Literary Pick (****)

Lullabies for Little Criminals
-Heather O'Neil

Literary Pick (****)

Maria Callas: Sacred Monster
-Stelios Galatopoulos

Lyrics

Vissi d’arte
Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi aiutai.
Sempre con fè sincera
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli salì.
Sempre con fè sincera
diedi fiori agl’altar.
Nell’ora del dolore
perchè, perchè, Signore,
perchè me ne rimuneri così?
Diedi gioielli della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri, al ciel,
che ne ridean più belli.
Nell’ora del dolor
perchè, perchè, Signor,
ah, perchè me ne rimuneri così?


-Tosca's Aria from Puccini's Tosca

Literary Pick (****)

No Fear Shakespeare

-Sparknotes

I can't believe it's taken me this long to read my first Shakespeare play. I enjoyed the story of King Lear so much! more than I ever thought I would. I didn't expect parts to be so comical. I was under the impression King Lear was a totally solemn story, but instead was rather dramatically amusing. I do have to admit I opted  for the "plain English" version of this edition because I feel that since it's my first time reading Shakespeare, it's much more important to first understand what the play is about before reading the work in it's original text.

Quote of the Day

“On a day of burial there is no perspective--for space itself is annihilated. Your dead friend is still a fragmentary being. The day you bury him is a day of chores and crowds, of hands false or true to be shaken, of the immediate cares of mourning. The dead friend will not really die until tomorrow, when silence is round you again. Then he will show himself complete, as he was--to tear himself away, as he was, from the substantial you. Only then will you cry out because of him who is leaving and whom you cannot detain.”

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Literary Pick (***)

Siddhartha

-Herman Hesse

The novel by Hermann Hesse is basically about a young man (Siddhartha) who abandons his noble family home to lead an ascetic life, but he then meets the Buddha, and goes after a life of materialism, realizing 20 years later he is repulsed by his new lifestyle of lust (in which he conceives a son with a courtesan by the name of Kamala) and over-indulgence, he  once again abandons everything and goes in search of himself. He then meets with a ferryman Vesudeva, who guides and teaches him to listen to the river, which is meant to symbolize "the great song of a thousand voices consisting of one word:  OM-perfection." Only then does Siddhartha achieve true enlightenment. I give this book three stars for it's category, which is spirituality. I normally wouldn't read a book on this subject, but It's a classic and a short read so I decided to give it a try. I enjoyed how it was written and I learned a few things about Hindu religions and monks.

Design Traveller

Literary Pick (****)

The Book Thief
-Markus Zusak

This is one of the sweetest books I've ever read. It's like the Author took The Diary of a Young Girl and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn and meshed them together to create The Book Thief.
The Conceptual purity of expression in giving colors feelings was something I could immediately connect with. One of my favorite quotes in the world by August Macke is..."My entire joy in life comes almost entirely from pure colour". I've always believed colors play a much more essential role than just the superficial aesthetic value they initially present. There are times when I can clearly see a certain day and it's atmospheric greenish tint, and it astounds me when no one else around me sees it. I believe assigning colors to emotions and events is the primary quality of this novel. It's what pulled the reader into the history of the events and what gives it true affection and compassion. There is also the story of Liesel, a little Jewish girl who is adopted by German (non-Jewish) parents Hans and Rosa Hubberman, in the fictional town of Molching in Munich, Germany... I won't give much away because I don't want to ruin it for the people who haven't read it yet, (*ahem*..my husband) but it's a story about hope, not giving up, standing up for what is right, even if that means possible persecution.
The authors ability to add tenderness to a history which is so obviously tragic, and from a German perspective, in any manner, is praisable to say the least. What's even more amazing is that the author is so young. Only 36 years old. I'm pretty hard to impress when it comes to modern literature, but I must say, this book is one that will have it's place among the classics years down the road.

The cover (Domino cover edition) seems inappropriate for the theme of the book. I could think of several other ideas which would be much more suitable for the story. Like an accordion...or maybe an illustratrion of a little boy and girl.

Cultural News

Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing

By Bob Harris

Like all professions book reviewing has a lingo. Out of laziness, haste or a misguided effort to sound “literary,” reviewers use some words with startling predictability. Each of these seven entries is a perfectly good word (well, maybe not eschew), but they crop up in book reviews with wearying regularity. To little avail, admonitions abound. “The best critics,” Follett writes, “are those who use the plainest words and who make their taste rational by describing actions rather than by reporting or imputing feelings.” Now, the list:
poignant: Something you read may affect you, or move you. That doesn’t mean it’s poignant. Something is poignant when it’s keenly, even painfully, affecting. When Bambi’s mom dies an adult may think it poignant. A child probably finds it terrifying.
compelling: Many things in life, and in books, are compelling. The problem is that too often in book reviews far too many things are found to be such. A book may be a page turner, but that doesn’t necessarily make it compelling. Overuse has weakened a word that implies an overwhelming force.
Reviewers often combine these first two words. Like Chekhov’s gun. If there is a poignant in a review’s third paragraph, a compelling will most likely follow. Frequently reviewers forestall the suspense and link the words right away, as in “this poignant and compelling novel…”
intriguing: It doesn’t mean merely interesting or fascinating although it’s almost always used in place of one of those words. When it is, the sense of something illicit and mysterious is lost.
eschew: No one actually says this word in real life. It appears almost exclusively in writing when the perp is stretching for a flashy synonym for avoid or reject or shun.
craft (used as a verb): In “The Careful Writer,” Theodore M. Bernstein reminds us that “the advertising fraternity has decided craft is a verb.” Undeterred, reviewers use it when they are needlessly afraid of using plain old write. They also try to make pen a verb, as in “he penned a tome.”
muse (used as a verb): Few things in this world are mused. They are much more often simply written, thought or said. “War is hell,” he mused. Not much dreamy rumination there.
Stretching for the fanciful — writing “he crafts or pens” instead of “he writes”; writing “he muses” instead of “he says or thinks” — is a sure tip-off of weak writing.
lyrical: Reviewers use this adjective when they want to say something is well written. But using the word loosely misses the sense of expressing emotion in an imaginative and beautiful way. Save lyrical for your next review of Wordsworth.
It’s possible to (mis)use all seven words in a one-sentence book report: “Mario Puzo’s intriguing novel eschews the lyrical as the author instead crafts a poignant tale of family life and muses on the compelling doings of the Mob.”
Of course, these seven words aren’t the only ones overworked by book reviewers. After all, I haven’t even mentioned limn. Perhaps, readers, you’d like to add your favorites?

-NYT

Kinfolk

Cultural News (Archives)

Cheap Seats
It’s Not Over Till Your Arches Fall By Ben Sisario
Published: December 22, 2006

BY the end of the third act I was a mess — twitching, scratching, struggling to pay attention to Mimì’s tender farewell aria instead of the growing ache in my heels. How in the world was that little old lady in front of me staying so perfectly still?

It was “La Bohème” at the Met, and not just any “Bohème.” Anna Netrebko, the Julia Roberts of opera, was singing her one and only Mimì of the season, and tickets had been sold out for months. But I had scored a seat. Or at least a spot: I was in standing room, the Met’s time-honored concession to fanatics and penny pinchers, absorbing that most expensive of music at the lowest price possible.
Everything about the Metropolitan Opera conveys elegance and sophistication, from the gasp-inducing Zeffirelli sets and gawkworthy gowns (onstage and off) to the rows of Champagne flutes on the bar at intermission. It can all be intimidating, to say nothing of ticket prices as high as $375. And indeed the regular audience at the Met — the average subscriber is a 62-year-old making $120,000 a year — has been dwindling steadily over the last decade.
But things have never been better for budget-conscious opera fans in New York, in part because of the Met’s efforts to combat that decline. This season its new general manager, Peter Gelb, has introduced an array of ticket policies to attract new audiences and, as Mr. Gelb said in a recent interview, “lift the veil of formality that has shrouded the Met in recent decades.” These include lower prices for seats in the uppermost ring, an easier system for buying standing room tickets and a rush program that makes many orchestra seats available at a fraction of their regular cost.
The first stop for any bargain hunter at the opera — or the ballet, or Broadway — is standing room, the corridor along the back of the house where patrons, well, stand. On Broadway these tickets, usually around $20, normally go on sale each day for that evening’s show. For decades the Met has had a more peculiar, arduous system, in which spots were sold on Saturday for all the productions in the next week, but this season it scrapped the Saturday lineup and began offering same-day spots when the box office opens each morning.
I tried my luck a few Tuesdays ago with “La Bohème,” and I was amazed at the ease of the process. Clutching a cup of coffee and a newspaper, I speed-walked across the Lincoln Center plaza at 8:15, worried that I was too late to get one of the 175 standing places. To my surprise I was only the 25th person in the most congenial ticket line I had ever seen, with regulars and newcomers chatting in multiple languages, comparing singers and restaurant recommendations.
The operation was also remarkably efficient. Guards guided us swiftly through the snakes of velvet rope to the box office, where the clerks asked one question: “Upstairs or down?” I chose down — upstairs spaces are $5 less, but are way, way up in the fifth balcony — handed over my $20, and by 10:02 I was out the door.
Staying on one’s feet for three hours — or four, or five — can be a challenge, but the advantage of standing room is that it is available even when a show is hopelessly sold out. I breezed confidently past dozens of people looking for “extra” tickets that night.
Standees have assigned locations, each with its own little MetTitles screen. I was in No. 62, stage right and in the middle of three close rows separated by a cushioned rail. There is room, barely, to squeeze past one’s fellow standees and get in position, but the preferred method of movement seems to be ducking under the rails, sometimes blindly: while I waited at my space, the head of a gray-haired, wide-eyed man suddenly popped up next to me like a Whac-a-Mole. “I’m in 59!” he announced.
Shortly after the lights went down I realized my mistake: I had not borrowed opera glasses (and didn’t have $20 for the deposit on a rental pair), so in addition to all my itching and knee-bouncing, I was doomed to an evening of squinting as well. I couldn’t see Ms. Netrebko’s face very well as she sang “Mi chiamano Mimì,” but she sure sounded gorgeous.
Two days later I had an even easier time buying standing tickets at the New York State Theater, where the City Ballet was doing its annual “Nutcracker.” I was the only person in the entire foyer when I strolled in at lunchtime and bought a $12 spot in the somewhat vertiginous rear fourth ring.
I had never seen “The Nutcracker” before, and right away I became a mushy convert. It was as much a delight to follow the perky dancers — at this distance they really did look like toys and candies — as it was to see the little girl in front of me sit up and clap with excitement when the boy prince gallantly offered the Mouse King’s crown to his young love at the end of the first act.
It was also right around then that I thought how nice it would be to sit down. At intermission I found myself scoping out potential vacant spaces in vain, and thinking that any performance long enough to have an intermission would be better if one were seated.
Back at the Met, sitting is the new standing.
For generations standing room has been the default discount ticket. But this season impecunious opera lovers (like me) have two new alternatives. From Monday through Thursday, a seat in the back of the fifth-ring Family Circle can be guaranteed for $15, the same price as a standing space in that section. “Some standees may not like that,” Mr. Gelb said. “But I would rather have the audience sitting. It’s better for their legs.”
Or a $100 orchestra seat can be had for $20. Thanks to a $2 million grant from one of its board members, Agnes Varis, and her husband, Karl Leichtman, the Met is selling 200 prime seats for many shows for less than the cost of Chinese delivery for two.
These tickets go on sale two hours before curtain and, not surprisingly, have proved very popular: the Met has exhausted its supply every night they have been offered. For a performance of the hit “Don Carlo” production last week, the line began in the concourse downstairs from the box office and extended around the corner to the back entrance of the house.
At the front of the line was Masayo Yamada, a soft-spoken 29-year-old on an extended vacation from her human resources job in Japan. She has seen every production at the Met this season, she said, all on rush tickets; this was her third “Don Carlo,” and she had been waiting on line since 11:45 that morning. Dressed in a black coat with a light-blue scarf, she held a bag from a local bagel purveyor. “Sometimes I wear a kimono,” she said. “But today was too long to wear a kimono.”
The rush tickets do not buy the best seats in the orchestra. They tend to be on the extreme left and right of the hall, or in the back, but as I found at a weekday performance of “Idomeneo,” quick moves can greatly improve one’s station. I was in seat P33, far stage right, and just beginning to sink into my chair when the lights started to go down.
All at once people around me darted out of their seats like horses at Saratoga, heading for unoccupied spaces closer to the center aisle. Caught off guard, I was only able to move two seats in. But with each intermission I moved a few more, until I was most definitely in one of the best seats in the house, and I enjoyed the opera tremendously.
I could see the same sense of joy and satisfaction in Ms. Yamada. About 20 minutes before the rush tickets for “Don Carlo” went on sale, the line was moved upstairs to the side of the box office, and Ms. Yamada waited expectantly for the guards to lead her to a window. When she got her ticket, she walked out holding it and smiling widely.
“E26,” she beamed. “Isn’t that great?”

NYT

Pennyweight

Rifle Paper Co.

Photograph of the Moment

Lauren Bacall

Lyrics

All I Ask Of You (The Phantom Of The Opera)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber


No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you

Let me be your freedom
Let daylight dry your tears
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you

(Christine)
Say you'll love me every waking moment
Turn my head with talk of summer time
Say you need me with you now and always
Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you

[Raoul]
Let me be your shelter
Let me be your light
You're safe, no one will find you
Your fears are far behind you

[Christine]
All I want is freedom
A world with no more night
And you, always beside me
To hold me and to hide me

[Raoul]
Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Let me lead you from your solitude
Say you need me with you here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Christine, that's all I ask of you

[Christine]
Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you

[Both]
Share each day with me, each night, each morning

[Christine]
Say you love me

[Raoul]
You know I do

[Both]
Love me, that's all I ask of you.

(They kiss. Raoul lifts Christine off her feet, into his arms and holds her)

[Both]
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Love me, that's all I ask of you

[Phantom]
I gave you my music, made your song take wing.
And now, how you've repaid me, denied me and betrayed me.
He was bound to love you, when he heard you sing.
(sobs)Christine, Christine.

[Both]
Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you
Share each day with me, each night, each morning...

[Phantom]
You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!

Literary Pick (****)

The Duel
-Anton Checkhov

I did not expect this book to make me laugh, and I especially didn't expect it to be so good. I picked it up on a whim at the local bookstore. I knew I'd one day want to read something by Anton Chekhov, and this seemed like a cautionary introduction to his work, since it's a short read (about 161 pages). I actually enjoyed his style of writing more than Tolstoy's. Tolstoy took himself too seriously and did not seem to have a sense of humor.. looks like Chekhov did.
To me this book is a petite morality manifesto. I wish modern-day writers would address morality issues more often and more seriously, if at all. It makes me feel terribly old-fashioned and prudish, but it seems that anyone who gets anywhere near the subject of morality comes off as a total fanatic fundamentalist wack-job. The only other respectable writer who addresses morality issues with such vehement passion was Tolstoy, which is why I loved the Kreutzer Sonata. I'll definitely keep an eye out for more of Chekhov work. Any recommendations are appreciated.

Sweetcakes Bakeshop

Literary Pick (**)

Saturday-Ian McEwan

Beautifully written but very slowly developed and a little pretentious.

Joon&Jung

Lushlee

Teenangster

Speech

We shall fight them on the beaches
-4 June 1940
“I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.
At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength.
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”


Winston Churchill

Quote of the Day

"Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn't that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you."
— Marilyn Monroe

Art of the Day

Alexander Calder (1942)

Literary Pick(***)

I am Nujood (Age 10 and Divorced)
-Nujood Ali, Delphine Minoui

I give this book three stars, not because of the writing but because of Nujood's story. It's so frustrating to see a story like this fall into the hands of someone who fails to execute it in a way that screams out at society for attention. Writers who take on important subjects as this have a moral obligation as a journalist to either bring a story like this to the highest point of exposure possible or to simply step away. I'm aware now that Nujood's story received international coverage, but how is it that I didn't hear about this story until perusing books in the biography section of the local Barnes & Nobles? the cover title is certainly intriguing "(I Am Nujood) Age 10 and Divorced", but perhaps it's because, simply put, the book sucks. Let's first address the format...I think a fairytale scheme plays down and minimizes the severity of the subject. I understand it was suppose to be told by Nujood, a child, which is not at all convincing. It's obvious, to me at least, that the story was mostly told by Delphine Minoui, the co-author of the book. However, I believe a more dramatic, investigative report approach would have been a more effective way of bringing awareness to this culture-sensitive subject. Another thing that bothered me about the book is that it's only 176 pages long. Which I believe is not nearly long enough to describe the horrors and torments this child had to endure for 2 long months, and that's not including the court case itself and some more background information on her family dynamics. The author spent most of the beginning of the book describing the scenery of the Yemeni region in the Middle East, which I think it's safe to say we're all familiar with. And please don't tell me that shit was symbolism. This story is grossly insufficient.
Now to get to the unanswered questions of Nujood's life...how was it for her when she had to return home to her parents from court after the divorce was granted? I would assume she got a beating from her father and brother for "dishonoring" and bringing shame to the family. That part wasn't addressed or questioned. What happened to Ada's second wife who assisted Nujood in her escape? why didn't anyone bother interviewing her? Why didn't Nujood seek asylum when she visited France? Also, I'm not totally convinced the royalties to this book are being dispersed to the Ali family.. there were just too many unanswered questions. It'll be interesting to see how the Ali family developes within the next 10 years. I think Nujood in this year of 2012 must be around 12-13 years of age.. we can only hope she is allowed to finish school and realize her dreams of becoming a lawyer. There is no question she is incredibly courageous. I wish her the best and I will be keeping my ears open for updates on her life.

Literary Pick (*)

2666

-Roberto Bolaño

Either this book was brilliantly clandestine, or unabashedly dull.

I've been putting off reviewing this novel for the longest time because I had notes on it on several different scraps of paper, desktop documents and 2 notebooks. I would like to begin by offering an overview of my impression of the work as a whole. Having read two other works by Bolaño, and being a great fan of his style and ideas, I have to say, that not only was I not impressed by 2666, but it also left me scratching my head as to why on earth it got such good reviews.

Most of the raves came from the male population on goodreads, and I have to admit it's a bit disturbing to me. Not sure why, but I have many things to discuss so I won't waste any time trying to analyze why they enjoyed this book so much.

As much as I despise men's weaknesses, I seldom, very seldom, use literature as a platform to voice my feminist views on certain subjects. I like to think of myself as an unbiased reader who can accept women depicted in any way, shape or form. I think the only book I remember ever reading that was straight out misogynistic was Milan's Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", and when a goodreads member described 2666 as "misogynistic", it made me wonder what they were referring to. I later understood what this member meant.

Getting back to the reasons why I didn't enjoy this book. I understand Bolano wrote it when he was aware of his imminent death. So I feel like his melancholy might have been the reason why he thought It was important to record and enclose every single thought that came to him mind regarding this theme.

I'm not sure if this comparison has ever been made between Bolano and Dante, but you know how in The Divine Comedy, Dante tries to cover a vast array of subjects such as theology, astrology, paganism, mathematics, etc? Well, Bolaño did same thing, not sure if it was intentional, but he covered topics (just off the top of my head) such as math, geometry, mythology, religion, folklore, etc. There's no doubt that 2666 is incredibly diverse. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by it to be quite honest. I'm also by no means a lazy reader. I don't mind having to read 4, 5 even 6 chapters of material so long as there's a point and a reward, but it's simply too much for a writer to ask a reader to read 400+ pages of directionless writing. Even Nabokov couldn't ask that of me!

Parts I thought were semi-interesting ultimately lead nowhere. For example, the most interesting part of the book to me was the hanging of the book upside down on the clothesline, because I'm a huge fan of conceptual art and it reminded me of something Yoko Ono would do.

I thought, ok, the life stories are boring, and seem to go nowhere, but I know that when I get to part 4, oh yeah! it's going to describe crazy gory scenes of how these women were tortured and killed and raped a million ways till Sunday, and I expected some real trujillo mind-bending WTFuckness. But it was all just a list, a banal list of one after the other. Another woman was found stabbed... another woman was found raped... another woman was found without her socks on...

Murders. And murders. And more murders. Page after page, with chapters that were 300 pages long. And there weren't juicy descriptions of murders, or backgrounds on any of the victims making you sympathize with them. It was like watching old episodes of the First 48. Do you care about those victims? sadly, you don't. It's more about the authorities solving the murders than it is about the loss of life. None of it was that morbid to me. Anyone who thinks so must be a sheltered person who lives in Mankato or something. I was expecting some real crazy shit like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or silence of the lambs, but it felt like I was reading groundhogs day with Bill Murray.

Then Bolano tried to build up a climax by revealing that Reiter was Archimboldi, but by then I was suffering from such an extreme state of readers fatigue that the element of surprise was totally lost on me.

Then while I was not looking, the most horrible thing happened, I got up to get a glass of water and when I returned the book had become War and Peace! how many subjects did this man try to cover?!

Then all the character stories left you nowhere. What happened to the father and daughter? How about the black guy and the girl he helped escape? So many other characters who simply drifted to nowhere land. It was a very difficult book for me to read, to understand, follow, you name it. I simply don't understand why guys rated this book so highly.

Architecture

El Ateneo Grand Splendid
-Peró and Torres Armengol

Bookshop in Argentina

Quote of the Day

The wit of cheats, the courage of a whore,
Are what ten thousand envy and adore:
All, all look up with reverential awe,
At crimes that ‘scape, or triumph o’er the law
-Alexander Pope

Art of the Day

The Ambassadors
-Hans Holbein the Younger
 (1533)

Coveteur

Coffee Talk

PW. on bluepoolroad

A Lovely Being

Architecture

Philadelphia Art Museum Pediment

Eos, Nous, Adonis, Hippomenes (lion), Eros, Aphrodite, Zeus, Demeter, Triptolemus, Ariadne, Theseus, Minotaur, Python

Portico detail

-Horace Trumbauer and the firm of Zantzinger, Borie and Medary.

Honor Spotlight

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti

Nicola Sacco (died 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888-1927), Italian-born anarchists, became the subject of one of America's most celebrated controversies and the focus for much of the liberal and radical protest of the 1920s in the United States. The execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in Boston in 1927 brought to an end a struggle of more than 6 years on the part of Americans and Europeans who had become convinced that they were innocent of the crimes of robbery and murder. For a sizable portion of the American intellectual community their case symbolized the fight for justice for ethnic minorities, the poor, and the politically unorthodox. The case had a catalytic influence on the subsequent development of leftist thought in America.

Quote of the Day

"Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself."
— Aesop (Aesop's Fables)

Art of the Day

Beer Street and Gin Lane
-William Hogarth

Quote of the Day

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

Note To Self

Clark Gable
-King of Hollywood

Pretty Stuff

Architecture

Hearst Castle- Celestial Suite

Quote of the Day

Pornography is about dominance. Erotica is about mutuality.
-Gloria Steinem

Literary Pick (***)

La Callas
-André Tubeuf

Mostly photographs with a very brief, if not meager bio.

Literary Quote

"Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation
echoed throughout the starless air of Hell;
at first these sounds resounding made me weep:

tongues confused, a language strained in anguish
with cadences of anger, shrill outcries
and raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands,
raising a whirling storm that turns itself
forever through that air of endless black,
like grains of sand swirling when a whirlwind blows.

And I, in the midst of all this circling horror,
began, "Teacher, what are these sounds I hear?
What souls are these so overwhelmed by grief?"

And he to me: "This wretched state of being
is the fate of those sad souls who lived a life
but lived it with no blame and with no praise.
They are mixed with that repulsive choir of angels
neither faithful nor unfaithful to their God,
who undecided stood but for themselves.

Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out,
but even Hell itself would not receive them,
for fear the damned might glory over them."

And I. "Master, what torments do they suffer
that force them to lament so bitterly?"
He answered: "I will tell you in few words:

these wretches have no hope of truly dying,
and this blind life they lead is so abject
it makes them envy every other fate.

The world will not record their having been there;
Heaven's mercy and its justice turn from them.
Let's not discuss them; look and pass them by..."
— Dante Alighieri

Not Without Salt

wit +delight

wit+delight  (tumbler)

Honor Spotlight

Lucille Ball (1911-1989)

 

Quote of the Day

"I don't have pet peeves - I have major psychotic fucking hatreds."
— George Carlin

Cultural News

Pa. judge hears arguments over moving Barnes

By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press – 13 hours ago 

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Barnes Foundation's new home is well under construction in Philadelphia but a long and bitter fight continues over whether the world-famous art collection should stay in its longtime suburban home.

Montgomery County Orphans' Court Judge Stanley Ott presided over a packed two-hour hearing Monday afternoon on the ongoing Barnes saga. He approved the proceeding after a request from a citizens group that argued he didn't have all the evidence when he approved the relocation in 2004.

The Friends of the Barnes Foundation, a group trying to halt the multibillion-dollar collection's 5-mile move from suburban Lower Merion, said Ott was misled by the actions of the attorney general's office, which has oversight over charitable trusts.

Samuel Stretton, an attorney representing the group, argued that then-Attorney General Mike Fisher, now a federal appeals judge, failed to serve as a neutral party and instead was "essentially a cheerleader" in facilitating the collection's move by undermining and pressuring the Barnes' controlling board of trustees to go along with the relocation.

Barnes Foundation attorney Ralph Wellington said Ott had determined years ago that the citizens group has no legal standing in the case. He also said their understanding of the attorney general's responsibility in such legal matters is incorrect because Fisher's role was not to be neutral but to act in Pennsylvanians' best interest, which meant preventing the cash-strapped organization from closing or selling off its collection.

"It is baseless factually and filed by people who have no right to do so," Wellington said of the opponents' petition.

Dr. Albert C. Barnes, a pharmaceutical magnate, amassed a collection regarded as one of the world's greatest private holdings of contemporary art, which includes 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 60 Matisses, 44 Picassos and thousands of other objects.

He established the Barnes Foundation in 1922 to teach populist methods of appreciating and evaluating art. He tightly grouped his paintings with antique ironwork, furniture and African sculpture to illustrate universal aesthetic themes.

The trust of Barnes, a self-made millionaire who died in a 1951 car crash at age 78, stipulated that his trove of 800 impressionist and postimpressionist masterpieces "remain in exactly the places they are" after his death and gave control of his foundation to Lincoln University, a historically black school in nearby Chester County.

Barnes Foundation officials first asked Ott's permission in 2002 to relocate near Philadelphia's museums and cultural attractions. The foundation said its endowment was exhausted and it would go bankrupt if required to remain in Lower Merion, where it was subject to restrictive township zoning regulations severely limiting the number of visitors.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Lenfest Foundation and The Annenberg Foundation promised to help the Barnes raise $150 million for a new gallery and an endowment when the relocation to Philadelphia was approved. In exchange, Lincoln University ceded control of the foundation's board of trustees and permitted its new benefactors to appoint their own members.

The Barnes galleries closed in July. The new building is scheduled to open next year on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum.

Ott did not say when he would issue a ruling on the latest petition, but attorneys said they expect it could take about a month.

Literary Pick (****)

We Need To Talk About Kevin
-Lionel Shriver

Something about today's modern literature irritates me and almost always provokes me to go on a rant as to why. Now that I think of it, why should modern literature be any different than the stuff they play on TV today? The female character (Eva) in "We Need to Talk about Kevin", wasn't any different than what I've been trying to avoid, and I'll tell you why. First of all I chose this book as a change of pace from the kind of literature I normally read. I know modern lit is all about sensationalism, and I guess that's what I was in search of for my next read, although, typically, it's that very aspect I try to avoid. Eva fit the perfect stereotypical example of what today's authors create and think women love, and they must, because these books sell. But why is it that I choose novels where the protagonist or main narrator is almost always a whiny , show-offy, upper-middle class snobby suburbanite woman or wife? I mean this Eva character wreaks of Allison Wynn Scott and Eat Pray Love, without the romance. But you want to know what the insulting part of the novel is? The typical modern career woman who makes a 6 figure salary, and somehow gets to travel all over the world, because they always get to travel all over the world, you know.. which to them is a nuisance *roll of the eyes here*. They also almost all the time have a NYC Apt. which then eventually gets upgraded to a center hall colonial in Westchester county. I swear, this same thing happened in Time of My Life and in Eat Pray love, except in eat pray love, she moves to Bali. Then they marry someone who isn't exactly PERFECT, but to desperate book-wormy housewives, like ourselves, a 6'2 tall brawny manly man who plays the part of the great ALL-American dad and is willing to stay home and take care of the kids while the wife goes in search of herself, will do for us any day of the week. I feel like novels don't even try to be different anymore. It's the same old tired story lines with slightly different edgy inserts. And it's not that the premise of the story isn't an interesting one, because it is, which is why I chose it to begin with. It's the way authors craft these women/protagonists. Why does everyone have to be so goddamn perfect? perfect husband, perfect car, perfect career, perfect clothes, perfect friends and the perfect bric-a-brac to decorate the perfect house.. It's such bullshit, it's trite..This could have been a 5 star novel if Eva was authentically flawed. Like if she had 40 hard pounds she's been struggling to lose for the last 15 years, or if she had a decent husband who cheats just a little. What's insulting is that the author then tries to convince us her life ISN'T all that perfect after all, by throwing in a not-so-perfect child murderer. Even her murderous son is a brilliant sociopath. See? perfect! But that is my only complaint, not only about this novel, but modern works in general, so I'll stop, take a deep breath and digress.
Now with all that being said, WOW!! I don't even know where to begin. I compared Eva's character very much to that of the awkwardness of when new sitcoms begin and the star actors have to find a comfortable niche in their roles. Shaky at the beginning but rapidly gaining confidence and comfort in their roles making them perfectly casted for the part.
It's not one of those stories that has you gripping the edges of your seat, but it's written in an intellectual, methodical manner. It's psychological and calculating.
I believe this book is about American accountability and culpability, or lack thereof.
It definitely possess a misanthropic theme, which I admit was very seductive to me since I myself am disgusted by people and their mediocrity. The mom hated society and so did her son, and in turn society hated them right back for what they did, because yes, they were both responsible for what Kevin did. Accountability.
This novel stirred the sinister part of me, that part that made me go to them both, nyeh, nyeh, nyeh... because I'm so sick of women like her, who have children like him, who don't end up shooting kids in the hall and we have to live amongst them for all our worldly life. It made me feel very evil to enjoy what they were both doing to each other. How they both were tearing eachother apart. I loved every minute of it. This book sops with hatred, shame, and abhorrence. It was my own personal fantasy of "I told you so" to society. It provided me with that sort of sick satisfaction.

RIP

Lucian Freud
(8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011)

Quote of the Day

"The worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you."

— Bette Midler

Literary Pick (***)

No Exit -Jean-Paul Sartre

Waited years to read this collection of plays by Sartre. My favorite of all the is "No Exit". I also enjoyed The Flies. I particularly enjoyed the realism of the dialogue.

Literary Pick (**)

Slaughterhouse-Five
-Kurt Vonnegut

It's funny the misconceptions we have about certain books before we read them. I don't know why, but I thought this book was about a totalitarian society. Perhaps I read a description of one of his other books and thought it was Slaughterhouse-5? anyway...the theme is an anti-war theme that didn't really reach out to me. Sure the story was interesting enough and I enjoyed where Vonnegut was leading Billy's character, but to me it seemed to be the only real interesting part of the story, the rest of it was a flat-line. There were no highs and lows, it just glided on an even level. I know I haven't described much about what the book is about, so here it goes. A guy who once fought in the war tracks down a few of his friends because he wants to write about his war experiences, and so he begins to write a story about Billy, one of his war buddies, who becomes insane and eventually dies. Vonnegut, in my opinion, took the alien theme with Billy too far. I think that's what turned me off about the story. It seemed so unrealistic and fluffy. Had he with the exact talent omitted the alien stuff, I would have been able to enjoy it more, but I don't really have an open mind to subjects having to do with aliens or anything else of that nature, especially if it's dragged out too long. I know it was what Vonnegut thought necessary to demonstrate how crazy Billy's character was, but it was a bit too much for me. However, I love the way Vonnegut writes and I'm looking forward to reading Cats Cradle.

Art of the Day

Fukami Sueharu (Japanese, born 1947)

View of Distant Sea II, ca. 1989
Molded porcelain with celadon glaze, 8 1/2 x 42 15/16 x 2 1/4 in. (21.6 x 109 x 5.7 cm)


This unusual porcelain sculpture resembles a wave about to break. It stands in opposition to the functional ceramics of traditional Japanese potters who "worship" unglazed clay, its tactile qualities, and the accidental effects that wood-fired kilns produce. Fukami challenges them by using electric kilns to minimize uncontrolled processes, by using molds to cast his creations, and by applying high-quality glazes of subtle, varying density. Despite his extensive control of color and form, one detects a slightly wavering edge; its gentle curve and subtle irregularity softens and at the same time enlivens the severe geometry of the piece. The Zen-like meditative mood of the work, and the celadon color, reminiscent of Chinese Song dynasty ceramics, suggest an Asian idiom for a work that otherwise speaks a universal language of visual art.

Literary Pick (***)

The Motorcycle Diaries- A Latin-American Journey
-Che Guevara

I couldn't have picked a better book to read after finishing On The Road by Jack Kerouac. Reading The Motorcycle Diaries proved to me that I can indeed enjoy a man's journey so long as it's a meaningful journey with a purpose, and not a selfish odyssey of drunken fools looking for high times and easy girls.

The Motorcycle Diaries wasn't as inspirational as I hoped it would be, but it was a humanitarian journey nevertheless, that I truly enjoyed reading. His altruistic lifestyle inspires me to be a better person. I'm still learning a lot about Che, and this is the second book I've read on his life and I'm looking forward to learning more about his life and causes.

Quote of the Day

"Justice is a matter between men, and I need no god to teach me it".

Orestes to Zeus in The Flies by Jean Paul Satre.

Literary Pick (*)

On The Road

-Jack Kerouac

Pinterest

Quote of the Day

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute."

— Rebecca West

Literary Pick (**)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
-Mark Twain

Didn't enjoy Huck Finn as much as I enjoyed Tom Sawyer, and I only gave Tom Sawyer 3 stars. I do appreciate Twain's wit and clever style of thinking, but this was not my kind of literature. Huck Finn seemed to me cliched and depth-less.

Literary Pick (**)

Franny and Zooey
J.D. Salinger


















The main reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have is because I kept looking for the similarities between Franny and Zooey in The Royal Tannenbaums, a movie I happen to love! I did however, got to enjoy once again Salinger's writing.

Literary Pick (**)

La Batard
Violette Leduc

Violette Leduc always gets the shitty end of the stick. I do too. So what.

Quote of the Day

"Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine."
— Honoré de Balzac

Literary Pick (**)

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda

I hate that I have to write this. Neruda's poetry didn't move me as much as I thought it would. His poetry is very similar to that of  Walt Whitman, who I also didn't particularly enjoy. I've read so many references to the beauty of Neruda's poetry, I just thought they would be painfully and beautifully romantic, but they were just regular poems. I did however enjoy a couple, but my favorite in this mammoth collection of poetry is one by the title of "Your Laughter".