Sport: Boxers With Referee

Poetry: Arthur Rimbaud

Rimbaud taken by Etienne Carjat, 1871

Books: Rimbaud In Java: The Lost Voyage

Arthur Rimbaud is a fascinating character. He has always been one of my favorite poets. There is something unique about Rimbaud’s poetry. His writing is a kind of a sensorial extravagance or “ an alchemy of words”, as he himself termed it.  But equal to Rimbaud’s extraordinary poetry was his wild personality and tumultuous life. Rimbaud wrote all his poetry between the ages of 15 and 19. By 20 he had given up the literary life and never wrote another poem again. The rest of his short life was spent on wild adventures.  Sometime in the year 1876 Rimbaud joined the Royal Army of the Dutch Indies and sailed for Java. He soon deserted. He turned up 4 months later at his mother’s house in France. No one has been able to reconstruct what happened. Did he flee into he jungle? How did he escape the island and evade the Dutch army? It has been a mystery that has spawned much speculation. Over the last 136 years no new information has escaped the island. Rimbaud’s biographers have shed no new light. The period is an enigma lost to history. Now former New Yorker art critic, Jamie James gives it a fresh try in his book: Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage.  James reviews and pulls together everything that is known about the story. Does he solve the mystery? Well no__but James does add another layer of informed speculation that is both likely and entertaining. Along the way he manages to recreate life in 19^th century Java add a dash of literary criticism and spin an interesting tale. Rimbaud’s brother in law, Patrene Berrichon claimed that Rimbaud lived in the jungle with orangutans who taught him to survive. Perhaps, but most zoologists believe that orangutans disappeared from Java two centuries earlier. But such is the speculation that makes this a fascinating story. And why this book is worth reading. Plus it might also be a way to introduce readers to some of the most evocative poetry ever written.

Travels: Venice

Music: Cute And Cool, Sho Asano

Sho Asano was born in March of 1990.  He is currently considered one of the young stars of Shamisen and Japanese traditional music.  At the age of eight, he won the Tsugaru Shamisen National Competition as the youngest champion in the D category for players under 15 years old.  Since then, he broke numerous records in competitions.