BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: MOVIES # 7

GRACIE ALLEN “The well-known radio, TV, and movie star one year ago was voted Hollywood’s most intelligent actress by Southern California psychology students. She ran for President of the United States n 1940 on the Surprise Ticket. As a painter she exhibited her paintings at a Manhattan gallery (one of her paintings is called –

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: THE JOY OF READING #3

“The 75th anniversary of the publication of Le Petit Prince in France is commemorated by a single 1.08 e stamp available in a sheet of 15. First available in the United States in 1943, it was banned by Vichy France and not published until after the liberation. The novella was written by writer and aviator

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #6

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 shoes

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: WORDS,WORDS, WORDS #3

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 language

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:THE JOYS OF READING

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 Bank

BITS &a PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:NATURE

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 by

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PROFESSIONS

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 animals

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: MOVIES #5

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, becoming

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PHILOSOPHY

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, obligations

BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: NEW YORK,NEW YORK, #2

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 gathered