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8762. wabbit - 4/5/2009 6:28:05 PM Yesterday afternoon, my mother and I went to see Two Men of Florence. It was great!
Playwright Richard N. Goodwin developed his play, produced in England as The Hinge of the World, into the Huntington Theatre Company production of Two Men of Florence. The play is about Galileo Galilei and Pope Urban VIII and their adversarial positions on Galileo's Copernicanism and heliocentrism vs. the church's Aristotelian geocentrism. Galileo had no problem reconciling his science with his Catholocism, but the Vatican did, and Galileo was eventually forced to recant heliocentrism and live his last years under house arrest on orders of the Roman Inquisition.
Galileo is played by Jay O. Sanders, and he spends the better part of two hours on stage. The play is a ton of dialog and Sanders makes you believe in and sympathize with Galileo. Edward Herrmann brings humanity to the "bad guy" role. You expect not to like his Pope, but you can't help but see the predicament in which he finds himself. You may not agree with him or his opposition to Galileo, but you understand his position.
The play isn't historically accurate (his daughter was a nun, but she was cloistered, not his assistant), but it hits the main points of Galileo's passion and problems. The Boston Globe says, "…Goodwin reveals both men as fascinating and complicated human beings, full of intellectual curiosity and spiritual passion." You can read the Boston Globe review and listen to theater critic Louise Kennedy discuss the play while seeing some slides. The set itself is spectacular, simple but very effective. The center part of the stage rotates at various points throughout the play, and stagehands dressed in dark shrouds silently move the set pieces around. I disagree that the staging was 'heavy-handed', but she's right about the dialog. You really need to pay attention and doing a bit of pre-play re-reading of your high school Galileo wouldn't hurt. I didn't have any problem at all relaxing into the play and am very happy to see at least some people don't want everything dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. If the play had been just the two men arguing, I suspect Kennedy would have had problems with that as well.
A few people around us, mom included, thought the first half was too long. I thought it was fine, but that's me. The play closes today. 8763. wabbit - 4/14/2009 12:19:47 AM Phil Spector, the rock music impresario behind such hits such as “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” and “Be My Baby,” was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of an actress at his mansion in 2003, after a night of drinking.
Mr. Spector, 69, faces a possible 18 years to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 29.The jury reached its decision after deliberating whether one of the recording industry’s best-known producers shot the woman in a fit of anger or, as his lawyers argued, merely witnessed the woman’s suicide… 8764. Ms. No - 4/18/2009 7:50:47 AM The MESA Club at our school had a fashion show tonight -- Trash 'n' Fashion!
We got to see 15 lovely creations made of trash. My favorite --- and truly a stunning piece --- was made of yellow plastic dinner plates. It was this huge asymmetrical skirt that flared out as if the model were wearing petticoats. She'd slipped it on over a black catsuit and paired it with a black shrug with rhinestone accents. This thing was H.O.T.
Fun but not nearly so lovely was the minidress made of Doritos bags, but there was a paper bag pouffy mini-skirt that was really cute and a Little Black Garbage Bag Dress that could've walked out of Wendy O's closet.
It was a great time --- and I even got to make some roses out of cardboard drink carriers! 8765. Ms. No - 4/18/2009 8:00:20 AM Wabbit,
I'm glad they found him guilty. I've been irritated all along because they hardly ever talk about Lana Clarkson by name or with any value attached to her as a person---- as if not being a currently hot celebrity makes her life worth less or even worthless.
I happen to be a semi-fan of Clarkson because of her stint as the Barbarian Queen for Roger Corman. I'm actually only a fan of the first one not the second ---which isn't really a sequel but a totally unrelated film in which Clarkson again plays a Barbarian Queen. Weird. It's like they had two scripts and decided to make both and not bother with coming up with a second title.
Anyway, neither of the films is good --- Roger Corman, 'nuff said --- but I've got a soft spot for the first one and so I've always liked Clarkson and I was sad to hear she'd been killed.
And, honestly, who the fuck goes to a famous stranger's house and commits suicide with his gun in his foyer? Even in Hollywood that's ridiculous. Clearly his lawyers were selling that story hard though since all you've ever heard in the media is what a sad sack Clarkson was at this point to be 40 and working as a hostess at the House of Blues.
8766. judithathome - 4/19/2009 1:03:11 AM I didn't have any problem at all relaxing into the play and am very happy to see at least some people don't want everything dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.
Just saw this and couldn't agree more...I am so sick of plays, movies, TV shows being rendered almost illiterate so the unwashed masses can understand them. Read a book once in awhile, people!
And that includes the recent "Bible translations" with language a moron can understand...it's an ancient document, people! It shouldn't be written in text messaging language! 8767. judithathome - 4/19/2009 1:04:40 AM Hllo GD...Iv snnd...plse 4gve me. 8768. wabbit - 4/19/2009 1:36:24 AM LOL!!
I'm glad to hear someone else enjoyed that play as much as I did. There is altogether too much exposition in film and tv.
I hate to invoke Harry Potter, but JK Rowling was told to change the name of Hermione to something that American children could pronounce. Bless her, she refused, saying essentially, "they'll learn."
imho, ymmv 8769. wabbit - 4/19/2009 1:37:34 AM Ms. No, I couldn't agree more. Why is she a sad sack, but he isn't washed up? I can't say I don't get it, but it's irritating to say the least. 8770. alistairconnor - 4/20/2009 4:59:39 PM 
Dear old J.G. Ballard is dead.
You know him as the writer of the books of the movies : Spielberg's Empire of the Sun, and Kronenberg's Crash (which I've never seen).
For me, his early novels from the 60s and 70s were a big influence : The Wind from Nowhere, The Drowned World, The Drought and The Crystal World (four variations on the global catastrophe novel).
That was in my "science fiction" period, and he was one of those who helped me grow out of the genre.
Reading his obituaries, I feel inclined to check out his later work, particularly Millenium People.
(Footnote : unsurprisingly, he has a thing about Surrealism, and likes to be photographed with his Delvaux paintings... I was in Paul Delvaux land the other day, northern Flanders)
8771. alistairconnor - 5/1/2009 1:38:13 PM I never really thought of the Rolling Stones as an art-school band. Keef :
I mean, my experience of art school is basically sitting in the john all day playing guitar when I wasn't forced to draw some fat old lady [...] So then I went to study this stuff and I realised that these blues men, they're talking about getting laid. And there's me studying what they're doing, but I ain't getting laid. I mean, there was something missing in my life - obviously, to be a bluesman I have to go see what this lemon juice is, running down your leg. And you know, these guys are actually living a life - they're not studying. 8772. wabbit - 5/11/2009 2:11:04 PM AC, you might enjoy this, as you have moved the novel into mitochondrial territory. 8773. judithathome - 5/13/2009 2:41:17 PM Here's some breaking news in the art world:
Fort Worth Museum Acquires Rare Painting
In an extraordinary coup, the Kimbell Art Museum has acquired the earliest known painting by Michelangelo, one of only four free-standing "easel paintings" by the Renaissance master in the world.
8774. judithathome - 5/13/2009 2:42:55 PM The second paragraph I copied dropped off for some reason:
The Kimbell’s purchase, The Torment of Saint Anthony(1487-88), will be the only painting by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) to enter the permanent collection of a U.S. museum. Two of the other paintings are in London’s National Gallery and a third in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.
8775. alistairconnor - 5/13/2009 3:44:19 PM Fantastic story, Judith. Fantastic painting, I hope to see it one day. 8776. wabbit - 5/13/2009 5:07:09 PM I used to have a re-strike of the Schongauer engraving. I'll definitely get to the Met to see this once it's on view. 8777. Ms. No - 5/16/2009 7:27:37 AM I love Camille Rose Garcia. I couldn't remember if I'd shared her work here before or not. Creepy-beautiful. These should all be incredibly depressing but somehow they make me feel good when I look at them. Indulgent, somehow.
This is from the Dreamtime Escape Plan series.
White Swan Deluge
8778. wabbit - 6/4/2009 7:44:18 PM Koko Taylor, a sharecropper's daughter whose regal bearing and powerful voice earned her the sobriquet "Queen of the Blues," has died after complications from surgery. She was 80.
Taylor died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about two weeks after having surgery for a gastrointestinal bleed, said Marc Lipkin, director of publicity for her record label, Alligator Records, which made the announcement.
The break for Tennessee-born Taylor came in 1962, when arranger/composer Willie Dixon, impressed by her voice, got her a Chess recording contract and produced several singles (and two albums) for her, including the million-selling 1965 hit, "Wang Dang Doodle," which she called silly, but which launched her recording career. 8779. judithathome - 6/8/2009 1:37:17 PM Anyone ever read books by Jeffery Deaver? We have a chance to see him in an appearence on the 16th...meet the author, chat him up, etc. 8780. wabbit - 8/2/2009 11:50:41 PM If anyone is in Boston and wants to see the Titian, etc. show at the MFA, I have a spare ticket for 11am on 8/6. Email me at viwabbit @ yahoo.com if you are interested. 8781. wabbit - 8/7/2009 1:09:19 AM RIP John Hughes John Hughes, the director and screenwriter who helped define a young generation with his ’80s films “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink,” has died.
The cause was a heart attack, according to a statement from the publicists Paul Bloch and Michelle Bega.
Mr. Hughes first began as a screenwriter, gaining notoriety for his screenplay for “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” which became a popular franchise.
But his true success came with his directorial debut, “Sixteen Candles,” which made a star out of its young lead, Molly Ringwald...
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