Some interesting thoughts and visuals on the art of movie titles by one of the masters, Kyle Cooper.
This is my song for the day. I hadn’t listened to classic Marilyn for a while. From a memory loaded selection this one really stood out for me today. I felt compelled to look up the not always clear to hear lyrics after a few runs. It reads just as beautifully as it sounds and I love it:
One silver dollar, bright silver dollar,
changing hands, changing hands.
Endlessly rollin’, wasted or stolen,
changing hands, changing hands.
Spent for a beer he’s drinking,
won by a gambler’s lust,
pierced by an outlaw’s bullet
and rusted in the blood red dust.
One silver dollar, worn silver dollar,
changing hands, changing hands,
love is a shining dollar,
bright as a Church bell’s chime
gambled and spent and wasted,
and lost in a dart of time.
One silver dollar, worn silver dollar,
changing hearts, changing lives,
changing hands.
Munich is a beautifully shot film. The story is inspired by the events following the 1972 Olympics massacre.
When it first came out I knew that it was a revenge story and this put me off seeing it. Then a friend recommended it and I became curious. It’s complex, compassionate and critical of revenge and violence. This message is communicated through sensitive character development.
The film does show things from a western perspective but it does this well. To this degree it tries very hard to be balanced and I think that it is reasonably so. The characters are great - an odd fivesome thrown together, quirky and amateurish as they are professional. As they blunder through their missions their bonds grow. The predominantly light hearted mood in their first meetings is scarcely shaken by a more mature member with a serious tone. But this background mood casts a shadow. As time goes by the blood on their hands thickens. Their moral dilemmas seep to the surface and leave them brooding and haunted.
“Do you know why we’re here?” is what the assassins say to their targets before carrying out their work. It’s chilling. Yet behind this cold-blooded facade is something full of life and love and complexity. These are very human characters struggling through life. Trying to do what is right as far as they can see. But as things progress they start to fall. Those that survive start to strain morally and emotionally as they come to the brutal realisation that should be shouted more frequently….
Violence breeds violence.
I had a complete obsession with Salvador Dali as a kid. The crazy free imagination and playfulness of his paintings still appeals to me. This evening I came across some videos featuring him online. One of his quotes that I remember is “People Love Mystery and That is Why They Love My Paintings.” He really proves elusive here and lives up to his own mysteriousness. A good laugh.
Some friends were inspired by the classic Edward Lear poem The Owl and the Pussycat to throw a theme party. I made this little picture for the invitation. It was fun.
Here’s the whole poem:
The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are,
What a beautiful Pussy you are.”
Pussy said to the Owl “You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing.
O let us be married, too long we have tarried;
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?”
Said the Piggy, “I will”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon.
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.
They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Some of the nonsense language of the poem reminds me of A Clockwork Orange and Bonnie Rarker’s classic…
This is the story of Rindercella and her sugly isters.
Rindercella and her sugly isters lived in a marge lansion. Rindercella
worked very hard frubbing sloors, emptying poss pits, and shivelling
shot.
At the end of the day, she was knucking fackered.
The sugly isters were right bugly astards. One was called Mary Hinge,
and the other was called Betty Swallocks; they were really forrible
huckers;they had fetty sweet and fetty swannies. The sugly isters had
tickets to go to the ball, but the cotton runts would not let
Rindercella go.
Suddenly there was a bucking fang, and her gairy fodmother appeared.
Her name was Shairy Hithole and she was a light rucking fesbian. She
turned a pumpkin and six mite wice into a hucking cuge farriage with
six dandy ronkeys who had buge hollocks and dig bicks
The gairy fodmother told Rindercella to be back by dimnlight otherwise,
there would be a cucking falamity.
At the ball, Rindercella was dancing with the prandsome hince when
suddenly the clock struck twelve. “Mist all chucking frighty!!!” said
Rindercella, and she ran out tripping barse over ollocks, so dropping
her slass glipper.
The very next day the prandsome hince knocked on Rindercella’s door and
the sugly isters let him in. Suddenly, Betty Swallocks lifted her leg
and let off a fig bart. “Who’s fust jarted??” asked
the prandsome hince.
“Blame that fugly ucker over there!!” said Mary Hinge. When the
stinking brown cloud had lifted, he tried the slass glipper on both the
sugly isters without success and their feet stucking funk.
Betty Swallocks was ducking fisgusted and gave the prandsome hince a
knack in the kickers. This was not difficult as he had bucking fuge
halls and a hig bard on.
He tried the slass glipper on Rindercella and it fitted pucking
ferfectly.
Rindercella and the prandsome hince were married. The pransome hince
lived his life in lucking fuxury, and Rindercella lived hers with a
follen swanny.
“One of the things that I came to feel more than before, while writing the book, and it’s not a very complicated truth, is the idea that human nature really is constant. And that the way in which human beings behave is just the way we behave, no matter what age we live in, and what our technology is, and what our particular political relations at the moment might be.”
- From and interview with Salman Rushdie. Read it here. I’ve attempted to read a few of his books a couple of times but there’s something about the style that put me off. Perhaps I’ll have another go some time. He’s an interesting character surrounded by controversy and full of contradiction.
Some delightful illustration work by Yuko Shimizu may be found on her site. I really like the textures and tones of her beautifully rendered compositions and enjoy her drama and quirky sense of humour. There’s a nice interview here.
On one visit Gerda said, “It won’t be long now”, and was panic-stricken. Her daughter tried to console her, saying: “Mummy, we’ll all be together again one day.” “That’s impossible,’ Gerda replied. “Either you’re eaten by worms or burned to ashes.” “But what about your soul?” her daughter pleaded. “Oh, don’t talk to me about souls”, said her mother in an accusing tone. “Where is God now?”
Life Before Death is an exhibition of a series of photographs with interviews with the dying: before and after shots. It’s haunting and disturbing and quite beautiful and inspiring all at once. A selection is online here.
I love this illustration. Marimekko has a great history. Maija Isola created some of their classic designs with beautifully natural simple graphic forms. It’s inspiring to see the tradition going strong in the younger generation with Maija Louekari. This is a a lovely blend of quirky traditional Finnish character with contemporary illustration. And the primary colours really make it sing.
There’s a rather bizarre and unfounded accusation by the US military that the Reprieve legal team smuggled contraband underpants to a Guantánamo Bay prisoner. Agent Provocateur puts a little spin on the story with a cheeky campaign. The first pair of knickers were presented to Gordon Brown for Valentines Day. It’s nice to see some fun and humour in addressing the serious subject of prisoner’s held illegally without trial. And it certainly raises awareness.