Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sunday night performance of LaBoheme in the corner booth at Bo Diddley's
Sunday night performance of LaBoheme in the corner booth at Bo Diddley's, originally uploaded by TedSher.
Quando me'n vò
Quando me'n vò soletta per la via,
La gente sosta e mira
E la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me,
ricerca in me
Da capo a pie' ...
Ed assaporo allor la bramosia
sottil che da gl'occhi traspira
e dai palesi vezzi intender sa
Alle occulte beltà.
Cosi l’effluvio del desio tutta m'aggira,
felice mi fa, felice me fa!
E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi
Da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben:
le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir,
non le vuoi dir so ben
Ma ti senti morir!
When I walk
When I walk alone in the street
People stop and stare at me
And everyone looks at my beauty,
Looks at me,
From head to foot...
And then I relish the sly yearning
which escapes from their eyes
and which is able to perceive
my most hidden beauties.
Thus the scent of desire is all around me,
and it makes me happy, makes me happy!
And you who know, who remember and yearn
you shrink from me?
I know it very well:
you don't want to express your anguish,
but you feel as if you're dying!
Sunday night performance of LaBoheme in the corner booth at Bo Diddley's
Sunday night performance of LaBoheme in the corner booth at Bo Diddley's, originally uploaded by TedSher.
Che gelida manina,
se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna
é una notte di luna,
e qui la luna
l?abbiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina,
le dirò con due parole
chi son, e che faccio,
come vivo. Vuole?
Chi son? Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo.
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d?amore.
Per sogni e per chimere
e per castelli in aria,
l?anima ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioelli
due ladri, gli occhi belli.
V?entrar con voi pur ora,
ed i miei sogni usati
e i bei sogni miei,
tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non m?accora,
poiché, poiché v?ha preso stanza
la speranza!
Or che mi conoscete,
parlate voi, deh! Parlate.
What a frozen little hand,
let me warm it for you.
What's the use of looking?
We won't find it in the dark.
But luckily
it's a moonlit night,
and the moon
is near us here.
Wait, mademoiselle,
I will tell you in two words,
who I am, what I do,
and how I live. May I?
Who am I? I am a poet.
What do I do? I write.
April 27, 2008
A sculptor named Jack Coke owned this house in 1966 and rented the unfinished attic to an English major and then unknown guitarist Leo Kottke. We gathered most Saturday nights that year in Leo's attic to talk art and politics, get stoned, and dance a little. Sometimes Leo played in the corner by the front window improvising around a tape loop of bells from St. Johns monastic chapel.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
A week with Czech artist Vladimir Havlik
Havlik, left, is an installation and performance artist, painter, and photographer and for the past few days, visiting artist in St. Cloud State University's art and music departments. Scott Miller, electronic composer, and Havlik showed today a preview of their video/music collaboration "Nebe Na Zemi" to be performed in September in Corpus Christi Chapel, a baroque church in Olomouc CZ. At right is Minneapolis video artist Rosemary Williams.
The Holster Event
Students and staff are talking about this week's announced demonstration by advocates of allowing students to wear holstered guns in class, a response to classroom killings in America. Here is this morning's announcement by the university president:
"To the Campus Community:
"We have been informed that about a dozen of our students plan to conduct a peaceful protest this week on behalf of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national effort protesting laws that ban citizens with appropriate permits from carrying fire arms on campuses. The group is not a registered SCSU student organization. The students will be exercising their freedom of expression as any other person may on campus provided that they do not disrupt the business of the university. We are aware that Minnesota State University Mankato Public Safety has also been contacted by representatives of this same group.
"The protest will consist of individuals carrying empty fire arm holsters as they go about their usual business on campus and only talking about the protest if they are engaged by others in conversation. There are no rallies, presentations, marches or gatherings planned. The students may also have literature that they will share with those who engage them in conversation about the issue.
"I recognize that this protest comes at a time when our sensitivities to safety on campus have been heightened by recent events. Nevertheless, I need to remind us all that while individuals in a university community may disagree with the opinions expressed by the protesters, we have the responsibility to be tolerant of their views and must not retaliate against advocates for these views. We must remember that these students have the first amendment right to free speech and the right to protest within university guidelines which prohibit disruption or interference with classes or other university business.
"I am proud of the hard work we do together each day to build a learning community in which all feel free and safe to pursue their dreams. Thank you for your commitment to this work.
Earl H. Potter III
President"
Sunday, April 20, 2008
My first cellphone
I've inherited LaVona's cellphone after I found under the car seat the one she lost several months ago. Understanding how to operate this machine is far more difficult than I had imagined--people around me chatter and click away as mindlessly as riding a bicycle, but the logic of its operation seems foreign to me. In time it will become smooth as silk, but another problem has come up. When the phone is in its case and under my coat, I can't discriminate its ring from muzak and music. If you call me, be patient. I check voice mail every night.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Controversy over the View of Lake George: The library board president's position
The Controversy over the View of Lake George: The library board president's position, originally uploaded by TedSher.
The mayor and the library board president have opposing views about the view from the city library now in its final stages of construction. Original plans provided for a panoramic view of Lake George but when city officials got a sneak preview the other day, the mayor noted with some emotion that the view had been blocked by a structure housing the ventilation and air conditioning system. The local paper's report suggested the architect was embarrassed, that the mayor was annoyed, and that solutions were far too expensive. Today Library Board President Jim Pehler in a progress report to POETS* today shouldered the blame, saying he promoted the additon of a prairie grass "green" roof over the a/c structure that will cleanse roof runoff but effectively block the view of Lake George. And besides, he added, it wasn't all that big a deal: "It's not really a lake, it's more like a pond."
*Piss On Everything Tomorrow's Saturday, an organization of old professors and their spouses.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
a tall blonde walked in
Today, shortly after I arrived at Caribou for a coffee, a tall blonde with remarkable skills at organizing herself into a visual event, took a table near mine. She ordered only a glass of water and opened an appointment calendar, touching several entries with the tip of a pen. Briefly I saw a profile of her finely feature face, enough to know I had never seen her before. She wore black tight boots with stiletto heels and a black skirt and blouse snug enough to demonstrate a beautiful, if athletic figure. Her long tresses appeared to be ironed and perhaps bleached. I took a picture of her. Later a young man with a notebook entered the shop, walked directly to her and asked if she were Sarah. She nodded yes and he asked if she would like a coffee and she said yes. He sat opposite her and began what quickly emerged as a job interview. The conversation was muffled, but I heard mention the figures $250 and $1,400. Although her presence was stunningly refined and cool, her voice was tight and high, her sentences usually ending with giggles.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
April 12, 2008
With apologies to 10 cent designer (whose lust for these shoes is now rewarded).
www.flickr.com/photos/theproletariatdesigner/
www.flickr.com/photos/theproletariatdesigner/2387438239/
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
A sad young painter
I’ve walked this route countless times, from my office to downtown to meet an acquaintance or have a coffee at the Bean on West. St. Germain street. The buildings and streets do not change, from day to day but sometimes they appear to because of something I read the night before, something good enough to sharpen my awareness of the ether. On this day, the route resembled Paul Eliot, a sad young painter I knew in California.
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Dec. 28, 2007
In the waning years of WW II, we were living in Rockville Center, Long Island, I was about 12 and dad was dying of a brain tumor. Mom said NYC was no place for a widow to bring up a child, so she packed us up and we took a train to her childhood home in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. That's where she met and married this widower. He was a clothing salesman and outdoorsman.
Dec. 27, 2007
Hamburger at Petes Place