Tom Hardy – TOpoet

Hungry Sneak Peek – April 2019

March 28, 2019March 29, 2019 topoetLeave a comment

First a recap of March 🙂 March was cold then cool, dark then sunny. Started the rewatch of Taboo. The series is as intense as I recalled, also as illogical. The image clarity of the DVD is clearer than the original broadcast so some things are more noticeable – no this plot holes but the make-up on the King& other characters doesn’t hold up at all. But Tom Hardy is a magnificent beast & the tattoo work is exceptional. His great coat pulls focus everything he walks down the street.

Also rewatching Castle Rock. Knowing what is going on from having seen the series already doesn’t detract from the mystery but does let me ignore the endless red herrings, and frequent incidents that only exist for atmosphere or for the writers to show us how clever they are. Re-listening the the Fan Critical commentaries as well.

Speaking of Fan Critical I have also been listening to their reviews of ‘event’ movies I’ll never get to see until they turn up on TV. This is a very funny, intelligent group of commentators. Their newest addition is the ‘Worst of Netflix.’ Hilarious.

As I expected with the end of google+, my WordPress hits have dropped from frequent 60+ a day – to an average of 20 a day. My followers have increased: WordPress – 312, (following 36) Tumblr: 223 (following 54). TW: 215 (following 99). The Tumblr purge hasn’t ended the site & the nudes keep coming. I’m still deleting follows from hetero porn sites.

Coal Dusters is moving along well. I’ve blogged just over 90,000 words with at least 40,000 more words to go. This is clearly a second draft & not the final draft. I realize that I have to iron out wrinkles in time. I have to makes sure I have a time line that all these events can fit into. I suspect I have to get some of my geography settled as well. I am using some imaginary places i.e. Castleton – but also real places i.e. North Sydney, New Waterford.

Now for the sneak peek part of this post. First up is Hot Damn! It’s A Queer Slam Season 5 finale at Buddies in Badtimes Friday April 5, 7 p.m. 5 Cities! 8 Poets! But only 1 Champion. I can’t wait to see who wins the grand prize of a trip to Capturing Fire Slam, the International Queer Summit & Slam in Washington DC. I love everything about this expect the part where I can’t afford to go to Washington DC this year 😦

The Hot Damn! feature is a dream come true! The out of this universe fantastic Nasra Adem NASRA is a queer, Muslim, Oromo creator/curator living in Amiskwaciwȃskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. They were the Youth Poet Laureate of Edmonton from 2016 to 2017.

So far tickets have been booked to see Henry VIII, Nathan The Wise, & Little Shop Of Horrors at Stratford. Considering Private Lives, Othello if good seats go on sale. Tickets booked to see Sex at the Shaw Festival. Yet to book there is The Ladykillers. Oddly I’ve never wanted to any of their actual Bernard Shaw plays.

Not so distant future coming event is why I can’t afford to go to Washington DC this year: my visit to Cape Breton in August. I haven’t visited since June 2012. Plans include a visit to Fortress of Louisbourg, day trips to North Sydney, New Waterford for Duster’s & Picture Perfect research. Sydney has an unexpectedly lively lgbtq+ community now. Judging by the large number of Squirt profiles there are lots of men on the prowl too. I guess I got the seven year itch?

Hungry Plants

more or less

all or nothing

how much is little enough

what constitutes over load

enough is a feast

but we all want more

give em an inch

they‘ll want sex

quantity or quality

a little of the good stuff

or all you can eat

in for a pound

staggering from the corner

for another go

another kick at the can

another bite at the hands

that don’t feed enough

when things are overflowing

too much is left behind

not every bit gets eaten

all those tiny crumbs

don’t miss one

good to the last drop to the canvas

slug fest of who gets

the bigger piece of pie

who gets left high without a dish to dry

without a mouth to feed

getting is better that giving

don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

become the gracious receiver of gifts

so that others

can indulge their need for generosity

superiority

while you relax into gluttony

thank you thank you

don’t be shy or ashamed

anything you offer is fine by me

don’t stop giving

I want it all

both my hands helping you

by rifling through your wallet

while you look the other way

I know you’d be dismayed if I didn’t

you don’t want all that stuff

as much as I do

feed me Seymour feed me now

we’re all hungry plants

duking it out for the purse

raging shrill hogs

barely able to stand on two legs

in the lunge for greased joys

gimme gimme gimme

more than my share is all I want

don’t get parsimonious on me now

after all it’s for the good of your soul

for the good of the world

more for me

means less for the people

you really want to punish

you know I’ll always be thankful

even when I go behind your back

to the people you deprive

for more

I’ll take it from all givers

I’ll never let pride get in the way

of getting more than I deserve

of getting more than you can spare

everything not nothing

biggest piece is always mine

so give now

be generous

live with your selfish regrets

because that’s all you get

to take to the grave

https://wp.me/P1RtxU-2f6

http://www.queerslam.com

every Tuesday 2019

June – Capturing Fire 2019 – Washington D.C. capfireslam.org

August 2-13: getting back to my roots in Cape Breton
Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee on my trip to Cape Breton – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet

Hey! Or you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee in Washington at 2020’s capfireslam.org – sweet, eh? paypal.me/TOpoet

Like my pictures? I post lots on Tumblr

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John Fowles

September 27, 2018September 27, 2018 topoetLeave a comment

One of first really ‘adult’ books that made an impression on me was John Fowles ‘The Magus.’ I still have by original paperback copy of it – somewhat better & held together with duct tape. I’ve read it frequently & have been drawn in each time. It is underlined & in the front are page numbers of particular passages I marked so I can reread them without rereading the whole book.

I think I read ‘The Collector’ first though after the movie was released, I think. It is a more ‘conventional’ novel. I saw how an adaptation differs from the source. It, & the movie, were the basis for frequent sex fantasy of mine – only there would be two of us – me & another man – who were abducted & confined. After a time we would turn to each other for emotional, sexual comfort. Sometimes, in the fantasy, I would be the abductor too but the other man wouldn’t know this.

‘The Magus’ is quite different from ‘The Collector.’ More clearly philosophical & literate. The plot adds layers of mystery even as it is solved. In the end one is never really sure what motivates our protagonist or how he inveigles so many people to cooperate with the elaborate set up. Trust me it is a very elaborate maze that continues even when one is out of the maze. This is what inspires me about Fowles – his unwillingness to give the reader an explanation – a writer doesn’t have to solve things for the reader to leave them satisfied.

The movie is a disappointment. having seen it recently, thanks to TCM, it completely misses the mystic heart of the book.

I’ve also read ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman,’ ‘The Ebony Tower,’ & ‘Wormholes.’ ‘Woman’ was wordy 🙂 I didn’t get into the world he was creating & I it a job to read. I guess I wasn’t smart enough to appreciate him any more. ‘Tower’ is a collection of interconnected short stories & I did enjoy it more. The writer who sees the typed pages of the only copy of his latest opus destroyed by a burglar went to my heart. It was about this time I was tired of writers writing about writers – yeah I’ve heard write what you know about but please open a door to the world. So I lost interest in John Fowles as a writer but I still love ‘The Magus’ – when will Masterpiece Theatre do a production of it with Tom Hardy as Nicolas Urfe. Better yet: me & Tom Hardy held captive in some underground location.

Elbow

I stopped at telephone pole

there were so many lost signs some days

I didn’t bother looking

but a sign gabbed my eye

larger than usual

the color quality was so commanding

I at first though it was for some movie

LOST

over a photo of a man’s arm hoisting a beer

brackets superimposed around the elbow

then under it –

REWARD

have you seen my elbow

last seen Saturday

as I left Stoneman’s Pub

I’d had a few and passed out in my SUV

when I came to my elbow was gone

it had a good home

well treated never misused

never raised a fist in anger

never resisted hard work

enjoyed cradling my baby

her head now has no comforting strength to hold her

if you have seen my elbow

or know of its where abouts

please please call me

then a fringe of phone numbers

the wind and damp had curled slightly

into a row of empty elbows

Jimmy and I jumped into the swimming pool at the same time for opposite sides. He swam like a seal and I was able to copy him. We darted around each other pretending to be pups. Our bodies slipping and sliding almost caressing.

Jimmy was in two of my classes but we’d never spoken so I was surprized he’d be so friendly with me now.

The water became warmer. We lunged high then splashed down to wrap around each other like strands of spaghetti soft yielding then sticking to each other so easily. He was a giant tongue moving all over my body.

He began to bite me along the arms. Small love bites. They tickled and I shuddered with the tingles they set off. He began to bite harder and harder. I couldn’t make him stop. He was no longer playful but a shark that ravaged my arm. He had me by the elbow to drag me off to feed his family.

I woke thrashing the air. I couldn’t feel my elbow. It was gone. I screamed

‘What’s wrong.’ My mother rushed into the room drying her hands on her apron. ‘What’s wrong.’

‘My … my elbow is gone.’ I held the stub of my arm up to her.

‘Don’t be so foolish.’ She pinched my arms. ‘Feel that?’

‘Ouch.”

‘If you can feel it, it might as well be there. Now, get a move on or you’ll be late for school.’

I couldn’t wait to get to school.

I couldn’t wait to get to school. Elbow or no elbow; today I’d finally say ‘Hi’ to Jimmy.

https://wp.me/P1RtxU-2f6

November TBA: Hot Damn! It’s a Queer Slam – 8p.m. – Buddies In Bad Time Theatre, Toronto
http://www.queerslam.com

every Tuesday

October 5/6/7 – Gratitude Round-Up

https://www.facebook.com/TorontoGratitudeRoundup/

October scary poetry every Wednesday & Thursday

June – Capturing Fire 2019 – Washington D.C. capfireslam.org

Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee in Washington at 2018’s capfireslam.org – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet

Like my pictures? I post lots on Tumblr

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Too Much TV

February 24, 2017February 24, 2017 topoetLeave a comment

Do I watch too much TV? Apparently not but I’m clearly not watching the TV that counts. I’m one of the few people I know who watches things like Top Chef, Top Model, FaceOff – artificial reality shows edited for drama – particularly America’s Next Top Model in which tensions in the barn, I mean the house, drive the show. Squabbles between the women competing for opportunity to be on the runway.

This new season, sans Tyra Banks, has tried to shake things up some by skewing to a younger demographic but I’m not even sure what their market is anyway? Jaded gay males over 40? I can’t see women, of any age, watching this show for any reason. Unless it’s for the train wreck potential in the idiotic photo shoots. I had to laugh when the new host claimed she was nervous to take over the show because it was one of the most important in the history of television. Clearly someone with no sense of history.

The current cycle of Project Runway Jr. is coming to an end & I really love this show. Everything happens in the work room, we get glimpses of personal life but this show is all about the garment, the talent & sometimes the ability to sew. The creativity of these teens is amazing. Though when one of them, as always happens, says ‘I’ve been dreaming of this all my life’ – & they are only 14 – I think, honey, too bad your dreams were realized so soon – I hope to can still dream a bigger dream. My one quibble with Project Runway (in all its incarnations) is the lack of men’s wear – let’s see them challenged by that.

These shows are amazing for diversity – ages, races, genders, sexualities are all represented without too much attention. I say ‘too much’ as Top Model did include a heated discussion between two black models about the difference between being a Black American and an African American. Top Chef always gives back story & family plays a big part; male chefs with males lovers get as much back story as a married female chef with husband & two children. This is diversity without calling attention to itself.

Beside these artificial reality shows I do watch some actual TV. Currently working through the Complete Buffy series, into season 2. Can’t wait for Seth Green’s character to be fully introduced. Working through AmHor Story Hotel is proving to be fun. Gaga gets great gowns & we get lots of blood spatter but not enough Angela Bassett. Fresher has been Taboo – Tom Hardy is captivating, the story is ok, the black magic is too underplayed for my liking. The look is dark, relentlessly intense & one show I’m happy for commercials. His great coat is the the star of the show.

Less fresh: I’ve been indulging in Are You Being Served? Vision has been repeating the entire series in a slightly edited form. Edited to fit the time slot, by usually clipping the scene in each episode with a customer. The innocence of the show is endearing, as well as the ‘gay’ character Mr. Humphries. Not a show one watches for emotional depth or ironic social commentary but just for fun. Without this there would never have been French & Saunders – & we are unanimous in that 🙂