In the wake of yesterday’s Kabul Airport bombing, seems necessary to point readers towards this expert discussion of the Taliban. The now government’s aims and objectives, though fundamentalist, are served in no way through acts of terrorism at home or abroad. Equally, you can’t blame them for assuming that anyone who aided the western powers and remains in Afghanistan may well be a spy and harmful to their objectives. Shameful and unconscionable this wasn’t glaringly obvious to a British government after President Biden’s April 14 announcement of withdrawal. Let alone the terrorist elements opposed to the Taliban government’s negotiations with the West.
Thursday, 26 August 2021
Thursday, 27 May 2021
CREATURES OF THE WORLD UNITE!
AVOID BELARUS AIRSPACE.
YOU KNOW WHERE TO SHIT!
CREATURES OF THE WORLD UNITE! (Comrade Len-in-Fur)
Birds of Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/birds_of_instagram/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/birds_adored/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/birds/?hl=en
Sunday, 7 March 2021
Simple are the ways we touch the heart....
If this were to be the everlasting LUCRESLONDON post, then, and only spoken 'if', then I'd want it to be uplifting and not…whatever state the world is/was in. Actually, I don't mind Boris. Though I find his 'elk' somewhat contemptuous. Brexit is a disaster, in mine opinion. There you go… Haven't read Boris' Churchill book. Almost turned up at your NYC book launch! Aren't we both lucky THAT never happened:) Only in New York! Oh, and btw- I have been a Brit citizen since, somewhere 2004. The process took so long..I forget..a bit like entering the UK under Covid and waiting in line for 8 hours. Like some half-dead creature in the chimney being legitimized. Then all the blood runs out…. Though all of this 'cause Angelina Jolie's Churchill painting sale. So methinks I get $1,000: cause the guy who consulted the guy consulted the cat who consulted the rat who consulted the pheasant under the bed……..ahhhh keept it Ang…you clearly need it. We have Picassos, Braques, Chagalls, and all that…:_
Immediately I thought of that great BBC ratings series Fake or Fortune and proving their Churchill was real. And after all that research (which is what made/makes that series so indelible) that the 'go to' Churchill expert still wasn't quite convinced. [Speaking as a detective: sure the old gal could have been bribed when she spake that Churchill gave her artist husband cigars in return for tubes of paint, as he had run out on that little corner opposite their art shop] Well. that BBC series puts him in very good company with the most formidable 'judges' of art in the world. And what that series proves beyond any doubt (in mine own pond) is that these experts have a lot of reputation to lose. German master faker Beltracci admitted in an interview how stupid/careless he was using retrospective pigments such as Titanium white in the 'fake' that 'done him in'. He probably would have got his Venetian palazzo if it were't for such carelessness. Suffice to say: art like life is a very messy business. Don't give up life. Don't give up art. But maybe…. "the art of making art…" ....
Trying' to wrap up on a happy note Ricky Gervais. But as you well know that is so far from easy. I couldn't watch more than one or two eps at a time of The Office. So depressingly funny! And what was that episode, can't remember the characters when one girl was off to America and was it Merchant's character said, well if things don't work out you'll always have a job here. I just cried! Even more so now I know what America is like! And now we have Met police handcuffing and arresting women in a peaceful vigil for Sarah Everard, abducted and murdered by a police officer! What world are we living in? And now this report just in:
Can't imagine Met Police chief Cressida Dick condones this. But where does the buck stop? The Menezes case was unequivocally outrageous if one looks carefully at the details. A highly trained firearms officer basically blasting away in a close proximity underground carriage when all that was needed was one shot. Let alone…And no-one can blame the British tax-payers who pay police wages asking: has anything been learnt over the years? That's not an unfair question. American police have a problem too. I overheard some cops talking after the George Floyd riots, "and we just have to take it and do nothing". There are always two sides. And PACE areas in London where basically human rights of free movement are suspended so as police can stop and search without any provocation. That happened to me. Absolutely no cause/reason. Handcuffed and carted away at 5am. My only crime, to put out recycling, go for a walk, and have an empty tote bag under my shoulder before going into the West End for a Yoga class. And 15seconds from my doorstep. What if I had a dog? I don't forgive. Nor should anyone else in that situation. What forgiveness could there possibly be for the trauma that follows. Buddhism is fine so long as shit doesn't fly your way. Then the world is a different place. As it is most probably for those arrested at that vigil. "Rioters,' you have got to be kidding. But violence begets violence.
Saturday, 13 February 2021
What price LOVE!
In the next few hours at this time last year 2020 on the eve of Valentine's Day TV presenter and performer Caroline Flack suicided. A woman (but a girl at heart) who radiated nothing but joy to millions of viewers. Hung by a British tabloid press hand in glove with a criminal justice system sorely in need of investigation. Shame on you all.
A reminder of her joy, enthusiasm and that rare gift of communication to millions. Not to mention Strictly Come Dancing.
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Caroline Flack: the Greek tragedy that should never was...
'Andrew' and Kitty wish for a better world...
Our father..
here's to the mess we make...
purr-fect score
once upon a time...
Our father..
here's to the mess we make...
purr-fect score
once upon a time...
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Ne me quitte pas….
I wish there was a special place for troubled celebrities to retreat to like an animal sanctuary. A Love Island that one could be whisked away to, cared for, loved without all the media judgment. Did people see Harmony Korine's film Mister Lonely? No celebrity worth that accolade would mind sharing their experiences with so-called normal troubled 'folk'. But in this social media-driven world it just isn't really possible. We are all human.
We all 'fuck up'! Can any of you out there say that you haven't? Only, when you piss your pants on stage at the Grammy's or whatever it really is a totally different ballgame.
Is America any different to Britain? I thought it was, but the longer one experiences the 'American dream' the more you realize exactly what it is based upon. When you screw up the jackals are there before yesterday. It makes headlines. Money. Power moves. It is an unforgiving dream. It is all the 'yellow brick road' or nothing. That's where great songwriters come into play. Have you ever heard a great song that doesn't sing to your failures rather than successes? ! Not really. There is always pain. The human condition.
Wish I had the money to set up an island of healing. A secret garden of wounded wonderful wacky creatures.
Ne me quitte pas….
there was a time...
We all 'fuck up'! Can any of you out there say that you haven't? Only, when you piss your pants on stage at the Grammy's or whatever it really is a totally different ballgame.
Is America any different to Britain? I thought it was, but the longer one experiences the 'American dream' the more you realize exactly what it is based upon. When you screw up the jackals are there before yesterday. It makes headlines. Money. Power moves. It is an unforgiving dream. It is all the 'yellow brick road' or nothing. That's where great songwriters come into play. Have you ever heard a great song that doesn't sing to your failures rather than successes? ! Not really. There is always pain. The human condition.
Wish I had the money to set up an island of healing. A secret garden of wounded wonderful wacky creatures.
Ne me quitte pas….
there was a time...
Caroline Flack (1979-2020)
Found this wonderful 45min of Caroline Flack interviewed about her clothing line for River Island. Easy to see why she became so famous and beloved, I wasn't bored for a second.
[Feb 19: Caroline Flack's unpublished Instagram post released by family]
Was thinking some more about the Crown Prosecution Service and the trial for her alleged assault. No-one or celebrity is above the law. Yet celebrities just aren't equal otherwise they wouldn't be celebrities. So to say a trial would be in the public interest is very debatable for that very reason. Juries are juries, judges judges, we are all human. In this case, though, we have an alleged assault (not a murder) on a minor celeb boyfriend by a major celeb with the boyfriend not wishing for further action. Agreed CPS, the victim could have been bought off, pressure brought to bear etc and that isn't in the public interest to ignore such an incident..
And yet. Trials are expensive and paid for by the British taxpayer. Shouldn't there be another road to travel down for such cases? A closed mediation and assessment by peers and clinical professionals? And if all else fails and there seems 'foul play' then go to trial? Of course, the CPS would argue that is why they decided to trial the Caroline Flack case because they believed evidence of wrong doing was overwhelming.
I'm not arguing for a 'be nice to celebrity screw ups' camp, I would argue that for every citizen. Simply most celebrities are more or less brittle and vulnerable and THAT is why the public are drawn to them. (Caroline says that in the above interview about the best Love Island contestants.) The public want to see a version of themselves. Someone relatable. Not some pompous twit or genius pretending to know what normal life is like. They see something or a lot of themselves. Ironically, normal people become celebrated for their normality. Only, normal folk don't have the minutiae of their lives under a microscope. You heat that living organism too high under that gaze then it will simply die and/or mutate.
And I totally related to someone interviewed on Brit breakfast telly when she said that when depressed you feel you a burden to friends when you talk about your state of mind. I totally agree. I think it is worse in America where everything ought to be 'a good day' and of course rarely is for anyone. Aren't friends/family better listeners than professionals? No, not always. And yet the depressed person feels even further ignored when the folk around them don't seem to care or are rather bland in their 'cheer up' it will all be fine response. Have another cocktail!
Americans (and it is a generalization but one I've found to be true on some many occasions) want to know all about you but not really some of who you are. Inside without all the so-called facts and/or hearsay. There is most often a huge difference. I don't mean that to sound cruel or suggest that people are uncaring. Simply that it seems so ingrained into human interaction.
The difference I think in America to the U.K. is that you don't have, what they call in Australia 'the tall poppy syndrome' : if they grow too tall cut 'em down, make them cognizant of their own mortality. Of who put you there. That has certainly been proven a necessity for some celebs, but I would argue not for most.
I still don't understand America except that it is led by the dollar. Always has been. That given, a huge network of grassroots individuals and organizations have sustained over the decades a watchful eye on the excesses of capitalism. The irony for celebrities in America is that if 'the tall poppy syndrome' comes into effect then a media outlet is attacking the very revenue that sustains itself. That's not to say it is any different to the U.K. media in making money out of high profile individual demise. Only that, the media (social and print) in America don't wait outside one's door for a curtain or boob to fall. It simply isn't an ergonomic use of resources rather than any moral correlative.
Which brings us back to the PEOPLE and their vote. Look at what happened to the 'uninformed' in Britain and Brexit manipulated in a far more cunning technological way than ever seen before with the LEAVE campaign, ironically ultimately bankrolled by an American.
There is a sea-change in the world, and not just literally. One can observe how now easily promulgated are far-right wing and anti-Semitic views etc. all over the world. Yet it is the same technological means of promulgation that allows formerly voiceless peoples of understanding and tolerance to speak. Very loudly, boldly, passionately. Equally, that same promulgation, finally enabling a voice to sexually exploited females and males.
What would Marshall McLuhan have to say today about "The medium is the message"? A lot! McLuhan describes in Understanding Media the "content" of a medium as a juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.
So what is the connection with Caroline Flack to all of this? Caroline was self-admittedly a 'people-person'. That is just apparently who she was. I haven't lived in the U.K. for almost 10 years (though officially a citizen, not without pride!) so totally unknowledgeable of Caroline's exploits. It seems, though, after informed of an assault trial she feared that 'the medium' would take over. That she would have no content/message to offer because there would be no popular support ever again. She seemed a very smart, savvy girl (with loads of genuine friends) and on a better night in her life (the assault) would have surmounted whatever emotional turmoil raged within her. Emotional and physical exhaustion happens to us all.
Humans (and animals) do very, very strange unpredictable things. Like the oak tree that when crowded out of its sunlight by other trees above, grows absolutely useless branches way low down. The tree is literally screaming, crying for help it will never receive.
Caroline Flack could never be deemed a 'a piece of meat' for the media. As far as can be ascertained she never manipulated the 'medium' allowing her burglar into U.K. homes. She had no ulterior motive entering with her friendliness, love of chat, love of working earning an honest living from that.
Hollywood/streaming studio heads spoke to The Hollywood Reporter recently and the overriding sea-change for them was 'the people'. They are the ones now deciding what gets seen. Yet the medium is taking on an even more crucial role than ever before. Gatekeeper is now about inhabiting not exhibiting one's green light decisions, allowing creative creatures the opportunity to grow in the light outside the cave in voices rarely heard before. Burglars into peoples' minds giving them gifts of insight, knowledge, curiosity rather than forcing beliefs from them. Maybe it doesn't always work, but at least you tried.
People liked Caroline Flack because she inhabited something real to them. Sure one can sell 'fake' it works all the time, though arguably less and less.
Maybe I should stop before getting into trouble….!
Of course there is far more to life than reality TV shows. The fact that many ARE life, though, can't be ignored. Nor the suicides of two recent Love Island contestants who lived 'the dream'. Back to the film Mister Lonely. Where do you go when you lived however briefly a life less ordinary? Has every one seen Ricky Gervais' Extras (Season 2) ? and there's a brilliant cameo by David Bowie when Ricky's allowed (well booted out then bribing back in) the VIP area (star of a BBC1 equivalent sitcom compromising his artistic integrity). Ricky confesses his frustration to Bowie and the legend improvises a satirical song about him. Ricky then returns to the pub from whence he ran to the haven of 'havin a laugh' fans and selfles.
All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.- Goethe
photo: Andrew Lucre
Found this wonderful 45min of Caroline Flack interviewed about her clothing line for River Island. Easy to see why she became so famous and beloved, I wasn't bored for a second.
[Feb 19: Caroline Flack's unpublished Instagram post released by family]
Was thinking some more about the Crown Prosecution Service and the trial for her alleged assault. No-one or celebrity is above the law. Yet celebrities just aren't equal otherwise they wouldn't be celebrities. So to say a trial would be in the public interest is very debatable for that very reason. Juries are juries, judges judges, we are all human. In this case, though, we have an alleged assault (not a murder) on a minor celeb boyfriend by a major celeb with the boyfriend not wishing for further action. Agreed CPS, the victim could have been bought off, pressure brought to bear etc and that isn't in the public interest to ignore such an incident..
And yet. Trials are expensive and paid for by the British taxpayer. Shouldn't there be another road to travel down for such cases? A closed mediation and assessment by peers and clinical professionals? And if all else fails and there seems 'foul play' then go to trial? Of course, the CPS would argue that is why they decided to trial the Caroline Flack case because they believed evidence of wrong doing was overwhelming.
I'm not arguing for a 'be nice to celebrity screw ups' camp, I would argue that for every citizen. Simply most celebrities are more or less brittle and vulnerable and THAT is why the public are drawn to them. (Caroline says that in the above interview about the best Love Island contestants.) The public want to see a version of themselves. Someone relatable. Not some pompous twit or genius pretending to know what normal life is like. They see something or a lot of themselves. Ironically, normal people become celebrated for their normality. Only, normal folk don't have the minutiae of their lives under a microscope. You heat that living organism too high under that gaze then it will simply die and/or mutate.
And I totally related to someone interviewed on Brit breakfast telly when she said that when depressed you feel you a burden to friends when you talk about your state of mind. I totally agree. I think it is worse in America where everything ought to be 'a good day' and of course rarely is for anyone. Aren't friends/family better listeners than professionals? No, not always. And yet the depressed person feels even further ignored when the folk around them don't seem to care or are rather bland in their 'cheer up' it will all be fine response. Have another cocktail!
Americans (and it is a generalization but one I've found to be true on some many occasions) want to know all about you but not really some of who you are. Inside without all the so-called facts and/or hearsay. There is most often a huge difference. I don't mean that to sound cruel or suggest that people are uncaring. Simply that it seems so ingrained into human interaction.
The difference I think in America to the U.K. is that you don't have, what they call in Australia 'the tall poppy syndrome' : if they grow too tall cut 'em down, make them cognizant of their own mortality. Of who put you there. That has certainly been proven a necessity for some celebs, but I would argue not for most.
I still don't understand America except that it is led by the dollar. Always has been. That given, a huge network of grassroots individuals and organizations have sustained over the decades a watchful eye on the excesses of capitalism. The irony for celebrities in America is that if 'the tall poppy syndrome' comes into effect then a media outlet is attacking the very revenue that sustains itself. That's not to say it is any different to the U.K. media in making money out of high profile individual demise. Only that, the media (social and print) in America don't wait outside one's door for a curtain or boob to fall. It simply isn't an ergonomic use of resources rather than any moral correlative.
Which brings us back to the PEOPLE and their vote. Look at what happened to the 'uninformed' in Britain and Brexit manipulated in a far more cunning technological way than ever seen before with the LEAVE campaign, ironically ultimately bankrolled by an American.
There is a sea-change in the world, and not just literally. One can observe how now easily promulgated are far-right wing and anti-Semitic views etc. all over the world. Yet it is the same technological means of promulgation that allows formerly voiceless peoples of understanding and tolerance to speak. Very loudly, boldly, passionately. Equally, that same promulgation, finally enabling a voice to sexually exploited females and males.
What would Marshall McLuhan have to say today about "The medium is the message"? A lot! McLuhan describes in Understanding Media the "content" of a medium as a juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.
So what is the connection with Caroline Flack to all of this? Caroline was self-admittedly a 'people-person'. That is just apparently who she was. I haven't lived in the U.K. for almost 10 years (though officially a citizen, not without pride!) so totally unknowledgeable of Caroline's exploits. It seems, though, after informed of an assault trial she feared that 'the medium' would take over. That she would have no content/message to offer because there would be no popular support ever again. She seemed a very smart, savvy girl (with loads of genuine friends) and on a better night in her life (the assault) would have surmounted whatever emotional turmoil raged within her. Emotional and physical exhaustion happens to us all.
Humans (and animals) do very, very strange unpredictable things. Like the oak tree that when crowded out of its sunlight by other trees above, grows absolutely useless branches way low down. The tree is literally screaming, crying for help it will never receive.
Caroline Flack could never be deemed a 'a piece of meat' for the media. As far as can be ascertained she never manipulated the 'medium' allowing her burglar into U.K. homes. She had no ulterior motive entering with her friendliness, love of chat, love of working earning an honest living from that.
Hollywood/streaming studio heads spoke to The Hollywood Reporter recently and the overriding sea-change for them was 'the people'. They are the ones now deciding what gets seen. Yet the medium is taking on an even more crucial role than ever before. Gatekeeper is now about inhabiting not exhibiting one's green light decisions, allowing creative creatures the opportunity to grow in the light outside the cave in voices rarely heard before. Burglars into peoples' minds giving them gifts of insight, knowledge, curiosity rather than forcing beliefs from them. Maybe it doesn't always work, but at least you tried.
People liked Caroline Flack because she inhabited something real to them. Sure one can sell 'fake' it works all the time, though arguably less and less.
Maybe I should stop before getting into trouble….!
Of course there is far more to life than reality TV shows. The fact that many ARE life, though, can't be ignored. Nor the suicides of two recent Love Island contestants who lived 'the dream'. Back to the film Mister Lonely. Where do you go when you lived however briefly a life less ordinary? Has every one seen Ricky Gervais' Extras (Season 2) ? and there's a brilliant cameo by David Bowie when Ricky's allowed (well booted out then bribing back in) the VIP area (star of a BBC1 equivalent sitcom compromising his artistic integrity). Ricky confesses his frustration to Bowie and the legend improvises a satirical song about him. Ricky then returns to the pub from whence he ran to the haven of 'havin a laugh' fans and selfles.
All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.- Goethe
Thursday, 9 January 2020
MOO RIVER
Prince Harry and Meghan are so so brave aren't they, choosing love and the survival of a relationship over all else? Money and fame can ease a helluva lot of pain but ultimately it never makes anyone: happy.
Andrew and all his imaginary (and real animals!) wish them well on their journey.
Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me
As a P.S. to this post:
I didn't know anything about this Mail on Sunday "Instagram animal thing'. Truly I didn't when I posted the above. Does anyone honestly believe that Prince Harry would intentionally manipulate images of animals to glorify himself? ! Get real. And you wonder why the Royal couple stepped down from their duties. I actually find it deeply personally offensive that a British newspaper could insinuate that Prince Harry would be in any way betray his beliefs in wildlife and climate preservation. I have no problem with reporting factual correct info as did The Mail on Sunday. But cut the sanctimonious 'bs' of reveling in Royal 'bs'.
Attack privilege by all means. But not belief. Has anyone seen that episode of The Good Place where they don't understand why really 'good people' don't earn enough points to get into the 'GOOD PLACE' ? So they go to Canada (yes this is real in TV land:) to meet the man who would walk naked after the rain so that the mosquitoes didn't go hungry.
Please leave Harry alone you MFFFFF's and get a life. Most of you wouldn't have enough points to arise from your own dog turd to get into any life above what you live.
I know you all and will awhile uphold....
As a PPS : that iconic photo o Dorothea Lange- Migrant Mother. I've cited this example before, before. But new to many. The subject in question bore something like 6-8 kids. MoMA actually did a brave show whiles ago analysing this. All the contact sheets were presented. But 1 migrant MUM and 2 hungry kids worked as an icon. As a photo. As a belief. I always have deep suspicion about war photos/the exotic etc etc . And the great snappers of those realms speak honestly and lucidly about how they cannot be humanitarians in such situation.
Many will disagree. Honestly: it isn't that hard to get an award winning photo from such situations. What is hard is actually have bravery to be there, be observant. Be, not detached, simply workmanlike. Dressing the wound. Though you don't. Observe it. Weep inside.
Andrew and all his imaginary (and real animals!) wish them well on their journey.
Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way
Two drifters, off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me
As a P.S. to this post:
I didn't know anything about this Mail on Sunday "Instagram animal thing'. Truly I didn't when I posted the above. Does anyone honestly believe that Prince Harry would intentionally manipulate images of animals to glorify himself? ! Get real. And you wonder why the Royal couple stepped down from their duties. I actually find it deeply personally offensive that a British newspaper could insinuate that Prince Harry would be in any way betray his beliefs in wildlife and climate preservation. I have no problem with reporting factual correct info as did The Mail on Sunday. But cut the sanctimonious 'bs' of reveling in Royal 'bs'.
Attack privilege by all means. But not belief. Has anyone seen that episode of The Good Place where they don't understand why really 'good people' don't earn enough points to get into the 'GOOD PLACE' ? So they go to Canada (yes this is real in TV land:) to meet the man who would walk naked after the rain so that the mosquitoes didn't go hungry.
Please leave Harry alone you MFFFFF's and get a life. Most of you wouldn't have enough points to arise from your own dog turd to get into any life above what you live.
I know you all and will awhile uphold....
As a PPS : that iconic photo o Dorothea Lange- Migrant Mother. I've cited this example before, before. But new to many. The subject in question bore something like 6-8 kids. MoMA actually did a brave show whiles ago analysing this. All the contact sheets were presented. But 1 migrant MUM and 2 hungry kids worked as an icon. As a photo. As a belief. I always have deep suspicion about war photos/the exotic etc etc . And the great snappers of those realms speak honestly and lucidly about how they cannot be humanitarians in such situation.
Many will disagree. Honestly: it isn't that hard to get an award winning photo from such situations. What is hard is actually have bravery to be there, be observant. Be, not detached, simply workmanlike. Dressing the wound. Though you don't. Observe it. Weep inside.
Monday, 9 September 2019
The Return of Sisyphus!
Gladiator, Spartacus, Napoleon, neh Bambi: but who the 'f' was Sisyphus!!!!!
In a World (who said a movie about movie trailer voiceovers could't ever be fuck u …amazing...)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is maybe Sisyphus, is maybe Bruce Willis, is maybe Dolph Lungren, is maybe Jackie Chan. Maybe: Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Aisling Bea, Samantha Bee Bee Bee Buzz, Amy Sedaris (as maybe a rock lizard, of course. impersonating Peter Ustinov at RADA just sitting numb flicking their tongue). Of course: Sarah 'Silverback' Silverman (..as the doubting Cactus High Priest…). Greta Gerwig as the cobra. Lily Taylor as 'the wind'. Ellen Burstyn as 'the night descending'…
We'll all soundin' like Lerner and Lowe's The Little Prince now.
Ahhh…happy families….
Boris Johnson: small but very well formed part as 'the other insignificant rock'. See what marketing experience me gainesed in America! BAFTA guaranteed Boris. Trust me.
And I was Beautiful...
SIS is maybe a better title. All sorts of possible jokes there. Don't steal the idea you 'mothers'! Some zeros on the left side of the decimal point rather than the right would be appreciated:) The Great Escape meets Mikio Naruse meets Ricky Gervais meets Vincente Minnelli meets Mel Brooks all downed with a bottle of tequila.
**** SPOILER ALERT ******
Final scene.
Ext. Sunset.
All the characters are sat in a circle. Silent and still. Six feet behind them the sea is lapping all around. A huge boulder sits precariously on an unlevel mound of earth in the middle of the circle. Some characters extremities are very close to touching, others not. Some have a look as if asking "what did I do wrong, when I did everything right in this relationship". Some gently smile. Some are very close to tears but resist.
CU (Boulder POV):
Sisyphus stares at the boulder with the sun setting behind him. Some of its specks of dust get caught by the wind. We see the little particles dissipate into the air. We track a couple heading toward Sisyphus' face. He uses it as a excuse to wipe away a tear, but the wind has already caught it carrying the water droplet. It does not fall but dances in the sky like a dandelion seed.
SFX zoom out:
Slow zoom out revealing the enormous sea and the little island of characters. The sea has no waves anymore. The tear droplet sparkles like a gemstone. The strings of a small celtic harp are heard. The camera continues zooming out. We can barely see the droplet or the island. They are but specks of light as the evening light draws in. There is no credit roll simply a 3-5 minute slow zoom out like a Sugimoto photo. The camera passes through a dark haze finally revealing the silhouette of a small child seen by what looks like a water's edge, the camera continuing to zoom back into eternity. The figure picks up a pebble, throws it to skim across the water's surface.
It keeps skimming. And skimming. And skimming.
Cut to black.
The End.
[as a P.S.- this idea is growing on me. FOR REAL! Live action animation. And the 'i' in Sis would look great on the poster as a boulder for the dotted 'i' etc etc. There would be loads of great parts for everyone with no part really any greater than another. The women would be equal to the men or at least be allowed a 'fighting chance'. No violence, no swear words except sorta The Good Place made up swear words.]
In a World (who said a movie about movie trailer voiceovers could't ever be fuck u …amazing...)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is maybe Sisyphus, is maybe Bruce Willis, is maybe Dolph Lungren, is maybe Jackie Chan. Maybe: Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Aisling Bea, Samantha Bee Bee Bee Buzz, Amy Sedaris (as maybe a rock lizard, of course. impersonating Peter Ustinov at RADA just sitting numb flicking their tongue). Of course: Sarah 'Silverback' Silverman (..as the doubting Cactus High Priest…). Greta Gerwig as the cobra. Lily Taylor as 'the wind'. Ellen Burstyn as 'the night descending'…
We'll all soundin' like Lerner and Lowe's The Little Prince now.
Ahhh…happy families….
Boris Johnson: small but very well formed part as 'the other insignificant rock'. See what marketing experience me gainesed in America! BAFTA guaranteed Boris. Trust me.
And I was Beautiful...
SIS is maybe a better title. All sorts of possible jokes there. Don't steal the idea you 'mothers'! Some zeros on the left side of the decimal point rather than the right would be appreciated:) The Great Escape meets Mikio Naruse meets Ricky Gervais meets Vincente Minnelli meets Mel Brooks all downed with a bottle of tequila.
**** SPOILER ALERT ******
Final scene.
Ext. Sunset.
All the characters are sat in a circle. Silent and still. Six feet behind them the sea is lapping all around. A huge boulder sits precariously on an unlevel mound of earth in the middle of the circle. Some characters extremities are very close to touching, others not. Some have a look as if asking "what did I do wrong, when I did everything right in this relationship". Some gently smile. Some are very close to tears but resist.
CU (Boulder POV):
Sisyphus stares at the boulder with the sun setting behind him. Some of its specks of dust get caught by the wind. We see the little particles dissipate into the air. We track a couple heading toward Sisyphus' face. He uses it as a excuse to wipe away a tear, but the wind has already caught it carrying the water droplet. It does not fall but dances in the sky like a dandelion seed.
SFX zoom out:
Slow zoom out revealing the enormous sea and the little island of characters. The sea has no waves anymore. The tear droplet sparkles like a gemstone. The strings of a small celtic harp are heard. The camera continues zooming out. We can barely see the droplet or the island. They are but specks of light as the evening light draws in. There is no credit roll simply a 3-5 minute slow zoom out like a Sugimoto photo. The camera passes through a dark haze finally revealing the silhouette of a small child seen by what looks like a water's edge, the camera continuing to zoom back into eternity. The figure picks up a pebble, throws it to skim across the water's surface.
It keeps skimming. And skimming. And skimming.
Cut to black.
The End.
[as a P.S.- this idea is growing on me. FOR REAL! Live action animation. And the 'i' in Sis would look great on the poster as a boulder for the dotted 'i' etc etc. There would be loads of great parts for everyone with no part really any greater than another. The women would be equal to the men or at least be allowed a 'fighting chance'. No violence, no swear words except sorta The Good Place made up swear words.]
Sunday, 28 April 2019
The White House Correspondents' Dinner 2019
The White House Correspondents' Dinner 2019
Realising this blog has become an infrequent visitor over the past years, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all those who supported the idea since its inception. Some, strangely, even embraced it! One journalist seemed to delight in belittling me and humiliating me at ever possible turn. Belittle the words by all means but not the wordsmith.
Not ever easy and ironically if it weren't for my woeful transport experiences the blog would never have been born. Then I thought maybe this could grow into something rather than be still-born.
I hope I was always fair-minded. And while any amount of gratis food and wine at film screenings might have made my mind merrier than arrival from the outside world, my judgment could never be clouded.
It became way way too long but then I rightly felt an obligation to reciprocate a PR's invitation and give coverage. I still believe that.
When author/historian Ron Chernow last night extolled the virtues of student and local and independent journalism, remember that the average New Yorker, let alone American, had no idea of underground trains derailing, trains stuck in tunnels and the severe mental stress all this caused many. Nor the powers of London's Metropolitan Police and their 'PACE' areas of stop and search. Nor the local reasons for Brexit. Nor the British Government and the D-Notice.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41849256
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/stop-and-search-knife-crime-uk-police-government-a8846406.html
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/what-is-a-dnotice-debunking-claims-the-media-is-being-gagged-over-the-grenfell-fire-35834435.html
Equally, Londoners would have no idea of say corruption in Rockland County or the suicide of Nicole Katherine Orttung (21) a promising young Columbia University student journalist. Nor this story from student journalists.
I hasten to add, one must use Noam Chomsky due diligence when believing anything in the media.
Do these films have anything in common?
Arbitrage
Unsane
Oranges and Sunshine
A Place in the Sun
Beast
Dark Places
Venom
In and Out
Charade
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
I Feel Pretty
First Reformed
The Towering Inferno
Chronic
Realising this blog has become an infrequent visitor over the past years, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all those who supported the idea since its inception. Some, strangely, even embraced it! One journalist seemed to delight in belittling me and humiliating me at ever possible turn. Belittle the words by all means but not the wordsmith.
Not ever easy and ironically if it weren't for my woeful transport experiences the blog would never have been born. Then I thought maybe this could grow into something rather than be still-born.
I hope I was always fair-minded. And while any amount of gratis food and wine at film screenings might have made my mind merrier than arrival from the outside world, my judgment could never be clouded.
It became way way too long but then I rightly felt an obligation to reciprocate a PR's invitation and give coverage. I still believe that.
When author/historian Ron Chernow last night extolled the virtues of student and local and independent journalism, remember that the average New Yorker, let alone American, had no idea of underground trains derailing, trains stuck in tunnels and the severe mental stress all this caused many. Nor the powers of London's Metropolitan Police and their 'PACE' areas of stop and search. Nor the local reasons for Brexit. Nor the British Government and the D-Notice.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41849256
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/stop-and-search-knife-crime-uk-police-government-a8846406.html
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/what-is-a-dnotice-debunking-claims-the-media-is-being-gagged-over-the-grenfell-fire-35834435.html
Equally, Londoners would have no idea of say corruption in Rockland County or the suicide of Nicole Katherine Orttung (21) a promising young Columbia University student journalist. Nor this story from student journalists.
I hasten to add, one must use Noam Chomsky due diligence when believing anything in the media.
Do these films have anything in common?
Arbitrage
Unsane
Oranges and Sunshine
A Place in the Sun
Beast
Dark Places
Venom
In and Out
Charade
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
I Feel Pretty
First Reformed
The Towering Inferno
Chronic
Thursday, 18 October 2018
British voice coach gets recognised on American radio!
Cicely Frances Berry CBE (17 May 1926 – 15 October 2018)
My voice teacher (not singing teacher) in Sydney worshiped Cicely Berry. Thence so did I. That lovely man who shall remain nameless (well this is the internet for zounds!) was always a little harsh on actors who wanted a fast track to film stardom forsaking voice coaching. And for some it's totally fine. I don't think Jack Palance did a voice warm up in his entire career! :) Some debate 'muscle memory'- I totally believe in it and has saved me from hobbling around as a non-20 year old that I still sometimes sanely/delusional think I am. Sure Baryshnikov concurs with that sentiment;)
Voice is the same. When that coaching really comes into play is when you are dead-tired/screwed up/terrified/whatever and you have to speak dialogue. Even if it's just one line to Robert Redford in a movie THAT'S where Cicely Berry is your savior. You won't sound like sandpaper, unless that is your intention in which case you will not sound like a stick scraping along concrete.
I am so thankful I took voice coaching. It will stay with you forever. It's so easy to be lazy when you are young; easier when one is old, discuss:) ?
I happen to listen to a fair bit of student radio. Woah! Do they all need voice coaching! I once interviewed a very famous coloratura soprano and she was gobsmacked when she found a teacher who helped discover her upper vocal range. Hitherto she just never believed that voice in her could be there.
Then there was the young singer in a new world famous musical....but that's for the memoirs...
I refuse to go on a desert island with celebs who sqander'd all their money and are forced to eat creepy-crawlies!
SHOUT OUT LOUD (but with training….)
My voice teacher (not singing teacher) in Sydney worshiped Cicely Berry. Thence so did I. That lovely man who shall remain nameless (well this is the internet for zounds!) was always a little harsh on actors who wanted a fast track to film stardom forsaking voice coaching. And for some it's totally fine. I don't think Jack Palance did a voice warm up in his entire career! :) Some debate 'muscle memory'- I totally believe in it and has saved me from hobbling around as a non-20 year old that I still sometimes sanely/delusional think I am. Sure Baryshnikov concurs with that sentiment;)
Voice is the same. When that coaching really comes into play is when you are dead-tired/screwed up/terrified/whatever and you have to speak dialogue. Even if it's just one line to Robert Redford in a movie THAT'S where Cicely Berry is your savior. You won't sound like sandpaper, unless that is your intention in which case you will not sound like a stick scraping along concrete.
I am so thankful I took voice coaching. It will stay with you forever. It's so easy to be lazy when you are young; easier when one is old, discuss:) ?
I happen to listen to a fair bit of student radio. Woah! Do they all need voice coaching! I once interviewed a very famous coloratura soprano and she was gobsmacked when she found a teacher who helped discover her upper vocal range. Hitherto she just never believed that voice in her could be there.
Then there was the young singer in a new world famous musical....but that's for the memoirs...
I refuse to go on a desert island with celebs who sqander'd all their money and are forced to eat creepy-crawlies!
SHOUT OUT LOUD (but with training….)
Thursday, 27 September 2018
Bravo Judi Dench re Kevin Spacey!
Bravo Judi Dench re Kevin Spacey! I've been trying for years to say something about …
I'm (personally) not a huge fan of K.P. to be honest. Even less when he fucked up at an Oscars speech with the dinner plate hurling screenwriter of….! YOU FUCKED UP KEVIN. And maybe all the men at the Old Vic who made allegations against him are telling the truth. But the reason we have courts of law is so that maybes aren't immediately assumed to be fact even if it is a very, very flawed system
I am proud and yet … about the MeToo movement. As Dame Judi Dench spake…there would be NO history- if you air-brushed everyone- one that that been….there would be no photos left.
I still can't get out of my mind the New York Post's film critic when he argued that Gone With the Wind should be banned. Should we ban all films about the Nazis? Should we ban all films where people are shooting each other? Should we....?
What about the profits Hollywood studios make from films based on real life events? Dog Day Afternoon (1975)- the bank staff were clearly traumatized by the event. The real life robber John Wojtowicz was criticized for signing autographs etc outside the actual location after doing his time in prison. No one criticized the Hollywood studio profiting from the event.
I have no doubt that most of the women coming forward in the MeToo movement are telling the truth. 99.9% of the time, though, there is no corroborating evidence. What is to stop a jealous man or woman coming forward with false allegations? One may argue for a greater good. The world that until The Boston Globe's expose of the Catholic church and MeToo fashioned a complicity of silence about sexual harassment is the same world of the jealous and vindictive.
Dame Judi Dench herself enacted a character as such in Notes on a Scandal. Her genius being that she made us not sympathize but most certainly empathize with this sad human life.
Then there is Asia Argento. Sure you can argue that just because she paid off a male actor to keep quiet about sexually harassing him, doesn't mean she isn't telling the truth about her Harvey Weinstein allegations. Does that mean we should ban all Asia Argento movies, though on the first count? Of course not. Does that mean the movie industry should stop using Argento as an actress?
You can't apply one rule to Kevin Spacey, though, and another to Asia Argento.
……
Amazing how Hollywood billion money has enjoyed it's ……
The dollar is the dollar in America. It doesn't ever matter how soiled it was in the first place: as long as it was squeaky clean for La Oscars... Suck FUCKING HYPOCRITES !!!!
15th place: as long as it fits throughout the plastic-recyclying machine. Of course it won't, cause it is fake as well…as …
I'm (personally) not a huge fan of K.P. to be honest. Even less when he fucked up at an Oscars speech with the dinner plate hurling screenwriter of….! YOU FUCKED UP KEVIN. And maybe all the men at the Old Vic who made allegations against him are telling the truth. But the reason we have courts of law is so that maybes aren't immediately assumed to be fact even if it is a very, very flawed system
I am proud and yet … about the MeToo movement. As Dame Judi Dench spake…there would be NO history- if you air-brushed everyone- one that that been….there would be no photos left.
I still can't get out of my mind the New York Post's film critic when he argued that Gone With the Wind should be banned. Should we ban all films about the Nazis? Should we ban all films where people are shooting each other? Should we....?
What about the profits Hollywood studios make from films based on real life events? Dog Day Afternoon (1975)- the bank staff were clearly traumatized by the event. The real life robber John Wojtowicz was criticized for signing autographs etc outside the actual location after doing his time in prison. No one criticized the Hollywood studio profiting from the event.
I have no doubt that most of the women coming forward in the MeToo movement are telling the truth. 99.9% of the time, though, there is no corroborating evidence. What is to stop a jealous man or woman coming forward with false allegations? One may argue for a greater good. The world that until The Boston Globe's expose of the Catholic church and MeToo fashioned a complicity of silence about sexual harassment is the same world of the jealous and vindictive.
Dame Judi Dench herself enacted a character as such in Notes on a Scandal. Her genius being that she made us not sympathize but most certainly empathize with this sad human life.
Then there is Asia Argento. Sure you can argue that just because she paid off a male actor to keep quiet about sexually harassing him, doesn't mean she isn't telling the truth about her Harvey Weinstein allegations. Does that mean we should ban all Asia Argento movies, though on the first count? Of course not. Does that mean the movie industry should stop using Argento as an actress?
You can't apply one rule to Kevin Spacey, though, and another to Asia Argento.
……
Amazing how Hollywood billion money has enjoyed it's ……
The dollar is the dollar in America. It doesn't ever matter how soiled it was in the first place: as long as it was squeaky clean for La Oscars... Suck FUCKING HYPOCRITES !!!!
15th place: as long as it fits throughout the plastic-recyclying machine. Of course it won't, cause it is fake as well…as …
Friday, 10 August 2018
finally...
Monsanto ordered to pay $289m damages in Roundup cancer trial
i'm guilty of using it as well. once. fed up with poison ivy. but there are many other alternatives. what those chemicals do to the water table is undeniable.
Friday, 29 June 2018
Deutschland bleiche Mutter (Germany, Pale Mother)
Mutti....
Himmler's daughter worked for post-war German spy agency
Himmler's daughter worked for post-war German spy agency
This isn’t Fassbinder and yet it could so be…Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and as Glenda Jackson just so deservedly won a Broadway Tony after EVERYTHING….oh….Spamelot! :)
Peter Finch inspired me to be an actor. And then, when one of my colleagues told me the ‘tails’ of working with him. I was hooked.
....
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
The Band's Visit
I took a deep breathe as I googled mine own film review of The Band's Visit. All I remember is that is was beautiful. The Tony Award winning musical plays on Broadway.
"Israeli born Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit (Bikur ha-tizmoret), now on general release, has the cash-stripped Egyptian Alexandria Ceremonial Orchestra stranded on the outskirts of a small Israeli town in the desert. They would almost look camp wheeling their trolleys in their immaculate powder-blue uniforms if it weren’t for the dignity they possess. They are befriended by cafe owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) and invited to stay the night until the morning bus arrives. Tewfiq, the conductor (Sasson Gabai) loves Chet Baker, and if you find his rendition of My Funny Valentine sentimental, then I guess you’ll think the same of this film. If not, it’s a truly beautiful picture with warmth and “tons of loneliness” in Dina’s words. “It’s strange, half of Israel was fighting with Egypt, but we all sit and watch the Arab movie [on TV]”, remembers Kolirin. Tewfiq, never without his pride or his baton, opens himself to Dina that evening bitterly regretting his harshness on his son, who subsequently committed suicide.
The Band's Visit Turned Away by AMPAS, Middle East Fests
The film’s producer Sophie Dulac has also given us LFF’s Heartbeat Detector (La question humaine) directed by Nicholas Klotz (France) and screened again on the weekend as part of UK Jewish Film Festival. For 7 years, Simon (Mathieu Amalric) has been the company shrink for German chemical firm SC Farb. Deputy director, Karl Rose (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), asks Simon to covertly monitor the mental health of the firm's director, Mathias Just (Michael Lonsdale) who head office thinks has gone a bit doolally. His cover is to establish an orchestra in order to maintain worker productivity – Mathias Just played violin in the company’s Farb Quartet- and the film follows a Holocaust mystery trail. This is another 2.5 hour film but it’s quite engrossing: the music mix is superb (though I wish it wasn’t Schubert’s so oft heard Death and the Maiden quartet again), so too the camera and performances. And the viewer feels strangely involved yet distanced by Klotz’s director technique."
"Israeli born Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit (Bikur ha-tizmoret), now on general release, has the cash-stripped Egyptian Alexandria Ceremonial Orchestra stranded on the outskirts of a small Israeli town in the desert. They would almost look camp wheeling their trolleys in their immaculate powder-blue uniforms if it weren’t for the dignity they possess. They are befriended by cafe owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) and invited to stay the night until the morning bus arrives. Tewfiq, the conductor (Sasson Gabai) loves Chet Baker, and if you find his rendition of My Funny Valentine sentimental, then I guess you’ll think the same of this film. If not, it’s a truly beautiful picture with warmth and “tons of loneliness” in Dina’s words. “It’s strange, half of Israel was fighting with Egypt, but we all sit and watch the Arab movie [on TV]”, remembers Kolirin. Tewfiq, never without his pride or his baton, opens himself to Dina that evening bitterly regretting his harshness on his son, who subsequently committed suicide.
The Band's Visit Turned Away by AMPAS, Middle East Fests
The film’s producer Sophie Dulac has also given us LFF’s Heartbeat Detector (La question humaine) directed by Nicholas Klotz (France) and screened again on the weekend as part of UK Jewish Film Festival. For 7 years, Simon (Mathieu Amalric) has been the company shrink for German chemical firm SC Farb. Deputy director, Karl Rose (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), asks Simon to covertly monitor the mental health of the firm's director, Mathias Just (Michael Lonsdale) who head office thinks has gone a bit doolally. His cover is to establish an orchestra in order to maintain worker productivity – Mathias Just played violin in the company’s Farb Quartet- and the film follows a Holocaust mystery trail. This is another 2.5 hour film but it’s quite engrossing: the music mix is superb (though I wish it wasn’t Schubert’s so oft heard Death and the Maiden quartet again), so too the camera and performances. And the viewer feels strangely involved yet distanced by Klotz’s director technique."
Tuesday, 5 June 2018
Why did I choose you, what could you offer me...
I just heard a Start the Week podcast that made me realize why I even started this crazy endeavor of a blog! Churchill: it was not in vain (re-Arnhem-Antony Beevor) -and then Churchill painted another beautiful painting.
I don't post on this site much any more. Those in the know, know. But I am damned if I will ever let it die like many wanted it to. Still do.
Translations at the RNT. One of the most poignant plays ever written about the United Kingdom.
One lone amateur who become not so lonesome, John Ashdown-Hill discovering and debunking historical myth of Richard III.
Listening to BBC podcasts can actually save a life! (yes, u can quote me).
U r not alone feeling u r in a desert (even if in fact u r in a real desert!) The editor of Lawrence of Arabia, Anne Coates died. I have oft written about Lawrence and the Foreign Office. Its Palm Court in London a somewhat sad memory of what the best of British tried to achieve overseas. Respect. Understanding. Without judgment.
Humans are always jealous. Yet why when what one does is/could not ever be what the other does that conundrum always escapes me Stephen Fry….;(
I got to work with some of the most wondrous talent of the century. Listening to a BBC pod citing Paul Scofield's Lear, I remember seeing the great great man ACTOR with Vanessa Redgrave in Ibsen at the National Theatre. I worked with Vanessa and said hello. It is a strange, strange world. And I met ever so briefly Sir John Gielgud. Not at the same time, of course. Time, though, is a strange leveler...
And I worked with, not exactly my idol (maybe Liza M. was an 'idol') sorry Joel Grey;) in a movie.
So when you walk the depressing streets of whatever city u r reading this remember the 'dream'. It has nothing to do with money or power (of course that is part of the equation). But the algorithm would not exist without that truth at its center. YOU. Your care. Your brilliance. Your doubt.
Your bravery.
and, of course: your fear
how could a black mermaid end up on Broadway as a white frog, with an all amber cast, and then be back in the ocean the next day playing a green/blue Hamlet! Only in New York, folks. Only in the ocean of New York. I feel a Kermit 'comin' on in the middle of the stairs....
The story of Hello, Dolly is truly fascinatin'! Thornton Wilder got there first. Of course.
Is this weird? But I actually sleep on Marge Champion's bed frame. (True-provenance and all...!) not that I for a moment think anything will rub off in the night without hard grind...but, it's a true story as I fall asleep to the questions of a late-night TV show...ha ha..he he...
where were we, oh yes: Deleuze and Musicals....
...
The heart has its own hieroglyphics.
Who can I turn to…..?
//..
I don't post on this site much any more. Those in the know, know. But I am damned if I will ever let it die like many wanted it to. Still do.
Translations at the RNT. One of the most poignant plays ever written about the United Kingdom.
One lone amateur who become not so lonesome, John Ashdown-Hill discovering and debunking historical myth of Richard III.
Listening to BBC podcasts can actually save a life! (yes, u can quote me).
U r not alone feeling u r in a desert (even if in fact u r in a real desert!) The editor of Lawrence of Arabia, Anne Coates died. I have oft written about Lawrence and the Foreign Office. Its Palm Court in London a somewhat sad memory of what the best of British tried to achieve overseas. Respect. Understanding. Without judgment.
Humans are always jealous. Yet why when what one does is/could not ever be what the other does that conundrum always escapes me Stephen Fry….;(
I got to work with some of the most wondrous talent of the century. Listening to a BBC pod citing Paul Scofield's Lear, I remember seeing the great great man ACTOR with Vanessa Redgrave in Ibsen at the National Theatre. I worked with Vanessa and said hello. It is a strange, strange world. And I met ever so briefly Sir John Gielgud. Not at the same time, of course. Time, though, is a strange leveler...
And I worked with, not exactly my idol (maybe Liza M. was an 'idol') sorry Joel Grey;) in a movie.
So when you walk the depressing streets of whatever city u r reading this remember the 'dream'. It has nothing to do with money or power (of course that is part of the equation). But the algorithm would not exist without that truth at its center. YOU. Your care. Your brilliance. Your doubt.
Your bravery.
and, of course: your fear
how could a black mermaid end up on Broadway as a white frog, with an all amber cast, and then be back in the ocean the next day playing a green/blue Hamlet! Only in New York, folks. Only in the ocean of New York. I feel a Kermit 'comin' on in the middle of the stairs....
The story of Hello, Dolly is truly fascinatin'! Thornton Wilder got there first. Of course.
Is this weird? But I actually sleep on Marge Champion's bed frame. (True-provenance and all...!) not that I for a moment think anything will rub off in the night without hard grind...but, it's a true story as I fall asleep to the questions of a late-night TV show...ha ha..he he...
where were we, oh yes: Deleuze and Musicals....
...
The heart has its own hieroglyphics.
Who can I turn to…..?
//..
Sunday, 20 May 2018
I don't know what to say…..i worry...
Tennessee Williams — Sometimes—there's God—so quickly!
F. Scott Fitzgerald:
Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an æsthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
…..
It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
There is so much beauty in the world yet so so so much sadness. Yesterday's Royal Wedding brought joy to so so many. Princess Diana in her time did her best to make the world just that little bit of a better of a place. Every 'Royal' is different. Every celebrity. Every....It is not 'one size fits all' criticism.
No-one is a saint.
Asia Argento's impassioned speech last night at the Cannes Film Festival. Amazing.
But Ms. Argento: if you do that, you do have to put all your private/sexual history on the line! That may not be fair nor even 'just'. Yet in someone else's eyes they may well prove both. (btw- Your father made amazing movies that were/are/will be the inspiration of horror genre cineastes.)
But I worry.
I was surrounded by the British film critics that Monday morning (I think..) after Lars von Trier's controversial press conference way back when. I did write of this at the time (and still mean no ill will to all those I enjoyed watching movies with over the years) but none of them had watched the press conference in full and in context. There is a difference in meaning...
I worry.
I worry about Arthur Miller's The Crucible effect. I worry about the British tabloids with always so much power that basically forced David Beckham and his family to flee the U.K. he loved so much. I worry about American 'hear-say' being accepted as undisputed truth.
I worry that Bill Cosby might indeed be innocent even though a court of law has decided otherwise.
some sad sad movies…haunting me on a Sunday:
The Wrong Man
This Property is Condemned
A Place in the Sun
Once upon a time...
tomorrow...
F. Scott Fitzgerald:
Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an æsthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
…..
It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
There is so much beauty in the world yet so so so much sadness. Yesterday's Royal Wedding brought joy to so so many. Princess Diana in her time did her best to make the world just that little bit of a better of a place. Every 'Royal' is different. Every celebrity. Every....It is not 'one size fits all' criticism.
No-one is a saint.
Asia Argento's impassioned speech last night at the Cannes Film Festival. Amazing.
But Ms. Argento: if you do that, you do have to put all your private/sexual history on the line! That may not be fair nor even 'just'. Yet in someone else's eyes they may well prove both. (btw- Your father made amazing movies that were/are/will be the inspiration of horror genre cineastes.)
But I worry.
I was surrounded by the British film critics that Monday morning (I think..) after Lars von Trier's controversial press conference way back when. I did write of this at the time (and still mean no ill will to all those I enjoyed watching movies with over the years) but none of them had watched the press conference in full and in context. There is a difference in meaning...
I worry.
I worry about Arthur Miller's The Crucible effect. I worry about the British tabloids with always so much power that basically forced David Beckham and his family to flee the U.K. he loved so much. I worry about American 'hear-say' being accepted as undisputed truth.
I worry that Bill Cosby might indeed be innocent even though a court of law has decided otherwise.
some sad sad movies…haunting me on a Sunday:
The Wrong Man
This Property is Condemned
A Place in the Sun
Once upon a time...
tomorrow...
Sunday, 22 April 2018
Who wants to live in Amerika...electricity in ...what happened to My lovely island ameriRico...
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will pay $4.5m (£3.2m) to cover the lapsed US financial commitment to the Paris climate accord.
$4.5m- hey- what a financial burden to Amerika. ...
https://nypost.com/2018/04/15/schumer-warns-against-proposed-canine-security-cuts/
...
$4.5m- hey- what a financial burden to Amerika. ...
https://nypost.com/2018/04/15/schumer-warns-against-proposed-canine-security-cuts/
...
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
Women in music...
4days (as of April 3) left to listen in: BBC Radio 3's Late Junction International Women's Day show.
Fab crazy, beautiful, soulful music/sound and gobsmacking comments
about how sound men still see women as aliens to their world. Amble
Skuse a member of the Orchestra For Females And Laptops aka OFFAL
recounts male attitudes on sound jobs and it was even suggested to
another member that she use a male internet pseudonym! She very
graciously admits he was trying to help..but..
There’s a sessions podcast (UK only) and a transcript that I still can’t find..
Plus ca change...
There’s a sessions podcast (UK only) and a transcript that I still can’t find..
Plus ca change...
Someone say hello to the trees on Primrose Hill for me. And where art thou my crazy beautiful friend who dragged me out one night in ferocious thunder and lightning to hug you all?
What...
...
the wondrous tree..
.
Everyone should visit the Wallace Collection btw. A 1720s selfie...?
Did you once tear my ticket at the Almeida, Xavier?...- those were the days…
What...
...
Wahn! Überall Wahn!
the wondrous tree..
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Sunday, 18 March 2018
Wednesday, 14 March 2018
where does an elephant go...?
It is so sad to read (already on the cards) that Toys R Us is set to finally close or sell all of its 885 stores in the US in the coming months, the BBC understands. That move would put about 33,000 jobs at risk. A wonderful idea that became another wonderful idea and…all those happy, enthusiastic, passionate staff- where will they all go?
The Elephant Song
The Elephant Song
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