‘Essays’ Archives
The Strange Peasant, Invisible Authors, and Spiritual Music
Eusapia Palladino during a seance A chapter from The Mystics The history of the occult contains a considerable gallery of materializations by mediums, and among the most discussed in all records of spiritualism was Eusapia Palladino, who was born January 21, 1854. The event occurred in the Italian town of Bari on the Adriatic, and her actual [...]
My Calderon Years, Part 2
I became an expert leather cutter, which is a very desirable thing to know. I developed into as good a cutter as the workers who had been working for the company for 20 years. I learned to operate the splitter, which reduces the thickness of the leather, and the paring machine for thinning the edges for turning. Between Louie and Morris, I was [...]
Kino Otok – Isola Cinema Festival
Isola Will Slovenian Cinematography Survive? To understand the film industry of a country, it requires defining certain concepts of nation and statehood, and placing them in a context which is historical, political, and geographical. It also requires knowledge of history and cinema history in much wider sense. For the last ten years, film [...]
Perceptions of New York
Like it or not, New York is in our ether. Many songs, plays, books, and films perpetuate the allure of New York. I recently visited Manhattan to explore its mystique and not spend too much on accommodation. Before travelling I decided it would be wise to know which of the three airports I was going to arrive at: John F. Kennedy, La Guardia, or [...]
My Brother, Cyril
(1951-1981) In the early part of an evening of our lives, my brother and I felt like we were trapped in a net made of glue. New Orleans humidity was the same as the temperature: ninety. After we drank some cheap wine, I noticed he had drifted off to sleep with ashes hanging from fifty percent of his cigarette. The breeze coming from the window [...]
Down Home: Earl’s Barbershop
I went strolling down memory lane recently, sopping up memories like a warm biscuit in pot liquor. This part of the lane is in the town where I grew up, a small southern town near Dallas, not unlike Mayberry, North Carolina. I suspect there were a few housewives — though I didn’t know any — who washed their fine china and [...]
Out of Kentucky
My grandmother raised five kids herself. My mother is the little girl on the left, and she is the only one left living from this photo. My grandmother is the one seated in the chair. The little girl on the right is my aunt, who passed away a few years ago. The little boy is my uncle, who was killed by a train many years ago. My mother says [...]
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 [...]
Sardinian Sunshine: The Most Undiscovered Part of Italy
Omu Axiu I’m at the Convent of San Giuseppe, devouring a sinfully delicious [...]
Two 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 [...]
