Without Lifting A Finger

Will have to reread his selected poems. *** X I dreamt we slept in a moss in Donegal On turf banks under blankets, with our faces Exposed all night in a wetting drizzle, Pallid as the dripping sapling birches. Lorenzo and Jessica in a cold climate. Diarmuid and Grainne waiting to be found. Darkly asperged and censed, we were laid out Like breathing effigies on a raised ground. And in that dream I dreamt--how like you this?-- Our first night years ago in that hotel When you came with your deliberate kiss To raise us towards the lovely and painful Covenants of flesh; our separateness; The respite in our dewy dreaming faces.

Hot and humid today. Walked out (7-ish) and it was cool enough for me to want to walk down to the lagoon. Kids were splashing and enjoying themselves around the bridge. The clouds in the distance are probably some of the same gang causing havoc desertward. * 

Heard him read  once. Many years ago. Somewhere in LA. He must've read this one.

And finally both Walter and Clarisse began to itch with the suddenly tangible thought of having their own house, children, openly sharing a bedroom: like a crack in the skin that cannot heal because one unconsciously keeps scratching at it.

Is not, for example, even readiness for flight a kind of weakness, since it is, after all, only swaying and uncertainty and fluttering? Try to fathom human nature! Esteemed gentlemen of the academy! You have done me the honour of asking me to present a report to the academy concerning my past life as an ape.



It even has a built-in exclamation mark! 



Unfortunately I miss it almost every year. Probably my fault. Anyway, there was enough "leftovers" to take a stab at the theme: Literacy.       



It's always Tchaikovsky and the 1812 with fantastic fireworks. Occasionally with a little variety (I don't think they played his 2nd the last time I was in the house).                                               

According to Wiki, the actual title is Sculpture of the Muse of Music, Dance, and Drama . Saw it as we debarked the bus at the Bowl. I told my wife I didn't remember the bus pulling in on that side before; she claimed it always did. Perhaps I just hadn't been paying attention. According to the inscription (I didn't get a good shot of that) the work was another product of the WPA (1940).             

George Stanley (April 26, 1903–1973) [ 1 ] is an American sculptor . He designed the Academy Award of Merit , or Oscar, as well as sculpting the Muse Statue at the Hollywood Bowl . Early Life Stanley was born in Acadia Parish, Louisiana in the year 1903. He then moved as a child to California and spent his youth there in the city of Watsonville . Upon graduation from high school Stanley proceeded to study sculpture at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles from 1923 to 1926. He also taught at this school from 1926-1942. Stanley also taught briefly at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts . During his life he completed many public arts works including work for schools such as the Long Beach Polytechnic High School , as well as works for private patrons. Sculpting Career Stanley sculpted a statue of Sir Isaac Newton located at the Griffith Observatory , completed in 1934. This statue was part of a larger work known as the Astronomer's Monument . This work was a public proj...

From the Getty Trust website "The striking central element of this original production of the ancient Greek drama will be a mammoth steel wheel, twenty-three feet tall that will be installed in the outdoor theater." * Anyway, on our visit to the Villa (last Sunday) we only saw the wheel: 

Prometheus Bound ( Ancient Greek : Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης , Promētheus Desmōtēs ) is an Ancient Greek tragedy . In Antiquity , this drama was attributed to Aeschylus , but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca. 415 BC. [1] Despite these doubts of authorship, the play's designation as Aeschylean has remained conventional. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus , a Titan who defies the gods and gifts humanity with fire, for which he is subjected to eternal punishment. [From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_Bound ]

Getty and CalArts Center for New Performance Join to Present iPrometheus Bound/i in Annual Outdoor Theater Production at the Getty Villa

This guy gets special attention too, because I don't believe I've ever seen one before.           ***     A Herma ( Ancient Greek : ἑρμῆς , pl. ἑρμαῖ hermai ), [ 1 ] commonly in English herm , is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. The form originated in Ancient Greece , and was adopted by the Romans, and revived at the Renaissance in the form of term figures and Atlantes .     Origin   In the earliest times Greek divinities were worshipped in the form of a heap of stones or a shapeless column of stone or wood. In many parts of Greece there were piles of stones by the sides of roads, especially at their crossings, and on the boundaries of lands . The religious respect paid to such heaps of stones, especially at the meeting of roads, is shown by the custom of each passer-by thro...

She deserves special mention. Fell in love with her the last time I was at the Getty and she starred in a poem. How do we know she's a girl? I think it's the Bermuda Triangle. So much for love.             

                                                                                                            

Malibu Seafood , a photo by dabuda on Flickr. Not always easy to get in and out of the place (small parking lot and it's right off PCH), but the food is good, prices ok, and if you're lucky you might see a dolphin in the big blue.