Saturday, January 15, 2011

Saturday Sharing (My Finds Are Yours)

This week I'm sharing some of what others share with me. The Web is full of riches; it just takes a bit of mining to uncover the gems.

✭ Interested in studying the history of photography? Go here for your first online lesson from the National Media Museum in the United Kingdom. You'll find 40 images, drawn from holdings of primarily British photographers, which provide an overview of photography's development in the West. Information about each image and the photographer is available. My thanks to The Bigger Picture for the heads up on this fun find.

✭ Before departing from the subject of learning, be sure to check in with the @historyteacherz whose project "History for Music Lovers" will set you straight on a few facts and show you how much fun studying can be. In a series of music videos (there are more than four dozen), The History Teachers replace the lyrics of pop songs with their own lyrics, drawn from the classics and information about historical figures. A nod and then two more to the New Yorker's The Book Bench for this one. 

✭ My friend Joyce at Peaceful Legacies has undertaken a marvelous series on Rumi, which includes a daily featured poem from one of Rumi's most eloquent translators, Coleman Barks. Catch up with Joyce and then backtrack to read from the start of the series. It's a delight. 


✭ Another marvelous New Year series is A Year With Rilke, with daily readings and excellent commentary from the blog's followers. The series is a gift from my friend Lozenzo at The Alchemist's Pillow (be sure to visit his wonderful blog) and his friend Ruth, a poet, who writes at synch-ro-ni-zing (follow the link to her beautiful site; you won't be disappointed). Complementing each day's offering is gorgeous artwork by Leonid Paternak.

✭ Professional filmmaker, photographer, and artist Alastair Cook's ongoing project "Filmpoem" shows what can be done when a filmmaker gathers up the words of a poem and transforms them into a visual metaphor. In the example below, Scottish poet Jane McKie's "La Plage", read by Cook, is reimagined beautifully. Other examples of Cook's "Filmpoem" works are available to view both at "Filmpoem" and on the project's Vimeo channel. Also go here, where you'll find information about poetry-related collaborative arts projects based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Special thanks to Denise at Newpages Blog for highlighting this estimable resource.

Filmpoem 4: La Plage from Alastair Cook on Vimeo.

4 comments:

Rosaria Williams said...

Marvelous!

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Everyday when I open your blog I am grateful for your creativity and for the many, many links you provide to the art and creativity of others. Today, I feel an extra dose of gratefulness on seeing your mention of the new Rilke blog and my Alchemist's Pillow. Thanks so much. One of the exciting things about A Year With Rilke has been the enthusiasm with which it has been greeted thus far, as reflected in the energy and quality of the comments. You are a consistently thoughtful contributor there, something which further energizes Ruth and I in offering the blog to all people interested in Rilke. Thanks, again, for sharing so much of yourself on Saturday Sharings and every other day of the week.

Ruth said...

I am new to your Saturday Sharing, as I am new to your blog, Maureen. It's a brilliant thing to do, to share these sites, brilliant for me! I have so much to learn, and these look like very promising leads indeed.

Along with Lorenzo I am quite touched by your enthusiasm for our Rilke blog in your participation there. Now to see the blog linked is terrific, and my own and Lorenzo's too! Thank you for your kind words and the links. I look forward to more of the insights and reflections you post in comments at all three, and what you do here in your own beautiful site.

Enjoy the weekend!

S. Etole said...

That vimeo from Alastair Cook just reaches deep ...