Author Archives: louisprofphillips

for Ricardo & Isabel “We all want to be closer to the fire.” William Goldman ** ANTIMONY IS NOT THE SAME AS ALIMONY (paying alimony will make any person philosophical) “Antinomy” is a word for logical paradox or inconsistency closely associated with 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In his book “Critique of Pure Reason,” KantContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PHILOSOPHY (sort of)”

“A dramatist is one who believes that the pure event, an action involving human beings, is more arresting than any comment that can be made upon it.” Thornton Wilder ** THE VAUDEVILLE ACT –SWAIN’S RAT AND CAT ACT “In case you are too young to remember this offering, it consisted of six rats, dressed asContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: THEATER”

“The three most important words in the English are wait a minute.” Sam Rayburn ** THE DRINK OF GRIEF ” Weed. Mary Jane. Chronic. There are dozens of slang synonyms for marijuana. But one of the strangest is the word pot. How did the word for a common kitchen instrument become slang for marijuana? TheContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:WORDS, WORDS, WORDS”

THE U.S. NAVY & CRIME BOSS LUCKY LUCIANO “… during World War II, (MEYER) Lansky helped set up a deal between Luciano (then in prison) and the United States navy to help guard New York’s docks, and weed out possible undercover enemies. In exchange, Luciano was released from prison and deported back to Italy —Continue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: CRIME & PUNISHMENT”

ON A WOMAN CROSSING HER LEGS IN MOVIES “When you make a woman cross her legs in the films, maybe you don’t need to see how high she can cross them, but how low she can cross them and still be interesting.” Will H. Hayes, Censorship “Czar of the Movies” See Current Biography 1943 **Continue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:FILM #17”

BRAM STOKER ,THE AUTHOR OF DRACULA, REVIEWS A PERFORMANCE OF HAMLET PERFORMED BY HIS DEAR FRIEND — THE NOTED 19th CENTURY ACTOR HENRY IRVING “…Irving returned for another season in Dublin, and Bram was impressed by the growth of his performance: Hamlet, as Mr. Irving now acts it, is the wild, fitful, irresolute, mystic melancholyContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:SHAKESPEARE #4”

“I don’t like to read books. They muss up my mind.” Henry Ford ** Lawyer: Do you know anything about the American Revolution? Henry Ford: I understand there was one in 1812. Lawyer: Any other time? Henry Ford: I don’t know of such thing. Lawyer: Did you ever hear of Benedict Arnold? Henry Ford: IContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: AMERICANA”

Low moments in theatre criticism When Agatha Christie’s play SPIDER’S WEB opened at the Savoy Theatre in London (1954), one of the disgruntled critics told his readers which character in the play was the murderer! *** ON LIGHTING DESIGN “Great lighting onstage has an unplaceable emotional effect. You feel it in its swelling or ebbingContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: THEATER”

By royal decree, all ships stopping at Alexandria had to surrender any books they were carrying; these books were copied, and the originals (sometimes the copies) were returned to their owners while the copies (sometimes the originals) were kept in the library. Alberto Manguel. A History of Reading (Viking Penguin, 1996) ** EXHIBIT AT THEContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:THE JOYS OF READING”

NOAH WEBSTER GOES TO SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT (Circa 1765) “As at other common schools, the books at Webster’s schools, the books at Webster’s school were limited to a King James Bible, a psalter, a catechism, and Thomas Dilworth’s New Guide to the English Tongue. First published in London in 1740, Dilworth’s was a beginners’ spellingContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: AMERICANA”