April 2nd and Ninety Degrees

April is National Poetry Month. Our April Fool's Day in Bedford, Texas blossomed into summer with Opening Day of Ranger's baseball and the first pitch a balmy (!) ninety degrees. Let's see what poet Edna St.Vincent Millay had to say about April.

Spring

To what purpose, April do you return again?

Beauty is not enough

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

of little leaves opening stickily

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe

The spikes of the crocus

The smell of the earth is good

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only under ground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots

Life in itself

Is nothing.

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

A Little Madness in the Spring - Emily Dickinson

A little Madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King

But God be with the Clown -

Who ponders this tremendous scene -

This whole Experiment of Green -

As if it were his own!

I shall ponder with you the madness of spring (and in Edna's case the decision to use the word maggots in her poem) as I rest my weary bones (from garden projects) in a patio chair.

A Few Interesting Links I Want To Share

I normally don't do these type of posts but I have come across some rather interesting things on the Internet that I feel compelled to share with you.  They have occupied quite a bit of my time and hopefully they will do the same for you.  This may turn into a semi regular thing as I find items that excite me so much that I have to share them.

I have Sheila over at Book Journey to blame for the first item I want to share with you.  She reviewed an audio book of Dracula by Bram Stoker and it reminded me of my favorite version of it.  I have always loved The Mercury Theater on the Air version that Orson Wells produced back in the 1930s.  I own it on CD but I figured I could find it online for others to listen to as well.  I eventually found it as part of a free podcast on iTunes.  It's called The Horror! (Old Time Radio).  You can subscribe to get a new podcast downloaded to your iTunes account every week.  If you don't have iTunes go to RelicRadio.com and you can not only find The Horror station but many others as well.  I've been listening for days now to old time radio shows that most times are more entertaining than television.  They knew how to tell stories back then.  Today's scribes could learn a lesson from them.  If you want to listen to Dracula go to this page and it's listed along with some other great shows.

I'm a big fan of public radio and one of the shows I listen to quite often is The Diane Rehm Show.  She is an excellent interviewer and can readily discuss politics, economics, defense, movies, literature, and social policy at any given time.  I found two book discussions to be very interesting.  On 3/21/11 she talked with Robert Lane Greene, author of "You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity".  It was an entertaining look at language and the way people use it, most times without thinking about it.  On 3/10/11 she talked with David Brooks, the author of "The Social Animal:  The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement."  I've since seen him on various shows discussing his book, which I really want to read.  If you click on the titles of the books it will take you to the corresponding episode of the show.

I think most of you know that I'm a huge fan of Daryl Gregory, the author of Pandemonium and The Devil's Alphabet.  He has a new book, titled Raising Stony Mayhall, slated to come out in June.  I can't wait to get my hands on it, but in the meantime the author generously put the prologue and first chapter on his site for everyone to read.  After reading it, I was even more excited to get hold of the book.

The last item I want to leave you with is a gorgeous song from Chris Botti.  It features Gladys Knight on vocals.  So please enjoy their rendition of "Lover Man".

Foo Fighters - Arlandria

Ayer se descubrió una nueva canción del nuevo disco de Foo Fighters Wasting Light. La canción se llama "Arlandria" y al igual que las dos anteriores se trata de una muy buena canción.
Esta quizás sea la más "Foo Fighters" de las tres, ya que las dos anteriores nos mostraban una música y una voz más agresiva. De "Arlandria" destaco su magnífico estribillo aunque se trata de una soberbia canción globalmente.
Faltan 2 semanas para que el nuevo trabajo vea la luz y espero que todo el álbum esté al nivel de las canciones que hasta ahora se han conocido. Creo, sin duda, que va a ser uno de los discos del año claramente.
Aquí os queda "Arlandria":