Happy New Year!
LensFlare35.com posted two interviews with Daniel in late December. One is essentially a slideshow in which he talks about some of his favorite photos, the other is a longer audio-only file in which Daniel talks about his career, conservation photography, the PRP and other highlights the recent years.
direct link: http://www.lensflare35.com/episode-0031-interview-with-conservation-photographer-daniel-beltra
-JN
drax ireland by the eiffel tower
what is your name?
Drax Ireland ..aka Des Donnelly
I am a poet and hence an outsider, an observer not a participant.
I am finalising my first poetry manuscript, working on a long haiku series focusing on love/loving life/ living giving and dying. I am about to launch my own publishing venture and a spoken word portal.
The poetry of Anna Akhmatova and in particular the line from the Prologue / Requiem;- “In those years only the dead smiled/ Glad to be at rest and Leningrad city swayed like/ A needless appendix to its prisons”. This line still reverberates in my mind even though it is years and years since I first read it. I think that in that moment this poetry stopped me and made me think of how the body of an idea can hang on the rope of some plain words.
I don’t know that there is one since to paraphrase Tsvetaeva I am;- “Unseen, unsought, unopened, and unsold” and at the same time I don’t really believe in misconception. It exists primarily in the mind of the ‘misconceptor’. A person may read something about me or read my poetry and a misconception occurs, I would consider this a good thing, since each misconception could be a stepping stone to an awareness of some sort.. for either of us or both of us.
The main strengths are the ability to draw on one’s own life experience and subjectively write about subjects that have been
written about before and before yet give them a flavour drawn from the time and circumstance one is born into. There really are no poetry police, except those who work for governments. It is possible then to spend a life writing about cheese, this is generally not a good idea. The weakness is double edged, since technology has created / is creating this gigantic level playing field, so you need to wear bright clothes.
In a positive sense I interact with so many hugely talented creative people from all around the world and see images, art, literature I could never otherwise see in two lifetimes – on the other hand I’m running around like a dog after cars
In a negative sense with blogs, Hubpages, Facebook, ezines and all the other avenues for electronic publication one is inclined to put it out there and say well.. I’ll write more, but we are at a Y, there is almost a discrete choice to be made between the traditional route of sending material to the publications or running your own promo/sales machine…
write a little poetry every day, it can always be divided into the good the bad and the ugly, try to improve the good, forget the bad and leave the ugly alone. Read read read poetry every day, buy a little poetry ! and keep pumping out your work… it will never be finished, even when you die… and never ever put a job in front of your poetry, resign yourself to being poor… be humble.
http://www.poet.ie
http://irishpoet.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drax-Ireland/130743835045
http://hubpages.com/profile/Drax
http://www.drax.net
http://www.drax.ie
Doris Lessing’s Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta
Modest Mussorgsky’s Galitsin’s Exile from Khovanshchina
This reminds me that I need an Editor, any volunteers out there ?, drax.ireland at gmail dot com - I’ve been writing and writing and have about 1000 poems with one MS finished but 10 more in the wings, this is nearly an impossible task without professional help… no no not medical…
An interview with Lotus of Hope founder Ana Nacvalovaite
Written by Kitty Goldberg
Photo by Meagan Cignoli - New York City
When I first met Ana, full of energy with rolled down jogging pants, an unassuming t-shirt, cappuccino, and not a stitch of make-up, she was still turning heads. At 5′11″, with intense green-eyes and blond hair, she cuts a striking figure. In our interview, I asked her what the difference was between growing up in the U.K., New York and Eastern Europe. “When I was a bit older, my parents and I went back for a visit. The country was in shambles. People didn’t know how to deal with Western society. Issues that used to be dealt with by the government were no longer being cared for,” Ana says. I asked her what it was like growing up in such an influential time – when Lech Walesa had help from Perestroika. “I lived a very sheltered life. However, over dinner with former president of Poland Kwasniewski, and his wife here in New York, and I asked how things have changed since then. He assured me things got much more democratic. On some levels it got easier and some levels it got harder”.
Ana Nacvalovaite has accomplished much since her birth. A respected Oxford scholar and authority on women and children’s rights, Ana moved from her native Lithuania briefly to Poland and then Oxford at 11 years old, where she went boarding school.
With her authority in Human Rights Law, Ana began the Lotus of Hope Foundation, dedicated to helping women and children have access to education in their native countries. The goal is to identify projects globally that have not been tapped by larger organizations, and enable local teachers to go to orphanages, teach the children and give them the possibility to go on to college. Her hope is that they will then return to their native countries after gaining valuable experience. They can then use the education and experience to make a difference in their own country.
“You’re beautiful. Why didn’t you start all your charity work after making a fortune on the runways of Milan?” I ask. Ana laughs humbly. Clearly, I am not the first person to ask this. “I never really think about it,” she says, “It’s something I just feel compelled to do now. Perhaps it goes back to my upbringing. My parents believed before you unleash yourself into the world, that one should start off with a trade in a very grounded area. I decided to go into law but I went into human rights law as an outlet, because it was something I was very passionate about,” she says softly.
Photo by Meagan Cignoli - New York City
Ana splits her time still between New York and London, preparing for her advanced degree in law, but still finding the time in her busy social and work schedule to run her foundation. What is next for this young powerhouse? “We are hoping to expand our outreach efforts into India, Asia, and Eastern Europe”. As I got up to leave, Ana stops me. “You know how beauty contestants always talk about world peace? There is a certain element that beauty does contribute to saving the world,” Puzzled, I ask, “How so?” “Sometimes it opens up doors that would not otherwise open up”, she adds.
Like her, Eastern Europe has grown and fledged, continually reaching new heights. On May 17th, 2009, Dalia Grybauskaitė became president of Lithuania. In winning the election, Grybauskaitė became not only the first female president of Lithuania, she won by the largest margin recorded in presidential elections. Although she left Lithuania at a young age, Ana Nacvalovaite is becoming another dynamo emerging out of Lithuania. She has been a powerful example of what an intelligent strong woman can accomplish. Ana is going to make an indelible mark on the world. She is one up and comer to watch.
For more information about Lotus of Hope, please visit http://lotusofhope.com
tammy foster brewer
what is your name?
Tammy Foster Brewer (formerly Trendle)
how would you describe what you do?
Mostly, I drive. And when I drive, I listen to music. And when I’m stopped in traffic, I look up through the top of my windshield at the sky. Sometimes, when I do this, I feel like I’m going to be swallowed by tall buildings. When I can find a pen, or sit at a keyboard, I write this all down. And then, poem.
what are you currently working on?
Preparing for a trial at work (I’m a litigation paralegal). Fighting traffic. Lingering a little longer with my husband. Taking a deep breath when my 6-year-old son tells me I’m being angrily. Writing poems in-between.
Also, I have a chapbook out with Verve Bath Press titled, “No Glass Allowed,” and poems in the current issues of Rattle and Stirring.
what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Marriage. Divorce. Re-marriage. Having children. My husband (the poet, Robert Lee Brewer). Music. And always love: the seeking, the loss, the find.
what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
That poetry is too scholarly or high-brow or that non-poets cannot appreciate or relate to it. Whenever I give a poem to one of my non-poet friends, it’s like giving my son a plate full of vegetables and watching his reaction when he realizes he likes it. Often, people tell me they like my work because it is real and raw. My goal is to make it accessible.
what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work
in?
Over here is a flower. Over there is something broken on the sidewalk. Inside there is a desk, four walls, a computer. A person without windows.
Poetry is the light between all of these things, and also the dark. Its weakness: the fact that it appears only a few shelves in the bookstore.
how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Greatly. Online poetry journals give access to more readers. Online forums give writers a chance to workshop and share their work and be a part of an artistic community. Where I’m sitting right now, a thrown shoe would not hit a another poet. But I can virtually poke hundreds of them online.
what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Never forget you are a poet.
where can we find you online?
You can find my chapbook, sample poems, and a review by Aleathia Drehmer here:
http://www.wordsdance.com/noglassallowed.html
I’m also on facebook as Tammy Foster Brewer. And you can also email me at tammyfbrewer@gmail.com
what are you reading at the moment?
Whatever my 6-year-old son is reading — currently it’s a beginning chapter book called “Sir Fartsalot Hunts The Booger.” Also, lots of Shel Silverstein poems. (I love children’s books!)
I’m also reading “Plus Shipping,” an older book of poems by Bob Hicock (found in a used bookstore over the weekend). And a book of essays by Dana Gioia called “Can Poetry Matter?”
what are you listening to at the moment?
My favorite song right now is “Love Letter to Japan” by The Bird & The Bee
anything else we should know?
See that guy over there, the one who sings along with you in the car, and dances in the dining room after dinner. Who falls asleep with his back to you but wakes up with arms around. Who sometimes has food in his beard and holes in his t-shirt. Don’t ever forget to share the pieces with him, especially the smallest parts.
national snack
what is your name?
Joe Carlo
how would you describe what you do?
I make music, preferably on the drums.
what are you currently working on?
I run National Snack with Gemma Storr. We are a mungrul music band from North London.
what has had the greatest influence on your work?
Lavikinga, my Mum and Dad, Fred Marshall, John Bonham, laziness and Aretha Franklin.
what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
Man, I don’t know! That it’s any good?
what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
Hmm by ‘medium’ do you mean popular music in general? If so then the strength is the 3:30min throwaway nature of pop music that provides a breeding ground for so many pinnacles of human achievement and opportunities for human emotional connection on either a mass scale or personal. A song can make me shake and spit with rage and fury or it can make me fall in love or save my life. And everyone else’s too. All that food for the soul stuff is true. (Cheesy wotsit? Moi?)
The weakness – paying the rent is really difficult most of the time.
how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
Speaking about how it has impacted on me personally then I would imagine it’s the same as a lot of musicians these days – affordable, half decent recording equipment, powerful computers and the internet means it’s possible to write, record, promote, receive payment and distribute a song to people anywhere in the world without ever even leaving whichever room your gear is in. That’s some amazing tools right there. The downside of all that though is that more time updating your Myspace or website is less time writing or playing. And of course your still competing with massive record companies who the same and better tools AND millions of dollars and years of experience.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons though!
what’s the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
Do what you do.
Oh and when you learn an instrument don’t do ONLY what your teacher says.
where can we find you online?
www.nationalsnack.co.uk
www.myspace.com/nationalsnack
www.twitter.com/nationalsnack
www.reverbnation.com/nationalsnack
www.last.fm/user/nationalsnack
what are you reading at the moment?
A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr and Travels With Charlie by Steinbeck
what are you listening to at the moment?
Lots and lots of metal. I fucking love it like no other kind of music. I guess you’ll have to edit that as you see fit.
anything else we should know?
Mungrul – (mung-grll) n.
1. A form of music from the south of Engand resulting from various interbreedings, a music of mixed or undetermined breed.
2. A cross between different styles, groups, or varieties, especially a mixture that is or appears to be incongruous.
Source – the insides of our heads.
And you all need to listen to The Red Fishes, The Jolenes, The Obscuritones, Hot Head Show, and The Dromomaniac. After listening to us of course…
There are a couple of interesting tidbits in a recent interview of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) conducted by Ezra Klein of the Washington Post.
First, he calls out a few Republican Senators by name for essentially going too far in their attempt to defeat and / or block legislation. (question in bold)
Health-care reform has, in part, focused a lot of attention on the seemingly dysfunctional process that produced the bill. Your colleague Sen. Jeff Merkley has begun talking about it. Paul Krugman and Andy Stern have focused on it. Bloggers have turned their attention to it. But you’ve been making some of these arguments since the 90s. Is the situation worse now than it was then?
It’s becoming impossible. The situation in the Senate is an offshoot of the old Newt Gingrich philosophy. Back in the 1980s when I was in the House with Gingrich and the Republicans won the presidency and the Senate, Gingrich was asked if the Republicans would ever take the House, too. He said yes, but we’ll have to tear it down first. So that’s what they did. Took them 10 years, or even more. But it was a constant attack. And now it looks like they’re trying to do that in the Senate.
In the past, we’ve always had one or two or three senators who would try to block something. The most famous was Jesse Helms. He could tie people up in a conniption. But the thing is, when he went too far, his leader, Bob Dole, wouldn’t put up with it. Neither would Trent Lott. And later on, even Bill Frist. You allow him to do so much, and after awhile, you say, that’s enough.
Now we have more of the Jesse Helms. The Vitters and DeMint and Coburn, and maybe throw in Inhofe and a couple other newcomers, and they now run the minority. You don’t have a minority leader putting them in check, saying we have to work together. Dole would never put up with what’s going on over there. Neither would Trent Lott. We’ve had 101 objections from Republicans to proceeding.
On that point, Senator Harkin tells Ezra that he’ll introduce a bill he’s offered before that would reform the filibuster process.
Tell me a bit about your reform bill. When you first introduced this, Joe Lieberman was your co-sponsor, right?
Well, I introduced that first in 1995, when we were in the minority. I’m going to reintroduce that again in January. And people are going to say I only worry about this because I’m in the majority. But I come with clean hands! I started when I was in the minority!
The idea is to give some time for extended debate but eventually allow a majority to work its will. I do believe there’s some reason to have extended debate. If a group of senators filibusters a bill, you want to take their worries seriously. Make sure you’re not missing something. My proposal will do that. It says that on the first vote, you need 60. Then you have to wait two days, and on the third day, you need 57 votes. And then you need to wait two days, and on the third day, it’s 54 votes. And then you’d wait another two days, and on the third day, it would be 51 votes.
(credit image – associated press)
