’Inauguration’….. Facebook ‘Friends’….. Sumin vs. Hemingway......
by Bernie Bell - 10:25 on 21 January 2025
Inauguration…..
I knew Bart would come up with something good….
The Emperor strode across the stage, declaring
he'd woven his suit and robes from the purest gold
and they were the classiest, comfortablest clothes
he or anyone had ever worn.
Social media saluted, his cultists cheered,
grateful reporters transcribed every word,
and very serious pundits on television debated
both sides of his glory.
But the poets and children pointed and laughed
at his flabby delusions and flaccid dingle.
Elon, Jeff and Mark asserted
no one could possibly see
through his magnificent new clothes
and that it was clearly huge.
https://bartbarkerpoet.com/2025/01/20/inauguration/
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Facebook ‘Friends’…..
I’ve been thinking about Facebook ‘friends’ and how some folk welcome discussion while others just want agreement, so the connection lapses into ‘likes’ and ‘cares’.
I was thinking, it’s like with Christmas cards. What was a real connection slides into being a name on a Christmas card list - a ‘like’ once a year.
I value those who still welcome discussion – real human interaction - which the superficiality of Facebook exchanges is eroding.
https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/01/26/poetry-corner-life-lived-as-an-emoji/
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“Sumin vs Hemingway…
I never got on with Ernest Hemingway’s novels, (my bad, I’m sure), but I’ve got a little book of Hemingway’s pronouncements on writing that I like very much. I bought it in Key West Island Books, which was fun. As to why I was in Key West… Hemingway, when asked what is the best early training for a writer, replied, ‘an unhappy childhood,’ and I either expand on this at great length, or leave it there. Still, there I was in Key West, and I bought this book, which is called ‘Ernest Hemingway on Writing’. One of his tips is that when writing a new book, once a week you should read through everything you’ve written thus far. So that’s today’s task.
Except, I wonder how Hemingway would have coped with a machine on his desk that exists only to deliver all the world’s music to your hi-fi (I have two, one upstairs, one down). Would he have indulged his newly discovered passion for South Korean artists? Would he be sitting here listening to the new Sumin album, MINISERIES 2? Would he be trying to puzzle out why the coolest pop music in the world right now comes from Seoul? Would he, in fact, be listening to stuff he didn’t really know what it was, because he can’t read Hangul, and it wouldn’t matter if he did, because he didn’t understand Korean anyway? Or getting on with his work? Anyway, this morning, Hemingway wins. I’ll save Sumin till later.
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Jan 20, 2025
My comment was….
“Thing is Ian …each to their own and all that …I think Ernest Hemingway was a tosser. Big fan of bull fighting for one thing. I can’t comment on his writing, as I haven’t read anything by him – mostly, I try to avoid tossers.”
To which Ian replied….
“He may have been a tosser Bernie, but that doesn't stop him knowing a great deal about how to write!”
Which, coincidentally, is a pretty good illustration of what I was saying about folk who are open to discussion. We’ve known each other for nearly 50 years, and can agree to differ. Or just agree sometimes.
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