Photos from the Nebraska State Fair

My first experience with the Nebraska State Fair was two years ago. I was simultaneously fascinated and horrified by the "Beef Sundae" stand. Ew. However, I did like the pigs and the funnel cakes! And those geese that wear clothes!

The Journal Star's got a decent photo gallery of State Fair pictures.

Americana doesn't get any more American-y than this. Did you go to the State Fair, friends of PSR? Did you take pictures? Most importantly, are they good pictures, and will you submit them to PSR?

Trains on the Plains

The Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa, is my friend Blair's favorite museum. And who can blame him? This article in the Journal Star makes the Railroad Museum look like a lot of fun!

Curved walls flash archival photos from eight video projectors while audio tracks pipe the sounds of train bells, steam hissing from locomotives and random calls of "All aboard!"

Visitors can sit in period train seats installed in a simulated coach car. They can check out the UP-branded glassware used by railroad bartenders in lounge cars. And they can see real menus listing four-star meals prepared by the original iron chefs.

I wish trains were still like in the old days, like in Strangers on a Train, or in those murder mysteries you always see on AMC. Amtrak is somewhat less romantic.

Art matters at the Bemis Center in Omaha

There's a good article up on the Star City Blog about the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha. It sounds like they're doing a great job of supporting the arts up there!

An excerpt:

Bemis curator Hesse McGraw, who’s worked at galleries in New York City and Kansas City, Mo., said, “What distinguishes the Bemis Center from other arts institutions is that what drives it is the activity of artists and the work they're doing right now. We really try to think of it as a laboratory for artists. The residency program is focused on supporting an open process.”

McGraw, who curates shows in the center’s three main galleries, said, “The exhibition program tries to carry that sensibility through to the presentation of the work.” He said the Bemis encourages artists to do what they couldn't do in a different context or setting. “We really try to find ways of supporting them, whether curatorially, logistically, financially, to build-out projects significant in their career and in their practice.”

Check out the full article here. (P.S., the Star City Blog is one to watch if you want to keep an eye on the arts/literature scene in the Lincoln/Omaha area.)

Willa Cather's home at risk?

According to Slate magazine, many historical sites across the United States are at risk because of the small amount of government support they receive. This means the childhood homes of literary greats like Edith Wharton and Willa Cather could be shut down if they don't pull in enough. Slate tells you how to help here.

Do you ever go visit historical sites? Reading this article makes me want to take a trip to Red Cloud! (Plus, our 2010 interviewee Timothy Schaffert is working on a book about a writer-obsessed town like Red Cloud!)

Are you obsessed with the weather?

I have this theory that everyone in the Midwest is obsessed with the weather. After having lived in Nebraska for a few years, I have joined their number. It's just that weather here is so dramatic! It's either boiling hot or frigidly cold for a lot of the year. For Midwesterners, talking about the weather isn't a form of bland small talk; it's a life or death situation!

I check weather websites several times a day to keep track of the forecast. But lately I've been inspired to take my weather obsession to greater heights, by learning to forecast it myself! Okay, so I don't have the fancy schooling and stuff that real meteorologists have, but I do have this handy infograph that tells you how to predict the weather without gadgets!

So tell me, am I the only one who loves talking about the weather on the Great Plains?

Better Book Titles

Here's a chuckle for you this Friday afternoon: a new blog that makes up better titles for classic books. Here's the "improved" version of Infinite Jest:



Hee hee. What book titles do you think need improving? What would your "better book title" be for Plains Song Review? What about Great Plains favorites like O Pioneers?

Looking for inspiration? Try looking up!

You've been sitting at your desk all day, trying to come up with an idea for a great poem you can submit to the next Plains Song Review, but your mind is drawing a blank! You can't seem to find any inspiration!

Does this sound like you? If so, I would like to direct your attention to the Perseid Meteor Showers, going on now! They're going to be at their peak from tonight to the 13th. The best time to view them is just before dawn. Pack some bug spray, a thermos, and your notebook, and use the night sky as your muse!

Oddly, PSR doesn't get many poems or stories that deal with the night sky. People tend to focus more on grasses and flowers than anything else. Why do you suppose that is?

PSR Blog is Back!

Hello friends of Plains Song Review! It's been a while! I know I said I would post pictures of the reading way back in June, but clearly I lied. What a terrible blogger I am. Anyway, the PSR blog is officially back from it's summer vacation, and to celebrate our glorious return, I'm going to put up some pictures of our April reading! You can check the full album out here.

I'll be back next week with more exciting blog posts!

PSR Blog on Hiatus

Hello friends of PSR! I just wanted to let you know that the Plains Song Review blog is going on a brief hiatus while we all finish up papers and finals. We'll be back soon to post some pictures of the reading.

The Future of E-Books

New Yorker has a new article about the future of the e-book. It seems that Amazon's Kindle is going through some strife, but the iPad is poised to swoop in. I'm not a huge fan of the whole e-book idea, I must admit. Did you know Amazon can take back your e-book any time they want? And I love browsing at the bookstore. However, this comment made me think:

According to Grandinetti, publishers are asking the wrong questions. “The real competition here is not, in our view, between the hardcover book and the e-book,” he says. “TV, movies, Web browsing, video games are all competing for people’s valuable time. And if the book doesn’t compete we think that over time the industry will suffer. "

What do you think? Is the e-book the only way for publishing to survive?

PSR Reading TONIGHT!

R-Day is upon us, friends of PSR! That's right, today is the day of our annual reading and reception! I hope you're all getting excited! Can't come? That's awfully sad, but we'll be sure to tell you all about it later on the blog.

Plains Song Review XII Reading and Reception
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
7:00 PM

Great Plains Art Gallery
Center for Great Plains Studies
1155 Q St.
Lincoln, NE

PSR in the news!

Plains Song Review was in the Daily Nebraskan today! The story is all about our upcoming release of PSR XII and the reading and reception on Wednesday, April 21st. Check it out here.

However, I'm afraid the article says the reading is on Tuesday. It is not! It's on Wednesday!

Are the books you read at age 12 the most important?

This writer thinks that the books you read as a child are the most influential and life-changing books you'll ever read. He says:

We love these books, dearly and uncritically, the way we love the smell of our first girlfriend's perfume, no matter how cheap or tacky it might have been. Let's be honest: We all know that Ulysses and A la recherché du temps perdu are "better" books than The Velveteen Rabbit or The Little Prince, but come on--which would you take with you on a spaceship to salvage from the dying Earth?

It's an interesting point. I think people often overlook the greatness of "young adult" literature. However, I feel like if a book can't change your life when you're an adult, you must be reading it wrong.

What were your favorite books as a kid? Have you read any really life-changing ones recently?

PSR XII is printed!

Hello friends of PSR! I just wanted to tell you all that the twelfth volume of Plains Song Review has come back from the printers. They will be available at the reading on April 21st, and after that on our website.

A few highlights:

• An interview with Timothy Schaffert, author of Devils in the Sugar Shop, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, and The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters.

• Work by: Marge Barrett, Alicia Bones, Faye Tanner Cool, Suzanne Dawson, Marilyn Dorf, Tom Hansen, Twyla Hansen, Leah H. Hebner, G. Thompson Higgins, Janet Kamnikar, Mallory Kerns, Mary Logan, Judy Lorenzen, J.J. McKenna, Madeline Moore, Molly O'Dell, Andrew Oerman, Frances Patterson, Christina Petroski, Amy Plettner, Claudia Reinhardt, Dee Ritter, Natalie Schwarz, Red Shuttleworth, Don Thackrey, Jessica Vetter, Rex Walton, Deb Walz, Marydorsey Wanless, and Don Welch.

• Cover photo by G. Thompson Higgins
  

How Paperback Novels Changed Everything

Did you know that paperback novels weren't invented until 1935, with the advent of Penguin Books? One journalist explains how this great idea changed everything about the way we read. At the end of the article, he compares it to the current shift in form, the switch from print books to e-books. As much as I like the idea of saving paper, I think the print book is destined to survive, don't you?

Poets Ranked by Beard Weight

Writers and artists always seem to have really impressive facial hair, don't they? I mean, think of Hemingway and Nietzsche! But have you ever wondered, "Which poets have the very best facial hair?" If yes, (and of course you answered yes) you're in luck! The blog Journey Round My Skull has recently uncovered a curious Edwardian book called Poets Ranked by Beard Weight.

Its author, Underwood (whose previous works include Whiskers of the World), proposes that

"that there is a direct correlation between personal appearance and artistic proficiency and integrity, or what, in the case of the bewhiskered brethren of the literary fraternity, he elsewhere calls "poetic gravity" or beard weight. It might be said, in short, that Underwood's motto is the beard makes the bard."

What about it, poets? Do your whiskers keep up with your writing skills? I'm afraid I have no beard and mustache at all!

Amazon reviewers think this masterpiece sucks

Funny article from Salon about finding one-star reviews of classic books on Amazon. They look at the reviews who criticize great books like Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, and even The Diary of Anne Frank.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I suppose, but I certainly wouldn't want to associate with someone who one-starred Anne Frank. (True story: I judge people by the books they like. But really, who doesn't?)

I decided to do a little Great Plains version of the Salon story and looked up one-star reviews of My Antonia. Here's one:

This book is the worst piece of "literature" that I have ever had the misfortune of turning my nose up to. I fell asleep, 2 pages into the book. The next time, I managed a 3 page chapter, and fell asleep again. It took me several tries to read, and everytime I read this book, I felt a feeling of incredible tiredness and depression settle upon me. I hated every page of this book, and think that any good reviews given to it came from the worst lying scum to ever deface this planet we call Earth. I suggest not buying it. It isn't even worthy of the 1 star that I gave it.

Sad! I love My Antonia!

Announcing PSR's Annual Reading and Reception

We are pleased to announce that on Wednesday, April 21st at 7:00 PM, Plains Song Review will be holding its annual reading and reception. Come see our contributors read from their work, view contributor photography, and have refreshments! In addition, copies of PSR will be on sale for only $5.00!

The reading and reception will be held at:
Great Plains Art Gallery
Center for Great Plains Studies.
1155 Q Street
Lincoln NE

The reading is free and open to the public. Hope to see you all there!

Literary Critics Turn to Science

The New York Times has a truly fascinating article today about how English scholars are beginning to look at cognitive science in relation to literature. They think our preference for fiction might arise out of certain survival traits that we've evolved. The article even explains why we love Jane Austen so deeply, and why so many find Virginia Woolf to be so complex.

An excerpt:

"They say they’re convinced science not only offers unexpected insights into individual texts, but that it may help to answer fundamental questions about literature’s very existence: Why do we read fiction? Why do we care so passionately about nonexistent characters? What underlying mental processes are activated when we read?"

If anyone from the UNL English Department is reading the blog today, you should definitely make a class about this!

How to Write for TV

A memo has surfaced by David Mamet, the executive producer of TV show The Unit, in which instructs his writing staff how to write better episodes. It's pretty hardcore (written in all-caps!), but there's actually some decent advice, even for non-TV writers.

My favorite part:

SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.

1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF THEY DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT