I use chance methods to create my drawings and poems. I’d love to hear from others who do the same!
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Doodle Tuesday
time
The Wednesday Painting
The Friday Film – Samsara to Sanyas
Ok, it’s not a feature film but I wanted to include a Sadhguru video as I was lucky enough to see him speak in London in November.
The Monday Poem – The Bells
This week’s Monday Poem is Edgar Allan Poe‘s The Bells. I hope you enjoy it!
The Bells
| I | Hear the sledges with the bells— Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In their icy air of night! While the stars, that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. |
| II | Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! From the molten golden-notes, And all in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! |
| III | Hear the loud alarum bells— Brazen bells! What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor Now—now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows; Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells— Of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells— In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! |
| IV | Hear the tolling of the bells — Iron bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people—ah, the people— They that dwell up in the steeple. All alone, And who toiling, toiling, toiling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone— They are neither man nor woman— They are neither brute nor human — They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A pæan from the bells! And his merry bosom swells With the pæan of the bells! And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the pæan of the bells — Of the bells: Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells — Of the bells, bells, bells — To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells— Of the bells, bells, bells- To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells — To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. |
1849
BOOK QUIZ – Who should YOU read next?
If you enjoy the content here at Examining the Odd, we probably have fairly similar tastes in books. This is great; it means you’re open to all sorts of genres and to discovering new authors. It’s also a curse; how on earth do you choose what to read next?
This quiz will give you a helping hand. It’s an old-fashioned magazine style quiz which will lead you to one of five authors to try next (so no peeking at the results before you answer the questions!). If you’re lucky, you might get a tie and then you have two authors to pursue…
Ready? Let’s go!
Which era do most of your favourite authors hail from?
A: They’re all dead. 1800s
B: They’re alive! Alive!
C: The era of revolution! 1960s
D: Turn of the century. Yes, I’m still using that to refer to 1890s-1910s…
E: because we also have writers of the milennium! 1990s-200s
What type of politics do you lean towards?
A: Reactionary. Usually pretty conservative.
B: Liberal
C: Environmental/Green
D: Nationalist
E: Democratic
Which of these genres do you love the most?
A: Science Fiction
B: Metaphysical (abstraction, spiritual ideas)
C: Mystery
D: Fantasy
E: Horror
What’s your preferred writing/language style?
A: Artistic, complex
B: To the point
C: Prose, flowing
D: Musing, reflective, thoughtful
E: Graphic, visual, descriptive
Which of these jobs would the child-you have chosen?
A: Astronaut or scientist
B: Office or factory worker
C: Witch, Wizard, Shaman or other magical figure
D: King/Queen/Prince/Princess
E: Monster/Zombie
Money and reality are no object. Where do you choose to go on holiday?
A: Mars
B: A traditional seaside resort with donkeys and ice cream aplenty
C: A cave. Alone
D: A lush forest or enchanted woodland
E: Somewhere cold and snowy
And finally. What’s your length of choice?
A: Novella
B: Flash fiction. Then I can choose to read one or a hundred!
C: Short story
D: Novel
E: Series
And now for the results…
Mostly A
Percy Greg.
Percy Greg (1836-1889) was an English writer.
His Across the Zodiac (1880) is an early science fiction novel, said to be the progenitor of the sword-and-planet genre. For that novel, Greg created what may have been the first artistic language that was described with linguistic and grammatical terminology. It also contained what is possibly the first instance in the English language of the word “Astronaut”.
In 2010 a crater on Mars was named Greg in recognition of his contribution to the lore of Mars.
Congratulations if you ended up with Percy. Why? He’s free! Read Across the Zodiac here.
Mostly B
Mike Russell.
“For me, creating is discovering and storytelling is bringing into the world dreams that are universal. They come from a deep place; they want to be known and they want to help us. Storytelling is a way of turning the world inside out, which I believe it desperately needs.” Mike Russell
Mike has a book of flash fiction and a book of short stories. You can read one of each (respectively) for free here and here!
Mostly C
Margaret St. Clair.
Margaret St. Clair was an American science fiction writer, who also wrote under the pseudonyms Idris Seabright and Wilton Hazzard.
1911-1995
Mostly D
Lord Dunsany.
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany was an Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work, mostly in fantasy, published under the name Lord Dunsany.
1878-1957
Movies: Dean Spanley, It Happened Tomorrow
Lucky you! Loads of Lord Dunsany’s work is free to read here.
Mostly E
George R. R. Martin.
George Raymond Richard Martin, often referred to as GRRM, is an American novelist and short story writer in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, a screenwriter, and television producer.
Born: 1948 (age 67)
Influenced by: J. R. R. Tolkien, Bernard Cornwell, Charles Dickens…
Show: Game of Thrones
Obviously, we all know who he is! But have you read his other novels and short stories?
That’s it!
I hope you enjoyed the quiz, but more importantly: I hope you enjoy reading the author I lumbered you with! Share who you got in the comments. Have you read them before? Do you like them?
Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu
Nosferatu The Vampyre
WINNER: Silver Bear, Berlinale
- Year:1979
- Run Time:107 mins
- Format:16mm
Out of the mist appears a pale, wraith-like figure with a shaven head and deep-sunken eyes who identifies himself as Count Dracula. The events that transpire slowly convince Harker that he is in the presence of a vampyre. What he doesn’t know is the magnitude of danger he, his wife and his town are about to experience.
Eccentric director Werner Herzog’s (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) remake (although, Herzog states in the opening credits that this is not a direct remake) of F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror is a chilling, beautiful and romantic homage.
Each character in this 1850 setting seems so delicate and fragile. At times it can feel like you’re watching a ritual; mesmerising and unsettling, with a sense that you could be watching something real.
The castle is so gloomy and intriguing, far from any Hollywood attempt at a creepy mansion. I love the original film but, I must admit, I like Herzog’s even more. It should be better really; with better effects and make-up and directed by one of the best film-makers of the century! The film opens with close-ups of real mummified humans from a Mexican museum visited by Herzog in the sixties.
There are lovely moments – the Carpathian landscapes are stunning, Kinski’s performance is compellingly vile, and it ends with a stirringly weird, Fellini-esque plague festival. – TimeOut
Starring Klaus Kinski, Herzog’s take on the Count Dracula legend intersperses strange tableaux and alienating nature photography into the traditional storyline. – The Guardian
If you like any version of any vampire tale but you haven’t seen this, go and grab it now. You won’t be disappointed! If you’ve seen it, let me know what you think in the comments below.
10 Short Stories challenge – day 5
Today I read Ghost Q & A by Anne Carson. This is listed as a poem but I think it can be considered a short story too. I love it whatever it is.
Ghost Q & A is exactly as it sounds, a long question and answer session between a living person and a ghost. It reminded me of John Cage’s chance writing, or the automatic writing of the Surrealists. It’s funny, sweet, a little sad and sometimes confusing (in a good way). Here’s a little extract:
“Q do you see people can you see me
A if you close your eyes
Q what about moods
A the edges are freezing”
I also stumbled across this beautiful quote from Carson:
“Eros is an issue of boundaries. He exists because certain boundaries do. In the interval between reach and grasp, between glance and counterglance, between ‘I love you’ and ‘I love you too,’ the absent presence of desire comes alive. But the boundaries of time and glance and I love you are only aftershocks of the main, inevitable boundary that creates Eros: the boundary of flesh and self between you and me. And it is only, suddenly, at the moment when I would dissolve that boundary, I realize I never can.”
Anne Carson, Eros the Bittersweet (1998)
I read Ghost Q & A over at This is a Public Space. Go and have a read and come back to tell me what you think in the comments.x
