The Palm Tree Goddess
The Palm Tree Goddess is a name I have given to what is known from antiquities as the Ephesian Artemis. Copies of this image show a standing goddess, well-dressed and adorned, with the peculiar characteristic of what is called multiple breasts: i.e., a quantity of oval objects hanging around the upper part of her body, as if she has not two but many breasts. The fact that each of these objects do not look particularly like a breast, and having no nipples, did not disturb the initiator of this appellation. Other scholars must have noticed this discrepancy and decided to call these objects...
Read MoreSardinian Sunshine: The Most Undiscovered Part of Italy
Omu Axiu I’m at the Convent of San Giuseppe, devouring a sinfully delicious meal, candlelight flickering upon castle-like marble and stone and beams. This is Sardinia, Italy, and today is my 50th birthday. It’s a luminous starry night in late April, and smells of simmering seafood, fresh bread, wine, garlic, and juniper...
Read MoreTwo Islands: England and Eel Pie Island
London in the early sixties; a backdrop of rhythm and blues music on a small island in the River Thames; some forgotten insights into those days. Anglers have fished along the banks of the River Thames since time immemorial. “Did yer catch anything?” is a common greeting to these surly folk. “Naw, not today. Had a few bites.” Nothing has changed with them ― neither their keep nets, fishing rods, Thermos flask of tea, gruff speech patterns nor the fish they seek: dace, perch, roach and eel. They dislike the latter because it tangles fishing line. For most anglers the...
Read MoreThe Last Taboo
We have been conditioned not to talk about it. We have had women’s liberation, sex revolution, workers’ revolution; we can talk about everything now — the toilet is the last taboo which must be broken. — Jack Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organisation In his In Praise of Shadows, Junichirō Tanizaki expounds upon the idea of a Japanese aesthetic sentiment grounded in the nimble shade, the gentle cool corner of the room, the buoyant play of faint shadows: the lightness of light. He laments the development and effect of rude electric lighting and considers phenomena such as the...
Read MoreMy Calderon Years
(Part one of a series) [Synopsis: After several months of scrambling around the New York fashion market in search of an opportunity, as recounted in his previous story “How I Broke Into New York Fashion,” Dean Borok finds employment at Calderon Bags and Belts as an assistant designer, over the heated objections of the company sales manager, Ernie Dornbusch.] It’s impossible to determine what music soothes the savage beast that resides in the heart of New York City, but in 1982 Madonna was perfecting her formula, singing for dollars at the Danceteria Club on West 21st Street....
Read MoreTennis Above the Net
A look at the sport of tennis, with its mannerism and perceptions. Writing about tennis is easy, but playing it well is difficult, and I know if I am too critical of the sport and its players, then I risk not playing very often, as nobody will want to play with me. But since this article does not offer advice on how to improve one’s tennis game, most tennis players are unlikely to read it. Tennis players are interested in only two things: how to improve their game, and their next game. We have all seen one of those 1930’s Agatha Christie plays or films that have 40-year-old couples...
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