Kisses

On his album

“Kisses on the Bottom”

Paul McCartney

takes a casual stroll

down Tin Pan Alley.

Classic songbook fare,

the core of countless jazz albums,

McCartney’s stab at the nostalgia market,

framed as a Valentine’s Day gift

to his new wife, Nancy.

A late career roll,

this slow dance with the misty past.

A let-down.

These songs are meant to swing;

McCartney lets them plod.

Sometimes you need to know when to quit.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Florida Film Festival

Here's the poster for the 2013 Film Festival.

Film.  Food.  Fun.

Catch the latest films.

Mingle with celebrities.

Chat with filmmakers.

Florida Film Festival:

The best cinema.

The hottest parties.

The fabulous food.

Non-stop fun. 




CLICK HERE

to look inside

The Florida Film Festival starts next Friday, April 5, 2013.  Here’s a news print poem I did about it last year.  I took it from an ad.  Here is the poster for the 2013 Florida Film Festival.

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© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

Citrus Parade

On a dreary rain soaked Saturday,

five fruit-filled floats

marching bands,

and civics groups

turned out for the annual Orlando Citrus Parade.

Rain pelted the parade route.

The citrus floats—

created using a hundred thousand

oranges, tangerines and grapefruits—

is an Orlando tradition.

Spectators

holding umbrellas,

wearing ponchos,

lined the streets.

A bit of rain wasn’t going to keep them away.

You can watch it, warm and dry, on TV on January 1^st at 11am on WFTV Channel 9.

After the parade the fruit goes to local food banks.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Shen Yun

For the Chinese, the words evoke

a sense of wonder, magic,

and the divine. The grandeur

of the fantastically rich culture

of classical China brought to life;

brilliantly choreographed dance,

mesmerizing orchestral composition,

magnificently costumed dancers

moving in poetic arrangements

evoking pastoral beauty,

imperial drama, the glory

of an ancient civilization.

A magical revival

of Chinese culture, the exploration

of the connection

between humankind

and the higher universe.

More than an art,

a way of being.

Shen Yun is a 5,000 year-old Chinese art involving dance, music, elaborate costumes, and story-telling.  For the performers, it is a way of life, even a form of worship.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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This picture is from wikipedia.

Orlando Film Flop

Miami Connection:

Midnight movie sensation

Everything about it—

jaw-droppingly bad

It’s a kung-fu

male-bonding

action movie,

a cheesy eighties musical,

a drug-war movie—

combining all these elements

and failing at all of them.

It’s the worst movie of the year.

It’s a camp-classic.

Evidently, Miami Connection, a movie made in the 1980’s by an Orlando Kung-fu sensi, is so bad it’s good.

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This picture of the Miami Connection movie poster
is from www.flixist.com

Lincoln

“Lincoln”

A surprisingly subtle movie

Conjuring the past

History remade

 

The 16^th president

The folksy deliberation

The Idiosyncrasies

The Contradictions

Of an actual human being

 

Cinematic Americana

Something grubbier than Americana

Pomp and historical circumstance

A fascinating movie

Hushed and intimate

Exquisitely right

Inspiring

 “Lincoln,” directed by Stephen Spielberg, sounds like it is going to be an “important movie” as well as an entertaining movie.  I plan to see it this weekend.

 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

 

This picture is from http://insidemovie.ew.com
 

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Star Wars

Disney plans for a trio

Click Here for Star Wars DVD

of “Star Wars” movies
is setting off frenzies,
of speculation
and emotional reaction.

Continuing the Star Wars saga,

the high-grossing franchise,
is creating filmmaking tension—
a wholesale re-invention
or continue in its recent direction?

The sci-fi epic story

of lightsabers and Stormtroopers,
the confrontation
between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader,
the saga is in transition.

I remember the excitement of the first Star Wars movie in September 1985.  My son wasn’t even born net but he became a fan of the series through home video.   

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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This picture is from http://www.starwars.com

Pink

Sassy bubble-gum rocker,
furrowed-brow singer/songwriter
neon pop diva:
Pink!

A little bit of everything—

“The truth About Love”
has it all.

A protest song

some dance music,
pop-rock crossover,
a  break-up anthem,
mushy power ballads,
tongue-in-cheek sass,
hip-hop with Eminem,
feisty garage punk.

Pink is going three.

The singer Pink released a new album, “The Truth About Love.”  Who is Pink? She sounds like someone I might like.

 @ 2012 Catherine Giordano

This is the album cover.

 

Silly "Nunsense"

Click here for the Nunsense Collection

As long as there is community theater
there will be productions of “Nunsense.”

Women dressed as nuns,

singing silly songs,
cracking corny jokes,
hamming it up.

A gaggle

of nuns poisoned
by a convent chef,
Sister Julia Child of God.

Survivors singing in a variety show,

raising money for the burials,
of “blue Nuns”
chilling in a freezer.

A nun who longs to dance,

a tough tawkin’ New York sista,
a Mother Superior,
who is a “good ol’ gal.”

It’s a short step

from “Nunsense”
to nonsense.

This show turns nonsense

into some pretty funny stuff.

“Nunsense” is playing at the Winter Park Playhouse.  I’d like to see it.

P.S. Get it?  Sister Julia Child.  Heh-heh.  

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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2013 Update: You can see the show at the Garden Theater in Winter Garden, Florida until 10/06/13. 
407-877-4736 gardentheater.org

This picture is from www.barmirrors.com

Fringe is in The Air

Dodging clowns and burlesque dancers
Nervously glancing at their watches,
Anxiously cross checking schedules,
Frantically rifling through tickets,
Plopping down with a beer—
All the normal signs of Spring in Orlando.

 It’s time once again for “The Fringe.”

The oldest Festival of its kind
marking its twenty-first year.
There’s an air of childlike wonder
as thousands of “Fringers”dive
into eighty short staged offerings
never quite sure what they will find.

Drama, dance, spoken word, performance art.

See the shows.
Anything goes
at this theatrical extravaganza.

An annual Orlando tradition, the Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival runs from May 15 to May 28.  See the official website for details.

www.OrlandoFringe.org

© 2012 Catherine Giordano.

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Hunger Games

The movie magic is over for Harry Potter.

The is bite gone from “Twilight.”

Now the Hunger Games—

the next great film franchise.

The story of a future existence

already seen today in reality shows.

It’s a cautionary story

of what happens

when people start to lose touch

with their humanity.

The movie--set in the future.

The issues-- current.

Reality television, violence,

the 99 percent

versus the one percent.

A political allegory.

A powerful message.

An important story.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

I have been wanting to read the books for the longest time.  Tomorrow, I’ll see the movie.

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Scary Skinny

Angelina Jolie was scary-skinny
at the Oscars.
Like a Bobblehead with matchstick arms.

The book is out -- a collection of 101 of the 2012 first quarter poems. I'm taking down the posts, but I'll leave the first stanza of each poem.

Golden

The Academy Awards:

A night for

celebrating

movie making.

The nominees.

The winners.

The categories.

The gowns.

The thank yous.

The tears.

The stars.

And Oscar,

the darling golden statuette.

This magnificent event

enables all of us

to celebrate the movies.

The stars were out for the Oscars, the event we hate to love.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Too Early

Singer Whitney Houston,

underwater in the bathtub

of a Beverly Hills hotel suite.

Cause of death, unclear.

Investigation, ongoing.

Too early to tell.

Flowers and stuffed animals

at a memorial for Whitney.

She died Saturday.

Beautiful, talented, successful--she died too early. 

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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Elite Eli Manning

Super Bowl trophy

Eli Manning

Is elite

For sure.

And far, far more

Than Peyton’s

Little brother.

Spot on Sunday night.

Leading the Giants.

Victory over the Patriots.

It feels good to win a Super Bowl.

A wild season.

A tough bunch of guys.

Who had faith in each other.

Proud guys sticking together.

As good as it gets.

As cool as can be.

Manning won games.

Manning— an elite quarterback.

I don’t really follow sports, but I knew today’s poem had to be about the Super Bowl.

© 2012 Catherine Giordano

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2/8/2016: This year it was big brother Peyton Manning who took his team the Denver Broncos to victory.

Super Bowl Program

The Red Carpet

The Golden Globes
lures the most
alluring stars.

The book is coming out the end of April with a collection of 101 of the 2012 first quarter poems. I'm taking down the posts, but I'll leave the first stanza of each poem.

Jersey Shore

For Season Five
the “Jersey Shore Eight”
arrive at the house.

The first night,
a welcome back party.
Old friends turn up.

Drinks are consumed.

Tempers erupt.
Deep depression.

Another drunken night

ends in the cold light
of another morning.

Same jokes. Same snark.

Bored. Bummed.
The beginning of the end.

© Catherine Giordano 2012

The End of The Line (01/02/12)

Mechanical sharks

swim their final laps

at Universal Studios.

The book is coming out the end of April with a collection of 101 of the 2012 first quarter poems. I'm taking down the posts, but I'll leave the first stanza of each poem.