RAY DI PALMA'S OBEDIENT LAUGHTER (AND UPCOMING READING WITH ELAINE EQUI & JEROME SALA)

My old friend, the poet Ray DiPalma, has a new book of poems out from Seismicity Editions. It's called OBEDIENT LAUGHTER and contains poetry that reveals not only the poet's focus on the possibilities of language in all its manifestations but also, here and there, Ray's edgy humor in expressing that. I've always found a sense of humor in his work, but the depth of his erudition and breadth of his referential mining can be challenging in a world of fleeting and at times cursory interest in the layers of possibilities in language...

Well, I'm getting a little heady myself in trying to characterize this beautifully produced book, the kind I like to own just to hold and look at, let alone read and engage with the original use of language. So, I'll just give some examples from OBEDIENT LAUGHTER:

from the long poem "After Midnight"

"No, I said, it wasn't an unreasonable hour,
you and I could begin again for the last time"

"A man goes into a room, there are no windows, no doors,
how does he get out—the same way he got in"

from the long poem series "Equivoques"

"FIRST COMBED
first served"

A WHITE SPORT COAT
and a pink potato"

"ON HUMAN BLONDAGE
But do the curtain's match the rug?"

"HOLLYWOOD SPECTACLE [SHORT DOSES]
The ongoing refinement of airbags"

"IF HE EVER SUGGESTS SOMETHING WITH A CILANTRO WINE GLAZE
Take him outside and shoot him immediately"

"BETTER THAT
Than another space station"

"MOST OF THEM FEATURING SHEEP
19th c. rustic paintings and recent poetry anthologies."

EFFECTIVE MINIATURIZATION
It's very expensive, very expensive, very."

There's plenty more in this collection of longish serial poems. The poet's multi-approaches to the shape and length of a line, a phrase, a stanza, etc. along with the exploration of cliches juxtaposed with puns juxtaposed with pompous scholarly (or not) pronouncements deliberately distorted or misinterpreted to evoke new meanings and/or uses etc.

The last long serialish poem in the book, "Would, The Notional Field"—"Don't mind if I would." "Plain as would." etc.—might be my favorite. But these two lines from a poem (or section, depending on how you read it, let alone it was intended) in the title sequence sums up the lyricism inherent even in the most jarring of word play:

"of things with no adequate name
in the impatient singing silence"

If you want to see Ray and two other uniquely distinct poets read together, not a common thing to experience (three such different and original poets), be at Studio 26, 179 E. 3rd Street, NYC, at 6PM this Saturday, November 15th. Maybe I'll see you there.

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLY SKIN-CRAWINGLY SCARY...AND SAD, EVEN IF IT'S RIGGED (WHICH I DON'T THINK IT IS)...

I'm not crazy about this photo, I was basically still a kid and having my first official photo in my dress uniform (which I didn't like, much prefer the photo booth shot below of me at the end of basic training with my friend Murph, sans that ugly hat ) at the beginning of my four years in the military (slightly more, actually, to make up for "bad time").

I often say I'm from "a family of cops," because when I was a boy the last older brother at home was a cop, and when he moved out it was to marry the oldest daughter of a cop, and my oldest sister moved out when she married a cop, and one of my cousins next door became a cop, and our Irish immigrant grandfather down the street was a retired cop....etc.

I would never say I came from "a military family"...but...just thinking about Veterans Day this morning, I thought, well me and my three brothers, that lived beyond childhood, not only all served in the military but in every branch, my two oldest during WWII—the oldest in the Army Air Corps (before there was an Air Force) and the second oldest in the Navy (he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery when he passed a few decades ago)—the third in the Army and me in the Air Force, all "enlisted men"—which means we weren't officers just regular troops.

And a lot of other males in my extended clan served in the military, including some who served a lot longer than four years and some who made a lifetime of it (one Godson/nephew served as an MP and married a female veteran and later he became a policeman and is now a detective). So, I guess it's all a matter of perspective. The difference between the clan members who were in the service more recently and when I and my older brothers were in, was the draft. Maybe some of us joined, but some were drafted, and all were impacted by the reality that ours was a citizens' army, with every stratum of society represented.

Not true once we went all voluntary, and even less true now that a lot of the work that used to be done by troops is done by private contractors. I' d like to see a system like Israel has, or even better, like the Kurds (or at least one faction of the Kurds) where all citizens serve in the military, including women (although for Israel the fundamentalist hardliners get to opt out and then use their political influence to push for more belligerent policies) and for at least one Kurdish group, there is a communal philosophy where all are equal etc.

I'm not crazy when people make a big deal out of some family being a "military family" or act as if every person in the military is somehow more heroic or making a bigger sacrifice than anyone else (I'd say those volunteering to work with Ebola patients in Africa are making a bigger sacrifice than many in the military ever do). Though obviously those who served in combat should be taken care of for that sacrifice. I didn't see any combat, so I think of my service time more as an impediment to the life I actually wanted to be living at the time than any great sacrifice. But I am grateful it did pay for much of my higher education on The G.I.Bill.

Let's push for a citizens' army again, with everyone having to take their turn to not only "defend their country" but to see how the military works and to have a say in when and how it should be used. Happy Veterans Day.

HIGHLAND'S "TEXT ME"

Doesn't get any sweeter than this, watching my grandson play drums in a band with his friends that gigs more often than most other bands in The Berkshires and literally watching them grow up on the bandstand (most of them were inches shorter just last summer!)...

SOME WOMEN & ME

Here's some random photos, some I've posted before I think, here and there, of me with various female friends or "co-stars" etc.  interesting to see the passing of time in these shots...

me & my first wife Lee in early 1966 just after I got out of the service

me & "Patriia Hammond" in Dracula's Last Rites 1979

me & an Irish friend, Ailene c. 1980

me & Beverly D'Angelo 1982

me & Linda Kerridge c. 1984

Mimi Lieber & me c. 1985

me & Helena Kallianiotes c. 1987

me & Eve Brandstein c. 1987

me & Katy Sagal c. 1990

me & Jamie Rose c. 2012

SOME NEW TRINITY LISTS

Before my brain op when I was a compulsive list maker, one of the kinds of lists I'd make was of trinities, lists of three top favorite this or that or groups of threes with a common theme etc.

Haven't done one now in years, but watching a little of THE BIG SLEEP tonight my brain started making an obvious list of the three great Bogie/Bacall movies and then I thought of doing a few more of other favorite actors so here's what I came up with:

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
THE BIG SLEEP
KEY LARGO

THE WILD ONES
ON THE WATERFRONT
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

THE GODFATHER
LAST TANGO IN PARIS
BURN

PUBLIC ENEMY
ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES
WHITE HEAT

BABY FACE
THE LADY EVE
DOUBLE INDEMNITY

CITY STREETS
STREET SCENE
DEAD END

THIS GUN FOR HIRE
THE BLUE DAHLIA
THE GLASS KEY

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
I MARRIED A WITCH
SO PROUDLY WE HAIL!

RED RIVER
A PLACE IN THE SUN
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

STAGECOACH
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON
THE SEARCHERS

DANCE GIRL DANCE
HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY
THE QUIET MAN

(I ran out of inspiration)

INTERSTELLAR

Went to see this last night with my oldest son, Miles, on his suggestion and was glad I did. Even though I'd read good things about INTERSTELLAR (and a few bad things), the few ads I'd seen hadn't attracted me so I wouldn't have gone to see it on my own but rather waited til it came out on cable. (The poster above gives an idea of the ad campaign, which relied too heavily on Matthew McConaughey who despite his recent acting triumphs had become too ubiquitous for my taste. Especially after those so easily mockable Lincoln commercials.)

So I was expecting the same kind of disappointment I felt with GRAVITY, which I had avoided on the big screen as well and so missed out on half the fun according to its fans. Well, the same might apply here. I don't know if INTERSTELLAR will work as well on a small screen, but in the movie theater it held my attention for almost every second of every scene and that's saying a lot for a longer than usual movie.

The acting is terrific, including MccConaughy, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastiain (and Ellen Burstyn in a cameo role that's as good as any other thing she's ever done, except maybe REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, her greatest performance), and the special effects impressive (if a tad overblown at times) but it's the writing, despite the occasional flaws, that makes this story work and finally fulfills the potential displayed by director/writer Christopher Nolan in his previously most successful film before INTERSTELLAR (for my taste) MEMENTO.

I grabbed my armrests a few times and shed a couple of tears (his last few movies were too cynical for me to even engage emotionally with), at least once if not more, and felt totally engaged, like I said, for almost every second of this flick (despite its contrivances, which only resonated with classic Hollywood for me). It moves up to the top of the great movies about fathers list, up there with FIELD OF DREAMS, only that was a father and son story ultimately, while this is a father and daughter movie. I highly recommend you catch it on a big screen with a great sound system and let it take you for a compellingly entertaining ride.