Four years ago I wrote here about watching for the first time the great Italian film Umberto D. I wrote then that it was a “sad but powerful film” about the relationship between a sick, elderly man and his dog, Flike. I think I’ve watched it at least once more between then and now. The relationship between Umberto and Flike comes to symbolise … well, you should watch it yourself to find out. Here’s an extract.
Website of the Week
One of the joys of living in Hastings is that it is home to Sambalanco who describe themselves as community band playing Afro-Brazilian carnival rhythms. They are a frequent sight and sound around town, particularly during the three main street festivals in the year: Jack in the Green, Carnival Week (which lasts 10 days) and the Bonfire Parade. Their music is infectious and joyful. Play it loud!
Do You Want Staph with That?
One reason why the Grumpy Vegan doesn’t eat meat, eggs and dairy is because it’s diseased animal corpses and poisoned animal secretions. So, it’s nice to read that my gut reaction, so to speak, is supported by scientific research. The study, published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, noted that the DNA testing of the meat samples suggest that the animals were the major source of contamination. No shit, Sherlock. As the Science Daily Web site reported,
Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published April 15 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Website of the Week
Of all the many gay-themed Web sites out there, this one, Woolf and Wilde, is one of the Grumpy Vegan’s all-time favourites.
Obviously named in honour of two literary icons, Woolf and Wilde bring together photographs depicting intimacy between men sometime ago with poetry which adds intense meaning and fresh insight.
Were these two men wrestling in the countryside lovers? Indeed, are they wrestling at all? The poem suggests that they maybe but we will never know. Which is fine by the Grumpy Vegan. Because the look between them and the body language suggests intimacy between men which, if it were more prevalent today, would surely help to dissolve all that stupid, silly macho nonsense we all have to put up with for no good reason.
You are a murderer
No you are not, but really a wrestler
Either way it’s just the same
For from the ring of your entangled body
Clean as leather, lustful as a lily
Will nail me down
On your stout neck like a column, like a pillar of tendons
The thoughtful forehead
(In fact, it’s thinking nothing)
When the forehead slowly moves and closes the heavy eyelids
Inside, a dark forest awakens
A forest of red parrots
Seven almonds and grape leaves
At the end of the forest a vine
Covers the house where two boys
Lie in each others arms: I’m one of them, you the other
In the house, melancholy and terrible anxiety
Outside the keyhole, a sunset
Dyed with the blood of the beautiful bullfighter Escamillo
Scorched by the sunset, headlong, headfirst
Falling, falling, a gymnast
If you’re going to open your eyes, nows the time, wrestler
Image: unknown
Text: Sleeping Wrestler by Mutsuo Takahashi from Poems of a Penisist, 1975, translated by Hiroaki Sato
A New Vegan Website ….
What would you like to see included in a new Website on vegan living? This is a vegan Web site which is aimed as much for vegans as it is for non-vegans who want to know how to cook and care for vegans. Please email me, Kim Stallwood, with your thoughts, comments, recommendations and ideas at kim@kimstallwood.com.
