Browsing Archive: March, 2011
Posted by Roger Boylan on Thursday, March 31, 2011,
In the midst of writing a short piece on the centenary of Flann O'Brien as I am, and being of a thirsty disposition, I thought it appropriate to post his famous poem "The Workman's Friend." (Hat tip: Patrick Kurp.)
When things go wrong and will not come right,
Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.
When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY M... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Monday, March 28, 2011,
As a boy in Geneva, I was drawn to Italy whenever opportunity presented itself, the Italian border being only 50 or so miles away as the crow flies. Until 1965, however, when the Mont-Blanc tunnel opened, the nearest point of access by rail was via Brig and the Simplon Pass about 130 miles down the Rhone valley, descending into Italy at Domodossola, a small border city of which I have fond memories and whose train station (above) was my first sight of Il Bel Paese on many occasions. In fact, ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Wednesday, March 23, 2011,
I've always been a lover of Russian culture, and indeed studied the language for several years back in my high school days. At my best I managed to read Lermontov's "Hero of Our Time" ("Geroi Nashovo Vremini") and Pushkin's "Bronze Horseman" ("Myedniy V'sadnik") in the original Russkiy. Da, konyechno. And in the apogee of the Brezhnev years I spent ten days or so in the USSR, traveling from Moscow to what was then called Leningrad, and also to Kiev, now an independent capital but then part of... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Friday, March 18, 2011,
In the emerald-hued after glow of St. Patrick's Day, a stroll or stagger down some byways of old Killoyle (above). Here we meet the city's patron saint, St.Oinsias.
Oinsias O’Jaggery, better known as St. Oinsias, patron saint of Killoyle, was a domineering but controversial figure, and, some say, barking mad. First case in point: He circumnavigated the island of Ireland in a single day, rowing a coracle at incredibly high speed, returning home in time for supper leftovers (“Itâ€... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Thursday, March 17, 2011,
Lá 'le Pádraig to all my Irish friends and relatives. Happy Patrick's Day to the rest of youse. Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Tuesday, March 15, 2011,
This splendid bit of kitsch is Morte de Cesare by Vincenzo Camuccini, a lesser known adherent of the Romantic Realist school. It's appropriate to display this piece today, of course, because it's March 15th, known as "the Ides" to the Romans and forever associated with the warning "beware the Ides of March" given to Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's eponymous play by an aged soothsayer, to whom Julius says, joshingly,on the morning of that day, "Well, the Ides of March have come." "Ay, they have... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Tuesday, March 8, 2011,
They're coming...they're coming closer. ..they're here. (Hat tip: John Derbyshire.)
Waiting for the Barbarians
By Constantine Cavafy (1864-1933), translated by Edmund Keeley
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today.
Why isn't anything happening in the senate?
Why do the senators sit there without legislating?
Because the barbarians are coming today.
What laws can the senators make now?
Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.
Why ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Friday, March 4, 2011,
In a fascinating article in the New Criterion, Michael Weiss looks at the career of Boris Pasternak (above), author of Doctor Zhivago. Quite amazingly, Pasternak succeeded in avoiding Stalin's wrath when so many other writers, including Osip Mandelstam, didn't. He had an aura Stalin respected. At 2 one morning, Weiss tells us, Pasternak's phone rang. It was Stalin, who wanted to know why he should spare Mandelstam from the Gulag. The conversation finished as follows:
STALIN: But is he [Mandel... Continue reading ...
Posted by Roger Boylan on Wednesday, March 2, 2011,
Happy Texas Independence Day. But Texas isn't independent, you say. Very true. And the best move it ever made, after seceding from Mexico 175 years ago, was giving up its independence and joining the US. The worst move came soon after that, when it seceded again, this time into the Confederacy in 1861. Then it was back into the arms of Uncle Sam in 1865, and ever since then all has been smiles and ten-gallon hats. Notwithstanding the occasional tantrum. Continue reading ...
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