Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Malleable Jangle

Malleable Jangle

COMPETITION DETAILS

* The Write Stuff Poetry Competition (judge: Stephen Edgar)

This section is for a poem up to 200 lines in length. First prize:
$700; second prize: $200 (Australian dollars) The judge for the poetry
competition this year is Stephen Edgar, recipient of the inaugural
Australian Book Review poetry prize.

* The Write Stuff Short Story Competition (judge: GIles Hugo)

This section is for a short story of 5,000 to 10,000 words (i.e no
fewer than 5,000 and no more than 10,000 words). First prize: $700;
second prize: $200 (Australian dollars) The judge. Giles Hugo, is a
journalist, writer, co-editor of The Write Stuff.

The deadline for both competitions is 30 June 2005 and entries must be
postmarked 30/06/2005 or earlier.

Conditions of entry as well as entry forms are at:
http://www.the-write-stuff.com.au/competitions/ and can also be
downloaded in WORD or PDF format from the web site. Results will be
announced in August on The Write Stuff web site.

All entries are judged anonymously; we do not employ students to
screen entries, and our competition processes are modelled on best
practice.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Malleable Jangle info

Malleable Jangle is calling for submissions for: May Issue 6.

It would seem that Malleable Jangle is best viewed on Internat Explorer. Problems with Mozilla Firefox where the swan image and Malleable are missing from the home page.

If you would like to submit work please visit Malleable Jangle and read the information in the Submissions section.

http://www.malleablejangle.netfirms.com

Regards, Robert Lane

Saul Bellow dead

Saul Bellow wrote a slim novel called Seize the Day. For me it encapsulates the Stones' maxim "You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you find, you get what you need." [or something like that] A human story about frustration acknowledged, and then finally accepted with calm resolution. If only we could bypass the frustration, and move straight into the smooth, calm, resolution that we inevitably reach. By having the protagonist lust after the fluctuations of lard on the commodity market Saul Bellow showed, that the materialism of society, and our desire for it, can and often is absurd. Saul is dead now i hear, oh well, we all have to die, don't we?

Sunday, April 03, 2005

DVD watching

Hello, Mel's got a baby in her tummy by the way.

OK did a bit of the old DVD watching on the weekend. Firsty, the Football Factory, a soccer hooligan film described as Fightclub meets Trainspotting; a pretty good description of this film. What i found noteworthy, was the central character who refused to change. Refreshing in a world of Hollywood endings. Even after he has been beaten to a pulp he asks himself, "whether it was all worth it", and then replys, "course it was!". Another addition to the football thug genre which authorities must be dreading. In many ways it is a subtle film which does show the meaninglessness of football violence, but it may be glorified by some. I particulary liked the way one of the sociopathic leaders of the "firm" owned a florist shop, and delt with beauty during the week but come Saturday... well that was another story.

Mad Max, the original. Well what a cheap film. The titles very basic, and the film score by Brian May is dreadful, it's like they got the films mixed up. Completely innappropriate music, and it sounds like it has been played by the local brass band, there are no strings at all, the lack is noticeable. The language and dialogue is interesting, sort of a tough pseudo Aus-slang Shakespearean dialect. Humourous moment when Mad Max's wife is being chased through a forest, and a couple of pidgeons appear in her face from out of nowhere.

Mean Girls, is a film which shows how our elaborate social customs are really just a mask for our animal instincts. It is supprising how many act in society. Mel said the other day "It isn't supprising that the ones with the most money, are natuarally the greediest."

And Fargo, i just love the way they say Yah for yeah, very endearing.

And Scream, genre referencial and silliness.

The Poet Watch have awarded Malleable Jangle with the Poet's Award. It's Malleable Jangle's first award and one which i am very proud of.

Regards,
Robert Lane.