Kurt Schwitters

In today's New York Times, there's a thoughtful review article on Kurt Schwitters, artist and sound poet.

The continued need for pay phones

When I see that a pay phone has been removed from a place I was used to seeing it, I feel uneasy. The assumption that we've all got mobile phones and so no longer need pay phones forgets those who can't afford one, those whose mobile has run out of credit or power, those who simply don't want to own one. This intelligent article in today's New York Times focuses on a pay phone outside a Queens courthouse and so appears only to argue that there is an underclass who needs such access, but the need is greater than that, extending to the many who have lost their jobs and homes over the last couple years as well as those who can't use their mobile for one reason or another. Something to keep in mind.

From The New York Times to Le Monde

Someone's reprinted my poem from the New York Times science blog "Dot Earth" (itself reprinted from Feeling the Pressure: Poetry and Science of Climate Change) in response to a discussion on a blog on Le Monde, noting how the poem shows the value of statistics and other records.