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  Don Juan Canto 5

  Lord Byron

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  Juan, captured by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery is bought by a beautiful Princess as her toy-boy. Dressed as an odalisque, he is smuggled into the Sultan's harem for a steamy assignation. Unbelievably, Byron's publisher almost baulked at this feast of allusive irony, blasphemy (mild), calumny, scorn, lesse-majeste, cross-dressing, bestiality, assassination, circumcision and dwarf-tossing. This was the last Canto published by the stuffy John Murray (who had, however, made a tidy fortune on the earlier parts of the Epic). Although Byron's mood starts, after this, to grow darker and his bitterness at English hypocrisy to grow sharper, his discursive comedy and precise and intriguing rhyme is rarely better than in Canto V. (Summary by Peter Gallagher)

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  Tam O'Shanter - Burns had a way...

  Robert Burns

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  Many nations have produced outstanding poets who they would gladly have represent their Culture.  But can any Nation say they have an equivalent of Robbie Burns?  Rabbie. The Ploughman Poet.  The Bard (Of Scotland).  This one poet is indelibly linked and intertwined with the culture and people of Scotland.  His life, loves, politics, verse and songs speak as them and for them.  
  From humble roots, the eldest son of seven born in 1759 to parents, both from tenant farming stock, the family endured both hardship and poverty.   Burns endured the test and began to write first at 15 and to publish his first volume some two years later.    
  He wrote in both true Scottish, dialect and English as well as turning his hand to song.  Politically he was an inspiration to both liberalism and socialism as well as a Scottish parliament.  His unique ability enabled him to appeal to all and quite rightly to be viewed as the National poet.    
  As well as creating his own great works he was also an avid collector of Scottish Folk Songs preserving for posterity the works of others.  
  However his own life was short dying at the young age of only 37.   What further greatness would have lain before him is impossible to say.  But, poetically, on the day of his death his son, Maxwell was born.    
  His fame today is worldwide and celebrated in January each year with the Traditional Burns night.  Each New Years Eve friends and families the world over link arms to ‘Auld Lang Syne’, giving immortality to his words and aims.  
  As former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan says:  Burn’s poems dignify and illuminate the struggle faced by the vast majority of the world’s population today.

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  O Hollow Hollow Hollow

  W. S. Gilbert

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  LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of O Hollow Hollow Hollow by W.S. Gilbert. This was the Weekly Poetry project for January 8, 2012.Here is a poem by the "fleshly" poet, Bunthorne, from the opera Patience, by Gilbert and Sullivan. Who better to introduce it than the poet himself:BUNTHORNE. It is a wild, weird, fleshy thing; yet very tender, veryyearning, very precious. It is called, "Oh, Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"PATIENCE Is it a hunting song?BUNTHORNE. A hunting song? No, it is not a hunting song. It is thewail of the poet's heart on discovering that everything iscommonplace. To understand it, cling passionately to one anotherand think of faint lilies.Bunthorne was considered to have been modelled on Oscar Wilde, but more recent reseach has suggested that this claim is not correct. ( Summary by Algy Pug )

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  Until The Sky Runs Out of Rain

  Neil Bebber

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  Performed and Recorded at The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr on the 15th of September 2023.Following warnings of an imminent catastrophic flood, everyone has been evacuated except for Elsie and Bert, who stubbornly decided to stay put. As the wind howls and the increasingly heavy rain batters the windows outside, they sit on their bed enjoying their “picnic at the end of the world”, made from the entire contents of their freezer. Reminiscing about happier times in their candlelit sanctuary, they’re oblivious to the rapidly rising water levels downstairs. The next morning, woken by the sun shining through a gap in the curtains, Bert goes to the window to survey the damage. He throws open the curtains, then stands in stunned silence, naked and swaying, as he tries to comprehend the view that greets him.

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  I Was A Playboy Rabbit and Other...

  Jeff Rector

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  Jeff Rector is an American Actor, award-winning writer, director, producer, adventurer, stand-up comedian and Amazon best-selling author. He has appeared in over 150 television shows and motion pictures and has traveled to such exotic locations as Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Costa Rica.Jeff has worked with such stars Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Charlie Sheen, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Susan Sarandon and Tom Hanks to name a few. But Jeff doesn't like to name drop.He is a certified ski instructor and scuba diver and was trained by the LA Fire Department as a certified emergency response technician (C.E.R.T.) Jeff swam with sharks in Tahiti, water skied in Kowloon Bay and almost killed himself skydiving when he pulled the wrong ripcord.Jeff was a state and National speech champion in college and is an award-winning speaker with Toastmasters. He continues his passion for acting, filmmaking, writing, public speaking and stand-up comedy. He also enjoys teaching acting workshops to educate and inspire others. His community involvement includes serving on the boards of the Toluca Lake Neighborhood Council and the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission.I was a Playboy Rabbit and Other Adventures is the first of many books based on Jeff's life. It chronicles the five year period in the 80's when he lived and worked in New York City to pursue his dreams.Unhappy with his career in Los Angeles, Jeff moved to New York and worked as an actor,  model and stand-up comedian. Little did he know this would all culminate with an opportunity to work with Playboy Enterprises and the iconic, legendary Hugh Hefner.Jeff unknowingly would become the envy of every guy in Manhattan when he landed the job of being a Playboy Rabbit, the male version of the a Playboy Bunny at the world-famous Playboy Empire Club. Jeff would enjoy all the celebrity that would come from that position.These are just a few of his interesting and often humorous stories.

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  After the Fire - A Memoir in...

  J. A. Jance

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  New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance's heartrending collection of poetry and essays recounts a dark chapter of her own life, her first marriage to an alcoholic—a powerful look at the emotional cost of addiction and an inspiring story of courage and triumph in the wake of crushing defeat 
  Before she found fame as a bestselling mystery author, Judith Jance wrestled with the anguish of being married to an alcoholic. For years she channeled her pain into words, composing the poems in this moving volume, first published in 1984, a year before her debut novel. 
  In searing and direct language, After the Fire chronicles the collapse of Jance's first marriage under the weight of her husband's addiction—and her own unwitting denial and codependence while she struggled to find herself. "I will not be the price of your redemption," she wrote then. "I will not pay my life to ransom yours." 
  An intimate, deeply personal look into a wrenching time in Jance's life, After the Fire is a portrait of addiction and its insidious effects on lives and love. It illuminates universal truths about unbearable loss and finding the courage to carry on, and offers inspiration and profound insight into the heart and work of a beloved bestselling author.

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