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35. September 12, 2001 (with Samuel Barber's Adagio)
by Ray Anderson
27 days ago
34. from Sonnets from the Tagalog (with China Nights)
by Ray Anderson
1 month ago
33. Africa Speaks (for Miriam Makeba)
by Ray Anderson
2 months ago
32. Weather Report, 1968 (and Suzanne sung by Francoise Hardy)
by Ray Anderson
2 months ago
31. The Eye of the Storm (and La Mer by Nine Inch Nails)
by Ray Anderson
3 months ago
30. A September Song (and John Coltrane's After the Rain)
by Ray Anderson
3 months ago
29. SUBTITLE (a poem by Weldon Kees)
by Ray Anderson
3 months ago
28. The Anchor Breaks Out
by Ray Anderson
4 months ago
27. On a Chinese Picture (with pipa by Zhong Hong Yan)
by Ray Anderson
4 months ago
26. America the Beautiful
by Ray Anderson
4 months ago
25. The Angel of History
by Ray Anderson
4 months ago
24. "Variation," a poem by Garcia Lorca, with Cacho Ti…
by Ray Anderson
4 months ago
23. Mr. Robinson Gets a Promotion (with Hit the Road J…
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
22. Happy Birthday, 1968
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
21. VANITY FAIR #3: Jenny and I (with a pipa solo by Z…
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
20. VANITY FAIR #2: Joseph and I (with Akiko Yano)
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
19. VANITY FAIR #1: Liz and I (with Dulce Pontes)
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
18. A Rose Was a Rose Was a Rose
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
17. For Robert Desnos (with Samuel Barber)
by Ray Anderson
5 months ago
16. The Colonel (Carolyn Forché and nature morte)
by Ray Anderson
6 months ago
15. Pictures at an Exhibition (Tom Traubert's Blues)
by Ray Anderson
6 months ago
14. On a Drive to Williamstown (for Chabelita)
by Ray Anderson
6 months ago
13. Beckett Comics II (and Keith Jarrett)
by Ray Anderson
7 months ago
12. The Country Between
by Ray Anderson
7 months ago
11. Ampersands (Song by Eva Cassidy)
by Ray Anderson
8 months ago
10. Falling Man (A Poem and a Photograph)
by Ray Anderson
8 months ago
9. Boxes for Joseph Cornell
by Ray Anderson
8 months ago
I was reading W. G. Sebald's "On the Natural History of Destruction" for the third or fourth time--it should be required reading for everyone on earth--and was devastated as always when I got to where he quotes Walter Benjamin's words about the angel of history. As ineffectual as I know such gestures to be, I began to put together this clip in my head. For those of you who know Kubrick's Strangelove, you'll be annoyed or amused that I quote him. For those who don't, I urge you to watch the film immediately.
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  • Elizabeth Pickett 4 months ago
    Om my god Ray, this is gut-wrenching, moving, powerful. This is a juxtaposition of words and images that has great impact. Will you consider posting this on YouTube so that I can post it on my blog?

    Curious thing. I've been thinking about Benjamin's "Angel of History" for several months now as well as having arguments with a few people about the "necessity" to drop the A-bomb. The mushroom cloud surely haunts the lives of those who remember it falling or who grew up in its shadow. Sometimes I think that this generation has forgotten or just never knew. And that is a dangerous thing.

    You might be interested in this review of a documentary on WWII in which the reviewer mentions that Angelus Novus:

    thesmartset.com/article/article07180802.aspx
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  • Ray Anderson 4 months ago
    No surprise that Benjamin's Angel has been on your mind, Elizabeth. Once the power of that image gets into your head, nothing but the second coming will dislodge it. And I'm sure you know by now what a pleasure it is for me to count on your understanding.

    As an alternative to YouTube--the quality there is abysmal--how about just posting the address of this clip

    vimeo.com/1679542

    together with the image I posted and that you can copy from

    mediafire.com/?sharekey=215e42340d6892669530b2cec6528a96d5d 3426a5d68f3a6
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  • Elizabeth Pickett 4 months ago
    Thanks for going to this trouble to help me post, Ray. I should have mentioned that my blog server is VERY basic and can't manage code from any site other than YouTube. But I agree, the quality at the Tube is, as you say, abysmal.
  • Ray Anderson 4 months ago
    It's now on YT, Elizabeth, and of course I'll be honored if you put it on your blog.
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  • James Tate 2 months ago
    I saw this when Ray first posted it on his own page. Reminds me of three movies that still haunt me - Dr Strangelove, On the Beach and The Bedford Incident - they all scared the bejabbers out of me. It is important that horrific acts should be remembered and not buried in the sand, but they can only be remembered by the generation that experienced them. There is no way that I could describe the tension of living through the Cold War or how close we came during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the same way as my Grandfather could not adequately describe the horror of the trenches at the Somme.
  • Ray Anderson 2 months ago
    I just saw your comment today, James, and I never miss a chance to see what you have to say--there are some folks you just say uh-hunh to and others you pay attention to. I pay attention to you. Maybe for no good reason, your words reminded me of some of Don McLean's: "They would not listen, they're not listening still. Perhaps they never will..."
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  • James Tate 2 months ago
    Yes, and...I know we're off-subject...but I keep revisiting Olaf Stapledon's 'Last and First Men' and pondering on his prophetic-like writing.
    Hah! Enough of this moribund clap-trap. Let's get back to some good old poetic video art.
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