Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Angle Of Repose Of Corpses Redux





“The angle of repose or, more precisely, the critical angle of repose, of a granular material is the steepest angle of descent or dip of the slope relative to the horizontal plane when material on the slope face is on the verge of sliding. This angle is in the range 0°–90°.”









Books and DVDs aren’t granular
at least not exactly but they do share
the same angle of repose more or less
ninety degrees for both media types.

I own four Michael Crichton books and six
DVDs of Wes Craven movies and
nine DVDs by Ray Harryhausen.



Ninety degrees is not a gentle slope
and if I were going to tumble down
from one of these three piles I’d pick the pile
of Crichton books. They don’t have teenage girls
fighting for their life against a slasher
and they don’t have beautifully designed
stop-motion animation of puppets
but I have spent more time inside those books
than all the DVDs put together.

But books aren’t what they used to be and
movie analysts are afraid movies
are losing regular audiences.

Books and DVDs aren’t granular
and we’re not at least not exactly but
everything can get tossed into a pile.

Everything does get tossed into a pile
for a special occasion photograph
or when nobody wants it anymore.

Libraries are throwing away their books.

Movie studios are selling their films
for five dollars on convenience store shelves.

Work sets us free. Free to settle into
the what-we’re-made-of angle of repose.










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Ray Harryhausen:

Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger
It Came From Beneath The Sea
Earth Vs The Flying Saucers
20 Million Miles To Earth
Mysterious Island
First Men In The Moon



Wes Craven:

Nightmare On Elm Street
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scream 4



Michael Crichton:

Travels
Sphere
Congo
The Lost World



















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