R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

Questions for Michael Douglas

Questions for MIchael Douglas:

Did you ever talk with Karl Malden about Brando and Kazan?

Your character was a gender role reversal: in Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction and Disclosure --the victim of the predatory female, You even shrieked like a woman in BI. We don't see the predatory female that much. ( I would ask Susan Douglas about that.)

Some people, like Kirk Douglas I heard, thought Jack Nicholson was just playing himself and not the character. Some were critical about Jack's much lauded performance--which I thought was untouchable. Jack in coo-coos Nest which I saw when I was about 15. Why didn't Kirk Douglas play the role himself as he planned?

Francesca Woodman photographer from Colorado

Yet another artist whose existence I was previously unaware of. I love learning about new artists, photographers, actors and other historical figures. In fact, it is about my very favorite thing in life. I especially enjoy it if there is some sort of weirdness associated with them. Ms. Woodman is from right here in Colorado and went to Boulder HS. It was apparent that from an early age she was gifted in photography. She did a lot of self-portraits and I love this one with the hairy armpits. I am pretty sure it is her, although she did on occasion use models. What a sad waste to end her life at 22 years young. Read something about her parents (well known artists themselves) being stingy with releasing a lot of her work in their possession. That probably has something to do with the overwhelming grief they experienced about their daughter's suicide.



Francesca Woodman was born April 3, 1958, in Denver, Colorado, to well-known artists George Woodman and Betty Woodman.[4][6] Her older brother Charles later became an associate professor of electronic art.[7]
Woodman attended public school in Boulder, Colorado, between 1963 and 1971 except for second grade in Italy. She began high school in 1972 at the private Massachusetts boarding school Abbot Academy, where she began to develop her photographic skills. Abbot Academy merged with Phillips Academy in 1973; Woodman graduated from the public Boulder High School in 1975. Through 1975, she spent summers with her family in Italy.[4](p.154)[6]
Beginning in 1975, Woodman attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, Rhode Island. She studied in Rome, Italy between 1977 and 1978 in an RISD honors program. As she spoke fluent Italian, she was able to befriend Italian intellectuals and artists.[4](pp.26-30,154) She went back to Rhode Island in late 1978 to graduate from RISD.[4](p.154)[6]
Woodman moved to New York City in 1979. After spending summer 1979 in Stanwood, Washington, she returned to New York. There, "to make a career in photography" she sent portfolios of her work to fashion photographers, but "her solicitations did not lead anywhere."[4](p.155) In summer 1980 she was an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.[4](p.155)[6]
In late 1980 Woodman became depressed due to her work and to a broken relationship.[8] On January 19, 1981, she committed suicide by jumping out a loft window in New York.[4](p.155)[6] An acquaintance wrote, "things had been bad, there had been therapy, things had gotten better, guard had been let down."[9]
[edit]Works

English language word of the week: Numinous

nu·mi·nous   [noo-muh-nuhs, nyoo-] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or like a numen; spiritual or supernatural.
2.
surpassing comprehension or understanding; mysterious: that element in artistic expression that remains numinous.
3.
arousing one's elevated feelings of duty, honor, loyalty, etc.: a benevolent and numinous paternity.
Origin:
1640–50; < L nūmin- (s. of nūmen) numen + -ous
Dictionary.com Unabridged

Surpassing comprehension or understanding---Oh I like that!!!!!

Art by Lichtenstein

English language word of the week: Nihilism

ni·hil·ism (nī'ə-lĭz'əm, nē'-)
n.
Philosophy

An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.

A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.

Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.

The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.

also Nihilism A diffuse, revolutionary movement of mid 19th-century Russia that scorned authority and tradition and believed in reason, materialism, and radical change in society and government through terrorism and assassination.

Psychiatry A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.


[Latin nihil, nothing; see ne in Indo-European roots + -ism.]
ni'hil·ist n., ni'hil·is'tic adj., ni'hil·is'ti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source



Medical Dictionary

ni·hi·lism definition
Pronunciation: /ˈnī-(h)ə-ˌliz-əm, ˈnē-/
Function: n
1 : NIHILISTIC DELUSION
2 : skepticism as to the value of a drug or method of treatment
ni·hi·lis·ticPronunciation: /ˌnī-(h)ə-ˈlis-tik, ˌnē-/
Function: adj
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
nihilism ni·hil·ism (nī'ə-lĭz'əm, nē'-)
n.

The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.

A delusion, experienced in some mental disorders, that the world or one's mind, body, or self does not exist.

The systems are thoroughly empty and false. The term is from the Latin nihil, meaning “nothing.”

Out to Lunch: Sue Mengers Culture: vanityfair.com

Out to Lunch: Sue Mengers Culture: vanityfair.com

Fascinating brief article about 70s super agent Sue Mengers. I was reminded of her existence in Hollywood history watching a great documentary about Dominick Dunne.

English language word of the week: Leitmotif. SUrprised at it German origins.

jack and jill Nursery will be the leitmotif of my film. When I saw the Dad picking up his daughter and saying Hello Squirt, Every afternoon I would watch him there to pick up his daughter.


Leit·mo·tif also leit·mo·tiv (ltm-tf)
n.
1. A melodic passage or phrase, especially in Wagnerian opera, associated with a specific character, situation, or element.
2. A dominant and recurring theme, as in a novel.
[German Leitmotiv : leiten, to lead (from Middle High German, from Old High German leitan; see leit- in Indo-European roots) + Motiv, motif (from French motif; see motif).]

Notorious vs. Infamous

no·to·ri·ous   [noh-tawr-ee-uhs, -tohr-, nuh-] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
widely and unfavorably known: a notorious gambler.
2.
publicly or generally known, as for a particular trait: a newspaper that is notorious for its sensationalism.


infamous [ˈɪnfəməs]
adj
1. having a bad reputation; notorious
2. causing or deserving a bad reputation; shocking infamous conduct
3. (Law) Criminal law, (formerly)
a. (of a person) deprived of certain rights of citizenship on conviction of certain offences
b. (of a crime or punishment) entailing such deprivation
infamously adv

Laconic, Timorous, English language vocab. of the week

la·con·ic (l-knk)
adj.
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

Aitch's cultural observations are laconic.

la·con·ic (l-knk)
adj.
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.


Timorous [ˈtɪmərəs]
adj
1. fearful or timid
2. indicating fear or timidity
[from Old French temoros, from Medieval Latin timōrōsus, from Latin timor fear, from timēre to be afraid]
timor

Already have timorous somewhere on the blog but can't find it so here it is.

Laird Cregar

Laird at his heaviest---I think. He loathed being a character actor and was trying to break into leading man roles. He thought losing weight could achieve this. He did lose weight and it was evident on his last film Hangover Square--what wasn't as obvious was he was abusing speed for the weight loss. This affected his heart and mood. He argued with the director of the film John Brahm apparantly toward the end of his life . Also director of Cregar's famous film, "The Lodger." Cregar had a heart attack and died. Another part of his body image complex was his inner conflict about being a homosexual. I wish there was a biography of Laird Cregar. The best information I get is the commentary on The DVD's I can't imagine where these historians are getting info. about Cregar. There is a glaring absence of biographical material on the man