588 Excellently Read Poems

October 4th, 2009, 1 Comment »

The other day I was searching for the correct phrasing of a poem, and happened upon the SpokenVerse YouTube account. It features nearly 600 poems read aloud in a unadorned, gruff English voice. Here are a couple of poems you may be familiar with:

The video preview frame for the third poem, Michael Ondaatje’s “The Cinnamon Peeler”, features an exposed if tastefully photographed nipple. It’s otherwise safe for work, but I figured I’d better err on the side of caution.

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Ladies and Gentlemen… Leonard Cohen

April 8th, 2009, No Comments »

The legendary Leonard Cohen is, as you probably know, on tour. He comes to Vancouver on April 19. Today the National Film Board blog features a 45-minute documentary on Cohen from 1965. I haven’t watched much of it yet, but it begins with a charming, funny monologue and, a little later on, has some great insights into the secret joys of hotel rooms:

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