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| The Fat Kid
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10-14-2003 11:00 PM ET (US)
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Yes, Silas, I remember McLaren's column in which she accused John Stiles and Ryan Bigge of shameless schmoozing. She even coined a cute little name for men such as J.S. and R.B. I believe it was "lurper." Anyone who knows John Stiles knows he's far too uncomfortable around strangers to be schmoozer. What her problem with Bigge was, I don't know, but I assume it has something to do with McLaren thinking he's not cool enough to be her friend. Which, if you go by her column, is just about everyone.
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| Z
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10-14-2003 11:14 PM ET (US)
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Silas, I tried to find a link to the Gray's Anatomy column, but the Globe's online archives don't seem to go back that far. I guess it was more than a year ago the piece appeared. Come to think of it, it might be more than two years ago. Oy. Anyway, Gray wasn't, if memory serves, talking about people shmoozing him. And by shmoozing, I didn't necessarily mean obvious brown-nosing, so much as socialising with people one doesn't actually like, saying one thing to a person's face and another behind his back. (I've known a lot of potheads who will hang out with people they don't like simply because they're also potheads; some writers are kind of like this, too.) I saw a lot of this firsthand when I was living in Montreal. There's a lot of not-so-great-spirited competition and professional jealousy, blended with hypocritical pleasantries. It's vicious and petty and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I arrived there from utter cultural isolation in Frobisher Bay eager to meet other writers, to live the 'writer's life', but when I witnessed the dynamics of how many of these writers behave in groups, it put me off. I'd rather have a beer with a bunch of my freight-handling buddies any day.
I didn't mean to suggest that there is a grand conspiracy afoot in Canadian poetry, merely that there's a sort of generalized entropic bureaucratic anomie at work that isn't particularly compatible with artistic vision and excellence. This is something I've seen in C.W. programmes, the C.C., the L.C.P., and on the various and sundry awards juries; those who fill out forms are at least as likely to succeed as those who make great art. Art is something that does not fare well within institutional confines. It's the same sort of thing that's plaguing our governments these days. Everything tends towards the middle of the road, towards management. It's the opposite of Yeats' vision in "The Second Coming", and only slightly less disturbing.
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| White Whale
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12-02-2003 04:32 AM ET (US)
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How did you silly poets manage to turn a column about Leah McLaren, Rebecca Eckler and the quality of Canadian newspapers into a discussion of poetry? Me Me Me! Everything is about Me!
The first part of the essay was interesting. Even a pulphound like Eckler ought be held to some sort of standard of credibility. Inventing a hoax is beyond that.
As for the Coyle fellow, well, did any of you poetfluffers notice that his wrting kind of sucked, his rant wasn't well thought out, Dave Barry was his model of journalistic success, he spelled Yann Martel's name wrong, and his main complaint is that it's impossible to be in your early twenties and successful in this country? Don't you consider yourselves more intelligent than to support this assertion? Or are you so sad, so bitter, and so intent on examining your own prostate using your tongue that you'll bite into any kneejerk reaction made by some kid who probably hasn't been laid, well, ever?
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| Strop
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12-02-2003 10:05 AM ET (US)
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According to your last sentence, "silly poets" here are, at the same time, a) sad, b) bitter, c) examining their own prostates using their own tongues, and d) biting knee-jerk (hyphen, no?) reactions made by some kid who probably hasn't been laid, etc. Personally, I'll bet a great writer such as yourself could manage to work a bit more into that sentence? You've got us biting down hard on inanimate things like knee-jerk reactions, so I wanted to give you the chance to really make this a sentence of which you can be proud. Show us big boy, show us up some more.
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The Fat Kid
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12-02-2003 01:13 PM ET (US)
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Edited by author 12-02-2003 01:19 PM
Don't worry about it Moby Dick. You'll find most of these discussions get off topic after a while, until the site editors inject another sub-topic. That gets thiings going again.
Boy oh boy, though, you really did have to dig a ways back in these boards to find something to gripe about. Not bad.
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| Michaele
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12-02-2007 02:55 AM ET (US)
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Messages 32-33 deleted by topic administrator between 05-16-2008 08:08 AM and 02-22-2008 04:18 PM |
| kisrer
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06-12-2008 04:01 AM ET (US)
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Messages 35-37 deleted by topic administrator between 07-08-2008 02:26 AM and 06-25-2008 02:26 AM |
| jackbon
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07-08-2008 02:01 AM ET (US)
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07-10-2008 01:31 AM ET (US)
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Deleted by topic administrator 07-10-2008 02:32 AM
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| goldstonesoft
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07-10-2008 02:53 AM ET (US)
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Easy Way to Convert Video Files to MP4 with Cucusoft Ultimate Video Converter Convert to MP4 |
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07-10-2008 11:06 PM ET (US)
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Deleted by topic administrator 07-11-2008 02:32 AM
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