April 20: "Clash of the Titans," Robert Hayden, "Perseus"

One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was the original Clash of the Titans with Harry Hamlin.  Sure, I know the special effects are a little cheesy now, and the acting is not Oscar-caliber.  However, it had togas, naked women, and Medusa.  A teenage boy's Citizen Kane.

Saint Marty is feeling nostalgic this cold, April night.

Perseus

by:  Robert Hayden

Her sleeping head with its great gelid mass
of serpents torpidly astir
burned into the mirroring shield--
a scathing image dire
as hated truth the mind accepts at last
and festers on.
I struck. The shield flashed bare.

Yet even as I lifted up the head
and started from that place
of gazing silences and terrored stone,
I thirsted to destroy.
None could have passed me then--
no garland-bearing girl, no priest
or staring boy--and lived.

February 10: "Clash of the Titans," Poetry, Desperate

Harryhausen and friends

Currently, I'm watching the film Clash of the Titans.  Not the new version.  I'm talking about the real Clash of the Titans, with Harry Hamlin in his toga and plenty of bare breasts flapping in the wind.  And, of course, the special effects of the great Ray Harryhausen.  I'm showing the film to my mythology classes next week.  I thought I'd better preview it, to make sure the DVD didn't skip or freeze.  I'd forgotten how good this movie really is.

It's been a fairly long day.  I taught the second graders this afternoon.  I'm not sure how well my lesson worked.  I was only there for about an hour, and the atmosphere of the classroom was just this side of controlled chaos.  I liked the kids, and they seemed to respond to what I was doing.  Whether they learned anything or not, well, that's another matter.  However, it's over and done.  I don't feel as good about it as I thought I would.  Maybe I will in a couple of days.

I'm still struggling to find the money to pay the taxes next week.  I had to go grocery shopping this afternoon.  We were completely out of diapers.  The shopping list wasn't long, but I still ended up spending over $100.  It sucked.  And now, I'm even shorter on funds than I thought I was going to be.  I'm trying to trust that God will help me, but God better send His check in the mail pretty soon.

Okay, Harry Hamlin in his toga is about to battle a titan.  I'm going to have to sign off.  Plus, there's another nude scene coming up.

Saint Marty is ready.  Bring on the breasts and  the Kraken.