“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams

By Ernest Hilbert • June 6, 2007 • E-Verse Universe

“Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James

from Piers Plowman

William Langland

In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep were,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bourne syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.

Modernized:

In a summer season when soft was the sun,
I clothed myself in a cloak as I shepherd were,
Habit like a hermit’s unholy in works,
And went wide in the world wonders to hear.
But on a May morning on Malvern hills,
A marvel befell me of fairy, methought.
I was weary with wandering and went me to rest
Under a broad bank by a brook’s side,
And as I lay and leaned over and looked into the waters
I fell into a sleep for it sounded so merry.

Top Five Summer Songs:

1. “Summertime” from the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin
2. “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochrane
3. “Summertime” by Will Smith
4. “School’s Out” (for Summer) by Alice Cooper
5. “Rockaway Beach” by the Ramones

And lots of bonuses for this one:

“Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer” by Nat King Cole
“Summertime Rolls” by Jane’s Addiction
“Girl” by Beck (everyone agrees the title should really be “Summer Girl”)
“Summer in the City” by Lovin’ Spoonful
“Surfing USA” by Beach Boys
“Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly and the Family Stone
“Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas
“Sandy (Asbury Park 4th of July)” by Bruce Springsteen
“Summer Wind” by Frank Sinatra
“Summer Nights” from Grease, sung by Olivia Newton-John / John Travolta

[Summer’s here, in the northern hemisphere anyway, so let’s get some more songs in! What’s your favorite? – E]

E-Verse Radio Unbelievable But Real Film Titles of the Week:

Summertime Blues: Lemon Popsicle VIII (1988)

Miss My Muse in Summertime (2002)

Summertime Killer (1972)

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” – Sam Keen

It’s so much more fun! Watch the TV show at:

www.eversevideo.com

Mint Julep Iced Tea

Ingredients
8 mint leaves
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
1 cup bourbon
3 cups cold sweetened tea
Cubed or crushed ice

Instructions

Combine first 3 ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher, pressing with spoon to crush mint.
Stir in bourbon and tea. Add ice. Makes 2 quarts.

E-Verse Radio Invaluable Facts of the Week:

The term “Dog Days” does not refer to the mutt panting on your porch. The ancient Romans noticed that the hottest days of the year, i.e. in late July and early August, coincided with the appearance of Sirius — the Dog Star, in the same part of the sky as the Sun. Sirius is the largest and brightest star in the Canis Major constellation, in fact it is the brightest star in the sky. The ancients believed that the star contributed to the heat of the day. The adjective Canicular means ‘pertaining to Sirius’, so Dog-days are also called Canicular days. This is first referred to in English in John de Trevisa’s work Bartholomeus De proprietatibus rerum, 1398:

1816 has been called the “Year Without Summer.” Canada and the northeastern U.S. experienced cold and snow throughout the summer months. An erupting volcano in the Dutch East Indies was to blame.

On Midsummer Day’s the sun continues to shine long after midnight in Scandinavia when Midsummer Day is celebrated in late June. To celebrate, Swedish villagers decorate a spruce trunk — called a najstang — like a maypole. In Norway, families light bonfires along the fjords.

Japanese people keep the memory of their ancestors alive with a festival held during the summer called Obon. People put lit candles in lanterns and float them on rivers and seas. They also visit and clean the graves of those who have died. In the ancient city of Kyoto, people light giant bonfires.

A religious festival centering on the sun dance takes place during summer in Wyoming. Cheyenne, Arapaho, Shoshone, and members of other Plains Indian tribes dance around a pole topped with a buffalo’s head. The buffalo is a symbol of plenty, and dancers wish for good fortune in the year ahead.

66 million Americans barbeque each year. And here are some BBQ facts:

The chicken on your barbecue grill probably came from one of the top broiler-producing states: Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina and Mississippi. The value of production in each of these states exceeded $1 billion in 2002. These states combined for well over half of the nation’s broiler production.
The lettuce in your salad or on your hamburger probably was grown in California, which accounted for nearly three-quarters of lettuce production in 2002.

The fresh tomatoes in your salad most likely came from Florida or California, which, combined, produced more than two-thirds of U.S. tomatoes in 2002. The ketchup on your hamburger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted for 95 percent of processed tomato production last year.

There’s a 1-in-3 chance the beans in your side dish of baked beans or pork and beans came from North Dakota, which produced more than one-third of the dry, edible beans in 2002.

As to potato salad or potato chips or fries, Idaho and Washington produced about one-half of the nation’s spuds in 2002.

Classic surf movie posters:

http://www.surfclassics.com/

“I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay

E-Verse News You Can Use from the Un-E-Versity of Life:

“Sales have been flat in 2007 and the number of independent bookstores continues to shrink, from 1,660 last spring to 1,580 this year, according to the American Booksellers Assn. Three BookExpo panels will focus on another troubling subject, newspaper reviews, in the wake of cutbacks at the Los Angeles Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others”:

http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-bookexpo30may30,0,5129423.story?coll=cl-calendar

“Perhaps there’s a market for classical CDs that never quite found a niche in the record stores. Selling over the web, one label brings back some classics”:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/7685462.html

Moscow Art Fair Challenges World’s Largest:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aVSYRFpE.WDo&refer=muse

The Economics Of A Hit West End Play:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/05/30/btequus130.xml

Novelists Head Off To The Bank, Notebooks In Hand:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aNZFn1olv.R0&refer=muse

Authors Declare Their Font Loyalties:

http://www.slate.com/id/2166947/

“‘Amateur historian’ may sound vaguely derivative and second-tier. But the phrase can refer to people of high achievement”:

http://opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110010121

A new kind of food writing draws together issues of nutrition, taste, ethics, and politics, bridging the gap between James Beard and Rachel Carson:

http://www.cjr.org/essay/new_grub_street.php?page=all

“What’s wrong with the modern literary novel? Why is it so worthy and dull? Why is it so anxious? Why is it so boring?”:

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9276

“Plagiarism is still regarded as “the capital intellectual crime” by writers, teachers, and scholars. But times do change . . . .”

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=232494

“Children’s intuitive psychology goes against science. Kids see purpose everywhere in nature and will tend to prefer creationist accounts of the origins of animals”:

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bloom07/bloom07_index.html

“She wanted to experience everything, taste everything, go everywhere, do everything. Susan Sontag was nothing if not avid”:

http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2007/winter/rieff-remembering-sontag

“Within the month I was thinking, damn it. Could I have skipped my MFA program . . . if the blogs had arrived sooner?”:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/feature.onpoetry.html?id=179635

“Do what we can, summer will have its flies.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Very funny Darth Vader book signing incident from 1977:

http://deuceofclubs.com/books/dedicated/ded036.htm

E-Verse Radio Bad Book Cover of the Week, Gone Away Lake:

http://punkrockpenguin.net/waste/amuse/badcovers/goneaway.html

Fleming’s Follies:

Minted Crushed Berry Limeade, invented by Abigail Kirsch of New York City

Serves: 8 servings (8 ounces each)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh blackberries
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup cassis or blackcurrant liqueur
1/4 cup plus 8 additional fresh mint leaves
2 cups lime juice, freshly squeezed
3 cups cold water
8 slices lime, cut