Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Poetry: Light & Dark

Dania sent me the link for Eddie Izzard discussing Bobby Burns's poetry-writing process. (Thanks!)
It's even subtitled in Hungarian (I think) for added interest.



Long ago I'd posted Eddie Izzard Does Star Trek.

To balance the silliness, here's Anna Karina reciting from Paul Eluard's collection of poems, Capital of Pain, in Godard's Alphaville.
I was so enamored of this when I was fifteen, I stole a copy of Capital of Pain from the university bookstore.

("I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters
that I have sinned. In my thoughts and in my deeds...."

What can I say? It was an expensive edition and I was out of babysitting money.)

It is now my policy to avoid all works with "pain" in the title.



(More here: Close Up: Paul Eluard on the blog Thesis Anxiety)

10 comments:

Marz said...

67 things:

1
I SWEAR TO GANDALF AND DUMBLEDORE AND THE ALPHA OMEGA GLORY THAT THIS IS TRUE:
You post my life, Fresca. I just watched two hours of Eddie with a friend last night. I was going to post on comedians.
Just as you posted "Rhymes with 'Cow'", I had a Ricky Gervais clip prepared in my drafts.
And I was barely surprised when you shared the lovely "Other Lines Out Loud"
while recordings of D. Thomas and T.S. you-know-who were waiting in the wings of my blogosphere.
THIS.
ALWAYS.
HAPPENS.
(Well, not always. But regularly enough to convince me of that elfish nature I already suspected in you.
"You're a WIZARD, Harry.")

Get out of my brain, dude.

2
That's pretty fair taste for a 15 year old!

.
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.
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67
After watching the Eddie clip, I had a hard time taking the poem seriously. For me, he kind of falls into the same vein of comedy as the Office: absolutely hilarious; a hoot! But just enough truth in it to give your laughter a suspicious after-taste.

femminismo said...

Been busy - so busy I've missed two posts now. I'll catch up though because you are always super interesting!

Fresca said...

M'GET: Girl, you just need to post your idead FASTER!
And hey, I didn't post any Dylan Thomas recording, so you can't pin that on me.

(No, but really, that's wild. Maybe I am some illusory reality Solaris has sent into your life. Or you into mine!)

FMNSMO: Thanks for the compliment---I'll probably be posting pretty impersonal stuff for a while here, as I actually am finally starting to write on the F & I War:
leaves little brain energy for much personal blogging.

ArtSparker said...

Well, this is way too self-revealing...but I am totally in love with those crocheted cuffs. Deep stuff.

Fresca said...

SPARKY: Me too!
Eddie Izzard would look great in them.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo said...

At last, a chance to confess.

I too have stolen (or taken on a long lend as I kept telling myself), three books. Plautus' The Rope and Others (not the penguin edition, some Victorian hardback), from Hull University Library under the very nose of Philip Larkin, and two very old battered (not first editions) Waugh, Vile Bodies and A Handful of Dust.

I swear I will return them. Well, the Plautus anyway. I was young and stupid and, it appears, slightly criminally inclined, but no more.

I would ask that your other correspondents confess their little crimes, M'lud, in an attempt to, y'know, make me feel better.

I should also say I have comitted no further crimes in the quarter century since these offences were committed...

bink said...

I can't confess to the books I've taken or the jig would be up!

Funny, I just watched that whole Eddie Izzard show a couple nights ago... you're taking my brain too!

momo said...

I just returned two really really overdue library books--I had to fork over about $23 in fines. Not even intentional--I just was too lazy to renew them.

Fresca said...

MANFRED: You have inspired an entire post (above).

BINK: Aw, please confess just ONE--the opportunity awaits above.

MOMO: Well, at least you returned them! And the fines go to a good cause.

deanna said...

My son just bought two new Eddie Izzard dvds, and we've been watching. This one he already has. I hadn't remembered the poetry part, though. The French movie poem sounds so cool, just hearing it in French. Almost wish I could hear the Hungarian Eddie.

I haven't stolen a book (that I recall), but we're sinners all, 'tis true. And it's what we feel about it that matters, to a great degree. Sounds like you "book thieves" are sorry.

(Oh, wait, there was that Pixie and Dixie book my mom checked out in Illinois, but then we moved to Oklahoma and never returned it. Always felt guilty when I saw the back page with the card pocket.)