Butterflies Aren’t Free
Most famous lepidopterist (photo by Giuseppe Pino)
2 July – A Day of Loss – Vladimir Nabokov (22 April 1899 to 2 July 1977) He was the most luscious wielder of words in our time. Raised in a manner akin to the upbringing of George Amberson Minifer, VN was a precocious prodigy who grew a coat of hard varnish when he lost his home, his inheritance, his country (although he remained fond of Mother Russia, he deprecated her barbaric minions) and, in Berlin, his father (to an assassin’s hand). He moved around but never really settled and his moorings became his wife and his works. His works are superb….
Continue Reading →Remembering Charles Laughton
1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962 Today we recall the great Charles Laughton, an immense, thick, boiled ham, but top-notch ham none the less. David Shipman described him as a “big, brazen, show-off actor. He went overboard sometimes…but as well as the bold, daring gesture – the hallmark of the great actor – he could perform with infinite delicacy.”* He was superb in big-time historical roles, playing Henry VIII, Rembrandt, and Captain Bligh; or in lush, epic sagas such as Les Miserables or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but he could quite good in comedy as well – see It Started With Eve,…
Continue Reading →The Magnificent Ambersons
Charles James Fox. Parental indulgence never did him any harm.
(by Booth Tarkington). Charles James Fox was born on the 24th January 1749, the third son of Henry Fox, First Baron Holland and Caroline Lennox. “Once a grand dinner was held at Holland House for some visiting foreign dignitaries. The Fox children were brought in for dessert. Charles, still a toddler in petticoats, said he wanted to bathe in a huge bowl of cream that stood on the table. Despite Caroline’s remonstrances, Fox ordered the dish to be put down on the floor and there, in full view of some of Europe’s most powerful politicians, the little boy slopped and slid…
Continue Reading →Edge of Seventeen
Songs in Our Heart # 20 Edge of Seventeen (Stevie Nicks) (Written by Stevie Nicks; released July 1981) [Incomprehensibly divine nostalgia.]
Continue Reading →White Rabbit
Songs in Our Heart # 19 White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane) (Written by Grace Slick; released June 1967) [A Lewis Carroll-LSD inspired whirligig. Used to great advantage in The Game.]
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