The Association of British and American Writers: 2007

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

American Beauty!

In the words of Pele, if football is "the beautiful game" and the world's game, there is nothing more beautiful to an American than American football!

Ann Arbor was a pretty college town. Lots of ice cream places and book shops! We went to the football game, which was Americna in the extreme - a brass band, cheerleaders, and 105,000 people. Apparently it was the most attended game of the whole season, and the stadium is the biggest in America. So I got the full experience!

The sky was blue, and I really felt I was at the ends of the earth, watching this game that means so much in America (and so little everywhere else)! Before the game we "tailgated" which basically means opening the back of the "truck" and sitting around drinking "Coors Light" from 9AM until the game at 12PM. That was a bit strange, especially as it took place on a golf course where people were playing "Bocce" - the American name for boules - on the grass!

Michigan football colours are yellow and blue just like both my college and grad school colours, strangely enough. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford is yellow and blue, and George Washington University proudly hails what it calls "the buff and the blue"!

Go figure!

American Beauty!

In the words of Pele, if football is "the beautiful game" and the world's game, there is nothing more beautiful to an American than American football!

Go figure!

Some Corner of A Foreign Field That Is For Ever England

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of England's, breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Some Corner of A Foreign Field That Is For Ever England

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field

That is for ever England. There shall be

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,

A body of England's, breathing English air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

American Chess Master - of New Orleans

Meet Paul Morphy at www.mattfullerty.com, the last unofficial chess world champion (1837-1884). He links Europe and America as a Creole (of French and Spanish descent) born into New Orleans wealth - which he squandered in London and Paris defeating the world's great chess masters!

To learn his story and meet his amazing opponents, from a General in the American Army to a British Shakespeare scholar, also see www.paulmorphychess.com

The story of Paul Morphy is one of rise and fall, the success of a grand talent and his descent into obsession! Welcome to the precarious floating city of New Orleans!