Bourne free

Quote of the day—of the year?—from Dizzyhead Thomas:

"Did you think 'And it will take me anywhere' seemed too hackneyed? I am obsessed to accelerate and simplify every phrase I set down."

—Marianne Moore, in a letter to Elizabeth Bishop

These days I am obsessed not only with filtering out cliché ("filtering out cliché"—that's not bad, not cliché!) but also splitting apart any too-cosy adverb-verb or adverb-adjective combos. Where does it end? What is the point?

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Dizzyhead Benno's reviewing films over at L Magazine—check out his take on The Bourne Ultimatum. This line cracked me up: "Not to get all André Bazin on [director Paul Grengrass's] ass, but since when is editing a film to within an inch of its life considered the summit of mimesis?"

(Which reminds me, the headline for this fascinating piece on the Robert Ludlum thriller-writing franchise should have been "Bourne Again"!)

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Molls asks: "What global not-for-profit will I find petty fault with tomorrow? Come back and see!"

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UPDATE: Dizzyhead Alex on "Poetry in Motion."

Dizzies Newsfeeds™ for Sunday

In the Times, we read about the mapinguary, a mythical creature of Brazil:

In some areas, the creature is said to have two eyes, while in other accounts it has only one, like the Cyclops of Greek mythology. Some tell of a gaping, stinking mouth in the monster’s belly through which it consumes humans unfortunate enough to cross its path.

But all accounts agree that the creature is tall, seven feet or more when it stands on two legs, that it emits a strong, extremely disagreeable odor, and that it has thick, matted fur, which covers a carapace that makes it all but impervious to bullets and arrows.

“The only way you can kill a mapinguary is by shooting at its head,” said Domingos Parintintin, a tribal leader in Amazonas State. “But that is hard to do because it has the power to make you dizzy and turn day into night. So the best thing to do if you see one is climb a tree and hide.”

Possible new Dizzies mascot? Artists, please send your renderings of the mapinguary to thedizziesATgmailDOTcom!

Other news....At The Fanzine, Ben Strong writes about non-doped cyclist Greg LeMond: "He knows that his “clean” achievements, which once appeared superhuman, now look mortal."....The Guardian has some nice words about Nick Hornby's jumbo Polysyllabic Spree book....Levi at I've Been Reading Lately has the best possible Lloyd Alexander obit (see also the comments in our previous post—and vote for your favorite children's fantasy series!)....Five-string serenade: Wonderful Paul Collins post on John Philip Sousa's literary output....Dennis on Danny Boyle and Sunshine.....Now I need to sit down and read stuff—maybe here?


(Image via Boing Boing.)