GOT NO BEEF WITH TOI!

One of the most amusing phrases I've ever encountered is

               ALL HAT, NO CATTLE

I assume it stems from Texas, and of course refers to lack of substance behind some important-looking facade. I actually first came across the phrase when someone used it to describe a grandiose gate fronting a tiny old house -- a situation that came up around here when a shopping mall developer had to give a new gate to some old-timer in order to develop the neighboring property.

Anyway, the phrase came to mind when I recently received a poetry publication. Nothing unusual there, but the book was accompanied not only by the usual press release but by a cover letter from a publicist. The author had hired a literary publicist for this poetry publication! And it occurs to me -- this isn't the first time I've seen poets hiring publicists -- does anyone else find this practice, this reaching, ridiculous (if not rather ... pathos-ridden sad?). Now, I do think poetry is priceless...so I mayhap am mangling a metaphor here, but....

In any event, far be it for me to advise anyone how to spend money in the poetry world. As far as I'm concerned, the size of your hat is my concern only if it blocks my view....

Meanwhile, my latest list of Relished W(h)ines about which I didn't feel the need to ask: Where's the Beef?

PUBLICATIONS:
THE SPLINTERED FACE: TSUNAMI POEMS by Indran Amirthanayagam

THE EDGE OF EUROPE / A KINETIC IMAGE, a poet's novel by Pentti Saarikoski, Trans. by Anselm Hollo

DEMENTIA BLOG (really moving prose poem collection, in manuscript form but forthcoming (yay!)) by Susan Schultz

WINTER JOURNEY, poems by Tony Towle

FLUSH CONTOUR, visual poetry by Spencer Selby with an Introduction by Martin Edmonds

ONE AND TWENTY by Paavo Haavikko, Trans. by Anselm Hollo

IMAGO, poems by Joseph O. Legaspi

FILAMENT SENSE, poems by William Allegrezza

THE WRONG TREE, poems by Dana Ward

AN ARCHITECTURE, poems by Chad Sweeney

HARPOON, poems by Michael Cavendish

POETRY AND COMMITMENT, essay by Adrienne Rich with afterword by Mark Doty

MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, psychology and memoir by Viktor E. Frankl (which I read based on quoted excerpts on Anny Ballardini's Blog -- and a worthwhile read it is!)

A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER by Ishmael Beah

THE CIRCUIT: STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF A MIGRANT CHILD by Francisco Jimenez

BAD DOG: TRUE TALES OF TROUBLE ONLY A BEST FRIEND CAN GET AWAY WITH, Ed. by Doug Brown and Kaori Brown

PREFABULOUS: THE HOUSE OF YOUR DREAMS DELIVERED FRESH FROM THE FACTORY, study of prefab houses by Shari Koones

CHINA RUN, novel by David Ball

BEYOND THE BLUE, novel by Leslie Gould

FIRE, novel by George R. Stewart

BLUE HEAVEN, novel by C.J. Box

FLASHPOINT, novel by Suzanne Brockmann

T IS FOR TRESSPASS, novel by Sue Grafton

HISS, WHINE & START OVER, novel by Jane Caryl Mahlow, DVM


WINES:
1993 Ravenswood Wood Road Belloni Zinfandel Russian River Valley
2005 William Fevre chablis
2005 Irony Russian River pinot noir
2002 White Cottage cabernet Howell Mountain NV
1994 Ravenswood Old Hill Vineyard Sonoma Valley
1990 Terrabianca Campaccio Riserva