Canadian photographer Maureen O'Connor's work is always one of the highlights for me of the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. If I don't find her booth on my own meanderings, I make a point of seeking it out. I can't leave until I've seen her new photos.
All of the animals in her pictures are live — there's no taxidermy and no posing. The creatures, which to my understanding live in rehabilitation sanctuaries, are brought to the abandoned buildings and allowed to explore.
You can see all O'Connor's work at maureenfaithoconnor.com. The above are all from the Threshold series, but the Inclusion, Departures, and Cuban series are also excellent.
"National Parks are some of the most beautiful places on Earth. They offer a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and to connect with nature. And they're right at our doorstep, waiting to be explored. Whether you're looking for a place to go for a hike, a picnic, or just a walk in the woods, there's sure to be a park nearby that has what you're looking for."
Obviously, they've got info on parks world-wide. But here's their page on Canada.
lyrikline is an international website for poetry. They've got an excellent search engine for their growing list of poets in english and in translation (more than 1600 poets so far).
"lyrikline is an international website for experiencing the diversity of contemporary poetry. Here you can listen to the melodies, sounds, and rhythms of international poetry, recited by the authors themselves, and read the poems both in their original languages and various translations."
Perhaps you've read Ron Padgett's Love Poem. If not, it's below. Or you can listen to him reading it.
Love Poem
We have plenty of matches in our house. We keep them on hand always. Currently our favorite brand is Ohio Blue Tip, though we used to prefer Diamond brand. That was before we discovered Ohio Blue Tip matches. They are excellently packaged, sturdy little boxes with dark and light blue and white labels with words lettered in the shape of a megaphone, as if to say even louder to the world, “Here is the most beautiful match in the world, its one-and-a-half-inch soft pine stem capped by a grainy dark purple head, so sober and furious and stubbornly ready to burst into flame, lighting, perhaps, the cigarette of the woman you love, for the first time, and it was never really the same after that. All this will we give you.” That is what you gave me, I become the cigarette and you the match, or I the match and you the cigarette, blazing with kisses that smoulder toward heaven.
It's available in the Collected Poems of Ron Padgett, which unfortunately is out of print, and many people I'm sure are familiar with an early draft of it from the film Paterson:
But did you know that in the 60s, Saul Bass designed the packaging for the Ohio Match Co.?
"POP&ROLL is an innovative art project that blurs the lines between functionality, design, and artistic expression. Founded by the visionary artist kissmiklos, our project encompasses three distinct but interconnected spaces: the Art Gallery, the Art Shop, and the pioneering Art Toilet."
An oldie but a goodie. Gotta be my favorite talk show performance. I watch it a couple times a year. Sam Herring's sincerity and vulnerability; the unexpected change in his voice's tone; Letterman's joyous expression of delight. So great.