Tomorrow is May Day across most of Europe, and for Asia it is a special day because she is moving from her one-room flat to a house. It’s a share, but for now no one is living on the main floor but she.
Can you say “It’s PARTY TIME!!” ??
I’m going to come out there on my new motorcycle!
The Czech tradition of witch burning is taking place tonight. The day commemorates the change of spring, but so much more:
On the evening of April 30th, Czechs gather to build a bonfire and prepare an effigy of the witch that kept winter around so long. Czechs used to believe that the power of witches would weaken as the weather got warmer. So they thought that if they made something that looked like a witch and burned it, they could finally get rid of the cold weather.
Okay, so I’m not planning to go to a witch burning. Sounds a bit too much like an occasion that simply turns into a “drinking festival”, something we moderns didn’t invent, however have done well by dismantling the tradition. Of course, if I were living in a village, the significance would be heightened, and perhaps the event more profound.
At a village event, I could dress as a witch and cast spells on children, perhaps make them cry. There’s no better fun than that!
Naughty bunnies nibble Nutela near Nebraskan nurseries now known for newly noticed Nautilocalyx Nectaroscordium Neillia Nelumbo.
Okay, so now that I’ve talked and (today) seen my nephew, Michael, I can offer some black humor to his recent mishap. He’s sitting in a San Diego burn unit with one arm looking quite Lon Cheney-ish.
Seems Mike got a bit close to an exploding LP tank while doing some glass blowing.
With a few dozen staples in his hand and arm that hold the newly grafted skin together, he’s good to set off airport metal detectors for a few weeks yet. Hey, it happens, Dude. Just, you know, be righteous about the pain next time, will ya!
Of course, after picking a stray staple out of his ass yesterday, he might want to do a full body search before hitting the surfboard this summer: I hear sharks and barracudas like shiny objects.
Glad to hear you’re getting on the mend, young man. Don’t worry, you’ll be working alongside the ole Webber in no time. My advice: use matchlight charcoal for a few months, just to get your “sea legs” back.
Bitch’n !!!!!
Into my seventh year of working out and eating healthy foods, I feel good, look damned good, and at 46, can chase down a little fox pretty easily.
In my early days, I didn’t have much girth, but you could see its potential: look at the shape of that head >>>
Then for some reason, I exploded, and my head became the size of a basketball >>>
But now, you can see that I’ve become lean, fit, and muscle-laden >>>
Of course, I’ve been writing this while eating potato chips and peanuts at 9.40 pm … Thanks to my amped metabolism, I can INDULGE a couple times a week.
A gorgeous day today got Asia and me outside early: we walked into Vysehrad park about 10 am … not bad for a Sunday. Best thing: we beat the crowds.
The air is nicely clear these spring days, and in the distance, Prazke Hrad loomed over the Vltava and all those red tile roofs. Asia took lots of pictures; she takes loads of pics. And we also got the self-timer going, with a capture of a great shot of us both (i.e., we liked how our selves looked).
Later, we went to our yoga class, which is becoming our regular Sunday lesson. And a good lesson it is. We both like Jana’s style and smooth, continuous transitions through positions. It’s a good 70-minute workout.
Today I did a headstand, which Jana decided to “treat” the five members there because she saw that we were all “strong.” I’d not done a yoga-stand before, so I watched the demonstration, and then Jana came round and helped my legs get verticle. It’s a good position that really strengthens your arms & neck muscles.
Earlier though, I made Asia laugh when, during one step-forward-lung-back-and-kick-out move, I kicked out like a donkey. She lost it a bit. So did I.
Dinner afterward? nutty rolls smothered in Nutella chocolate, topped with bananas. Great way to end the week.
Next week, Asia moves to Suchdol!
Prof. Kriz and co. held one of their gala receptions at the National Museum atop Wenceslaus Square. A fitting place, because the event was to highlight newly acquired and preserved illuminated manuscripts depicting the life of King Wenceslaus.
The 23 preserved illuminations give a persuasive testimony of the
Christian and charitable activities of St.Wenceslas, of his political
role and of themiracles that occurred after he was murdered in the
year 935.
The mss. date from the early 1500s, and are amazingly well preserved. The colors — vivid primaries and gold leaf — jump off the pages, and are artistic masterpieces 100 years after Gutenberg’s moveable type expanded printing possibilities (of course, eventually spelling the end of most illuminated mss.).
The evening began with a few speeches, from museum directors and currators, which by the time they were done speaking, people were dancing on their feet, anxious to a) eat, and b) go see the exhibit. Czech flutist Jiri Stivin played two songs, one quite ancient-sounding, befitting the event, and the other wildly sonorous. At one point he had to wood flutes in his mouth, playing bass and harmony together.
As usual, the food at a Kriz & Belina shindig was outstanding. Typical Czech fare—bone-in ham, mashed potatoes; fish with white sauce and rice; beef with red wine sauce; veggies and cold meats (including this type of smoked bacon thats cubed and is positively delicious). I talked with a few people, whom took me for what I am, American, and their English was quite good. We kicked around the political subject of the coming Czech elections. Their basic attitude is that all their politicians are crooks, and the people aren’t willing to rise up and through them out. (The Czechs have a history of throwing leaders out of high windows, but no one suggested that last night, though you could see it in their eyes)
Speaking of murder, King Wenzel was knifed to death on the steps of a church. Seems he was running into the church, a place of sanctity, back then, that protected you from such actions because of church law. Apparently, people respected that law. In this case, King Wenzel’s brother was behind the plot. I believe the brother was later murdered … by getting himself thrown out a window.
Cal Rambler does these alliteration exercises/games on FaceBook, where wonderfully weird words string together to give a short image, or even story. While lots of people are not my FaceBook friends, nor will most be invited, I want to let live some of my alliteration bits.
There’s another name for these, but I can’t remember it now, and can’t find it on FB. But anyway:
Ha, ha, ha. Any takers?
It seems that all the major houses have fired their Literary Fiction editors. Every book smelling of art gets shoved into one of the newly invented genres — ChicLit, GuyLit, IndieBook, GenderBending — and if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t sell. Meanwhile, readers think “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” stories are what’s best in fiction because they top the best seller lists.
On the other side of the HOUSE spectrum are the Little Presses. They are the last bastion of quality literature, but some have been infected by the corporate-think virus: “We don’t accept any unsolicited manuscripts that are not represented by an agent.” Huh?
What’s a writer to do? Self publish. Use the Web to advertise. Take the system to task and make your own way. Electronic media and Print-on-Demand technology, along with viable contracts offered by such publishers, makes the effort worth while, while no money comes out of my pocket. In fact, since publishers don’t spend money on adveritising/marketing of anyone below the mid-list level author (those selling tens of thousands of copies, or more), authors are left in the wilderness anyway.
What the publishing houses have had over small houses and POD (back a ways) was distribution. That is changing, and will get more advantageous for the Hard-to-Fit authors.
Sounds like fun.
