Pipe-Cleaner Insect Update

There may be a few (more) connectivity problems in the next couple of days, as I switch over to a different DNS provider.

On the plus side, this one supports dynamic DNS updating via ddclient, so downtimes between IP changes shouldn't be as long.

Learn About Pines From the Pine

I have a confession to make: I like haiku.¹  There's something about it, perhaps the ability of great writers of it to fit so much into so little, that appeals to me.  The unfortunate thing is that I don't know Japanese, which means I'm stuck with translations (which never fully get the meaning across), or with English language writers.

The thing is that, even without the rigidity of form and the inability to get all the potential double-meanings without copious notes, I prefer the translations.  (Too often, I find, English haiku gets bogged down on the 5-7-5 rule at the expense of the imagery.)  I guess, what it really comes down to, is that I like the idea of expressive minimalist poems, even to the point where I don't care whether the translation loses the basic rhythmic structure.²   I suppose that's why I like Ezra Pound's In a Station of the Metro³ so much; it's a minimalist poem that evokes the feel of the haiku without being tethered by the constraints of it.

So what's the point of this post, other than sounding silly and pretentious?  Well, I recently picked up a book at the Salvation Army of translations of poems by Bashō, Buson, and Issa, and I figured I'd waste some time by posting a few (no more than a dozen from each, I promise) of my favourites from it.  All, unless otherwise noted, have been translated by Robert Hass.

1.  Yes, I know: technically the poets I refer to in this entry actually wrote what's known as hokku.  However, how many people actually know what hokku is?
2.  For example: compare Blyth's translations with Beilensen's, the latter of whom tried to follow the 5-7-5 rules.
3.  In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

 Continue reading Learn About Pines From the Pine

Space Filler (Ooga Chakka! Hooga! Hooga!)

There's a longish entry in the works, but I've been a bit busy lately.  I'll finish it sometime this week (I hope), but until then: watch this and try to keep from laughing.

Small Note

This entry is only really of interest to anyone residing in Fredericton.  You have been duly warned.

Someone appears to have dumped a load of science fiction and horror books at the Salvation Army behind the Regent St. Sobeys.  They're mostly picked through by now (ok, largely by me), and the horror is down to just Stephen King: The Shining, the first Dark Tower book, It, Tommyknockers, but there still are a few books that may be of interest to some people (the first two Dune sequels, Farenheit 451, and so on).

I'm All Out of Funny Tonight

I've got a strange sense of humour, I'll be the first to admit that.  One of the things that I enjoy are jokes/puns that have a second meaning (no matter how obscure) that the originator was unaware of.  See, for example, the following picture:

Now, the obvious answer is "UR", or "you are".  I walked by it for days, and it didn't really register just what the letters were, until a couple of weeks ago.  "U and R," my brain went, "U and R.  U R.  Ur.  Wasn't there something else that was called Ur?"

 Continue reading I'm All Out of Funny Tonight

That Is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie

Sometimes the stories just write themselves:

Putin quizzed on sex, drugs, 'giant octopus'

"Forget politics, oligarchs and Chechnya: What Russians really want to ask their leader is when he lost his virginity, when he will legalise marijuana and when a giant fictional octopus sleeping at the bottom of the ocean will awaken."

Not much more to say beyond what's in the article, except that this is why I've got little faith in using online surveys to find topics to ask famous people about.  Not that I'm not curious about the Russian plans to deal with his squidliness, but it's probably not going to do them any good anyways.

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

This Day in History

July 1, 2006 marks the 90^th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.  (Not to be confused with the First and Second Battles of the Somme, which began on March 21, 1918 and August 21, 1918, respectively).

What?  You thought I was going to reference something else?

Anyways, this post is actually a request for help in finding something.  There was a film, called The Battle of the Somme, made by the official British cinematographers, Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell, and I'd like to get my grubby little mitts on it.

It's about 63 minutes long, consisting of actual footage of the battle, as well as staged enactments filmed before the start of the battle.  It is, of course, in black and white, and is silent with title cards interspersed throughout.

If IMDB and Amazon are to be believed, then a copy of it was still in production as recently as 1992 (although it appears to have only been as a PAL videocassette), and there are copies of a DVD titled The Battle of the Somme on eBay.  However, these DVD listings are virtually information-free, and I'd rather not spend the money to purchase and ship one from the UK just to have it not be what I want (given that I can, last I checked, play Region 2 DVDs).

So, what I'm looking for is information.  Does anyone know if the film is still out there?  If so, who makes it, what does the cover art look like?  Or, alternatively, I'd also accept information on where I could acquire a digital copy of it.  (Being a creation of the UK government prior to 1956, it is now considered in the public domain, and therefore could legally be downloaded.)

Anyone?