hits of spring

i don't believe it. call the rest homes cuz i thinks i'm gettin' old. for reals. the weather here changes from early summer heat and gauzy light to late winter [as it is right now] overcast, rainy and cold. even at that rate i'm thinking summer, late spring, warmth, and movies. so last night when nicholas and anna go to bed i put zombie [1979] in the dvd tray and prepare to fall headlong in with the late filmmaker lucio fulci's visions of a smoky tropical island and the suppurating flesh-eaters that rise to make the place their own. the film is quintessential summer fare what with a fantastic synth score by fabio frizzi, wonderful photography by sergio salvati, and sui generis gore fx by the master giannetto de rossi. all first-rate talents. there's a lushness to the pace of the film that is redolent of watching matinees on a hot summer afternoon.

not for this old man. by the 3rd reel i'm out like a light and sawing serious logs. i wake up in time to see the infamous shark v. zombie scene. yeah, it's as unreal as you might imagine but works so well it should be seen at the louvre. what the hell. moving as slow and feeling as rotten as one of fulci's flesh-eating creatures i take the disc out of the player and shuffle off to bed.

all's not lost. i still have frizzi's score running thru my head and if you're as young as you feel then i'm half-way there. i'll just blame it on my allergies which have had my head all stuffed up and achy.

it is still spring and i've just received in the mail a packet of poems and artwork from jim knowles, a poet in massachusetts. i've been digging knowles' blog for some weeks now [i must really get my links in order and do some updating] and we exchanged chaps. during dinner tonight i read both of the chaps. knowles' pubs are a diy affair of pieces of paper folded four times with texts printed on each side. just the sort of publication i dig.

both chaps are distinct from the other in style and technique. but first the one that reminds me of spring is small fruit and drunken yellowjackets [2010] , a collection of very short haiku-like pieces that had me at the first line. knowles is a funny guy and his poems take on a home-spun surrealism that keeps the reader at attention. dig this for example.

life has been
Kaopectate and Metamucil
going nowhere fast

and this

from chaos
came order
and fries
thank you
drive through

and this little gem

A half-crushed ant
fights tooth and nail
with the air.
Might as well.

knowles is more serious than that in his other pieces. these three that i quoted contain that quality of the beauty and futility of life that i admire. if one suffers from seasonal affective disorder read the texts in this chap cuz that'll cure what ails you. hit his blog and then hit him up for his work.