Lilian Nattel's Blog, page 43
April 26, 2011
another poem from NYRB for poetry month
A Second Hummingbird
Paul MuldoonYet another money-man
with a finger in the till
at Flavor & Fragrance, my own
not standing stillno less a stance
than his, the only grounds
for his existence
now being to make such roundsand roundelays as mine, to touch
what I've come to see
as the raw nervein each of us, each
doomed to think himself ever so
slightly behind some curve.
via nybooks.com
I think every month should be poetry month. I don't want this to end.
Filed under: Literary Tagged: Paul Muldoon
April 24, 2011
language: King James Bible
The King James Bible, which was first published 400 years ago next month, may be the single best thing ever accomplished by a committee. The Bible was the work of 54 scholars and clergymen who met over seven years in six nine-man subcommittees, called "companies." In a preface to the new Bible, Miles Smith, one of the translators and a man so impatient that he once walked out of a boring sermon and went to the pub, wrote that anything new inevitably "endured many a storm of gainsaying, or opposition." So there must have been disputes — shouting; table pounding; high-ruffed, black-gowned clergymen folding their arms and stomping out of the room — but there is no record of them.
via nytimes.com
Nice brief article on how KJB came to be written, with some interesting bits on language choice (yeah verily was already out of date and deliberately chosen because of that). Also mentioned is the choice of dramatic use of repetition and pause, but not that this is in accurate imitation of the Hebrew.
Filed under: Literary Tagged: biblical translation
roosters and voting
JOHN'S EGG BUSINESS
John was in the fertilized egg business.
He had several hundred young layers
(hens), called 'pullets,'
And ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.
He kept records,
And any rooster not performing
Went into the soup pot
And was replaced.
This took a lot of time,
So he bought some tiny bells
And attached them to his roosters.
Each bell had a different tone,
So he could tell from a distance,
Which rooster was performing.
Now, he could sit on the porch
And fill out an efficiency report
By just listening to the bells.
John's favorite rooster, old Butch,
Was a very fine specimen,
But this morning he noticed
Old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all!
When he went to investigate,
He saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets,
Bells-a-ringing, but the pullets,
Hearing the roosters coming,
Could run for cover.
To John's amazement,
Old Butch had his bell in his beak,
So it couldn't ring.
He'd sneak up on a pullet,
Do his job and walk on to the next one.
John was so proud of old Butch,
He entered him in the Renfrew County Fair
And he became an overnight sensation
Among the judges.
The result was the judges
Not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize
But they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.
Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making.
Who else but a politician could figure out
How to win two of the most highly coveted awards
On our planet by being the best
At sneaking up on the populace
And screwing them
When they weren't paying attention.
Vote carefully this year,
The bells are not always audible.
(I got this in an email and don't know who the author is, but thank you! And if you read this please let me know so I can attribute this.)
Filed under: Fun Tagged: politics on the farm
language: King James Bible
The King James Bible, which was first published 400 years ago next month, may be the single best thing ever accomplished by a committee. The Bible was the work of 54 scholars and clergymen who met over seven years in six nine-man subcommittees, called "companies." In a preface to the new Bible, Miles Smith, one of the translators and a man so impatient that he once walked out of a boring sermon and went to the pub, wrote that anything new inevitably "endured many a storm of gainsaying, or opposition." So there must have been disputes — shouting; table pounding; high-ruffed, black-gowned clergymen folding their arms and stomping out of the room — but there is no record of them.
via nytimes.com
Nice brief article on how KJB came to be written, with some interesting bits on language choice (yeah verily was already out of date and deliberately chosen because of that). Also mentioned is the choice of dramatic use of repetition and pause, but not that this is in accurate imitation of the Hebrew.
Filed under: Miscellany
daffodil
Happy Perfect Purple Saturday!, originally uploaded by JannaPham.
Filed under: Beautiful Tagged: flower photography
April 23, 2011
Easter
We're having a very busy long weekend, hence the dearth of posts. Yesterday was filled with a delightful visit from a friend and her children, including (a first for me) a chocolate egg hunt. I had no idea that chocolate eggs now come in so many flavours. Great fun had by all and highly recommended as an annual tradition.
Today I took my kids out for French fries, another annual tradition. Because there are so many things we don't eat on Passover, I'm laxer on the whole treat thing. We've had lots of chocolate, 3 kinds of chips, fries, chocolate torte, mint-chocolate ice cream (I do note that there's a theme here). We purchased many necessities (rainboots, sandals, tshirts, shorts, a fancy dress for a certain person's May dance) and some frivolities (stuffies, hair pins). I met the eyes of a man with a white beard and some teeth; I put some money in his hat and so did one of my kids who'd remembered to bring the envelopes we keep for that purpose.
Tomorrow, if the weather holds out, we'll go roller-blading and have Chinese food. I love these days, this spring-time long weekend with A and our kids, graced by friends. We are here together in present moments of walking past daffodils and delight in all things potato and chocolate, and from this new memories are born.
Filed under: Personal, Uplifting Tagged: rebirth
April 21, 2011
the many yous in you – the mom and the sponge
Lydia Fairchild was confused. She had applied for state benefits to look after her three children, but according to DNA tests, she was not their mother. It was ridiculous – she knew full well that the children were hers, but she was being taken to court nonetheless.
via blogs.discovermagazine.com
The reason for this turned out to be that Lydia is a chimera, a person with the genetic material of 2 fused eggs. The genes in her hair and the genes from her cervix aren't the same, one being a match for her kids and the other not. For the full explanation and how it relates to sponges, see the link above. Can you imagine the murder mystery?
Filed under: Miscellany
April 20, 2011
i want this book
It doesn't always take elaborate production design to get children to participate, as illustrated by two new unassuming, small-format picture books, both of which would be welcome diversions on an adult's coffee table. In "Ice" the latest tale by Arthur Geisert, a 1996 winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books Award, the author's familiar community of pigs returns for another wordless adventure. Here the troop of porcine adventurers set forth from their parched island in a flying boat in search of a new energy source.
via nytimes.com
Filed under: Miscellany
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