lunababymoonchild

Anarcho-syndacalism, Rudolph Rocker

Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star In his steep course? So long he seems to pause On thy bald awful head, O sovran BLANC, The Arve and Arveiron at thy base Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form! Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines, How silently! Around thee and above Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black, An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it, As with a wedge! But when I look again, It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine, Thy habitation from eternity! O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee, Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer I worshipped the Invisible alone. Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody, So sweet, we know not we are listening to it, Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my Thought, Yea, with my Life and Life's own secret joy: Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused, Into the mighty vision passing—there As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven! Awake, my soul! not only passive praise Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears, Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake, Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake! Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my Hymn. Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the Vale! O struggling with the darkness all the night, And visited all night by troops of stars, Or when they climb the sky or when they sink: Companion of the morning-star at dawn, Thyself Earth's rosy star, and of the dawn Co-herald: wake, O wake, and utter praise! Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in Earth? Who filled thy countenance with rosy light? Who made thee parent of perpetual streams? And you, ye five wild torrents fiercely glad! Who called you forth from night and utter death, From dark and icy caverns called you forth, Down those precipitous, black, jagg Hymn before Sun-rise, in the Vale of Chamouni BY SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

The second book from Stacy Halls is a well written adventure set in London in the mid 1700's. The story revolves around the lives of a poor woman and a rich but eccentric woman and the foundling that comes between them. I felt the ending was a bit contrived and rushed but other than that it's an enjoyable and easy read. Recommended

Momac has had an unsolicited email previously from someone called Brenda. That time Brenda was pretending to be me.

The Foundling, Stacy Halls

Finally gotten around to reading this and everything Dan said is true. Bernhard is truly original and not to everybody's taste but he is magnificent and this is very well worth reading.

READING in Omar till the thoughts that burned Upon his pages seemed to be inurned Within me in a silent fire, my pen By instinct to his flowing metre turned. Vine-crowned free-thinker of thy Persian clime – Brave bard whose daring thought and mystic rhyme Through English filter trickles down to us Out of the lost springs of an olden time – Baffled by life’s enigmas, like the crowd Who strove before and since to see the cloud Lift from the mountain pinnacles of faith – We honor still the doubts thou hast avowed, And fain would round the hail-truth of thy dream; And fain let in – if so we might – a beam Of purer light through windows of the soul, Dividing things that are from things that seem. True, true, brave poet, in thy cloud involved, The riddle of the world stood all unsolved; And we who boast our broader views still grope Too oft like thee, though centuries have revolved. Yet this we know. Thy symbol of the jar Suits not our western manhood, left to mar Or make, in part, the clay ‘t is moulded of: And the soul’s freedom is its fateful star. Not like thy ball thrown from the player’s hand Inert and passive on a yielding strand; Or if a ball, the rock whence it rebounds Proves that e’en this some license may command. But though thy mind, which measured Jove and Mars, Lay fettered from the Unseen by bolts and bars Of circumstance, one truth thy spirit saw, The mystery spanning life and earth and stars. Dervish and threatening dogma were thy foes. The question though unanswered still arose; And through the revel and the wine-cups still The honest thought, “Who knows, but One – who knows?” And as I read again each fervent line That smiles through sighs, and drips with fragrant wine; And Vedder’s thoughtful muse has graced the verse With added jewels from the artist’s mine – I read a larger meaning in the sage, A modern comment on a far-off age; And take the truth, and leave the error out That casts its light stain on the Asian page. Omar Khayyam, Christopher Pearse Cranch

Wittgenstein's Nephew, Thomas Bernhard

Kirk Douglas at 103!

I'm torn between paper and e-book. I love my paper books and much prefer them but waiting for them to come through the post and then knowing what to do with them once I'm done is a constant challenge. I love that I can buy the complete works of ……… on Kindle for 49p and have done but I don't enjoy reading it on the app on my tablet. I had a Kindle but sent it back because it just didn't suit me. Never tried audio books.

The Conference of the Birds, Ransom Riggs.

Anybody got any opinions?

I have just finished the ten year anniversary edition of this. Nikki Sixx is bass player and founding member of what was to be called a Glam Metal Band during the 1980's. Glam Metal is where the band wear make-up and back comb their hair to make it look more than it is. The band itself never interested me but this book did. This is a year in the life of a rock star who survived his addictions and lived to fight another day. He kept a diary during this time and has added to the book what happened in the ten years after it was released. It's entirely what you'd expect it to be - debauchery at the highest level. What's different about Nikki Sixx is that he was actually dead for several minutes and it was paramedics that brought him back to life - called by the girlfriend of Guns 'n Roses guitarist Slash. It's not a short book but it is a quick read and it's well written and easily accessible. This book Is handed out to addicts to help them recover and give them something to live for. Recommended but not unless you're interested and it is frank about what addictions can do to you so not for the faint-hearted.

An interesting article on the different forms of reading What's best, e-book, audio or print?

Laughter's healthy, contagious, and brightens your day. It's pun that's a groaner or joke that's risque. It's a belly laugh, horse laugh, or laugh like a loon At a comic strip, slapstick or clown or cartoon. Laughter's chuckles and chortles, a snicker or snort. It's a humorist's quip or a jester at court. It's amusement that's droll or the last laugh that's best Or a rib-tickler, knee-slapper, jape, or a jest. Laughter's mirth and hilarity, wisecracks or wags. It's a yuk or a cackle and zingers and gags. You can giggle, guffaw, or can laugh up your sleeve, Bust a gut, or with levity tension relieve. Laughter's wit that's impromptu or monologue planned. Its a sitcom with punchlines and laughter that's canned. It's a pie in the face or a pratfall or prank And comedian's laugh all the way to the bank. Laughter, Richard Thomas.