The Holy Grail Press
Proudly Made On Earth By Earthlings
Word of the Every So Often
stave: (noun) There are many meanings of “stave.” For instance, it can be a narrow piece of wood used in making a barrel. It can also be a weapon if you whack somebody with that narrow piece of wood. It can also be the crosspiece in the legs of a chair. If it’s a verb (usually combined with the word “off”) it can mean to avert, such as “to stave off hunger.” A stave, in a more literary sense, can be the five lines and four spaces in which music is written on. It can also be a verse or a stanza of a poem, or a section of prose writing... not quite a chapter, but a stave. Now behave, or we’ll whack you with the stave.
The Daily Lesson
On August 17, 1945 (not that terribly long ago), George Orwell published Animal Farm, about animals who take over Mr. Jones’ farm to set up an animal utopia. Predictably, everything goes all to hell and the Pigs end up being worse than Mr. Jones ever was.
There have been many adaptations done on Animal Farm, including Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals. The 1954 adaptation, though, stands out. The CIA had secretly bought the film rights after Orwell’s death in 1950, during the Cold War. They then funded a British production of the story, which became the first British animated feature film. The biggest difference between the CIA funded version and Orwell’s original is at the end when the other animals rise up against the Pigs and restore their utopia. After all, if the Pigs represent communism, they certain can’t win. Can they?
Cartoon of the Week
Another Day, Still No Zombies
Stuff
Dreaming of Heaven
The nun stood in front
of the boys’ Sunday morning
sixth grade CCD class,
as big and black and unmovable
as any mountain there ever was,
and from somewhere behind
all of those black clothes
she dreamt out loud
about heaven,
while Billy Balinski,
with his mind out the window,
tried to figure out what the heck
CCD stood for.
One of the C’s had to be Catholic,
but durned if he could get the other two.
“And in heaven the wine
flows from fountains like water…”
Billy’s uncle had given him wine once.
Billy still remembered
running to the bathroom
to spit it out
while his uncle laughed like a lunatic
Billy had seen once in a movie.
“…and in heaven the streets
are cobbled with gold…”
Billy couldn’t ride his bicycle on the street
in front of his grandmother’s house
because it was cobbled.
But if it must be cobbled,
why not chocolate?
At least you could eat chocolate.
“…and only good little boys and girls
get to go to heaven…”
Billy wondered if anyone
would be able to hear
Judy Jefferson screaming
from inside the cinder block box
where the janitors burned their trash
on the playground,
or if anyone would see
Billy running away.
Billy knew that he was slowly strangling,
but he dared not fool with his collar
unless he wanted his necktie to fall off again.
Jesus hung over the blackboard
looking down on the nun
with sad, swollen eyes;
the blood on his hands
still looked fresh.
Billy couldn’t help but imagine
that Jesus would rather be someplace else.
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