At the bottom of my email I often use the following HL Mencken quote: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) Looks like … Read more Mencken & Cleese on Democracy (& the talking parrot)

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Well, last night’s big show at the CCCB in Barcelona —Lou Reed, live, & Laurie Anderson, via live video feed from Berkeley — was a most engaging event. It draw an audience of about a thousand for a space that holds only some 500, so that half the audience had to follow the event on big screens & over loudspeakers set up in the patio above. (I forgot my … Read more Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson & Catalan poetry

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Second day in Barcelona: leisurely walks around the Ramblas and the El Raval quarter. I was fascinated to see many Obama posters up — mainly a posterized painting of Obama with the word HOPE underneath it. The papers here suggest that Europeans favor him 4 to one — and are in awe of the fact that he might indeed win, as they do concede that it would be very … Read more Obama in Barcelona & Louisiana

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The Kosmopolis 08 festival opened last night here in Barcelona with an interview/ talk with Gao Xingjian (novelist, playwright, film director & painter) the first Chinese Nobel prize for literature, who is now a French citizen — and who answered the Spanish-languaged questions in French, the language in which he is also now writing his plays. I would have loved to ask him a question concerning translation and writing … Read more Gao Xingjian in Barcelona

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from New Scientist: Special report: How our economy is killing the Earth 16 October 2008 THE graphs climbing across these pages (see graph, right, or explore in more detail) are a stark reminder of the crisis facing our planet. Consumption of resources is rising rapidly, biodiversity is plummeting and just about every measure shows humans affecting Earth on a vast scale. Most of us accept the need for a … Read more How our Economy is killing the Earth

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Off tomorrow morning to Barcelona to take part in the Kosmopolis 08 Lit Fest. The full program can be accessed here. My own participation looks like this: Café Europa SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 6 p.m. Pierre Joris, Jorge Riechmann, Eduard Escoffet, Gonzalo Escarpa, Enric Casasses, Perejaume, Bartomeu Ferrando, Krzysztof Czyzewski and Chris Keulemans. Literary Café. Poetry Today. Café Europa. Catalan, Spanish and English, with simultaneous translation. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26 12 … Read more KOSMOPOLIS 08 Literature Festival

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Goin’ to the Country for a last 2008 harvest weekend: Nesenkeag’s Annual Farm DaySaturday, October 18th 11- 5:30 pmPoetry reading& grand raffle drawing An all day even (check out the schedule) and at 3:30PM:The 8th Annual Nesenkeag Poetry Reading, featuring Nancy Henry (Westbrook, Maine) and Joseph Torra (Somerville, Mass) and will be followed by live music featuring Vicente Lebron & Friends, with Russ Gershon. Nesenkeag Farm is located on … Read more A Weekend in the Country

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The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reproduces a 1938 letter Erich Auerbach sent to Johannes Oeschger from his Turkish exile. The occasion is no doubt the Frankfurt Book Fair where, as I mentioned a few days ago, Turkey is the main guest. I don’t have access to the whole letter (it is not in the online version) but here is my quick translation (plus the original) of the extract published … Read more Erich Auerbach Letter on Turkey

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Was much in need of good news to begin the week. Thought we had run out of them. But the New Scientist came to my rescue this morning — & make no mistake about it: I read that “may be” as traditional British understatement: Break out the bubbly: White wine may be good for you White wine lovers can feel a little less guilty about their habit. New research … Read more Dom Pérignon, anyone?

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