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Robert Martiensen
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Other
- Hits: 551
Another Outsider Artist, this one a retired Australian Maths Teacher who upon dying is discovered to have created thousands of artworks.
Links:
- https://amp.abc.net.au/article/102969272
- https://www.hamiltongallery.org/events/robert-martiensen-the-secret/
Think, if his sister hadn't called in somebody with a little more taste and appreciation this would have been lost. And I see it all the time at the thrift shop (fortunately, in my opinion, most of what's donated from these estates is rubbish. Most. But there's always the possibility of an outlier...
The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason's Tale
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 452
Icelandic Sagas, of which I am not too familiar (Beowulf I've read, the rest, not so much so.)
Curious, in that they record the family/tribal history of the first Norse settlers, and in the tone that they're related, where the narrator gives details he/she could not have known, and recites the history in a manner that while concise leaves you to decipher (??) - assign the motives to the characters from the events and their words.
So, bereft of "tone" in the sense that the descriptions of events are lacking in emotional adjectives such as "rage" or "pleasure" or "love", rather the narrator uses others to describe the exterior events and the reader to discern the interior lives of the characters. And good, in that equal attention is given to the strong female leads.
Interesting, and a little different from my usual fare, and good to read (some of) Tolkien's source or inspirational material.
Also interesting, in the sense of community justice, outlaws, the running feuds (and how they're rarely forgiven), and - something I didn't know (but should have) - Iceland when first settled was somewhat (25-40%) forested. It was those damned Vikings that made it the grassy knoll we all think of today.
Anyways, from then on to my next read - Jan Harold Brunvand's "Too Good To Be True" - a compilation of Urban Legends. The same author as wrote "The Vanishing Hitchhiker", and what a change in tone!. Fortunately it's a simple read, I'm looking forward to some more substantial fare.
Six Walks in the Fictional Woods - Umberto Eco
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 503
Lectures, in published form, on the meta of fiction, involvement of the reader, etc, etc, by Umberto Eco.
I would probably have preferred to sit in on the lectures, interesting, engaging, fortunately slim (which is why I picked it to read first).
I enjoyed, many wouldn't.
"Walk Like A Sasquatch" - Cam Douglas
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Music
- Hits: 590
At the Poetry Slam Wednesday night, the standard mixed bag. A few of note, one young poet reciting the laws of Hermes Trismegistos, curious, he's disappointing, "Secret Knowledge" isn't so secret if you're giving it all away during a slam.
Various other artists, various degrees of skills, judging all over the map and par for every other slam I've been to.
I try and escape at half time, but another artist takes the stage, older fellow, with guitar, he begins strumming and I'm immediately taken by it: The song, "Walk Like A Sasquatch", by local sculptor/artist Cameron Douglas.
And I so want to share it with you, the perfect blend of humor, irony, self-awareness, funny as hell and it got the crowd cheering, but - search as I may I can find only mention of it on the web, no performances. Which is a shame, this song, performance, it deserves a much wider audience.
Strange to think that even in this day and age some things must be experienced, and have no online corollary or presence to be shared.
Maybe that's his point? Or maybe search again and it will turn up in the future.
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