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Michael Parker's Journal
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Friday, December 30, 2005 |
Have you wondered what color you were born under?
Michelle Bernhardt, the creator of Colorstrology, not only has wondered this but has built a study around it. Michelle believes that each day of the year has its own vibration, which emits its own color, if I'm understanding that correctly. Maybe it is hogwash. But that didn't stop me from seeing what color represents my birthdate; Thistle. Consider its meaning:
A lot of people born on this day do great things with their lives. You can often be found in charitable organizations. You want to lend a helping hand whether you are fighting for artistic causes or the rights of animals. Some of the difficult lessons in life involve your own immediate family. Your personal color helps you release hurt feelings and old wounds. Wearing, meditating, or surrounding yourself with the color Thistle combats self-doubt. Thistle reminds you to embrace each new day with a renewed sense of wonder.
The jury is out right now in regards to how I feel about this. But that's not the point of this exercise. What I want to know is "What color are you?" So go to it and leave your answer in the Comments window.
Colorstrology is sponsored by Pantone, the only source outside of Martha Stewart that could come up with names for over 365 different colors! (While you are there, check out the About Colorstrology page to learn more.)
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005 |
I am currently in the act of writing a review of Sally Potter's film Yes, starring Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian, Sam Neill, and Shirley Henderson. Since Sally Potter wrote the whole script in iambic pentameter, I thought it fitting to be the subject of my column this month. Stay tuned for more details.
I introduced the film in June when I first read of its release. To read that post, click here.
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Monday, December 26, 2005 |
It is the time of season when film critics the world over list their top ten films of the year. Don't expect mine anytime soon. I’ll be displaying mine around January or February, when I get the opportunity to watch the films that finally get released to my low-end-of-the-totem-pole city.
If you enjoy reading film reviews, then you probably have a film critic that you follow and read, because you trust their judgment on what constitutes good film-making.
Of all the film critics, I faithfully read Roger Ebert. And I have to admit that when he was paired with Gene Siskel, I followed Siskel more than Ebert. Siskel was the champion of films and tales with a humanist bent. Ebert seemed more the conservative. And I say this not in a way to paint Ebert in a bad light. For I have always liked Ebert.
But after Siskel’s sudden passing from brain cancer, Ebert transformed. Or, maybe I did. Somewhere along this change, Ebert’s reviews became poignantly meaningful to me. His grasp of history, U.S. and global politics, religion, social sciences, psychology, and of the human struggle is simply impressive! But I love Ebert’s reviews because they aren’t just about the film but also of the time the film makes a print upon history. Like Siskel, he too is a great champion of and for the good of humanity. Writing this off the cuff, I am kicking myself for not keeping a list of some of my favorite Ebert reviews. Some, reviews that come immediately to mind are: Mystic River, Ponette, Red, The Incredible Lightness of Being, Being John Malcovich, Bringing Out the Dead, Titanic, Schindler’s List, Hotel Rwanda, Crash, American Beauty, Eyes Wide Shut, to name a slight few.
What I am trying to say is that if I could pick a writer that exemplifies a humanitarian, it would be Roger Ebert.
To read Ebert’s top ten films of 2005, click here.
You may be asking: What films are making the top ten lists the most this year? For this information, I like to use Metacritics website. According to their compiled list of critics top ten lists, the most acclaimed films of the year are the following (in order of most occurrences, followed by how many number 1 rankings they received, for example 3/1 indicates that the film had 3 number 1 rankings):
Brokeback Mountain (19 - 2/1)
The Squid and the Whale (16 - 3/1)
Munich (15 - 1/1)
A History of Violence (13 - 3/1)
King Kong (10 - 1/1)
Grizzly Man (9 - 1/1)
Capote (9 - 1/1)
* There are a number of other films that have received recognition on the top ten lists. To see how they rank up to these most acclaimed films, click here.
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Friday, December 23, 2005 |
I received an email today from Lorna Dee Cervantes, associate professor of English at the University of Colorado and critically acclaimed poet. It was in response to the challenge to write a poem about the photo of the amazing mammatus clouds that were taken over Hastings, Nebraska in 2004.
Without further adieu, here is Lorna’s submission:
MAMMATUS
by Lorna Dee Cervantes
Gut roped in the sky,
you and I, an anomaly,
a rarer occurrence. You kick
the wind up to wind the threads.
Your light, a burgeoning there
among the dark filters.
Twisted fist of my making,
you, some squeezing finger,
a trigger of hair sensitive
to what is not there. Where
are your hands in this gripping
of the neck? Where, your charm?
Your cauldron? Ominous in appearance,
your frown, the tornedo
of your forrowed brow. I wait
for your aftermath
like an afterbirth, a thick subsiding.
The sinking air, whisper of crystal—
pouchlike love, a yearning back down
to the earth. I hold you here, suspended
in rain, the descending choir, the anvil
strain. And, I am lost to you
on the underside, still holding
this woven nest of warm passion
and hanging.
Lorna's accomplishments and accolades and awards are numerous. Consider this: Lorna has a PhD in philosophy and aesthetics. She received a Pushcart Prize for Best Poem in 1980; an American Book Award (Before Columbus Foundation) in 1982; Outstanding Chicana Scholar in 1993; two-time National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant for Poetry winner in 1978 and 1993; Lila Wallace/Readers Digest Writer’s Award 1995 - 1998; the Paterson Prize for Best Book of Poetry; the Latino Literature Award, guest poet at the Millennium Poetry Event in the White House in 1999, and just recently was a finalist (along with Reg Saner & Mary Crow) for Poet Laureate of Colorado.
Lorna has authored three books of poetry, two of them award-winning books-- Emplumada and From the Cables of Genocide: Poems on Love and Hunger. The third book is released this January-- Drive: The First Quartet.
Her poetry has appeared in 200 highly-recognized anthologies and too-numerous-to-count e-zines and magazines. She has performed her poetry twice at the Library of Congress, & also presented at the Walker Arts Center, The Dodge Poetry Festival, New York YMCA, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Vassar, Wellesley, and numerous other venues, university & college campuses in the US, Mexico, Spain & Colombia.
To read more of her most impressive bio, visit her blog, Lorna Dee Cervantes.
To read more about Lorna Dee Cervantes, please click here, here, and here.
If you are interested in reading some of Lorna’s poetry on the web, I recommend the following:
After the Wake; Poet’s Progress ; Summer Ends Too Soon ; A Blue Wake for New Orleans (which appears in the same publication as my poem "Out of the Lower 9"), and Freeway 280.
11:48:38 PM | |
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Thursday, December 22, 2005 |
Monday morning, J slipped on an icy sidewalk on her way out to the car (from dropping the kids off at the babysitter's house). She landed on her hand and head, breaking her wrist in two places and giving her a severe concussion. Neighbors driving by noticed her laying on the ground. No one knows how long she was unconscious, though the neighbors do say she was out. They helped J up onto her feet and walked her into the babysitter's house.
Nearly immediately, she started showing signs of a concussion. She became confused and dizzy, then vomitted. So the babysitter and her husband took her immediately to the ER.
When I had reached the ER, J had a huge goose-egg on the side of her head the size of my fist. I spoke with the ER physician. He told me that she had failed all of his questions, among them the basic what day and month is it? Upon further questioning, everyone realized, especially me, that her short-term memory was gone. Specifically, she could not remember anything that occurred after Thanksgiving day.
Good news came our way around 1:00 that afternoon. Her CAT scan results showed no sign of fractures to the skull; nor were there any signs of internal damage or bleeding.
We were in the ER until 4:20 that afternoon. It took her that long for her memory to start clicking and her nausea to recede to the point that she could sit up long enough to get home.
When I took her home, I had to monitor her. At first, I checked in on her after her first one hour sleep, which the doctor requested she take. And then, I had to check on her every four hours. This is a critical time for patients who have suffered concussions. Once patients recover their memory in the ER, there should be no signs of regression after that. So I got little sleep that first night.
Today, J is walking around without assistance, eating normally, and able to do as much as she can except for things requiring her right hand, which is in a soft cast.
In closing, I witnessed something in my kids behavior that was odd. When the kids first came home that first evening, I had J sleeping in the LazyBoy chair that we had moved into the living room. They didn't go over to say "Hi" or to hug her. They barely looked at her. I have brought this up to friends and I have to agree with them on their impressions--I think they were afraid that J wasn't doing well. Maybe they were protecting themselves from the darkest of possibilities, wondering "What if she doesn't make it?"
Once J was more talkative that next day, they were more relaxed and talked to her. Truly an odd thing to see. I have every intention on asking them their thoughts as soon as things calm down.
If I don't get time to post, I wish you all a very happy holiday season!
10:29:23 PM | |
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Saturday, December 17, 2005 |
Tonight is one of the biggest nights of the year and J and I are going to be a part of it! It always is a big night when U2 comes into town. Showcasing a captivating Irish swagger and politically-infused and humanitarian-ized lyrics, U2 never disappoints. And I would be remiss if I did not thank my good friend Brian C for this gift. THANK YOU, Brian!
Before I got my new job, Brian and I carpooled to and from work for five years and many of those trips included conversations about "the best of U2" – the top ten U2 songs and favorite five CDs. Brian’s favorite U2 song is "One." Mine? Possibly "Mysterious Ways," though I love many other songs just as much. Consider some of my all-time favorites:
Elevation
Vertigo
With or Without You
One
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Desire
Discotheque
MoFo
Beautiful Day
Walk On
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Yahweh
Some of their accolades throughout the past 25 years sum up some of my thoughts, as well as Brian’s, perfectly, (from Wikipedia’s page on U2):
80's: Rolling Stone magazine called U2 the "Band of the 80s", saying that "for a growing number of rock-and-roll fans, U2 has become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters."
91 - 94: Rolling Stone magazine declaring that U2 had "proven that the same penchant for epic musical and verbal gestures that leads many artists to self-parody can, in more inspired hands, fuel the unforgettable fire that defines great rock & roll."
96 -98: Regarding Pop and PopMart Tour: Rolling Stone Magazine even went so far a claiming U2 had "defied the odds and made some of the greatest music of their lives".
Congratulations are also in order. U2 has been awarded with five Grammy nominations for 2005:
Best Album of the Year : How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Song of the Year (Best Lyrics): "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal: "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
Best Rock Song: "City Of Blinding Lights"
Best Rock Album: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
I’ve believed in the power of this new album since it was released. These nominations are the capstone to a project that really marks one of their best. Read my review of it here.
On the heels of these nominations comes this great achievement: Billboard has just reported that U2's Vertigo tour is the top-grossing tour of the year. From Billboard:
Vertigo reported grosses of $260 million and drew more than 3 million people to 90 concerts, all of which were sell-outs.
In addition, U2's June 24-27 run at Dublin's Croke Park was named Boxscore of the year, grossing more than $21.1 million and drawing nearly 247,000 fans.
U2 is also well known for their humanitarian work. Bono is perhaps the best-known advocate for AIDS cure funding and research, alleviating debts to third-world countries, and helping the impoverished in Africa. U2 has supported the following human rights causes:
Amnesty International
Greenpeace
African Well Fund
Support for Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi
DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa)
Chernobyl Children's Project
Jubilee Debt Campaign
The ONE Campaign
Great human beings and great rock artists. May U2 rock on forever.
12:29:51 PM | |
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Tuesday, December 13, 2005 |
On November 13, I posted an introduction to the poetry of Neil Aitken.
Today, Neil posted news that his amazing poem "After Neruda" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Those of you who know me understand that when I use the adjective "amazing," it means I have been utterly smitten and impressed. So, if you think I throw "amazing" around too much, I guess I’m easily smitten and impressed. Nonetheless, Neil’s poem, which I had not read before tonight, earns the adjective. Period. You can read the poem on his website, here.
If you have not checked out Neil’s poetry, please click on my link to my introduction. Therein, you will find links to some of his poems on the web. You will not be disappointed.
Congratulations Neil!
9:12:39 PM | |
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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded their nominations for the 63rd Golden Globe Awards on January 16, 2006. And the big winner is George Clooney, stealing away nominations for Best Director (Good NIght, and Good Luck), Best Screenplay (Good Night, and Good Luck), and Best Performance for an Actor in a Supporting Role (Syriana).
(I'm also thinking that Clooney was one of the producers of Good Night, and Good Luck. If this is the case, then the Best Picture nomination also counts as another possible statue in his pocket.)
The film winning the most nominations is Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee, at 8.
For more information regarding the nominations for television and film, visit the website.
Here is a rundown of the nominations for film:
BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardner
Good Night, and Good Luck
A History of Violence
Match Point
BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
Woody Allen, Match Point
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Peter Jackson, King Kong
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Fernando Meirelles, The Constant Gardener
Steven Spielberg, Munich
BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
The Producers
The Squid and the Whale
Walk the Line
BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
WOODY ALLEN, Match Point
GEORGE CLOONEY & GRANT HESLOV, Good Night, and Good Luck
PAUL HAGGIS & BOBBY MORESCO, Crash
TONY KUSHNER & ERIC ROTH, Munich
LARRY McMURTRY & DIANA OSSANA, Brokeback Mountain
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
MARIA BELLO, A History of Violence
FELICITY HUFFMAN, Transamerica
GWYNETH PALTROW, Proof
CHARLIZE THERON, North Country
ZIYI ZHANG, Memoirs of a Geisha
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
RUSSELL CROWE, Cinderella Man
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, Capote
TERRENCE HOWARD, Hustle & Flow
HEATH LEDGER, Brokeback Mountain
DAVID STRATHAIRN, Good Night, and Good Luck
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
JUDI DENCH, Mrs. Henderson Presents
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, Pride & Prejudice
LAURA LINNEY, The Squid and the Whale
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, The Family Stone
REESE WITHERSPOON, Walk the Line
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -MUSICAL OR COMEDY
PIERCE BROSNAN, The Matador
JEFF DANIELS, The Squid and the Whale
JOHNNY DEPP, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
NATHAN LANE, The Producers
CILLIAN MURPHY, Breakfast on Pluto
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, Walk the Line
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, Match Point
SHIRLEY MacLAINE, In Her Shoes
FRANCES McDORMAND, North Country
RACHEL WEISZ, The Constant Gardener
MICHELLE WILLIAMS, Brokeback Mountain
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
GEORGE CLOONEY, Syriana
MATT DILLON, Crash
WILL FERRELL, The Producers
PAUL GIAMATTI, Cinderella Man
BOB HOSKINS, Mrs. Henderson Presents
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Kung Fu Hustle (CHINA)
Master of the Crimson Armor aka The Promise (CHINA)
Joyeux Noel (MERRY CHRISTMAS) (FRANCE)
Paradise Now (PALESTINE)
Tsotsi (SOUTH AFRICA)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, Syriana
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD, King Kong
GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA, Brokeback Mountain
HARRY GREGSON, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
JOHN WILLIAMS, Memoirs of a Geisha
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
"A LOVE THAT WILL NEVER GROW OLD" –- Brokeback Mountain
"CHRISTMAS IN LOVE" — Christmas In Love
"THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A SHOW ON BROADWAY" — The Producers
"TRAVELIN’ THRU" — Transamerica
"WUNDERKIND" — The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
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Thursday, December 08, 2005 |
Yesterday, I informed you that Rae Pater received a prestigious Pushcart nomination. And yes, I mentioned that this was her third nomination. Amazing accomplishment. Well, Rae stopped by and noticed my Mammatus Clouds challenge. She quickly wrote up and submitted an amazing poem. Thanks, Rae.
Priestess of the Moon Goes Downtown Friday Night
by Rae Pater
She carries the moon upon her finger,
sets her alabaster soles upon
the concrete and steel viaducts
of the world.
Her lips have thinned
to a finer chain of language
and seek a command of magic.
Neons from restaurants and bars
flick hard against the moss
and moonlight shifting in her iris.
She has misplaced her century.
She is a step out of time
with suburban life.
Her natural path is a narrow track
crosshatched by others between
black-boned hills beneath
the bellies and bottoms
of a mammatus sky.
She treads in the wake of tornadoes
dancing to a hip-hop rhythm
while her thoughts waltz to violins
in the temple of the moon.
10:52:03 PM | |
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Wednesday, December 07, 2005 |
I would like to thank J.B. and Michelle for leaving comments in the form of poetry. They were both exceptional thoughts:
Mammatus Clouds
by J.B. Rowell
Lord, it can’t be real
your entrails stretched and twisted
gauzing storm scrubbed sky
Mammatus Clouds
by Michelle Buchanan
mammatus, mother
Earth, the egg
in the womb of nature
I wasn't going to write a poem on this until I read Michelle's post regarding David Harsent's workshopping task to write about conflict. And this photo came to mind. So I hope you like my attempt, "Mammatus Clouds" by Michael Parker:
There is evidence here.
God is preoccupied. In this
quaking of clouds heaven buckles
and the ethereal ground fights for
normalcy against some gray poison
sliding off the flat blue sky, slipping
into the sleep of a soldier trapped in
its trenches dreaming plagues and
pestilence seen in death
visions.
We watch and watch and wait
for the sound of missiles cracking
against a troubled expression of sky
we wait for the electric rods to drop
wait for the bursting of a thousand fires
and wait for the colored rain to start--
a leaching of tears we do not know nor
do we know how God stays silent
now.
10:44:52 PM | |
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Rae Pater receives a Pushcart Poetry nomination. This is her third nomination. Read her nominated poem here.
Congratulations!
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Monday, December 05, 2005 |
My very good friend Rex Winn introduced me to the poet Grace Paley, who has not only been known for her literature and poetry, but also for activism for the cause of peace and feminism.
Born in the Bronx in 1922, Grace Paley was the first recipient of the Edith Wharton Citation of Merit. She is the author of three highly acclaimed collections of short fiction--The Little Disturbances of Man (1959), Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974), and Later the Same Day (1985)--as well as three collections of poetry. She received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1961, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1966, and an award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1970. And in the Spring of 1987, she was awarded a Senior Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, in recognition of her lifetime contribution to literature.
The first poem I read of Paley's was titled "In the Bus." Rex counts this as one of the classics.
In the Bus
Somewhere between Greenfield and Holyoke
snow became rain
and a child passed through me
as a person moves through mist
as the moon moves through
a dense cloud at night
as though I were a cloud or mist
as child passed through me
On the highway that lies
across miles of stubble
and tobacco barns our bus speeding
speeding disordered the slanty rain
and a girl with no name naked
wearing the last nakedness of
childhood breathed in me
once no
two breaths
a sigh she whispered Hey you
begin again
Again?
again again you'll see
it's easy begin again long ago
For more reading on Grace Paley, read her interview with Salon magazine about the moral obligation of writers, from October of 1998. Or this great interview with The Guardian titled Keeping the Faith, in which is published an incredible poem regarding the dichotomy between the lives of men and women. Yes, if you appreciate poetry, check it out. Amazing.
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Sunday, December 04, 2005 |
Michelle and Pris do such a great job either using pictures to introduce their poetry or to be the muse.
My friend Kim sent a link to Jorn Olsen's amazing pictures of mammatus clouds that hung over Hastings, Nebraska in June of 2004. I thought it would be fun to get your opinion of these incredible formations in the form of a poem. Click here to see all of the other incredible shots.
So go to it. Write me a poem. You might have to E-mail the poem as the Comments box requires you to use HTML code to keep paragraph styles in tact.
7:39:45 PM | |
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Saturday, December 03, 2005 |
While reading Martha Schwer’s blog this morning, I learned that the Whitebread Book Award nominations have been published. One of the poetry nominations caught my eye: David Harsent’s book of poetry titled Legion.
David Harsent’s biography is impressive. He has published eight collections of poetry. His last collection, Marriage, was a Poetry Book Society Choice and won the Forward Prize for Best Collection. He is also known for his collaborations with the composer Harrison Birtwistle: their works include a libretto, Gawain (performed by the Royal Opera House) and The Woman and the Hare (which was performed at the South Bank Centre and Carnegie Hall).
This year’s nomination, Legion, which just won the Forward Prize for Best Collection in October, is (as described by Whitebread) "a gathering of reports from an unnamed war-zone: a series of discrete images, voices, events, and intermittent despatches – immediate and vivid – that come together to give witness to the experience and consequences of war and conflict."
He wrote an intriguing article for The Guardian, London, "Sounding the Alarm," in which he described how the idea of Legion was born. Consider his opening paragraph:
In 2001, Jo Shapcott asked me to send her a poem for an anthology she was editing for the Royal Institution. Contributors were to take as a subject any lecture recently given at the RI. I chose "From metals with a memory to brilliant light-emitting solids", not least because the commission was obviously a challenge and it seemed the least hospitable subject on offer. We were bombing Afghanistan at the time and images of that conflict were everywhere. My poem changed, under my hand, from something chipper and defiantly inconsequential to a piece in which "metals with a memory" were smart bombs whose targets (people) became "brilliant light-emitting solids". It was an ambush; I'd never written anything like it before.
To read a few excerpts from Legion, please read "Art" here and "At the Bedside" and "Barlock" here. I hope you enjoy these extraordinary, though at times disturbing, poems.
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Michelle pointed out that the link to the "how he did it" was directing her to a Login screen. She is correct, unfortunately. I don't know why this is the case now. I can only guess that because of the interest this video clip has received, this site may be receiving too many hits and its eating away their bandwidth. I wish now that I would have copied all of the content. Though technical, there was enough information to get started. I'm sorry the link has gone bad.
11:21:04 AM | |
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Thursday, December 01, 2005 |
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