Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 42
March 4, 2012
"Song of the Red Cross," Eden Phillpotts
Song of the Red Cross
O gracious ones, we bless your name
Upon our bended knee;
The voice of love with tongue of flame
Records your charity.
Your hearts, your lives right willingly ye gave,
That sacred ruth might shine;
Ye fell, bright spirits, brave amongst the brave,
Compassionate, divine.
Example from your lustrous deeds
The conqueror shall take,
Sowing sublime and fruitful seeds
Of aidos in this ache.
And when our griefs have passed on gloomy wing,
When friend and foe are s...
March 2, 2012
February 29, 2012
"True Love," Wisława Szymborska
True Love
True love. Is it normal,
is it serious, is it practical?
What does the world get from two people
who exist in a world of their own?
Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason,
drawn randomly from millions but convinced
it had to happen this way—in reward for what?
For nothing.
The light descends from nowhere.
Why on these two and not on others?
Doesn't this outrage justice? Yes it does.
Doesn't it disrupt our painstakingly erected principles,
and cast the moral from the peak? Yes on ...
February 28, 2012
A post about Rutabagas and Unicorns
I have a post on Rutabagas and Unicorns: The Windflower by Laura London over at Heroes and Heartbreakers, talking about how the novel humorously depicts the heroine's sexual awakening.
I might post a bit more about the novel, which is a Romance Classic, later on in this blog.
February 27, 2012
In which I watch "Hamlet" starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart
A friend of mine who works for a British company had to spend a few months in England at one time. Lucky woman, she was able to see David Tennant as Hamlet, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, live and in person. I had to wait for the DVD of the movie made about six months after the play's run ended, and then make time to watch it when I was in the right mood for it. It was worth the wait. Patrick Stewart completely owned the role of Claudius, and Tennant's Hamlet felt, to me, more l...
February 26, 2012
"The Fallen Subaltern," Herbert Asquith
The Fallen Subaltern
The starshells float above, the bayonets glisten;
We bear our fallen friend without a sound;
Below the waiting legions lie and listen
To us, who march upon their burial-ground.
Wound in the flag of England, here we lay him;
The guns will flash and thunder o'er the grave;
What other winding sheet should now array him,
What other music should salute the brave?
As goes the Sun-god in his chariot glorious,
When all his golden banners are unfurled,
So goes the...
February 24, 2012
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance…IN 3-D!!!
Why, yes, I did see this movie.
The night after it opened, why do you ask? *blink, blink*
Dudes, I actually bought some issues of the original Ghost Rider comic back in the day. I didn't see the first movie adaptation, though…didn't even realize there had been one. My attention was drawn to this one by a really excellent trailer online, that was sort of like eating an entire bucket of Pop Rocks.
Here is my list of what I liked about this movie.
1. Idris Elba as Moreau.
2. The part...
February 23, 2012
Mary Jo Putney's One Perfect Rose
I have a new post at Heroes and Heartbreakers: The Mortal Anguish in Mary Jo Putney's One Perfect Rose.
February 22, 2012
Recent DNFs
I haven't done this in a while, but I have had quite a few recent DNF books. (Did Not Finish.)
No, I will not reveal titles or authors even if you ask me. Yes, I am attempting to avoid mentioning any details which would aid in identifying these works of fiction.
1. My, this writing is…serviceable. I keep mentally editing as I read. Still, the characters ought to be interesting, from the blurb…. No. They aren't. In fact, if the protagonist namedrops one more fashionable object in p...
February 20, 2012
Thoughts on Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It
Watching Helen Mirren in "The Tempest" got me in the mood for more Shakespeare. I've loved Kenneth Branagh's movie adaptations since his "Henry V," which I saw in the theater four or five times, and I have been collecting his various Shakespeare movies on DVD. I hadn't yet seen his 2006 version of "As You Like It," so I obtained the DVD and watched it in one go.
This adaptation was very interesting visually; it was set late in the 19th century, when Japan had opened itself to outside...
