Poetry, Trippy Scenes, and Shiny Things

[cafenowhere]

This weekend José and I attended a progressive poetry reading. It’s kind of like a bar crawl, but instead of bars, you move from one poetry reading to the next. The readings were held outside a neighborhood bakery, on someone’s front lawn, in a backyard, and the like. I was delighted when one poet read a poem published by Strange Horizons. I must have yipped or gasped audibly because the poet smiled and said, “Yes, we love Strange Horizons.” It’s always a surprise when my literary circle and SFF circle overlap.

It was a little chilly to be sitting outside, so J and I only went to three of the spots. We made sure to attend the reading where a colleague of J’s was a participant. That colleague tends to write speculative poetry but I think he exclusively submits to literary markets. In any case, he read a newer piece he’d told us about at a Latinx Council dinner. It was about a scorpion that wanted to marry a shoe. Another poet shared a piece about wanting to hold a goose, which had a response delivered by her boyfriend, that demanded the goose back off, he wouldn’t let a bird steal his girlfriend. It’s unfortunate the third poet didn’t continue the animal theme.

Last week, I watched Infinity Pool, directed by Brandon Cronenberg. I was disappointed. The premise is an interesting one: what if you could create a doppelganger of yourself that would take the punishments, endure the consequences, of your bad actions? Unfortunately, the only sane character quickly exits the experiment, leaving you no one to root for. Also, the protagonist’s devolution includes drug use, which led to too many “trippy” scenes of sensory distortion and sexual antics/fantasies. They were so tedious. I think Brandon Cronenberg’s made three films. Antiviral left me cold, but I really liked Possessor. Now this. I guess his work is hit-or-miss for me.

Right now I’m reading Shiny Things: Reflective Surfaces and Their Mixed Meanings. It is fascinating. The authors discuss how shininess can indicate wealth, power, and transcendence or it can signal that something is cheap, ubiquitous, and tacky. Shininess is disruptive, because it dematerializes the surface of a thing so we stop looking at it and begin looking into it. There’s a whole section devoted to Dutch Golden Age art and the worshipful (fetishistic) representation of various forms of shine. The section I just finished reading talks about how smudges, though common on shiny objects, are rarely if ever portrayed in art (big, if true) and just how hard it is to depict a smudge as intentional. “The central issue of depiction is that a smudge on a shiny surface is a disruption on an already disrupted form.” I love thinking about this stuff.  

What did you do this weekend? Seen any good movies recently?

Comments

[catherineldf]

I saw "Chevalier" last week - I thought the performances were good, but the writing didn't really do the Chevalier de Saint-Georges justice. He's well worth looking up, he led an amazing life. So, not a bad movie, just went Hollywood when it could have been epic. I'm seeing "Polite Society" on Wednesday and very much looking forward to it.

[cafenowhere]

I've been curious about "Chevalier" but it sounds like I can wait for it to go to streaming. I'm so glad you mentioned "Polite Society"! I wanted to see that but had completely forgotten the title. I hope you enjoy it!

[gwynnega]

That poetry crawl sounds like a lot of fun. How great someone read from Strange Horizons!

I just finished watching Moonage Daydream, which I liked a lot (though it made me want to watch more Bowie footage).

[cafenowhere]

I would definitely go to another poetry crawl!

Moonage Daydream sounds so good. I see that it's available on HBO Max now, so I will definitely check it out.

[oracne]

Oh, wow, I hadn't heard of that.

[oracne]

Crap, I just accidentally deleted a really long comment. Short version, I watched 3 Netflix music documentaries: Count Me In; ReMastered: Tricky Dick and the Man in Black; and Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song. I can recommend them all.

[cafenowhere]

Wow, I've totally been sleeping on music documentaries! The one about Nixon and Johnny Cash sounds like my jam.

[oracne]

And it only lasted about an hour! I think the drummer one was also about that length. The Cohen one was about two hours.

[asakiyume]

It’s kind of like a bar crawl, but instead of bars, you move from one poetry reading to the next. The readings were held outside a neighborhood bakery, on someone’s front lawn, in a backyard, and the like. --How very cool! What a wonderful idea (maybe even better in a slightly warmer season, but)

It was about a scorpion that wanted to marry a shoe. Another poet shared a piece about wanting to hold a goose --both those sound potentially like a lot of fun.

Shininess is disruptive, because it dematerializes the surface of a thing so we stop looking at it and begin looking into it. --This is so cool. What are they looking for, do you think? The light that's making the shine? Because even though it comes from elsewhere and is only reflected, it does seem like it dwells somewhere in there. Or maybe people are fascinated by reflections, especially warped ones if the surface isn't flat or smooth.

The exciting thing that happened for me recently is that I asked the young woman I became friends with on my trip if I could pay her for lessons in Tikuna, an Amazonian language, and she said yes. And then she totally surprised and delighted me by drawing me a whole scene with plants, objects, and people labeled, and creating a video so I could hear how things were pronounced. Now I have to make sure to practice so as not to let her down...

[oracne]

That is amazingly cool!

[asakiyume]

Not sure if you mean the poetry crawl--which I agree! Why don't these things happen around where I live??--or the language lessons, which I also agree! Feeling really lucky.

[oracne]

Language lessons!

[asakiyume]

:D

Yes! Super duper exciting.

[cafenowhere]

What are they looking for, do you think? The light that's making the shine? ...Or maybe people are fascinated by reflections, especially warped ones

I think there are several things going on. You're right that people are fascinated by reflections, and most of us don't really understand how light and reflection work, so I think we do tend to search for the source of the shine. Also, we seem to have an impulse to search the reflection for "accuracy", to see if it really "sees" all the same things we do. Like we want to know how far the duplicity extends? There is also a thread of evolutionary theory that supposes humans are susceptible to glossiness because it suggests wetness and humans need water to survive. So we have an instinctive attraction to shine.

I asked the young woman I became friends with on my trip if I could pay her for lessons in Tikuna, an Amazonian language, and she said yes. And then she totally surprised and delighted me by drawing me a whole scene with plants, objects, and people labeled, and creating a video so I could hear how things were pronounced.

Oh wow, what a wonderful way to share with each other. It's like the Magic Penny song: "Lend it, spend it, and you'll have so many
They'll roll all over the floor." You lent a "penny" and got so much more in return.

[asakiyume]

"Also, we seem to have an impulse to search the reflection for "accuracy", to see if it really "sees" all the same things we do. " --This really resonates for me!

"You lent a 'penny' and got so much more in return." --SO RIGHT.