A Blog of Bosh

Ken Nordine
Nordine’s topics range far and wide. The opening track, “As of Now,” is based on the writings of the second century Roman philosopher and emperor Marcus Aurelius. In “The Akond of Swat,” he blasts away at the world of a Middle Eastern despot by utilizing the text of the pioneering 19th-century nonsense writer Edward Lear.
[Nothing else on Lear, but his arrangement of “The Akond of Swat” is so good, actually the best of a Lear poem I have ever heard, that he deserves mention here. Thanks to Julie Rybicki for the link.]
Salon (July 11, 2001)

Lear, il nonsense fatto re
Lear non solo reinventò il “nonsense verse”, seppe anche illustrarlo con i suoi disegni tanto apparentemente primitivi quanto espressivi. Vero e proprio fotogramma a matita dei grotteschi e patetici personaggi che popolano un universo terribilmente vittoriano di follia e falsa innocenza.
KataLibri

Edward, the Owl & the Calico Cat: Winking & Nudging by the Light of the Silvery Moon
In Edward, the Owl & the Calico Cat, Cicchini pays homage and close attention to the author [EL], winking and nudging through this tale of Edward, the lonely boy whose social skills alienate the only true flesh-and-blood friend he has, his cat.
The Austin Chronicle Arts: Exhibitionism

Stuff and Nonsense at White Flint Mall
JUMBLIES MAY live in lands “far and few” — but kids can see them this summer in Bethesda. Straight out of Edward Lear’s whimsical verse, these colorful characters are now singing, dancing and sailing in a sieve at BAPA’s Imagination Stage, a children’s theater at White Flint.
washingtonpost.com, July 19, 2002

The Earl & the Pussycat, exhibition at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool
Edward Smith Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby (1775-1851) was one of the most prominent natural historians of his day. �The Earl & the Pussycat� exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of the death of this remarkable man, whose outstanding zoological collections founded Liverpool Museum.
[In this page you can see a very small reproduction of Holman Hunt’s portrait of EL.]
the Walker – National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside

Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussy-cat
From Lloyd Schwartz’s Introduction: ‘In Lear’s best-loved poem, “The Owl and the Pussy-cat,” the logic underlying the fantasy is an emotional trueness.’
This regular column in the online version of the Atlantic Monthly presents an introduction to a poem with readings in RealAudio; in this case the readers are Gail Mazur, Lloyd Schwartz, and Richard Wilbur.
Atlantic Unbound | Soundings | 2002.05.30