Category Archives: Uncategorized

EVELYN KEYES ON DETAILS IN GONE WITH THE WIND ” It was certainly a super-production. But I wasn’t impressed by Selznick’s attention to each stitch, design, color, shoe buckle, down to using thorns for fastening clothing during the Civil War period (when buttons would have disappeared) and importing Georgia red dust to stain our shoesContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #6”

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS I do not believe in words, no matter if strung together by the most skillful man; I believe in language, which is something beyond words, something which words give only an inadequate illusion of. Words do not exist separately, except in the minds of scholars, etymologists, philologists, etc. Words divorced from languageContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: WORDS,WORDS, WORDS #3”

UPRISINGS I saw a book titled UPRISINGS and, thinking it was a nonfiction account of revolutions and rebellions, I purchased it. It was only after I got the book home did I realize it was a book about baking with yeast. One book title I never got right was Willy Sutton’s Memoirs of a BankContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:THE JOYS OF READING”

THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE SPAN OF THE BOWHEAD WHALE The extraordinary life span of the Bowhead whale is in excess of 230 years! “Bowhead whales have perhaps the world’s strongest immune system. Cardio vascular disease, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, are unheard of in these exceptionally long lived creatures. Bowhead whales are enormous, second only, but not byContinue reading “BITS &a PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:NATURE”

PROFESSIONS I DID NOT CHOOSE LION TAMER Isaac Van Amburgh — The first lion tamer to make it big in the UK was Isaac Van Amburgh. Born in Fishkill, New York State, Van Amburgh toured Europe between 1838 and 1845 and achieved notoriety for his performances with big cats. ** “Methods of training wild animalsContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PROFESSIONS”

from The “The Latin Lover” and His Enemies by Gilbert King Smithsonian Magazine (June 13,2012) Born in Castellaneta, Italy, in 1895, Valentino arrived at Ellis Island in 1913, at the age of 18. He lived on the streets and in Central Park until he picked up work as a taxi dancer at Maxim’s Restaurant-Caberet, becomingContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: MOVIES #5”

For MAC BICA Spinoza Knows a Thing or two About separating false from true. ** Any day above ground is a good day. Bob Dylan ** SIMONE WEIL ON RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS “We should not focus on rights, she (SIMONE WEIL) argues, but on obligations. Obligations (devoirs) precede rights; rights are situational and relative, obligationsContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PHILOSOPHY”

ON NOT BEING AFRAID OF THE NUMBER 13 IN NYC “The idea of a Friday the 13th club, or of a club devoted to all forms of triskaidekaphobia, is not a new one. It seems to have originated in New York City on January 13, 1882, when the thirteen members of the Thirteen Club gatheredContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: NEW YORK,NEW YORK, #2”

ON NAMING METEORITES THAT HAVE FALLEN TO EARTH …the convention is that meteorites bear the name of the nearest post office to the site of the largest recovered piece. Chris Lintott. “Flying Pancake From Space” in London Review of Books (3 June 2021) ON THE FISH NAMED JOHN DORY “The only interest of this creatureContinue reading “BITS& PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: ON NAMES &NAMING”

Boris Karloff, who played the monster in the classic horror film Frankenstein was considered so unimportant as an actor that he was not even invited to the movie’s World Premiere. See The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, edited by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler (NY: McGraw Hill, 1976) *** POPULAR LINES OF DIALOGUE Roger EbertContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #4”