Sunday, March 20, 2011
Podcasts
I listened to Carl Sandberg at the Schubert theater in Chicago. He read two poems; sang a couple of songs, and accompanied himself on the guitar. His conversation was about modern life, circa 1956. He said we are a nation of media addicts. TV, radio and movies are irreparably changing the country, and the loss of solitude is a crisis. He quoted Paganini when he was asked what "The Secret" to his great work was. He said just three things: "toil, solitude, and prayer."
Sandberg had recently watched the world series on TV and got the impression: "there were millions of men running around, wondering what to shave with."
Another memorable quote; "What you can explain is not poetry"
He warned of the military of the military/industrial complex. He said that the Military is not just in politics but also in Business. "MacArthur has left the army and now works for the Rand Corporation. He's not a business man he's a military man."
Also heard a Robert Pinsky pod-cast. He talks about memory, poetry & music. He loves Keats' line: "You were not born for death, no hungry generation tread thee down.", from "Ode to a Nightingale". Not born for death means to him that man has a need and a purpose to create memories for the next generation. He also loves a sentence said by a Zulu "Zu go-mo", a Zulu fortune teller, who communicates with the ancestors. The Zu go-mo quote that impressed him: "We do not worship our Zulu ancestors, we consult them."
From Ezra Pound:
"Music atrophies when it grows too far away from dance, and poetry atrophies when it grows too far away from music."
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