The Hooverville Hexagon: How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

 

What We Plant

By the Editor

Photo by FWR.

 

I didn't have 'virtually attending a funeral in Dublin' on my bingo card this summer morning, but there it was, live from RTÉ, when I opened Youtube. Beloved musician Glen Hansard died suddenly in a motorbike accident. The cathedral was packed. I knew what would happen, so I kept watching.

 

Funerals of Irish musicians are interesting. The celebrants of the mass – the religious professionals – are very much on their dignity. Not a hair out of place, robes all neat, diction self-consciously polished as they solemnly intone the prayers, the Creed, and the funeral service. It's as if they were really trying to give a worthy person the best possible escort to the divine gates; to say, look, this guy deserves VIP status, welcome him in, please. The robed choir led the congregation in 'Be Thou My Vision'. The rafters rang.

 

But then the priest finished, and nodded to somebody, and the Other People got up. They were the ones I was waiting for: the scruffy people. The ones with weird, long hair (well, one lady had a shaved head) and strange clothes. The ones toting fiddles and guitars and drums. While the robed officiants carried the body out, they let loose and sang – wailed, really – a Bob Dylan song about being forever young. It was from the heart.

 

As the crowd began to disperse, some of the musicians started singing 'The Auld Triangle'. I was puzzled until I found out it was a signature tune for MrHansard. It wasn't until I looked the song up on Youtube that I recognised along with Hansard the men singing at the funeral, and that one of them was playing Hansard's guitar.

 

Glen Hansard must have planted a lot of joy in people's hearts. And talk about angels singing you to your rest. Well done, that. That blessed me this morning: thought I'd share. DG

 

 

 

 

 

Like a Spider from the Ashes

(This week's official cinema review)

By Awix

 

Spider in My Dinner, by FWR

'I think Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a high-quality popcorn movie and a high-quality Marvel movie too…' Click on the link for an in-depth review. 

 

 

How Does Paulh's Garden Grow?

By Paulh, of course

 

There are coneflowers, bee balm, cactus, and sumac in this slideshow.

 

Video of the Day:

Don't Worry, Bee Happy

See, people? I can make bad puns, too. Don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot, do you, huh?

 

CUCU,

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Editor