Mingus Lives! Pepper Lives!

From AllAboutJazz: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread.php?t=23434

Last Night's Moon

Who says the camera never lies?

Birthday Barbecue 27 July

John at the barbecue, generously feeding us on my birthday. And a special friend dropped by - a boobook owl flew in for the occasion but turned his back on us when he saw we weren't vegetarians.

Birthday Barbecue

There seems to be a face in the fire. And that's our friend Mary Jane in the firelight.

Classic Australian pose

Revised poem from the other day:

on a stockyard fence
a black crow steps
gingerly toward
a chirping chittering
willy-wagtail
whose lifelong mate
skips and hops
in the waterfall
of a sprinkler set
to settle the dust.

a five year old
Ngallagunda boy
weilds a whip
shortened for him -
still he makes it crack
lightning and thunder
among the dust of
a hundred bulls.

Gibb River Images

a five year old boy,
black as coal,
weilds a stockwhip
in the yard. It's
shortened for him-
still he makes it crack
lightning and thunder.

on the cyclone fence
a black crow steps
gingerly toward
a chirping chittering
willy-willy-wagtail

whose lifelong mate
skips and hops
in the waterfall
of a plastic sprinkler
to settle the dust.

I'm a cityslicker in
an exotic world again,
breathing in
true bulldust,
watching out for
King Browns.


(photos from Internet - not mine!)

PICA this Friday Night

Come down to PICA this Friday night for a couple of
special events

PICA’s ongoing programs are primarily supported by an investment from the State of Western Australia through ArtsWA in association with Lotterywest, assistance from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. PICA is supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

Euro-Art-Fix 07
Join PICA’s Director Amy Barrett-Lennard and
Curator Hannah Mathews as they present a
slide show of their experiences at the Venice
Biennale, Basel Art Fair, Documenta and Münster
Sculpture Projects. This will be a rare opportunity
to experience an insight into some of the most
prestigious international contemporary art events
in the world.

The PICA Bar is open from 5pm
with the talk starting at 6pm in the
Performance Space


Australian Poetry Slam
Following the talk, join us in the PICA Bar for the
first Perth heat of the Australian Poetry Slam!
With an eclectic line up of poets, MCs, musicians,
writers and more, the Slam is FREE to audiences.
With a couple more heats coming up, there is still
an opportunity to take part. The winner of the State
Final on Friday 19 October will be flown to Sydney
to represent WA in the National Final.

To register your interest, contact writingWA at
info@writingwa.org or 9228 9908

PICA is now open to the public on Friday nights till 9pm.

With an exciting mix of events on offer, it makes a good start to your weekend!

Gibb River Rip Rap

Solidity of bark, leaf, or wall
riprap of things
- Gary Snyder

Out in the prickly yard
first day of this stay
at Gibb River Station
in the red dessert
of The Kimberley
I hunt rocks to
build a barbecue
lifting and wheeling
brown rocks
big and small
to a burnt circle
by the wire fence
interlopers on this landscape
Jeanette wearing her
Chinese ‘Tree of Life’ dress
our lives riprapped together
our histories
balanced precariously
like these ragged rocks
holes so evening breezes
can aerate
it is burning with birth


(Last line from Buddha's Fire Sermon
and every second line is indented, but I can't get Blogger to do that.)

Harriet Rubin says ...

... from New York Times, words of wisdom:

Poetry speaks to many C.E.O.’s. “I used to tell my senior staff to get me poets as managers,” says Sidney Harman, founder of Harman Industries… “Poets are our original systems thinkers,” he said. “They look at our most complex environments and they reduce the complexity to something they begin to understand.”

Mustering at Gibb River

First bulls into the yards. Any calves will be left behind whenthe trucks go off to port. No choppers or fancy motorbikes here ... It's all done on horseback. A very refreshing sight for a cityslicker like me.

Home at Gibb River

Who could ask for anything more ... sunshine and open spaces, plus a generous house with air conditioning andInternet access ... Well, I could pray for broadband, but it ain't gunna happen apparently. But, so far so good. More exciting pics to follow ...

A Sign of the Times

A wall in Hangzhou. I have no idea what they were trying to say >g<

Happy Days to Mr & Mrs Dave Fewings

My son Charlie and his wife Becky are in England now for the wedding of Charlie's long term friend, Dave Fewings. The photos show the groom in top hat, with his mates, Jem Hanbury and Charlie. The other photo shows Marta (Jem's girlfriend), Charlie and Becky at the reception.

Very stylish! But apparently the weather has been awful. That's England for you ...

Sign Language

A sign as you approach a lake in Hangzhou - great sentiment.

Poetica This Week

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Radio National

14 July 2007 (Saturday at 3.05 pm)(repeated 3.05 pm Thursday)
Venezuela's World Poetry Festival

Highlights from the Venezuela World Poetry Festival, recorded in Caracas.

Last year, Poetica recorded the opening night of Venezuela's World Poetry
Festival, held in the Teatro Teresa Carreño, in Caracas.

The Chávez government invited 28 poets from around the world. They came from as
far away as China, Nigeria, France, Japan, Germany, and all over North, Central
and South America to read in front of an audience of 2000 people.

This program features the work of Idris Tayeb, Ramón Palomares, Sam Hamill,
Laura Antillano, Jack Hirschman, Luis Rodríguez, Allison Hedge Coke, Jorge Cocom
Pech, Nicole Cage-Florentini, Nicolas Suescun, David Cortes Caban and Ali Al-
Shalah.

The translations are read by Michael Hill and Eugenia Fragos.

Sound engineer - Simon Rose
Production - Mike Ladd

My books, my friends

Coming back from a long time away in a land largely devoid of the latest English book titles to buy, I landed in Perth eager to catch up on books published in the last year or so by friends especially. I've been hopping like a frog on speed from book to book over the last couple of days, so I can't really give you an in depth review of each, but at least I will list them:

Dennis Haskell's 'all the time in the world' is published by SALT, as is Tom Shapcott's The City of Empty Rooms. When I was in China, I received an invitation to the welcome party for Fay Zwicky's New Poems, entitled Picnic, published by Giramondo Poets (Giramondo Publishing Company). My novelist friend Brenda Walker also had a title out, which I received no publicity about and only found while daydreaming along the shelves - The Wing of Night (Penguin), a novel about the ramifications of Gallipolli on two soldiers' wives.

So, I may be quiet for some days, reading friends' books in the gentle sunshine of mid-winter in Western Australia. Ah, it is true luxury.

WOW Reading July 2007

Mr Chen played erhu, with a selection of well-known Chinese themes and a spirited rendition of 'Click Go the Shears'. The other photo is part of the audience of WOW, on first Monday of July. The readings, plus music, is on every first Monday of the month, up the laneway opposigte Miss Maud's in Murray Street. The doorway is on the left and someone is invariably there to greet you. Time, 7.30 pm.

Lazing in Oz

Photos: Sophie in her stroller, ready to roll in Hangzhou; family gathering at the Full Moon Thai restaurant; grand-daughter Leia & daughter-in-law Becky

My apologies to anyone who has tuned into this blog recently only to find me 'asleep at the wheel'. I have returned to Australia, travelled via Hangzhou and Hong Kong, to land in Perth almost two weeks ago now. First thing I did was fall desperately ill with food poisoning, and then spent days catching up with family and friends, before picking my wife Jeanette up from the airport a couple of days ago. She is down for the holidays from her Gibb River school (Wanalirri Catholic School). We are now camping at a friend's house, and this evening move next door to housesit until 18 July when we both return to Gibb River.

The impact of returning to blue skies, clean air, a gigantic variety of flowers, sane yet fast traffic, and English language (with multi-cultural accents) is enormous. In Linfen, I was truly suffering sensory deprivation on a serious scale. The saddest thing about leaving Linfen was leaving my young Chinese friends - ones who I will probably never meet again in this lifetime. Sadder than sad. I have not cried at many separations in my life but their sweetness and sincerity simply tripped me up emotionally.

And then at Hangzhou airport to be greeted by little Sophie waving through a glass panel and kissing the glass was very moving. Tania, Jeff, Sophie and I had a couple of fun days in that beautiful city. The air was clean and the humidity was high but relieved often by gentle showers. The great tourist attraction West Lake was surrounded by amazing gardens - and good coffee stops >g< I once again started my caffeine addiction as we walked from garden to garden.

When I did leave there and spend the inevitable hours in Hong Kong airport, I was pleased to get on my laptop and email friends and family with the airports wonderful wireless connection.

When I flew Qantas to Perth, I had an amiable companion next to me: Said from Malaysia who now lives in Perth and works in the IT field. We talked for half the journey, slept and watched the usual crap for the rest of the time. My luggage, including an outsize scroll box, was spread over various overhead lockers, so much so that when we landed I had to wait for most of the passengers to diembark before collecting my goods, balancing arms full of items and struggling to the luggage reclamation area. The Customs officers didn't take my word for it and examined my scrolls carefully for dangerous wood products. All was cleared and through I went to be greeted by all three of my children and my two Aussie grandkids! So, I became emotional again, before walking out into brilliant blue skies and clean West Australian air. Beautiful!

But something along the track didn't agree with me and I had a severe gastro bout for 36 hours or so. It started halfway through that morning, which meant our family welcome home dinner had to be cancelled and delayed until Saturday evening, a double celebration with my young son Charlie's 28th birthday.

I also enjoyed a WOW (Walking On Water) reading on the first Monday night in July. Murray Jennings and Jane Cornes had helped me organise a Chinese musician - Mr Chen on erhu - and Michelle Druart was the other invited reader. The weather was foul - stormy winds, pelting rain, etc. Yet a couple of dozen friends and poetry-addicts braved the elements to hear us read: Kay Cairns, Jenny and Brian de Garis, Glen Phillips, Trisha Kotai-Ewers, Dennis Haskell, Janet Jackson ... and others. I apologise if I have left your name off the list! Let it be known that I didn't go overtime and kept my intros to manageable length >g< China has bred a new humility in me.

Enough rambling. Except to say I have bought a handfull of books - mainly poetry. You have no idea how I missed bookshops! Since my return, I have been in the Lane Bookshop, the new Planet Bookshop in Mt Lawley, and the Co-op Bookshop at UWA, plus their secondhand bookshop. I believe there is a Borders bookshop in town now, and down in Freo the New Edition bookshop has changed hands and address. So much to see and do ...

The biggest news on my return was the re-branding of FACP as Fremantle Press. Goodonya, Ray Coffey and Clive Newman. You've been away from the asylum for some years now ... The new image also heralds a wider marketing aim for the press - more as a General Publisher than a Literary Publisher. We will see how that shows itself in coming months, but all Australian writers and readers would only wish Freo Press well. It has been a tasteful and vibrant press for many decades in this fast growing town, so we all wish them well for the future.

I will address the new books I have bought tomorrow.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival - meet The World's Worst Poet

Dragon Boat Festival celebrates a great Chinese poet, Qu Yuan, and his untimely death by his own hand in protest against the corruption so rife in the Chinese government of the day. I posted a lot about him previously, last week, so scroll down and have a look if you haven't read that posting.

Today I want to introduce you to William McGonagal, deservedly dubbed the World's Worst Poet. He hailed from Dundee and didn't believe the reason for his own fame but rather thought it was his Muse that drew the crowds.

Take a look at http://www.neatorama.com/2007/06/18/the-worlds-worst-poet/ and judge for yourself. He is a poet who is still in print today, many moons after his departure from centre stage.

Picnic at Flat Rock

Wanalliri Catholic School in The Kimberley area of Western Australia had a picnic during the week. My wife Jeanette took these photos.

Steve McCaffery's CARNIVAL online

Well, it may have been there for years, but I have just discovered Steve McCaffery's ground-breaking CARNIVAL concrete masterpiece at http://www.chbooks.com/archives/online_books/carnival/
I loved his use of the typewriter way back when I was pounding on one (so hard the 'o' was a see-through eye through the page). Take a look and marvel at the patience, craft and style of the man.

from Li Sao by Qu Yuan

Nine fields of orchids at one time I grew,
For melilot a hundred acres too,
And fifty acres for the azalea bright,
The rumex fragrant and the lichen white.
I longed to see them yielding blossoms rare,
And thought in season due the spoil to share.
I did not grieve to see them die away,
But grieved because midst weeds they did decay.

Next Tuesday is Dragon Boat Festival, a day that celebrates the suicide by drowning of China's 'father of poetry', the historic patriotic poet Qu Yuan(ca. 340 BC - 278 BC) who had a really hard time of it. But more of that later. This quote is a gentle taste of one of the great poems in world literature, a poem with political truths which are just as relevant today as back then in the Warring States Period.

Thomas Carlyle once said, Man does not change. He merely stands more exposed. It is great poets like Qu Yuan who do much of the exposing.

USA Poetry Map

A USA poetry map is available at http://www.poets.org Interesting! Here's just a sample of some States:

TOP STATES ON POETRY MAP


Georgia: Homestate of Sidney Lanier, Conrad Aiken & James Dickey.
California: Root of both the Beat Movement and Language poetry.
New York: A tremendous generator of inspiration. It’s a capital of inspiration.
Ohio: Birthplace of Hart Crane, James Wright & Rita Dove.
Florida: Elizabeth Bishop called it the state with the prettiest name.

Now, let's start putting together an Australian map. Phew ... big job ...

Hispirits and Sons

The splintering of self happens with the advent of children in your life. And so I offer you two very different sites to check out. Miles, my eldest son, has a blog which is a feisty mix of graphic design industry talk and computer jive, and leads somehow on to a photo blog which is of course very bloody good: start here - http://www.burke.id.au/

Then my youngest son, Charlie, a full decade later, has this site, the title of which is suitably enticing if you're into cricket at all, like I am: http://www.nextgenerationcricket.com

My daughter, Alice, is in the fashion business, sans website.

Shanxi Normal University Basketball Finals

I have done a lot of Linfen bashing while I've been here, due to the pollution and the filth, but there is another side to it - the healthy energetic side of the people here, from kindy kids to retired academics. The city squares are often filled with people in the morning doing exercises, lead by a volunteer instructor. They are thoroughly informal sessions and very useful for those stuck inside at home all day or behind a desk or counter. At Shanxi Normal University, all the students have an obligatory physical education unit - something that Australia could implement with great benefit (for students and academic staff). They play basketball or soccer, ballroom dancing, ping-pong, tennis, athletics, and tae-kwon-do.

Two nights ago I was privileged to be invited as a special guest of the university to the Grand Final of the inter-school basketball competition. I went rather casually dressed, not expecting such a grand event. I had seen some of the lead-up games, and they were fiercely competitive but casual in setting and tone. This event was under lights and packed - in the aisles, on all the seating, at court side and even on the roof next door! True to form throughout the world, I would hazard to guess, the English Department weren't in the finals. They very consistently lost every game in the prelims - but they played with spirit and pluck!

The final was between Law and Engineering, and the brouhaha that went with it all was stunning. The music was disco/hip-hop cross, and played many decibels too loud for old ears. The students were ready for a good time and as vocal as any Aussie football crowd - in fact, a lot louder! They chanted and screamed, and clacked their clacker things with great glee and energy. The players were of extremely high standard, and two of the Law team were just short of brilliant - Number 9 and a player without a number, but the biggest player on the team. The referees were in complete control of the game and sent two players off ... The court wasn't a place for the weak-hearted.

But my favourites were the cheerleaders. The Chinese are a very moral people, so the cheerleaders clad in very athletic more than glamorous outfits. My guides for the evening, young female students themselves, were very proud of their 'beautiful girls'. I am proud to say some of my freshmen students were in the squad who certainly had the best choreography and execution. The other s1quad tried to be glamorous, but their routines were not a match for my more sedately dressed girls. The accompanying photos give you absolutely no idea of the din that started and continued throughout the game and especially with the music at the breaks. My ears have just settled down now ...

WA Premier's Book Awards

Glen Phillips has supplied this list of winners:

The results of the WA Premier's awards are: fiction—Simone Lazaroo
(The Travel Writer); Poetry—Dennis Haskell (All the Time in the World); non-fiction—Quentin Beresford (Rob Riley) and Peter Edwards(Arthur Tange); Young Adult—Kate McCaffery(Destroying Avalon); Script Prize Hellie Turner; Premier's Prize—Shaun Tan(the Arrival).

Les Murray review/article

Here's a link to a lengthy review / article from the New Yorker arts and culture division: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/06/11/070611crbo_books_chiasson

On the eve of publication, Malouf talks

David Malouf is a quiet man who doesn't especially like publicity, but if his audience is to hear what is happening in his writing/publishing life, someone's gotta tell 'em. And who better than the author himself? Here is a charming interview from up there in sunny Queensland: http://www.news.com.au/sundaymail/story/0,,21819775-5003425,00.html

Portrait of Qu Yuan by Australian Chinese artist Zhang Cuiying

Illustration accessed from http://www.answers.com/topic/chu-ci

Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival

Today, a Chinese friend Jack came to my flat with a friend of his, bearing zong zi - Chinese rice puddings wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with thin white string. All I could understand was that it had something to do with a festival and that the festival was prompted by the actions of a patriotic poet of ancient China, Qu Yuan. We cooked, we eat, and we talked - about Tibet and about Australian Aboriginals. After they left, I researched the zong zi and Qu Yuan. Again, another fascinating Chinese tale unfolded. Many scholars must spend their entire lives trying to learn the enormous wealth of folk tales and history of the people of these lands - and what a fascinating life that would be. Here is lots of information for you courtesy of Wikepedia, a site I have expressed academic doubts about but which came to my rescue today.

Qu Yuan (Chinese: 屈原; pinyin: qū yúan) (c. 340 BC - 278 BC) was a Chinese patriotic poet from southern Chu during the Warring States Period. His works are mostly found in an anthology of poetry known as Chu Ci. His death is commemorated on Duan Wu or Tuen Ng Festival (端午节/端午節), commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival in the West.


Biography
Qu Yuan was a minister in the government of the state of Chu, descended of nobility and a champion of political loyalty and truth eager to maintain the Chu state's sovereignty. Qu Yuan advocated a policy of alliance with the other kingdoms of the period against the hegemonic state of Qin, which threatened to dominate them all. The Chu king, however, fell under the influence of other corrupt, jealous ministers who slandered Qu Yuan, and banished his most loyal counselor. It is said that Qu Yuan returned first to his family's home town. In his exile, he spent much of this time collecting legends and rearranging folk odes while travelling the countryside, producing some of the greatest poetry in Chinese literature while expressing his fervent love for his state and his deepest concern for its future.

According to legend, his anxiety brought him to an increasingly troubled state of health; during his depression, he would often take walks near a certain well, during which he would look upon his reflection in the water and be his own person, thin and gaunt. In the legend, this well became known as the "Face Reflection Well." Today on a hillside in Xiangluping in Hubei province's Zigui, there is a well which is considered to be the original well from the time of Qu Yuan.

In 278 BC, learning of the capture of his country's capital, Ying, by General Bai Qi of the state of Qin, Qu Yuan is said to have written the lengthy poem of lamentation called "Lament for Ying" and later to have waded into the Miluo river in today's Hunan Province holding a great rock in order to commit ritual suicide as a form of protest against the corruption of the era.


The origin of the Duan Wu Festival
The villagers carried their dumplings and boats to the middle of the river and desperately tried to save him, but were unsuccessful. In order to keep fish and evil spirits away from his body, they beat drums and splashed the water with their paddles. They threw rice into the water as a food offering to Qu Yuan and to distract the fish away from his body. However, late one night, the spirit of Qu Yuan appeared before his friends and told them that (unknown) because of a river dragon. He asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to ward off the dragon. These packages became a traditional food known as zong zi, although the lumps of rice are now wrapped in reed leaves instead of silk. The act of racing to search for his body in boats gradually became the cultural tradition of dragon boat racing, which is held on the anniversary of his death every year.

Today, people still eat zhongzi and participate in dragon boat races to commemorate Qu Yuan's sacrifice on the Duan Wu festival, the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.


Reputation
Qu Yuan is generally recognised as the first great Chinese poet with record. He initiated the style of Sao, which is named after his work Li Sao, in which he abandoned the classic four-character verses used in poems of Shi Jing and adopted verses with varying lengths, which gives the poem more rhythm and latitude in expression. Qu Yuan is also regarded as one of the most prominent figures of Romanticism in Chinese literature, and his masterpieces influenced some of the greatest Romanticist poets in Tang Dynasty such as Li Bai and Du Fu.

Other than his literary influence, Qu Yuan is also held as the earliest patriotic poet in China history. His political idealism and unbendable patriotism have served as the model for Chinese intellectuals to this day.

Urban Myths by John Tranter

2007 NSW Premier's Literary Awards

Christina Stead Prize for fiction ($20,000)

Peter Carey, Theft: A Love Story (Random House)

Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction ($20,000)

Robert Hughes, Things I didn't know: a Memoir (Random House)

Kenneth Slessor Prize for poetry ($15,000)

John Tranter, Urban Myths: 210 poems (Uni of Qld Press)

Moonlight in The Kimberley

photo by Jeanette Burke

DISCLAIMER

for Judy Siddons

This poem is confidential. If
you are not the intended recipient
you must not disclose or use
the information contained herein. If
you have received this poem in
excelsis ditto please notify us immediately
by return and delete all emotions
evoked. The Muse is not responsible
for any changes made to a poem other
than those made by the Prince of Parnassus
or for the effect of the changes on the
poem's meaning.The Muse accepts
no liability for any damage caused by this poem
or its attachments due to veritabilities
interference interception corruption
or unauthorised excess.

BRUCE DAWE NATIONAL POETRY PRIZE 2007

The Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize is open to all Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. The Prize will be awarded to an original, unpublished poem not exceeding 50 lines. There are no generic or thematic constraints Entries will not be under offer to any publication, or offered for publication, until the adjudication is finalized and the winner is notified. The Prize will normally be awarded to a single poem/poet, with up to three unpaid highly-commended entries notified. The winner will be notified personally, and announced on the website the first week of October. Entrants may submit no more than three poems for consideration. Each single entry must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of A$6.00 per poem for administration expenses, ie: one poem, A$6.00, two poems A$12, three poems A$18.00. Personal cheques, bank cheques, postal/money orders should be made payable to: USQ. As a copy of the Entry Form can be kept for tax purposes, receipts will not be issued unless requested.Entries should normally be typed, one side only, on A4 paper. Entries are assessed in their original submitted versions only. No subsequent editorial amendment or resubmission is permitted. Personal details should not appear on any manuscript to ensure discretion and fair-dealing in the adjudication process. Please supply full details as required on the separate Entry Form. Do not submit original manuscripts. Please submit copies only of poems. If you would like your poem/s returned, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Entries will be retained for twelve months. The Trustee of the Prize accepts no liability for loss or damage of manuscripts. The decision of the Trustee’s adjudication panel is final. No subsequent correspondence will be entered into. The judges reserve the right not to award the Prize in any given year.

For entry forms or queries: Phone: (07) 46311065 or Fax: (07) 46311063.
Email: daweprize@usq.edu.au Website: http://www.usq.edu.au/daweprize .

Closes 30th June.

WA Premier's Book Awards 2006 shortlist

The Minister for Culture and the Arts, Hon Sheila McHale, has announced the shortlist for the 2006 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards. Thirty-four books/scripts have been shortlisted in the seven categories. A record number of 158 entries was received. The presentation of the Awards will take place on Friday 8 June 2007 at a gala dinner held at the State Library of Western Australia.

To view the shortlist, go to: http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/pbk06shlst.html