1. "La Notte di San Lorenzo: Film or Theater?": A Dan Sallitt article from earlier in the week on The Taviani Brothers' Night of the Shooting Stars. DVDBeaver disc comparisons (from which the above image is grabbed) here.
["After watching ten minutes of the movie, I came to the conclusion that the Tavianis are really theater directors! Not an insult, to my mind...but theirs is not a very pure form of cinema."]
2. "Chinese investor pays $2.1M to eat with Buffett": Not Jimmy Buffett, silly!
["A Chinese investment fund manager won the chance to have lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett by bidding $2.1 million in the most expensive charity auction ever held on eBay. Zhao Danyang of the Hong Kong-based Pureheart China Growth Investment Fund won the auction, which ended Friday evening with a bid of $2,110,100. A spokeswoman for the Glide Foundation, which receives all the proceeds from the auction, identified the winner Saturday."]
3. "The Hottest New York Art Exhibit is So Big, It Won't Fit in a Museum": A Newsweek report on Olafur Eliasson's "The New York City Waterfalls." With video. Art Fag City's Paddy Johnson points us to some other Eliasson links in a recent roundup.
[""The New York City Waterfalls" is the latest contemporary work to expand our notion of public art—an idea that goes back to ancient times, in the form of memorials and religious or civic monuments. Think of the pyramids, or the Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan destroyed by the Taliban in 2001—or consider Constantine's foot, which, along with his colossal head and hand, is all that remains of a 30-foot statue of the emperor in the basilica in the Roman Forum. In America, public art once tended to be heroic, too, with bronze generals on horseback leading the charge across the quiet green of city parks. Modernism injected a new kind of heroism into the civic realm. Enormous abstract sculptures, landed like spacecraft in front of courthouses or shopping malls, have tended to be—with the exception of, say, a Calder stabile—as still as a tomb and as eternal. But now, contemporary artists like Christo, who wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, or Cai Guo-Qiang, with his carefully choreographed gunpowder explosions, are up to something different. Their art is epic in scale but dynamic and ephemeral—they don't create an object so much as an experience."]
4. "The Pantheon of Macho-Fey": Erich Kuersten illuminates the stark truth, as previously defined by Kim Morgan.
["Do I mention this in time for Gay Pride week? Is Downey even gay? Should I go google and find out? No.. The beautiful thing is, it doesn't matter. In not shutting out the traits he inherently possesses because society labels them "feminine" he opens the door for "full" real character to emerge."]
5. "Teen decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia": Seriously, one of my worst fears realized.
["A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said. Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, S.C. scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release. Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Police have declined to release the teenager's name until an autopsy is completed."]
Quote of the Day: From a recent e-mail forwarded by someone near and dear.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else—the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'"
Image of the Day (click to enlarge): The subtext of relationships. (Hattip: Lichman, that sick sonuvabitch.)
Clip of the Day: So this is where older style phones go when they die.
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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.
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