in hopeful anticipation / for callous disregard

strangely meditative…

A Reunion that Trumps High School

The New York Times covered an odd reunion – a Guantanamo guard and his detainees. The guard – Brandon Neely – joined Facebook, felt curious enough about a few prisoners to look them up, and messaged the men an apology and a request to make amens…in person! The BBC will air a program on their meeting.

…is it just me or does it look like he’s about to be handcuffed here?

I love that “fat,” “stop,” and “joke” are the words most closely associated with the Taco Bell brand now. See the article on AdAge.

Why you should see… Cutthroat Island (1995)

After a mind-bending episode of the X Files, live TV had a surprise gem in store on AMC:

CUTTHROAT ISLAND

Dir. Renny Harlin

Perf. Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella

1995, Paramount

Swashbuckling brunette Geena Davis; Frank Langella looking and sounding a lot like Sean Connery; Christopher Masterson (aka Francis from Malcom in the Middle) as a swabby cabin boy with high hopes and a lot of cheesy close-ups; inspired use of the word “Aye!”

@ the whitney

The afternoon began as usual: Rolling out of bed to find a guest on the futon – stroking the cat.

Rob’s gang planned to head to the Whitney museum for the O’Keeffe show. I tagged along and it was amazing.

Maybe I’m an idiot – but I had no idea Georgia O’Keeffe was married to Alfred Stieglitz. And what a slammin bod she had – shocking! A nice man stopped me at the entrance to the exhibit and gave me his audio headset. In all my years of attending museums, not once have I used an audio guide. At first I almost laughed aloud – thinking of people listening intently to 2 minutes of carefully crafted audio content, introduced by a clip of a jazz song or nature sounds. I felt kind of self conscious in fact – herded like a cow to distinct points of the exhibition along with the other audio listeners in a programmed dance.

Black Place I ('45)....how amazing is the name Ghost Ranch?

The experience became increasingly addictive however – like playing a game in which clues are revealed as you move towards the conclusion. Some experiences were rewarding, others rambling and insignificant. Two stories of O’Keeffe were particularly intriguing. A series called “Black Place” depicted hills in Navajo country, 150 miles from her New Mexico ranch. In the series, attention is focused on the crack between two hills.

A later image in the Black Place series

This crack becomes increasingly jagged and the hills more abstract. She told Stieglitz after a camping trip in the country that the location reminded her of him. “Oddly, when I see the country in it’s silvery beauty and forbidding blackness in my memory, it is so often almost as if I see you too. Your silvery hair and gray clothes and black cape, handkerchief in your hand and mouth, looking about alone in it.” -1943

I bought a book – Some Memories of Drawings written by O’Keeffe herself. Should make a good gift once I’ve read it.

INCROYABLE: (FR) adj. Not to be believed; incredible.

Hear Ye: My new year’s resolution 2010 will be to eliminate the word ‘incredible’ from daily usage for 7 days. I’ve used this word far too much lately and it’s time to diversify before it burrows further into my psyche. Happy New Year all!

Courtesy of Brendan

December 25th, 2009

Twin Escape