A Sensitive Man

Seems to be a lot of poetry in this blogger realm these days. I wrote some bad angsty teenage poetry back in the day. No, it's never seeing the light of day here. But here's one by Canadian poet Al Purdy that I first heard when Bruce Alcock did an animated short set to Purdy's reading of the poem. It was online briefly, but seems to be gone again. Well, there's this I suppose. There is a lesser live action version with Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip playing the role of the poet -- it lacks the artistic flair of animated one.

Regardless, the piece stands on its own, painting a picture of a tough-guy poet in a dive bar, contrasting images of yellow flowers with bloody fisticuffs, and lamenting the lack of understanding of this "sensitive man" and the value of a poem.

**Update**

Sadly, it seems Mr Purdy's publisher is unhappy about any of the works of this great poet to be out there without permission and has asked me to take it down. So I've done so. It's shame, because it means that less people will discover how awesome this piece, and this author is. After all, just MY recommendation is hardly enough to spur sales or exploration of his other works, where a single poem posted as an example of his entire body of work could have a more significant effect. But who am I to tell old media how to get their clients' work to a modern audience and insure its continued popularity? There are enough modern authors out there who can make the argument more eloquently than I.

Go look for some books of Al Purdy's work, I'm sure they're readily available. Go search for the Gord Downy video of it. It's at least got the full text. The CBC archives also have some Purdy material worth a look/listen.

The Weekend Cometh

How do people with lives do it all the time?

Been a busy week. Maybe not, but has seemed that way due to some alcohol consumption and nontraditional sleeping habits.

Tonight is a friend's birthday party, which should be partially populated by other friends, which should lead to a few beverages being consumed and good times had. Which will have to be cut off at some point as I need to be up tomorrow in time to make it to the farmers' market to pick up sausage meat for Thanksgiving stuffing (that's next weekend up here in Canadia). Then I must return home and sleep more, for Nuit Blanche kicks off Saturday night at 6:55pm and runs until dawn Sunday. I plan to be wandering the city for many an hour, snapping photos as I go. There are a ton of incredibly cool installations to be seen, and I'll need to be well-rested.

Which of course leads to Sunday, where some shopping is planned on zero sleep. With luck, some sleep shall be had at some point, and a few hours will remain to kick back, creating the illusion of a weekend. For starting Monday, it's non-stop Thanksgiving prep as people will descend on my humble abode for dinner the following weekend, and there will be much to do.

Hell, the week after that is a bachelor party, and a wedding the weekend after that. Then it's Halloween. October... who knew it could be so busy?

But I hear Bodog has a new client... perhaps I'll give it a try before heading out tonight.