'I came to understand that I was not a poet'

hollis frampton day / hollis framptn fortnight (and a bit) 

born this day 1936 (dies march 30th 1984). and thus we have hollis frampton fortnight (and a bit).

hollis was a film-maker but before that he tried his hand at poetry (hanging around ezra pound when he was in st. elizabeth's hospital  in washington). there he saw the depth of it and realised that he was not a poet. 

in nostalgia he burns photographs on the electric ring of a cooker (it makes horsemouth cough just to look at it). the pattern of the heating element burns through the photograph first (and on to the film). 

somewhere horsemouth has the footage of hollis frampton's funeral (shot by george mekas) he will try to post this on the 30th. 

yesterday the death of MC fats was announced. this tune by dj hype (and 97 style  by ellis dee) really do it for horsemouth. he is not doing fast style but some ind of sing-j thing (and horsemouth likes the message). 

horsemouth supposes the MCs die young because the lifestyle is none too healthy and the life expectancy for the poor is pretty terrible anyway. as the economist noted there are a quarter of a million less people in britain than there should be compared to other developed economies  because improvements in life expectancy have gone into reverse since about 2010. the life expectancy for the posh in kensington for a man is 92, in new cross gate (south of the river and with the poor) it is 74. 

a corollary of all this is that more people are living with ill health. 

sorry if this is a bit morbid. he has been reading diana athill's somewhere near the end which is refreshingly honest about ageing, caring and death (and well written too).

later howard visits.  

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