Bloomsday

[Gilly Goodness]

HOW TO READ ULYSSES


Another great doco by an energetic, earnest chap. Benjamin McEvoy.






Read Homer. Read Hamlet he exhorts...


"The miniature of our lives become epic."

Learn Norwegian to read Ibsen in the original like Joyce did. Heheheeeehheee. Only jokin'.

https://youtu.be/d7neg72gv8c

He is a good communicator. Stresses to hear it read aloud. Amen.


Even Finegans Wake. Read by the man himself. You'll get the idea.

Joyce recorded readin' the Anna Livia Plurabelle section. https://youtu.be/grJC1yu4KRw

[Gilly Goodness]

100 HUNDRED YEARS YOUNG


This is a great doco. Well produced. Lots of insight from many people.

https://youtu.be/y12yhnkY0pg

BTW it all ends with the most positive word in the English language. Yes.

[Homemade Parachute]

If you've read it, you'll know why this is the greatest book cover ever.

[Grey Wolf]

Huh, I didn't know that about The Sensual World. Love the song and album.

[Olorin]

If I recall correctly, that’s the story as Kate told it in the liner notes of Director’s cut, her remake album which included Flower of the Mountain. It’s a pretty fabulous song in either version.

[Gilly Goodness]

Kate Bush did two songs based on Molly Bloom's soliloquy from Ulysses: The Sensual World, for which the Joyce estate refused permission to use the book's text as lyrics, so she slightly modified them; and its remake, Flower of the Mountain, for which the Estate granted permission. Both excellent versions of the same song; I go back and forth on which version I like better. For me it comes down to whether I prefer higher or deeper voiced Kate, vs. the difference in lyrics.

Was aware of this but never heard it fully. Wonderful Irish reel-like song. Been listenin' to various versions.

https://youtu.be/h1DDndY0FLI

[Homemade Parachute]

Let's not forget one of the greatest album covers of all time, The Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace with God, when it comes to Bloomsday… Anyways, enjoy your Tales from Topographic Joyceans, everyone!

[Olorin]

Kate Bush did two songs based on Molly Bloom's soliloquy from Ulysses: The Sensual World, for which the Joyce estate refused permission to use the book's text as lyrics, so she slightly modified them; and its remake, Flower of the Mountain, for which the Estate granted permission. Both excellent versions of the same song; I go back and forth on which version I like better. For me it comes down to whether I prefer higher or deeper voiced Kate, vs. the difference in lyrics.

[Gilly Goodness]

Indeed it is. June 16.






Many moons ago livin' in Georgian Hobart I read an article by Frank Devine that herealded Ulysses by James Joyce.
Describin' the universal appeal of the events on that fateful day. Chosen because it was the day, June 16 1904, Joyce
first went out walkin' and courtin' his future wife Nora Barnacle.

3 main characters, Leopold Bloom, Stephen Daedelus and Molly Bloom.
And a cast of hundreds they meet or see walkin' around Dublin. Based loosely on The Odyssey
by Homer, it is a comic and ribald examination of the human condition.

Employin' stream of consciousness narration that allows us completely to enter the minds of the characters.
Was revolutionary at the time. Noble thoughts jostle with grubby thoughts. Classic ideas jostle with slang and
jokes and music and ribaldry and secrets and hate and love. Bloom spends all day tryin' not to think of his wife
Molly begin an affair with Blazes Boylan, a fellow opera singer. He meets a feckless intellectual student, Stephen Daedelus,
lost and lonely and guides him along throughout the day. They attend a funeral, a birth, the library, the newsroom, pubs, restaurants, the beach, a brothel
etc

Just an ordinary day, really. Tis a tale of urban life. Greetin' friends. Avoidin' enemies. So inspired I went on to organise 2 Bloomsdays
in Hobart. Invitin' actors and musicians and a priest to read aloud from the book. Well attended. We drank Guinness.

Then in Sydney organised a couple more. The State Library was the main event with famous actors, politicians like ex- State Premier Bob Carr.

So no breakfast of fried mutton kidneys, faintly tastin' of urine. Pancakes with peanut butter and jam actually. Shall toast with Jamesons after dinner tonight.

Here is a radio interview I did to promote the event.

https://youtu.be/GGpeEU9vG3o