Happy Birthday Chet Baker

Don't bother

Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer


My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Can you give zero stars? That's what I'd prefer to. I found nothing to like about this book. There's no characterization at all. The minor characters are virtually nonexistent, and the one major character is cardboard. The historical background is shallow; the plot drags, the mountaineering stuff gives no insight. And did nobody tell Jeffrey Archer that "Paths of Glory" has already been used as the title for a great Stanley Kubrick movie, a twentieth century masterpiece?

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Harvey and Barbara in Italy

I don't have any words for this. Just trembling with excitement at finding it.

A Storm in the Blood

A Storm in the Blood: A Novel by Jon Stephen Fink


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A novel about a historical era I not only didn't know about, I didn't know it existed: Latvian revolutionaries/terrorists in London in 1910. The story was interesting -- I wished I had been made to care more about the characters.

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The End of Music?

Glenn Branca thinks so, in the NY Times.

I posted this response to Branca, which is buried somewhere on page 18 of the responses, but easier to read here.

I don't know that music is over, but the American Century in music -- blues and blues-based music, that is to say jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, even country -- is over. And ... See Moreit will be considered one of the great artistic flowerings, like Elizabethan drama, Renaissance painting, baroque music, the Victorian novel. Those all came to an end, and so has the American Century in music.
That doesn't mean music is over. But we may not have the ears to hear the new thing.

New Hudson Valley guide

Opus 40 is given a writeup in a new online guide to Hudson Valley attractions -- Design Sponge. They're listed under "Woodstock" -- no section for Saugerties. The Hudson Valley stuff is written by Raina Kattelson, who is currently a Tivoli resident, but she grew up above the Tinker Street Cinema in Woodstock, then owned and operated by her father.

Happy Birthday Dizzy

Photos of Opus 40

Some beautiful work by photographer Chris Davis Cina on her travel blog.

Opus 40 in Best American Poetry

An entry in the Best American Poetry blog (it's hard to tell by whom, since the blog is not set up as well as it could be) recounts a visit to Opus 40 -- I'm going to guess it's by Dara Wier, since she's their resident guest blogger right now. Entitled "why going to Opus 40 is a wistfully true okay thing to do," it's wistfully poetic and evocative piece.

Unfortunately, Ms. Wier did not inquire as to whether there were any resident poets at Opus 40, but you can't ask for everything.

Opus 40 in the Little Rebellion

A very good article by student Sarah Calandra Fine in a SUNY New Paltz publication called The Little Rebellion.

New Opus 40 photos on the web

Very nice work by Fred Miranda.

This weekend at Opus 40

The Peace Walk gathered at Opus 40 this morning. I wasn't able to take photos -- if anyone has any, I'd love to see them - tad@opus40.org

The 7th Annual Saugerties Art Tour was a success once again. I was much too busy to take photos at the opening reception for the group show Friday night -- the turnout was exponentially larger than any we've ever had. And too busy showing work over the weekend to take photos, but here are a couple of the pieces I had on display.





The Vanaver Caravan's performance on Saturday evening was sublime. I've posted a slide show at the Opus 40 website. Here's one image:

Peace Walk

Take a Walk for Peace in Woodstock Saturday and Sunday with the United Nations-affiliated World Peace Prayer Society.

Walkers will begin gathering at 8 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of routes 375 and 212. The walk kicks off at 9:40 a.m. with a parade of flags through the town to Comeau Field, where the World Peace Prayer Ceremony will be held. After the walk, the Olatunji Drummers and Kodi Drummer's Drums for World Peace will perform at the Wok 'N' Roll Café, 50 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock. And, beginning at 3 p.m., the Bearsville Theater, Route 212 in Bearsville, will host the annual Upstate Reggae Festival.

Events continue at 7 a.m. Sunday with a nondenominational Sunrise Peace Vigil at Opus 40. Also, the Church of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ on the Mount, 125 Mead Mountain Road in Woodstock, hosts music, prayers and celebrations throughout the day.

Historic New York

A wonderful series of videos on historic New York State, including Opus 40.

Fieralingue Four Seasons

Now online, and dedicated to Antonio Vivaldi, Anny Ballardini's Four Seasons Anthology.





Summer




Autumn









Winter




Spring



I'm represented in all four seasons, and lots of other good poetry is there too.

Opus 40 in the Albany Times-Union

A reminiscence about Opus 40 and another magnificent obsession.

Broad Street Books (Middletown, CT) Reading

Featuring Tad Richards!

On the first Tuesday of every month, Broad Street Books hosts a featured poet followed by an open mic. All are welcome to come and read, recite, perform their work!

Tad Richards is the author of three books of poetry – My Night With the
Language Thieves, Situations: a Novel in Verse, and Take Five: Poems
in 5/4 Time. His work has been compared to Terry Gilliam, Byron,
Pushkin and Tom Waits. His songs have been recorded by Orleans, John
Hall and Fred Koller. He has written nonfiction on such diverse subjects
as poetry, music and money, if those subjects are diverse. He is the
author of a dozen or so novels, most recently Nick and Jake, a
lighthearted romp through the McCarthy Era and the CIA’s overthrow of
the Mossadegh government in Iran, which will presented this fall on the
Internet in serialized form, and as a podcast starring Alan Arkin and
Tom Conti.

Come help us welcome Tad Richards to the store and share some of your own work too!

Broad Street Books
45 Broad Street
Middletown, CT 06457

For more information contact:

Brian Mitchard
(860)685-7323

Two prints in Saugerties

Two of my prints, "Easter Egg Hunt" (pictured) and "Stream with Kids and Dogs" are currently on view in the window of Smith's Hardware Store in Saugerties.

New on Examiner

A series on Chris Anderson's book "Free."
Great Beginnings Mondays -- Frances Osborne and Ralph Ellison.
The National Book Award fiction winners.
Sex and chicks and dudes.

Check it out!

Opus 40 noted by MJ

...who has yet to actually visit, but we hope she will. Here's her blog entry.