpless re the Bush residency? ~ ~ ~ Oh, & by the way... in re movie awards, here are some we can really get behind here at d'monkey... The Golden Monkey Awards from the always on target: Hollywood Bitchslap ~ ~ ~ steve, jeff, oscar, & some other stuff... ~ ~ ~ rambling thoughts on some events of late, our initial focus on the Oscar awards telecast. This ol' silverbacked beast considers himself to be a pretty good judge of quality film, & he's not such a movie-snob that he cannot enjoy something light and silly on occasion, but like many of yourselves, he can see through that self-congratulatory Hollywood industry shiny claptrap hoohaah called the Oscars, so, ahhhh, c'mon, Gladiator = Best Picture?; Julia Wotzerface = Best Actress?.... no, No, NO, sorry, won't go there, yah, we know, it's all bullshit, money talks & if it didn't sell tickets, fuggeaboudit, no matter HOW good a movie/script/portrayal/piece of work it is, you may not even get nominated. So why'd we watch? Why pay any attention at all? damn, suppose it's simply a sociological exercise of ours, as it's always interesting the following day to overhear the water-cooler conversation of co-workers re winners & losers and the variety of opinions re same. Personally, we watched intermittently, & tuned in to see Steve Martin host, not because he's "a hellafunny guy", but because we genuinely admire his style, & that we perceive beneath the occasionally "zany" surface, someone familiar w/melancholy & tragedy... (an aside: we viewed an hour-long interview/examination of S. Martin's career on Bravo a few months back, and he mentioned a quote from one of his plays that struck a powerful response in us: "Love is a promise delivered already broken"; & besides, the guy's a helluva banjo player, has excellent taste in art, he writes well- damn we jealous!) okayokayokay, so let's keep this thing movin... ahhh, yah, certainly deserving winners, Marcia Gay Harden for her work in Pollock, Benicio Del Toro, Soderburgh, Ang Lee & anything Crouching Tiger took; folks overlooked in my estimation? well, start w/Geoffrey Rush, how about Laura Linney, Ellen Burstyn--- yah, okay, sure, they were nominated, okay, but how many of you actually saw "You Can Count On Me" and "Requiem For A Dream"? Sure, we aware there are any number of other entities awarding recognition for folk's work in this industy, you can visit an attempt we made earlier this year discussing such... damn, where were we... Oh Yeah.... Jeff Bridges, now here is a guy that has been making films a long time, am sure you've your own favorite J. Bridges role, & he was nominated this year for Supporting Actor in a film called The Contender, in which he portrayed the President of the U.S. (and personally speaking here now--- I have NO DOUBT AT ALL, he could do a MUCH BETTER JOB than the moron presently taking up space in that office at this moment) so, okay, we liked watching him there, it was fun, it was a job nicely done, and the film is worth seeing, we have few criticisms, but it is a film you need to pay attention to while watching or you gonna get confused (that in no way is a negative thing- something that makes you pay attention and think is a rare pleasure) OH! and why the hell didn't Gary Oldman get a nomination, at the very least. Okay, hold on there binkie, you gettin' away from the subject, which was, ahhhhh, hmmmm, ohhhhh... right- Jeff Bridges. Okay, so we think, before you waste any more time in your local video emporium trying to find something you and the S.O. in your life can both enjoy, pick up "Fearless", directed by Peter Weir (someone whom we'd be pleased to write several thousand words in praise of & - Watch Out! - may do so sometime), take it home & watch it, then write me, & let me know what you think. Oh, & by the way, make sure you pay attention to see what lucky Oscar Winner is also in "Fearless", AND Isabella Rossellini is in it! (damn, now we giving ya WAY too much insight into d'monkey's guilty pleasures). You can also see some more fine work by Jeff Bridges in a film called "American Heart" (which he produced) & three of our personal All-Time Faves: "The Fisher King", "Cutter & Bone" (released on cassette as Cutter's Way) and "The Big Lebowski", but damn, take a look at this list of work & see if you don't come up with some faves, no doubt some forgotten altogether, it's a BIG list, of your own... damn, we been going on and on, we stop this for now, but here's fair warning, we be back w/more movie stuff later... 4.3: ahhhhshitzki! daze late & dollars short... April means National Poetry Month a contrarian's viewpoint & then, point you this way ~ ~ ~ s'what we all about here @ d'monkey... new evidence re dark matter dark; dark; dark; dark; dark; dark... hey! too dark in here! sumbuddy turn 'da lights back on! 4.2: sheeeeesh, wottalousymonday... we thinkz we needz more sleep.... but in the meantime, we let out a plaintive wail ~ ~ ~ a poem celebrating Spring The Wave ~ ~ ~ blame it on DST... mebbe ya know someone who can use this advice & for more linky goodness like 'dat visit the highly esteemed Riley Dog ~ ~ ~ that Eggers fellow's in town... ex-local boy, reading in S.F. ~ ~ ~ blatantly lifted from the daily bleed 1725 -- Lover boy, spy, soldier, adventurer, memoirist Giovanni Casanova lives (1725-1798), Venice, Italy. Remembered for his autobiography, which established his reputation as the most prominent erotic hero of the 18th century. In 1760 he fled from his creditors & travelled across Europe. Between 1774 and 1782 he worked as a spy for the Venetian inquisitors of state, ending his last years as a librarian (timeline here). http://pages.prodigy.com/casanova/arbuz.htm http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/casanova.htm recent bio-book review ~ ~ ~ march monkey-ness can be found here last year's monkey-biz be sure to visit un vato muy loco, El Lobo Loco ~ ~ ~ drop the ol' silverback a line & tell us how much you missed us... |
