Friday, January 30, 2015

Rod Mckuen - Like..... From BEATSVILLE Spoken Word Poetry

"The most unforgivable sin in the world,” Mr. McKuen told The Washington Post in 1969, “is to be a best-selling poet.”

This is a rare LP record. It is corny beatnik poetry by Rod Mckuen. But I like
 the cover. Rod is not even dressed like a beatnik or a hippie. This poem and the other six below this one are so corny they have become camp and cool in the sense they are so far out they are almost in.

Rod McKuen - RSVP

Rod McKuen - Haiku Poems

Rod McKuen - Three Songs For "S"

Rod Mckuen - No Pictures Please

Rod McKuen - What Is A Fabian?

Rod McKuen - Reflections On A Plane Trip Home

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Friday, January 23, 2015

Harvey Fry Article From 2011 ...I Used To Know Him Back In The 1960s and 1970s.

I used to know Harvey Fry back in the day. That was in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. I am amazed he is still alive. Or that he was alive in 2011 when this article about him appeared in The Washingtonian Magazine.  Yes, he is still alive. He is scheduled to recite poetry at Jack Rose on their Robert Burns birthday celebration this coming Sunday.
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/food-dining/jack-roses-harvey-fry-a-fine-madness/

 Click on the link above to read the article about Harvey Fry as an expert on the fine art of Scotch whiskey. And also a long article about his most interesting and varied life. Harvey always was one of a kind.
Click on the picture below to enlarge it.


 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Robert Stone Obituary Chicago Sun Times

http://legacy.suntimes.com/obituaries/chicagosuntimes/obituary.aspx?pid=173808445

Robert Stone Has Died........He Was America's Greatest Living Novelist. Now He Is Gone

Robert Stone the author of DOG SOLDIERS has died. He won a National Book Award for fiction for that book. He was the best living American novelist and now he is gone. I think maybe he will be the last serious American novelist of any merit. All the best sellers like Stephen King and John Grisham and all the other best sellers are just writing popular fiction that is only for children of all ages. It is not serious first class writing.
Now we have no more Steinbecks or Faulkners of Hemingways or Bellows or Fitzgeralds. Or Hawthornes or Melvilles for that matter. All we have are writers like Tom Clancy who doesn"t even write the books that are now coming out under his name. Since he is dead. They are now written by somebody else whose name appears under his. How cheap a shot is that?
My favorite Robert Stone books are HALL OF MIRRORS, DOG SOLDIERS, DEATH OF THE BLACK HAIRED GIRL and also his short story collections Fun with Problems, Bear and his Daughter.
And his non fiction memoir PRIME GREEN.
I have posted many other posts on this blog about Robert Stone. You can find them by clicking on the Label Robert Stone in the Label Box below.
Also you will find many pictures of him there that are more flattering than the rotten picture the Washington Post chose to run with his obituary. I think they wanted to show him as a burnt out hippie author.

Robert Stone, the National Book Award-winning novelist, is shown here in 1981. (Photo by Bob Laramie/AP for The Washington Post)


 When I met him at book signing here in Washington D.C. in 2007 he looked like a businessman. He was in his prime. Sharp clothes and new shoes. Look on my past posts under the Label Robert Stone for picture of me getting books signed by him at Politics And Prose bookstore. You will see that he was looking very good and could have been mistaken for a banker.
Click on the Label Robert Stone in the Label Box below and keep scrolling down until you come to the post about Robert Stone At Politics And Prose.

Here are the pictures mentioned above.

Click on thes pictures to enlarge them.


Now click on the name Robert Stone in the Labels box below to read many more of my previous posts about Robert Stone.  Included in them are several videos of him reading and being interviewed via You Tube.


Monday, January 19, 2015

Cartoon Satire Of A Pregnant Mary On The Road To Bethlehem By Bhob Stewart

Here is an enlargement of the cartoon that I posted yesterday. Scroll down past some recent posts to find it.
Click on the picture to enlarge it. This is from the magazine The Realist from December 1961.
Cartoon by Bhob Stewart.

Marty Robbins - At The End Of A Long Lonely Day (Country Music Classics ...

At The End of a Long Lonely Day by Gerry Madigan & Amy Fernandez



At the end of a long lonely day without you,
And the world seems to fall in my face.
I'm alright through the day, but the day fades away,
And the long lonely night takes its place.

Another day to sit alone and cry,
It makes no difference if I live or die.
Well I've tried and I've tried but these are tears that I can't hide,
At the end of a long lonely day.

At the end of the day, I go up to my room,
And I watch as the sun fades away.
But the emptiness there brings me grief and despair,
At the end of a long lonely day.

Another day to wish that you were here,
I dread each lonely night that's filled with tears.
Well I've tried and I've tried but these are tears I just can't hide,
At the end of a long lonely day.

Lyrics - Marty Robbins

Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Cartoon Satire Of Jesus Christ's Birth...Pregnant Mary On The Way To Bethlehem By Bhob Stewart From The Realist 1961

My brother Bhob Stewart drew this cartoon for the magazine The Realist in 1961. Bhob died on Feb. 24, 2014.  I always liked this cartoon. I think it was one of his best. And it is relevant today. Bhob's cartoon of the Prophet Jesus's Birth.

Click on the above picture to enlarge it.
Please note the halo over Mary's head. And the halo over her baby bump.



Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Gateway To A New Year....Photo And Text By Rachel Lefebure Stewart

One year ago today Rachel and I  were on Sanibel Island in Florida. She had made 60 or so of these cards and we went to the Sanibel Island Post Office so she could snail mail out this card to about 50 of her friends and relatives.
    I have changed the date from 2014 to 2015 but the same sentiments apply.
Click on the photos and the text to enlarge them.

Thursday, January 1, 2015