tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post560644804760055129..comments2023-12-28T13:11:06.666+00:00Comments on Pics and Poems: More Bits and PiecesDave Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-6269979574736691032008-09-06T20:18:00.000+01:002008-09-06T20:18:00.000+01:00The crucified frog made me chuckle--I realize that...The crucified frog made me chuckle--I realize that many people may find it offensive, but not me. Of course, I'm not a Christian...<BR/><BR/>Like this new version of Going Back, Dave--tighter, stronger and therefore more evocative. The thing a poem has to be.Conda Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972790965426924941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-59311644695926703482008-09-05T20:01:00.000+01:002008-09-05T20:01:00.000+01:00A lovely scrapbook of a post. What jumped out at m...A lovely scrapbook of a post. What jumped out at me was the book list: "Goblet of Fire" unreadable? Every child in the country has read it... isn't that the whole point? And of all the others, I haven't finished one.Fiendishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06427088675092430747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-27647771760142598692008-09-05T10:49:00.000+01:002008-09-05T10:49:00.000+01:00How will history remember the artist Richard Hamil...How will history remember the artist Richard Hamilton? By one painting, <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_What_Is_It_that_Makes_Today%27s_Homes_So_Different,_So_Appealing%3F" REL="nofollow">Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?</A>. I'm sure he has made hundreds of works of art but that's the one that has had staying power. Why? Because every art book you pick up sticks that one in under Pop Art. It's an okay work of art but that has nothing to do with it. It's simply the fact that it's always there.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-86842384883891844422008-09-05T10:27:00.000+01:002008-09-05T10:27:00.000+01:00Jim,I can accept all of that, but I cannot quite g...Jim,<BR/>I can accept all of that, but I cannot quite get my head around the question of why an artist or poet, to take a couple of examples, can so often be remembered, even by his <I>cognoscenti,</I> for works which are not his best or most important. Taste and fashion may have something to do with it, but don't seem to me to be a complete explanation.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-52006718634414576212008-09-05T09:25:00.000+01:002008-09-05T09:25:00.000+01:00Dave, two issues here, firstly, what gives a work ...Dave, two issues here, firstly, what gives a work of start staying power: quality is not enough, it has to reach enough people so that is why I believe that artists who understand how the media works <I>will</I>, rightly or wrongly, be remembered; David Bowie was one of the first to cotton onto this I think, at least in my generation. <BR/><BR/>The second question of immortality is easier to answer: no. Every generation has its art and a few representative examples will last. When I was a kid growing up there was a year when the charts were full of novelty Xmas hits. Who would've imaged that Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and Wizzard's 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' would become the Xmas carols of the future but that's they way they're going; my daughter can't remember a Xmas without them.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-65018946061657646612008-09-05T08:43:00.000+01:002008-09-05T08:43:00.000+01:00Jim,Exactly, they are good at marketing - and that...Jim,<BR/><BR/>Exactly, they are good at marketing - and that, surely is due at least in part to their personalities. Without those, where would the works be? And what is it that is most required of a work of art? Is it immortality? Nice for the artist, of course, but in general is that what we want of a work of art?Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-17309880303441424302008-09-05T08:39:00.001+01:002008-09-05T08:39:00.001+01:00DickCan't help you there, I'm afraid I've never re...Dick<BR/><BR/>Can't help you there, I'm afraid I've never read Cloud Atlas.<BR/><BR/>Many thanks for your good wishes. As you so rightly guessed, health matters are involved.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-75158378665840565862008-09-05T08:39:00.000+01:002008-09-05T08:39:00.000+01:00DickCan't help you there, I'm afraid I've never re...Dick<BR/><BR/>Can't help you there, I'm afraid I've never read Cloud Atlas.<BR/><BR/>Many thanks for your good wishes. As you so rightly guessed, health matters are involved.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-71676749900013137892008-09-04T23:30:00.000+01:002008-09-04T23:30:00.000+01:00The whole Damien Hurst (and also Tracy Emin) debac...The whole Damien Hurst (and also Tracy Emin) debacle is an interesting one but the bottom line is that it's good marketing. They have gotten their art attention. They're in books and magazine and on the tele and <B>that</B> is what will see their work remembered. If 99% of the press they've had vanishes in some natural disaster they will still be remembered simply because there will still be something left.<BR/><BR/>As for <I>precious</I>…I've never been precious in my puff. I wouldn't know where to start.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-7332231314904804672008-09-04T22:49:00.000+01:002008-09-04T22:49:00.000+01:00That's a wonderful (and very typical) Maureen Lipm...That's a wonderful (and very typical) Maureen Lipman anecdote.<BR/><BR/>I managed 'Cloud Atlas' very painlessly. what's the perceived problem there, I wonder?<BR/><BR/>If the busy week involves matters of health, Dave, I wish you the very best. I hope you'll be back to full engagement very soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-9063980504550649282008-09-04T22:14:00.000+01:002008-09-04T22:14:00.000+01:00It's absolutely no reason to stop talking, Jim. I ...It's absolutely no reason to stop talking, <B>Jim</B>. I would say that because your contribution is unique and could only have come from you... well, you know what I would have said, only it always comes out sounding sentimental... heck, who cares, I'll say it anyway: it's precious - in the best sense of the word.<BR/>I included it because we had been having a discussion about whether some art work survives on the strength of its creator's personality (e.g. Damien Hurst)rather than on its own intrinsic merits, and what will happen to it when the artist is no longer around.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-7459297656339103192008-09-04T16:12:00.000+01:002008-09-04T16:12:00.000+01:00I know what David Hare is on about but the fact is...I know what David Hare is on about but the fact is that only a minuscule number of writers have anything like a measurable effect on the world. And the effect that even the great writers is such that the evidence, the knock of effect is not an obvious one. We're talking about life here, not a Newton's Cradle. Were I to ask myself had my writing made a difference the answer has to be: Yes, perhaps not a resounding one but I have seen people affected as they read what I've written. What comes of all that, who knows. Add that to all the other writers that individual gets exposed to in their life and what an onslaught! I will never change the world, not on my own. I am only one voice. That's no reason to stop talking, is it?Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-44454264803602313662008-09-04T08:39:00.000+01:002008-09-04T08:39:00.000+01:00Crafty Green Poet,I, too loved Captain Corelli's M...Crafty Green Poet,<BR/>I, too loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin and cannot see how that got on to the list. I have read Ulysses 1.5 times. I got halfway through it many years ago, then read it and loved a few years back. Incidently, there was a Magnum photograph in The Independent the other day of Marilyn Monroe reading it - and she had my copy - the one with all the typos. Does that make me a celebrity? (I thought it fantastic, by the way.)Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-32245002824559879812008-09-04T08:34:00.000+01:002008-09-04T08:34:00.000+01:00Weaver of GrassThat is one book I keep meaning to ...Weaver of Grass<BR/>That is one book I keep meaning to read, but have never got round to.<BR/>Not too long if all goes according to plan. Thanks for the compliment.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-84699021991353348342008-09-04T00:13:00.000+01:002008-09-04T00:13:00.000+01:00I hope some of your time in the "real world" is pl...I hope some of your time in the "real world" is pleasant. Until then, I look forward to your return to crank up my brain cells a notch and make me think. :)hopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03306622656461205674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-60127883128207865612008-09-03T18:41:00.000+01:002008-09-03T18:41:00.000+01:00Interesting booklist, God of Small Things I hated,...Interesting booklist, God of Small Things I hated, hated, but Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Cloud Atlas i totally loved. Ulysees i got to page 7 but I have a colleague who has read it twice and loves it so i feel a need to try again...Crafty Green Poethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02486633917197181851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-45450054309264948262008-09-03T18:06:00.000+01:002008-09-03T18:06:00.000+01:00I keep re-reading the first chapter of The God of ...I keep re-reading the first chapter of The God of Small things which has the most beautiful descriptive writing about India - you can almost feel the heat. But I have never managed to get any further into it!<BR/>Hope you are not away too long as I do enjoy reading your blog.The Weaver of Grasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13947971556343746883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-37339814128906898442008-09-03T09:00:00.000+01:002008-09-03T09:00:00.000+01:00And again!And this time there are evn more of us.And again!<BR/>And this time there are evn more of us.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-41455713680495846782008-09-03T08:59:00.000+01:002008-09-03T08:59:00.000+01:00Solitary Walker,No, there are quite a few of us, I...Solitary Walker,<BR/>No, there are quite a few of us, I believe... though I di read <I>The Moor's Last Sigh</I> - and enjoyed it once I had managed to accept its main conceit.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-23475085403445410352008-09-03T08:54:00.000+01:002008-09-03T08:54:00.000+01:00SorlilBizarre just about covers it, I think - just...Sorlil<BR/>Bizarre just about covers it, I think - just about. No, not too long.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-44714720550459148722008-09-03T08:40:00.000+01:002008-09-03T08:40:00.000+01:00And Paulo Coelho! Joy!And Paulo Coelho! Joy!The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-63471641662989718512008-09-03T08:38:00.000+01:002008-09-03T08:38:00.000+01:00Relief! I thought I must be the only person to fin...Relief! I thought I must be the only person to find Salman Rushdie unreadable - until now.The Solitary Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11284354541952038339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2508563923634392703.post-89245807003156653112008-09-03T07:52:00.000+01:002008-09-03T07:52:00.000+01:00That sure is a bizarre sculpture, hope you won't b...That sure is a bizarre sculpture, hope you won't be missing from blogosphere too long!Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.com