Goodbye Eddie

The sad news has arrived that Edwin Morgan, the Scots Makar, died today, of pneumonia, aged 90.

I only met Eddie once but he seemed such a genuine and warm guy who had time for anyone. His work has been an inspiration to people all over the world and he has shaped Scottish poetry for generations past and will for many years to come. On a personal level, Morgan and his work are a considerable part of my life. Not only has his poetry inspired my own poetry but I have dedicated years of my life to researching his work as part of my PhD. I know he's been just as important and indeed more-so for many more people out there.

He will be sorely missed but in true Morgan style I think it's important to look at all the great optimism he had in life and to keep it going.

"It's hard to go, let's go"


Knowing he's been seriously ill for some time, I'd written a tribute poem (if I can call it that) about the impact this news would have, as pasted below.

Bye bye Eddie

Big fat sell out

Having stolen the last few copies of my chapbook, The Last Refuge, from a local charity and sold them to unsuspecting likers of poetry, the first edition is officially a SELL OUT.

If you don't have a copy then you probably have some kind of mental disorder and your life is definitely ruined. Perhaps you can use it as testimony for your insanity plea when you inevitably end up in court on drunk and disorderly and/or public nudity charges.

Perhaps the publishers will print another edition, you may yet have something worth living for. Do not give up hope whilst you're sat shivering in a pool of your own excrement.

In other news: icecream is nice, have you tried it?


Russell Jones

Me hearties - more pirate blethers

NEW
I've been asked back to Captains Bar for one last reading on 21st August. Come sit on my lap.


----


Scrub my palms with a rusty razor, batter the matches and  prepare the parrot for the high breeze, I'm giving two readings at Captains bar, including the children's favourite, "Farmers and Pirates"

If you're not a lollylagging wang lugger then head on over and hear me call

8th and 9th of August

Captains Bar, 4 South College Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AA, www.CaptainsEdinburgh.webs.com



Russell Jones

Blog Project

Cast your mind back to your earliest memory. Is it my previous post about a blogging project between a bunch of desperado poets? If not then your life obviously has too many "meaningful experiences" in it and must be extinguished. I suggest bleach.

Anyway the time has come to actually make the post. Here's how it works:

1) The director of the project sends all the poets the same word. The word was "swear"

2) The poets quit their day time jobs in pursuit of the word, excluding their loved ones, not washing, shivering in the darkness. So nothing different to usual, other than this...

3) The poets write something based on....the word!

True genius. Well the picture above is my attempt, and a ruddy good one it is too. If you have any inkling of aesthetics or intellect then you'll surely love it. Tell your mum about it before I do.

I also wrote a more conventional sort of thing after seeing a burger producer claiming that its edible atrocities were the "f*cKING best" or something equally subtle. It's pasted below.

As a nod to the fellow wordwhores involved, there are also links to each of their blogs. They're all meant to have posted by 10am today (Saturday 17th August)

(PS: the dots aren't meant to be in this poem but I can't fathom how to put the gap in-between the sections, so imagine they're invisible with your imagination skills)

Obscene Publications

sh*t ..............................as in the toilet lid

c*nt ..............................as in for money

w*nk ............................as in unsophisticated flirtation

who*e ..........................as in the complete package

p*ss ..............................as in salt ‘n’ vinegar

fu*k ..............................as in hip gyration to beats

co*k .............................as in sausage factory

b*tch ............................as in femme

b*oody .........................as in messy family planning

c*ap .............................as in sore lips

tw*t ............................as in an oaf

sl*t ..............................as in looking through a narrow gap

And the list of poets:

Mairi Sharratt - A lump in the Throat
http://www.alumpinthethroat.wordpress.com

Caroline Mary Crew - Flotsam
http://www.carolinemarycrew.wordpress.com

Colin Will - Sunny Dunny
http://sunnydunny.wordpress.com/

Andrew Philip - Tonguefire
http://tonguefire.wordpress.com/tonguefire/

Sally Evans - desktopsallye
http://www.desktopsallye.com/page16.htm

Kevin Cadwallender - Cadwallender
http://cadwallenderk.blogspot.com/

Claire Askew - One Nights Stanzas
http://www.onenightstanzas.com/

Russell Jones - Russell Jones
http://www.poetrusselljones.blogspot.com

Alastair Cook - Written in my hand
http://www.alastaircook.blogspot.com/

Martaerre Sobrecueva - de la poesia y otras disciplinas en palabras
http://miraletras.blogspot.com/

Tony Williams - Tony Williams's Poetry Blog
http://aye-lass.blogspot.com/

Russell Jones

All blogged up

Blogging is an Eden for the socially inept / self-obsessed and that is why poets love to blog. In fact poets love blogging so much that 9/10 of them admitted they would rather drown a bag of puppies than lose their precious blog. A big bag.

Now imagine the possible carnage of a lot of poets all competing for Me Space on a shared blog. You can't, can you? Well now you don't have to!

Mairi Sharratt, an Edinburgh-based poet, has hatched a child-beatingly-evil and devious plot to have poets all write their thoughts and feelings about a chosen issue at once. Here is a short post about it:http://alumpinthethroat.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/literary-salons-anon-7-and-simultaneous-blogging/

The project includes such poetic talent as:

Sally Evans

http://www.desktopsallye.com/page16.htm

Kevin Cadwallender

(the man has no blog...and he calls himself a poet, pah!)

Alastair Cook

www.alastaircook.blogspot.com

Claire Askew

http://www.onenightstanzas.com/

And, no doubt, many others. Of course, being the miserable self-gratifying eye gouge that I am, I'll also be taking part.

Spish and tittle.

Russell Jones

Alice in Blunderland

I read Alice in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass) recently, after my rancid experience with Mr Depp and co., and thought it was pish-inspiringly good. And so I wrote an article on it, which you can find on therustykey:

http://therustykey.com/WereAllMadHere.html

suck it and see, dumpfreeze

Russell Jones

Baby Botherer

If the authorities allow me to spawn I shall name my darlings something that will really hinder them in attaining happiness in their lives. "Abomination" or "Gout", perhaps.

And here are some recent attempts at a brand new (aka: done before) poetic form which I have named "physics motion poetry".

The name even makes me want to hurt myself so you're not alone.

Arsey and pretentious it probably is but the theory is this: Firstly the software used to create it is a physical properties simulator. You mix poo with fans, you get poo on the wall. Mix water with poo, you get wet poo. There's no "poo" option but there ought to be. Secondly it moves, thus the motion part. Lastly I'm calling it poetry and you can't argue with me so nah nah nah naaah nah.

Alternative name: moving poo words

Enjoy or don't.

us

http://megaswf.com/view/b0fd3773fa721b8d18f5527328eb99ee.html

gymnast

http://megaswf.com/view/6ffde033561bfbc3a5ee6a9fcbb502ac.html

Russell Jones