Mae West: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
Remembering Milicent Patrick (November 11, 1915 - February 24, 1998)
Millicent was an American actress, makeup artist, special effects designer and animator. Born in El Paso, Texas, Patrick spent much of her early life in California, most notably in San Simeon, as her father, Camille Charles Rossi, was superintendent of construction at Hearst Castle. In 1939 Patrick began working for Walt Disney Studios and during her time there became one of the studio's first female animators. Patrick continued her career at Universal Studios and is cited as being the first woman to work in a special effects and makeup department. She is best known for being the creator of the head costume for the iconic Gill-man from the film Creature from the Black Lagoon.
She sat at the back and they said she was shy, She led from the front and they hated her pride.
They asked her advice and then questioned her guidance. They branded her loud, then were shocked by her silence,
When she shared no ambition they said it was sad, So she told them her dreams and they said she was mad.
They told her they'd listen, then covered their ears, And gave her a hug while they laughed at her fears,
And she listened to all of it thinking she should, Be the girl they told her to be best as she could,
But one day she asked what was best for herself, Instead of trying to please everyone else,
So she walked to the forest and stood with the trees, She heard the wind whisper and dance with the leaves, She spoke to the willow, the elm and the pine, And she told them what she'd been told time after time
She told them she felt she was never enough, She was either too little or far far too much, Too loud or too quiet, too fierce or too weak, Too wise or too foolish, too bold or too meek,
Then she found a small clearing surrounded by firs, And she stopped...
and she heard what the trees said to her, And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave, For the forest said nothing, it just let her breathe.
"Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions." - Aleron Kong, The Land : Raiders
@stormydaycuddle for your word count lol
Charlie Chaplin’s letter to his daughter
"My girl,
Now it is night. One Christmas night. All the armed warriors of my little fortress fell asleep. Your brother and your sister are sleeping. Even your mother is sleeping now. On my way to this half-lighted room, I was on the verge to wake up the sleeping chicks.
How far away you are from me! But may I become blind if your image is not always in front of my eyes. Your picture is here on the table and here, near my heart. But where are you? There in the fairy Paris dancing on a grand theatrical stage from Champs Elyse. I know this very well, though it seems to me that in the silence of the night I hear footsteps, see your eyes that shine like stars in the winter sky. I hear you acting in this festive and illuminated play the role of the Persian beauty who is in the captivity of Tatar khan. Be beautiful and dance! Be a star and shine! But if the enthusiasm and gratitude of the audience makes you drunk, if the scent of flowers gave to you swallow your head, then sit in a little corner and read my letter, listen to the voice of your heart.
I am your father, Geraldine!
I’m Charlie, Charlie Chaplin!
Do you know how many nights I sat near your crib when you were a baby, telling you the tale of Sleeping Beauty, watchful dragon? And when the sleep came to rest my eyes, I laughed at him and said: “Go away! My sleep, these are my daughter’s dreams!“ I saw your dreams, Geraldine, have seen your future and your present day. I saw a girl playing on the stage, a fairy dancing in the sky. I heard the crowd say: “See that girl? She’s the daughter of an old fool. Remember? His name was Charlie.”
Yes! I’m Charlie! I am an old fool!
“Few people in or out of the film industry found it easy to believe producer Joshua Sinclair when he announced to the press, late in 1977, that Marlene Dietrich was about to break her retirement and self-imposed isolation within her Paris apartment.
She had, Sinclair continued, agreed to appear on screen in her first speaking role in eighteen years, in the German-English film Just a Gigolo, with rock star David Bowie. Lonely for precisely the human contact she paradoxically but insistently rejected, she also found irresistible a salary of $250,000 for two half-days of work in a Paris studio, where the sets for her scene were transported from Berlin …
On a bitterly cold morning in February 1978, she arrived on time for work, “her jaw set and her shoulders hunched with determination”, as an eye witness recalled … next morning, Dietrich returned for the more difficult second task – to sing the film’s title song, which was to be heard near the end of the picture … far from offering the perfunctory delivery of a song she disliked, Marlene Dietrich sang with heart-rending simplicity.
Nothing she had done on stage or screen over a period of sixty years could have prepared witnesses that day (or viewers of Just a Gigolo since then) for her astonishing rendition of this simple confessional song. On the words “youth will pass away”, there may be heard a tremor of sadness in her voice that was without precedent in any prior recording or theatrical appearance ... And when she came to “life goes on”, the voice became plangent, almost a whisper as she managed, to poignant effect, an octave. In only one take, the scene and the song were captured forever. There was a moment of reverential silence round her and then the bystanders broke into applause.”
/ From Dietrich (1992) by Donald Spoto /
Released in West German cinemas 45 years ago today (16 November 1978): the film Just a Gigolo, notable for the final screen appearance by a heavily veiled 77-year-old Marlene Dietrich.
“Where do we go, when we're lost – when the humans around us (much as we love them) can't seem to help us?
We go where we've been taught to forget to go. Where our ancestors have always gone. To the woods and the old ways. To the hedgelands and edgelands; to the threshold places and liminal zones.
We go looking for the Others who dwell there; we go listening for the murmurs of the dreaming land. We go looking for a wisdom that's wilder and wiser than our own.”
Remains of Man and Woman found together in Ukrainian grave after she was buried alive with her dead husband. "The wife who made the ultimate sacrifice for a 3,000-year loving embrace"
An ancient man and woman have been found locked in a loving embrace for 3,000 years in a grave in Ukraine.
The woman was willingly entombed alive in order to accompany her husband to the next world, archeologists believe.
Autopsy experts say it would not be possible to place the woman's body in such a loving position if she was already dead. The experts say it is likely the woman chose to die and be buried with her husband. They believe she may have drunk poison as she climbed into the grave and embraced her recently dead partner. The extraordinary burial saw the couple clasped together since the Bronze Age in eternal love. The pair, from the prehistoric Vysotskaya - or Wysocko - Culture were found near Petrykiv village, south of the city of Ternopil in western Ukraine.
Source: Archeology Aesthetic
The woman pictured is Christina Olson, neighbor of the painter in Maine, who became disabled by polio. Instead of using a wheelchair, Christina preferred to crawl in the grass. The artist found the scene so poetic and so strong the will of the woman, that he wanted to paint it in this way to "do justice to the extraordinary conquest of a life that for many would be desolate."
Andrew Wyeth (American, 1917-2009) (son of painter and illustrator N.C. Wyeth).
Christina`s World, 1946 Museum of Modern Art, New York
''I worked with Michael Jackson on many occasions... first in 1979, shortly after the release of “ Off The Wall , ” which was recorded at his old studio, Image Recording. I spent a lot of time in 1980 (or '81?) with Michael recording demos for '' Thriller' ' . That was great because it was just the two of us and it was a great experience working so close to him. An incredible experience… he danced up a storm while singing and did all those “grunt, oohs” vocals that would pepper his tracks.
The next few years, I recorded with the Jacksons on several tracks. I met all your brothers.
Bruce Swedien went back to Image Recording to record a song for the “Victory” album around 1983. Another great experience, as Bruce did (as I recall) all of Michael's albums. Bruce is the best of all time. THE BEST.
I met Michael again in 1995 to work on the '' HIStory'' album . We were all holed up in the Larrabee North studio, Eddie Delena recorded many of Michael's vocals... but my memorable session happened with Dallas Austin recording with rapper The Notorious BIG the song “ This Time Around ” .
There I was, in a room with Dallas, Biggie and Michael. I will never forget this.
It was more or less like this…
Michael used to call people asking them to be on his albums. It was interesting to know that anyone on the planet would answer the phone if it was Michael calling. Anyway, I heard rumors that BIG was very excited to be able to participate.
I knew I would be the one recording it, because I had already recorded almost all of that song, “This Time Around”. So, Dallas and I were waiting for him and right on time, The Notorious arrived. He was quite an imposing figure when he walked in and I had no idea what to expect from him in terms of attitude, but he seemed pretty cool.
Almost immediately, he blurted out, “Hey, Dallas, can I meet Mike?” and went on to talk about how much this opportunity meant to him, as Michael was his hero. Anyway, Dallas told him, ''let's rap first'' , so Biggie gets in the booth and starts recording.
During the first take, Dallas and I looked at each other because it felt right. I was really impressed and so was Dallas.
As I recall, we recorded another take but I'm pretty sure we ended up using the first one. Then, Notorious arrives and asks again if he could meet Michael now. We sent word to another studio where Michael was working that Biggie had finished and wanted to meet him.
Simply for safety, Michael's security would come in and make sure no one was in the room who shouldn't be, and once that was confirmed (it was just me, Biggie and Dallas), Michael went in.
Biggie started crying...
I could tell how much this meant to him. Well, Michael could have that effect on anyone, even the toughest rappers! Biggie stumbled over his words, bowing and telling Michael how much his music meant to him. Michael as always, very humble, couldn't stop smiling while Biggie continued talking about how much he loved him.
I watched Biggie become a big ball of butter — it was really beautiful to witness.
Michael finally asked to hear what we had done..."This Time Around".
Michael LOVED it and said: “Let’s hear it again” . Michael absolutely loved it... and thanked Biggie for coming all the way from Philly.
Biggie shyly asked if he could take a photo, and Michael agreed. A photo was taken, we listened again and Michael thanked Biggie. Michael said goodbye and left, leaving Biggie standing there, completely stunned.
true classic
Very true @blisscuddles