vodka dream in a florida room

Memories are smoking guns

in the hands of girls

with black painted nails

and curse words on their lips.

The music is dark

She and I are in this room to be desired.

Gas to the flames of our self-destruction

The trust fund gypsy dances in jeans

precariously slipping off her hip

toward the floor.

She has a tattoo for every obsession

likes the taste of blood on the blade.

She offers a glance, steps toward,

gets close enough that we

almost graze lips.

The sharp pain of electricity coursing

assaulting, violating, all sensation.

Her desire. Lust and punishment.

Salvation in every orgasm.

She wants the lash,

my lips upon her wounds.

I am raw nerves,

slipping in and out of identities.

Bones twisted to form erotic fixations.

Missionary times are long past

Awkwardness, a flash of light

Tonight, only I and the moon rage

Darkness, driving me toward sanity’s edge.

These four walls are anywhere, always.

Paintings of expressionist abortion stories

and portraits of a crooner,

who once upon a time,

set loins and Atlantic City on fire.

Carnal skull is full of lover’s memories

Lust, demands spring must come before dawn

Tongue seeks out lips as

the butterflies of July flutter and twist.

Her body is my sole narcotic.

Toes to thighs. Hips to eyes.

I linger.

She unbuttons the boundaries.

Rejoices in the scattered explosions,

tricks of lights.

Switchblade tongue. Welcoming chest.

Midnight is without dimensions.

The center is breath. We are without shape.

I've been baptized twice

Neither time did I close my eyes or shout.

We're composed of white noise

Heaven is stars and impetuous voices.

Lies are innocent when laced with moonlight.

Her body is love torn, a canvas of scars and tattoos,

places and lovers.

She wasn’t always an open wound.

She was once worshiped.

Then gave into wanton words of sun and moon.

She is a fire that burns, still singing the songs of the elements,

dancing until the heathens believe.

Detached from future and past.

Ours is a bed of riddles.

Eroticism breaks apart in the sunlight.

I am hers when the moon is encircled by flames.

Miles Davis "Song of Our Country"

under the big top blues

for an imagined body

I've built a shrine for an imagined body.

A string of photo-images

twenty-four frames per second.

Sensual, revealing.

I want to sink my teeth into her left hip

I want to know where the stars reside

Whole constellations swirling inside.

A rebel star shooting, rioting, appears in her eye

then fades to the edge -- out of sight.

There is a partition of black lace she hides behind.

I am eager witness to her silhouette and shadow show.

Hands and arms. Wild.

Smashing molecules.

Eyes slow to move. Pupils dilating.

Voice calling to the spirits

Incantations to silence

the noise of the city

She's the witness bared --

shattering diamonds between her teeth.

I am the hallucination

that walks on ghost feet

Pure things are what move through

grasping fingers.

Undress, swim in butterflies,

dance on the edge of the invisible.

Those nights with her, now like ash in the mouth.

Sleights of hand, mystical tricks.

Seduction.

Honey the flesh, fate the enemy.

We'll continue being who we'll be

in this city of postcard misconceptions.

I'll hang photos of her

from the branches of trees

once they're bare.

John Lee Hooker: Crawlin' King Snake (Live)

Bob Dylan: Infidels: A Review

With Infidels, Bob Dylan returned to a more comfortable, for him and his audience, songwriting style. After releasing three Christian gospel albums some critics see Infidels as a departure, a return to secular, introspective, songwriting.

Infidels is a companion to Dylan's 1967 release John Wesley Harding, in the sense that they are both the testaments, or end results of periods of vision. Both albums are also rife with religious imagery and question the ethics of the modern world. “capitalsim is above the law” Dylan states in "Union Sundown".

The album was produced by Dylan and Mark Knopfler and was released by Columbia Records in October of 1983. Infidels would be Dylan's most critically-acclaimed in years and was universally hailed from the strong songwriting, though many of the best tracks recorded during these sessions didn't make it onto the LP, the most notable being the classic “Blind Willie McTell”.

Upon listening to Infidels the first thing one notices in the slickness of its sound and overall production. Which at the time I'm sure sounded contemporary but definitely gives the album an '80's feel. As he had been doing since getting together his first group sessions for Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan had a great group of musicians to provide the music that would, as Knopfler later put it, “provide the vehicle for the poetry.” Along with Mark Knopfler, Dylan recruited guitarist Mick Taylor, keyboardist Alan Clark, as well as famed reggae musicians and producers, Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar for the rhythm section.

The opening track, "Jokerman", is littered with Biblical and religious references, but is really more of a political song that attacks the people who Dylan sees as being doomed by their obsession with the superficial.

“Sweetheart Like You” is the second track on the album and possibly the weakest track as well. The song comes off as a sexist love song that not only feels out of touch but makes Dylan sound a bit tired, whiny, and given to self pity.

Many critics have cited the track “Neighborhood Bully” as Dylan's defense of Israel as many moments in the history of the State of Israel are referenced. It's also interesting to listen to this song while taking into account Israel's deplorable treatment of Palestinians.

“License To Kill” is one of the strongest tracks on the album and in a great critique of imperialism both on the earth and of space. Given America's return to its fascination with space travel and its possibilities while President Reagen was in office, "Oh, man has invented his doom/First step was touching the moon.” Seems like a clear condemnation of this mentality. While the rest of the song attacks mankind's relationship to the environment as well as what Dylan sees as our predilection for violence.

“Man Of Peace” with it's overt religious theme and imagery fits more with Dylan's previous recordings. But like some of the other tracks on Infidels it contains the same vibe of man who feels he can no longer connect to the world around him.

“Union Sundown” is a look at a popular topic at this time in the 1980's, that of the decline of U.S. based manufacturing. As the decade began and would continue on, more companies began closing their factories and starting new ones overseas, where labor was cheaper. The companies played the high pay and benefits the workers demanded coupled with the American consumers desire to not have to pay high prices for the goods. The unions and most everyone else blamed corporate greed. The practice continued well into the 1990's and beyond, with everything from manufacturing, customer service, and tech support jobs being sent overseas. The song is interesting in that it highlights Dylan's ability to take a subject and look at it from all angles, yet create a seamless narrative structure, which provides all sides with a voice.

“I and I” is another of the top songs on Infidels. The self pity that hangs heavy on the rest of the album gives way to a strong pessimism which feels more like a return of the Dylan most of his fans were used to listening to. But even with that, one gets a sense of Dylan being lost and confused. The lines, 'Someone else is speakin' with my mouth, but I'm listening only to my heart/I've made shoes for everyone, even you, while I still go barefoot.', I think best illustrate this sentiment.

The closing track on Infidels is, “Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight”, which is very similar to the closing track, “I'll Be Your Baby Tonight”, off John Wesley Harding. The two tracks even play the same role on the album. Both albums are filled with preaching about the evils of the world and are littered with religious imagery, and both closing tracks are sweet, almost sentimental love songs.

Though Infidels didn't return exactly resurrect Dylan's career, the album would be his strongest of the decade and when his label produced a music video for “Sweetheart Like You”, it ushered Dylan into the MTV era.

noise

The water washes away

blood and toothpaste stains,

the sounds of emotions spilling.

The windows are sealed

in hopes of containing

the smell of splendid isolation.

Foolish desires -- expectations,

hanging over our heads

like thick, suffocating

winter clouds.

Outside of this house of doubts.

there are things

that might astonish her.

Night sweeps over us.

Pride is swallowed,

the stars draw near,

vision conquers the mind.

Blasphemy is the language

of the back alley mercenaries

with broken hearts in their eyes.

Their love is hard and estranged.

Their god is painted on plaster.

Their queen is hiding in a church.

wanton and willful

Memories are smoking guns
in the hands of girls
with finger nails painted black
and curse words on their lips.

She liked the taste of blood on the blade
Tattooing every obsession upon her canvas--
her page.

Her awkwardness. Desire.
Lust and punishment. Salvation in every orgasm.

She offers a glance
steps toward me.
Gets close enough
that we almost
graze lips.

The sharp insistent pain
of electricity coursing

assaulting,
violating,
all sensation.

I am raw nerves
slipping in and out of identities.

She wants the lash,
my lips upon her wounds.

The images of bones
twisted to form
erotic fixations
make me want her all the more.

two times

It was the warmth of my breath 

on the back of your neck 

as I ran my fingers 

up and down your spine. 

You're convinced you play this game better than I, 

because they've come to worship at your feet--

never realizing you're an illusion.

Real, unreal, and the black stars in between 

fill the miles that separate us in everything but desire. 

Each new season brings new revelations. 

The eyes are the same, but those full lips I longed to bite, 

form a softer smile -- unfamiliar.

she only smiles in the dark

You sent me images,

fragments, clues.

Some were posed distractions,

others became erotic fixations.

Lust drove us down alleyways,

where I cornered you in doorways,

pinned you to the wall in an elevator,

stripped you in a dark hotel room.

Conquered and submitted

on the floor and bed

Desire is still coursing in my veins.

Traces of you are in my every thought.

I think about forcing your hand

because I know you only smile in the dark.

Riverside Blues

My collection of stories, Riverside Blues, is now available at Diesel.

Copies can also be downloaded at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

Riverside Blues

A drug deal gone wrong. Misadventures at the zoo. A layover in New Orleans. Greed and desperation Love and loss. A Vice President in his off hours. A city under siege. A run in with the ghost of Jack Kerouac. A pair of reckless fools loaded on LSD. These are just a few of the things you'll find in my collection of stories, Riverside Blues.

Riverside Blues is now available at barnes and noble, amazon us, and amazon uk.

Riverside Blues

A drug deal gone wrong. Misadventures at the zoo. A layover in New Orleans. Greed and desperation Love and loss. A Vice President in his off hours. A city under siege. A run in with the ghost of Jack Kerouac. A pair of reckless fools loaded on LSD. These are just a few of the things you'll find in my collection of stories, Riverside Blues. 

Pick up your copy of my ebook, Riverside Blues here. If you have a blog or website and would be interested in reviewing Riverside Blues please send a message to c.j.mensing@gmail.com. 

 

Dylan Thomas: Lament

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin' (Acoustic)

Because I'd forgotten how cool this is . . . .

FINGER BANG !!!!

Little did you know when you clicked on this that I was going to be talking about baseball. For those of you out there who like baseball, but are bored by all the blogs and sportswriters you come across, then you need to check out Hammaker of The Gods.

From Albert Einstein

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination"

what's not

What's not

is the revenge of thought.

Time provides us

with the desire for escape.

Teaches us

the lessons of mortality.

The boat out at sea

carries souls--

horizon's children,

to freedom.

There are things we leave out

when retelling a dream.

Like the moment when

you looked into the mirror

and the hours

changed features--

disappeared.

Bob Dylan In 350 Words

From Hibbing to Minneapolis. New York to the world. From Robert Allen Zimmerman to the mythic figure that is Bob Dylan, the man has been living open to everything, absorbing all he comes in contact with. The Rock and Roll records of Little Richard and Elvis Presley. Beat Poets and wanderers. Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie. All the great artists and songs of American “traditional” music fermenting with his own personal poetic vision, became some of the world's greatest songs.

It began with country ballads, blues, and early rock n' roll carried on airwaves from cities that could only be imagined. Then Elvis and James Dean. Sharing songs with other young musicians. Listening to the songs that make up Harry Smith's, Anthology of American Folk Music.

Bob Dylan to The Times They Are A-Changin' . Dylan tried to find the groove between Hank and Woody. What he saw in the cities, TV screens, and newspaper pages brought the wrath and ire of a boy having to see the world as a man.

After the transitional, Another Side of Bob Dylan, we find Dylan coming back to Chuck Berry, but not yet abandoning his folk roots, even though his now spitting forth verses more akin to the words of Arthur Rimbaud.

His new persona, all ether and mod boots, dove deep into America's psyche and his own. Surrealism and country rock became the vehicle that carried the visions that left lips, intending to wake sleeping ears.

Dylan, torn and frayed, went down into the valley and found the sound, that had come from the Grand ol' Opry long before.

Fallow vanity, desperate pain, a coming to Jesus, a collection of what remained. The plot long lost, Dylan, returned to his blues roots, with Good As I've Been To You and World Gone Wrong.

An examination of death. The resurrection of the poet. Charlie Patton reborn a Japanese gangster in Old, Weird America. Dylan finds Charlie Chaplin drinking with Muddy Waters in Chicago circa 1950. A few years later finds himself, still drunk on whiskey somewhere in Louisiana. 

edge of the invisible

Hands and arms. Wild.

Smashing molecules.

Voice calling to the spirits

Incantations to silence

the city noise.

Heaven reflected in the beads of sweat.

Eyes searching the distant horizon,

for the home that dances,

on the edge of the invisible.

Paris Street: Canada 1: The New EP

Paris Street has released a brilliant new EP of folk-pop tributes to Ottawa and Montreal entitled Canada 1. This is the first release by Paris Street since their 2009 album Paris Street is Paris Street. Rumor has it that there is going to be three more releases this year, and possibly a full length musical tribute to The Digital Underground entitled Gutfest! Go here to check out the new EP and all of Paris Streets' previous releases. 

A Place In The Sun

A Place In The Sun (1951) was directed by George Stevens (Giant) and starred Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Shelley Winters. The screenplay written by Michael Wilson and Harry Brown is based on the novel 'An American Tragedy' by Theodore Dreiser and Patrick Kearney's stage adaptation of the book.

The film opens with a solitary Montgomery Clift, his back to the camera trying to hitch a ride. After no luck, he slowly turns in a Brandoesque way toward the camera revealing his movie star good looks. Then the camera slowly closes in forcing the viewer to take notice and also establishes early on the importance of the close-up on the faces of the two stars. When Clift turns back toward the road, a white convertible drives by. The car is driven by Elizabeth Taylor. From the look on Monty's face, the viewer is made aware that seeing her has changed something in him.

Monty is delivered to the Eastman factory in a jalopy, and we soon find out that he is George Eastman, nephew of Charles Eastman, one of the most powerful men in town. He is soon invited out to the family house to discuss his uncle giving him a job. It's at the Eastman house, that he again sees the beautiful Miss Angela Vickers (Taylor).

The shy, awkward George is given a job on the factory floor, stacking and hauling away boxes of swimsuits. Over time he finds himself becoming attracted to one of the girls he works with named, Alice Tripp, though his heart still belongs to Angela. After Alice and George run into each other at a movie one night, they begin too secretly date one another, which is against company policy.

After dating for awhile the two spend a rainy night together in the room Alice rents. Soon after George is promoted by his uncle from the assembly line to a white collar position more suited for an Eastman. And with his promotion at work, comes a social promotion as well. George is invited to his first party at the Eastman house, where he again comes across the beautiful Angela Vickers. At this party George and Angela dance together all night, all the while Alice is waiting for him at her place. During the ensuing argument that happens after George arrives at Alice's four hours late, Alice reveals that she is pregnant with George's child.

Shortly after their first encounter at the Eastman party, Angela invites George to be her date at another party. As the two dance, the chemistry between them grows. Soon George reveals to Angela that he loves her and has since the first moment he saw her. At first Angela is speechless, then just before she can saw she loves him back, she turns toward the camera with glistening, passionate eyes and says, “Are they watching us?” before taking George by the hand and leading him out onto the balcony.

Then one of the most memorable moments in film history occurs. Angela and George, Liz and Monty, are alone on the balcony. She tells him, she loves him too, but it scares her. Now with the camera locked in a tight close up, alternating between their faces. Monty the male the equivalent of Liz, Liz the female equivalent of Monty, they let their passions over take them.

Even though the passionates fire of love burns between the two, George still has the harsh reality of Alice and her pregnancy to deal with, and soon the two are headed to a doctor to take care of the problem. Unfortunately for George, the doctor won't preform the procedure and Alice is now forcing George to marry her.

George runs off with Angela for a week at the lake with her family and friends. Alice sees a picture George and Angela together in the paper and goes up to the lake to confront George about his lies. George is forced to leave dinner with the Vickers to meet up with Alice after she phones George at the Vickers. When the two go to the courthouse to get married, they find it closed and an ominous feeling takes over the film. George takes Alice up to the secluded Loon Lake where they can spend the night before heading back to the courthouse in the morning.

When they get to the lake, George rents a boat from a man who deduces that George gave him a false name; the man's suspicions are aroused more when George asks him whether any other boaters are on the lake. While they are out on the lake, Alice confesses her dreams about their happy future together with their child. George takes pity on her and decides not to carry out his murderous plan. But when Alice tries to stand up in the boat, it to capsizes, and Alice who can't swim, drowns.

George swims to shore, and drives back up to the Vickers's lodge. He says nothing to anyone about having been on the lake or about what happened there. Alice's body is soon discovered and her death is treated as a homicide. George is arrested and charged with Alice's murder after witness reports place him at the seen. George's furtive actions before and after Alice's death condemn him, despite the fact that it was an accident. His denials are futile, and he is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

A Place In The Sun was both a critical and commercial success earning six Academy Awards including Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Screenplay. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and Montgomery Clift and Shelley Winters were nominated for Best Leading Actor and Actress.

The Cave of The Yellow Dog

The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Шар нохойн там) is a Mongolian/German co-production that was written and directed by Byambasuren Davaa, and won the 2006 Deutscher Filmpreis Award for Best Children's Picture.

The film's story is a fable about accepting the limitations of life. Davaa blends elements of modern life, folklore, and the customs of the centuries old Mongolian nomadic life, to weave a tale about want and desire, and the hope that comes from accepting the changes and consequences that fill everyone's lives.

Nansal is a young girl who lives with her family of five in a yurt in Mongolia. The family lives off of their livestock. Nansal's father is deeply concerned about his family's tenuous survival because of the wolves that have been attacking their herd.

One day Nansal comes across a cave in which she finds a small black and white dog. She brings the dog home and names it "Zochor" (Spot). Her father takes an immediate disliking to Zochor because he knows that wolves live in the caves where Nansal found him, and they may track his scent, leading the pack to the family and their precious livestock.

Before Nansal's father departs for the nearest town to sell the pelts of the sheep killed by wolves, he tells his wife to get rid of the dog before he returns home. Later, her mother sends Nansal out to watch the herd, but she is distracted and gets lost. Her mother becomes distraught when the herd returns without Nansal and so she goes out looking for her.

Nansal finds refuge in the yurt of an elderly woman. The old lady feeds and shelters Nansal while a storm passes. During the storm the old woman tells Nansal the story of the Cave of the Yellow Dog. In this story, a yellow dog is trapped in a cave with no exit by a man to cure his daughter's illness.

Soon after the storm passes, Nansal's mother finds her and takes her home. In the meantime, her father returns home to find Zochor still living with the family. His anger soon subsides he gives gifts to his wife and children, including a plastic ladle and a flashlight. The father tries to sell Zochor to some wolf hunters, but when Nansal tells them she found him in a cave they call the deal off.

When it is time for the family to move on, they pack up all of their belongings and the yurt and load them onto carts to be pulled by their cattle. The children are put onto the wagons, with Nansal watching her younger brother. Zochor is tied to a stake so he cannot follow them. Nansal is distracted by Zochor and does not see her brother run off.

The family has traveled several miles before they realize that their son is missing. The father turns back immediately and rushes back on his horse. Meanwhile their son is running towards a flock of vultures.

He ventures near a stream, while moving further and further from the still tied up, Zochor. When the son is right next to the flock, Zochor manages to break free and scare them away, before they can attack the young boy.

The father returns with the boy and in the final scene, the family's wagons travel down the road, with Zochor in the wagon with Nansal. As they family moves down the road, a truck driving down the same road is blaring reminders to vote in the upcoming elections.

The strength of this film lies in its story telling. Which is done in a simple and straightforward way but never comes off as overly sentimental or too childish, much in the way great fables or folktales are written. And even if this is not the type of film you wouldn't normally enjoy, it's worth watching for the beautiful cinematography and fabulous score.

Band of Gypsys: Who Knows