Playlist: Romanticism & Science (Part 1)

I was bored, and when I'm bored, I make playlists. No Spotify link-- I do apologize--  but I'm committed to a group of like-minded, angry audiophiles who're abjuring the co. until they offer songs in a halfway decent (viz., lossless) quality. But my compunction is tempered by an assurance that you know to use, as my father would say, "the Google."

1. Rilo Kiley-- "Science vs. Romance" 
2. Anything by the Sex Pistols or Savage Garden (for Erasmus Darwin)
3. New Order-- "Bizarre Love Triangle" (for The Anti-Jacobin Review)
4. David Axelrod-- "The Sick Rose" (for William Blake)
5. AC/DC- "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" (for John Hunter)
6. Captain Beefheart-- "Electricity" (for Joseph Priestley)
7. Black Uhuru-- "What Is Life" (for John Thelwall)
8. Missy Elliott-- "Bring the Pain" (for Thomas Paine)
9. Iron Maiden-- "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (for S. T. Coleridge)
10. Rush-- "Kubla Kahn" (ibidem)
11. Anything by Sublime (for Edmund Burke)
12. James Blunt-- "You're Beautiful" (ibidem)
13. The Notorious B.I.G.-- "Hypnotize" (for Franz Anton Mesmer)
14. Sebadoh-- "Magnetic Coil" (for Percy Bysshe Shelley)
15. New York Dolls-- "Frankenstein" (for Mary Shelley) 
16. Kanye West-- "Monster" (ibidem)

"ah me kitty ah": Phonological Translation

Sound Translation was a cool modernist experiment, even if no takes it seriously anymore. The best stuff was often quite clever-- and always good for a laugh (if not a hearty chortle). The master was Louis Zukofsky. This is from "Catallus 100" (yes, there are 115 more).

Caelius Aufilenum et Quintus Aufilenam 

flos Veronensum deperunt iuvenum,

hic fratrem, ille sororem, hoc est, quod dicitur, illus

fraternum vere dulcem sodalitium

cuit faveam potius? Caeli, tibi: nam tua nobis

perspecta egregiest unica amicitia

cum vesana meas torret flamma medullas 

sis felix, Caeli, sis in amore potens

Caelius Aufilenus’s mate, Quintius Aufilena’s am

flow’rs Vernoa’s sum they pair and hunt (you venom)

“he” ‘ll frat him, he’ll lace her or hum. ‘Who quest,’ quoth thick with ore, ‘a lewd

frater new way re th’whole cuss’t sodality mm.’

Who we favor--whom--put to us? Caeli, tibby: now to your (know bees?)

perspective egregious “best” unique ah me kitty ah,

come wasting on my eas t’her reared at flame my medulla’s

Seize fay licks, Caeli, see as in  and more potence.

Marginalia: An Early Modern Annotator of "Piers Plowman"

British Library Additional 35157. I've only included a small fraction of the annotations-- this manuscript is more marked up than my undergrad copy of The Four Quartets ("SYMBOLISM," "IRONY," "like the Fool [tarot card]"). So I'm highlighting my favorite (= most interesting) annotations, which are highlighting the annotator's favorite (= most interesting) passages of the poem. Am I postmodern or what?

• "will the catt ye king and the kittines destroy" (I)
• "harlottes are sonnest hole"
• “against bawdy Jesters”
• "famous Kinge Henvry Viij fulfilled in his time"
• "Reson always ruleth in beast but not in Man for man surfeteth [surfeits] in meate, drynke in women, aparel and in wordes"
• "no muritt [merit] in any works instisinige faith only working" (I)
• "Meed a durtie common Strumpit both in siuill [civil] laws and common" (I)
• “Meed ye Pops Darlinge” (I)
• "Peers liued in Henri the sixt his daies who lost his heritage in Fraunce which his father had wonne"
• "If men of holye Church wold do nought but right then Wold Lordes, Lawyers, and merchauntes, do lyke"
• "henri the 6 was a simpel Religious man, which was the loose of his fathers heritage in Fraunce
• "peres became a protestant  and loued his lyke" (on the following: Thus y awaked . . . clothed as a lollard . . . among lollards of londone and lewwde Ermytes)
• "no basterds"
• "basterds fitt for slauerye" 
• "the pore haue right to parte of Christes treasure in prestes handes"
• “ye dronken roge”
• "Lecherye loveth not the pore"
• "A wench ought to be A virgine butt hardly in this wickitt age"
• "truth is directly against purgatory and limbo"
• “pastors muste do as they teche”
• “ye Purpill whore of Rome”
• “not Wytte but ye grace of god”
• “England harboreth more theues and beggers then any countrie”
• "women can kepe no counsell"
• “fryers & theire orders wiped out of gods booke”
• “Doo well is better than ye Popps [Pope's] bulles”
• “bisshopes should haue no more lands then Christe hadd”
• "Aynest Monkes and Chanons"
• “nota the riche are comonly the enimies to rigt [righteousness] and truthe”
• “sterringe [stirring] the simple pepell to almes for there owne profitt”
• “theologye is no Scyeunce [Science] but a sothfast beleofe [true belief]
• "Justyce in hell Mercye in heven"
• “mercye above all godes workes”
• "Saloman and Aristotell in wysdom & workes both good yet dyed evelly"
• “the pore is euer redye to please ye Riche” (2nd annotator)
• “but ye rich hateth ye poore” (3rd annotation)
• "an Vnsownd opynion"
• “propertie bredeth singularitie & pride”
• Charitie seldom sene in ye freres [friars]"
• "an Vnsownd opynion"

List: Unarmed Citizens Killed by U.S. Law Enforcement Officers

I'm sure I'm not the only person who finds himself at a loss of words right now, feeling simultaneously outraged, saddened, and powerless, so I'll keep this brief. The issue is deep-rooted as American racism itself, and several people have discussed it more eloquently and trenchantly than I ever could.

Of course, no amount of jail time can restore life to Trayvon Martin or compensate for the suffering and grief inflicted on his loved ones. But the message sent by the "not guilty" verdict of the Zimmerman trial is clear: it is often both illegal and fatal to be young, black, and male in this country. So long as the American justice system continues to allow cops (technically Zimmeran wasn't a cop but a cop-wannabe) who murder unarmed citizens to get off with a light slap on the wrist, the number of Zimmermans-- and the number of Treyvons-- will only continue to grow.

This list is by no means complete, even without including the several cases which have gone undocumented. Also left out are the countless victims like Rodney James who were beat, shot, or otherwise brutalized by cops but have survived with their lives. It does not pretend to begin to tackle the systematic racism of the American legal system, the law enforcement agency, or the prison industrial complex. Just a list.

1973: Clifford Grover, age 10, black male. Shot. Officer acquitted.
1976: Randolph Evans, age 15, black male. Unarmed-- no apparent reason. Shot. Officer served 2 years.
1983: Michael Stewart, age 25, black male. Unarmed-- altercation after painting graffiti in a subway station. Beat to death. Officers acquitted.
1993: Johnnie Cromartie, age 40, black male. Unarmed-- became “agitated” after being arrested for arms possession and sent to the hospital due to an epileptic seizure. Beat to death.
1993: Don Myrick, age 53, black male. Unarmed-- during narcotics investigation, officers mistook lighter for gun. Shot. CIty paid fine of $400,000.
1994: Anthony Baez, age 29, hispanic male. Unarmed-- altercation after he and his brother hit a police car more than once with his football. Strangled. Officer served 6.5 years.
1994: Ernest Sayon, age 22, black male. Unarmed-- resisted arrest. Beat to death. No charges filed by city.
1996: Nathaniel Levi Gaines, age 25, black male. Unarmed-- altercation on subway. Officer sentenced to 5-15 years.
1999: Amadou Diallo, age 23, black male. Unarmed-- officers mistook his wallet for a gun. Shot 41 times. Officers acquitted of all charges.
2000: Patrick Dorismond, age 26, black male. Unarmed-- confrontation with undercover cops after they asked him where they could buy drugs. Officers acquitted.
2003: Orlando Barlow, age 28, black male. Unarmed. Shot from 50 ft. while surrendering on his knees. Officers acquitted.
2003: Alberta Spruill, age 57, black female. Unarmed-- officers mistakenly threw a stun grenade into her apartment. City paid fine of $1.6 million.
2003: Ousmane Zongo, age 43, black male. Unarmed-- officers were investigating an operation he was not involved in. Shot. Officer put on probation for 5 years.
2004: Timothy Stansbury, age 19, black male. Unarmed-- no apparent reason. Shot. Officer suspended for 30 days.
2005: Rigoberto Alpizar, age 44, hispanic male. Unarmed-- officers allege he claimed to have a bomb at an airport. No explosives were found, and no passengers who witnessed the incident heard the word “bomb.” Shot. No charges pressed.
2005: Aaron Campbell, age 25, black male. Unarmed. Shot while facing backwards with hands on head. Officer acquitted.
2005: Henry Glover, age 31, black male. Unarmed-- no apparent reason. Shot. Officers awaiting appellate court.
2006: Joseph Erin Hamley, age 21, black male. Unarmed-- no apparent reason. Shot. Officer served 54 days in jail and fined $1000.
2005. Travares McGill, age 16, black male. Unarmed-- confrontation in parking lot. Shot in the back.
2006: Sean Bell, age 23, black male. Unarmed-- officers were investigating the strip club where he was having his bachelor party and thought they heard someone say “gun.” Shot 50 times. Officers found not guilty.
2007: Fermin Arzu, age 41, black male. Unarmed-- fled arrest in his car. Shot. Officer sentenced to 15 years.
2008: Robbie Tolan, age 23, black male. Unarmed-- falsely suspected of driving a stolen vehicle. Shot. Officer acquitted.
2009: Oscar Grant, age 22, black male. Unarmed. Shot while lying face down after confrontation on train. Officer sentenced to 2 years minus time served.
2009: Victor Sheen, age 17, black male. Unarmed-- refused to pull over on his bicycle. Tasered and ran over. Officer acquitted.
2010: Tyrone Brown, age 32, black male. Unarmed-- groped an off-duty officer’s female friend. Shot 12 times.
2010: Aiyana Jones, age 7, black female. Shot during raid. Officer awaiting trial.
2010: Steven Eugene Washington, age 27, black male. Unarmed-- the autistic man approached officers and appeared to remove something from his waistband. Shot.
2011: Alonzo Ashley, age 28, black male. Unarmed-- refused to stop splashing water from a drinking fountain on his face and then threw a trash can. Shot. No Charges filed.
2011: Michael Nida, age 31, black male. Unarmed-- mistakenly accused of robbery. Shot in the back with a submachine. No charges filed.
2012: Wendell Allen, age 20, black male. Unarmed. Shot.
2012: Remarley Graham, age 18, black male. Unarmed-- was trying to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet. Shot. Officer acquitted.
2012: Ervin Jefferson, age 18, black male. Unarmed. Shot. Officers acquitted.
2012: Kendrac McDade, age 19, black, male. Unarmed. Shot. Officers acquitted.
2012: Trayvon Martin, age 17, black male. Unarmed. Shot. Officer acquitted.
2013: Kimani Grey, age 16, black male. Unarmed. Shot 11 times.
2013: Timothy Russell, age 43, black male. Malissa Williams, age 30, black female. Unarmed. Shot 137 times in car chase. Awaiting verdict.

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