This is brilliant Greg. I love your use of poetry in your writing. It has become a Sunday-morning-read-out-loud tradition with my partner over coffee. Cheers!
Can’t help but think of Piazza San Marco, Venice, as I read Larkins poem. I’m not certain why, however know full well of money’s plangent sound, which isn’t exactly musical!
Friday’s show was its usual excellence, thanks to you,Stephanie and the great guest!
Loved this. "...money singing..." reminds me of lure of the Siren's song--seductive, but sad as it leads the vulnerable astray, never to find their true home...
I joined the Venice committee to save the old city, when I was in my 20s and husband architect was working on a restoration project.It was the winter,and the city was flooded and we walked on boards. Completely mystical place in winter,no tourists and the corrosion and rot was definitely taking its toll.The city was so rich backin the day,I remember reading about consumption laws..A law forbidding the rich from FLAUNTING their wealth. Can't find any articles now on Foreign Google.ButI love the BBC documentary on The Silk Road, because it crossed Genghis Khan into the mix.East meets West in Venice.We haven't changed much in centuries loving oppulence..And the Plague brought Venice to it's knees.Plus ca change.. What will help us EVOLVE? Thanks for food for thought on Sunday.Several great Venice flicks.One with Natasha Richardson,the other Dirk Bogarde.
Going from having-it-all to losing-it-all, must be one of the most shocking human experiences one can have. Is he really going to lose it all? Or will he be bailed out at the last minute? If he is bailed out, we will get a peek at who may be behind this whole venture because it feels like he's not the only one. Unfortunately, if he loses it all it affects so many other people than just himself. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I could no longer abide the Muskness of Twitter and deactivated my account last week. I'm sure all of my 0 followers are devastated. The very best thing about Musk, and the major difference between him and Trump, is that we DON'T really have to engage in anything Musk-related if we don't want to. He can't make laws. He can't shut down the government if and when Twitter fails. And the best part: he can't even RUN for president. I am more than happy to sit on the outside and watch him fail, and he will, epically.
I do think those last stanzas are taking place in Venice. It's too reminiscent of the city NOT to be. I was there in 1975, when I was just a wee boy of 17, taking a trip with my grandfather to "the old country." Looking back on it, it's a beautiful city, but there is an undercurrent of, for lack of a better word, rot. Maybe I mean to say, "old age," but not in the classical European sense of a once great empire scaled down, modernized, and kept up for our times. Venice seemed as though no one was in charge of upkeep. I don't know, I'm sure keeping clean a place like Venice is an impossible job, what with all the water! Still, Piazza San Marco is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We didn't ride in a gondola though. Papa was 75 at the time, so I did a lot of things he didn't, but a gondola ride wasn't one of them. Climbing all the steps to the top of the Tower in Pisa while he sat at the bottom smoking cigarettes WAS one of them!
Loved the Five-8 Friday and keep waiting for your Twitter addresses to change into something else. I will watch the interview about Empress -- loved that book! Have a great week, Greg and all!
Trying to recover from Covid, this morning lying in bed I reflected on all the minds, permanently damaged from the past 5 yrs. I remembered when “materialism” and the focus on getting and having collided with reading Milton and being entranced with John Donne. And this was before I read this perfectly beautiful piece that ⬇️ people quote to their partners on Sunday morning. You express so well the sheer tragic waste. I remember cheap bad apartments where we’d say, “well at least it has french doors in the living room,” to soothe ourselves. Doesn’t take much for a city to have “french windows” overlooking squalor that didn’t need to be there. Thanks so much for writing.
Nov 20, 2022·edited Nov 20, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
This is perfect: "The music of money is neither mazurka nor bubblegum nor disco nor funk. The music of money is dirge." Elon the Empty-headed will never learn this lesson.
That last stanza brought so many senses together, the sound, the sight AND the smell (the canal)...it resonates on many levels.
This was amazing, Greg. I think I told you I got a kind personal note from Larkin when I sent him a poem I’d written in his honor. It was on the thinnest blue air mail paper and was dated: Hull Library, Christmas Eve. I forget the year. It survived 5 moves in NYC and one day it wasn’t there anymore. I suspect... theft. SO sad. The man really did have a heart.
This is brilliant Greg. I love your use of poetry in your writing. It has become a Sunday-morning-read-out-loud tradition with my partner over coffee. Cheers!
Can’t help but think of Piazza San Marco, Venice, as I read Larkins poem. I’m not certain why, however know full well of money’s plangent sound, which isn’t exactly musical!
Friday’s show was its usual excellence, thanks to you,Stephanie and the great guest!
Loved this. "...money singing..." reminds me of lure of the Siren's song--seductive, but sad as it leads the vulnerable astray, never to find their true home...
I joined the Venice committee to save the old city, when I was in my 20s and husband architect was working on a restoration project.It was the winter,and the city was flooded and we walked on boards. Completely mystical place in winter,no tourists and the corrosion and rot was definitely taking its toll.The city was so rich backin the day,I remember reading about consumption laws..A law forbidding the rich from FLAUNTING their wealth. Can't find any articles now on Foreign Google.ButI love the BBC documentary on The Silk Road, because it crossed Genghis Khan into the mix.East meets West in Venice.We haven't changed much in centuries loving oppulence..And the Plague brought Venice to it's knees.Plus ca change.. What will help us EVOLVE? Thanks for food for thought on Sunday.Several great Venice flicks.One with Natasha Richardson,the other Dirk Bogarde.
Going from having-it-all to losing-it-all, must be one of the most shocking human experiences one can have. Is he really going to lose it all? Or will he be bailed out at the last minute? If he is bailed out, we will get a peek at who may be behind this whole venture because it feels like he's not the only one. Unfortunately, if he loses it all it affects so many other people than just himself. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Musk and and Trump in the long run are destructive mad men.
Todays Caligulas
However
Likely they they will never be "poor"
nor sorry for their many victims.
"smug little apartheid brat" So perfect.
The Conservative National Review says Trump is Sophomoric and hints at insanity.
Who would know?
A MSNBC Column by Charles Sykes contends Trump intends to "burn it all down."
The Syphiliitc Brain?
I could no longer abide the Muskness of Twitter and deactivated my account last week. I'm sure all of my 0 followers are devastated. The very best thing about Musk, and the major difference between him and Trump, is that we DON'T really have to engage in anything Musk-related if we don't want to. He can't make laws. He can't shut down the government if and when Twitter fails. And the best part: he can't even RUN for president. I am more than happy to sit on the outside and watch him fail, and he will, epically.
I do think those last stanzas are taking place in Venice. It's too reminiscent of the city NOT to be. I was there in 1975, when I was just a wee boy of 17, taking a trip with my grandfather to "the old country." Looking back on it, it's a beautiful city, but there is an undercurrent of, for lack of a better word, rot. Maybe I mean to say, "old age," but not in the classical European sense of a once great empire scaled down, modernized, and kept up for our times. Venice seemed as though no one was in charge of upkeep. I don't know, I'm sure keeping clean a place like Venice is an impossible job, what with all the water! Still, Piazza San Marco is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We didn't ride in a gondola though. Papa was 75 at the time, so I did a lot of things he didn't, but a gondola ride wasn't one of them. Climbing all the steps to the top of the Tower in Pisa while he sat at the bottom smoking cigarettes WAS one of them!
Loved the Five-8 Friday and keep waiting for your Twitter addresses to change into something else. I will watch the interview about Empress -- loved that book! Have a great week, Greg and all!
Caligula only made it to 41.
Trying to recover from Covid, this morning lying in bed I reflected on all the minds, permanently damaged from the past 5 yrs. I remembered when “materialism” and the focus on getting and having collided with reading Milton and being entranced with John Donne. And this was before I read this perfectly beautiful piece that ⬇️ people quote to their partners on Sunday morning. You express so well the sheer tragic waste. I remember cheap bad apartments where we’d say, “well at least it has french doors in the living room,” to soothe ourselves. Doesn’t take much for a city to have “french windows” overlooking squalor that didn’t need to be there. Thanks so much for writing.
This is perfect: "The music of money is neither mazurka nor bubblegum nor disco nor funk. The music of money is dirge." Elon the Empty-headed will never learn this lesson.
That last stanza brought so many senses together, the sound, the sight AND the smell (the canal)...it resonates on many levels.
Once Elon Musk kills Twitter it will be replaced by Passionflix by Sister Tosca.
So much to love, especially Genghis Con, and the music of money is dirge…. Many rereads coming up.
"Elon Musk is nor more likely to save the Universe than Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne."
Per my favorite crazy Aussie blogger, Caitlin Johnstone.
This was amazing, Greg. I think I told you I got a kind personal note from Larkin when I sent him a poem I’d written in his honor. It was on the thinnest blue air mail paper and was dated: Hull Library, Christmas Eve. I forget the year. It survived 5 moves in NYC and one day it wasn’t there anymore. I suspect... theft. SO sad. The man really did have a heart.