Ramadan

We are about 2/3's of the way through Ramadan, so I am doing this post despite the fact that it may cause some members of the general public to think that I am a secret Muslim. From The Big Picture on Boston.com, a set of scenes from Ramadan.

Ramadan 2010

Albert Maysles Interview

An interview with one of the great documentary film makers, Albert Maysles. With his brother David, he directed early films about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as the cult classic Gray Gardens. In this interview Maysles discusses how he got started in film making, and his attitude toward the subjects of his films.

Picture ot the Day - 8/29/2010

Alpacas at the Maryland State Fair.  You can show alpacas at the fair now.

Pictures of the Day - 2010

The Saint John's Bible

In 1998, the Saint John's Abbey and University commissioned calligrapher Donald Jackson to create the first hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible since the Middle Ages. The resulting Saint John's Bible is divided into seven volumes and is two feet tall by three feet wide when open, with 160 illuminations.

I saw parts of it in an exhibition at the Walters Art Gallery last year.

A video about the Bible from the Pepperdine University.

Jackson discusses creation of the bible.

Anne Frank's Tree

The tree that stood outside the house where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis has fallen down. A quote about the tree from her diary:

Nearly every morning I go to the attic to blow the stuffy air out of my lungs, from my favorite spot on the floor I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver, and at the seagulls and other birds as they glide on the wind. As long as this exists, I thought, and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts I cannot be unhappy.

19th Amendment - 90 years later.

On August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the 19th Amendment's adoption, guaranteeing women the right to vote. To a mark this anniversary here is a video of Lili Taylor reading Susan B. Anthony's statement to the court after she was convicted of voting illegally in the 1872 presidential election.

Groundbreaking for UB Law Center

Some photographs from the ground breaking ceremony for the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center at the University of Baltimore.

UB Law Center Ground Breaking

The Temple of a Thousand Bells

A video of Laura Belém's "The Temple of a Thousand Bells" installation at the Liverpool Oratory.

The launch of Laura Belém's The Temple of a Thousand Bells from Liverpool Biennial on Vimeo.

Happy 200th Birthday Tin Can

Patent (No 3372) for the tin can was granted on August 25, 1810 to Peter Durand by King George III of England.

Here is an article from the Washington Post commemorating the 200 year history of the can.

Celebrating the can: 200 years of history preserved

Danny & Annie

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 30,000 interviews from more than 60,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Now they have started to animate some of these stories, which are being shown on PBS. They are also available on the StoryCorps web site, including this one.

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Frank Lloyd Wright in Bethesda

An article from the Washington Post about a house in Bethesda, MD, that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for his son. The article contains a link to a set of pictures of the house.

Frank Lloyd Wright house in Bethesda now belongs to architect's grandson

Hot Time in the Old Town

I am reading Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt by Edward P. Kohn. It is about the heat wave that hit New York City in the summer of 1896 and killed 1,300 people. At the time Theodore Roosevelt was a New York City police commissioner, and was one of the few people who actually tried to help the residents of the city's tenements. The book also covers the presidential contest between William McKinley and Williams Jennings Bryan, which was taking place that summer.

Here is an interview with the author from the John Stewart Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Edward Kohn
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Kisses

I went to see Kisses, an Irish movie about two kids who run away from home and go to Dublin on Christmas Eve. Both of the kids did great acting jobs. The girl, Kelly O'Neill, reminded me of a young Drew Barrymore.

Kenneth Turan has a good review of the film in the Los Angelos Times.

The film has a lot in common with Martin Scorsese's film After Hours—both films about being lost in the big city with all the good and bad things that can bring.

Pre-Revolution Russia in Color

Some incredible color photographs from the Library of Congress' collection. All taken about 100 years ago in pre-revolution Russia. I didn't know that color photography existed that long ago.

Russia in color, a century ago

Inception

I am always a bit apprehensive going to a movie that is 2 1/2 hours long, because I don't want to end up in a sitting through anything that long that I don't like. But given that Inception was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, I figured it couldn't be that much of a risked.

The plot of the film revolves around a group of characters who enter the dreams of others to either find out information, or to plant on idea in someone's mind. Then you have dreams inside of dreams, and much tension created concerning whether all of these people are ever going to be able to get back out of all these dream levels.

Given Patrick Goldstein's article describing how the movie tends to go over much better with younger, video game playing, audiences, as opposed to older audiences, I was afraid which side of this divide I might fall on. Fortunately, I can definitely say that I fell on the younger side.

I am sure if I saw it again I would get more out of it, but I did manage to follow what was happening enough that I never felt lost. Considering how complicated the storyline is, making a comprehensible movie out of this is quite an achievement. I am not sure if there are many directors other than Nolan who could have accomplished this. The only problem I had was near the end when everyone was wrapped up in snow suits, I did have some trouble keeping track of who was who.

I would expect this film to win many awards this year, number one being the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble Cast. There are just so many great performances in this film, it is hard to imagine anything better.

At first I could not figure out who Marion Cotillard was. I thought she looked familiar. Music is used to to warn characters inside of a dream that they are about to be brought out, because the music penetrates sleep. The music used by these guys is Edith Piaf. After I heard Piaf once or twice I recognized Cotillard from her Oscar winning performance as Piaf in La Vie En Rose. Oh the subliminal uses of music.

Add Inception to The Hurt Locker—my favorite film from last year—on the list of films that prove that it is possible to make intelligent action films, although this seems like too much to ask from a lot of film makers.

Here is the trailer:

WaPo Photography Contest Winners

The Washington Post has posted a slide show of the winning photographs from their travel photography contest.

Travel's 2010 Photography Contest

Tai Shan Update

It has been a little over six months since Tai Shan the panda left the National Zoo and returned to China. According to this update his Chinese keepers have had to rid him of his slothful western ways.

Puny and Decadent American-Bred Panda Is Being Retrained to Chinese Standards

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

This French film adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" won both an Oscar and a BAFTA for short film in the early 1960's. It is amusing to see French actors re-enacting the U.S. Civil War—as if they didn't have enough wars of their own to re-enact. However, I don't think the film is as good a the original short story. Bierce's writing style is very descriptive, and you would think that would be easy to translate onto film. A good deal of the power of his stories comes from his tight focus on detail, and that might not be so easy to recreate on film.

In three parts.

King Tut’s Family Secrets

If Queen Elizabeth thought she has problems with her family, she should read this article from National Geographic about King Tut's family. Mores might have been different thousands of years ago. Still this family seems a bit dysfunctional to me. Of course the archaeologist haven't determined if any of Tut's relatives every had to declare bankruptcy.

King Tut’s Family Secrets

Words

From Radio Lab, a film by Will Hoffman and Daniel Mercadante.

Glass Microbiology

Luke Jerram makes glass sculptures of viruses, including the swine flu shown below. The link below goes to his web site which has more images and video.

Glass Microbiology | Luke Jerram

Picture ot the Day - 8/14/2010

Loading or unloading at the Port of Baltimore. Taken from Fort McHenry.

Pictures of the Day - 2010

Perseid Meteor Shower

I live in the city where there is too much light to see meteors, but here are some pictures from the Guardian that are pretty spectacular.

Perseid meteor shower puts on a spectacular show

Coco Chanel Trilogy

I saw Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky couple weeks ago. This is the third film about Coco Chanel to be released recently. I had seen Coco Before Chanel, with Audrey Tautou, when it was out last year, but I rewatched it on DVD. I also watched the DVD of Coco Chanel, the Lifetime Television film in which Shirley MacLaine played the older Chanel.

Before I go into those movies here is a pretty good short documentary about Chanel

Coco Before Chanel

Coco Before Chanel covers Chanel's life up until the death of her lover "Boy" Capel, in December 1919. From a cinematic point of view this was a very convenient time for him to die, since it was shortly after WWI ended and just days before the Roaring Twenties began. So this date is a focal point in all three films. Also by 1920 Chanel had established her dress shop, and was well on her way to becoming a dominating force in world culture.

It was interesting to see a character played by three different actresses. Of the three actresses portraying Chanel, Audrey Tautou gives the most reserved performance. Her restrained acting is part of what creates her charm, and it worked well in this film. They only part of this film that I did not like was the portrayal of her earlier lover, Étienne Balsan. His is portrayed so boorishly, that it is hard to see why she would have taken up with him.

Here is the trailer for Coco Before Chanel.

Coco Chanel

This is the film with Shirley MacLaine portraying Chanel rekindling her career in her later years. Most of the film, however, consists of flash backs that cover Chanel's life, from when she was abandoned to an orphanage by her father after the death of her mother up until the death of "Boy".

The younger Chanel is played by the Slovakian actress Barbora Bobulova. Her depiction of Chanel is a bit more fun loving and carefree than the portayal in the other two films. Of the three characterizations, I think this is the one I would most want to meet in person.

Also the portrayal on Étienne Balsan is a little more sympathetic and has a little more depth in this version.

Of the two films that cover the earlier part of Chanel's life, this one provided more historical context. World War I figures more prominently in this film than in Coco before Chanel.

The later depiction of Chanel by MacLaine is a minor part of the film, most likely added to attract and American audience, since a European cast is used for all of the characters from the earlier yesrs. It also serves to show Chanel's tenacity throughout all the years of her life. While not one of MacLaine's meatiest roles, she gives a good performance.



For good measure here is a clip of Shirley Maclaine discussing her role.

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Of the three films Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is my favorite, but at the same time it may be the least historically accurate.

This film begins at Boy's death, and portrays Chanel's relationship with Igor Stravinsky. So in a sense this is a sequel to the other two films. I am not sure how historically accurate the portrayal of the relationship between Chanel and Stravinsky is, but most of the other events in the film are fairly accurate. Chanel did help Stravinsky financially, and did allow him and his family the use of one of her houses. Whether the torrid romance depicted between them actually happened I am not so sure of.

Near the beginning of the film there is a long sequence that recreates the premier performance of Stavinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring. This is one of the most famous—or infamous—performances of the 20th century, notorious because the dancers could not keep time to the music, and the audience erupted into a riot. In 2006, Radio Lab did a segment on brain chemistry and what caused this riot, which you can listen to here.

Often considered one of the earliest pieces of modern classical music, The Rite of Spring survived this disasterous reception to become one of the most populat pieces of classical music, even included in the Disney film Fantasia. Just the recreation of this original concert makes the film worth seeing.

Regardless of how accurate the portrayal of the Chanel/Stravinsky relationship is, the characters seem very authentic. The Cinematography is outstanding, and of course the music is great. This is basically the story of three people Chanel, played by the French actress Anna Mouglalis, Stravinsky, played by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, and Stravinsky's wife, played by Russian Actress Yelena Morozova. So what you have is a love triangle with great acting, great sets and great music.

The other advantage this film has is that by 1920 most vestiges of the Victorian Era have been vanquished, and everything that Chanel had fought for in the previous decades had come to fruition. Thus the sets and costumes for this film are very different from the previous two, making Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky an account of the dawn of modernity, rather than a Victorian period piece.

Here is the trailer for Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, but I must say the trailer does not do justice to the film.

Up on the Roof

The Guardian's Clip joint has a post with film clips of some of the best scenes that take place on a roof, including the scene from Oliver Twist below. I think that is supposed to be St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

Clip joint: rooftops

Picture ot the Day - 8/10/2010

West End 25, or the buildings formerly known as BNA-North and BNA-South

Pictures of the Day - 2010

The Scandal Survivor Flowchart

Click on the link below to see the rest of the scandal survivor flowchart on Slate.

A flow chart illustrates when your political scandal costs you your job.

RIP Patricia Neal

A clip to mark Patricia Neal's passing. A scene from The Homecoming with Patricia Neal and Richard Thomas.

Embrace of Life

After my last post I wanted something a little more uplifting, so here is a video of the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Just about all of Gustav Vigeland's work remains in Norway, so it is impossible to see it anywhere else. There is a large coffee table book with pictures of his sculptures titled Embrace of life, which is where I am familiar with his work from. The first minute or so of this video is just directions to get to the park, but after that there are some great shots of the sculptures in the Park.

Strange Fruit

Eighty years ago today—August 7, 1930—two African-Americans where lynched in Marion, Indiana. A photograph of the lynching inspired Abel Meeropol to write the song Strange Fruit, which was subsequently made famous by Billy Holiday's recording. I have previously posted a video on Holiday's performance of the song on my music blog.

NPR has a radio segment including an interview with a third man who narrowly escaped lynching that day, as well as people who witnessed the event.

Strange Fruit: Anniversary Of A Lynching

Picture ot the Day - 8/5/2010

This is the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge crossing the C & O Canal in Georgetown. Reflected in the water behind the bridge are the windows of Filomena Ristorante. They have the best lunch buffet in Washington, plus you can sometimes see ladies making pasta inside the Wisconsin Avenue window. Maybe I will get a picture of that someday.

Pictures of the Day - 2010

Archaeology in the News

Two recent archaeological finds. The boat from the World Trade Center site has been brought to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in St. Leonard, Maryland, for conservation and study. Not sure what has become of John the Baptist.

Picture ot the Day - 8/4/2010

Scratching an itch, between the Inner Harbor and Fells Point.

Pictures of the Day - 2010

Food from the 40's

Following yesterday's photographs from the 30's and 40's, here is Mark Kurlansky discussing his book The Food of a Younger Land: A portrait of American food—before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal. This book is collection of essays on American food created as part of the Federal Writers Project just prior to the start of WWII. Like the photographs from yesterday's post, the essays in this book are from the Library of Congress. I was in the audience for this talk.

Pie Town and Beyond

From the Denver Post's Photo Blog:

These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.

Several of the photographs are from Pie Town, New Mexico. A couple years ago Smithsonian magazine published an article on these Photos and the current Pie Two, Savoring Pie Town. I am not sure that I would have remembered this for any other town, but how can you forget a place called Pie Town.

Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943

Picture ot the Day - 8/1/2010

Taken from Fells Point this past weekend, a sugar cane ship docked for unloading in front of the Domino Sugar Factory.

Pictures of the Day - 2010

Movies

Saw two films this weekend.

I went to the theater to see Cyrus with two great actors, John C. Reilly and Marisa Tomei. The trailer says that it is a comedy, but it is not a comedy in any traditional sense. It is worth seeing just for the performances.



I also watched the DVD of My Boy Jack, the PBS film about Rudyard Kipling and his son. Daniel Radcliffe plays Jack, the son, and his performance is very good. My only criticism of the film is that I think the portrayal of Rudyard was a little too cheery. I don't know the much about Rudyard Kipling, but even if he did think his son should go off to war, I find it hard to believe that he would have been so damn happy about it. I thought he come off as a bit of a buffoon in the film. It would have been better if his character had been given a little more depth. Here is the final scene with Rudyard and King Edward, who has also lost his son John.