friday, august 18
I read somewhere once that the reason lion tamers brandish chairs at their ornery charges is because the four chair legs mesmerize the lion. The way the cat's brain works, it's unable to focus on any one leg for any length of time -- so it just sits there, entranced.
Supposedly. I haven't been to a circus since I was six or seven. But I know the feeling. I often find myself doing less than I should, charmed into stasis by too many ideas, too many prospects. Forgetting myself, forgetting to pounce. Orthogonal seduction. The siren song of right angles. 10:09 PM +
The first time I encountered Greek mythology in any studious manner was in the fifth grade. We relied on Bulfinch, primarily; but what stands out in memory was this other resource we availed ourselves of: a large pictorial compendium of the chief Greek deities (sort of the "A-list"), filled with these absolutely gorgeous color plates illustrated by a Frenchman whose name presently eludes me, much to my consternation. (If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, clue me in.) These illustrations were truly stunning -- very obviously intended for children, but completely earnest and very romantic. I remember one in particular, depicting Uranus' courtship of Gaia. Uranus was depicted as a cobalt blue sky raining celestial light upon the earth -- whose rivers and valleys and assorted verdure were gently anthropomorphized, conveying a look of such openness and complete infatuation that it seemed as if the sum total of her being were beguiled by the very stars in her lover's eyes. Simultaneously innocent and erotic. In a word: pure. I just wish I could remember who the artist was. 12:54 AM +
thursday, august 17
Do you ever wish you were something else? I sometimes wish I were a tricycle. Or maybe it's just the booze and the pills talking.
I'm kidding. 1:07 AM +
wednesday, august 16
Did you know Billy Crudup is the voice behind those MasterCard commercials? I didn't. 10:51 AM +
tuesday, august 15
Bonnie and Clyde was on AMC (or was it TCM?) the other night. In letterbox format, thankfully. I watched for about half an hour. I couldn't sit through it any longer -- damn thing's as stagy and stiff as a Greek tragedy.
But.
Faye Dunaway has this line -- "I got the blues real bad," perhaps preceded by a "Baby":
"Baby, I got the blues real bad."
She says it to Warren Beatty in some motel room, killing time between heists. And she says it with such feline lament that it's irresistible, almost musical. The unnaturalness of the expression -- who really talks like that? -- is transmuted into something extraordinary. Movie magic. 12:19 AM +
monday, august 14
This is even tackier. 12:04 PM +
Clocks with fake pendulums are tacky. 2:23 AM +
friday, august 11
I hope Cooking.com didn't pay a lot for its logo. It's basically the Sega Dreamcast logo flipped over. 11:40 AM +
wednesday, august 9
The days pass so quickly. A month goes by in an instant -- a few casual deferrals swallowing entire weeks effortlessly. The geometry of time becomes apparent: spirals of obligation inscribed along a cone, boring into me. Infinity is overrated. "Forever" is a cop-out. 12:22 AM +
tuesday, august 8
You know media convergence is becoming scary-incestuous when multiple and consecutive stories on CNN have to be qualified with the disclosure that one or more of the parties involved is a sister corporation. 3:52 PM +
saturday, august 5
Nice. 10:20 PM +
friday, august 4
Harold Ramis, in fine form, riffs on the seven deadly sins in the current Premiere. His take on envy:
"People always ask me why I never actually attend the Academy Awards. I tell them the truth: I don't think I can handle that much resentment. It's the nature of the film business that no matter how successful you are, there's always going to be Steven Spielberg (I call him Steven). It's not Steven's fault -- he can't help it -- but he should know that one consequence of his career is that it makes the rest of us feel bad. My advice is to try to avoid what I once heard described as zero-sum thinking: that there's only so much success to go around and therefore anyone else's good fortune means there will be less of it available for us. Would I want Spielberg's life? Not really. Certainly not the gay-stalker part." 10:49 AM +
tuesday, august 1
I had such a slam-bunctious headache yesterday evening. Dunno wherefore or whence it came, but it's gone now. 11:39 AM +
I read somewhere once that the reason lion tamers brandish chairs at their ornery charges is because the four chair legs mesmerize the lion. The way the cat's brain works, it's unable to focus on any one leg for any length of time -- so it just sits there, entranced.
Supposedly. I haven't been to a circus since I was six or seven. But I know the feeling. I often find myself doing less than I should, charmed into stasis by too many ideas, too many prospects. Forgetting myself, forgetting to pounce. Orthogonal seduction. The siren song of right angles. 10:09 PM +
The first time I encountered Greek mythology in any studious manner was in the fifth grade. We relied on Bulfinch, primarily; but what stands out in memory was this other resource we availed ourselves of: a large pictorial compendium of the chief Greek deities (sort of the "A-list"), filled with these absolutely gorgeous color plates illustrated by a Frenchman whose name presently eludes me, much to my consternation. (If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, clue me in.) These illustrations were truly stunning -- very obviously intended for children, but completely earnest and very romantic. I remember one in particular, depicting Uranus' courtship of Gaia. Uranus was depicted as a cobalt blue sky raining celestial light upon the earth -- whose rivers and valleys and assorted verdure were gently anthropomorphized, conveying a look of such openness and complete infatuation that it seemed as if the sum total of her being were beguiled by the very stars in her lover's eyes. Simultaneously innocent and erotic. In a word: pure. I just wish I could remember who the artist was. 12:54 AM +
thursday, august 17
Do you ever wish you were something else? I sometimes wish I were a tricycle. Or maybe it's just the booze and the pills talking.
I'm kidding. 1:07 AM +
wednesday, august 16
Did you know Billy Crudup is the voice behind those MasterCard commercials? I didn't. 10:51 AM +
tuesday, august 15
Bonnie and Clyde was on AMC (or was it TCM?) the other night. In letterbox format, thankfully. I watched for about half an hour. I couldn't sit through it any longer -- damn thing's as stagy and stiff as a Greek tragedy.
But.
Faye Dunaway has this line -- "I got the blues real bad," perhaps preceded by a "Baby":
"Baby, I got the blues real bad."
She says it to Warren Beatty in some motel room, killing time between heists. And she says it with such feline lament that it's irresistible, almost musical. The unnaturalness of the expression -- who really talks like that? -- is transmuted into something extraordinary. Movie magic. 12:19 AM +
monday, august 14
This is even tackier. 12:04 PM +
Clocks with fake pendulums are tacky. 2:23 AM +
friday, august 11
I hope Cooking.com didn't pay a lot for its logo. It's basically the Sega Dreamcast logo flipped over. 11:40 AM +
wednesday, august 9
The days pass so quickly. A month goes by in an instant -- a few casual deferrals swallowing entire weeks effortlessly. The geometry of time becomes apparent: spirals of obligation inscribed along a cone, boring into me. Infinity is overrated. "Forever" is a cop-out. 12:22 AM +
tuesday, august 8
You know media convergence is becoming scary-incestuous when multiple and consecutive stories on CNN have to be qualified with the disclosure that one or more of the parties involved is a sister corporation. 3:52 PM +
saturday, august 5
Nice. 10:20 PM +
friday, august 4
Harold Ramis, in fine form, riffs on the seven deadly sins in the current Premiere. His take on envy:
"People always ask me why I never actually attend the Academy Awards. I tell them the truth: I don't think I can handle that much resentment. It's the nature of the film business that no matter how successful you are, there's always going to be Steven Spielberg (I call him Steven). It's not Steven's fault -- he can't help it -- but he should know that one consequence of his career is that it makes the rest of us feel bad. My advice is to try to avoid what I once heard described as zero-sum thinking: that there's only so much success to go around and therefore anyone else's good fortune means there will be less of it available for us. Would I want Spielberg's life? Not really. Certainly not the gay-stalker part." 10:49 AM +
tuesday, august 1
I had such a slam-bunctious headache yesterday evening. Dunno wherefore or whence it came, but it's gone now. 11:39 AM +
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