The Songstone

I could give you a list of the cognitive associations that led me to choose these three clips, in this order, but I shan't: with thanks to John Wells : and from the 2nd Red Scare :

Occasionally a blog comes up that is so good that any comment is inadequate. One such is Tom Clark's , from whom I have learnt, among other things, about the works of Curzio Malaparte . This piece on Girls in the Wheatfields I found almost unbearably horrible. Phil Hall, long the enfant terrible of the Guardian's Poem of the Week , runs an entertaining blog called Donkeyshott and Xuitlacoche , and has been generous enough to supply this list of traditional Christmas carols . John Wells ran a very funny column a few days ago on Steve Bell's Geordie Royalty : "Ahse o' Windsor is too bleedin' poncey this day n' age" "Ah should fackin' coco!" Finally you will indulge me if I mention the beautiful and talented Marie-Claire at Thursday's Child : the diary of a ballerina. On Saturday I spent a few hours in a room full of nerdy fans at Reading Library for a celebration of the works of H.P Lovecraft . I found myself 25 years back in...

Language Log , which for some incomprehensible reason I had not thoroughly explored before now, is one of the most informative and funniest sites around; not only the articles, but the banter below. This article on an escaped chimp in Kansas City and this one  on leaf blowers are two recent examples. No one will be surprised to learn that I made a fool of myself on John Wells's phonetic blog by suggesting that /əʊ/ might exist in Italian. It doesn't of course, although I was pleased to learn on further reading that /ɔ:/ is higher in Milanese Italian than in the Standard variety, sounding much like /o/. Only 70% wrong then; a triumph. Redbubble is a lovely place for art and writing. So good in fact that I have honoured it by posting some of my verse there (under Simonmh). Another shameless plug: my Facebook writer's page is open to anyone who wants to give it a like, which as you've got this far you may as well; I promise not to...

Although readers of impeccable taste may justifiably feel that this blog offers all they need there are others out there. This is a brief glance at some of the things that have caught my eye recently. The hugely talented AZ Foreman   reads and translates poetry from almost every language under the sun, up to and for all I know including demotic Ket, and is always worth a look. Still with poetry the people over at Politely Homicidal   are always entertaining and often brilliant; the webmeister, Mish, is an amazing resource for all things art-related. John Wells's phonetic blog  I have mentioned before and will no doubt do so again. For anyone interested in the sounds of language (and what poet isn't?) a basic knowledge of phonetics is a sine qua non. John deals with queries from all over the world with clarity and firmly-held conviction; you may not always agree with him, but he'll always make you think. Megan Hesse at Sugary Cynicism often makes me laugh ...