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Edward Thomas’ “There’s Nothing Like the Sun”: The poet’s verse has the heightened perception of a great haiku. Courtesy of Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Wikimedia Commons I came to “There’s Nothing Like the Sun,” and Edward Thomas’ work in general, quite late, thanks to some of my more inane prejudices. The image I’d developed of Thomas’ poems (without having read many of them) didn’t hold much appeal, not for somebody like me, who has lived in cities all his life. I’ve always loved best the American poets who have been most tuned in to life in those places: Williams and O’Hara in particular. Thomas’ sensibility initially seemed to me the product of “cottage England.” His interest in the natural world seemed … well, sort of unrelenting. Also, though Thomas is often linked to his friend and influence Robert Frost, for me his speech lacks Frost’s idiomatic salt. I found “There’s Nothing Like the Sun” more or less accidentally then, while flipping through an interview with James Wright 30 years after it was published.

These lines have something of the heightened perception of a great haiku. In Focus - The American West, 150 Years Ago. In the 1860s and 70s, photographer Timothy O'Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, (many of his photos appear in this earlier series), O'Sullivan joined a number of expeditions organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The teams were composed of soldiers, scientists, artists, and photographers, and tasked with discovering the best ways to take advantage of the region's untapped natural resources.

O'Sullivan brought an amazing eye and work ethic, composing photographs that evoked the vastness of the West. He also documented the Native American population as well as the pioneers who were already altering the landscape. Above all, O'Sullivan captured -- for the first time on film -- the natural beauty of the American West in a way that would later influence Ansel Adams and thousands more photographers to come. [34 photos] Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: "The Simpsons Are Going to…!”: A Map of Every Simpsons Destination, Over 500 Episodes. PLoS Blogs Network. Printable Checklist. How to Turn Your Dumbphone Into a Smartphone Using Nothing But SMS. YouTube to mp3 Converter. iProcrastinate Podcast. Christian Marclay's The Clock. TED: Ideas worth spreading.

Klip.me - Enjoy Mobile Reading. Tabs, writing and why writers should not carry portfolios. I'm sending a box of Good Omens scents off to Terry Pratchett today. We have to vote on things like War (with or without ginger) and Shadwell (with or without condensed milk) and tell Beth at Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs what we think.

If you put on a dab of War (with ginger) to see what it smells like on your skin, a large white dog will come and happily try and lick it off. (I liked reading the Tarts discussing the scents...) It is time for the closing of tabs: There's a New York Times article on Picasso, Nick Bertozzi and the case in Georgia that the CBLDF is currently funding and fighting: This is the permalink to the article in question. A page of reviews for Rogue Artists Ensemble production of Mr Punch in Los Angeles at Here's the round-the-world country by country release data for the Stardust movie: Dave Mckean has finished the DVD of his short films, and it'll be out for San Diego.

The 99 Percent - It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen.