1. BabyShowerCakes.com-Your One Stop Shower Shop! Webkinz, Gund, Ty

   Baby Cakes is the original diaper cake site! ... Our Baby Cakes come in six sizes including ... Baby Shower Cakes. 4 Tier Noah's Ark Baby Diaper Cake $119.95 ...

   www.babyshowercakes.com

2. Shopping Cart | Baby Cakes, Inc.

   Baby Shower Games. Baby Shower In A Box. Webkinz. Ty. Gund. Gift ... About Us Contact Us. Privacy Policy. Copyright © Baby Cakes, Inc.. All rights reserved. ...

   babyshowercakes.com/cart.htm

3. AZ Cakes

   ... have a variety of novelty cakes including Wedding, Groom, Baby Shower, Celebration, Holiday, Children's, Sports Theme, ... blue baby shower whimsey cake is a ...

   www.azcakes.com/babyshower

4. Baby Shower Cakes - Diaper Cakes - Baby Diaper Cakes

   ... gorgeous diaper cakes and baby shower cakes overflowing with baby essentials. A ... Sweet Baby Cakes. Price: $60.00. Cream Peony Diaper Cake. Price: $68.00 ...

   www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com/diaper-cakes.aspx

5. Baby Shower Cakes/Baby Cakes

   ... these "delicious" cakes designed and assembled especially for the baby shower. ... Baby Cake Supreme-Duck. Price: $90.00 "Forever Baby Cake"-Boy. Price: $90.00 " ...

   www.cornerstorkbabygifts.com/baby-shower-cakes.aspx

6. Diaper Cakes, Baby Diaper Cakes, Baby Shower Diaper Cakes

   Diaper Cakes make an excellent baby gift, baby shower gift and make beautiful ... Baby Diaper Cake - Pink Caucasian Shower Centerpiece or Gift Idea $19.95 ...

   www.babyshowerstuff.com/diapercakes.html

7. Shower Centerpieces

   Baby Diaper Cakes. Shower Centerpieces. Twins, Triplets & Quads. Baby Thank You Cards ... Baby Diaper Cake - Pink African American - Shower Centerpiece or Gift ...

   babyshowerstuff.com/shce.html

8. Baby Shower Cakes

   Baby Cakes baby gifts is the original diaper cake site! ... Cakes. Baby Shower. Join Our FREE Email Mailing List " JOIN NOW. For Email Marketing you can trust ...

   www.baby-cakes.com

9. Got Milk? Diaper Cakes at Baby Shower Cakes.com

   HOME. SHOPPING CART. SHIPPING INFO. Shopping Directory. Cakes. Baby Shower. Family Gifts ... Need some great baby shower supplies? Click below! Bedding Set: 6 ...

   www.baby-cakes.com/gotmilk.htm

10. Diaper Cakes, Baby Shower Cakes - Home

    ... cakes and baby shower cakes are a great idea because they can be used as a unique baby shower ... Baby Diaper Cake - African American Boy (1-Tier) $19.95 ...

    www.theshowerfoundry.com/diapercakes.html

11. Professional Diaper Cakes & Baby Shower Gifts

    Amaze the new or expectant parents on your list with a unique and practical diaper cake gift. ... Cakewalk - Professional, Affordable Baby Shower Diaper Cakes. ...

    www.diapercakewalk.com/catalog.php?all=yes

12. Diaper cakes for baby boys - unique baby shower gifts

    ... are practical, our baby boy diaper cakes make wonderfully unique baby shower g ... Baby Bee Blue Diaper Cake $74.00. Bear Hug Blue 5 tier Diaper Cake $139.00 ...

    www.diapercakewalk.com/catalog.php?category=1

13. Baby Shower Cakes - Baby shower favors, baby shower gift ideas ...

    Baby Shower Cakes. Green Daisies with Zebra Diaper Cake. Review this product $68.00 ... Yellow Gerbera Daisies With Polka Dots Diaper Cake. Baby Shower Cakes ...

    babygiftsales.com/products/Baby-Shower-Cakes.html

14. Baby Shower Cakes | Diaper Cakes | Baby Shower Gift Ideas

    ... Cakes, Baby Shower Cakes and creative beautiful baby shower gift ... We thought so too, until we found baby shower cakes. You can now buy diapers in a cake. ...

    www.babygiftstation.com/Baby-Shower-Diaper-Cakes-s/69.htm

15. baby shower cakes

    Baby Shower Cakes are my Favorite....They are just so. adorable! I would love to make one of these cakes the. centerpiece of your shower! Back to Top ...

    www.denascakes.com/BabyShowers.html

16. Baby Shower Cakes from Creative Cakes - Serving Maryland, Washington DC ...

    Baby Shower Cakes from Creative Cakes - Serving Maryland, Washington DC ... A baby shower cake does double duty as both table centerpiece and dessert! ...

    www.creativecakes.com/baby_shower_cakes.htm

17. Baby Shower Cakes by Cinderella Cakes

    Baby Shower Cakes: page 1. Click on a page number to see more cake designs. Page 1 ... Wedding Cakes & Favors. Cake Flavors. Showroom Locations. Happy ...

    www.cinderellacakes.com/babyshowers.htm

18. Baby Shower Diaper Cakes & Centerpieces - Home

    ... Green Peonies with Sage Circles Baby Shower Diaper Cake Gift. Available in Small or ... Funky Safari Green Daisies & Zebra Trim Baby Shower Diaper Cake Gift ...

    www.ababyshower.com/baby-shower-diaper-cake-centerpieces.html

19. Baby Shower Favors, Themes, Games, Invitations and Gifts by ABabyShower.com

    Baby Shower Favors. Baby Shower Diaper Cakes & Centerpieces ... Modern Blue & Chocolate Brown Stripes Baby Shower Diaper Cake Gift. Available in Small or Large ...

    ababyshower.com

20. Baby Shower Cakes

    Baby Shower Cakes. Baby Socks & Booties. Toys and Books. Twin ... Home > Baby Shower Cakes "Beach Baby Fun" Activity Play Set Diaper Cake. Price: $74.99 " ...

    www.toocutebabygifts.com/baby-shower-cakes.html

21. Diaper Cakes - Baby Diaper Cakes - Baby Shower Diaper Cakes

    for your baby shower party. These diaper cakes are simply stunning show ... Baby Shower Cakes. Jungle Baby - Three Tier Diaper Cake Baby Shower Gift Basket ...

    www.mybabygiftsnthings.com/baby-shower-cakes.html

22. Baby Shower Cakes pictures from food & drink photos on webshots

    Baby Shower Cakes pictures published by Mommidy ... baby shower service cake. last edit: Sat Aug 04 05:36:41 PDT 2007. comments: 3 ...

    community.webshots.com/album/546767130IDPzrs

23. Lil Baby Cakes

    Leading diaper cake baby shower gift company and the most popular diaper cakes! ... Our diaper cakes are a wonderful compliment to any baby shower event or as ...

    www.lilbabycakes.com

24. Beautiful Diaper Cakes For Baby Gifts & Showers - Diaper Cake Gifts

    Diaper cakes are unique baby shower gifts that parents can actually use. ... Diaper Cake | Baby Shower Centerpieces | Diaper Cakes for Girls | Diaper Cakes for Boys ...

    www.lilbabycakes.com/babycakes.htm

25. Diaper Cakes, Baby Shower Diaper Cakes, Unique Diaper Cake Ideas

    Baby Diaper Cake - Pink Caucasian - Shower Centerpiece or ... Twins & Triplets Diaper Cake | African American Diaper Cake | See All Baby Shower Diaper Cakes ...

    www.simplybabystuff.com/diapcakbrasb.html

26. "Ultimate" Diaper Cakes Baby Shower Gift

    Baby Diaper Cake - Pink African American - Shower ... Twins & Triplets Diaper Cake | African American Diaper Cake | See All Baby Shower Diaper Cakes ...

    www.simplybabystuff.com/standardcakes.html

27. Browse Recipes

    Cakes (44) Cake Batters (16) Cake Fillings (10) Cheesecakes (1) ... Baby Shower (1) Back to School (1) Baptism/Christening (1) Birthday (11) 1st Birthday (1) ...

    www.wilton.com/recipes/browse.cfm?theme_id=2

28. Diaper Cakes for Baby Shower

    Inexpensive and Unique Baby Shower Favors - Including Chocolate, Soap, and ... Baby Shower Diaper Cake - Boy, Girl, Neutral (1-4 tiers) As low as: $34.99 ...

    www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/diapercakes.htm

29. Baby Shower Gifts - Baby Gifts - Unique Gift Ideas for a Baby Shower

    Inexpensive and Unique Baby Shower Favors - Including Chocolate, Soap, ... Baby Shower Supplies. Baby Shower Decorations. Diaper Cakes. Baby Shower Centerpieces ...

    www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/babyshowergifts.htm

30. Diaper Cakes - Baby Shower Diaper Cake Centerpieces and Gifts

    Offers diaper cakes, baby shower diaper cake centerpieces and baby cake gifts with designs including Winnie the Pooh, Noah's Ark, Beatrix Potter, Got Milk, and ...

    www.baby-gifts-gift-baskets.com/Baby_Diaper_Cakes.html

31. Baby Shower Diaper Cakes

    Baby Shower Diaper Cakes - Our adorable baby shower cakes are hand-assembled ... Personalized Double Layer Diaper Cake $55.95. Personalized Baby Diaper Wreath - Boy ...

    www.personalizedforbaby.com/diapercakes.html

32. Baby Shower Cakes

    ... ideas, and supplies for creating special cakes for the next baby shower your host. ... How to Make a Diaper Cake Baby Shower Decorations Baby Shower Favors ...

    entertaining.about.com/cs/showers/a/babyshowcakes.htm

33. Baby Shower Cake Gallery

    Gallery of photographs of cakes made for baby showers, both edible and inedible. ... Baby Shower Cake Gallery. Reader-Submitted Photos of Cakes Made for Baby Showers ...

    entertaining.about.com/od/cakebragbook/ig/Baby-Shower-Cake-Gallery

34. Shower Her Baby - Offering Baby Shower Games, Party Supplies ...

    Shower Her Baby offers a full line of baby shower party supplies, and unique gifts. ... Bloomers Baby Diaper Cakes. This practical confection takes the cake! ...

    www.showerherbaby.com/index.php?cPath=474

35. Baby Shower Cakes, Baby Birthday Cakes and Christening Cakes

    Baby Shower Cakes,Baby's 1st Birthday, Christening Cake, Coach Diaper Bag ... Baby Shower Cake. Christening cakes typically feature a cross with the saying " ...

    www.cake-decorating-corner.com/baby-shower-cakes.html

36. Cakes For Baby Shower - Diapers: Find, Compare, Read Reviews & Buy ...

    ... the best place to comparison shop for Cakes For Baby Shower - Diapers Compare products, compare prices, read reviews ... Cream Dahlias baby diaper cake is the ...

    shopping.yahoo.com/t-Diapers/cakes-for-baby-shower

37. Baby Shower Cake - Party Supplies: Find, Compare, Read Reviews & Buy ...

    ... the best place to comparison shop for Baby Shower Cake - Party Supplies Compare products, compare prices, read reviews ... Lists. Baby Cakes Shower Beverage ...

    shopping.yahoo.com/t-Party-Supplies/baby-shower-cake

38. Diaper Cakes

    Unique baby gifts, baby shower essentials, baby clothes, baby shower favors, ... Try one of our theme cakes as a baby shower table centerpiece. ...

    www.babyshowermall.com/babycakesgifts.html

39. Baby Shower, Baby Favor, Baby Bottles, Baby Cake Topper, Baby Rattles ...

    Great to use as decoration, favors, or even on cakes. Baby Buggy Cake Pan. A perfect baby shower or celebration cake pan that can also be used for molding ...

    www.favorfrenzy.com/babyshower.asp

40. Diaper Cake | Baby Cakes | Baby Shower Cakes | Rush Order Baby Gifts ...

    Offers unique diaper cakes made of brand name products, suitable as baby shower centerpieces or baby gifts.

    www.thediapercake.com

41. diaper cake, baby gift, baby shower gift, baby cake, baby shower ...

    High Quality diaper cakes in many styles and sizes. Rush Orders are available. Custom diaper cake orders are accommodated as well.

    www.thediapercake.com/index.php?cPath=10

42. Shower Cakes

    Beautiful elegant to simple wedding cakes. Dot's fabulous chocolate cake. ... One of Cake Dot's favorite baby shower cakes. All animals are made of white chocolate. ...

    www.cakedot.com/ShowerCakes.html

43. HerBabyShower.com: Candy Favors

    Baby Diaper Cakes. Baby Shower Bundles. Tableware Party Supplies ... Baby Diaper Cakes & Sock Bouquets. Games. Printable Games. Baby Shower Games. Invitations ...

    herbabyshower.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=H&...

44. Diaper Cakes

    ... in the baby and wedding gifting company. Look through our unparallel variety of Wedding and Baby Shower Gifts and ... Cakes > > "Baby's First Cake" > 1 ...

    www.yourdiaperdayz.com/servlet/the-Diaper-Cakes/Categories

45. Baby Shower Cakes, Baby Cakes, Diaper Cake, Baby Shower Diaper Cake by ...

    A boutique with unique baby gifts and baby shower gifts. ... Baby Diaper Cakes offer fresh and modern baby diaper ... 2-Tier Baby Shower Cake. Price: $48.95 ...

    www.babygiftboutique.com/dept/cakes

46. Baby Showers Central Links

    "Baby" Diaper Cakes - Shower Centerpiece or Gift Idea ~ $19.95 each cake ... Diaper Cake | African American Diaper Cake | See All Baby Shower Diaper Cakes ...

    www.babyshowerscentral.com/links/out_frame.php?ID=32

47. Diaper Cakes/Baby Shower Cakes - Baby Gifts

    Diaper Cakes Are you looking for the perfect gift for the mother of a new Bundle of Joy? Do you need a centerpiece to complete your baby shower? Well,

    www.sweettaterbabygifts.com/baby-diaper-cakes.html

48. baby shower cake, baby shower diaper cake, baby cake gift basket

    Baby shower diaper cakes blend together bottles, disposable diapers. ... Home > Baby Gift Ideas > Baby Gift Baskets > Baby Shower Diaper Cakes > Up > Next ...

    www.babygiftusa.com/babycakes.html

49. Baby Shower Cake Pictures - LoveToKnow Baby

    ... baby shower cake pictures can help you find the perfect cake ... Baby ... Baby Shower Cake Pictures. Miniature Baby Shower Cakes. Copenhagen Bakery ...

    baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Baby_Shower_Cake_Pictures

50. Baby Shower Cake - LoveToKnow Baby

    ... aren't sure where to purchase a baby shower cake, one of the first things you ... Sugar Baby Cake-Sugar baby cakes aren't as difficult as they might look. ...

    baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Baby_Shower_Cake

- done with chalk so it was erased with each frame

"Fantasmagorie" - Emile Cohl

- first true animation in August 1908
- graphite on paper

"Walking" - Ryan Larkin

- was nominated for an academy award in 1970, but Ryan lost his way and fell into drugs and despair
"Ryan" - Chris Landreth

part 1

part 2

- a 2004 Oscar-winning animated documentary by Chris Landreth about the influential Canadian animator Ryan Larkin (see above - he did "Walking"), who in later years lived on skid row in Montreal following a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Earl Heard 1915 - invented celluloid animation - all studios had to pay him a royalty until the patent ran into the public domain

"The Old Mill" - Disney

- tricks of the trade - multi-plane camera
- special effects animation from back in 1937 - old school cgi hand drawn and hand painted (very labour intensive)
- editing is so important, it's how you move an audience
- as the storm builds, the shots get closer and closer - cutting/editing make the film
- Walt Disney spent only 12 years to refine animation from Steamboat Willy to Fantasia

- Disney either created or refined modern day aspects of animation
- Leonard Maltin has published numerous animation history books, including "Of Mice and Magic"
- 1937 - Snow White - used multi-plane camera up to Little Mermaid - last time it was used
- now they use D Canvas or Caps and computers to simulate 3d and distance
- "Minnie the Moocher"

- opening with Cab Calloway Hidy Hidy Ho!
- Cab Calloway was the man back in the day!  Max Fleischer vs. Disney studios
- Betty Boop was one of the first fully female animated characters- early example of rotoscoping with Cab dancing - precursor to Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly plus the iPod commercials as well - music video by The New Pornographers
Waking Life - Trailer

A Scanner Darkly - Trailer

New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed)

- 300,000 cut outs to make this film - Lotte Reiniger - made in 1927
- very first animated feature film - she was the only one who did the cut outs - silhouette animation film

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello - steampunk animation

The Old Man and the Sea - Alexander Petrov

part 1

part 2

- hand painted on glass (finger painting)
- wow - incredible paintings - clouds turn into elephants - lions - the sailing ship
- amazing detail in the oar slicing through the water and having the drops drip down
- the swordfish leaps several feet out of the water and keeps puling the boat further out to sea
- phosphorescence at night is beautiful - the crowd of people on the beach is incredibly detailed
- in the credits, it shows the director Alexander Petrov hand painting each individual glass frame

Peter and the Wolf - Suzie Templeton (also did a film called "Dog")
- stop motion puppet animation

MISC CLASS NOTES:
lots of cutting edge animation happening in music videos
international film festival - should check it out
the story of pixar - director leslie was grand-daughter of the guy who helped do steamboat willy
- the man who planted trees was roger lassiter's inspiration - he played it to introduce his festival
- not an actual true story - was fiction - frederick back

animation = bringing life out of something static
- animation is about drawing movement
- is it possible to make a bad film with beautiful drawings (star wars 1-3, final fantasy...)
- can you make a good film with bad drawings (rejected, simpsons, don hertzfeld)

Welcome to the Show - Don Hertzfeld

- DAMN THE ILLUSION OF MOVEMENT TO HELL!!!!!

Intermission - Don Hertzfeld

End of the Show - Don Hertzfeld

Rejected - Don Hertzfeld

- animation = just for kids?!?!? nope, it is much much more
- film screenings on wednesday help showcase the various techniques

STOP MOTION
- claymation (chicken run)
- paper cut out (south park, adventures of prince achmed - first animated film ever) aka silhouette animation
- puppet animation (nightmare before christmas)
- pixelation (neighbours, space jam, white stripes hardest button to button
- object animation - stop motion (joanna priestley)

- experimental (painted glass, the street, norman mclaren)
- pin screen animation (very rare - use pin screen - NFB animations - do research - each shot is unique - cannot be recreated - alex alexsov)
- rotoscope (waking life, a scanner darkly)
- cell animation (disney, looney toons, duck amuck)
- limited animation (simpsons - all you get is mouth/hand being animated vs. disney where the entire body is animated)
aka illustrated radio because the shots are reused 1960's cartoons like spider man)

Additional Animation clips:

The Animatrix - Final Flight of the Osiris

Außerdem gibt es derzeit (zum GlĂŒck fĂŒr SPÖVP) andere wichtige Themen, z.B. die Bankenkrise in den USA, der Aktiensturz in Europa, den Ölpreis (was immer ihn verursacht...), Dunkin Larkin ist tot, und der September ist auch im wirklichen Leben ohne Politik einer der ablenkungsreicheren Monate....

Aber: in der Landstraße tut sich noch was und wir das Feld nicht den anderen ĂŒberlassen werden:

Mittwoch 24.9.: 15 bis 18 Uhr: im Schweizergarten ein Malwettbewerb mit Claudia Smolik und Wolfgang Zinggl. (folgt den Schildern).

[UPDATE von 12 Uhr: der Malwettbewerb mußte leider wegen regens abgesagt werden.]

Freitag, 26.9.: 15 bis 18 Uhr Flohmarkt im BG3-Lokal, Ungargasse 45 mit Schwerpunkt auf BĂŒchern und einigen EDV-GerĂ€ten (ein paar Ă€ltere PCs, Monitor, Drucker...)

Samstag 27.9.: am Infostand im Rochusmarkt: Als Gast kommt Monika Vana, Frauensprecherin, StadtrĂ€tin, und viele viele BezirksgrĂŒne. Ach ja, die anderen Parteien werden auch da sein. :-)

Und nebenbei mĂŒssen wir auch noch die auf den nĂ€chsten Donnerstag verschobene Bezirksvertretungssitzung vorbereiten (AntrĂ€ge, Anfragen recherchieren und schreiben).

Uns wird nicht fad, und ich hoffe Ihnen auch nicht, Sonntag ist Wahl, nur wer wÀhlen geht darf nachher jammern ;-)

Now that the idiosyncratic blush is no longer a mystery, we can move on to another particularly perplexing question. Oh yeah, it's time for another installment of our favorite guessing game.

Literary Detective: Today's case, boy?
Apprentice: Who described a takeoff in a Comet on Remembrance Sunday? Code: Aeroplanes 1. Looks like a tough case, chief.
Literary Detective: When it's a comet, it's always a tough case, boy. Especially when that comet is not exactly a comet. Got it?

Well, some of you have suggested Mark Twain (still, Remembrance Sunday in his times?!), others thought it must be a war poet, e.g. Siegfried Sassoon. But no convincing evidence so far.

Let's read together this wonderful poem by the wonderful Philip Larkin:

Hurrying to catch my Comet
One dark November day,
Which soon would snatch me from it
To the sunshine of Bombay,
I pondered pages Berkeley
Not three weeks since had heard,
Perceiving Chatto darkly
Through the mirror of the Third.
Crowds, colourless and careworn,
Had made my taxi late,
Yet not till I was airborne
Did I recall the date -
That day when Queen and Minister
And Bands of Guards and all
Still act their solemn-sinister
Wreath - rubbish in Whitehall
It used to make me throw up,
These mawkish nursery games:
O when will England grow up?
- But I outsoar the Tames,
And dwindle off down Auster
To greet Professor Lai
(He once met Morgan Foster),
My contact and my pal.

Philip Larkin, Naturally the Foundation Will Bear Your Expenses, emphases mine.

So Remembrance Day is not explicitly mentioned in the poem - would have been too easy, right? But I hope you will agree that lines 2 & 12-16 are an obvious reference to this specific holiday.

Apparently, I am the first to come up with this answer. This means...oh well, not much, just that I am unofficially great. And that lots of readers will be brought into the welcoming arms of this blog.

Yours truly,

The indefatigable Literary Detective

And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at what things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That Vase.

Philip Larkin

L: I would like to debate with you mainly upon policies. I have read your policies page, and I find them somewhat flawed and erroneous, unfortunately riddled with fallacies of logic. One thing that I would like to point out right now, and not on debate, is this excerpt: "First of all, if you support our troops, but say you don't like what they are doing in Iraq, try this:

"Hey honey. I love you, but I hate the way you cook, take care of the kids, wash the laundry, drive, sleep, talk, clean the house and walk, and that needs to change. Now!"

Where do you think you would sleep that night? Certainly not at home. Or at least she wouldn't. The point is, you can't say you like someone, but not like the way they do things. It doesn't make sense.

You are either for or against the troops."

This is an example of a fallacy of logic. The most significant trait of mankind is the fact that nobody is perfect. Once one realizes this, it becomes perfectly evident that loving one or supporting one even if you do not love what they do is acceptable. Otherwise, one never learns to befriend and support others.

One more point I would like to make is your litany of pointless, possibly untrue facts that justify your view about gun control.

I will be brief. Think about it this way. If there are more regulations on guns, then there is less chance of an unstable or dangerous criminal harming anybody.

U: I would like to point out that if more people have guns a criminal is less likely to commit violent crime. You see, criminals break the law. So if you say it is against the law to have guns, do you honestly think they will obey that law? No. So, when they realize that they have guns, but the people they are committing crimes against don't, what happens?

L: Seeing as guns are the most dangerous criminal weapon, it does not take a great mind to realize that if criminals do not possess guns, they CANNOT possibly use them.

U: Larkin! They are criminals! They will break the law and own guns! Seriously, I thought you were smarter than this! Do you honestly think that if we tell them "Now, please hand over your guns, like a good boy," they will do it? NO! They are lawbreakers, it is all they know. What makes you think that they will abide by such a law? Larkin, think about it. THERE LIFE IS ALL ABOUT BREAKING LAWS! IF THEY ARE WILLING TO KILL A MAN, THEY ARE DEFINITELY WILLING TO BREAK THE LAW AND OWN A GUN! They don't care what the government says about it. They will do it because they know that they can easily get away with it. And since all the good people would have no guns, they have a higher chance of using those guns.

L: I know that they are criminals! And a Larkin administration would not simply say "Now, please hand over your guns, like a good boy!" Besides, a criminal's life isn't all about breaking laws! Until we, as a whole, can finally step up and realize that criminals ARE PEOPLE LIKE US, we cannot possibly hope to understand them in order to stop them! We need to realize that we can reach out to them and help them, instead of wait for them to commit a crime and punish them, saying that the world is one criminal less!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Drew Underwood's campaign website is: www.freewebs.com/votefordrewin2032

Zach Larkin's Campaign Website is: www.freewebs.com/larkin2032

Aux dernieres nouvelles, mon chargement n'arriverait pas avant septembre, et il faut encore que je trouve mon sofa, une tele et bien sur que je comble tout ca avec du matos de musique ! :D Peut-etre pourrais-je loger quelques plantes, egalement.
Apres cela, je devrais etre bien installe, et donc... pret a vous recevoir ! A bon entendeur...

PS: Plus de photos a venir...

+ D'autres photos
+ Plus d'infos sur Nob Hill, le quartier de Full House, autrement appele La Fete a la Maison !

Ryan is Chris Landreth's dark, haunting, and wildly imaginative short film about his old friend, animator Ryan Larkin. Landreth calls his style "psychorealism"- essentially, he puts his characters' psyches right into the construction of their bodies, so their personalities exist in plain sight. It's surreal, creepy, beautiful, and confusing.

I am unsure of who this man is or what it is that he's doing. This does however characterise my current relationship with the Arabic language rather accurately. Today I was told that I sound like an ambulance siren (a quieter, more mumbly version) when distressed. I'm not sure how I feel about this? [I would like to learn to whine/wail to the theme tune from M*A*S*H when I grow up please]

But I'm reminded of a goldilocks level of bitterness - Philip Larkin poem:

[photo by Dr. Mo]

Closed like confessionals, they thread
Loud noons of cities, giving back
None of the glances they absorb.
Light glossy grey, arms on a plaque,
They come to rest at any kerb:
All streets in time are visited.

Then children strewn on steps or road,
Or women coming from the shops
Past smells of different dinners, see
A wild white face that overtops
Red stretcher-blankets momently
As it is carried in and stowed,

And sense the solving emptiness
That lies just under all we do,
And for a second get it whole,
So permanent and blank and true.
The fastened doors recede. Poor soul,
They whisper at their own distress;

For borne away in deadened air
May go the sudden shut of loss
Round something nearly at an end,
And what cohered in it across
The years, the unique random blend
Of families and fashions, there

At last begin to loosen. Far
From the exchange of love to lie
Unreachable insided a room
The traffic parts to let go by
Brings closer what is left to come,
And dulls to distance all we are.

 

The Cool Kids... Chaunced Up.

Their recently released EP, "The Bake Sale", has been met with great reviews... here are some from pitchforkmedia.com and metromix chicago, and an interview in a frat house basement from Panda Toes

No, she isn't singing in the video. The song is by a group called The Bird and the Bee. 

Doesn't make her any less fab, tho. Fo realzies.

We have girl crushes on her.

 

That is all.

TODAY CELIA LARKIN, Bertie Ahern’s former partner, was questioned by Henry Murphy SC about receiving an unsecured loan of IR£30,000 in 1993 from a Fianna Fail account in Irish Permanent Building Society, Drumcondra.

Ms Larkin told the Tribunal that the loan was repaid in full with assistance from Mr Ahern just two weeks before the then Taoiseach gave evidence at the Tribunal last February.

Ms. Larkin and Mr. Ahern agreed that a sum of €45,510, representing the euro value of the loan and interest at 1.2% per annum, be paid back into the ‘B/T’ account.

When asked why Ms Larkin delayed repayment of the loan for 14 years – until its discovery by the Inquiry – she replied that there had never been any question of repaying the loan; she had chosen that particular time “for my aunt’s piece of mind”.

The withdrawal was made from an account code-named “B/T” – which Bertie Ahern claims stands for “the Building Trust” – however no terms of repayment on the sum have been discovered.

This account, which was known to managers and tellers in IPBS as “the Bertie and Tim account”, and was referred to as such on one occasion at the bank by its signatory Tim Collins, was allegedly set up as a sinking fund for the renovation of St. Luke’s, Mr. Ahern’s constituency office in Drumcondra.

Senior Counsel for the Tribunal Henry Murphy asked the Chanel bedecked businesswoman if her “fear of publicity” hadn’t prompted her to repay the €45,510 debt.

Ms Larkin smiles demurely: “Mr. Murphy, I have long since lost my fear of publicity”.

ENDS

Diane Lockward

Me at the journal table

Renee Ashley and crowd

Linda Radice and Tony Gruenewald — Readers for ELR

Crowd at reading

Had a great two weeks of poetry. Sunday was the Poetry Festival: A Celebration of New Jersey's Literary Journals. 13 journals - a great day of sharing and selling journals and books and meeting old and new friends. Much congratulations to Diane Lockward - the founder and still the heart and soul of the event. She did her usual great job. There was a large crowd. See the photos above and also check the web site (edisonliteraryreview.org) and click on "readings".

Last Tuesday the winners of the Middle and High School Poetry Contest read at Barnes & Noble. There were 24 readers and it was standing room only. It was taped for Channel 15 and should be broadcast later this week.

Then on Thursday I was one of three featured readers at Last Thursday poetry reading at Middletown Library, hosted by Gloria Healy. We had a nice crowd - very receptive and appreciative. I read with Wes Czyzewski and J.C. Todd - we were three very different voices that meshed together quite well.

Para los despistados, la canciĂłn se llama "Again & again" y aparentemente la canta Larkin Clark, una actriz estadounidense, pero el grupo es The Bird & The Bee.

Simply beautiful.

It rained this morning for the first time in a while. The world was soft and grey.

Mandy, Mr Zee and the kids were in reception when I arrived. Mr Zee was in his full brown as peat regalia - mask too - and standing in his characteristic legs astride, taller than a tree posture. He was holding Sparky's hand. You have to admire any man who finds the time to take this much care over his appearance in the morning.

‘Debs is on holiday,' I said. They knew. The duty worker was seeing to them. They were still having benefits problems. Sparky was wafting a new plastic sword around and looked happier than he has for a while.

Michelle was on duty and she was on the telephone to the benefits agency when I went through. They were being their usual helpful selves. Michelle was getting nowhere fast and they weren't offering any suggestions as to how Apple and Sparky might be fed today. It wasn't their fault, they said. It's the system. They can't do anything about it. The tax credits needed sorting. Mandy was up to her limit on social fund loans. They couldn't give her a crisis loan. They'd try to get it sorted by the end of the week. The usual script.

‘So should we suggest they become beggars instead - or buskers maybe?!'  Michelle put the phone down and looked at me as if she was gobsmacked.  ‘Or should I say Mr Zee should just go and do a bit burglary - he's got the mask for it?!'

She shook her head in dismay. It's always like this, she was saying. I laughed.

‘Oh, it'd be beneath the dignity of a man of Mr Zee's standing to be involved in the felonious acquisition of someone else's property,' I said. ‘And besides, he'd stand out a mile at the identity parade.  Give them twenty quid and tell them to come back at the end of the week if their benefits still aren't sorted.'

Income support benefits are meagre and inadequate, and the whole system seems designed to be as difficult as it can be. The poor are still out there, even if they've have been rendered largely invisible by governments who want to pretend they don't exist and who turn the visible few into miscreants and fiends, the kind of people who mug old ladies, drag tiny toddlers into the bushes in the park, spray paint obscenities across the walls of public toilets, set pit bull terriers on meter readers. The kind of people who would steal a broken blue swing. Yobs, junkies, psychos, perverts, scroungers and paedophiles . . . The tabloids remind us of the cast every day. The fairy tale tells us that the poor are basically a bad lot because if they weren't they'd have money in the first place. Or possibly because Gordon has turned them that way. Which ever way you throw it though, the undeserving poor are now the only poor there can possibly be, and Mandy, Apple, Sparky and Mr Zee must therefore be numbered among them.

Michelle gave Mandy the cash and she, Mr Zee and the two children set off in the direction of Netto's. Shortly afterwards Lily came in chuckling, having just encountered Mr Zee for the first time as he was leaving the office.

'He's not for real, is he?' she asked, rhetorically.

'I'm afraid he is,' Michelle replied, 'which is more than you can say for the benefits agency. Put the kettle on, Lily.  Let me make you a brew.'

I had to go to Morpeth this afternoon. The rain had stopped and a warm haze floated among the hedgerows and trees as I drove back by Plessey Woods and over Hartford Bridge. When I got home Margaret was standing on the pavement outside of Geraldine's house. She and Geraldine were having an animated discussion about the Citadel. I pulled into the drive and looked up at the red girders glaring down at me through the mist. Hugo was in his castle bolting spiked black railings to the top of his garden wall.

'Here, you all right, mate?' he shouted over.

'Yeah, not so bad, Fletch. You've got yourself a few fortifications, I see.'

He laughed. 'Yeah, not bad, are they?'

For tea I had carrot and coriander soup and a few thick slices of olive bread. Margaret was still talking to Geraldine. I sat in the conservatory drinking a capuccino. I asked De Kooning if he'd like me to read something by Larkin to him. He jumped up and sat down beside me. We didn't bother with the Larkin. We just gazed together at the scaffold in the field beyond the house.

  

Yesterday was Whit Monday. Or at least it used to be. The Day of the Holy Spirit, the day after Whitsun, now best known to some of us because it reminds us of a poem by Philip Larkin. It's the spring holiday, a big day in the Retail Park calendar. I'm not sure that many people choose to marry at this time of the year now.

It was sunny and dry, although there was quite a strong north easterly wind. It felt cold. I went out walking, down along the harbour and up the river to Kitty Brewster and through Bebside. I made my way back by the Plessey wagonway track. The usual shirt-sleeved gaggle of chirpy locals was standing outside smoking at door of the Willow Tree.

When I got home I went out into the back garden and cut back the laurel. Big fat flower buds have suddenly appeared on the flag irises, one of my very favourite flowers. The French lavender is beginning to flower too and the lilies are stretching a little higher each day.  Golden yellow buds are swelling all over the climbing rose and the tight little reddened nodules of the honeysuckle tell me the garden will soon be full of its swooning scent.  Summer is all but here now.

I went back into the conservatory. Margaret was reading. A pair of fluffy maroon mules sat on the coffee table beside her. I should have bought the chicken wire when I had the chance.  I went through to the living room and put on the Decemberists and stared for a while at the painting of Rowhope I've been working on since I was sick a couple of months ago. I've slowly taken a lot of the yellow out of it, yellow being in my mind the most sickly colour. The painting is unusual for me in that it has no sky. My paintings depend upon their skies most of the time. The painting of Rowhope is an attempt to do without a sky. I also want it to look as much like a map as a representation of the scene, although not more so. That's tricky, I found. The painting has some good angles and pleasing lines and it's certainly a lot less nauseating than it was. Perhaps it's time I let it go.

In the early evening Hugo and Mrs Hugo came home. He unloaded some spiked railings from his van. A little while later I heard him drilling the walls outside. He was installing CCTV. The loss of the swing has obviously made him more insecure than I'd first imagined. Hugo's world is being fortified. Sometimes you can't help thinking that even a little affluence is dangerous in a world where needs are constructed by spending. When money is burning a hole in your pocket it's easy to imagine there are dragons in the world that only shopping will slay. Before too long I imagine Hugo will have battlements and a drawbridge - just as soon as Argos get their stocks in. And why not? He can afford them, the Daily Mail says he needs them, and they will make his property thoroughly modern and highly desirable even in a difficult housing market. This is the future. Electric fences, gun turrets, guard dogs, searchlights and sirens, laser trip wires, beartraps among the lupins, landmines among the gladioli. This will be the ordinary life of the ordinary aspirational man.

When I came in tonight I glanced up at Hugo's cameras. He has two and they seem to be positioned to ensure they cover not only his whole front garden but the footpath in the street too. In fact I would guess that he has wide angle lenses and that our garden path also appears on his monitors. I wanted to give him a nervous little wave. I wondered if under the Data Protection legislation I had the right to ask him for copies of any video recordings of me. It's a little disconcerting to think that Hugo will know all my comings and goings. He'll know if I'm on foot. He'll know if I'm carrying my old umbrella. He'll know if I'm wearing a red woolly hat. But I guess this is a price worth paying if it ensures that never again is a broken blue swing purloined by a kid in a polyester suitlet.

The Crane Wife is a fine album, at times quite overwhelming.

 

On the day of the explosion
Shadows pointed towards the pithead
in the sun, the slagheap slept

Down the lane came men in pitboots
Coughing oath edged talk and pipe smoke
Shouldering off the freshened silence.

One chased after rabbits; lost them;
Came back with a next of lark's eggs;
Showed them; lodged them in the grasses.

So they passed in beards and moleskins,
Father's, brothers, nicknames, laughter
Through the tall gates standing open.

At noon, there came a tremor; cows
Stopped chewing for a second; sun,
Scarfed as in a heat-haze, dimmed.

the dead go on before us, they
are sitting in God's house in comfort,
We shall see them face to face -

Plain as lettering in the chapels
It was said, and for a second
Wives saw men of the explosion

Larger than in life they managed -
Gold as on a coin, or walking
Somehow from the sun towards them,

One showing the eggs unbroken.

Philip Larkin. High Windows 1974

The truth is, it's not because I know too little about him, it's because I know too much. The question that was asked involved the poem "The Explosion". Ulitmately, I find this poem a beautifully constructed tragedy, one which portrays the delicacy and sensitivity in Larkin unlike his 'things fuck you up' style. Sitting there I couldn't quite adequately put pen to paper about how I felt about it. Not only did I think it was the pinnacle ending to the collection, but it was the centre of Larkin's tranquility, putting all his desolate fears of isolation and mortality into a harmonious context, finally setting Larkin's mind at peace.

Talking to others, it seems as if I may have loved Larkin's final poem a little too much, as I didn't do the most vital thing in the exam and construct a reasonable for and against arguement. How silly of me.

Still, results day will tell all.

Since I am technically challenged (and have much trouble reading from the screen) this will be an experience for the writer and the reader.

FYI I will be reading at the Middletown Library (for the Last Thursday Series) on May 29 and in August for the Quick and Dirty series "Hot and Sticky". The winners of the Edison Arts Society Middle and High School Poetry Contest will be reading at Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Menlo Park on Tuesday, May 22.

I listen to money singing. It's like looking down
From long french windows at a provincial town,
The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad
In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.

but in the end for me it is always:

The Whitsun Weddings
by Philip Larkin