William Horberg

B Movie

I wasn't ready to move on today so I thought that I'd share this additional video with you.

If you never saw Gil Scott Heron perform, this is a pretty great example of his incredible ability to weave prescient political and social commentary into his uniquely poetic and carefully scripted flow of words and musical ideas and "tell it like it is".

  

Sadly, we can almost change the names and fill in a few blanks and easily recognize the contemporary parallels of everything GSH is talking about here.

"We don't need no Re-Ron, yeah."

william

No Such Happiness

This yellowed paper from The Box contained a poem by an unknown member of the family. From the Greta Garbo and Joe E. Brown references it seems safe to guess it is from the 1930's. It has a wonderful bittersweet tone, a paean to lost youth.

I run all day

 & sleep all night

Upon my new soft bed

& believe it or not its very true

My mouth is larger than my head

 

In the Spring a young man’s fancy

Rightly turns to love and beer

& he takes his girl to the picture house

To see the show that’s here

They weep with G Garbo

& laugh at old Joe Brown

& then go home and save their dimes

Until another comes to town

 

I often long for those happy days

When I was a simple child

& all the men seemed brave and good

& the women fair and mild

But now with all the faults I see

There no such happiness for me

 

Was this the classroom assignment of a student or the earnest effort of a young man scribbling verses at his old oak desk by candlelight?

Either way, it delights, and reveals more of the qualities that make these vernacular letters so special.

Enjoy!

william

DIY Postmodernism

I came across a website called Postmodernism the other day, dedicated, amazingly enough, to all things postmodern, and one item there really made me laugh.

It was an incongruous mash-up of two of my favorite things, cartoons and poetry, with words by Frederick Nietzsche affixed to an illustrated image by Family Circus creator Bill Keane. It is given as an example of the post-modern technique of pastiche, or "pasted" elements of previous genres and styles of literature to create a new narrative voice, or to comment on the writing of their contemporaries.

 

It inspired me to try my hand at the same, and I came up with this postmodern pairing of Charlie Brown and Lucy, with words from the Elizabethan poet Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke.

Feeling postmodern? Does anyone want to try their hand at their own pastiche or mash-up? What words would you marry to this wonderful illustration by children's artist Willy Schermelé to give it a new context and meaning?

 

Send me your own pastiche and I'll post it here!

Enjoy!

william