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wanderlight January 21 2007, 18:59:38 UTC
The constructive criticism bit, of which there is nothing except nit-pickiness:

They’re viruses: and so they strike their greatest foe. (McAfree’s next).

Did you possibly been "McAfee's"? That's a virus-protection software that I've heard of.

That ‘braaaaaaains the most downloaded ringtone

*tilts head* Unless I misread the meaning of that line entirely, there should probably be an end quote & an "is" somewhere in the middle there...

The slavish praise bit: why are you so cool? This is one of the best poems I've read lately -- not that I read much poetry, but -- and it's going straight into my memories. It's just... it has insight, it's fun, it's incredibly clever. I liked this line particularly: Like they’re the bastard sons of Victor ‘Bill Gates’ Frankenstein. ... And the ending. And that bit about the internets. Well, anyway, you get the idea.

Neil Gaiman's "The Day the Saucers Came" is possibly one of the best poems ever written. Only Neil could take such a trite topic and make it... well, what he makes it.

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anthon1 January 21 2007, 20:13:40 UTC
The constructive criticism bit, of which there is nothing except nit-pickiness:

Nit-pickiness is good. :D

Did you possibly been "McAfee's"? That's a virus-protection software that I've heard of.

Gah, yes, fixed. :D We have Norton at home, which didn't have the right number of stresses to feel right. :P Will fix. :D

*tilts head* Unless I misread the meaning of that line entirely, there should probably be an end quote & an "is" somewhere in the middle there...

Yeah, there should be - it was originally meant to be:

...and today it’s been announced
That ‘braaaaaaains the most downloaded ringtone'
Across seven networks.

I didn't stick the 'is' in because it didn't quite scan properly - but then again, does it manke any sense if with it missing?

The slavish praise bit: why are you so cool? This is one of the best poems I've read lately -- not that I read much poetry, but -- and it's going straight into my memories. It's just... it has insight, it's fun, it's incredibly clever. I liked this line particularly: Like they’re ( ... )

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wanderlight January 21 2007, 22:05:40 UTC
I didn't stick the 'is' in because it didn't quite scan properly - but then again, does it manke any sense if with it missing?

Yeah -- I figured it out, so readers should be able to grasp the meaning, I think.

This sort of addresses one of your paragraphs, sort-of not. Anyway, I used to be a poem traditionalist -- I thought free-verse was crap, it had to rhyme or I wouldn't look at it, that sort of thing. But I've realised that poetry's not so much about the rhyme and the metre as it is about the words, interesting ways to make the words fit together and use them and -- well, you get the idea. And this sort of poem embodies it. :D

That is a very, very good way to look at a lot of Neil Gaiman's stuff, I think -- it draws from a lot of Serious things accepted in literary canon, but behind it, you always get the idea that Neil's smirking at us, daring us to take him seriously so that he can laugh. Um, I don't know if that made any sense.

Eee, I love the "subtext". ;) You just use it the way you'd use an italics or bold tag, but ( ... )

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anthon1 January 22 2007, 16:12:26 UTC
Yeah -- I figured it out, so readers should be able to grasp the meaning, I think.

:)

This sort of addresses one of your paragraphs, sort-of not. Anyway, I used to be a poem traditionalist -- I thought free-verse was crap, it had to rhyme or I wouldn't look at it, that sort of thing. But I've realised that poetry's not so much about the rhyme and the metre as it is about the words, interesting ways to make the words fit together and use them and -- well, you get the idea. And this sort of poem embodies it. :D

The funny thing is, I'd love to write in proper verse forms, or to be able to; but things never really seem to fit. There's alway one too many syllables or stresses, and I can never, ever get the rhyme to work properly with the metre. (I am really jealous of purplefringe's ability to do this with sonnets, because I reall want to write a sonnet). TghnoWOSPTWWWWCoOts75hojTbct(oesb) was, very originally, going to be in iambic pentameter, because recently everything has tried to be in iambic pentameter; but then I realised that 'persistant ( ... )

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wanderlight January 23 2007, 17:03:30 UTC
Yeah, I still tend to write poetry with rhyme or at least a little bit of rhythm; I don't really -- think about it, though. I suppose that's just what comes naturally? Metre is a difficult thing; what I don't like about it is how it sometimes limits meaning.

And he enjoys it; and so do we; and that, at the wend of the day, is really what matters...

Again, YES. I like some classical stuff and "literature", but I don't like the stigma (stigmata? I can never remember the difference) of pretension attached to it. His stuff is often clever, but it's not the "I'm smarter than you" kind of clever, it's the "I'm sitting at my desk laughing right along with you" kind.

You're very welcome. It is fun to use. :DD

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anthon1 January 23 2007, 18:22:04 UTC
Yeah, I still tend to write poetry with rhyme or at least a little bit of rhythm; I don't really -- think about it, though. I suppose that's just what comes naturally? Metre is a difficult thing; what I don't like about it is how it sometimes limits meaning.*nods* There's a poem that I tried to write with rhyme and metre, and sort of succeeded with, except for the fact that currently it's still languishing half-finished on my hard-drive, which upsets me greatly because I really rather like it. (What upsets me more is that I've almost entirely forgotten the line at the end about broken drinks machines that dispense mead, kiddush wine and embalming fluid and has a notice scrawled in several languages, including heirogliphics, jabberwock and several whose names are entirely unpronouncable without intensive surgery and a small tambourine that reads: 'This machine does not accept leprechaun gold. The Management apologises for any inconvenience.') I've bludgeoned what ids written into iambic pentametre and a very basic rhyme scheme, but it ( ... )

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wanderlight January 26 2007, 01:02:55 UTC
I suppose that my definition of "literature" matches the stereotypical one -- but the thing is, I don't take into consideration whether a book is "literature" when I'm deciding whether it's worth reading or not. The word basically has a connotation for me, but it's not really -- significant, I suppose you could say? Books, in my eyes, aren't meant to be literary; they're meant to be read, and they'yre meant to mean something to the reader, and that's what makes them worthwhile ( ... )

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anthon1 January 26 2007, 21:37:41 UTC
I suppose that my definition of "literature" matches the stereotypical one -- but the thing is, I don't take into consideration whether a book is "literature" when I'm deciding whether it's worth reading or not. The word basically has a connotation for me, but it's not really -- significant, I suppose you could say? Books, in my eyes, aren't meant to be literary; they're meant to be read, and they’re meant to mean something to the reader, and that's what makes them worthwhile.

*nods* I think the last thing's the one most important - something can be writen in a highly trechnically advanced way and be very clever and intelligent and yet not make any connection with its readers at all. Of course, it doesn't have to be well written to not do so, though...

Of course, I'm not as open-minded about it all as it sounds like I am, because if someone told me that s/he considered the Babysitter's Club books or some such the epitome of fine reading, well. I'd judge. :P But you get the idea.Hahahah, yes. :D You can get surprisingly good trash, ( ... )

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