Poem for Saturday

"O Navis"
By Austin Dobson

SHIP, to the roadstead rolled,
  What dost thou?—O, once more
Regain the port. Behold!
  Thy sides are bare of oar,
  Thy tall mast wounded sore
Of Africus, and see,
  What shall thy spars restore!—
Tempt not thy tyrant sea!

What cable now will hold
  When all drag out from shore!
What god canst thou, too bold,
  In time of need implore!
  Look! for thy sails flap o’er,
Thy stiff shrouds part and flee,
  Fast—fast thy seams outpour,—
Tempt not the tyrant sea!

What though thy ribs of old
  The pines of Pontus bore!
Not now to stern of gold
  Men trust, or painted prore!
  Thou, or thou count’st it store
A toy of winds to be,
  Shun thou the Cyclads’ roar,—
Tempt not the tyrant sea!

ENVOY

Ship of the State, before
  A care, and now to me
A hope in my heart’s core,—
  Tempt not the tyrant sea!

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and I went to the early show of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was great fun -- Monty Python meets Dr. Who on crack. I haven't read the book in more than a decade, so I went in with few expectations and a willingness to be pleased, which I was; the casting is wonderful and the film hit on most of the highlights from the novel, though many of them were curtailed (and the forced romance caused the film to drag unnecessarily in spots). My entire family wants to see this one so I may even see it again over the weekend, since thunderstorms are forecast, which means that both the local azalea festival and the University of Maryland's celebration of education, sports and food in College Park may be abbreviated, cancelled or just not as much fun. If the weather is good, my younger son has soccer both days which will take up quite a bit of the weekend.

Today both kids went to their friend Omar's after school to play Runescape which the younger one had been barred from after lying about his homework but I'm not supposed to know that. We took the new van in for maintenance, which required both adults to drive so one could take the other home. Otherwise there was little excitement this evening besides by-kids'-request POTC DVD extras and some fighting with our Pirates of the Spanish Main ships.

: What 5 media (books/movies/tv show) universes would you want to visit if they were, you know, real?
I'm presuming actual unreal universes, rather than historical ones, so I haven't included Jack Aubrey's Woolcombe, Sharon Kay Penman's York, etc. Nor am I including Thursday Next's universe because I haven't explored all of it, though I am loving my visits in the books.
1. Avalon and Camelot from Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon.
2. Hogsmeade and Wizard London from Harry Potter.
3. The woods near Athens from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
4. Gondor, Rohan, Lothlorien, Mirkwood and the Shire from The Lord of the Rings.
5. The United Federation of Planets from Star Trek, including Earth, Bajor, Vulcan, Betazed and of course Risa. Preferably Picard's era, as it was still mighty sexist in Kirk's and I'd rather explore than be caught in the middle of the Dominion War.

: International Travel
1. You have the summer and plenty of money to travel abroad. Where all would you go? All over the British Isles, France, Spain and Italy. I'd love to see the rest of Europe but I doubt I could do it justice in a single summer and I'd rather spend quality time in one region than try to cram in everything in a few weeks.
2. What foods would you be sure you got to eat? I honestly don't care when I'm traveling; I like shopping in whatever city/town I'm staying in at the local store just to see what it carries. I love food, gourmet and lunch truck alike, and so long as I got some seafood, some chocolate and some really good bread, I'd be happy.
3. What landmarks would you be sure you got to see? I have a long list of churches, castles, art museums and historical sites, but I also want to pass through towns that aren't particularly notable for any of the above, nor for tourists, and just talk to people.
4. What airline would you use? Our frequent flier cards are for United but I don't really care so long as it's safe and as comfortable as coach ever is.
5. Would your knowledge of other languages influence where you went? (i.e. would you be more likely to go to France if you spoke French?) I do speak some French, I speak minimal Spanish and I don't speak a word of Italian, so not really.

: Name your favorite brands for the following products:
1. Cola: Dr. Brown's Black Cherry. (Of the major commercial brands, it's Coke over Pepsi by a huge margin.)
2. Sneakers: Nike fit me better than Reebok but I'm not all that picky.
3. Hair care: I'm allergic to a lot, so I tend to stick to Neutrogena and things I know won't make me itch.
4. Small electronics: My car CD player is Sony as is one of my VCRs; my cameras are Nikon; I'd have to do inventory to find out who made the portable CD players etc. in this house.
5. Automobile: Of the vehicles I have owned, two have been Toyotas and I have adored them both.


Masthead of the HMS Warrior, Portsmouth. (Goes with the poem.)