PicoBlog

PopPoetry is a regular poetry and pop culture Substack written by Caitlin Cowan. You can learn more about it here. Tell your friends! Gin ye like whit ye read an want it i yer inbox, subscribe so ye won’t miss a post. Ron Swanson, no-bullshit king of NBC’s beloved Parks & Recreation, is a man’s man. Or rather, a caricature of a man’s man. Or rather still, a caricature of what a man’s man could be: someone who knows his own mind, lives simply, distrusts the new and shiny, and has a heart as big as a sailing ship.

Ronee Blakley wasn’t exactly an unknown when Robert Altman asked her to play the part of country singer Barbara Jean in his 1975 film Nashville, but she certainly wasn’t on most people’s radar for her film work. Before taking on the role that won her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, she was predominantly known for her acclaimed self-titled 1972 album on Elektra Records. In the wake of Nashville, however, Blakley began to split her time between music and acting, bouncing between touring with Bob Dylan as part of his Rolling Thunder Revue and making films with the likes of Larry Cohen (The Private Files Of J.

Dearest Dorothy,  I have just arrived in the Ganges. After a wretchedly impatient journey, I met Lord Canning this afternoon and have settled into the landscape rather nicely. A vibrant country! Despite the colossal geographic divide between us, I do wish you settle into Rookwood swiftly. Never hesitate to pen me should you have the slightest concern.  Your devoted uncle,  Captain Wallingford Rookwood 15 June, 1857.  The letter remained on Dorothy’s person, crumpled from weeks of nervous folding and apprehensive rereading.

A few days after reading Natalie’s article below, after she’d sent it through to me, the latest episode of The Emerald podcast by Joshua Michael Schrei came out. Here’s an extract: “The Western world has long warned against the dangers of anthropomorphism. …But looking at the world today, a world of dead, disposable objects, discarded with no afterthought, a world in which economists will tell you that a forest is only of value once it’s cut, in which school kids can’t name five varieties of plants that live in their own backyard, in which our assumed right is to pillage the mountain and the watershed and the fragile desert without conscience, I say that not anthropomorphising is the far greater danger.

No female star of the classic Hollywood era made a stronger feminist impression than Rosalind Russell, who was noted in the 1940s for a series of “boss lady” films like Take a Letter, Darling (1942) in which she was very in charge and swaggered around and treated men as sex objects and hired help. Both Russell and Katharine Hepburn made movies about female achievement in this time that were so specialized that they feel like fantasies for women, but they both offered images that led the way to these fantasies becoming a reality because they were so obviously capable of handling CEO positions of authority.

Rossville is located on the southwestern shore of Staten Island, land originally inhabited by the Raritans, a branch of the Lenape tribe. By 1683, the British, having taken control of Manhattan from the Dutch, started settling the area, which was then known as Smoking Point. Not long after, the town's name was changed to Blazing Star, the name of a local tavern. At the height of the Revolutionary War, Staten Island's roughly 3,000 inhabitants were largely pro-Tory, influenced, no doubt, by the nearly 32,000 newly arrived British troops.

Throughout the first 17 games for the Royals, it’s a little odd to me that Seth Lugo has been the starter who has been the one to stand out the least. And yet, after seven shutout innings against the White Sox last night, Lugo now leads the team in innings pitched, wins and ERA. You can argue the importance of some of these stats, and I would even agree with you, but to start a season with a 3-0 record and a 1.

We are now 21.6 percent of the way through the 2024 season and the Kansas City Royals are on pace for 92 or 93 wins. By any measure, the start of this season, with a seemingly grueling schedule at the outset has been a success. And yet, they seem to be falling just short of beating the teams that are among baseball’s best. They’ve lost two of three twice to the Orioles with a run differential of -2.

I’m backing Ruben Amorim as the next Chelsea manager. My next choice would be a coaching duo of Xavi and Cesc Fabregas. None of the other names linked really appeal to me. Amorim to me makes sense largely for his persona, his experience (albeit in a poorer league), his record and achievements, the fact he’s been co-signed by our best ever manager Jose Mourinho, and the fact that I think a back three would suit our defence and our attack.