The Ciel Show

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Friday, December 13, 2013

The Bull of Knossos

It's a devised performance, a kind of experimental theater in which the actors work without a script. They begin with a story, and in rehearsals, find ways to convey it, ways new and original. It is very much a co-creative experience with ideas flowing from all the players. This one began a few years ago with discussions of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Charlie discovered Mary Renault's books based on that myth: THE KING MUST DIE and THE BULL FROM THE SEA. She interpreted the myth cycle... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:02 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Well, I'm back...

I've reveled in reading some of the blogs and bloggers I've missed the past couple of weeks, and will be reading more shortly. A big thanks and tip o' the big feathered hat to all of you who kept in touch by email during the Blackout! The Great Arctic Freeze has relented, it is in the 50sF today, and balmy even with snow and ice still on the ground, especially where the sun don't shine. It's a relief to turn the heat low again, and not hear it coming on, burning money, every 20 minutes. Our... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 10:59 AM | add or view comments (13) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, November 25, 2013

Pitchforks and Hammer-handles

Years ago, when Charlie was in high school, he used to walk every day to school, about a mile and a half or maybe two. He liked walking. He'd walk in any weather. One day, a car pulled up beside him, and the man inside, who happened to be one of our Washington State legislators, took the time to tell Charlie how he admired him for walking each and every day, even when "it's raining pitchforks and hammer-handles!" And that's where the name of his band came from. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:26 PM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Dark passage behind the moon...

Two days from now, so they say, my blogit account closes. If you miss me, there is plenty to read in the past postings of every thread, and plenty of links to photos in Flickr, too. Email, too. I'll have those two weeks to feed Madame LaDarque and all the birds that have been showing up. There is the deal I made with my landlord, that I will paint the ugly garage to make that space more respectible, and take the cost of paint and supplies off next month's rent. If the weather warms a bit, I will... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 7:38 AM | add or view comments (13) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Medusa

This is the last of my mythic poems, so far, and my favorite of the bunch. It came out of researching the demi-god, Medusa--I forget why I needed to--and discovering surprising things. Kindly pardon the final exercise of poetic license: It does get the point across. MEDUSA O maid, you once were lovely, full of grace, and named for Wisdom in eternal female form-- Metis, Maat, Medha the names you bore... But the passing generations, reshaping and restructuring the norm, made you over as a thing to... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:39 AM | add or view comments (13) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Did someone mention Venus...?

On The Half-Shell Out of the sea on rising foam Venus emerges, makes herself at home, and the Gods all pause a moment to look and admire and plan... and their canny brains cook... The Goddesses, too-- they look and they see a sister to them and a rival-to-be... For the proper attentions, there must always be, to Wisdom, and to Fidelity. And Discord smiles to see this birth: Her job's secure forever on Earth! Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 7:57 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Another one...

It is white out there on the ground today, and that may be so for the next couple of days. Every weather forecast says different things as to highs and lows, so there's naught to do but wait and see what happens. Meanwhile... Here is another of my classical/mythical poems. This was inspired by a challenge to write a poem about a painting. The work was an abstract by Henri Matisse. Here is a very interesting commentary on that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLu07Iyg32Q If I had researched it at... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:26 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

More of the Bull and more, besides

Thanks, everyone, for your comments, critiques and compliments on LABYRINTH! Charlie revealed to me last night that he is actually using the poem in his production, having it spoken by the Fates. He has chosen to cut out the last line as being not quite the tone the show is going for, which I understand... but I am wondering if it is complete without some last line. What do you think? A couple of comments were about the use of a rude word. Truth is, that word in that place did what I put it... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 7:45 AM | add or view comments (12) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Bull of Knossos

...the production my lad Charlie is preparing was inspired, in part, by Mary Renault's novels based on the ancient myth of Theseus and the Minotaur: THE BULL FROM THE SEA and THE KING MUST DIE. Another source of his inspiration is a poem I wrote a while back, based on the same myth, and because CCT said such nice things about the poem I posted here about 6 pages back, I am posting that one here: LABYRINTH In the half-lit twistings, turnings... Stink of bull shit... Heaven's burnings in the gut,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 5:25 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, November 18, 2013

Moon shots

It's still looking pretty big, and I am thinking, what with the moon setting near dawn, a lunar eclipse is only a month or two away. http://www.flickr.com/photos/therovingeye/ One reward for waking before dawn is being on hand for moments like the one this morning, watching the moon setting behind the Front Range. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 7:16 AM | add or view comments (11) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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About this Blog

I'm doubtful the events of my life will be of great general interest, but I'd like to share a little more of me to the several of you on Blogit I've come to feel are real friends, and the many I imagine are potentially real friends. We'll see how it works out. ______________________ all my words and images posted on Blogit are copyright 2005-present, all rights reserved.

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