Friday, October 31, 2008

"Curiosity did not kill this cat"


Studs Terkel
May 16, 1912 - October 31, 2008

an American voice like no other
(and a hero to some of us with long memories)...

"My epitaph? My epitaph will be 'Curiosity did not kill this cat' "


interviews at Amy Goodman's Democracy Now
studsterkel.org

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Theme

I'd like to explore the archetype of Self in Psyche and Cupid resurfacing in Beauty, Alice and Dorothy.

Who killed Cock Robin?

Thank you all for your class notes! ...struggling with some sort of bronchial infection...


Deeply disappointed to read that I had missed Bach -- beloved companion of many years -- he will baffle and amaze and break your heart -- works you can dive into again and again...



yoyo ma



Finally realized | remembered what “Cock Robin” was reminding me of:

Who killed Cock Robin?
I, said the Sparrow,
with my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.
Who saw him die?
I, said the Fly,
with my little eye,
I saw him die.





Who killed Davey Moore,

Why an' what's the reason for?
"Not I," says the referee,

"Don't point your finger at me.

I could've stopped it in the eighth

An' maybe kept him from his fate,

But the crowd would've booed, I'm sure,

At not gettin' their money's worth.

It's too bad he had to go,

But there was a pressure on me too, you know.

It wasn't me that made him fall.

No, you can't blame me at all."


Bob Dylan, 1964

Book and Heart

Beautiful night (that sunset!), lovely space (those lamps!), good company (Kayla and her mom), and a great “text” (old books, young people, sweet music)

I loved the themes:
  • children encountering the unknown, their shared explorations, their quick wits which foil the best-laid plans of those trying to guide/mold/constrain their adventures
  • the paradoxes of literacy: denial to some, forced feeding to others, its roles as cultural propaganda, subversive art
  • the way texts expand beyond themselves in their readers, especially children, who don’t hesitate to engage, become co-creators
  • books as objects which become tattered and torn as they age in the hands of those who love them (the Velveteen Rabbit)
  • books as rare objects to be saved and protected (libraries!)
  • the oral and the written and Fahrenheit 451!
  • the gorgeous simplicity and intricacy of woodcut printing
  • the role of the image in print and in film

The only sour note the empty beer bottle rolling and rattling down from behind us -- sophomoric moment -- we can all thank Kayla for her deft catch! i was distracted and plan to see this film again -- good texts always welcome you back for more :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

10/22/2008 notes

My Book and Heart Shall Never Part
TOMORROW!!
Thursday Oct 23, 7 pm, Emerson
Colin McWilliams, Stuart Weber

the film runs ~ one hour
remain after for credits, acknowledgments and a drawing!!
be sure to bring your lovely tickets for the drawing...

* * * * * * *


taking notes is harder than i thought it would be...

our retellings of Cinderella moral:
+++ Ronnie
+++ Brandon

it ain't the meat, it's the motion
lamentation


Taylor's Mystery Men and Tangible Magic
Chris as Gilbert and Gubar's The Madwoman in the Attic
??? referenced by Tatar p. 80
the rose plucked by the father and Ben's portal
the laws of physics no longer apply
anima, animal, animate <--> ensoul

Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête
Criterion Collection
Janus Films
Surrealism

referencing classical works: Vermeer, Dore, Michelangelo's Pieta




Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Cinderella moral


notes for girls:
  1. beware mothers who are not mothers and sisters who are not sisters (and other women who haven't a clue, e.g. Sarah Palin, expensively-dressed*, nice-looking parrot tho she may be, i.e. one may attempt to enlighten, but do NOT vote for :)
  2. have patience w/ same as you escape their clutches
  3. know how and when to be less than totally truthful**
  4. see the magic in the mundane
  5. go to the ball!
  6. dance!!
  7. do NOT, i repeat, do NOT, torture your feet!!!



* Neiman Marcus Dallas, Texas: preferred shopping of oilmen's trophy wives ...
** "I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts." Mark Twain

10/20/2008 notes

"...how do I know what I think until I see what I say..." Forster
"...the poem means the poem..." Frye
"...I am that I am..." :)

tautology
circumlocution

transparent didacticism/moral earnestness
satire, irony, parody

rite of passage | the heroic journey
innocence/experience
a "small" crime, yet the world will be changed
thoughtcrime | crimethink
conformity | scapegoating | bullying

rebellion
the feral child

iconoclasm, graven images and Banbury Cross

Angela Carter: "The Tiger's Bride" collected in The Bloody Chamber and Burning Your Boats

limbo

Bluebeard's dog, cat, monkey

our retellings of Perrault's moral to Cinderella:
+++ Taylor
+++ Ashley
+++ Rebecca
+++ Brett
+++ Julie