Open Bar(code)

Posted on February 10, 2015February 5, 2016 by Building The World

Could transport link to transporting poetry? Image: wikimedia commons.

Take Line 4, when riding the Beijing metro; then, scan a barcode to access Chinese literature and philosophy. China’s National Library, cooperating with Beijing’s municipal government, will change the ten-tome selection monthly. Of course, barcode can transport to music, dance, drama, and other cultural expressions. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the Channel Tunnel recently added wifi; might there be a special channel within? Shinkansen will soon upgrade to new efficiency; what may Japan create? What opportunities are inherent in public transportation to make readers of riders?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30830472

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bridge to the Future

Posted on May 26, 2014May 27, 2014 by Building The World

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, Boston. Image: wikimedia commons.

When the Brooklyn Bridge opened, on May 25, 1883, to great fanfare celebrating the linking of Brooklyn and Manhattan, two great centers of success, more than 150,000 people flocked across the span. Popularity spawned speculators who sold counterfeit passes, shaped like real admission tickets given to dignitaries. The Brooklyn Bridge has inspired more poetry than any other bridge in history. What poems are yet to be written about other spans, including Boston’s Zakim Bridge?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Monuments, Memory, and Culture

Posted on February 28, 2014March 4, 2014 by Building The World

Monument to love, built by 20,000 artisans using 43 different kinds of jewels, the Taj Mahal is Shah Jahan’s memorial to his beloved wife, Arjumand Banu Begam, also known as Mumtaz Mahal. The lovers met as teenagers and parted only when Mumtaz died on the battlefield (she traveled with him, no matter the circumstances) giving birth. Roman poet Horace wrote in his last ode, 3.30.1: Exegi monumentum aere perennius – “I have built a monument more lasting than bronze.” Poetry, music, libraries, laws, endowments, buildings, monuments, art – how should we honor, and remember? What is the role of memory in culture?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bridge of Honor

Posted on April 22, 2013April 23, 2013 by Building The World

Brooklyn Bridge has inspired more poetry than any other bridge in history. Hart Crane, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman are among those who spake thus:

O Sleepless as the river under thee,

Vaulting the sea, the prairies’ dreaming sod,

Unto us lowliest sometime sweep, descend

And of the curveship lend a myth to God.

– To Brooklyn Bridge, by Hart Crane

Artists continue to be inspired by the Brooklyn Bridge. Joseph Stella painted Roebling’s cabled masterwork in deconstructed cubism. Actor Bill Murray quoted Wallace Stevens and Galway Kinnell intoned Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” at Poets House in New York City on June 13, 2012 for the 25th Annual Poetry Walk Across Brooklyn Bridge. “Poems give you what you need for life’s journey,” stated Lee Briccetti, Executive Director. Should Boston initiate an annual poetry marathon, honoring victims and heroes of the April 2013 Boston Marathon, on the Zakim Bridge or perhaps in Boston’s Copley Square?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

London Bridge is Falling Down!

Posted on March 20, 2012April 28, 2012 by zoequinn001

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.

Most children have played the game “London Bridge is Falling Down” while singing the accompanying song. Even today the game is performed on popular children’s shows, such as “The Wiggles.” It is a testament to the longevity of a poem about a bridge that had anything but.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMo_LFM2Uro&feature=fvsr

The poem refers to the the number and types of bridges built in that location that led to Henry II’s decision to make one of stone to withstand fire, floods, and invaders. The poem suggests that even if made of steel, the bridge will always require replacement. The most recent London Bridge was finished in 1972 and still stands today. It has a long time to go, however, as the bridge that began construction under Henry II lasted over 600 years!

For more information on the nursery rhyme please visit http://www.rhymes.org.uk/london-bridge-is-falling-down.htm

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.