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I would hate to answer "No" to the top question.


Just so there's no confusion: While this injury lawyer is insinuating that he will help you to win your case and make "money" happen, I find it far more amusing to believe that "it" refers to the previously questioned injury. Ah, pronouns and referents: what laughs you can create.

The S.S. United States

Oh the metaphors about this are just too easy!

Kidding aside, in my last post I linked (click on the word "that") to an article in Wikipedia about the Dead Media Project--"dead media" being the storage mediums that we no longer use, or use extremely rarely. That got me thinking about this post I meant to do a week ago.

I found these old photos of mine after hearing about the ship over the Independence Day weekend. The ship has been an object of Philadelphia pride for years--even though we don't exactly have the time or money to treat this object properly (I am still talking about the ship, not our sports teams). Recently, a financial donor came through with a generous donation to the conservancy trying to save the ship, and it looks like the current owner will sell it to the conservancy rather than a scrap yard. I think that is a good thing.

Back in '02 my brother took me to see it. It was a cold, gray day in December. We stood along Columbus Boulevard, the wind stinging our faces. I took a few photos. I remember the day fondly.

Kate Ferencz

The day of updates continues with this note about musician/singer/songwriter Kate Ferencz. About three months ago I saw her play a set of wild and inspired songs at the now closed Bubble House in West Philly. Ferencz plays piano, guitar, toy piano, cymbals, and of course her voice. I say "plays" because like any good instrumentalist she takes wild risks sometimes--risks that pay off. Think Dar Williams. Think Daniel Johnson. Enjoy. She also sells cassette tapes. I love that idea. Yes, yes I bought it, and it rocks.

Oswalt Follow Up:

I don't follow his twitter feed, but apparently, Oswalt just wrote this:

Just got my slip-cased Volume II of LAPHAM'S QUARTERLY and all the WordFinds are filled in! HIIITCHENS! 10:34 PM Jul 12

I adore this man. The Magnetic Fields and Cheetos in one bit, Christopher Hitchens and the former editor of Harper's Magazine in another. Wheeee!

Memento: Evening with Patton Oswalt

A few months back, my brother took me to see Patton Oswalt at the Keswick (as you can see below). This is an amazing theatre in Glenside (just outside of Philly) and Oswalt killed. Really, every single person in the theatre died. Those lined up outside afterward for autographs were actually the walking dead--too awed by Oswalt to eat his brains. It was brilliant stuff. I think he has got to be the best comic today--especially for those of us who love language and feel just a bit on the outside of the popular culture around us.

Speaking of Painted Bride Events...

Katie Ford read at a PBQ sponsored reading a few months ago and I was impressed with poems from a chapbook, Storm. Ford lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and the poems in this chapbook focus on the natural and emotional landscape of the city before, during, and after the hurricane. As the Gulf Coast is currently going through some more problems, I picked up the book again.

I'm still impressed. The book is haunting and brilliant, like a walk through a forest which holds you suspect. At first you feel like you have little business being there (and little sense of how to get out). Ford doesn't offer to make sense of Katrina, but through short poems that range from the creepy and surreal to the everyday language of the angered and confused man-on-the-street, she makes the realities of the storm and its aftermath take on mysterious and new shapes. I will be reading Ford's other books.

Now this colossal oil spill: who will write these poems? Who will add rhythm to these new stories?

Painted Bride Quarterly's Monthly Fiction Slam

If you haven't been to the Painted Bride Quarterly's monthly Fiction Slam at the Pen and Pencil, you must go to this party. On June 24th I got a chance to open the evening's contest, and I had a blast.

Here's the clip from Google Calendar. I hope to post some video soon. Next time, I'll actually post events like these BEFORE I do the event. Makes sense, no?

The opportunity to read at the event was a real treat. To Kathy Volk Miller and the rest of the crew at PBQ: thank you! You assembled the best audience ever. I had a great time.

* * *

Painted Bride Quarterly will host an interactive slam at the Pen and Pencil Club (1522 Lattimer St., Phila) with special guest, Marshall Warfield, on Thurs, June 24th, at 7:30 p.m.

The rumors you've heard are true; it's too much fun for a Thursday in an alley! We'll provide writing implements and paper, you’ll have the fun. Think, "Whose Line is it Anyway?" crossed with Henry Rollins. Bring $1 bills for the poker round. (Really.) And come prepared for the final round, with prose or poetry you write in advance, using the words “plank," "curl" and "nutritious."

Want more info? Come out and play. We've said too much already. Hosted by Chris Brennan of the Daily News.

Recovering

The last few weeks have been busy ones for me, so I'm spending the day catching up. Apologies to my writing group. You have no doubt noticed that I'm doing this just a few minutes before the start of our meeting. The meeting I said I wouldn't be attending this morning. Enjoy the next few posts on what's happening--or what has been happening and is now over.

Summer Reading

Currently I'm reading two books. Let me talk about the collection of sports writing, first; I think that it's more likely to surprise people that I would be reading that. The book is compiled from Harper's long history, and it's entitled Rules of the Game. The essays of several great writers compose this book: there's work by George Plimpton, Tom Wolfe, Mark Twain, Lewis Lapham, and (this is a surprise) Shirley Jackson. Yes, Shirley "The Lottery" Jackson.

In Remembering Smell, Bonnie Blodgett tells the story of losing her sense of smell in a freak reaction to a nasal spray (Zicam, folks!). The writing is also quite good here as Blodgett has written about gardening and plants for years. It's a sad and fascinating book--one of those investigations where the writer looks at the scientific and magical aspects of something we can easily take for granted.

W. S. Merwin Appointed Poet Laureate

This Jeffrey Brown/PBS Newshour interview with Merwin (and bonus video of him reading four poems) is a sweet taste of Merwin's magnificent ability. I've already expressed, earlier on this blog, how much Merwin's work moves me. Go see for yourself. In a way, this is also a way of complimenting Brown on his ability to present poets so well.

For Merwin, every breath and syllable has weight. Listen carefully, or his poems will end before you realize what's happening.

Oh, and don't knock his beret. If anyone is allowed to wear a beret, its Merwin.