“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”
– G.K. Chesterton
from New Year Letter
W.H. Auden
To set in order — that’s the task
Both Eros and Apollo ask;
For Art and Life agree in this
That each intends a synthesis,
That order which must be the end
That all self-loving things intend
Who struggle for their liberty,
Who use, that is, their will to be.
Though order never can be willed
But is the state of the fulfilled,
For will but wills its opposite
And not the whole in which they fit,
The symmetry disorders reach
When both are equal each to each,
Yet in intention all are one,
Intending that their wills be done
Within a peace where all desires
Find each in each what each requires,
A true Gestalt where indiscrete
Perceptions and extensions meet.
Art in intention is nemesis
But, realized, the resemblance ceases;
Art is not life and cannot be
A midwife to society.
For art is a fait accompli.
A reader sends in “top five new year’s superstitions/traditions”:
1. Kiss at midnight
2. The first dream you have in the new year will predict the course of that year (Japanese tradition)
3. It is tradition to wake up to watch the first sunrise of the new year (Japan again)
4. Eat one grape for each toll of the clock at midnight, as they toll, and make a wish for each grape, and your wishes will come true (Spain)
5. Start the new year with resolutions
3. It is tradition to wake up to watch the first sunrise of the new year (Japan again)
4. Eat one grape for each toll of the clock at midnight, as they toll, and make a wish for each grape, and your wishes will come true (Spain)
5. Start the new year with resolutions
E-Verse Radio Unbelievable But Real Film Titles of the Week:
Bloody New Year (1987)
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
– T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”
“The book reviewer’s life is one of homebound excitements — emails, phone calls, and FedEx deliveries — words taken in and sent out again”:
E-Verse Radio Invaluable Facts of the Week:
The Anglo-Saxons called the first month Wolf month because wolves came into the villages in winter in search of food.
It was an old Saxon belief that 2nd January was one of the unluckiest days of the whole year. Those unfortunate enough to be born on this day could expect to die an unpleasant death.
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon. Around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.
Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was tradition at that time to celebrate the god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
“The only way to spend New Year’s Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.”
– W.H. Auden
E-Verse Radio Bad Book Cover of the Week, Star Web:
Ronald Suresh Roberts looked to be the perfect biographer, so Nadine Gordimer gave him full access to her papers. Big mistake . . .
Check out E-Verser Adam Kirsch’s piece on Thomas Hardy’s poetry in this issue of the New Yorker:
“Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”
– Oscar Wilde
Annie, a screenwriter from New York, and E-Verse Radio subscriber, writes daily about her reading:
E-Verse Radio This week’s town you really have to visit:
Dismal, Tennessee
E-Verse Presents: Fleming’s Follies!
Spiders on Drugs
Scenes from around the world
U2 New Years Day from Slane Castle
More on Slane Castle at www.slanecastle.ie
What’s next for the Museum of Modern Art? How about another major expansion?
A teacher sends in this young person’s hip hop guide to poetic feet:
iamb: ku-RUPT
trochee: OUT-kast
spondee: SLICK RICK
anapest: de la SOUL
dactyl: LUD-a-cris
amphibrach: the PHAR-cyde
amphimacer: FOX-y BROWN
choriamb: BIG dad-dy KANE
amphitrochidactapest: DEL tha FUN-kee ho-mo-SA-pi-en
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Check out the telecast of this issue at E-Verse Radio:
Looking for a new place to live? Consider buying the world’s smallest country, now up for sale:
Thinking of a career change to kick off the new year? CareerBuilder.com gives us the coolest and weirdest jobs:
1. Coffin Maker
What they do: Build customized coffins, ranging from simple pine caskets to bejeweled boxes.
What they do: Build customized coffins, ranging from simple pine caskets to bejeweled boxes.
2. Potato Chip Inspector
What they do: Oversee potato chips on an assembly line and check for overcooked or clumped chips to discard.
What they do: Oversee potato chips on an assembly line and check for overcooked or clumped chips to discard.
3. Wax Figure Maker
What they do: Mold wax to create figures, often, but not limited to, the human form. Figures are often made in the likeness of people who have achieved historical or celebrity recognition.
What they do: Mold wax to create figures, often, but not limited to, the human form. Figures are often made in the likeness of people who have achieved historical or celebrity recognition.
4. Foot Model
What they do: Work as a “parts model,” modeling their feet for advertisements that feature footwear, lotions and other related-products.
What they do: Work as a “parts model,” modeling their feet for advertisements that feature footwear, lotions and other related-products.
5. Golf Ball Diver
What they do: Search the depths of golf course bodies of water to find lost golf balls to refinish and resell.
What they do: Search the depths of golf course bodies of water to find lost golf balls to refinish and resell.
6. Doll Doctor
What they do: Repair, repaint and reassemble doll parts to doctor-up dolls that have missing, broken or damaged parts.
What they do: Repair, repaint and reassemble doll parts to doctor-up dolls that have missing, broken or damaged parts.
7. Egg Inspector
What they do: Examine eggs for cracks and other irregularities before they are graded and stamped for approval.
What they do: Examine eggs for cracks and other irregularities before they are graded and stamped for approval.
8. Knife Thrower’s Assistant
What they do: Act as human targets for the knife thrower, which can involve mastering feats such as being tied to a spinning wheel while having knives thrown within inches of their bodies, or having objects cut above their heads.
What they do: Act as human targets for the knife thrower, which can involve mastering feats such as being tied to a spinning wheel while having knives thrown within inches of their bodies, or having objects cut above their heads.
9. Foley Artist
What they do: Use random items and whatever else they can find to create and record the noises used to make the sounds effects in films, such as heavy footsteps, rolling thunder or creaking doors.
What they do: Use random items and whatever else they can find to create and record the noises used to make the sounds effects in films, such as heavy footsteps, rolling thunder or creaking doors.
10. Solfeggist
What they do: Listen to recorded music and monitor notes in indistinguishable compositions.
What they do: Listen to recorded music and monitor notes in indistinguishable compositions.
11. Snow Researcher
What they do: Collect and analyze ice crystals in snow to study the effects of pollution on area snowfall.
What they do: Collect and analyze ice crystals in snow to study the effects of pollution on area snowfall.
12. Wig Maker
What they do: Create and fit hair pieces such as wigs, beards, mustaches and eyebrows for clients requesting hair for costume or personal needs.
What they do: Create and fit hair pieces such as wigs, beards, mustaches and eyebrows for clients requesting hair for costume or personal needs.
13. Gross Stunt Producer
What they do: Create new ways to gross out contestants on television shows, using insects, animal products and other things considered that could be considered “gross” by society’s standards.
What they do: Create new ways to gross out contestants on television shows, using insects, animal products and other things considered that could be considered “gross” by society’s standards.
14. Mermaid
What they do: Entertain crowds as an underwater performer.
What they do: Entertain crowds as an underwater performer.
15. Whiskey Ambassador
What they do: Drink and explain the proper ways to serve and savor various whiskeys.
What they do: Drink and explain the proper ways to serve and savor various whiskeys.
16. Dog Food Tester
What they do: Taste and analyze dog food samples and write reviews on the results.
What they do: Taste and analyze dog food samples and write reviews on the results.
17. Bonfire Builder
What they do: Gather discarded wood from trash bins, beaches, construction scrap heaps and similar areas to expertly build bonfires.
What they do: Gather discarded wood from trash bins, beaches, construction scrap heaps and similar areas to expertly build bonfires.
18. Dice Inspector
What they do: Inspect dice used in casinos for lopsided angles, misspotting and other blemishes that could cause error when the dice are rolled for gambling purposes.
What they do: Inspect dice used in casinos for lopsided angles, misspotting and other blemishes that could cause error when the dice are rolled for gambling purposes.
19. Ethnographer
What they do: Research and study single groups of human behavior through fieldwork, observing and questioning participants.
What they do: Research and study single groups of human behavior through fieldwork, observing and questioning participants.
20. Gum Buster
What they do: Remove gum stuck to sidewalks, street benches and other unwanted areas by de-sticking the gum through a steaming process.
What they do: Remove gum stuck to sidewalks, street benches and other unwanted areas by de-sticking the gum through a steaming process.
E-Verse Radio E-Verse collective noun of the week:
A round of drinks.
Ernie’s Top Five Writers who Practiced Medicine:
1. Tobias Smollett
2. Oliver Goldsmith
3. Arthur Conan Doyle
4. Louis-Ferdinand C
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