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Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:43:54 -0700

ritual reconstruction
shikinen sengu

Every twenty years "Shikinen Sengu Ceremony" takes place and it's in the middle of the 62nd ceremony of the Japanese Imperial family: people of Ise transport wood for new sanctuary via Isuzu River. Flickr

The town of Ise has been the home of the Jingu for over 2000 years. The Jingu is the most honored of the 100,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. The town of Ise, the spiritual heart of Japan, is considered synonymous with the word Jingu. As an old Japanese folk song goes, "Let me go to Ise, I want to see Ise once in my lifetime." This is the dream of the average Japanese. In contrast to the pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrine, where people go there to pray for "reincarnation," the pilgrimage to Ise is one of "thanksgiving," to thank the kami (gods) for the gift of life itself. For the average Japanese, visiting Ise Jingu is a once-in-a-lifetime luxury and very enjoyable. According to records, approximately 5 million people visited Ise during the first half of the "Year of the Thanksgiving" of the Bunsei era (Yedo period ) (A.D.1830). Considering the population of Japan at that time, only 30 million, this number is very high. For centuries, the people of Ise have been hosts to many pilgrims. They take pride in their city, which they consider as being unique. In their deep faith, they feel indebted to "O-Ise-san" for doing so much for them. They would do anything for their "O-Ise-san."

The Jingu is rebuilt every 20 years. This ceremony is called the Shikinensenngu. All the shrines in the Jingu, including the Goshoden, are rebuilt. In other words, the gods can live comfortably in newly built shrines at a cycle of 20 years. This ceremony is the house-moving of the gods.

Adjacent to the present Goshoden is an open area of the same size. The new Goshoden will be built in this open area. The thinking behind the reconstruction is; just as the rice crops retain their form year after year, the buildings will retain their form eternally by reconstruction. Also, the faithful can expect new blessings from the revitalized gods in their new quarters.

Various theories exist on why the Ise shrine is rebuilt every 20 years. Whichever may be the case, it is rebuilt within a suitable time span in a persons life. Source

The inner sanctum is hidden except from select priests and the Emperor. The main building and inner sanctums of the Inner and Outer shrines are closed to the public, as they are considered to be very holy places. Only the top halves of the buildings can be seen over the gates. Flickr

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/24736833/

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:59:56 -0700

ben jonson
de vita humana

I have considered our whole life is like a play: wherein every man forgetful of himself, is in travail with expression of another. Nay, we so insist in imitating others, as we cannot when it is necessary return to ourselves; like children, that imitate the vices of stammerers so long, till at last they become such; and make the habit to another nature, as it is never forgotten.

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/23521615/

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:06:22 -0700

The quotation carved in the slab of limestone beside the grave is the first two lines, in Irish, of a famous poem by Raftery:

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/22695364/

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:12:50 -0700

cork
shandon street carnival

I live in Shandon, at the heart of the old section of Cork city. Today in the streets around here, they're celebrating the second Shandon street carnival, or at least they would be if the rain and wind would let them.

I spotted the first of these scenes through my window as I went about my business inside, and couldn't resist snapping it. (Yes, I know I should clean my windows more often!) The second was taken at the door about thirty minutes later. You can see what unmitigated joy breaks out when the rain briefly abates. Punch and Judy are hard at it under the arch opposite, the stilt-man shouts encouragement and the balloon-man seems ready to start weeping. All the while the Shandon Brass and Reed Band regale us with a rousing version of "New York, New York" from the Butter Exchange. - Hapax

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/21983361/

Fri, 30 May 2008 01:37:35 -0700

lecture on sir thomas urquhart
unconvention
continued

[inhale] Erm so what's happening here? [inhale] Urquhart is taking a reasonably simple, reasonably straightforward, geometrical theorem, and he's elaborating it to the point of absurdity, and, if [laugh], either he's mad, and that has been put forward as a proposition, [laugh] [audience laugh] or he's doing it on purpose as a joke. It's a [laugh] joke with a very limited audience. [laugh] And he has a whole book like this. So the entire book, goes on like this. [inhale] You can see the "Trissotetras", the joke trigonometry book - it's called the "Trissotetras" - as a parody of the continental style of prose writing. You have here, the kind of things that we were talking about last week. You have the long periodic sentences, built up of subordinate clauses, parentheses, embedded phrases, almost to infinity. So he's parodying the style of trigonometry books. [someone in audience sneezes] Or he seems to be parodying the style of trigonometry books; with Urquhart you're never quite sure. Certainly, as with many parodies, Urquhart seems in love with the object of his parody. There's an infectious energy to the wilful obscurity of this joke geometry treatise. [inhale] The obscure Greek terms, the technical neologisms, the new words, give the treatise the attraction, to me at least, of nonsense poetry; it's like reading "Jabberwocky" or something. And it might be argued, that a Scot, writing in English, still at the time for Urquhart a foreign dialect, if not a foreign language, is more likely to accentuate the foreignness of his written medium, er, he's writing in effectively what is a foreign variety for him. [inhale] It's a strategy used much later in prose by James Joyce in "Finnegan's Wake", and in poetry by Hugh MacDiarmid, the later poems in synthetic English, like "On a raised beach" for example, and Urquhart's English, like the English of many Scottish and Irish writers, is artificial, it's constructed, it's never straightforward. But it's a weird way to enter literary life; a joke trigonometry book. Anyway, that's how he starts. . . .

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/16996248/

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:59:05 -0800

make your tuesday super
book-launch

Tuesday, February 5th, 7 p.m.

Callanan's Bar
George's Quay
Cork

across river from Holy Trinity Church, cross Parliament Bridge from South Mall

free stout courtesy of beamish

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/12368973/

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:56:50 -0700

temporarily sticky
going awol

There won't be much activity on this page for the month of September, and there'll be scarcely any at all, I expect, during October, as I'll be touting my wares at readings in LA, Venice, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Ohio, Providence, Boston and Toronto, give or take a few venues. This is where I start.

Wish me luck!

+

Update (Nov 1st): survived the experience and returned in one piece . . .
Thanks to all for the good wishes!

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/12279264/

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:12:12 -0700

bo diddley
who do you love?

I've just heard reports that Bo Diddley is stable in hospital, having suffered a heart-attack. A long-time survivor. May he continue . . . - Hapax

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/12228559/

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:52:49 -0700

docklands before development
port of cork

The docklands area of Cork is imminently due for "development" as a terrain of glass, concrete and steel. I rambled down that way last night, along the north bank of the estuary, to record some of what will soon either be gone or transformed beyond recognition. - Hapax

http://Hapax.stumbleupon.com/review/11724895/

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:25 -0700

castletownshend
stratified textures

Last night I drove about sixty miles west from Cork city to the small town of Castletownshend.

Before entering the town we stopped the car and climbed a hill, getting thorougly soaked by a heavy drizzle that hung on the gorse and heather underfoot.

This is what we climbed to see. At the top of the hill, and overlooking the lake below (we couldn't see the ocean because of the low cloud) was an ancient ring-fort, dating from somewhere between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D.

Inside the fort was a standing stone, showing a carved cross at the head, which dated the carving to the fifth century or later. There was also a souterrain, but it wasn't feeling photogenic.

Across the valley was another hill, on which were three tall standing stones. I'm told the tallest is about twenty feet high, and over two thousand years old. They're sometimes known as "The Giant's Fingers".

We drove on from there to the point of our journey: a concert by the Cork-based early music consort Beyond The Pale (Marja Tuhkanen, Ilse de Ziah and James Taylor). The concert was held in the local Protestant church, where Somerville and Ross attended services in the 19th century.

And then to the pub for conversation and just a single hot whiskey to ease my rasping chest-cold. Home about 2 a.m., and happy out (as the natives of Cork put it).