tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42360544426237849702024-02-06T23:26:23.479-05:00The Culture Enthusiastbecause culture is everythingPaulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-26857924281849011202016-10-03T19:31:00.001-04:002016-10-03T19:31:45.624-04:00"You are exactly where you are meant to be" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfbbGRLpIDxysubkNM0gIy5D_eKReRBlOOsOiTRvN2_izeNq02NHUcX5QPmeb7i4gYMsOx2gTCOZ9NEx5dbarG6k46V2zW8OUS8p3fA_hxjAQDpOxRY4goWhf8txxWM5DmEaqHwUFw8kt/s1600/painting-young-woman-flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfbbGRLpIDxysubkNM0gIy5D_eKReRBlOOsOiTRvN2_izeNq02NHUcX5QPmeb7i4gYMsOx2gTCOZ9NEx5dbarG6k46V2zW8OUS8p3fA_hxjAQDpOxRY4goWhf8txxWM5DmEaqHwUFw8kt/s640/painting-young-woman-flowers.jpg" width="474" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
by Richard S. Johnson, 1939</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
via <a href="http://retroenvintage.blogspot.com/2013/04/paraplu-parasol.html" target="_blank">Retro en Vintage</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGbgUrfHbwrZmAfq-uvOHvzGLz4GZCCaQiS_k573LoRn4SjOH8R6BKIhnjdnMPeqwKumKmH_ZsWT5GUjCKE9IwecHB4MSCDrv1HiNs5W0H8kVtH6nNRrucBep-KfyV2DNVCmGVeUwL_fg/s1600/painting-woman-girl-flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGbgUrfHbwrZmAfq-uvOHvzGLz4GZCCaQiS_k573LoRn4SjOH8R6BKIhnjdnMPeqwKumKmH_ZsWT5GUjCKE9IwecHB4MSCDrv1HiNs5W0H8kVtH6nNRrucBep-KfyV2DNVCmGVeUwL_fg/s640/painting-woman-girl-flowers.jpg" width="506" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #f3f5f6; color: #212124; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; text-align: start;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #212124; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">Picking Wild Flowers by </span><span style="color: #212124; font-size: 16px;">Hermann Seeger,</span><span style="color: #212124; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> 1905</span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #212124; font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eoskins/5900758427/" target="_blank">Flickr</a></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoUrwTSo3JembV2Hs8rJLlFsr6eLWq1lE1Xy_QWAXF0bwtQMC5lX95fpeSDW_-goC0rKOYMounU7FzWWUuS0oYgEdKxwmywcSvSzHKSSGRvgdv52EkjyfLd8xvwmRwJjHfQ2a1btOo0k2/s1600/st-therese-painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoUrwTSo3JembV2Hs8rJLlFsr6eLWq1lE1Xy_QWAXF0bwtQMC5lX95fpeSDW_-goC0rKOYMounU7FzWWUuS0oYgEdKxwmywcSvSzHKSSGRvgdv52EkjyfLd8xvwmRwJjHfQ2a1btOo0k2/s640/st-therese-painting.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
artist and date unkown</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
via <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/316377942556641482/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“May today there be peace within. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May you be content knowing you are a child of God. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is there for each and every one of us.” </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> St. Therese de Lisieux</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">October 3rd is the feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also know as the Little Flower. Aware that she was dying, St. Therese said "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.". Therefore, flowers and roses are always present in representations of her.</span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-14414638323083331152016-09-30T18:26:00.001-04:002016-09-30T18:28:48.859-04:00Home is home: Review of the film Brooklyn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnLNheZbQ-_V4DQT0jFE80_ReRsMRKKFH7sw86th3jezJ-wTFP3bY8XnGPmkEzdV1Wu6UngZNpKQxZ3PeKAmZ4k1fV0ykB8G4jp_-2XIPcZ2KXUeOFMnEz4nicPBLkzKs0fS_jiqwRx1Y/s1600/brooklyn-2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFnLNheZbQ-_V4DQT0jFE80_ReRsMRKKFH7sw86th3jezJ-wTFP3bY8XnGPmkEzdV1Wu6UngZNpKQxZ3PeKAmZ4k1fV0ykB8G4jp_-2XIPcZ2KXUeOFMnEz4nicPBLkzKs0fS_jiqwRx1Y/s640/brooklyn-2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">via <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/film-week-brooklyn" target="_blank">BFI</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I first watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381111/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt" target="_blank">Brooklyn</a> in April because it was Easter, you want to watch something light and heart-warming; it was also recommended by Duc from the blog <a href="https://14shadesofgrey.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/brooklyn-2015/" target="_blank">14 Shades of Grey</a>. Normally, I would stay away from a movie deemed last year's "best love story", but I couldn't resist the 50's fashions and the fact that the protagonist is basically me. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/moXpUBRw5l4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/moXpUBRw5l4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The trailer describes quite well what you'll see in the movie: Eilis, played by the talented and very Irish-sounding Saoirse Ronan, moves from a small town in Ireland to the exciting neighborhood of Brooklyn. Just when she is starting to adjust to her new life, a crisis in the family takes her back to Ireland and there she'll have to decide between two men and two completely different futures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I’m not sure how most audiences reacted to Eilis' story but, as a person who moved to the US four years ago, it felt very true to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Actually, I watched this movie as some people watch the Super Bowl. Will she </span>stay in Ireland or come back to New York? It was as if my life depended on it. As if her choice would validate mine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
More than being a very sweet love story and elegant period piece, Brooklyn accurately describes (part of) the immigrant experience. Characters like Miss Kelly who try to play the guilt card mostly out of jealousy and pettiness, or like Georgina, the experienced immigrant, who gives Eilis several tips on how to act and "think like an American", or like Tony, an immigrant from a different country, who actually likes Irish girls or like his little brother Frankie who openly admits "we don't like Irish people"; all these characters are all too familiar. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But most real of all are people like Jim who come to you partly with good intentions, partly with their own agenda saying "your life here could be just as good".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCcOEdy5GnYRsj-84DITHEGsL-E81Q9EyFM1RbKmXFakf68zghYbZ-cT0cFiI9fUSaWjP1HzghySG1QhiRxMNdiREZnzh1Cc7IozHeVMwOEQUzRCLEz8C6Rsqn9G3ZsvJFreWclA6N4LU/s1600/spoiler-ahead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCcOEdy5GnYRsj-84DITHEGsL-E81Q9EyFM1RbKmXFakf68zghYbZ-cT0cFiI9fUSaWjP1HzghySG1QhiRxMNdiREZnzh1Cc7IozHeVMwOEQUzRCLEz8C6Rsqn9G3ZsvJFreWclA6N4LU/s1600/spoiler-ahead.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Eilis, however, is the most interesting character. Her character goes through a physical and emotional journey that teaches her that being an immigrant </span><span lang="EN-US">isn't really a choice you make once - it's one you make every day. T</span>he desire to go back to Ireland may fade but it will always be in the back of her mind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There's a lot to love about Brooklyn: the gorgeous cinematography, the 50's fashions, the poignant performances (I dare you not to cry during the Irish Christmas scene). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But I think it will personally touch those living abroad. At a time when it's not easy to be an immigrant (being an immigrant is by definition hard, but it's scary to watch the rise of xenophobic sentiment both in the US and in Europe not knowing what the next chapter of History will be) Brooklyn sends the reassuring message
that the immigrant life, with all its hardships and challenges, is worth it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The idea that Eilis could be just as happy in Ireland is, a priori, true. There are tons of happy people in Ireland and tons of unhappy people in Brooklyn. But the problem with staying in Ireland is, as she points out, "I'd imagined a different life for myself". Eilis didn't just change countries, she changed herself. The character who makes a more accurate, though simplistic, assessment, is Tony when he says that "home is home".</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-61786519262496533052016-09-27T12:37:00.000-04:002016-09-27T19:37:45.840-04:00Big Pile of Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I was on a used bookstore shopping spree recently so I have a lot of books I plan to read this Fall. Or at least that I plan to carry around with me when I'm going for a chai latte at Starbucks.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">This post is part of </span><a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">The Broke and Bookish</a> Top Ten Tuesday meme. Today is Top 10 Books on my Fall TBR list.</div>
<br />
First off are books I started in the summer and wasn't able to finish for a couple different reasons.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dIqMsSFNNGMEvIKIO59kw1kmu_8pkpu2TvRamMolIINVU-S5K-X8UqAT24qBK6Lo091iYGtFwVUTIme5dLnZYIlSGOh7aNsspHfxwDXTmZjfewlWbX27ZeX_ju1IgxBMQIRyL4LoLJ1g/s1600/crimeandpunishment2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dIqMsSFNNGMEvIKIO59kw1kmu_8pkpu2TvRamMolIINVU-S5K-X8UqAT24qBK6Lo091iYGtFwVUTIme5dLnZYIlSGOh7aNsspHfxwDXTmZjfewlWbX27ZeX_ju1IgxBMQIRyL4LoLJ1g/s1600/crimeandpunishment2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333223-the-goldfinch" target="_blank">The Goldfinch</a> by Donna Tartt: Everybody was talking about this book a couple of years ago and I loved Donna Tart's debut novel <i>Secret History </i>(though I'm not sure I'd recommend it) so I thought I'd give this a try. Even though it is a 700+ page book, it was a quick read up until about page 168. The deal breaker was this one very unrealistic event (Theo befriending Welty - what?). Will try and push through though.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7144.Crime_and_Punishment?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Crime and Punishment</a> by Fyodor Dostoevsky: Every summer I have this tradition of reading a very sad novel, because if I wait until winter I find it's <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2014/04/something-new-by-p-g-wodehouse.html" target="_blank">too much to handle</a>. I read <i>The Idiot </i>and <i>Brothers Karamazov</i> years ago, so I picked up Dostoevsky's most famous work. I'm on page 112 and already had 3 nightmares. The letter from his mother, the episode with the horse, the kafkaesque scene at the police station. Shouldn't this be called: "Crime, Punishment and excruciating misery"? For the sake of my sanity, I had to take a break from it, but I have to finish it by Fall or wait until next summer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/374233.If_on_a_Winter_s_Night_a_Traveler?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">If on a winter's night a traveler</a> by Italo Calvino: Speaking of books making you lose your mind, this one is getting on my nerves. Italo Calvino was one of my <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/07/top-10-tuesday-childhood-favorites.html" target="_blank">favorite authors growing up</a>, so I was excited when my bookclub chose this. I had to miss the book club meeting because I got stuck on page 104. The premise is very interesting, but reading it is exhausting.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRr9Cl411g9_doAMSH23bnT9aeK-SSMQtytt8RNRYt83f9V4TXgNneoxhn_u2rwiAoHIVxw4IW-zWdkhXawT-EFnsUWSb6MS3tGhsuIcilMQstZCgVU4Z0TvrrImvzZktsmob-xph-TLuG/s1600/ninestories2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRr9Cl411g9_doAMSH23bnT9aeK-SSMQtytt8RNRYt83f9V4TXgNneoxhn_u2rwiAoHIVxw4IW-zWdkhXawT-EFnsUWSb6MS3tGhsuIcilMQstZCgVU4Z0TvrrImvzZktsmob-xph-TLuG/s1600/ninestories2.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49455.Notes_from_Underground?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Notes from the Underground</a> by Fyodor Dostoevsky: This is super short and it sounds very interesting. Maybe with this book I can cross at least one Dostoevsky book off my list.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18114322-the-grapes-of-wrath?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Grapes of Wrath</a> by John Steinbeck: I recently finished reading <i>The Sisters Brothers</i> which takes place during the California Gold Rush and ever since I've been dying to visit California. Perhaps this will change my mind?<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4009.Nine_Stories?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4009.Nine_Stories?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Nine Stories</a> by J. D. Salinger: This was an impulse buy at Goodwill, specially considering I've been on record saying <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/06/art-and-literature-nicola-starr.html" target="_blank">I'm not a big Salinger fan</a>. But I'm interested in reading his short stories.<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133394.Our_Man_in_Havana?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133394.Our_Man_in_Havana?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Our Man in Havana</a> by Graham Greene: I felt the need for a little fun, so I bought this. It was made into a movie, so it's gotta be entertaining. To the extent Graham Greene can be entertaining (ooh, burn)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgOfoZhtmQI5TvNkoMTT7_BVC5lbcHL3-iQAxMuBCxei3EVlYRzdLmPNHJtIH1sYL968jevMR1uVMtq0KlQsGffKgp7NPtB6Hz-QPkRjbXHdXozO4wrjFRNbSv5O3WOESKF3XDVSf7WOn/s1600/senseandsensibilitydiaries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgOfoZhtmQI5TvNkoMTT7_BVC5lbcHL3-iQAxMuBCxei3EVlYRzdLmPNHJtIH1sYL968jevMR1uVMtq0KlQsGffKgp7NPtB6Hz-QPkRjbXHdXozO4wrjFRNbSv5O3WOESKF3XDVSf7WOn/s1600/senseandsensibilitydiaries.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37557.The_Sense_and_Sensibility_Screenplay_and_Diaries?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Sense & Sensibility Screenplay Diaries</a> by Emma Thompson: I found this little treasure at a library book fair and it cost me $1.50. It has stills from the movie and entries from Emma Thompson's diary. It's the type of book I'd never really buy unless it was this cheap, but I'm so happy I have it. I may be hugging it right now.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1756153.Mozart?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Mozart the Golden Years</a> by H. G. Robbins Landon: This was bought on the same book fair for a very cheap price. Ever since watching Amadeus (definitely don't recommend that movie) I wanted to learn more about Mozart. How can I resist anything with Golden Years in the title?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/344476.Marrying_Mozart?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Marrying Mozart</a> by Stephanie Cowell: Lastly, my Mozart kick made me buy anything with Mozart in the title. Plus, the cover is an Ingres painting... This will be my first historic fiction novel (if you can call it that), but the cover says it's "filled with musical politics, love, loss and chocolate". One <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-defense-of-guilty-pleasure-reading.html" target="_blank">guilty pleasure book never hurt anyone</a>, right?<br />
<br />
<i>What are you reading this Fall?</i>Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-63416948807532538112016-09-26T16:59:00.000-04:002016-10-21T09:19:35.448-04:00Oedipus Rex paintings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSum2ilcKmxdMWjkv8GKCw2vTnbCJF5KGCFCRg3VhJVR22d04UyJff7BRFgldzsh8GI3GwblPWc-51IWaXQwZ3IEwcKcxF3IIWUIyPMePzHzW-RGAkiY5k3iLTU2et5Ap11y6suH-4ckw/s1600/OedipusIngres.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSum2ilcKmxdMWjkv8GKCw2vTnbCJF5KGCFCRg3VhJVR22d04UyJff7BRFgldzsh8GI3GwblPWc-51IWaXQwZ3IEwcKcxF3IIWUIyPMePzHzW-RGAkiY5k3iLTU2et5Ap11y6suH-4ckw/s640/OedipusIngres.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>detail - info below</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0DccYUofQ9dr0TvUoM1D2snSjbVox9FkNAf6v9_i50WraPoPM4BPlIW0TkKACAw20dw8L42eU1rchCRc3ohTFaOvjGE3D2x_nXqi1dkoJQ_mJUEFXmOk-s00SWJEZk1YF2suEFFnJSgDL/s1600/OedipusRexinArt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0DccYUofQ9dr0TvUoM1D2snSjbVox9FkNAf6v9_i50WraPoPM4BPlIW0TkKACAw20dw8L42eU1rchCRc3ohTFaOvjGE3D2x_nXqi1dkoJQ_mJUEFXmOk-s00SWJEZk1YF2suEFFnJSgDL/s640/OedipusRexinArt.png" width="488" /></a></div>
<br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="contacttext11article">Oedipus and the Sphinx </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">(1808 - 25)</span></span></div>
<div class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres</span></div>
<div class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">
<span class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i> via <a href="http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/oedipus-explaining-enigma-sphinx" target="_blank">the Louvre</a> </i></span></span></div>
<div class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">
<b class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span></span><br />
<div class="contacttext11article" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Listen to me and learn some peace of mind: </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">no skill in the world, </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">nothing human can penetrate the future."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35zNFqP27flZFfbQa2Cj0X3GHx5VW8RLNTh5XK17i7nErrHo7nIhfa2BkAWYxn1iE2w3TE4BrWXfg0XGVie-1H3nUQxHFDa90_EQYAqhau54292qY99zn4OrhhwgjIL3OUEVoJ6oQEmVR/s1600/Oedipus+and+the+Sphinx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35zNFqP27flZFfbQa2Cj0X3GHx5VW8RLNTh5XK17i7nErrHo7nIhfa2BkAWYxn1iE2w3TE4BrWXfg0XGVie-1H3nUQxHFDa90_EQYAqhau54292qY99zn4OrhhwgjIL3OUEVoJ6oQEmVR/s640/Oedipus+and+the+Sphinx.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 14px;">Oedipus and the Sphinx</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">by François-Xavier Fabre</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://aclassicaday.blogspot.com.br/2011/01/oedipus-king.html" target="_blank">via A Classic a Day</a> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">"If you are the man he says you are, believe me, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">you were born for pain."</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-65568674057275528992016-09-23T14:12:00.000-04:002016-09-27T16:02:10.519-04:00We are all Castaways: Review of the film Moon<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtln01yTcNssVAINO9s0Raxuo-IF5TsUBSWvJc8crZmeRGaymAadsHYX4Duer3Z7PHnEtQK_SylsRsQZRP8GXdei5F0L5DMR_ORnjDFSnBFm1eG97TA_n3tlC3WSx-x1ljpMaDreGcxrdC/s1600/MoonMovieSamRockwell.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtln01yTcNssVAINO9s0Raxuo-IF5TsUBSWvJc8crZmeRGaymAadsHYX4Duer3Z7PHnEtQK_SylsRsQZRP8GXdei5F0L5DMR_ORnjDFSnBFm1eG97TA_n3tlC3WSx-x1ljpMaDreGcxrdC/s640/MoonMovieSamRockwell.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">via <i><a href="http://stuffpoint.com/science-fiction/image/157322/moon-2009-picture/" target="_blank">Stuff Point</a></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In the last couple of years lots of big blockbuster movies came out that were set in space: <i>Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian</i>. I don't mean to be controversial, but as a fan of realistic sci-fi movies, I thought these movies were all flash and little substance. Even<i> Interstellar,</i> which I liked, was a bit hard to sit through.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As this trend seems to be alive and well (with <i>Passengers</i>, <i>the Independence Day</i> sequel and the <i>Star Trek and Star Wars</i> franchises) I thought we could talk about one underrated sci-fi that I love: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/" target="_blank">Moon</a>.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Moon was directed by Duncan Jones </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">and
stars Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey (as the voice of GERTY, the Artificial Intelligence who lives with Sam in the moon’s space station).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/twuScTcDP_Q" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As you can tell from the trailer, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sam is an engineer working by himself on a space station. Except, unlike Matt Damon's character in <i>The Martian</i> or George Clooney's character in <i>Gravity</i>, we actually sympathize with Sam because he looks and sounds like a real person; not a charming wise guy with instant answers to every single problem. No, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sam is a jaded, raggedy guy who
wants nothing more than to come back to Earth to his wife and daughter.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The problem is that two weeks before his return date, he suffers an accident and ends up finding another guy who looks just like him. Is he inevitably losing his mind after three years of isolation or is there something else going on? Can he trust the AI GERTY and his polite passive-aggressiveness or the dismissive people from his company (heads up fans of The IT Crowd: two great cameos here)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Again, sci-fi movies that try to look and feel realistic are the best to me (see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank"><i>Primer</i> </a>and <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450367/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Puzzlehead</a></i>, also underrated gems). <i>Moon</i> accomplishes that and more. Sam Rockwell is amazing, I need to see more of his movies.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I don't want to spoil too much, but the cherry on the cake: the last lines of the movie so accurately describe the current zeitgest, it's as if the movie hasn't aged a bit.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Now, let's overanalyse this, shall we?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">After watching the movie, I went to IMDB and found this very interesting thread about the saddest, most moving scene in the movie, when Sam, in tears, says "I want to go home".</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wF9DCn5BeW9X1MDIPttQYWm5PiAUmhh5RrwgMRllIeV0C9gmhJW3giFTFBYSvC_5MqmynzTnSjZS6KfAlEpWC1-QylbsflzrMlILNmKZdGO63wI0k2Nb6Y7GWDhbMzMKynyx3xUihOeB/s1600/moonsamrockwell.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wF9DCn5BeW9X1MDIPttQYWm5PiAUmhh5RrwgMRllIeV0C9gmhJW3giFTFBYSvC_5MqmynzTnSjZS6KfAlEpWC1-QylbsflzrMlILNmKZdGO63wI0k2Nb6Y7GWDhbMzMKynyx3xUihOeB/s640/moonsamrockwell.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That scene resonates with viewers because the desire to leave an inhospitable place and come back to a loving home is universal. From Odysseus to Mad Max we are all trying to return home, at least in one point in our lives.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The thread on IMDB (which was an old one so I assume it got deleted at this point, unfortunately) became very depressing as one commenter pointed out that the saddest thing is not being
stuck on a foreign, hostile land alone but to never being able to come back
home, because you have no home. The commenter pointed out that because Earth as a whole is this awful place
filled with wars, hate, poverty and misery it is impossible to ever feel at home.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">That's exactly what Moon gets right: (spoilers) it shows that coming back to Earth isn't coming back home; it is not an end to loneliness and isolation, but an introduction to hate and ignorance. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It touches into a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">feeling of alienation that is so present nowadays. You turn on the news and you see people everywhere feeling </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">misunderstood</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">, unrepresented, disenfranchised. Communication, understanding and finding common ground seems, if not impossible, a Quixotean task. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It's easy to feel discouraged and adopting this worldview that we are all alone and there's no place we can call home.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Even though I don't fully agree with this worldview, I think it </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">is one step towards </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">enlightenment. It sounds depressing, but </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">dissatisfaction with the status quo, might be a step towards realizing we are not supposed to feel as if we belonged anyways.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWYT_2iV2oVdqp9BQkA0M3gMxnj9Cker6MMEaxcEVQzJlt-KmX-cfR0M-YESWG2GZ8jtse5zaYeMmLw31TV759nREUd44yJpeUj6NtOo8b0tt81sEpGm3DyNr2tROVJPrw_1g4fVnn5Hh/s1600/moonmoviestills.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWYT_2iV2oVdqp9BQkA0M3gMxnj9Cker6MMEaxcEVQzJlt-KmX-cfR0M-YESWG2GZ8jtse5zaYeMmLw31TV759nREUd44yJpeUj6NtOo8b0tt81sEpGm3DyNr2tROVJPrw_1g4fVnn5Hh/s640/moonmoviestills.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">It's like what <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-highway-to-hell-screwtape-letters-by.html" target="_blank">C. S. Lewis</a> said about how</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> all the things we love about our world (family, friends, our hobbies, our favorite books) that all these things are connected by "secret thread", they are all longings not for this world but for God<sup>1</sup></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here, we would have to turn to another character lost in an inhospitable place: <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/03/robinson-crusoe-daniel-defoe.html" target="_blank">Robinson Crusoe</a>. All these characters, Robinson Crusoe, Sam and Matt Damon's character in <i>The Martian</i> are all castaways. All these stories seem to be portraying the same conflict: not only </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">man x hostile environment, or man x man/machine but man x himself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">These stories show characters looking around and realizing they have no control over their environment or their fellow men. (Tangent: this is what I disliked about <i>The Martian</i>, how the main character acts as if he had control over everything and instead of being punished by his <i>hubris</i>, he gets rewarded by it) </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All three characters spend their stories trying to find ways to come back home but only one prays. Only Robinson Crusoe realizes that the only thing we have control over is ourselves. He is the only one who realizes that peace of mind can only be found within, not without.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i>What are your favorite sci-fi movies, what do you love about them?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Massive thanks to <a href="http://marnandaferia.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">my sister</a> for recommending this film to me. Peters Sisters for the win.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i></i></span><br />
<hr width="80%" />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1 </b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/422152-you-may-have-noticed-that-the-books-you-really-love" target="_blank">Here's </a>the full C. S. Lewis quote which is beautiful but too big for me to add here. It's from the book The Problem of Pain.
</span></i></span></div>
</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-33138649068978126842016-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:002016-09-20T12:42:07.637-04:00All about Audio Top 10 Audio books and Podcasts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tbZbvM0KHKYfpvABlDtYH-XJAkWcUc2dtKawUdLVFjAnCHPaDVVMOSa5oRtFWJ1TeFNUCcscNBfRbDHk_UngJNnav5INezmxY_CjZdavDEAdRoXykVW7u6R_7Va2ImptokCopOIXBGp0/s1600/headphones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tbZbvM0KHKYfpvABlDtYH-XJAkWcUc2dtKawUdLVFjAnCHPaDVVMOSa5oRtFWJ1TeFNUCcscNBfRbDHk_UngJNnav5INezmxY_CjZdavDEAdRoXykVW7u6R_7Va2ImptokCopOIXBGp0/s640/headphones.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@blazphoto" target="_blank">Corey Blaz</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by <a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/" target="_blank">The Broke and the Bookish</a>.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I started listening to
audio books on my freshman year in college. I had a long commute and an even
longer reading list. Between work and classes, I had very little time and knew
I had to step up my game if I wanted to cross off every single title on my
courses’ required reading list. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That's when I discovered <a href="https://librivox.org/" target="_blank">Librivox</a>. I can’t tell
you how grateful I am this site exists. They produce audio recordings of books
in the public domain. That is, all the old books I love reading. The readers
are so talented and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were either professional
readers or actors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Below are some of my
favorite titles:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://librivox.org/the-waste-land-by-t-s-eliot/" target="_blank">The Waste Land</a> by T. S.
Eliot<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">The Waste Land</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> is possibly
the most difficult poem ever written. When we were studying it in college, I listened to this recording several times. Even today I can't read this poem without hearing this reader's voice in my head.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Speaks-Great-Poets-Tennyson/dp/1570717206" target="_blank">Poetry Speaks</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since we are talking
about poetry, let me add an audio book that is not an online recording.
<i>Poetry Speaks</i> is a poetry anthology that comes with 3 CDs of authors reading
their poems. This was a Christmas present I got from my mom years ago and it
has helped me not only to appreciate poetry even more but also to discover great
poets (looking at you, Ogden Nash)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><a href="https://librivox.org/12-creepy-tales-by-edgar-allan-poe/" target="_blank">Edgar Allan Poe’s shortstories</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">I’m not as big a fan of Poe as I used to be, but his short stories are very entertaining and worth revisiting. My absolute favorite is <i>The Cask of Amontillado</i>. Ooh, no. <i>The Tell-Tale Heart</i>. Ok, it's a tie.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrHQSOOSZr8mAMxd7DIhuo7k08Dj0I8pTq0sF-xAr193H7cfBXTCNRKqqutWev6H1WqULjnlN1jwOUQQLwj-zWd4gaAfi0Mqgi5kkj9yX15otgj7kmaLFxJYrMaVRQK5M06Flj4DYiGck/s1600/BookLaptopHeadphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrHQSOOSZr8mAMxd7DIhuo7k08Dj0I8pTq0sF-xAr193H7cfBXTCNRKqqutWev6H1WqULjnlN1jwOUQQLwj-zWd4gaAfi0Mqgi5kkj9yX15otgj7kmaLFxJYrMaVRQK5M06Flj4DYiGck/s640/BookLaptopHeadphone.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@oscrse" target="_blank">Oscar Nilsson</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><a href="https://librivox.org/a-dolls-house-by-henrik-ibsen/" target="_blank">A Doll’s House</a> by Henrik Ibsen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;">Drama is another genre that translates very well to audio. I try as much as I can to see plays but that can be difficult for a number of reasons. My solution has always been audio books.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://librivox.org/the-man-who-was-thursday-a-nightmare-by-gk-chesterton/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;" target="_blank">The man who wasThursday</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> by G. K. Chesterton</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So far I spoke only
about poetry, drama and short stories for a reason. I believe these are the
best genres for audio books. I usually listen to audio books while doing
something else (driving or doing chores) so for me a long novel wouldn’t really
work. With that being said, I listened to <i>The Man Who was Thursday</i> during a road trip to D.C. It is a fairly short novel and so
captivating that I listened to it during the trip and while I was
commuting in the city. This was the only novel I ever heard on audio, but </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;">novels can be a good option for people with</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> long commutes and good focus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Shakespeare's plays (and
poems)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Back to plays! I'm sad to say I've never seen a Shakespeare play on stage. I try to make up for it with audio books and my imagination. My favorite recording from
Librivox is <a href="https://librivox.org/much-ado-about-nothing-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/" target="_blank"><i>Much ado about Nothing</i></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Chekhov’s plays (and
short stories)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh, Chekhov. You’re so
good I had to put two of your plays on my list. The recordings of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;"><a href="https://librivox.org/the-cherry-orchard-by-anton-chekhov/" target="_blank"><i>The Cherry Orchard</i></a> and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;"><a href="https://librivox.org/ivanov-by-anton-chekhov/" target="_blank"><i>Ivanov</i></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> were made
by the same group of talented readers and they do a great job of helping us understand the characters’ personalities and emotions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, podcasts belong to
my post-college years. I usually listen to them while doing chores and sometimes
even at work. Boredom is real when you live and (mostly) work by yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAhtQzLH5wlGMWiRHsgtMlZY5PJh2MDHv5uB_1HDEN6UbUCluOwzlL2i_vzqVg8fGeZNgSXQW4zedHkg5i7UTnV8gsUwC_-inv_-tBz7Od418pjPMKXa5oHJz_c7oySI7WJSFouWLdx0e/s1600/OldVintageRadioPhone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAhtQzLH5wlGMWiRHsgtMlZY5PJh2MDHv5uB_1HDEN6UbUCluOwzlL2i_vzqVg8fGeZNgSXQW4zedHkg5i7UTnV8gsUwC_-inv_-tBz7Od418pjPMKXa5oHJz_c7oySI7WJSFouWLdx0e/s640/OldVintageRadioPhone.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@felipebelluco" target="_blank">Felipe Belluco </a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://thedeadauthorspodcast.libsyn.com/" target="_blank">Dead Authors</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;">First I got hooked on this podcast, then I was sad to discover that it ended in 2015. I love the premise: each episode, the host</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> H. G. Wells (comedian Paul F. Tompkins) travels in time and talks to a famous dead author about their lives and books. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">The episodes are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;">definitely</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> NSFW and two that made me laugh out loud are the ones with <a href="http://thedeadauthorspodcast.libsyn.com/chapter-49-albert-camus-featuring-steve-agee" target="_blank">Albert Camus</a> (Steve Agee) and <a href="http://thedeadauthorspodcast.libsyn.com/chapter-16-gore-vidal-featuring-marc-evan-jackson" target="_blank">Gore Vidal</a> (Marc Evan Jackson)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm" target="_blank">Bookworm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bookworm is an LA radio
program more on the highbrow spectrum. Host Michael Silverblatt has very intellectual conversations with contemporary authors about their latest books. I don't listen to this show as much as I wanted because I don't read that many contemporary books. But Bookworm has been on the air for 17 years so you are bound to find an interview with an author you like. The<a href="http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/bookworm/david-foster-wallace-infinite-jest" target="_blank"> interview with David Foster Wallace</a> about <i>Infinite Jest</i> is worth checking out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01drwny" target="_blank">In Our Time: Culture</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This BBC Radio 4 show is on the <i>very</i> highbrow spectrum but it's possibly my favorite. Readers
from the UK know the format: host Melvyn Bragg and three guests discuss a range of topics in culture. Their archive is impressive and the shows are always very informative. My favorite episodes about books are the
ones talking about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pd3b9" target="_blank">Jane Austen's Emma</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pv8j1" target="_blank">Kafka's The Trial</a>, </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038x97" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;" target="_blank">Alexander Pope</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r5qc1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;" target="_blank">Chekhov</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">, </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008kmqp" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;" target="_blank">Camus</a> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and</span> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0082dzm" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;" target="_blank">Taste</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I hope this list offers some interesting listening material. I know I read twice as much since I discovered
audio books. Why not wash the dishes while learning about <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mqq94" target="_blank">the druids</a>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Do you listen to
audio books and book podcasts? What are your favorites? I’m always looking for recommendations!</i></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-66910682523576350962016-09-06T20:24:00.000-04:002016-09-06T20:24:08.848-04:00The comeback<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc4Lo7dm_JlL4kiGk3bDOiz8QNDJ9d3S2s96Vzo9Qr-YDhBMB-fJexiJZxhSGNhlvPE5JqKdKu7_dSklzRQ5BzEziKDsHwt9rId5xwDhbbQfl-UvwQM6jBtseAmh14qTi4fW4OVfc4vgg/s1600/bookslibrary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc4Lo7dm_JlL4kiGk3bDOiz8QNDJ9d3S2s96Vzo9Qr-YDhBMB-fJexiJZxhSGNhlvPE5JqKdKu7_dSklzRQ5BzEziKDsHwt9rId5xwDhbbQfl-UvwQM6jBtseAmh14qTi4fW4OVfc4vgg/s640/bookslibrary.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@impatrickt" target="_blank">Patrick Tomasso</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Oh, hello. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I feel like
you caught me visiting an old house I own but no longer live in. The property
is wrecked and desolate and I can see your look of disapproval: “Why didn’t you
take care of the place?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I know. The posts are all dusty, the content stagnated,
ancient pictures all over the place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Many bloggers go
through a blog hiatus and sometimes that hiatus turns into the end of the blog
altogether. I know because I’ve seen it happen so many times, even with my own
blogs. This is common, but so sad. It´s like seeing a neighborhood shop going out of business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My hiatus lasted two and a half years which is the same to say that the blog ended. A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">nd yet, The
Culture Enthusiast has always been on the back of my mind. Probably because
going to museums, watching movies and reading books (and discussing and
analyzing it all <i>ad nauseam</i>) is a big part of my life. I can’t say, with Rainer Maria
Rilke, that I would die without writing but I terribly miss the conversations the blog made possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 14.2667px;">That is why I plan to slowly come back with posts on some interesting books I'm reading and cool films I've seen this year (and oh my gosh, the <a href="http://www.chrysler.org/" target="_blank">Chrysler Museum</a> has a new Mark Rothko). Hopefully, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">whatever reader neighbors that have stuck around will come back for a cup of tea and a
chat about this crazy cultural world of ours.</span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-71375899504571318602014-04-02T08:09:00.000-04:002014-04-02T08:09:58.046-04:00Something New by P. G. Wodehouse<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibb5u1IOw40HGZUIjRpF4KN8mxROh8YUrZ9EEkYtkrcPPV_zU_sPPTFWJJsCznjqmF_iLXQmXIUTYSwXAyDFVFbEd_O7VN-5s6jK899JH4uHskTTgRCJbypNWqia3gKj5qWlkWAKm4mlMk/s1600/pgwreader1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibb5u1IOw40HGZUIjRpF4KN8mxROh8YUrZ9EEkYtkrcPPV_zU_sPPTFWJJsCznjqmF_iLXQmXIUTYSwXAyDFVFbEd_O7VN-5s6jK899JH4uHskTTgRCJbypNWqia3gKj5qWlkWAKm4mlMk/s1600/pgwreader1.jpg" height="531" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.thelooniverse.com/books/plum.html" target="_blank">source</a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hey guys, please
forgive my absence. I don’t have a great reason for being gone that long, it
was mostly because of work. And partly because of winter. Anyways, I’m back
and eager to share my latest obsession: P. G. Wodehouse.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But let’s start from
the beginning.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Back in December, I
read a million books just to finish my 2013 to-be-read list. One of the
books I read was a collection of Chekhov’s plays.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wait, let me go even
further back.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Winter sucks. I
don’t want to complain because, chances are, you live in a much colder climate than me. But I’m Brazilian. Snow days have zero appeal to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, if you’ve ever
read Chekhov, you know that even though it's incredible, it is also depressing as hell.
Characters are stuck in the Russian countryside, sick of the snow, wishing to scape their own hopeless emptiness. Just like me during winter.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But I exagerate. I just wanted to read a funny book, but not any funny book. A classic funny book, which is hard to find. That's when I discovered P. G. Wodehouse. I started with one of his earlier novel, <i>Something New </i>(or<i> Something Fresh, </i>the U.K. title)<i>.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The story is about two young Americans who find themselves in London, bored with their writing jobs. An opportunity arises
for them to go to Lord Emwrosth’s castle in search of a stolen collectible item
(a scarab). Both want the 5 thousand-dollar reward. Competition and
romance ensue as the American characters
try to come to terms with odd aristocratic customs.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In truly <i>Seinfeld</i>
manner, the plot gets tricky and complicated but eventually all characters and circumstances are interconnected somehow.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’m not really sure
what subgenre this book is in. Romantic comedy/light detective story? Whatever it is called, I love this genre. This book is right there with <i>Moonlighting</i>
and <i>The Thin Man</i>.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwwA6AJ_OpusYCg-voVlEqoj3lvGdgVffsL8LzMIdYwayvapRfM8SQWjdt1Ztmr6x9-DyTdtGZP2_fGFIkW8vYs3VDXyT97YR6OaVUFghHnViIukDkD-gvPAhwQFr0qqNhPBom214chCo/s1600/thinmanxmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwwA6AJ_OpusYCg-voVlEqoj3lvGdgVffsL8LzMIdYwayvapRfM8SQWjdt1Ztmr6x9-DyTdtGZP2_fGFIkW8vYs3VDXyT97YR6OaVUFghHnViIukDkD-gvPAhwQFr0qqNhPBom214chCo/s1600/thinmanxmas.jpg" height="490" width="700" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Because the only thing better than a detective story is a
detective story where both detectives are romantically involved.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Needless to say, I couldn’t put the book down. I was reading it at home, listening to it in my car, sneaking a chapter here and there at work <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, before my enthusiasm gets out of control, let me give a little warning: comedy is subjective, tragedy is universal. My sister tells me that I’m not funny. My mother is the only person in the world who found <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">In Bruges</a></i> funny. Some people find violence funny (Quentin Tarantino, I’m talking to you).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, to be more specific, this book will most likely attract the anglophile that finds English castles interesting and aristocracy hilarious. It will also attract readers that like a touch of romance but don’t want it to dominate the plot.</div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike most classics,
<i>Something New</i> was a laugh-out-loud page turner gem. A real winter-blues
antidote for those times where a search for a lost scarab is the only thing
that will get you out of your funk.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<i>Have you read any of P. G. Wodehouse's novels? Check out <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/hotdoorknobs/13-pg-wodehouse-quotes-guaranteed-to-make-your-d-5vb" target="_blank">13 P. G. Wodehouse quotes guaranteed to make your day better</a></i></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-7894470760101790112013-10-16T22:28:00.000-04:002013-10-17T20:34:10.053-04:00The most overrated and underrated: Andrew Wyeth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02OMLimrpzKQaDX-LOdaVMNUJy5qukxMBWeR0k2lWns1ggfgwI3s1_zFqCAR4Yguj-rbxQP1hE5pKHCmjPXcvgbmR65XDL4qVWKFF-U0Kukd0w_Z85IDrbgb2tkEY_DvaPwjb7Jd-rvGL/s1600/andrew-wyeth-above+the+narrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02OMLimrpzKQaDX-LOdaVMNUJy5qukxMBWeR0k2lWns1ggfgwI3s1_zFqCAR4Yguj-rbxQP1hE5pKHCmjPXcvgbmR65XDL4qVWKFF-U0Kukd0w_Z85IDrbgb2tkEY_DvaPwjb7Jd-rvGL/s640/andrew-wyeth-above+the+narrow.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Above the Narrows - Andrew Wyeth (1960)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wyeth" target="_blank">Andrew Wyeth</a> was a contemporary American realist painter. Even though Wikipedia calls him one of the best known artists of the 20th century, I first heard about him last month. I was at the National Gallery in D.C. and saw this painting:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sOcrXgN0R0GpWQp8-cmuW2lhyphenhyphencrTpDO4pND8exqMMdG7I6WvnTc2m8Fe19muGq1eZ2XimT3gtcfcoAnH8O4edJ08wl0taV5Cce5tk4OW6xMgY7TTMHU25jNhV_N-9uNyiIJETT8xQkM3/s1600/andrew-wyeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sOcrXgN0R0GpWQp8-cmuW2lhyphenhyphencrTpDO4pND8exqMMdG7I6WvnTc2m8Fe19muGq1eZ2XimT3gtcfcoAnH8O4edJ08wl0taV5Cce5tk4OW6xMgY7TTMHU25jNhV_N-9uNyiIJETT8xQkM3/s640/andrew-wyeth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Wind from the Sea - Andrew Wyeth (1947) </div>
<br />
I was blown away (the reproduction doesn't do it justice, it's much, much more impressive live). As always, I researched more about him when I got home (a month later).<br />
<br />
His works have this constant melancholic mood, but are also very beautiful and evocative. Some are even painfully sad and bleak.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCNf_gg9iXk2iONDQ2KlxzDWFpS9rAjpALUEPqm_1pxJrBeqtihWdClBrfXg99i0XhonFzJe-ySQ5wolS3PM0UBHQa95nHd-lojNG3vYvkUGEGIJ5xHaX7ZpP6fat7Ox0dGQuyAPyhuEt/s1600/andrew-wyeth-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCNf_gg9iXk2iONDQ2KlxzDWFpS9rAjpALUEPqm_1pxJrBeqtihWdClBrfXg99i0XhonFzJe-ySQ5wolS3PM0UBHQa95nHd-lojNG3vYvkUGEGIJ5xHaX7ZpP6fat7Ox0dGQuyAPyhuEt/s640/andrew-wyeth-.jpg" width="640" /></a>Adrift - Andrew Wyeth</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
To my surprise, many critics dismissed his work as <a href="http://www.artnewsblog.com/andrew-wyeth-dies-at-91/" target="_blank">corny Americana</a>. Funny enough, when asked to choose the most overrated and underrated artists of the 20th century, art historian Robert Rosenblum said Andrew Wyeth was both.<br />
<br />
Luckily, many critics like Paul Johnson are admirers of his work. His work even inspired the look of M. Night Shyamalan's movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368447/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">The Village</a>. The house were Joaquin Phoenix's character lives was based on the one in Wyeth's painting Open Shed.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheggxbfDA2W35MQXJ-ecavZ71OxjtOoh5pX4rA6sP_KyX-mQS-g46pTin6AlGVVVexTtKI8VJSG_TMT-zBKvI51WJufSJKV4JBU3joMJx7XWqpJFXPeigQIjNjZHuQQgN7y-LmvWB4cf42/s1600/andrew-wyeth-open-shed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheggxbfDA2W35MQXJ-ecavZ71OxjtOoh5pX4rA6sP_KyX-mQS-g46pTin6AlGVVVexTtKI8VJSG_TMT-zBKvI51WJufSJKV4JBU3joMJx7XWqpJFXPeigQIjNjZHuQQgN7y-LmvWB4cf42/s640/andrew-wyeth-open-shed.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pofancy.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-village.html" target="_blank">Source</a></div>
<br />
Plus, doesn't Bryce Dallas Howard's character wear a yellow coat like this? (And there was all that talk about the "bad color" and so on. It's been a while since I last watched this movie!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNN5FiCuJDZxuiKJY92skuKdgGOidmLel68BA_PIC2bCO-tLmJmhsOr9-syWPAGV2UU984DRn1b-_Ty7xOeEC002LrwR9mUe5qJgLYmZ1HCbrhCF3uxX2YK4CuXOZMr9W-uh74z1UYGky/s1600/andrew+wyeth+squall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNN5FiCuJDZxuiKJY92skuKdgGOidmLel68BA_PIC2bCO-tLmJmhsOr9-syWPAGV2UU984DRn1b-_Ty7xOeEC002LrwR9mUe5qJgLYmZ1HCbrhCF3uxX2YK4CuXOZMr9W-uh74z1UYGky/s640/andrew+wyeth+squall.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Squall - Andrew Wyeth (1986)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Anyway, it's great to know that an artist I just discovered and loved is being rightly admired.<br />
<br />
<i>What do you think of Andrew Wyeth's work?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>All images from <a href="http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/search/andrew%20wyeth/1#close" target="_blank">WikiPaintings</a> (except # 4) </i>Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-38271025081566537392013-10-09T23:58:00.004-04:002013-10-10T00:01:46.122-04:00Movie collectibles: awesome or lame?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdx-77pOr4zoLE0b8fXhEKEl18TrTvZMAeT-LK60Mfd7FnSQbCaieMI2Ih78d0tEzDKDBK6CzobEuzMNU8CtdsP4o3OOyHHonlCQggiCaJIJD1DUxZTgCY2pq_t4hoLA-rQ70DIHj2UYGm/s1600/vest_ferris-bueller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdx-77pOr4zoLE0b8fXhEKEl18TrTvZMAeT-LK60Mfd7FnSQbCaieMI2Ih78d0tEzDKDBK6CzobEuzMNU8CtdsP4o3OOyHHonlCQggiCaJIJD1DUxZTgCY2pq_t4hoLA-rQ70DIHj2UYGm/s400/vest_ferris-bueller.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Vest from <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/10/top-5-movies-from-1986.html" target="_blank">Ferris Bueller's Day Off</a> via <a href="http://www.maxgoldberg.tv/index2.html" target="_blank">Max Goldberg</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There's something so ambiguous about collectibles.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For the person who is buying them - the person who has seen the movie hundreds of times, memorized the lines and basically wished they could live in the movie - a collectible is a sensible purchase. For everybody else, it's a waste of money. And perhaps a turnoff.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There's this episode of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OHtb3lg5C8&list=PLgGb5diIlaHOYXYi9wOd_WzyTaYtczCqy" target="_blank">Big Bang Theory</a> where this is presented perfectly. Leonard and his friends buy the time machine used in the movie "The Time Machine" which seems awfully big for their apartment. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Leonard thinks it's the coolest thing he's ever owned. Howard calls it a chick magnet. Real chicks, though, are not impressed. Penny calls all of them pathetic for wasting their lives with toys like the time machine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BQVi_CxTzJr-j4Zd8PTNZBh69ti2tHa6N5BeaCEQM3Mcz7dPN6fvjoq51OD4moEjxxXvbC2Xd6kxhEk7dzS25p16jLvmUofVFaIIBKpu668HTy9y4M7frtd3E0Yk_vf_Qw8jlK02ikf9/s1600/_Metropolis_graphics_NewBanditsMap_v4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BQVi_CxTzJr-j4Zd8PTNZBh69ti2tHa6N5BeaCEQM3Mcz7dPN6fvjoq51OD4moEjxxXvbC2Xd6kxhEk7dzS25p16jLvmUofVFaIIBKpu668HTy9y4M7frtd3E0Yk_vf_Qw8jlK02ikf9/s400/_Metropolis_graphics_NewBanditsMap_v4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Map from <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/05/time-bandits.html" target="_blank">Time Bandits</a> via<a href="http://boingboing.net/2007/10/16/time-bandits-map-rep.html" target="_blank"> Boing boing </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I can see where she is coming from because I never spent huge amounts of money on collectibles or kept things inside their boxes in mint condition. I was more the type of person who befriends movie theater employees so that they can give me movie posters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Is that really less lame?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To me, objects like a "Lord of the Rings" ring or a "Clockwork orange" purse (yes, I owned both) served a different purpose. They were people filters. People who got the reference were insiders, like minded people and possible friends. The ones who didn't were outside the loop, cultural parias.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tDqakCV65W8QS7euVz2il8L1S-egJT3W4E2CJFNdyk7O4Jog5YW3Jzm-337wulDSiGspykWfjDxz2vcu2PrJ3vOmvz2LlGQQ3ed7eX0Z3c-obz7s_gWFI34zmhuNrVR4Yc2OVSNrGXPn/s1600/truman-show-pin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tDqakCV65W8QS7euVz2il8L1S-egJT3W4E2CJFNdyk7O4Jog5YW3Jzm-337wulDSiGspykWfjDxz2vcu2PrJ3vOmvz2LlGQQ3ed7eX0Z3c-obz7s_gWFI34zmhuNrVR4Yc2OVSNrGXPn/s400/truman-show-pin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pin from <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-truman-show.html" target="_blank">The Truman Show</a> via <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/hows_it_going_to_end_pin-145274630742182435" target="_blank">Zazzle</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It sounds awful, but luckily I realized it in time and stopped that attitude. (However, I feel most people do that, in one way or another.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As time passed by, I got rid of all my movie collectibles. But lately, I've had my eye on some really cool objects. They are the ones showed in this post (whether they are cool or not is highly subjective). I think I can make them work in a non-snoby, nerdy-in-a-good-sense way. I mean, when you know the first lines of "<a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/11/very-intimidating-classics.html" target="_blank">The Illiad</a>" by heart, it just makes sense buying this ring, right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZktmCXz2nbP23Rhb64hVLdg4mBCa71bY-_zr7pH7m-Df5j9EDNr2sVinRSUojo_ujdjiP0Im55PSlIMTVvKd0AyXjTQxHl-AnCYWBQT40c6dL3ZCy9t3WyRyEt6-WhJVesK_lcZQT842Q/s1600/mod-cloth-ring.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZktmCXz2nbP23Rhb64hVLdg4mBCa71bY-_zr7pH7m-Df5j9EDNr2sVinRSUojo_ujdjiP0Im55PSlIMTVvKd0AyXjTQxHl-AnCYWBQT40c6dL3ZCy9t3WyRyEt6-WhJVesK_lcZQT842Q/s400/mod-cloth-ring.png" width="347" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
No Conquest ring via <a href="http://www.modcloth.com/shop/rings-pins/no-conquest-ring-in-gold" target="_blank">ModCloth</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Do you like collectibles or think they are way too nerdy?</i></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-23262385307679479642013-10-02T16:37:00.001-04:002013-10-02T16:40:47.127-04:00Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt71JRmuloK35O0SWPHDJ0K0KNCxFEObGRNUBYdLgx9ewuItEPCXv1viEoHIYlpagLYfFPEMx0NzPwTKJs_5OziWp70xxT7uK65wsIPtj7mILmlfKCxRTUOyXysnl0px-vGUgDKSUKm2Li/s1600/Northanger-Abbey-movie-stills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt71JRmuloK35O0SWPHDJ0K0KNCxFEObGRNUBYdLgx9ewuItEPCXv1viEoHIYlpagLYfFPEMx0NzPwTKJs_5OziWp70xxT7uK65wsIPtj7mILmlfKCxRTUOyXysnl0px-vGUgDKSUKm2Li/s1600/Northanger-Abbey-movie-stills.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Northanger Abbey is certainly less famous than other Jane Austen novels like <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/03/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen.html" target="_blank">Pride and Prejudice</a> and <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2013/02/sense-and-sensibility-by-jane-austen.html" target="_blank">Sense and Sensibility</a>. But it is not less fun or charming. It has all that good Austen stuff: despicable villains, exciting balls and, of course, a dashing hero.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To be honest, it took me longer than I expected to finish this book. Probably because the book tries to criticize and make fun of Gothic literature, which was in
vogue at the time. I have the feeling that I miss out on a lot when it comes to satires because I don't fully understand what is being criticized. I’m not familiar with Gothic literature and much less with the hype surrounding it in Austen’s time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p>Nonetheless, </o:p>Austen presents the paradox of cute, delicate young girls enjoying horror stories in a very funny way. In a dialogue between Isabella and Catherine, the former says she has prepared a list of Gothic novels for them to read together:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheA2yNM8vikX-ICbQFwM2DSB3isBT_NfLvZ80VtuifLlmXh9DFcdbZ0-yCC0kcV1mg_Iw2wQ7WD5Mt1xIKTyGB_9W6xcfAwyommnUHty6mX1TctVZsPD-J0TNZ1QTE0XZHZMFppKfr5eAa/s1600/-Northanger-Abbey-northanger-abbey-31632148-1600-884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheA2yNM8vikX-ICbQFwM2DSB3isBT_NfLvZ80VtuifLlmXh9DFcdbZ0-yCC0kcV1mg_Iw2wQ7WD5Mt1xIKTyGB_9W6xcfAwyommnUHty6mX1TctVZsPD-J0TNZ1QTE0XZHZMFppKfr5eAa/s1600/-Northanger-Abbey-northanger-abbey-31632148-1600-884.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
- I have made a list of ten or twelve [novels] of the same kind for you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
- But are they all horrid, are you sure, they are all horrid?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
- Yes, quite sure; for a particular friend of mine, a Miss Andrews, a sweet girl, one of the sweetest creatures in the world, has read every one of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Apparently, our teenagers that love gory horror movies like Saw are quite similar to 19<sup>th</sup> century readers of Gothic literature.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But don't let this stop you from reading Northanger Abbey. Mr. Tilney makes it all worthwhile. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I liked him a lot, maybe even more than the protagonists
from other novels. (Of course I'm referring to you, Mr. Darcy.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Northanger’s hero, Mr.
Tilney, knows how to play it cool. He is mysterious, smooth, don’t overreact
when the heroin is rude or acts crazy. He likes the same things she does, but
knows how to joke around as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN13Hh65uOsB4dseiO5Zo_kZr1VzIVTHQl6IswjOpdRdetaskqEmdf4oycQNSrRdgf96Uj_ZBgGzpbP6iPDmt6wY4b2xUSGsgS5-GAaK9nuKj3RAfYKneUe1vOTtK055N4mILgNdHcafg1/s1600/northanger-abbey-movie-carey-mulligan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN13Hh65uOsB4dseiO5Zo_kZr1VzIVTHQl6IswjOpdRdetaskqEmdf4oycQNSrRdgf96Uj_ZBgGzpbP6iPDmt6wY4b2xUSGsgS5-GAaK9nuKj3RAfYKneUe1vOTtK055N4mILgNdHcafg1/s640/northanger-abbey-movie-carey-mulligan.jpg" width="572" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He even warns Catherine of the danger of being obsessed with all things Gothic. I wonder what Jane Austen herself would think of the current obsession with all things Jane Austen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Have you read/watched Northanger Abbey? </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>(I haven't watched the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844794/" target="_blank">Tv movie</a> where the pictures above come from, but I was stupid enough to go watch <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1985019/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Austenland</a>. Word of the wise: just because the movie has a British actor in it, that doesn't mean it's good.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Images: <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/northanger-abbey/images/14651564/title/northanger-abbey-photo" target="_blank">1</a>/<a href="http://papermoondreams.tumblr.com/post/43268629404/northanger-abbey-bbc-2007" target="_blank">2 and 3</a> (though lame Photoshop was all me) </i></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-24872669157925459142013-09-25T12:04:00.000-04:002013-09-25T12:04:14.023-04:00The Dead Christ supported by an Angel<div style="text-align: justify;">
(Hi, there. I'm back again. Please forgive my lack of posts. Once again it's part because of life and part because I can be a total slacker who doesn't want to read anything but shampoo bottles. But let's get serious.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Dead Christ
supported by an Angel by Antonello da Messina<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrmc8gkHeq1c-RPb5LujpkAKhD5zRVsdmFSPkaG7H0ckK-yxMOOWrb7uTmfx_rTzDkS81yIfKh3qZGMtSeGtQmeVDSnyc66uvX9j9BU9TVVKSRBQbmTU4oeZRo5YjAJ_qozrRGXvC1MA-/s1600/antonellodamessina_thedeadchristsupportedbyanangel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrmc8gkHeq1c-RPb5LujpkAKhD5zRVsdmFSPkaG7H0ckK-yxMOOWrb7uTmfx_rTzDkS81yIfKh3qZGMtSeGtQmeVDSnyc66uvX9j9BU9TVVKSRBQbmTU4oeZRo5YjAJ_qozrRGXvC1MA-/s640/antonellodamessina_thedeadchristsupportedbyanangel.jpg" width="436" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.backtoclassics.com/gallery/antonellodamessina/thedeadchristsupportedbyanangel/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source</span></a></div>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><i>A little bit of history</i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Date: 1475 – 76<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The painting portrays a seated Christ who had just been removed from the
Cross after the Crucifixion. On the left we can see the place where He was crucified. On the foreground we see skulls, clear indications we are on a cemetery and evocations of death. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A little bit of technique</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Antonello belongs to the Renaissance period, which was very rich in
innovations and artistic developments. He was born in the South of Italy but he
has influences from Venetian and Flemish art. According to the <a href="http://www.museodelprado.es/en/education/resources/audioguias/cristo-muerto-sostenido-por-un-angel/" target="_blank">Museo del Prado's website</a>, Antonello mixes characteristics of <span style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“<span style="background: white;">northern origin —visible in the
landscape and in Christ's hair— with a monumental treatment of the anatomy and
a concern for volume and perspective that are clearly southern.<span class="apple-converted-space">”</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A little bit of enthusiasm</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I first saw this painting I was taken aback by the motionless, wounded Christ, reminding us of all the sufferings He endured during the Passion. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But what I find most unique about this painting is the crying angel. In other <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/04/pieta-theme.html" target="_blank">Pietas</a>, it's common to see people in the scene: the Virgin Mary, Saint John, Saint Mary Magdalene. Some even place Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and other disciples on the descent of the Cross.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf9LDRXvjwnvCYUTSIOjNzCgjwehMY7wxLZeYd6ObUxen8lf3Ikz8paSL2zvzSmwn5u-hyIO6cbAy0FklWBA0tSOPrcwv92reSD4iDXWfWIpmnqYk7KlH7GmmpTgv8pguVGKKXYUakFme/s1600/761px-Weyden_Deposition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgf9LDRXvjwnvCYUTSIOjNzCgjwehMY7wxLZeYd6ObUxen8lf3Ikz8paSL2zvzSmwn5u-hyIO6cbAy0FklWBA0tSOPrcwv92reSD4iDXWfWIpmnqYk7KlH7GmmpTgv8pguVGKKXYUakFme/s640/761px-Weyden_Deposition.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weyden_Deposition.jpg" target="_blank">Deposition</a></i> by Rogier van der Weyden also in the Museo del Prado.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">Antonello chose to paint the angel, which presents some challenges. An angel, a being of pure intellect, might distance us from the scene and take away the human sadness and emotion of it. Could an angel faint or twists his hands like we see it being done in the painting above? Certainly not. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But Antonello makes up for this in many ways, making the painting just as emotional as other Pietas filled with people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
First off, the angel is not only carrying Christ's body but he's also crying. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5O4t0aNSUIn_MWR4cJYAKhBCxmEWrwiCA5giN949oc3Za_DIwxlq4ohJTg92h0U_jFNEuWlcZExjUTqIEZGMCx1T4D1rmf54izAhOgt2xZCJfyP0bYOXLmkrePfc452igo2j9ycT9VK-i/s1600/antonelo-messina.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5O4t0aNSUIn_MWR4cJYAKhBCxmEWrwiCA5giN949oc3Za_DIwxlq4ohJTg92h0U_jFNEuWlcZExjUTqIEZGMCx1T4D1rmf54izAhOgt2xZCJfyP0bYOXLmkrePfc452igo2j9ycT9VK-i/s640/antonelo-messina.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He is reacting to what just happened. He is also staring right at us, as if he couldn't bear to say anything. He has child-like features and a small size, increasing the pathos of the painting. It is as if the painting were saying: it's not just the people, the Virgin Mary, all the Saints and disciples present, that were sad. No, even heavenly creatures have nothing to do, but weep.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Secondly, there's only one angel. In other works, we see two or more angels. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7qW_xbvbn6Ky7WQlGCXlCcyCclSK2vMX1neADVvVnKnPWiknwwkPHN2wydFKn93iqkX8-JwF8hQIgKXS0XmzfgQ20PewzoxnFKAR7ZYY2JP73C-fcIu8gJPZAp7rM6K3GFgWQtqvVelz/s1600/Lambert_Sustris_-_Piet%C3%A0_and_Angels_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7qW_xbvbn6Ky7WQlGCXlCcyCclSK2vMX1neADVvVnKnPWiknwwkPHN2wydFKn93iqkX8-JwF8hQIgKXS0XmzfgQ20PewzoxnFKAR7ZYY2JP73C-fcIu8gJPZAp7rM6K3GFgWQtqvVelz/s640/Lambert_Sustris_-_Piet%C3%A0_and_Angels_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lambert_sustris,_piet%C3%A0_e_angeli.JPG" target="_blank">Pieta e Angeli</a> </i>by Lambert Sustris</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The fact that the angel is by himself calls our attention to how desolate the landscape is. It reminds us of Christ's own sense of loneliness and abandonment during His ordeal in the Calvary. There's no one there:<a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-taking-of-christ-by-caravaggio.html" target="_blank"> the Apostles fled</a>, the centurions ran away in fear, the Pharisees left in desbelief.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The depiction of the angel, aided by details like the drops of blood falling from Christ’s hair, make the painting so moving that we feel like
joining the angel and crying too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>For a great audio explanation of this painting, check out the <a href="http://www.museodelprado.es/en/education/resources/audioguias/cristo-muerto-sostenido-por-un-angel/" target="_blank">museum’s website</a>.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>What do you think of Messina's painting? What is your favorite type of <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/04/pieta-theme.html" target="_blank">Pieta</a> - the ones with angels or with people (or both?!)</i></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-78308355184073600032013-06-05T11:30:00.000-04:002013-06-05T11:30:02.051-04:005 movies I love to hate<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes disliking a movie is not enough. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are movies I've seen more than once and that I tried to understand and enjoy but ended up abhorring them. My feelings towards these movies are just as intense as my feelings towards the movies I love. (You know how they say the opposite of love is not hate but indifference?)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the funny thing is that, even though everyone is entitled to their own taste, there are some movies that everybody loves. Have you ever said you don’t like a certain popular movie and the other person just stared at you with
open, incredulous eyes as if you said you didn't like ice cream. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are the five movies that when I say I don't like them people go <i>“How can anyone not like....?”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Pulp Fiction<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMoQ2MD2ZykfV9fv0Ckmj7-hELXnUaT_PpwY5spnxGze-IozVTmQfqp5XZKjyY8vh3EW1aJ2QU8emf44DkSH5NXJaVykP1Azjx835unLkJnjpFxVcgPLQqVAM21g5j1TeX07EvHOFobKE/s1600/pulp+fiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMoQ2MD2ZykfV9fv0Ckmj7-hELXnUaT_PpwY5spnxGze-IozVTmQfqp5XZKjyY8vh3EW1aJ2QU8emf44DkSH5NXJaVykP1Azjx835unLkJnjpFxVcgPLQqVAM21g5j1TeX07EvHOFobKE/s640/pulp+fiction.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Never argue with Tarantino fans. They stand up for him like I stand up for Nutella.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">If we are being honest (and unpopular) I'd have to say I don't like any Tarantino movie. I haven't seen Inglorious Basterds and don't feel the slightest inclination towards watching Django Unchained. I remember watching Kill Bill and feeling like blood was coming out of the screen and leaving me drenched at the end. Weird, right? You know what's weirder? Laughing at violence. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">2) Modern times</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgix3gIYmBMaz-chqOHjeciOhbxdRYJmHfSw09ZFNIVzOzp9tcUuxwHKxs8hCvnS0eOzw81JlLjGUGW2FtQunshXjyfI4sGsaT9PKmRVk8SebJ0ZlrrW7GkpmaalMhdeRpwOG9Sol0hjWqu/s1600/Chaplin-Modern-Times-silent-movies-13775512-2560-1982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="495" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgix3gIYmBMaz-chqOHjeciOhbxdRYJmHfSw09ZFNIVzOzp9tcUuxwHKxs8hCvnS0eOzw81JlLjGUGW2FtQunshXjyfI4sGsaT9PKmRVk8SebJ0ZlrrW7GkpmaalMhdeRpwOG9Sol0hjWqu/s640/Chaplin-Modern-Times-silent-movies-13775512-2560-1982.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Admit it, you don't like this movie either.</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This is a big college hit. People in English departments worship Charlie Chaplin. It’s not
that I don’t like silent movies, because I love Buster
Keaton’s. I just don’t care for the persona that Chaplin created or that corny
feeling of every movie he makes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">3) Breakfast at Tiffany’s</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCU0WykBaFb2fD4IgHnv_CI1sNYRewrmHLxp16QpcW65Lw5sa6ch9Wla5tr7W6h4KM_Al-NBOH0JG4YsNh8F3WbZSZJQiXiwp3Cm8MLY0ND_n4c-tB6DOQkY4gVhEe3EpEKlHCbPkvVMw/s1600/breakfasttiffanys.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCU0WykBaFb2fD4IgHnv_CI1sNYRewrmHLxp16QpcW65Lw5sa6ch9Wla5tr7W6h4KM_Al-NBOH0JG4YsNh8F3WbZSZJQiXiwp3Cm8MLY0ND_n4c-tB6DOQkY4gVhEe3EpEKlHCbPkvVMw/s640/breakfasttiffanys.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oh Audrey, do people really watch this movie or they just love you for your clothes?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I do admit
that Audrey Hepburn is an icon. I also know it was Truman Capote who
wrote the book, but that doesn’t make it good either. Holly is a shallow, empty
character who has all this elegance but no intelligence or morals for that
matter (the scene where she encourages Paul to steal always bothered me). I
can’t sympathize with the characters or their fates. I’m afraid what draws
people to this movie is Audrey Hepburn and not the story.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">4</span><span lang="EN-US">) 2001</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hVQWBLNzmHBw5vGN4saZy_b6wcSz-avXlDQXzlU7Z55eYNDYhiXP5m_r2cf63pIVa3l26MurSFTVVbx97tPQd0plHsVc4goLZ0Ud3TwYDCaD-IWF0cokhGevO9yNhfrr-y-eM7QnC-hu/s1600/2001-a-space-odyssey-pic-001_0f16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hVQWBLNzmHBw5vGN4saZy_b6wcSz-avXlDQXzlU7Z55eYNDYhiXP5m_r2cf63pIVa3l26MurSFTVVbx97tPQd0plHsVc4goLZ0Ud3TwYDCaD-IWF0cokhGevO9yNhfrr-y-eM7QnC-hu/s640/2001-a-space-odyssey-pic-001_0f16.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">My first disappointed was discovering this actor was not Michael J. Fox.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">People go a little crazy when it comes to 2001. After watching 2001, some fainted, others wrote doctoral thesis about it. E</span>verybody agrees is an out-of-this-world experience. I hated it. The Shinning, A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove are
just as complex and much more watchable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5) Star Wars</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwFV3Xd6KOMDbcdQKBmCWfbJsUeQ-ZBsqomA4-oImVbVTwYRsEzJH7h5Fm4tMHB_h0pGJfO5n2XqMWlIKP7fuDq79qb-5dUNHsTmYT2HnAiemhMO2VrYEqFGtQIseeG31lft6_U9LlRbH/s1600/Harrison-Ford-as-Han-Solo-011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwFV3Xd6KOMDbcdQKBmCWfbJsUeQ-ZBsqomA4-oImVbVTwYRsEzJH7h5Fm4tMHB_h0pGJfO5n2XqMWlIKP7fuDq79qb-5dUNHsTmYT2HnAiemhMO2VrYEqFGtQIseeG31lft6_U9LlRbH/s640/Harrison-Ford-as-Han-Solo-011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The only reason I watched Star Wars in the first place</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Maybe you had to grow up in the 70's to like this franchise, because come on... Nobody started liking Star Wards based on the last three movies, right? It's sad because there are six movies</span> and none of them is a match for, say... Lord of the Rings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>What movies you hate (and all your friends love)?</i></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-30797546380033088882013-05-29T11:56:00.000-04:002013-05-29T11:56:00.467-04:006 ways to organize your books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQp9YzHmJFKHWxKqdevZUap2ymDm8P_94T-MCPwR6bfCRhtQi8oaXL_UcyxHJNNeh3_OwelAwhS-6-qgU0i7uZmp4z_kpbce6-IKWs55qJ3T-vdSnSic_Bja94fxWPhQcV8C9g1PIIw5R/s1600/book-messy-disorganized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQp9YzHmJFKHWxKqdevZUap2ymDm8P_94T-MCPwR6bfCRhtQi8oaXL_UcyxHJNNeh3_OwelAwhS-6-qgU0i7uZmp4z_kpbce6-IKWs55qJ3T-vdSnSic_Bja94fxWPhQcV8C9g1PIIw5R/s1600/book-messy-disorganized.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Do you remember that episode of Friends where Ross’ girlfriend has a really messy, dirty apartment and
in the end Monica shows up at her house saying she can’t sleep because of it
and offers to clean it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I totally understand Monica.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Not so much her urge to clean, but I have organized my sister’s and my mother’s wardrobe
voluntarily just... for fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I assume
most people don’t understand this, which is why sitcoms always make fun of
borderline OCD characters such as Monica, Niles from Frasier and Sheldon from The Big
Bang Theory. For me, being organized just comes naturally and I like organizing my closet and bookshelf in different ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you struggle to keep your books organized or are just looking to shake things up a bit, here are
some ways I have organized my book shelves over the years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1)
Alphabetically</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The
simplest and most obvious way to organize your books. It will make you feel like
your bookshelf is a real library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">2) Subjects<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1BKy4ihZ6DIa9eBXyEyrcLci_EQEjN46NHALsQEU9L3AV1DinDmFJHrRBbkULyWXe_Py20vNniE6lmEr0WMTZZvmF35Pqi0MiueLS596bM3oa2_rjTYTdLDxFTDYsTZ0SDfPjXZVCyQ1/s1600/book-category-bookshelf-beautiful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1BKy4ihZ6DIa9eBXyEyrcLci_EQEjN46NHALsQEU9L3AV1DinDmFJHrRBbkULyWXe_Py20vNniE6lmEr0WMTZZvmF35Pqi0MiueLS596bM3oa2_rjTYTdLDxFTDYsTZ0SDfPjXZVCyQ1/s1600/book-category-bookshelf-beautiful.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is
particularly useful when you’re in college and need to do a lot of research. Keep
all books in the same topic together. I had three main groups: Literary
criticism, Novels, and Brazilian authors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">3) Most
used<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve always
kept the books I use the most extremely close to the table where I work. My dictionary
and thesaurus are always at an arm’s reach. You’ll save time if the books you
use often are not scattered all over a book shelf or sitting way over at the
highest shelf. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4) Color</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoJtMFEHQQQcMyBlf9W84V26u7uyaXwTs8qsW8fLMXeS0jmP69fcB7EEK6ULPM41ich0x7RTjLVjwcb17LZORRAvbuoC-oAQsGTO1y-jVcCkkg2tk5eyikErdZHU0zU1bpnJyw5g79av4/s1600/book-books-bookshelf-color-colorful-Favim.com-215610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoJtMFEHQQQcMyBlf9W84V26u7uyaXwTs8qsW8fLMXeS0jmP69fcB7EEK6ULPM41ich0x7RTjLVjwcb17LZORRAvbuoC-oAQsGTO1y-jVcCkkg2tk5eyikErdZHU0zU1bpnJyw5g79av4/s1600/book-books-bookshelf-color-colorful-Favim.com-215610.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Not practical
at all but great as a decoration device and a way to add more color to a room.
Even if it’s not as perfect as the picture above, rearranging the books you already have by color you will make a beautiful effect. If you can stick to this system and memorize the colors of your books,
you can start buying cheap books just
because of their color.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">5) Emotions<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Let's be honest, sometimes books save lives. Organizing your books based on the emotions they produce can be helpful. The next time you get home desperately needing a laugh or a pick me up, you know exactly where to look for. Can you imagine being in a dark mood and all you can find are Stephen King books? </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">6) No
system, just insanity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve read
somewhere that keeping things always in the same place is bad for the memory.
So for one month I organized my books in no specific order, just to see if I
remembered where they were. Because this is rather time consuming I only advise
it to those who really are trying to improve memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Always try
to organize your books to fit the needs you have right now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Recently I decided
to organize my books between read and un-read. So that I can easily go through
the books I need to finish and avoid buying more books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Asking
yourself how your bookshelf can work for your lifestyle is the best way to
start. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<i>Are you the
chaotic type or the Monica Geller type? How do you organize your bookshelf?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Images via <a href="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lluh2iErgT1qam2q6o1_500.jpg" target="_blank">1</a>, <a href="http://ksbooks.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/beautiful-and-unique-bookshelves-bookstores/" target="_blank">2</a>, <a href="http://favim.com/image/215610/" target="_blank">3</a></i>Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-30289259750134889242013-05-22T14:18:00.000-04:002013-05-23T14:19:24.758-04:00Alba Madonna by Raphael<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEqlNNLOUn2cWluVa58v2LEwF0vE_YZPKe_KU3mxY4Vx5AL1nvFWnjIhidLRRObqv0zn3lU8dSCjYEMLoj1sGPUc-TfYgg5XTuQzNmj3rbfzCloS5oFw43VHRbLQrOrgwAH9RF4TC_UF6/s1600/raphael-alba-madonna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEqlNNLOUn2cWluVa58v2LEwF0vE_YZPKe_KU3mxY4Vx5AL1nvFWnjIhidLRRObqv0zn3lU8dSCjYEMLoj1sGPUc-TfYgg5XTuQzNmj3rbfzCloS5oFw43VHRbLQrOrgwAH9RF4TC_UF6/s640/raphael-alba-madonna.jpg" width="638" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="PT-BR"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alba Madonna by Raphael </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A little bit of history</i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Date: 1510<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Located in the National Gallery, Washington D.C.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
This painting depicts one of Raphael's favorite subjects, that of Our Lady with the Infant Jesus. However, unlike his famous Madonnas, this one presents another figure, Saint John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin and precursor, as a child. All three figures look directly at the reed cross Jesus holds, a reference to his future crucifixion. The knowledge of Jesus' cruel death is shared by all of them and so is the acceptance of sacrifice in each of their lives.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A little bit of technique</i><br />
Raphael was not only extremely talented but was also constantly introducing innovations. While the round format of the picture was conventional in Florence, the picture has a seriousness that his other Madonnas lack.<br />
<br />
The Virgin's pose is noteworthy. It looks like a complicated and unusual way to sit (not to mention uncomfortable), but through Raphael's mastery the Virgin's pose is effortless and natural. According to the National Gallery "that apparent ease was considered a virtue at the time: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprezzatura" target="_blank">sprezzatura</a>, which meant avoiding any appearance of effort in making something fine. It was an ideal of courtly behavior and Raphael embodied it in his art".</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A little bit of enthusiasm</i><br />
I wasn't such a big fan of Raphael's until I saw some of his paintings, such as this one, live. His ability of taking something complicated and turning it into something natural really makes him a genius. His paintings definitely deserve deeper study, but their beauty is noticeable from the first moment you set eyes on them.<br />
<br />
His aesthetics might not exactly be in vogue right now in the arts, but I do believe that in other areas, such as dance and fashion, there's still a great desire to make something complex in technical terms but with an appearance of ease and naturality.<br />
<br />
Because of that we will keep coming back to Raphael for inspiration and guidance.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>What do you think about Raphael's Madonnas and ideals?</i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image via <a href="http://cnytr.blogspot.com/2005/06/alba-madonna.html" target="_blank">Cnytr</a></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-89157812924570994402013-05-15T18:58:00.002-04:002013-05-15T18:58:31.510-04:00Midnight in Paris<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0U0NDDdkVUW4rDIUki4j8HTyK7YviCqV4pUNj1tGIYC_zr7ab6voMIKh8ledf1zM-c17y1nhH-rML1Iv1j0pe95tdjh68j-81L2YmHy_6b500UJfcBe1Qsi5p2x7vUc9qj-QpMQNXlZB/s1600/MidnightInParis-Stills-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0U0NDDdkVUW4rDIUki4j8HTyK7YviCqV4pUNj1tGIYC_zr7ab6voMIKh8ledf1zM-c17y1nhH-rML1Iv1j0pe95tdjh68j-81L2YmHy_6b500UJfcBe1Qsi5p2x7vUc9qj-QpMQNXlZB/s640/MidnightInParis-Stills-001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">*spoilers*</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a love and
hate relationship with Woody Allen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So much so that I
only watched Midnight in Paris because it was being played at my gym. The movie
was so interesting that I ended up working out for much longer that I wanted
to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Midnight in Paris is
about a young Hollywood writer, Gil, who is inexplicably transported to 1920’s
Paris every night. There he gets a chance to enjoy the company of Hemingway, Dali
and Bunuel – all extremely creative people unlike the snooze that are his fiancé
and friends in the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">While none of the
characters understands Gil’s nostalgia, the movie supposes the audience does. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I, for one, am normally
very pessimistic about the present and being in a gym where everybody (including
myself) is spending lots of money, time and energy on losing weight through
moronic exercises probably enhanced the feeling that we are all in pretty bad
shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t expect a great
conclusion to Gil’s dilemma though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Between a barren,
boring present and an electrifying past he will compromise. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">The only problem with
that is that is a bit conformist and not original. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Conformist because there is a big difference
between dreaming of living in the past and looking at your present critically.
Not original because how many recent movies end with the message: “be happy in
the present, follow your dreams, don’t sell out and find a quirky girl who
loves you for who you are”? Of the top of my head I can think of Stranger than
Fiction, Little Miss Sunshine and Ruby Sparks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What’s strange is how Gil came to terms with the present. It's only because he discovers everybody is nostalgic and unhappy with their present - whatever that time that is.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It's what Woody Allen puts in the mouth of one of his characters "The present is unsatisfying because
life is”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1VMJ3djtX6xcX3-cjJHo0CQg88iN9jJe8RCcwFj6sMXVvF138_lutNlLsQR8GFrLeT683Q5004xJvidhbjbDhIfODWpzPpa0CfKYEiOkDYW9316rI_E2fV_3JwwRLNelsVhXuotRVigp/s1600/midnight+in+paris.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1VMJ3djtX6xcX3-cjJHo0CQg88iN9jJe8RCcwFj6sMXVvF138_lutNlLsQR8GFrLeT683Q5004xJvidhbjbDhIfODWpzPpa0CfKYEiOkDYW9316rI_E2fV_3JwwRLNelsVhXuotRVigp/s640/midnight+in+paris.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
It's as if life would be awful no matter what time period you live in, which is a little tricky. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
On one hand, people that are nihilists like Allen would definitely be unsatisfied with the present no matter when they lived in (just like people that find a purpose in life manage to live well in any era). </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
On the other, it's not like all time periods have the same advantages or disadvantages. Living in one period is not the same as living in another, as any grandpa can tell you.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I wonder if deep down
Allen believes Gil will be happy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I'd say, based on his other movies, that he thinks Gil should be happy his life is not totally horrible. But I guess anyone who thinks life is that unsatisfying cannot be happy for long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><i>What did you think of Midnight in Paris? What time would you like to live in? (I'm highly favorable to the 1920's myself)</i></span></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-29266057553458126792013-05-09T14:47:00.004-04:002013-05-09T14:47:58.597-04:00Reading in trains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5_deeyxy3XFeun2Iusdyf86Uya5x4-fNm2UHGfXiNFHYTtA65RxjpGOxoQBRXgooGUo6S8lq6Mpy_1CdFyUqE4SmiKbo8SUWmyM4ep5vzBmDH7G0nAIdz_VQJ6XPpDEOAz0NdVOKicjn/s1600/people-reading-train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI5_deeyxy3XFeun2Iusdyf86Uya5x4-fNm2UHGfXiNFHYTtA65RxjpGOxoQBRXgooGUo6S8lq6Mpy_1CdFyUqE4SmiKbo8SUWmyM4ep5vzBmDH7G0nAIdz_VQJ6XPpDEOAz0NdVOKicjn/s640/people-reading-train.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Sorry everyone for leaving
the blog a bit abandoned. I was half busy, half out of town and half without
ideas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Speaking about traveling,
I had a very difficult decision to make on my last trip - what book to read
on the train.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It might seem a banal
decision but it’s one I take seriously. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Even though
technology helps passing the time while on a train or an airplane, you can’t
trust technology or an airline taste in movies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I learned my lesson
when on my last plane ride I watched <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8U0nL-KXg" target="_blank">School of Rock</a></i> (for the tenth time) and
ended up hating it for good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It’s just like that “what
book would you take to a desert island” game. In both scenarios you are stuck
in a place with nowhere to go, nothing to distract you and a cannibal sitting next to you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So before boarding
any type of vehicle that requires the use of the verb ‘board”, I think about the
book I’ll read. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The most practical choice is the book I’m reading at the moment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I wish it were
that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I was reading the
library’s copy of Shakespeare's </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Romeo and Juliet</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and I </span><span style="line-height: 14px;">wouldn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> risk something
happening to it. I know from experience that l</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">osing the book is
not the worst that can happen to it. I once had to buy my college’s library
another copy of Paul Auster’s <i>The New York trilogy</i> because my dog peed on it.
In his defense it was on the floor and in my defense I didn’t keep the peed book
to myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Another issue is
weight. <i><a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-art-books.html" target="_blank">Art through the ages</a></i> is too heavy and <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/search?q=c.+s.+lewis" target="_blank">C. S. Lewis</a>' <i>The Abolition of Man</i> is too light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The subject of the book is something else to consider. Many people read in trains so that no one will bother them, but the thing is: you don’t want to talk to a
strange stranger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If you have a strange
stranger sitting next to you, you just want to bury your head in a book and give the impression you are a medieval scholar. But if you have a tall dark stranger type sitting
next to you, I bet you’d be kicking yourself for not being the type of girl who
packs lipsticks instead of books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So a trip book must
be multi-action: interesting and not embarrassing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">At last, I took <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/9m70dlurlt8FAHCIHA8DBABA?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fp%2FShadowplay%2FClare-Asquith%2FQ554934733" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.booksamillion.com';return true;" target="_blank">Shadowplay</a>, a non-fiction book about the works of Shakespeare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It’s the book I’m
reading at the moment, it’s medium size, neither embarrassing nor a conversation killer. It’s also mine so if anything
happened to it, I wouldn’t look like a careless punk in the librarian’s eyes.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>What books do you read when you travel? </i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;"><i>Image via <a href="http://nationalrailwaymuseum.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/who-is-the-most-interesting-person-youve-met-on-a-train/" target="_blank">National Railway Museum</a></i></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-21768184907296890132013-04-17T20:07:00.000-04:002013-04-17T20:08:42.205-04:00My museum purse<div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 700px;">
<div style="position: relative;">
</div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I love going to museums and while I was visiting the National Gallery in Washington the other day I realized how important it is to have a light bag filled with everything you need to enjoy your museum trip.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here what I usually take with me:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.polyvore.com/museum_purse/set?.embedder=3654567&.svc=copypaste&id=79153753" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Museum purse" border="0" height="561" src="http://cfc.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/.sig/CYSKozfPVv43nl79U6AlQ/cid/79153753/id/_3OBQkH8Sz_o_lYpChWVwQ/size/c700x561.jpg" title="Museum purse" width="700" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Small notepad and pen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once I had to ask the security guard for a pen and wrote notes about the art works in my hands. Another time I had to come back to the museum to copy the name of an interesting book that was quoted in one of the explanation boards. After this I learned to always carry a pen and a small pad – everywhere, as a matter of fact.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2) Cash</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes the audio files' booth doesn’t accept credit or even debit cards, so it’s good to have some extra money for this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) Camera</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I used to be a little skeptical about this and never took a camera with me. I guess it's optional, but cellphone cameras are pretty light. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 and 5) Water and a little snack. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always take an inexpensive water bottle because some museums don’t allow water so you might have to leave your water in the entrance. Also most museums don’t allow food, but you can sneak in a cereal bar or some fruit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6) Strap bag</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Comfort is key. Strap bags allow your hands to be free and you can't put too much extra stuff in them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>What do you take with you in a museum trip?</i></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-66471915286934837732013-04-10T20:35:00.000-04:002013-04-11T15:45:41.764-04:00Eastwood for Easter: Gran Torino<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lxjEPFkPS7l6G48wQpRS0GH4jjJ0c72OkhjMeTg5nKiWqPfRLju05ZeqnrxLV3XjzDYOQBVfwuQard4b0GBqs59Bj-TYe5L7A9md0t8ZE3qfB-A8ndU3twMhvKoHaNsrbNeeoEiia5M4/s1600/gran_torino_clint_eastwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9lxjEPFkPS7l6G48wQpRS0GH4jjJ0c72OkhjMeTg5nKiWqPfRLju05ZeqnrxLV3XjzDYOQBVfwuQard4b0GBqs59Bj-TYe5L7A9md0t8ZE3qfB-A8ndU3twMhvKoHaNsrbNeeoEiia5M4/s640/gran_torino_clint_eastwood.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’ll be honest: I’m
not a big Clint Eastwood fan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I stay clear of any
type of western, no matter how much they try to lure me by associating
themselves with spaghetti. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Growing up, I have a faint memory of watching a movie with Eastwood and either
Johnny Deep or Christian Slater, can’t remember which. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">His last movies were simply painful to watch and too
disturbing for a second watch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">I couldn’t even finish watching <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112579/" target="_blank">Bridges of Madison County.</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Gran Torino</a>, on the
other hand, is a completely different case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Eastwood is Walt Kowalski,
an intolerant old man who, after his wife's death, has to deal with his estranged family, an insistent priest and too many immigrants
in his neighborhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Walt is alone and feeling
completely alienated from his environment. As a Korean war veteran and a long
time worker of a Ford factory, he doesn’t fit in a world of ethnic gangs and
cocky teenagers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Things start to
change when his neighbor Thao tries to steal his coveted, vintage Gran Torino.
Under Walt’s wings, Thao, also alienated from his surroundings, will learn how to be a straight up guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many people don’t
like this movie because Eastwood’s character is just so politically incorrect. But there's more to the movie than Walt's rants. At times, the movie is very funny, like in
the scene where Walt and his barber teach Thao how to talk like a man. There
are also very moving dialogues, such as the one when, replying to a man talking
in a foreign language, Walt approvingly says: “You said it, brother.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Following the general tone of his latest movies, Gran Torino has some strong scenes, but it is a much easier watch than <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824747/" target="_blank">Changeling</a> or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/" target="_blank">Mystic River</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And whether we like
it or not, Walt is one of the most interesting things about Gran Torino. He is this crazy 80 year old Dirty Harry - who will totally surprise you in the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For last year's Easter I talked about the film <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/04/passion-of-christ.html" target="_blank">The Passion of the Christ</a> and this year I chose Gran Torino. It deals with
very real human dramas and several modern problems but presents an utterly Christian solution to them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Who
knew a Clint Eastwood movie would be such a fitting option for Easter? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Have you seen Gran Torino? What do you think about Clint Eastwood movies?</i></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-15358280103901752812013-03-27T17:06:00.000-04:002013-03-27T17:06:02.089-04:00On the highway to hell: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DjaJ9bEl5Jv4HRTdyONT1NRJyBqtvhTY-U6hCtFCmStybM44vnQZMJEy851QXCpMkML5OEShwinYlTCH2pYgomB-TXDxD_TIvvJMRrycK0cO46F4_m2IKn5zdEGKw18FtGaXWxdpbNhu/s1600/the-screwtape-letters.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DjaJ9bEl5Jv4HRTdyONT1NRJyBqtvhTY-U6hCtFCmStybM44vnQZMJEy851QXCpMkML5OEShwinYlTCH2pYgomB-TXDxD_TIvvJMRrycK0cO46F4_m2IKn5zdEGKw18FtGaXWxdpbNhu/s640/the-screwtape-letters.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Just one of the many amazing quotes from Lewis' book, <i>The Screwtape Letters </i></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I recently finished
reading <i>The Screwtape Letters</i>, a book by C. S. Lewis comprised of </span><span style="line-height: 14px;">humorous</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> letters written by an experienced demon to his nephew – also a demon.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Screwtape, the author of the letters, gives out advice to Wormwood, his nephew, on how
to better tempt his "patient", a man recently converted to Christianity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It’s a very short book, but also very unusual. The way Screwtape talks is the opposite of ours. What he calls "the Enemy" is God and when he says "our father" he means Satan.
Through this inverted worldview, the reader gets something like a secret insiders view on the devil's tricks and plans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">What I liked best about the book is how it shows that the devil acts primarily on the human intellect. Less like what we see in horror movies and more like what we see in cartoons.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H-D9USMtg5bn-RvwS7XRpc423ddKb-mBXBzC6xLplKavXPEmo5vBaJsVvkgOyyfEtlnjQwmQP2YXHXOSeCED614hcHe3yXvtwmTPiEFxnLJiJ-AHNMTj0Aip7FwXWBAbwYHAbAAeXfgf/s1600/Kronk-Shoulder-Angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H-D9USMtg5bn-RvwS7XRpc423ddKb-mBXBzC6xLplKavXPEmo5vBaJsVvkgOyyfEtlnjQwmQP2YXHXOSeCED614hcHe3yXvtwmTPiEFxnLJiJ-AHNMTj0Aip7FwXWBAbwYHAbAAeXfgf/s640/Kronk-Shoulder-Angel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Be prepared: the book is most
times very funny, but it get very scary pretty fast. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The fate of the two
demons and of the damned souls is horrifying. And with each letter we see a description of the seemingly unimportant, day
to day dramas of our very own lives. I doubt anyone can read the letters and not find the situations described in them familiar.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Who knew that the
author of the wonderful children's saga, <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/05/chronicles-of-narnia.html" target="_blank">Narnia</a>, would write something this complex, funny, eye opening and easy to read?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">I’m off to read the
rest of Lewis’ work. Partly because I'm so impressed by his writing and partly because I don’t have the guts to listen to <a href="http://www.screwtape.com/downloads/" target="_blank">Andy Serkis</a> reading the letters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>Have you read The Screwtape Letters or other books by C. S. Lewis?</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image via <a href="http://unkantelope.com/wordpress_antelope/2012/10/03/lawton-returns-for-the-screwtape-letters/the-screwtape-letters-d1178437753098d2/" target="_blank">The Antelope</a> and still from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove</span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-78030154989215829082013-03-21T16:14:00.003-04:002013-03-21T16:14:57.390-04:00The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hNoISnI_tzMr_p1OSPt9ktBtOKjXbLi7ZRApmJBeuWaLMzZWHpPbrH4ZjCsvqoshPIHfhcKTPTGWkxYf28BUq6kGoIazMBJZFOeUCRgVQJLOSCi_iIUfTNbzTPPV2XItE43nLINva_kY/s1600/takingofchrist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hNoISnI_tzMr_p1OSPt9ktBtOKjXbLi7ZRApmJBeuWaLMzZWHpPbrH4ZjCsvqoshPIHfhcKTPTGWkxYf28BUq6kGoIazMBJZFOeUCRgVQJLOSCi_iIUfTNbzTPPV2XItE43nLINva_kY/s1600/takingofchrist.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<i style="text-align: justify;">A little bit of history</i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Date: 1602<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Located in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Caravaggio’s painting
is a vivid portrait of one of the first scenes of Christ’s Passion. It depicts the
moment when Judas betrays Jesus by pointing Him out to the Pharisees’ soldiers
with a kiss.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Saint John (the
figure on the left) runs away from the scene in utter fright. Christ is motionless, sad but dignified, in the middle of an agitated, moving crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This painting has a
rather funny story. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Everybody thought it was lost. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">It had actually been with t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">he Jesuit priests in
Dublin - in their dining room! - for over 60 years. They didn't have the slightest clue
that it was a real Caravaggio. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It was only discovered and recognized when the priests called a specialist from
Dublin’s National Gallery to look at other paintings they had.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>A little bit of technique</i></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">What attracts people to Caravaggio’s paintings is at the same time what’s make people dismiss them: his realism awes and repels. It puts us right into a scene and then makes it unbearable.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">It is as if, at any moment, the crowd will proceed to our left, taking Christ away, and in a fleeting moment the canvas will be empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">I understand the complaints that Caravaggio can lose sight of the sacred sometimes but I don't think this happens in this painting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">I like the proximity between the guard’s cruel hand in Christ’s throat, which anticipates all the brutality and violence of the Passion, and Judas’ lips, which in a gesture of love and friendship betray and deceive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">The shiny black armors also call my attention, looking strangely modern and menacing.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>A little bit of enthusiasm</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Easter is fast approaching and art offers so much material for meditation. This painting in particular is no exception.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">For starters, it is said that the men on the right is a self-portrait of Caravaggio. Why paint himself on the scene where Christ is captured? It reminds me of Mel Gibson who is the hand that nails Christ to his Cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">It’s no secret that despite his highly spiritual paintings, Caravaggio was a wretched bar brawler, dying at the age of 38 under mysterious circumstances. Everybody is surprised at this, but how can a man who paints with such vigor, drama and emotion not be a brawler?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">And that's just the thing: our hearts are just as inconstant and paradoxical as Caravaggio’s life. They are a battle ground where we can easily lose perspective on everything. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Look at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Saint John running away. He was the disciple Jesus loved the most.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">This is why I like Caravaggio’s paintings. They pull me closer. Sort of an antidote to indifference towards Christ's suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Caravaggio grabs us by the collar, puts us right next to him and acts as a wakeup call, urging for a mindset proper for Easter</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>What do you think about Caravaggio's realistic style?</i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image via </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Christ" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-3612051256932084162013-03-13T09:13:00.001-04:002013-03-13T09:13:15.206-04:001 year anniversary speech<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzVeSROjf60N7xi6i-QLciAfawV6UzXIlIa3E7DaMIQQSCbCsf78FjSjVGDQ8A_f1yfWNMy5466h_nofIfKyesa3m1dYCEyAAwr0kzawR0tspvx17DG4OUs_Qa8eKP0ggeHAhQV9ieW2a/s1600/ONE-YEAR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzVeSROjf60N7xi6i-QLciAfawV6UzXIlIa3E7DaMIQQSCbCsf78FjSjVGDQ8A_f1yfWNMy5466h_nofIfKyesa3m1dYCEyAAwr0kzawR0tspvx17DG4OUs_Qa8eKP0ggeHAhQV9ieW2a/s640/ONE-YEAR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Yesterday my little
blog turned one! </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I might be exaggerating, but I think that calls for a
celebration. So, as you read, imagine I’m spraying you with champagne, the way those pilots do after they win a Formula 1 race.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This could be the
imaginary champagne talking, but I want to thank everybody for reading and
supporting the blog. Your comments make my day and I’m thrilled to find other
people that share my passion for culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You know, in January
I was reading this article about a New Year’s detox diet</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I used to be a big
fan of detox diets. Just like the Cat Woman in that disapointing <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises_27.html" target="_blank">Batman movie</a>, I would really like to clean the slate: she committed one too many
crimes, I ate one too many ice cream sandwiches.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, I decided to go on
the New Year’s detox diet. I bought everything: kale, collard greens, apples, bananas, parsley... And that was all for one smoothie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When I was almost
dying drinking that, it hit me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This diet takes a
gigantic amount of will power and energy. And what for? </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wouldn’t it be much
more rewarding to go to all that trouble to detox my mind? </span>I’m the Culture
Enthusiast, after all. I ought to go on a cultural detox too.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And so I did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My cultural diet,
just like my regular diet of potato chips and coke, was unhealthy. I knew I had hit</span> rock
bottom when I memorized a Justin Bieber song (show
you off…).</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In my defense, I didn’t
memorize it on purpose. It’s just that I listened to it over and over in
stores, at the gym and pretty much everywhere. </span>But still... Justing
Bieber didn’t put a gun to my head and made me watch
reality shows. I was the one
spending hours consuming mind numbing, brain cell killing cultural material.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, I got back on
track. </span>I picked up the dusty copy of Guy the Maupassant’s short stories. Did a little research on <a href="http://www.getintoclassical.com/" target="_blank">classical music</a> and finally discovered the name of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Grieg" target="_blank">composer</a> I long loved.
Revisited some of my childhood favorite <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-26Ciw8ogGQ" target="_blank">movies</a>.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the beginning it
took a lot of effort, but it was worth it. Much more worth it than drinking kale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Because it's much easier to go back to a healthy diet than it is going back to a healthy cultural diet. </span>I don't want to sound drastic, but once you get
used to a diet of cultural junk, there’s no telling you’ll ever come back.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I’m laughing right
now, but it's dangerous exposing yourself to
certain things inadvertently. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The other day I saw that actress from Harry Potter saying she was watching a lot of reality shows to prepare for a movie.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">She said: "I was doing an English course [at Brown University]. So I would go from reading Virginia Woolf to [watching] </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">Kim Kardashian</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px;">. I kind of loved it, this mix of super-high and super-low culture. I think it was a nice balance."</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While I can totally
relate to what's she is saying, I don't think it's a "nice balance", I think it’s risky business. It's not like math, where you can mix a high number with a low number and get an average number.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I see it as Kim Kardarshian pulling you from one end and Virginia Woolf from the other, as if they were participants of a Tug of War game where you are the rope and the prize is your mind.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Since it
takes much less effort to go to Kim’s side, you might find yourself one day spending hours and hours with Kim and never wanting to visit Virginia ever again.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As they say, a mind’s is a terrible thing to waste. Cultivating good
cultural habits involves effort, but it’s what feeds your intelligence and soul.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And that’s why I like writing for this blog. It's when I remember I have to educate myself because no one is
going to that for me. It's an extra motivation to turn off the Tv and open a book. It's an encouragement to think and talk about things that I like and that really, really matter. Unlike my New Year’s detox diet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thanks again for bearing with me and here's to another year!</div>
</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-11585828263880346152013-03-06T11:09:00.001-05:002013-03-06T11:09:46.168-05:00Witness for the Prosecution<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6c6JabeBXipLI5dgSrVUvFXN5bGZ3oxJlCR8H2YHXKajHVAbwyuCngGqW-lfZ7g_iFVC0SMM8D5TysVra0YAkSK5HKofChu1NHk-o8Iqc-zr27ulL3M7rOJiLxfh7nNBYJrPQWr4kZwv/s1600/witness_for_the_prosecution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF6c6JabeBXipLI5dgSrVUvFXN5bGZ3oxJlCR8H2YHXKajHVAbwyuCngGqW-lfZ7g_iFVC0SMM8D5TysVra0YAkSK5HKofChu1NHk-o8Iqc-zr27ulL3M7rOJiLxfh7nNBYJrPQWr4kZwv/s1600/witness_for_the_prosecution.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Shala from <a href="http://life-between-films.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Life Between Films</a> hosted a "London in Genres" blogathon, where several people recommended movies that are about or set in London. There's one movie for each genre and the <a href="http://life-between-films.tumblr.com/post/44597687651/london-in-genres-the-collection" target="_blank">full list</a> has amazing recommendations.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Here's mine, about the movie Witness for the Prosecution in the Classics genre:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051201/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">Witness for the Prosecution</a> pays homage to two British institutions: London’s Central Criminal Courts, a.k,a the Old Bailey, and Agatha Christie.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Based on one of her plays, Witness for the Prosecution is a mystery classic directed by Billy Wilder, but many people think it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock (a pretty neat compliment for a suspense movie, wouldn’t you say?)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Sir Wilfrid (Charles Laughton) is a London barrister defending Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), an American veteran accused of murder.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Not much more can be said without spoiling the movie. When it was first screened, movie goers had to sign a written statement saying "I solemnly swear I will not reveal the ending of Witness for the Prosecution." </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;">Just like in a theater play, most of the movie’s action happens in one place, the Old Bailey. And Sir Wilfrid prefers to hang out in there instead of going to the sunny Bahamas to recover from his heart attack. I’m not surprised: with all those twists and turns, Marlene Dietrich’s enigmatic coolness and the funny bickering with his nurse, I would too.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><i>Have you seen Witness for the Prosecution? What are your favorite London-based movies?</i></span></span></div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-72011181199598680092013-02-27T18:09:00.000-05:002013-02-27T18:09:16.962-05:00Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJT_4Bkzu9wkV8dSY5_hgh6ojkgMSG5F03SBKy2XZ2i8ddVjI2z7j1xuiKzeOVOgmI5rV8t-Ms7THqx2AwR0Njcmdy_-tBpyao-cyB4-wGlYHAUTTIybYhTUDlLp2lRXtMGFTqkig2xG5V/s1600/Sense-and-Sensibility-kate-winslet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJT_4Bkzu9wkV8dSY5_hgh6ojkgMSG5F03SBKy2XZ2i8ddVjI2z7j1xuiKzeOVOgmI5rV8t-Ms7THqx2AwR0Njcmdy_-tBpyao-cyB4-wGlYHAUTTIybYhTUDlLp2lRXtMGFTqkig2xG5V/s1600/Sense-and-Sensibility-kate-winslet.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like so many girls, I decided to read <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-6183981-42121?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.booksamillion.com%2Fp%2FSense-Sensibility%2FJane-Austen%2F9780141040370" target="_blank"><i>Sense and Sensibility</i></a><img border="0" height="1" src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-6183981-42121" width="1" /> after reading (and loving)<i> <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/03/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen.html" target="_blank">Pride and Prejudice</a>.</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unfortunately, the first time I read it, <i>Sense and Sensibility </i>felt like a bucket of cold water.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sense and sensibility's <span style="text-align: justify;">sad tones and tricky situations took me by surprise. And don't get me started on t</span><span style="text-align: justify;">he male characters. </span>Willoughby, Edward and Col. Brandon are complex and troubled - not your average romantic-comedy hero as well.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But after a second reading I began appreciating the book more. You just can't go into it expecting a light hearted commedy. For that, go to<i> <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/05/emma-by-jane-austen.html" target="_blank">Emma</a>.</i></div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">The title relates to the two main sisters, Marianne and Elinor, who have quite opposite dispositions. Marianne is extremely
sentimental and romantic while Elinor is more rational and introspective.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Both of them will have to struggle to find love and happiness. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Something unique about <i>Sense and Sensibility</i> is how well the characters are constructed. Notice how we don’t
actually hate the antagonists. I, for one, felt sympathy towards Lucy, Elinor’s rival. Lucy seems to be just like
Elinor: a girl trying to figure out how she can successfully marry the love of
her life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJdS2IXCbrejjXbhccNuvGFrLkQPoTtrlPZWqB2hxGcJnO6ZM5dXyE7D5Ux8LjV48qredPqkRu2-PQ91PabD0DaZy2lp_M_2pwM8DS5wQrjzGLNh8pPojrKQUTeWX3-unblTEh0DIB38E/s1600/Sense-and-Sensibility-emma-thompson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJdS2IXCbrejjXbhccNuvGFrLkQPoTtrlPZWqB2hxGcJnO6ZM5dXyE7D5Ux8LjV48qredPqkRu2-PQ91PabD0DaZy2lp_M_2pwM8DS5wQrjzGLNh8pPojrKQUTeWX3-unblTEh0DIB38E/s1600/Sense-and-Sensibility-emma-thompson.jpg" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The characters have this perfect mixture of flaw and virtue. At every scene we wonder who's being smart, Elinor or Marianne. Many times we can't help but to understand them and be on their sides, even when they sabotage themselves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This is probably what makes the novel less entertaining, but also more complex and demanding.than <i>Pride and Prejudice</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Every Jane Austen novel is a lesson in relationships. But be prepared for a difficult lesson with <i>Sense and
Sensibility</i>. In theory, we should balance both sides (sense and sensibility). Now, If the ending backs this up, if the ending is really a happy one, is up to the reader to decide.*</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<i>What do you think about Sense and Sensibility? How does it compare to other Jane Austen novels?</i><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Images from <a href="http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/sense-and-sensibility/images/16178014/title/sense-sensibility-photo" target="_blank">FanPop</a>. These are from a great movie adaptation with Emma Thompson and a young Kate Winslet. I recommend reading the book first before watching it, though. The movie focuses too much on the two sisters and doesn’t develop the motives of Col. Brandon, for instance, and even redeems Edward’s faults.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
* You didn't ask me, but I'll tell you anyhow: I'm not sure how happy the ending is. But then again I hate that Willoughby. Every time I read his name I hear “will it be?”. Perhaps I'm a little Sensibility myself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
(This is the 3rd book in my Classics Club Challenge. Click <a href="http://thecultureenthusiast.blogspot.com/2012/09/damn-fine-words-classics-club.html" target="_blank">here</a> for the full list with the other books in this challenge, plus their reviews.)</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4236054442623784970.post-46510119453813565902013-02-20T09:21:00.000-05:002013-02-20T09:21:17.265-05:00Larger than life: Franz Roubaud's war panoramas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzyu6_MsDx40peWG-d6Y8t77hpaU-FXhRBSqsFw-DDah4DC5Psc4r40kgfRYKHRDXMG1uXYfFyBqNAJIf8CKJtC8UNigE3vn083GUwofLlQP8fVtWTWs1PCVJJW2_V3aDSLDG8CGf9oOG/s1600/Franz+Roubaud+-+Assault+on+Gimry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJzyu6_MsDx40peWG-d6Y8t77hpaU-FXhRBSqsFw-DDah4DC5Psc4r40kgfRYKHRDXMG1uXYfFyBqNAJIf8CKJtC8UNigE3vn083GUwofLlQP8fVtWTWs1PCVJJW2_V3aDSLDG8CGf9oOG/s1600/Franz+Roubaud+-+Assault+on+Gimry.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Assault on Gimry </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;">by Franz Roubaud, 1904. <a href="http://19thcenturyrusspaint.blogspot.com/2012/05/franz-roubaud.html" target="_blank">(</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://19thcenturyrusspaint.blogspot.com/2012/05/franz-roubaud.html" target="_blank">source</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;">)</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">D</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">id you know I almost
studied History in college?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s why I didn't:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">The other day I was on Wikipedia researching about the Crimean War. The minute the page</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> opened my eyes were drawn to the painting that was illustrating
the article. After half an hour, I knew a lot about that painting and nothing about the Crimean War.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, you see I made
the right choice.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczY5kN20-GbNInPrTIse0rYqsFCgiiM2Gizx9ima7cw01OxQWss1cd9yeLVoczohEuFqDqXunqpQftJ5EDyvmjNk8lahZvIEim2hmhqIeKUDs5pPAHrzWLYvqQzDIkdSvF4yqjlaOstMj/s1600/Panorama_dentro.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczY5kN20-GbNInPrTIse0rYqsFCgiiM2Gizx9ima7cw01OxQWss1cd9yeLVoczohEuFqDqXunqpQftJ5EDyvmjNk8lahZvIEim2hmhqIeKUDs5pPAHrzWLYvqQzDIkdSvF4yqjlaOstMj/s1600/Panorama_dentro.JPG" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">detail of The Battle of Sevatopol by Franz Roubaud, 1904. (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panorama_dentro.JPG" style="font-size: small; text-align: center;" target="_blank">source</a><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: center;">) - full panorama </span><a href="http://englishrussia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/032011panoramapanoramam.jpg" style="font-size: small; text-align: center;" target="_blank">here</a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">The painting, called</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> The Battle of Sevastopol</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">, was made by Franz Roubaud, a
19</span><sup style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> century Russian painter. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Roubaud specialized
in historical battle scenes. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Make that: huge historical scenes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">His panoramas were so big that special </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">pavilions</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> had to be built just to exhibit them.</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Despite what Wikipedia says, I don't think Roubaud is famous at all (has anyone ever heard of him?), at least not outside Russia. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjsIZ6sWwIxfu0hmbGqgJTCUAd2hyphenhyphenxaG_EsvinA94m1TRSDhcrRMrDi3fNVzv7dOSlCMjvFX49wjPb9KFdVqI_VuPwARNs32X5r8w4rWp6R_FWvpYdbdRESpnjOFswknMkNVEFY9EVSbB/s1600/duel-franz-roubaud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjsIZ6sWwIxfu0hmbGqgJTCUAd2hyphenhyphenxaG_EsvinA94m1TRSDhcrRMrDi3fNVzv7dOSlCMjvFX49wjPb9KFdVqI_VuPwARNs32X5r8w4rWp6R_FWvpYdbdRESpnjOFswknMkNVEFY9EVSbB/s1600/duel-franz-roubaud.jpg" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Who is fighting whom by Franz Roubaud (<a href="http://www.roubaud.eu/paintings.html" target="_blank">source</a>)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Whenever I think of big war paintings I </span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">immediately</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> think of Picasso’s <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting)" target="_blank">Guernica</a></i>, which is little (and ugly) in comparison to Roubaud's panoramas.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><i>The
Battle of Sevatopol</i> measures </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">115 meters in circumference and 14 meters in height (<i>Guernica</i> measures 349 cm by 776cm).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">But it's not just the size. Roubaud managed to put so much attention to detail that, despite its big size, the painting is still very realistic. Not to mention everything he painted seemed action packed.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">The fate of his <i>The Battle of Sevastopol</i> is just as warlike and tragic as the
battle it depicted. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">According to<a href="http://www.roubaud.eu/paintings.html" target="_blank"> Roubaud's website</a>, during World War II "</span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">a German bomb set fire to
Roubaud’s painting. Rescue workers cut up parts of the canvas and saved them. The
saved fragments had unfortunately suffered to such an extent that 17 Moscow
painters were commissioned to recreate the panorama after Roubaud. Today the
original fragments are kept in storage."<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7yh8EC23hzkeGz-nIMbZb1Hu0BEQ56KhZdYKSigyuAxuhO6i9kHkfP82eih7UCEmRgk-tR706yNaJG0jVyO0ZWK_nree_p0unwMOFiZwL_5I2oCv48-tQ2jHgf2oa9_zuzM_KucrJQ53/s1600/franz-+roubaud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7yh8EC23hzkeGz-nIMbZb1Hu0BEQ56KhZdYKSigyuAxuhO6i9kHkfP82eih7UCEmRgk-tR706yNaJG0jVyO0ZWK_nree_p0unwMOFiZwL_5I2oCv48-tQ2jHgf2oa9_zuzM_KucrJQ53/s1600/franz-+roubaud.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;"> Storming of aul Achulgo by Franz Roubaud, 1888 (</span><a href="http://www.roubaud.eu/paintings.html" style="background-color: white; font-size: small; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;" target="_blank">source</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: center;">)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 18px;">Can you imagine entering a burning building to save a painting? Or even cutting a </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">painting to pieces to save it from destruction?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">The thought of that </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">breaks my heart, so I'll end with something more positive and</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> exciting: Antiques Roadshow.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">One lucky lady had a painting by Franz Roubaud in her house. After all you read so far, you can tell she's in for a nice surprise.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<object height="428" width="700"> <param name = "movie" value = "http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf" > </param>
<param name="flashvars" value="width=700&height=428&video=http://video.pbs.org/videoPlayerInfo/2233431000&player=viral&end=0" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name = "allowscriptaccess" value = "always" > </param>
<param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param>
<embed src="http://dgjigvacl6ipj.cloudfront.net/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf" flashvars="width=700&height=428&video=http://video.pbs.org/videoPlayerInfo/2233431000&player=viral&end=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" width="700" height="428" bgcolor="#000000"></embed></object><br />
<div style="background: transparent; color: grey; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center; width: 700px;">
Watch <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2233431000" style="color: #4eb2fe !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Appraisal: Franz Roubaud Oil Painting, ca. 1885</a> on PBS. See more from <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/" style="color: #4eb2fe !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; text-decoration: none !important;" target="_blank">Antiques Roadshow.</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">I wouldn't mind having one of those lying around my house.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><i>What do you think of Roubaud's panoramas? Do you like his realistic battle scenes or prefer Picasso's symbolic Guernica?</i></span></span></div>
</div>
Paulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16549467720857136573noreply@blogger.com8