I was sorry to hear abut Roger Ebert’s passing, added my condolences to the guest book.
An excerpt about facing death from his interesting book “Life Itself” is comforting at this time.
The Wizard of Oz is a perennial favorite, sentimental, inspiring, and cherished for its simple truths. Going a little deeper, others have uncovered themes in the story revealing a political allegory. What interests me is what happened after the movie ended, following the clues that the story was not going to end happily ever after.
Dorothy and Toto later in life
Just watched “Veducated” on Amazon Prime streaming video, which gently makes the case that a meat/dairy diet is unsustainable in light of the world’s growing population, and cruel to animals. “Part sociological experiment and part adventure comedy, Vegucated follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. Lured by tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover the hidden sides of animal agriculture that make them wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. This entertaining documentary showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who discover they can change the world one bite at a time.”
Authorities are investigating an apparent hacking of the Emergency Broadcast System. Those watching Public TV 13 Monday afternoon or the Bachelor on ABC Monday night may have seen a message come across the screen saying “Local authorities in your area have reported the bodies of the dead are rising from their graves and attacking the living,” the message warned. “Do not attempt to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are considered extremely dangerous.”
Enjoyed Terry Grosss interview with Kevin Clash about the documentary about his Being Elmo. Am looking forward to having an opportunity to see the film.
Kevin Clash "Being Elmo"
A lovely documentary about a choir of senior citizens who delight and warm the hearts of their audiences with covers of tasty pop songs. I get teary at 10% of the movies I see, but Forever Young even got to some of the inmates they entertained at a prison. I normally don’t like to post spoilers, but you’re gonna love the opening—one of the ladies scream to kick off the punk classic Should I Stay Or Should I Go. “What ultimately emerges is a funny and unexpectedly moving testament to friendship, creative inspiration and reaching beyond expectations.” — Rotten Tomatoes
I’m on the mend from the brink of a frozen shoulder and can’t stretch out my arm, and my friend has a bad knee and can’t bend over. He kindly came over and helped me with installing some shoe molding. We made quite a team, compensating for the other’s limitations. I told him we should start a lite home improvement company called “No Sudden Moves LLC”. Our selling point would be that we would show up on time on the day we scheduled. I think if we did that we’d have more business than we could handle.
OK, this isn’t exactly lovely, but there some of the points have the ring of truth that truely lovely ideas share, even if it’s not true that Bill Gates actually ever gave such a speech.
Bill Gates is reported to have given a speech at a high school about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school.
Rule 1: Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault; so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you “FIND YOURSELF”. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television and video games are NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
Every time Conlon punched a hole, the world got more interesting. If you like something different, and I mean really different, check out Conlon Nancarrow’s player piano music. He spent his lifetime composing radical player piano music in Mexico City. I’m organizing a Symposium for September, 2012, in time to enrich concerts expected to take place the following month in honor of the centennial of his birth (October 27, 2012). The website is under construction, but you can find links to interviews and videos.
It’s nice to see people who know a lot about something, and have a flair for telling you about it. Latest example to cross my path: nearly fifteen hundred fragrances reviewed in the definitive book by husband and wife team Luca Turin (scholar in olfactory science) and Tania Sanchez (perfume collector / expert).
The reviews are fun to read, even if you don’t know about perfumes—a nice balance between being informative, poetic, and critical without being overly coy, precious, or snarky. Here are four excerpts from one randomly selected page to wet your atomizer:
“Silly name, silly price. Armani Privé does a cologne, probably the biggest waste of money this side of Le Labo’s Fleur d’Oranger.”
“If you love Eau de Guerlain but want to pay more while getting a harsher, lower-quality fragrance, this one is for you.”
“Wan leafy green. For the fun of putting on perfume without the fun of smelling it.”
“Eau de Noho had a chance to be good with its interesting violet mimosa, like the ghost of Après l’Ondée looking for a witness in a green wilderness. Then a stonking violet leaf arrives to turn everything watery and harsh. Much too close to dishwashing detergent. This needed work.”
Reading a few pages made me feel unsophisticated but cheerful. Next time I’m at the mall I’m going to check out some samples, maybe even visit a specialty store.