Sunday, December 20, 2009

Without Camera, Other Images Must Suffice






















Camera malfunction this weekend. Here's a photograph of a building (the oldest part of the current Bodleian Library, originally the Divinity School) right across from John Donne's college, Hertford (then Hart Hall). Breathtaking.



The Shortest Day (December 21st)

A NOCTURNAL UPON ST. LUCY'S DAY,
BEING THE SHORTEST DAY.
by John Donne


'TIS the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks ;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays ;
The world's whole sap is sunk ;
The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the bed's-feet, life is shrunk,
Dead and interr'd ; yet all these seem to laugh,
Compared with me, who am their epitaph.

Study me then, you who shall lovers be
At the next world, that is, at the next spring ;
For I am every dead thing,
In whom Love wrought new alchemy.
For his art did express
A quintessence even from nothingness,
From dull privations, and lean emptiness ;
He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darkness, death—things which are not.

All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have ;
I, by Love's limbec, am the grave
Of all, that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have we two wept, and so
Drown'd the whole world, us two ; oft did we grow,
To be two chaoses, when we did show
Care to aught else ; and often absences
Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.

But I am by her death—which word wrongs her—
Of the first nothing the elixir grown ;
Were I a man, that I were one
I needs must know ; I should prefer,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means ; yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love ; all, all some properties invest.
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light, and body must be here.

But I am none ; nor will my sun renew.
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all,
Since she enjoys her long night's festival.
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year's and the day's deep midnight is.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

MTA Cuts II

So today I've been trying to check up on the fate of the B77. The Times did not list it in the roster of service cuts approved by the MTA yesterday, but the Brooklyn Paper did. I called Jim Brennan's office, but they weren't sure about the 77, & a 311 call resulted in no information whatsoever. The MTA offered no news on their website, & no help by phone (a "look on the website" response from a general operator & a transfer to a higher up admin. number where no-one picked up). The folks at Brooklyn Borough Hall were much more helpful, & returned my call within a few minutes! The B77 situation seems to be a bit of an enigma, but apparently the 77 may well not be on the hit list & may be something of a high priority to protect if it is. The IKEA connection gives it quite a bit of clout apparently (business ever more important than residents), so this is good for Red Hook bus riders. Many thanks to B. Borough Hall for their quick response - I'm hardly a Marty fan, but this was very good consumer PR. I hope to get to a Brooklyn public forum meeting on the proposed cuts, whenever this may be.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009






















Depressing Christmas Songs

The Dish picked up on Buzzfeed's 10 Most Depressing Christmas Songs . The collection is growing, as more & more songs of gloom are being added. I liked Merle Haggard's If We Make It Through December a lot, & the Charlie Brown Christmas song is certainly melancholy but Dolly Parton's Hard Candy Christmas may just beat the competition. What a classic.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

MTA Cuts

I'm assuming that many of the MTA's proposed service cuts won't actually happen, but I'm very nervous about the planned elimination of weekend service on the B77. The 77 route begins/ends just a hop, skip & a jump from my house & I use the bus regularly. I feel very lucky to have it close by, & to be able to get to Fairway, get down to the waterfront etc. so easily. It's a city pleasure & a real boost to my quality of life. For many Red Hook residents though, given their limited transit situation & meagre retail choices, it's a vital resource, & it would be callous in the extreme if the MTA cut back this route. Tons of people come in from R.H. to shop around Fifth Ave. & use other services in the neighborhood, & taking the route away at weekends is absurd. The 77 is also an important link from Red Hook Houses to the subway system at Smith & 9th. Given that the Smith & 9th Station will be soon temporarily closed for repairs to the Culver Viaduct, the 77 will become an even more important means of getting to to the (distant) subway stops at 4th Avenue, as well as to other bus services. How far are people expected to walk for transportation? I can't believe the 77 cuts will happen, but who knows? Contact your local reps. & voice your concern.

London Calling (The Clash)

Released thirty years ago this week:

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Seasonal Music

Posting the Sutphin Boulevard Christmas greeting made me decide it was time for some seasonal music. Despite my non-believer status, I still love a good carol, & I put in my time at many a church service in my youth. In our house we are somewhat obsessive about Good King Wencelas: it's such a little drama of a carol (can't you just picture the frame of the peasant & Saint Agnes' fountain as you hear it?) & the king/page dialogue is a delight to listen to & even better to sing! It inspires a lot of affection, & a certain amount of frivolity & the lyrics ("mark my footsteps, good my page"; "heat was in the very sod"; "where the snow lay dinted") are very satisfying indeed. This video is rather blurry, but the page is a treat. Good King Wenceslas: The Movie - I think it's a distinct possibility, & I'm only half joking ...

On the Way Back from Work