"America has given two gifts to the world: jazz and the gossip column."
– Quentin Crisp
Did you see the cloud shaped like an Austrian monocle over Woodland Valley last Tuesday?
Foreign Travel to Connecticut
"When I was a boy in the Catskills, we didn’t travel much," recalls Ben Tolson. "Once my mother drove me to Connecticut — it was like visiting Belgium! I saw firewood stacked in a dome, for the first time in my life. I talked about it for weeks."
Bumper sticker:
I ALREADY REGRET BUYING
THIS BUMPER STICKER
A Letter
Dear Sparrow-Buddy:
You’ve heard of "finger foods" (snacks eaten by hand) but have you ever encountered "finger drinks"? These are beverages — usually wine or juice — served in little bowls. You dip your fingers in the bowl, then lick them off.
Here is one of my favorite finger drink recipes:
2 oz. rosemary tea
1/4 Tbs honey
1 oz. peach juice
T. R.
Flying Troll Weather
"When there was a high wind, my Grandma would say: ‘It’s blowing hard enough to uproot a troll,’" recalls Hugh MacSpire.
Shandaken Poetry Influx
Spring
It’s easy to focus
On a crocus
When it blooms
Outside your rooms.
– Roger Gradville
Haiku
I don’t like follow-
ing the archaic, rigid
rules of the haiku.
– A. Berney
A Letter
Dear "Bird -whisperer":
Have you ever noticed that "Coca-Cola" rhymes with "rock’n’roller"? Isn’t it striking that these two great American creations, born 68 years apart, have almost the same sound?
A. J.
Rifle Weddings
"In the 1920s, it was not unusual for both bride and groom to carry a rifle at a Catskills wedding," observes local historian Greg Drothers. "Most women knew how to shoot, and firearms were considered good luck at nuptials."
Interview with a Guitarist
I visited Mark Tangeno in his garage/studio in Chichester.
Sparrow: I see your guitar is in the shape of an M.
Tangeno: Yes, the technology now exists to make a guitar in the shape of any letter, but it’s rarely done.
Sparrow: What does the M stand for?
Tangeno: Machiavelli.
Sparrow: What a surprise!
Tangeno: Yes, I believe Machiavelli is the philosopher most closely connected to rock ‘n’ roll music.
Sparrow: Really!
Tangeno: Nietzsche was inspired by The Prince, and all the great Heavy Metal musicians read Nietzsche.
Sparrow: That makes sense.
Tangeno: After all, Machiavelli said: "A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise." That’s what being a rock star is all about.
Sparrow: Are you in a band at this point?
Tangeno: I just started a new group. We’re called The Sour Prentices. It’s from a poem by John Donne.
Sparrow: You read a lot, it seems.
Tangeno: No, I read very little — probably less than four minutes a day. But I only read the masters.
Sparrow: That’s unusual.
Tangeno: I figure, why bother with some over-praised contemporary like Paul Muldoon when I can study the fourth greatest guy who ever wrote in English?
Sparrow: Will The Sour Prentices be performing locally?
Tangeno: I’m trying to arrange for us to play in a deserted malt factory.
For more information, see www.thesourprentices.com.