(no subject)

[andrew_jorgensen]

Last night, I went downtown to see North By Northwest, preceeded by two of Chuck Jones's Merrie Melodies, at Cinema At The Square. I knew that the people behind me were trouble when, during "Little Beau Pepé," one of them loudly exclaimed "Oh my God!" when the black and white cat rubbed up against the freshly-painted ladder and ended up with a white streak down her back. I don't know what sort of cultural illiterate is surprised when, during a Pepé Le Pew cartoon, the cat ends up with white paint on her, but I hope that some sort of LiveJournal community exists to make her feel ignorant. These women continued to offer helpful commentary throughout the movie: when the bad guys have propped an intoxicated Cary Grant behind the wheel of a car on a precariously windy seacoast road, another woman said, "I think they're going to drive him off the cliff." And when the movie got to the establishing shot of the Indiana cornfield, and one of them said, "That's no man's land," I wanted to turn around and say, "For the next ten minutes, the movie will take place with practically no dialogue. Let's see if we can do the same." But I didn't, because I'm polite, genteel and cowardly.

North By Northwest is still one of my favorite movies; I was reminded last night that it, much more than the novels, set the framework for the James Bond movies. And there were some lines I didn't remember. Cary Grant saying to James Mason, Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau "The three of you together -- now, that's a picture only Charles Addams could draw," at least had the ring of familiarity, but I have absolutely no recollection of ever before seeing Mason, captured by Leo G. Carroll and watching as the park ranger shoots Landau, saying, "That wasn't very sporting, using real bullets."

On a completely unrelated subject, I was tickled to read today's New York Times Magazine and find that it contains an "On Language" column by William Grimes which mentions Chez Panisse but not Alice Waters and a Food column which mentions Alice Waters but not Chez Panisse. I don't imagine that the Times is running some sort of hidden contest where you're supposed to match obvious pairs, setting "Curtis Sliwa" with "Guardian Angels," or "The Bell Jar" with "Sylvia Plath," or "colossal embarrassment" with "U.S. Men's Basketball Olympic team," and then counting the pages in between the references for some sort of Kabbalistic frisson. Perhaps it should.

Comments

[lynnmonster.livejournal.com]

I was tickled to read today's New York Times Magazine and find that it contains an "On Language" column by William Grimes which mentions Chez Panisse but not Alice Waters and a Food column which mentions Alice Waters but not Chez Panisse. I don't imagine that the Times is running some sort of hidden contest where you're supposed to match obvious pairs ... and then counting the pages in between the references for some sort of Kabbalistic frisson. Perhaps it should.

OK, not only is this completely and utterly *you*, but it almost made me snort Diet Coke out my nose.

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

I apologize for whatever damage I have done to your mucus membranes.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

"colossal embarrassment" with "U.S. Men's Basketball Olympic team,".

Not to be confused with "major embarrassment" for all the empty seats in the venues I see every time I flip through the Olympics on TV. The Olympic committee was so worried the physical plant wouldn't be finished on time. Now it looks like lousy attendance is going to be a much worse problem. If things don't pick up, the Greek Government is going to lose its shirt on these games. With the US doing rather poorly over all, NBC could also be "hugely embarrassed" over the ratings before it's ended.

Ah, North by Northwest. You gotta love the proximity between Falling Waters and Mt Rushmore.

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not quite Fallingwater -- for one thing, normal-sized people can stand up straight inside -- but it's definitely Frank Lloyd Wright and it's just as definitely not there.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Well, the stone faces weren't quite right in all the shots either. I figure it's as close to Frank Lloyd Wright as Hollywood of that era was ever going to get. ;o)

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

Well, Rapid City is a lot closer to the prairies than most examples of Prairie School architecture.

I always wanted the house from NxNW (it's a shame they didn't have the abbreviation-happy marketers in 1959 we have now), and must say that I was disappointed when I actually got to Fallingwater and got a crick in my neck. But though I don't suppose it's that close to a Borders or a P.F. Chang's, you have to admire the location, location, location of the fake Frank Lloyd Wright-designed fake house in the movie.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

You should see Taliesin West here in Phoenix, where FLW taught his architecture students. UGGGLY!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Having just recently visited Fallingwater, I fail to "get" the point of it. I just kept thinking - "these Kauffman's must have been very teeny people".

FW and tiny people

[rebekahroxanna.livejournal.com]

As I recall on visiting Falling Water and Taleisin West, that Wright supposedly designed at the human scale. How short was he? At Taleisin West, the docent mentioned that after his death, one of the board members removed some cross beams so that he could stand up under them. I was so disappointed in FW. I had for some reason expected high ceilings, but got cramped rooms and little windows with small panes.

d'H, did you ever eat at Chez Panise? I remember taking my two sisters there and we barely got in for lunch (great happenstance with my downloaded Teal Meal guide for Berkeley revealed we were only two blocks away at 11 am and we got in!!). The food is wonderful. I'm not sure I'd want to eat dinner there though.

Re: FW and tiny people

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

I never got to Chez Pannise. Reading the Magazine yesterday really made me want to go to Berkeley and eat . . . at Zachary's. That's the problem, I get all the way over to Berkeley and I don't want to waste a meal eating anywhere else.

I can't find a height for Frank Lloyd Wright, but my understanding is that he was short. Perhaps nasty and brutish as well. But if he was solitary and poor, he wasn't after Fallingwater.

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

I liked FW except for a bit of vertigo. I do remember thinking I might enjoy the was it a guest house? The building up above anyway. Funny that has been a while; the same year I did the cleveland and then Louisville trip to visit Gran.

Do you have any idea why he did that with the space? I should remember some of the tour but of course it's a blank. I do remember thinking about my inlaws house in Reyk most of the rooms are very tiny by our standards, and the house my grandfather built in Rossford (late 40'? maube as Mom was born in '52). Actually, the same could be said of my current one simply by population and rubbing elbows, a factory row house built by the Mill around the turn of that last century, and there was a apparently family of seven living here. Although I suspect that the father lived primarily in the garage given that the wiring looks amazingly heavy duty better than the house and I suspect he used it as a work shop, and home to get away from home.

Oh yeah I really just stopped by to say I enjoyed the post; you had me smiling. Again.

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[timian.livejournal.com]

<--snorts Fresca

I love you. And your posts. lol

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

<--snorts Fresca

I think you and lynnmonster may end up in the same clinic.

I love you. And your posts. lol

But do I get a song? Where's my song?

[timian.livejournal.com]

Aaand your song is up. Hopefully you'll like it.

[graffitiandsara.livejournal.com]

Cary Grant and Pepe LePeu - I'd call it a little piece of heaven. Ahhh, the romance...

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

Between them???

[graffitiandsara.livejournal.com]

You know you're far too interested in slash when...

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

North By Northwest is a seriously weird movie. If you watch it with the sound off you get this fever-dream romance with lovers in the forest and a gray on gray on gray (even the phone) room with Eva Marie in red like a blood drop; but then the dialogue is quippy and breezy and makes it something else all together.

[rebekahroxanna.livejournal.com]

Just read the On Language column. What is interesting is the writer sounds as if he is talking about a person when he mentions Chez Panisse. Or at least it can be read that way. Haven't gotten to the other section yet (actually haven't even gotten through the magazine, though I did cut out the high speed/high cost train to Macchu Picchu.

[anneth.livejournal.com]

Ach, this is a tangential response posted long after the entry hit the airwaves (or perhaps hit the ether? whatever.)

North by Northwest is one of my favorite movies, too - for all the obvious reasons, but also because I have these hazy memories of sneaking out of bed at the tender age of ten and hiding in the dining room to watch it as my dad watched it. He was sick at the time, and couldn't sleep, and my response to the stress of his illness and our imminent move from LA to northern CA was raging insomnia. So I'd sneak out of bed and hide behind the boxes piled up in the living room, and watch it with him. It was on a few nights in a row, I guess, because I remember doing it more than once. I had no idea what movie it was for years; I just remembered that the exciting climax involved people clamboring around on Mt. Rushmore (which seemed like fun, in less stressful circumstances) and that up close, Mt. Rushmore looked kinda funny; it wasn't smooth like an ordinary sculpture.

[dherblay.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry about posting so late -- I always appreciate the attention (and the higher comment count) and it's not as if I've updated much since anyway. And certainly I have to thank you for such a touching response. I hope you will excuse my own delay in replying.

As for the texture of Mount Rushmore, of course ordinary sculptures aren't given their general countours using dynamite and carved with pneumatic drills.