spoon full of sugar

Here are some lovely things that I've found here and there.

quote: (the quotes are in here, I promise.) I had to return the Mark Romanek Director's Series DVD to the library yesterday. I didn't get through the whole DVD (I watched Devil's Haircut and Perfect Drug more than once, I'll admit), but I had a quick read through the booklet before I took it back. The book is comprised of photos by Romanek and an interview between him and Spike Jonze. (note to self: see if the library has the Jonze video collection.) ANYWAY, there were a couple of quotes that really stood out for me. This first quote is not a new concept, but it's a good reminder: "Perfect is not always the set thing. Perfect isn't always good."

But what really jumped out at me -- I mean jumped out of the bushes and knocked me over -- was this: "And that phrase, 'More daring and more sincere,' hit me like a ton of bricks. It really struck me as the best definition of what makes something good that I'd ever heard."

Me too, Mark Romanek! (The context of this quote was his response to a Stanley Kubrick interview where Kubrick gave suggestions on how to improve the film industry. Kubrick's quote was "And I feel like these are some of the ways that filmmakers can make films that are both more daring and more sincere." )

Daring and Sincere! Sincere doesn't have to mean mawkish. Daring doesn't have to mean shocking. These words make me think more in terms of dangerously or fearlessly truthful. That's something I always respond to in any kind of art, even if it is about a subject that would seem to be of no relevance to me. If it is truly daring and sincere, it strikes that skin-tingling chord of recognition, no matter what the topic.

goodwill finds: Last week I was browsing the book department of the main Portland Goodwill, and found that someone had recently donated a several books on Hollywood musicals! For less than 10 dollars I got one HUGE hard-bound photo book on musicals and one soft-bound book of the same. They each had a few pictures cut out (from the small one, pictures from A Hard Day's Night, from the large one pictures from Hair), but even so there are SO MANY amazing photographs it was certainly worth it. Plus, since they are already a little beat up, I will feel less guilty abusing them for scanning purposes. (photos are of Busby the musical director and Busby the cat. One of them lives at my house.)


early xmas gift: Keri Smith has some fun pdf's to print out and make your very own Artist's Survival Kit. Make one for yourself, and one for a friend!

blog posts on writing: This one is a list (!!!) of "10 Things I Know About Writing" from Powell's blog guest blogger Janice Cooke Newman. (The Powell's blog in general is great fun if you like books at all, I promise.) This Writing Time post resonates with the "more daring and more sincere" philosophy. (the Writing Time blog in general is encouraging and compassionate without being boring or condescending. I know this sounds like what every writing blog should be like, but trust me, they're not!) Here's an Atlantic article from this summer on writing, featuring Francine Prose "and others," that is also worth checking out.

best name in my spam folder today: epic him. It makes me laugh.

movie trailer remix: Okay, I know this has been a lot of places, but I had to put it here since I was just talking about musicals. It's a Mary Poppins trailer remixed as a horror film. It made me laugh AND gave me the genuine creeps.