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Mark's Contemporary Literature Blog
From Mark Flanagan,
Your Guide to Contemporary Literature.
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Quoth the raven "Nevermore."
Edgar Allen Poe's death in 1849 is a topic still shrouded in mystery. After visiting Virginia as a lecturer, Poe disappeared and was later found in Baltimore, in horrible condition. He died in the hospitable four days later.
100 years afterwards, in 1949, a mysterious figure began marking January 19, Edgar Allen Poe's birthday, by slinking into the Baltimore cemetary where Poe is buried, and leaving French cognac and three roses on his grave in the middle of the night.
People who see their cup as being half empty CAN be focussing on what they want to fill it and set goals, not just being negative about what they don't have.
People who see their cup as half full can be complacent and not really be grateful for what they have.
The Last of the Light Brigade is a poem written in 1891 by Rudyard Kipling echoing - forty years after the event - Alfred Tennyson's famous poem The Charge of the Light Brigade. Exploying synecdoche, Kipling uses his poem to expose the terrible hardship faced in old age by veterans of the Crimean War, as exemplified by the cavalry men of the Light Brigade
http://www.geocities.com/johnhussey1@btinternet.com/woolton.htm
The French General Bosquet watching from the heights remarked in wonderment ;
"It is magnificent but it is not war. It is madness".
Travelling faster and faster as they neared their objective the cavalry charged as it reached the Russian guns and was met with a stunning cannonade which all but destroyed the front-line. The momentum of the charge carried the remainder of the horsemen into the guns, where the Russian gunners were cut down and their guns spiked and for a short period of time the British held the field. In many ways, the attack was similar to the fatal charge of the Union and Household Brigades at Waterloo and just as at Waterloo, the British cavalry found themselves stranded and surrounded by an enemy which had quickly regrouped. There was no choice but to retreat and the survivors frantically trying to get back to their lines were fired on from three sides as they raced away from the ruined Russian battery.
Out of an initial 600 who charged down the valley that day a mere 195 answered the roll-call ...
James Glanister (one of the Light Horse Brigade)
Although not strictly speaking a Liverpudlian, having been born in Northamptonshire, James Glanister enlisted in Liverpool as a Private in the 5th Dragoons. At Balaclava, he reached the Russian guns and broke his sword upon the helmet of a Russian soldier. A Cossack then fired his pistol at Glanister, shattering his jaw. He was assisted back to the safety of the British lines by a Private Martin and later invalided out of the army later settling down in West Derby where he died in 1901 at his home in No 3 Apple Terrace. Buried in West Derby cemetery, his grave number is C of E, section 5, grave no. 193.
Robert Martin (one of the Light Horse Brigade - rescues Glanister)
The bullet that hit Glanister narrowly missed Private Martin who despite his own arm being shattered helped Glanister back to the lines. But Martin was struck by another bullet and was lucky to escape with his life. He did lose his arm which was amputated at the Scutari hospital where Florence Nightingale plied her trade so well.
On his return home with a cluster of medals, the Liverpool M.P. Mr Horsefall helped him to gain employment at Hampton Court Palace where he also was received by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. On his retirement he went to live in New Ferry on the Wirral and in his final days was taken to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary where he died in 1900. He was buried in Bebington cemetery --- also in a numbered grave.
There were several others who lost their lives at Balaclava but they are fast fading back into the obscurity they lived in until they took their places in the historic charge.
Botanic Park was once one of the finest gardens in the country and at the Picton Road entrance there stood two Russian cannon from the Crimea. It is an irony that having been taken away during the Second World War they were melted down to create armament and that somewhere over Europe in 1945, metal from the 1856 conflict would still be lethally dangerous.
Habitat
Limpets are abundant on rocky shores, where they attach to rocks or other hard substrates.
Diet
Limpets are herbivores, grazing on the thin form of algae that forms on rocks and weed. They will also graze on settling larvae if small enough to eat.
Behaviour
Adult limpets usually return to the same area of rock after feeding. They form a small depression, known as a scar, by rubbing against the rock. This scar ensures a tighter fit for the shell, helping the limpet avoid desiccation.
Limpets are active foragers and wander around the rocks when the tide is in. They use chemical cues to follow their own mucus track back to their home point. They sometimes use the edge of the shell like a bulldozer to scrape away at rocks and algae.
Reproduction
Limpets are hermaphrodites (producing both male and female reproductive cells) and undergo sex change during life. They mature as males at about 9 months of age, but after a couple of years they change sex to become female.
Spawning occurs once a year, usually during winter, and is triggered by rough seas which disperse the eggs and sperm. Larvae are pelagic for a couple of weeks before settling onto a hard substrate.
how to get Down off an elephant's back?
you don't - you get down off a duck
I once bought some Down shares
when the Dow took a smack,
I was hoping that Down would go up;
But the damned price of Down went down with the Dow
and the update is Down won't come back
Down is now down and out, but my ducks anyhow
are upbeating their down and "up-quack"
might as well throw this inlol - there's this funny old dude down the road....(call him Fred Smith for this exercise). He shows me this poem and tells me he wrote it for his wife - for the new year....
HOW DO I LOVE YOU? by Fred Smith, (.........with some assistance from Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
How do I love you? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
noi said:Your portfolio risk, is one for all, to carefully assess,
otherwise, you may find, you're somewhat undressed,
if it's only your shirt, that you have lost, don't careless
if it's all you've got left, heavens, will see you unblessed.
SONG OF THE KING (to JOSEPH)
When they sing this song, they invariably impersonate Elvis - Hencewise (I guess?) it's titled the Song of the King
Well I was walking along by the banks of the river - When seven fat cows came up out of the Nile, uh-huh
And right behind these fine healthy animals came - Seven other cows, skinny and vile, uh-huh
Well the thin cows ate the fat cows which I - Thought would do them good, uh-huh
But it didn't make them fatter like such - A monster supper should
Well the thin cows were as thin - As they had ever, ever, ever been
.....
Well this dream has got me baffled - Hey, Joseph, won't you tell me what it means?
Well you know that kings ain't stupid - But I don't have a clue
So don't be cruel Joseph - Help me I beg of you
Well I was standing doing nothing in a field out of town - When I saw seven beautiful ears of corn, uh-huh
They were ripe, they were golden and - You've guessed it, Right behind them came seven other ears, Tattered and torn, uh-huh -
Well the bad corn ate the good corn - They came up from behind yes they did
Now Joseph here's the punch line - It's really gonna blow your mind, baby -
Well the bad corn was as bad as it had ever, ever ever been -
....
Well this dream has got me all shook up - Treat me nice and tell me what it means....
Hey, hey, hey Joseph !!!!
Won't you tell poor old Pharaoh !!!!
What does this crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy dream mean?
Oh, yeah
PHARAOH's DREAM EXPLAINED (JOSEPH)
Seven years of bumper crops are on their way - Years of plenty, endless wheat and tons of hay
Your farms will boom, there won't be room - To store the surplus food you grow
After that, the future doesn't look so bright - Egypt's luck will change completely overnight
And famine's hand will stalk the land - With food an all-time low
Noble king, there is no doubt - What your dreams are all about
All these things you saw in your pajamas - Are a long range forecast for your farmers
And I'm sure it's crossed your mind -What it is you have to find
Find a man to lead you through the famine - With a flair for economic planning
But who this man could be
I just don't know - Who this man could be
I just don't know - Who this man could be
I just don't know
noi, yet another weekend of waiting to see the reaction (Monday) to Friday night's drop in the Dow. (- 250 whatever)
I remember the days I used to tell the wife ... "You're looking better than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, dear" .... . I've stopped saying that - for fear of getting a black eye in return, lol.
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