Wahey!!!! It is raining!

We haven't had a single drop for EIGHT weeks. It's the hottest, driest summer since 1976.

I think I might strip off and go out into the garden; it will be great to feel cool. Don't worry, it's secluded, so I won't frighten the horses :D

Jayne

...on second thoughts... it's now a torrential thunderstorm, so I'm staying indoors!

This event will be live-streamed at the above link, if anyone wants to check it out. The San Diego hub's rehearsal last night at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral was awesome.

Jayne, here's a video cued to the point just before the "torrential thunderstorm" part of Eric Whitacre's setting of Octavio Paz's Spanish text in "Cloudburst," which Whitacre will be conducting at this concert.

Virtual respite from Sirius better than none
 

Thank you for sharing, Julie. That torrent brightened up my hour so blistering now! Even virtual relief these dog days is welcome. I love thunderstorms, and I love this thread. Such a brilliant idea for one and such that cannot get old! Rght?!

Tonight I got a few beers with Andrew Szilvasy and he is good people.

My wife and I celebrated our anniversary today, and got an extra seven hours of it by crossing the Atlantic. :-)

Cheers,
John

I have five weeks off work (woohoo!) and just booked tickets to see Macbeth at the RSC in Stratford upon Avon. Christopher Eccleston is Macbeth - the guy who was the first of the 'new' Doctor Whos.

'Lay on Macduff!!'

Hi,

Congrats to all <(:-) (party hat)

Earlier this month, I was asked to join the publications review team for Arthritis Research UK and Arthritis Care. I accepted, and currently I'm looking over an introduction to arthritis. There'll be lots more to come!

I'm still writing poetry, just for fun.

Best wishes,
Fliss

I learned that Aaron has a lot of awesome poetry memorized and rattling in brain. It was good conversations and decent beer (though good enough to have a few of them).

Today I

– put the finishing touches on the first full draft of my dissertation (introduction, conclusion, acknowledgments and all)
– found out that a paper of mine was substantially cited in a major reference work in my field
– had a poem accepted for publication in Antiphon, my first acceptance in 14 months
– learned that one of my good friends passed his dissertation defense
– bought Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey.

One could say I'm happy.

And all this happened after having a few drinks with me? Correlation does not prove causation, but, I mean, come on. I don't want to take all the credit for what looks like an awesome day, but we did talk about the Aeneid and Odyssey...

I give you all the credit.

I did also get completely and utterly schooled, I mean just flat out demolished, by a bottle of seltzer water this morning, so it wasn't all good.

That sounds like a good day, Aaron. Congratulations!

Cheers,
John

It is raining. Proper rain, steady and persistent. Oh, happy me.

It was worth almost severing my right tit to repair the leaky lower spigot in my biggest water butt. All jury rigged with plastic bits from the recycling bin and consolidated with candlewax. The level is now way past it and rising. Rising!

A Dubliner told me they went forty days without rain this summer, the hottest since 1976. I'm glad you've got some rain.

Cheers,
John

Rain, rain, thunder and lightning! I'm happy for Jayne, Ann, and all the formerly parched Brits here now that it's streaming down your windows! Someone very close to me had her house endangered by the Colorado fires for weeks and, in addition to a fire break dug around their town, the rain fell and put out the rest of the fires. Such a great ending to a deadly story... now we need to hope for California's relief as well.

My good news? Was entranced by a concert of Sufi songs a few nights ago, outdoors at Poets House, nyc. It was superb! A spiritual high and totally beyond words. Good crowd there too, sitting on the rocks of beautiful Teardrop Park in Battery Park City (as well as on chairs). Only a 1/2 block from the Hudson, behind the Poets House building, with delicious breezes. Fortunately musician-singer-translator (from the Persian) Amir Vihab also provided commentary and some of the Persian words/lines plus some English translations. Would love for Poets House to have more events like this. Here's more about it: http://citylore.org/event/sufi-songs...t-poets-house/

Terese, that sounds like a marvelous evening! I adore the Sufi poets I know. I haven't read Taher or Yunus Emre, but I must get around to them. Lucky you!

It does sound lovely. Sadly my impression of Sufism these days is one of persecution:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Sufis

Cheers,
John

Just think of a world that some day is a blend of the best cultural expressions and practices and art. I would come back for that : )

Well, I finally met a Spherian in the flesh when Ann Drysdale took a little road/rail trip to visit my neck of the woods on Tuesday. I made her a veggie chilli and took her to the pub. It was lovely. And she is lovely.

Ah, but that too, too solid Spherian flesh almost resolved itself into a dew under the influence of good grub, plum porter and excellent company, so this is my good news, too.

Just so you know, I am now a Kelsay poet.

https://kelsaybooks.com/products/just-so-you-know

Hi Edmund,

Congratulations! I love your blurb.

Cheers,
John

Congratulations, Ed!

My good news is that I've just ordered a copy of your book. I look forward to reading it, and if you fancy a trip to London some time you can sign it for me and I'll buy you lunch :D

Jayne

Thank you, John and Jayne.

Jayne, I can't think of a better reason to go to London. Do you have Taco Bell there?

Well, I didn't know what Taco Bell was, but it appears (to my surprise) that we do, Ed. My nearest one is 50 miles away, in the wrong direction from London, so you'll just have to come and stay chez moi. The catering here is excellent, I have to say (modestly!); I reckon I can compete with Taco Bell.

Jayne

Jayne: "I reckon I can compete with Taco Bell."
I've enjoyed this whole exchange, and I just have to say: Porque no los dos?!
It's an old taco ad. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqgSO8_cRio

Cheers,
John

I successfully defend my dissertation. : )

Bravo! Mine was way too many moons ago, but what a relief it was.

Congrats, Aaron!

That's huge, Aaron. Congratulations.

Susan

My good news: I have spent my entire morning addressing W-9 forms for funds from writing -- an appearance at Tulane University in a few more days, my review coming out in "First Things," placements for Timothy Murphy, coming in for my office as his literary executor, etc.

It has been a beautiful, successful day, so far :o

J

I sold or gave away all my copies of "Just So You Know." I ordered another batch. Probably should have quit while I was ahead, but every poet needs a supply of books on hand for his heirs to dispose of.

It could be worse, Ed. As I recall, Thoreau's first book, A Week, left him with 700 unsold or gifted books! Some of my own leftovers keep a table and bookcase even and serve as coasters for my Tanq and Tonic.

What is the most books any of you have ever sold (or disposed of). Post it here as your GOOD NEWS and my Bad News.

Although I think you mean "in total", Ed... I once did a reading at which I sold twenty-two books!

Jayne

That's impressive, Jayne. I imagine most books are sold through readings. I have to get out more.

Jayne Osborn is a saint
 

Whoop-de-do, I kinda love you, Jayne Osborn. What's up? Jayne was pointed out to me by an expatriate UK spherean living in the US as a possible helper in a task I thought was impossible. That task was to get ahold (NOW!) of information on three pages of a rare Italian book on Roman consuls that doesn't exist in any US library according to World Cat, and isn't for sale anywhere for any practical purposes. It's almost as rare as green penguins even in the UK, and it is now 71years old, published in that year 1947. Without much hope I'd tentatively asked a small handful of sphereans to see if they could nip into one of the relatively few European libraries where it exists, and -- without batting an eye -- Jayne jumped into her 12 cylinder 800 HP Maserati, drove speedily and cautiously to one of those awesome university libraries somewhere in England, waved her credentials, swooped to the upper vaults, photoed those pages, the title page, and for good measure its spine, and effortlessly (almost) emailed me the pictures, which I am digesting for immediate use next week at a synod of classicists in another US state. I will reimburse her for jet fuel and incidentals.
Thank You, Jayne!

It was a pleasure to accept the challenge, Allen, and I'm delighted that I was able to help you.
I felt like an MI5 agent hunting down a secret document, with all the security checks I had to undergo!

The other thread about me was a lovely gesture. Thank you. I'll go and post something there too.

Jayne

Just got back from the cinema, having seen Bohemian Rhapsody.

It is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury blew me away - and Gwilym Lee is more like Brian May than Brian May is! :D

I'm a big Queen fan, always have been, but this film is simply breathtaking, with its skilful acting and portrayal of the band's rise to worldwide fame.
(I've just read a few lukewarm reviews by film critics, but I loved every minute of it!)

Jayne

Over to the Movies thread...

We don’t yet have a Ballet Thread. Nevertheless, last night my spouse and I saw a performance at New York city’s City Center for a precisionist synchronized swimming revival of George Balanchine and Rodgers & Hart’s “I Married An Angel,” whose humorous ensemble performances were better than clockwork, and whose prima ballerina exhibition of her toe dancing, angel gestures, and ground level flying were impossible to differentiate from flawless, as well as light-hearted. (Just kidding about the “swimming”! No water was involved anywhere!). Her name is Sara Mearns, and she is married to the Director and Choreographer, Joshua Bergasse. (Balanchine married his prima ballerina, Vera Zorina, onstage at the New Year’s Eve performance of 1938 - alas, perhaps, she was not his only wife.) Anyway, Milady Mearns seemed to so enjoy being impossibly adept and clever at her metier that she brought to mind impossibly adept and clever performances wherever these appear.