House is rented, we're back in Switzerland. Picture taken by Chang yesterday afternoon:
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Jul 8, 2020
Back in Switzerland
House is rented, we're back in Switzerland. Picture taken by Chang yesterday afternoon:
Oct 20, 2019
Rilke's Ghost -- "Chang has to feed the hungry FaceBook beast"
We've started working on an ad campaign for our new novella, Rilke's Ghost, fashioned along the lines of our previous campaigns, adding quotes from the text to an odd picture. Here's one preliminary result:
And here's the corresponding fragment. Having fled Duino, where we stirred Rilke's ghost with a Google-translation of his poems, we now summer in Bürchen, in the Swiss Valais region, only a stone throw away from the grave of the poet:
The village of Bürchen is wonderful, 1,600 meters up on the Alp, and so much cooler than the muggy summer-Riviera (the road up to Bürchen was finished in 1934—-the preceding thousand years the villagers were left to their own devices). There is only one problem: Rainer Maria is buried nearby, yes, Rilke, in Raron, a small, historic town right beneath Bürchen down in the valley. We’ve given Raron a wide berth so far, but Chang is playing the social networks and has to feed the hungry Facebook beast. His Korean followers can’t get enough of snow-topped mountains and geranium-studded chalets, and the 24-hour cycle dictates daily posting. We’ve ravaged the entire region already—-natives of many cultures believe that you steal their image when you take their picture—-along those lines we’ve grabbed photons until nothing seems to be left of the Valais—from the Matterhorn via the James-Bond-historic-marker up on the Furka pass to the longest glaciers and highest vineyards of Europe—-save Raron.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” Chang asks. Of course, we don’t. And it’s a sunny, wonderful day, and Rilke is interred in a vault on the southern side of the Burgkirche, which itself is built on a rock hundred meters above the floor of the valley. The views would be fantastic, and a light breeze would play with the pages of the tourist guide which tells about the local Rilke-wine and the XIIth-century town hall next to the church. A Rilke Pfad leads up there. Half-way there’s a bench. “Remember the bench?” I ask. We sit down. And now I have a really bad idea. I google for “Rilke translations,” and the first entry connects to a learned article by a certain Marjorie Perloff...
"Click"
And here's the corresponding fragment. Having fled Duino, where we stirred Rilke's ghost with a Google-translation of his poems, we now summer in Bürchen, in the Swiss Valais region, only a stone throw away from the grave of the poet:
The village of Bürchen is wonderful, 1,600 meters up on the Alp, and so much cooler than the muggy summer-Riviera (the road up to Bürchen was finished in 1934—-the preceding thousand years the villagers were left to their own devices). There is only one problem: Rainer Maria is buried nearby, yes, Rilke, in Raron, a small, historic town right beneath Bürchen down in the valley. We’ve given Raron a wide berth so far, but Chang is playing the social networks and has to feed the hungry Facebook beast. His Korean followers can’t get enough of snow-topped mountains and geranium-studded chalets, and the 24-hour cycle dictates daily posting. We’ve ravaged the entire region already—-natives of many cultures believe that you steal their image when you take their picture—-along those lines we’ve grabbed photons until nothing seems to be left of the Valais—from the Matterhorn via the James-Bond-historic-marker up on the Furka pass to the longest glaciers and highest vineyards of Europe—-save Raron.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” Chang asks. Of course, we don’t. And it’s a sunny, wonderful day, and Rilke is interred in a vault on the southern side of the Burgkirche, which itself is built on a rock hundred meters above the floor of the valley. The views would be fantastic, and a light breeze would play with the pages of the tourist guide which tells about the local Rilke-wine and the XIIth-century town hall next to the church. A Rilke Pfad leads up there. Half-way there’s a bench. “Remember the bench?” I ask. We sit down. And now I have a really bad idea. I google for “Rilke translations,” and the first entry connects to a learned article by a certain Marjorie Perloff...
"Click"
Aug 21, 2019
Yesterday
Alex Hogan, the influential editor of Gay Flash Fiction, wonders where we are. Here we are, Alex, in the Valais, the Swiss region; this was the view from our chalet yesterday morning:
Aug 5, 2019
The Valais, yesterday (rhymes)
...with the Bietschhorn, the mountain that dominates our region, in the background.
Jul 28, 2019
Back in Switzerland -- yet again
The view from the chalet over the Valais -- yet again (yesterday evening):
Sep 8, 2018
Back home
We returned to France today. This was Bürchen, kissed by the autumn, yesterday. Photography by Jason Yoon, as always.
In the meantime, Michael signed a contract for a German publication of the GREEN EYES.
In the meantime, Michael signed a contract for a German publication of the GREEN EYES.
Aug 8, 2018
Aug 6, 2018
Jul 21, 2018
Jul 3, 2018
Jun 25, 2018
Jun 17, 2018
May 19, 2018
Apr 25, 2018
We've arrived
We arrived in Bürchen, CH, three hours ago, and it was 20° centigrade outside (27° below in the valley). The Alps looked like the Himalaya. Still do. Never seen so much snow in April. Happy to be here.
Aug 8, 2017
Aug 3, 2017
Aug 2, 2017
Trump Trump --- Tesla has arrived
Not all is lost, folks...
...up here on the alm in Bürchen, Switzerland, 1,600 meters above the White House and 6,000 kilometers to the east of it...this is already the second TESLA we encounter. And it doesn't run on gut feelings, or coal, or oil, or Twitter. No, it's powered by electric energy, tapped from solar panels on the roof of rich local chalet owners that can afford the Tesla S-class.
Jul 27, 2017
Jun 24, 2017
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