Aug
calendar 1
under the sun-
spears of golden barley fall
with red poppies
Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-nə-sə; Irish: Lúnasa; Scottish Gaelic: Lùnastal; Manx: Luanistyn) is a traditional Gaelic holiday celebrated on 1 August in the northern hemisphere and 1 February in the southern. It originated as a harvest festival, corresponding to the Welsh Calan Awst and the English Lammas.
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"The owl's flight was silent as the grave. It landed on a nearby low branch. When I looked again it was gone." - jp
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tangled in motion
by the force of gravity-
a summer karma
1
this brimble's bloom-
in Celtic times
the same
"...a long shot of Brimble Hill, facing north. Definitely the best viewing angle for this lovely landscape feature. It must be said, however, that all of the angles (sort of like that Mount Fuji print series), as they unfold along the base of Little Knoll, are quite splendid. As the weather and the seasons endlessly change, this wooded hill is a magical sight to see. Jewel in the crown."
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the spider behind the pictures on the wall
tantalizingly
swift
Apparently, bee scientists have discovered that if a flower patrol bee is returned to active duties in the hive nursery its IQ spikes off the chart. All I can say to that is bumble bees do seem a little stoned when out and about on flower patrol. The bumble bee in this post's image is absorbed in a world of comfrey The latter ("knitbone") is a potent and diverse medicinal herb. Do the math. ^_^
More about bones here . . . http://tinyurl.com/dukesgrave
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M O V I E L U D E
Directors' vote: Yasujiro Ozu's 1953
'Tokyo Story' greatest film ever made
"The 1953 film "Tokyo Story" by Yasujiro Ozu has been voted "the greatest film ever made" in a poll of movie directors conducted once a decade by a British magazine, BBC said." - Japan Timers
WATCH FOR FREE (putlocker)
"An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their children and are confronted by indifference, ingratitude and selfishness. When the parents are packed off to a resort by their impatient children, the film deepens into an unbearably moving meditation on mortality."
FILM REVIEW
Excellent (✓) not bad () ok () could do better () utter tripe () don’t call us, we’ll call you ()
An unforgeable study in visual composition and the Nippon aesthetic concept of "mono no aware" as applied to the poignant redundancy of ageing. A superb and unforgettable movie experience. The only thing that comes to mind on this subject is the song below . . .
the calves have gone
short grass
rain
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affectionately,
with toddlers on board-
the farmer's milkers
5
"In the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Britain offered a display of humor and humbleness that can only stem from a deep-rooted sense of superiority." - Alessandra Stanley
/
after yet another apocalypse
the ants go back
to work
6
Moon of Roses-
a milk bottle top
in the grass
S T U D Y L U D E
"Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs." - Nihongi This the second oldest text of Shinto. As always with creation stories, a tripartite vertical axis pivots a universal sphere ("egg"), often figured as three interlocking 3D realms. The ubiquitous trinity template.
NOTE
To ponder the creation myths of a culture is to gain access to the mind set of a culture. In this case, the mind set of classical haiku's archaic roots which stream from prehistoric hunter-gather times, modulated by regional civilisations along the way. Animism, as exampled by Shinto, is really at the core of Tao and Buddhism; although the latter evolved metaphysical systems that apply the gnosis of a living universe in many diverse and sublime ways. In addition. Confucianism supplies a sophisticated humanist indirectness to the mystic influences which sublimate classical haiku. Furthermore, in these studies we discover associated consciousness equivalents in ourselves, for those are universal. To gain a working knowledge of these things is not time wasted by devotees of haiku in the classical style (hokku being the more correct term for these pre-westernised Nippon tercets).
ALSO SEE Doshinokai Articles - Kojiki.pdf
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in a comic book's museum
summer rains
cobalt
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"In a dream I was made of water and the fishes swam. Then a glass jar with a minnow in it. When I awoke it was a worm on a hook in a stream. Time passed. I grew old and died. When I awoke it was warm and wet. Another mother, another dream. But this time I will make it." - jp
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warming our hands by the stars
in an owl haunted valley-
August, 1969
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"To say a thing makes it true. To not say a thing is haiku. Hokku is best left unspoken. As a windblown token." Alice tweeted from Wonderland.
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little green shed
in a little green hedge-
long grass
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"It does not matter how young or strong you may be, the hour of death comes sooner that you expect. It is an extraordinary miracle that you should have escaped to this day; do you suppose you have even the briefest respite in which to relax?" - Yoshida Kenko (Essays in Idleness, 1332)
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elderly hippies,
in their festival chemistry-
squelch home
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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"Cherish all of nature, without prejudice, and be glad. This is the perennial truth of things. For, whatever crosses your path is you too." - jp
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torn cardboard,
the edges of another sky-
turning autumn
also 10
"A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; a swarm in July isn't worth a fly."
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a mid-August bumblebee
seems to know--
dry grass
pic source 10
do humans have souls? -
it seems a grasshopper
thinks
You see, I do not accord mystic to a grasshopper in this sense. A grasshopper is as alive and sentient as we are. Grasshoppers are people too -- only different. Like us, and all life, grasshoppers get job satisfaction. Ask any country dweller. Or, reference Basho's classic statement: "Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo. And in doing so, you must leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself." (There's more to all this, but that will do for the moment.) FULL BASHO QUOTE HERE
The haiku question is a technique which is common and much loved by the classical scribes of old Edo. The use of "seems" is also a way of avoiding metaphor (the use of which narrows down a haiku by imposition of the writer's ego). Here Shiki illustrates yet another method of doing an 'indirect metaphor' (as someone, erroneously, called an allusion):
Autumn breeze is blowing
I feel like that a long-nosed goblin
weeps or laughs
— Shiki
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"White seems to be popular with seashell creatures. It must be the calcium. However, this needs researched." - anon
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white shells
on a beach below
the waves
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in a sunset wood,
lighting up and darkening-
Autumn at the gate
THOUGHT FOR THE MOMENT
KIREJI - Japanese Haiku Cutting Words
Many haiku lovers are somewhat perplexed when
certain terms pop up with regard to haiku form ...
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boom!
cutting through the problem of existence-
a pheasant explodes
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"As an artist, to apply the Rule of Thirds, you divide your image into nine equal parts using two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. Then you use the intersecting points to focus your most important visual elements to them. The result is your composition displays with greater tension, energy, and interest." - Barney Davey
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toasted barley
spread with dawn's mist-
sunlight to go
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"Standalone hokku is an option for scribes who are unhappy about the western mess of haiku. This is a solution I may well get into. Then, from that Pure Land, we may stand on the shoulders of giants watching safely as Rome burns and demons rage against the machine." - jp
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Noam Chomsky,
what does he know
little flower?
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did you enjoy
that Starship Troopers movie,
summer fly?
—
"It is the BEST SITE I have come across for selling artwork. I have never had a
problem with them and sell more here then all other similar sites combined."
http://tinyurl.com/Yasujiro-Ozu
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