Friday, February 29, 2008

Portrait. Bob Dylan

A teenage Bob Dylan (c. 1959?)


Holiday. Leap Year Day

1908, American postcard by August Hutaf. "The chance of love and money on a card celebrating a leap year."



1908, postcard. "Be Careful, Clara, that's a fine Specimen!"

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Screening Log. The Sweet Hereafter

The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan) (1997)



Third viewing. Not my favorite Egoyan (I keep wondering what the matter with me is), but still a very beautiful film. My only main issue with the film are in the The Pied Piper of Hamelin parts...after a while I started to feel beaten over the head with it, as if I couldn't make the connection earlier in the film. That's all.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Reading Log. The Sweet Hereafter

The Sweet Hereafter (Russell Banks) (1991)



Powell's Books [link] [link]
wikipedia [link]
article discussing the theme of blame in the novel [link]

Dollars and Cents, Pounds and Pence. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1690.

Bill of Twenty Shillings - Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1690. The earliest paper money issued in, what would later become, America.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Fought in a War. Battle of the Somme

July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, was the second bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, with 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead. France suffered about 7,000 casualties, and Germany about 12,000. Over 1 million total casualties were suffered by the end of the battle, 24 weeks later.

In the trenches with the men of the 11th Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment.



Newfoundland soldiers find the dead in a support trench, July 1, 1916.



British troops crossing no man's, land near Mametz, July 1, 1916.



Trench of the German second position, on the plateau north of Pozières, August 28, 1916.



Infantry from the 2nd Battalion, Auckland Regiment, New Zealand Division in the Switch Line near Flers, September 1916.

Screening Log. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik) (2007)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Screening Log. There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson) (2007)

Friday, February 15, 2008

Political This, Political Prat. William Taft

William Taft presidential election poster, 1908.



Poster for Taft's re-election, 1912.

Dollars & Cents, Pounds & Pence. The Republic of Texas

Five Dollar Bill from the Republic of Texas (1839-1841)





The so-called Texas "redbacks" were issued in 1839. The government printed over two million dollars in redbacks, which were initially worth about 37 cents to a U.S. dollar.
By 1842, the redbacks had become virtually worthless and had lost the power of legal tender. Once again Texans used bank notes from other states and shinplasters instead of the Texas money. [link]

Exhibition. Marcel Duchamp, 1938.

Mannequins in Marcel Duchamp's Surrealist Exhibition. Held at Beaux-arts Gallery in Paris, 1938.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Ephemeron. Every Body & His Big Grandmother.

1851 Valentine's Ad for Cupid's Original Head Quarters, J. Shillington's Odeon building, corner of 4.5 Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue Washington D.C.

Portrait. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (c. 1925)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Screening Log. Rashômon

Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa) (1950)



Third viewing. Watched/read in my wonderful Fiction into Film class.

greencine [link]
notcoming [link]
ebert [link]
allmovie [link]
wikipedia [link]
dvdbeaver [link]
-
Based on "In a Grove" & "Rashomon" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Powell's Books [link] [link]
wikipedia (In a Grove) [link]
wikipedia (Rashomon) [link]
Rashomon full english text [link]

Friday, February 8, 2008

Portrait. Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong as King of Zulu on Mardi Gras day (1949).


Portrait. Gavin Arthur & Paul Robeson

Gavin Arthur & Paul Robeson (1929)



The presidential grandson astrologer glares to the great renaissance man (probably on the set of the 1930 film Boarderline).

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Screening Log. Blowup

Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni) (1966)



at greencine [link]
at Antonioni archive
[link]
at DVDBeaver [link]
at Strictly Film School [link]
Brief Rosenbaum review [link]

Cortázar and his story "Las babas del diablo"
Senses of Cinema article "La Mano Negra: Julio Cortázar and his Influence on Cinema" [link]
End of the Game and Other Stories (original publication) at Powell's Books [link]
Blowup & Other Stories (as it was later published as) at Powell's Books [link]

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Screening Log. True Stories

True Stories (David Byrne) (1986)



-This isn't a rental car, it's privately owned.
-I'm 6'3", and maintain a very consistent panda bear shape.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Political This, Political Prat.

Ticket to the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, April 1, 1868.


 
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