.
Green ink stars fly hurriedly over these pages
so white
like snow covered
pianos at the North Pole
and make of them a lovely
leaf-colored room
for the Oriole
to live in
and also other animals, the fox
the pumpkin spider whose gossamer web supports her
the shark and pelican
the splendid penguin king
to live in
and also other animals, the fox
the pumpkin spider whose gossamer web supports her
the shark and pelican
the splendid penguin king
the moth
the leopard
and the red fish
with blue
with blue
spots on its belly
that change color drastically
as it flares for battle withthat change color drastically
its own mirror image
don't fence them in!
King penguin swimming under water: photo by Jeff Kubina, 2006
Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis): photo by Natureatyourbackyard, 2007
Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis): photo by Colin Hines, 2007
Male Siamese Betta Fighting Fish flaring at his reflection in mirror: photo by Malzees, 2007
Freshwater aquarium: photo by Vassill, 2007
Great post, excelent pictures, and excelent text describing each part, besides I have to confess I go crazy with animals, I love them.
ReplyDeleteAnd to end it a talking heads like phrase "don t fence me in" which is great.
Take care Tom
Yes yes yes yes beautiful discriptive words and even without the striking pictures, they shine on their own.'gossamer'has been a favourite word of mine for so many minutes; too many minutes that I can recall.
ReplyDeleteBTW Thank you for the Sea Anemone. I now know what they look like! Ha!
*descriptive!
ReplyDeleteSarahA,
ReplyDeleteIt's the time of year when the webs are spun and one brushes one's face into them by surprise in the dark, so soft and fine.
I love the Haeckel anemone illustration, but here are some living "colonials" that have attached themselves to black coral:
Anemone spire
Mariana,
Before David Byrne recorded Don't Fence Me In on his 1990 Cole Porter tribute album the song had a long and interesting history.Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the Department of Highways in Helena, Montana, Robert (Bob) Fletcher. Cole Porter, who had been asked to write a cowboy song for the 20th Century Fox musical, bought the poem from Fletcher for $250. Porter reworked Fletcher's poem, and when the song was first published, Porter was credited with sole authorship. Porter had wanted to give Fletcher co-authorship credit, but his publishers did not allow that. After the song became popular, however, Fletcher hired attorneys who negotiated his being given co-authorship credit in subsequent publications.
Ten years later, in 1944, Warner Bros. resurrected "Don't Fence Me In" for Roy Rogers to sing in the movie, Hollywood Canteen. Many people heard the song for the first time when Kate Smith introduced it on her radio broadcast of October 8, 1944. "Don't Fence Me In" was also recorded by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters in 1944. Crosby entered the studio on July 25, 1944, without having seen or heard the song. Within 30 minutes, he and The Andrews Sisters had made the recording, which later sold over a million copies and topped the Billboard charts for eight weeks in 1944-45.
The following year, the song was sung again as the title tune of another Roy Rogers film, Don't Fence Me In (1945), in which Dale Evans plays a magazine reporter who comes to Roy Rogers' and George "Gabby" Hayes' ranch to research a story which she is writing about a legendary late gunslinger. When it's revealed that Gabby Hayes is actually the supposedly dead outlaw, Roy must clear his name. Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers also find time to perform some songs, including the Cole Porter title tune.
There have been many other cover versions, including a nice one by Ella Fitzgerald, but there's my favorite recording of the song:
Gene Autry sings Don't Fence Me In
Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in.
Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in