new year’s eve
hot with the pleasure
of mowing
***
Whatever your plans for 2013, carry them out with an open heart… especially when it comes to the little things. Much love to you all; step safely into the new year.
new year’s eve
hot with the pleasure
of mowing
***
Whatever your plans for 2013, carry them out with an open heart… especially when it comes to the little things. Much love to you all; step safely into the new year.
Filed under poetry
christmas morning
breaking bread with
the crows
*
We had a blessed Christmas… family, friends, food and of course, backyard cricket! Seeing the spark in t.h.e.’s eyes as he woke Christmas morning made life magical. I even found a quiet moment to share with the much maligned crows that frequent our neighbourhood, as it is at times like this we must spread the love to all living things around us. Wherever you are, I hope that you too were surrounded by love. It is, after all, what keeps us afloat.
Filed under poetry
Christmas is all about the gathering of loved ones in our home; about sharing and reveling in the joy we bring each other. One thing that has brought me great joy for much of my adult life is the music of Vic Chesnutt. Sadly, Vic took his life on Christmas day 2009, and since that time I have made it a tradition to share Vic’s music here on Christmas eve. This year, I have chosen the track Granny from his last studio album, At The Cut. This is a live version from his final Canadian tour, and it captures all the things I love about Vic… his openness, his wit and his ocean-sized heart.
Thank you Vic… and thank you to everyone who has been a part of this increasingly extended blog family. 2012 has been a year of wonder and growth and 2013 has already got excitement written all over it.
Travel safe…
Filed under events & opportunities, who listens to the radio?
We took t.h.e. nunn for his annual Christmas photo the other day and like so many wee ones, it took some convincing to get him to sit on the knee of the ‘bearded one’. There was however an enormous bear that he took a shine too, so with that moved over into the camera’s focus, we got a really beautiful shot of him cuddling said bear. But even so, you could see the trepidation in the corner of his smile… so we then went for the ‘knee shot’ and you guessed it, there were tears, but only briefly. All in all, it was a successful mission and it even inspired a poem.
christmas photo
in his smile
a fear of santa
***
And while we didn’t go with the ‘after tears’ shot, the above photo captures the essence of what I am talking about. I took it from the Elite Daily website where they have a showreel of some other classic shots!
Filed under poetry
It’s Friday night… time to chase the light and what better soundtrack for light-chasing than The Necks. This band is like no other… the silences they create, equally important as the sound; their improvised minimalism ebbing and flowing with the power of an ocean. I experienced their sonic majesty on March 29 this year and am happy to say they are back again for their annual run on February 7, 2013. Here is a complete live set from the band… all 45mins of it, so be prepared to fully immerse yourself, to let the music find its pulse inside you.
Filed under who listens to the radio?
I learned today of the recent life sentence handed down to Qatari poet, Mohamed Ibn Al Ajami for reading a poem extolling the courage and values of the popular uprisings in Tunisia. The sentencing took place after Ajami was jailed in November last year and spent one year in solitary confinement. As an advocate for free speech, I urge you all to speak up! Human Rights Organisation, Roots Action have started a petition to free Ajami and in their words, allow him to follow in
the footsteps of such great poets as Pablo Neruda, Majakovski, Nazim Hikmet, Mahmoud Darwish, Faraj Bayraqdar and innumerable others throughout the world today, such as Colombia’s poet Angye Gaona, Mohamed Ibn Al Ajami placed his poetic talent to the service of a movement for change.
Here’s an excerpt from the poem he recited:
Oh revolutionary, sing the praises of the struggle with the blood of the people
in the soul of the free carve the values of revolt
and to those holding the shroud of the dead tell
that every victory also bears its ordeals.
To sign the petition and be a voice for change visit Roots Action and please spread the word to other like minded people.
Filed under discussions, events & opportunities
The discussion generated by the two ‘starless sky’ haiku I posted on Monday has in turn generated a handful of new haiku… and funnily enough, many of them have featured fishing and stars. Thank you again to all who shared their wisdom.
spotlighting for squid
i ask the stars
not to shine
*
starless sky
the mullet school
one flash at a time
Filed under poetry
If you are looking for ways to make 2013 sound magnificent, then look no further than the Joyful Noise 2013 Flexi-Disc Series. The selection in 2012 has been inspired – Lou Barlow, Tortoise, Of Montreal, Richard Swift, Deerhoof – each song produced exclusively for the flexi release, for the ears of subscribers only. Pretty special don’t you think!
Just yesterday, the 2013 line up was announced. There are only 1000 subscriptions available for the low, low price of $5 a month, so if you want to become part of the Joyful Noise family and be one of the few to hear brand new tracks by Birthmark, Built To Spill & Helvetia, Here We Go Magic, Hella, Melvins, Mike Adams At His Honest Weight, Monotonix, Rob Crow, Son Lux, The Sea And Cake, Sufjan Stevens & Cat Martino, Why? then this is what you need to do.
So many names there press the excitement button, but none more so than the pulverising might of Melvins and the floating synth of The Sea And Cake, so here’s a track from both of these (incredibly different) bands to send you off on your day.