WORK
“Elegy”
Who would I show it to
—W.S. Merwin
—from The Carrier of Ladders
WORD(S)
mullock. noun or verb. Rubbish, refuse, waste, ore without gold or from which the gold has been extracted. Worthless information. A foolish person. To loiter or to litter.
“It cannot abide rank muck, but contenteth itself with rotten chaff or pugs, and such like plain mullock.” (Pliny)
“He is quite content just to mullock along, unencumbered by any emotion that does not involve his belly or adjacent areas.” (Irish Times)
“…the Chinamen knew that those dry and dusty heaps of mullock and grey and yellow sand, on which the death adder and the black-necked tiger snake now coiled themselves to sleep in the noon-day sun, still contained gold enough to reward patient industry…” (Louis Becke)
“What mullock has been unloaded on us this fair morn?” (Hal Porter)
“Some of the swells here…are the biggest rapscallions out, instead of setting a good example to us poor ignorant lower-class mullocks.” (Rolf Boldrewood)
WEB
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“My Grading Scale for the Fall Semester, Composed Entirely of Samuel Beckett Quotes”.
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“Understanding Jean Baudrillard with Pumpkin Spice Lattes”.
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“Jenny Holzer’s ”Survival" series, colonizing the marquees of abandoned theaters.
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So many vintage war posters in the University of Minnesota Digital Archives. Don’t crow til it’s over! Illegitimate absenteeism is a first cousin to slackerism!
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Today in 1927, W.S. Merwin—poet, poet laureate, translator, conservationist and winner of almost every major writing prize—is born. Read an interview by Ed Hirsch. Browse 161 of Merwin’s poems. Watch an interview with the editors of The Kenyon Review. Listen to Tom O’Bedlam read “Yesterday”.
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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Reader P. shares a link to NPR’s First Listen site where you could have heard Leonard Cohen’s recent album free until a few days ago and where, more importantly, you can listen to Lucinda Williams’ new album through the end of the day.
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Reader T. says Cremation Solutions is interesting but “my favorites in that genre are LifeGem and Holy Smoke.” — I’m adding those to my list of weird.
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Reader K. reminds me I missed the pronunciation of oeillade. — In the US. Something like /oh-YOD/ or /uh-YOD/.
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