Truism (poem)

Truism

When we were planning the wedding
that never happened, shopping
for rings, asking Kelly Broadway
to sing at our reception at
Seafood Mama's, tasks as American
as regime change, for a moment
I imagined that a certain kind
of happiness was available to me.

Then I learned you were still
sleeping with the guy who was
half your age.  Planning stopped.
I canceled the order for Champagne
at Seafood Mama's and instead

put a dent in their supply of
Irish whiskey.

How strange I remember this now
with such fondness.  What fun
to plan a wedding!

Joyous lies trump painful truths
for old men as well as youth.

--Charles Deemer

A poem I found at Round Bend Press

A DRINKING SONG

Wine comes in at the mouth

And love comes in at the eye;

That's all we shall know for truth

Before we grow old and die.

I lift the glass to my mouth,

I look at you, and I sigh.

W.B. Yeats

Mark your calendar

Now here's lots of lead time: October 5, 2011. That's when First Wednesday readings at Blackbird Wine Shop is given to poets and writers published by Round Bend Press, and as part of that I'll be reading from my upcoming book of poems In My Old Age which they are publishing this summer. Terry Simons, who owns the press, will be reading but I'm not sure who else at this early date. When I find out, I'll note it here.

I look forward to this. I've written some recent poems that are fun to read -- I know because I read them aloud to myself. It will be fun to share them.

2 miniseries on JFK

1983

Since I enjoyed the recent miniseries The Kennedys, I decided to watch the 1983 miniseries Kennedy starring Martin Sheen. I missed it at the time. I didn't own a TV through most of the 80s.

I've now seen half of the 83 one, enough to make some comparisons.

2011

• It quickly hit me how production realities influence storytelling. In the 80s, there were fewer commercials per hour, so scenes can be more sustained. The 2011 version is driven by vignettes; in 1983, more developed scenes.
• Very different focus in each. The recent one focuses on the power of the father and the womanizing of JFK. While both are visible in 1983, the focus is on historical context and challenges and on the obsession of J. Edgar Hoover about JFK's "sinful" behavior.
• Different portrayals of Bobby. He knows more about JFK's womanizing and comes off more powerful in the recent one.
• Both Jackie's are strong but the 83 interpretation makes her look a bit more snotty in her wealth and tastes.
• Much more is made of JFK's health in the recent one.
• For those interested in history, 83 wins hands down. Overall 1983 offers a more contextual, historical story of JFK, less focus on scandal. But as a result, the recent one suggests more about the man himself, often negatively.
• I recommend watching both. It's especially suggestive to watch them back to back as I am.

Email Stress (poem)

Email Stress

according to my email

I have a chronic condition

of an undersized penis

which I can afford to fix

with a penis transplant since

a lawyer from some strange

nation I never heard of

has millions of dollars

for me which may explain

why so many manufacturers

of viagra are after my

business and why so many

women from Russia want

to marry me which may

be difficult with the

busy schedule I'd have

if I accept the startup

offer to build cars

that run on dog shit

what's a guy to do?

--Charles Deemer

The Worst Thing (poem)

The Worst Thing


the worst thing
that can happen
is incomplete death


a stroke heart attack
leaving me half dead
only, immobile silent


a burden to others
no, not for me
give me the whole hog


I am prepared
to die but I'm not
prepared for less


--Charles Deemer

Why Cisco’s Flip Flopped in the Camera Business | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

Why Cisco’s Flip Flopped in the Camera Business | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:

"Cisco is shutting down a business unit that it bought for over half a billion dollars: the Flip camcorder division.

That’s a shame, considering how high the Flip was flying a few short years ago. It’s also a waste, considering that Cisco bought Flip from Pure Digital only two years ago for a cool $590 million. But Cisco probably had to act fast, because its earnings fell 18 percent in the second quarter of 2011, and CEO John Chambers had to show he was doing something decisive to stanch the flow."

Curtain Lines (poem)

Curtain Lines

40 years have passed
since I wrote my
favorite curtain lines

and unfortunately they are
more true than ever:

"what the people expect
they deserve

what they deserve
they get

always"

--Charles Deemer

The Kennedys miniseries

I liked this for the most part. I ordered, on Netflix, the earlier miniseries so I can compare.

The success of the recent one, I think, rests largely on what was left out. They didn't try to do too much. They left out Teddy, for example. I wish they had left out Oswald or treated him differently than supporting the mainstream, so-called, single killer theory, which has been discredited for a long time now, even by the House
Committee investigating the matter. Few who have looked into the assassination buy it. There was more than one shooter. And you go from there into wild and not so wild explanations of this. But they endorsed something that the series didn't need to endorse (except that the writer is conservative politically, and most conspiracy theories blame right wing extremists to one degree or other). I also didn't like the characterization of Sinatra as a wimp, which contradicts my impression from other sources. Otherwise everything made dramatic sense to me -- and Oswald makes dramatic sense here, I just think they didn't need to take a stand on this issue.

The series was especially strong in its characterizations of the major players. This is why it works so well.

Golf

I never played golf, and the only regular golf player I knew was my close friend, Ger (gone about a decade now). Ger turned me on to watching golf, emphasizing the mental aspects of the game. And the mental aspects were never more important than on today's final rounds of the Masters, where a 21 year old golfer started the day with a lead of 4 -- until Tiger Woods started hitting eagles and birdies and came from six back to tie, at which point the pressure totally and completely unraveled this young leader, in a sad display of losing it -- and he's still losing it, from 4 ahead to 5 behind, and the day isn't over yet. 7 are in close contention now, with Tiger among them. It will be an exciting finish and maybe even a playoff. Great distraction for a Sunday afternoon.

And tonight are the final two episodes of the Kennedys miniseries, which I love. AND I have been practicing banjo all day and am getting Bill Cheatum down.

Obama (poem)

Obama

you piss me off
Mr. President but
it's not your fault

once again I
got sucked in by
inspiring rhetoric

you'd put on your sneakers
and march with workers
on strike if need be

you'd put the fat cats
banks and wall street
in their place

you were unbelievable
FDR reincarnated
with Chicago street smarts

well I wish I'd
voted for Hillary
because the truth is out

you were all bullshit
you don't stand up
you give in at once

a politician is an arse
said cummings
upon which everyone has
sat except a man

and norman o. brown
added that politics
is pissing in public

and I knew this
before I voted for you
but alas I forgot

--Charles Deemer

Boston Review — Todd Edwin Jones: Budgetary Hemlock (UNLV, philosophy, budget cuts)

Boston Review — Todd Edwin Jones: Budgetary Hemlock (UNLV, philosophy, budget cuts):

"I was in the middle of teaching the difference between knowledge and belief when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a call from the dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Liberal Arts. The dean informed me that he was very sorry but, barring an unlikely immediate solution to the state’s financial crisis, the university had decided to eliminate the Philosophy Department, which I chair."

A Poetry Critic Asks: Why Bother? : NPR

A Poetry Critic Asks: Why Bother? : NPR

Anoush Deli - Portland, Oregon - (503) 254-7676

Anoush Deli - Portland, Oregon - (503) 254-7676

Need to check this place out. Looking for the best feta in Portland.

Sidney Lumet Dead: Director Passes at 86

Sidney Lumet Dead: Director Passes at 86

Mean spirits

Despite my age, I'm still shocked by mean-spirited email or comments I get from time to time. Someone who disagrees with a post here begins a comment with "another vanity blog by a so-called writer," which doesn't bother me because it's an ignorant cheap shot but because it's simply mean=spirited. I harbor this theory that some of these comments come because I've identified myself as a professor and the commenter has had a bad experience or several with past professors and here's an opportunity to get even. Mean-spiritedness comes from somewhere. You see something similar in student evaluations at the end of the term, where every student in the class gives you a certain "good" mark in an area -- except one, who fails you. I wonder where this comes from.

But I don 't lose any sleep over it. And I filter the comments here but I let these negative ones pass because the commenter provides his own context.

Yuri's Night

Yuri's Night

April 12, 50th anniversary, world space party!

"Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!"
--Yuri Gagarin

Info on Portland gathering.

Waiting for Godot

Rereading a masterpiece after decades ... I'd forgotten Beckett shares, sort of, my zero-sum universe theory:

"The tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops."

I say more ... And adds, or somewhere someone adds, positive energy equal to the tears.

Daily Kos: Kathy Nickolaus in Waukesha forgot to save? Really?

Daily Kos: Kathy Nickolaus in Waukesha forgot to save? Really?:

"Here's the problem. Microsoft Access (any version) doesn't ask you to save. When you enter data into a table, it automatically updates the underlying database. If you close the database accidentally, the data you entered (or imported, in the case of Nickolaus) remains. If you stop to take a phone call from your buddy the governor (for example), your data will still automatically save."

In Your Face (poem)

In Your Face

I suppose the government
often has been
this incompetent

but in the past
it wasn't thrown
in my face

without analysis
by a media
loyal only

to its advertisers
every crackpot
getting a story

six feet under
Murrow Cronkite
Huntley Brinkley

get trampled by
so much stupidity
there's not even room

for them to roll over
in their graves

--Charles Deemer