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"But Bridget drew him by the sleeve,
Away from the merry bands,
To old men playing at cards
With a twinkling of ancient hands.
The bread and the wine had a doom,
For these were the host of the air;
He sat and played in a dream
Of her long dim hair.
He played with the merry old men
And thought not of evil chance,
Until one bore Bridget his bride
Away from the merry dance.
He bore her away in his arms,
The handsomest young man there,
And his neck and his breast and his arms
Were drowned in her long dim hair.
O'Driscoll scattered the cards
And out of his dream awoke:
Old men and young men and young girls
Were gone like a drifting smoke;
But he heard high up in the air
A piper piping away,
And never was piping so sad,
And never was piping so gay."
W.B. Yeats. The Host of the Air, 1899
| When I was conscripted
I took along with me six books. Zelazny's 'Lord of
Light', Eric Frank Russell's 'Next of Kin', Harry
Harrison's 'Bill, the Galactic Hero', Algis Budrys 'Rogue
Moon' Clifford Simak's 'Goblin Reservation', L.Sprauge de
Camp's 'Lest Darkness Fall'. I can still quote large
sections of most of them. I read prolifically and
catholically (from Ludlum to Heyer), although sf remains
my first choice. Music... well, I'm a barbarian (or so my co-author informs me). Eric likes opera and classical music. I like noise. And I like lyrics. I have a weakness for Scottish/Celtic folk. Instrumental music sounds pleasant enough, but great music and great words combine like... like rosemary with lamb, like Stilton and port, like beer and pickles, like artichokes and anything ... alone the seperate elements are pleasant, but together they are superb. Of course this requires that lyrics must be worth listening to, and clearly enough enunciated to be heard. The music too must blend well, to counterpoint but not drown the lyrics. The Corries, Runrig, Magna Carta and Jethro Tull are enduring favorites. I am very fond of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, but find the execution by certain companies -- where the clever wording is obscured by shrills and trills -- sad. Other than that, well -- a rolling stone life, and the environments and people, my peer biologists (some aren't even fish people. I even associate with entomologists, which proves I am not at all proud. No, really, some of my best friends are bug-hunters. Oh, and in a back-handed way, the South African Defence Force, and the owner of the first fish-farm I worked on. Grim experiences and lowlife make are best described from first hand experience. |
Dave demonstrates how deadlines are like a monkey on your back.
Whatever influenced this we'll never know (webmaster's note - - I absolutely HAD to include this picture somewhere) |
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