© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 7:00 A.M.
I looked in on poeticdiversity.org last night and was saddened to learn poet and teacher Steve Kowit had died, in his sleep on April 2, 2015, according to his website.
A few years out of graduate school, Kowit's In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Worshop showed me how to revise a flash of inspiration into a poem more people than just I might get, and how to conjure inspiration for a poem in the first place.
I never met or corresponded with Kowit, but his friendly voice comes through in his work and his website. Long may they draw audiences.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Monday, August 10, 2015
At The Five-Two: "Boo Coo" by Charles Rammelkamp
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 4:00 A.M.
August 15, 1973 was the date set by Congress for the end of direct U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. Of course, the Vietnam war's effect on the American people goes well beyond that date, as Charles Rammelkamp's poem attests:
I'm now accepting new poems for the early part of the Five-Two's fifth year. Submit today.
August 15, 1973 was the date set by Congress for the end of direct U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. Of course, the Vietnam war's effect on the American people goes well beyond that date, as Charles Rammelkamp's poem attests:
I'm now accepting new poems for the early part of the Five-Two's fifth year. Submit today.
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Justice League: Gods and Monsters
© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 5:00 A.M.
The latest Warner Bros. Animation direct-to-DVD DC Comics movie is by far the edgiest. Unlike The Flashpoint Paradox, Gods and Monsters doesn't present hard-to-swallow, dark versions of Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Diana. It challenges us to warm to new characters with different origins.
General Zod killed Jor-El in Krypton's final moments and replaced him as DNA donor before sending the rocket to Earth. As a baby, Superman (Benjamin Bratt) was found not by the picture-perfect Kents, but by migrant workers who raised him on the fringes of the American Dream.
Batman is Kirk Langstrom (Michael C. Hall), who, hoping to cure his cancer, took an experimental vaccine laced with bat venom that turned him into a vampire.
Wonder Woman is Bekka (Tamara Taylor), Highfather's granddaughter, whose marriage to Orion sealed the treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips, though as soon as the marriage was official, Highfather's forces turned and slaughtered Darkseid's.
Establishing these origins in flashbacks, Gods and Monsters mainly involves the murders of top U.S. scientists by shape-shifting robots whose technology mimics the Trinity's powers. The thing is, this Trinity is the sort we'd believe might suddenly grab power. And yet, their harder paths help us sympathize. Their heroics are less expected, their hero labels harder earned.
Incidentally, the trinity of Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, and Geoff Johns came up with this ground-breaking story, and a featurette on the Blu-ray details how they did it.
General Zod killed Jor-El in Krypton's final moments and replaced him as DNA donor before sending the rocket to Earth. As a baby, Superman (Benjamin Bratt) was found not by the picture-perfect Kents, but by migrant workers who raised him on the fringes of the American Dream.
Batman is Kirk Langstrom (Michael C. Hall), who, hoping to cure his cancer, took an experimental vaccine laced with bat venom that turned him into a vampire.
Wonder Woman is Bekka (Tamara Taylor), Highfather's granddaughter, whose marriage to Orion sealed the treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips, though as soon as the marriage was official, Highfather's forces turned and slaughtered Darkseid's.
Establishing these origins in flashbacks, Gods and Monsters mainly involves the murders of top U.S. scientists by shape-shifting robots whose technology mimics the Trinity's powers. The thing is, this Trinity is the sort we'd believe might suddenly grab power. And yet, their harder paths help us sympathize. Their heroics are less expected, their hero labels harder earned.
Incidentally, the trinity of Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, and Geoff Johns came up with this ground-breaking story, and a featurette on the Blu-ray details how they did it.
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