Michigan Poets
September 28, 2009
For those of us who are poets, and those of us who live in Michigan, having a list of and a place for poets from Michigan would be great, wouldn’t it? Well, I found one. And it’s not so far away.
- C.J.
Movie Review: Capitalism: A Love Story
September 22, 2009
The liberal monster Michael Moore is at it again, and this time he means business. Big business that is. Capitalism: A Love Story is an overture to Moore’s previous films targeting our nation’s financial infrastructure; Capitalism and the American economy. Moore takes a detailed look at the rotting core of our country, and what happened to get us this way. This movie was an emotional rollercoaster constantly switching gears but never losing focus of the big picture. It shows a family who was evicted and forced to move themselves out; factory workers with no place to turn but to strike; children sent to a private juvenile detention center as a means of profit; the exploitation of employee death in large corporations and several other telling situations. Along with personal relatable stories there is also some interesting analysis, specifically a comparison between modern America and ancient Rome. It gives you a sinking feeling when showing you Goldman Sachs heist of the Federal Reserve and raises your spirits when the workers revolt and starting getting what they want.
The most significant moment in this movie, however, is not home video of an entire police force evicting four people from their homes, or the chronicling of Goldman Sachs through the last few presidencies, but a film clip of FDR speaking to the camera in his 1944 State of the Union. This completely unique and previously lost footage shows FDR proclaiming a Second Bill of Rights which would have guaranteed every citizen a job with a livable wage, freedom from unfair competition and monopoly, a home, medical care, education, and recreation. The sinking feeling of knowing all these things could have come true, had his predecessors followed in his footsteps, will not escape you.
Capitalism: A Love Story is so significant I feel every citizen should see it, and realize what has happened. It’s truly eye opening, and awe inspiring. The magical thing about it is the only real bias in the movie seems to be the humor, which is obviously and hilariously liberal. Unless you decide to side with the multi millionaires of Wall Street, the information is glaring and true. This movie is worth seeing just for the uncovered footage of FDR alone, but should give you a greater grip on reality along with it.
Capitalism: A Love Story (5 out of 5)
- Steve
Fairy Tales and Evolution
September 21, 2009
Here’s an interesting post from January Magazine about the change and development of fairy tales and such. Wait, what? You mean Grimm had it all wrong?
Check it out. I still don’t get it.
- C.J.
Book of Poetry Review: Ross Gay
September 16, 2009
Ross Gay, a Mid-Western poet, provides readers with poems about life, illness, and hardships of the city. Against Which, his book of poetry published by CavanKerry Press, rips at the seams with heart-breaking and heart-warming poems. One poem in particular, “The Bullet, In Its Hunger,” describes a shooting incident from the eyes of the bullet. It twists and bends the violence of the city in a thought-provoking, relatively sickening way.
The words in Against Which are light switches, flicking on fleeting images in the reader’s head to lend a hand in making it to the ends of the poem: the meaning. Gay’s diction throughout the entire book is unique and full of city life and city sweat.
Gay’s poems are not meant to be a pick-me-up in the morning; they are not meant to bring a smile to the reader’s face. They are crafted for the act of thought. They describe the hardships that Ross Gay has been through, including much to do with his ill father. This isn’t to say that reading Against Which is anything but enjoyable, but the joy comes from images and thought rather than silly rhymes or jokes. Truly, this book of poems is not for the die-hard limerick fan.
Gay grabs the reader and clings to them with these intimate poems. Against Which is a deep testament to one man and his troubles in the city and in his life.
- C.J.
Eclectic Flash
September 15, 2009
So I just recently stumbled/tripped/fell upon a new and upcoming literary mag, Eclectic Flash.
It looks pretty interesting, and the website is beginning to be rather pleasing to the eyes.
Go check it out, it should be up and running soon, I hope.
- C.J.
