01 November 2024

"The jungle revels in debauched lewdness"


Somewhere earlier this summer I encountered a review of Conquest of the Useless; Reflections on the Making of Fitzcarraldo, a new book by Werner Herzog (Ecco/Harper Collins, 2009). It's a curious book, created apparently by transcribing his notebooks from 30 years ago. It's not what one might expect in a "making of the film" book - it's almost stream-of-consciousness style, with disconnected thoughts and contents of dreams.

What was interesting to me was to discover that Herzog didn't live the life of a pampered director; he was on-site near the headwaters of the Amazon, living in squalor and coping with the incredible incompetence of local workers. Here are some of my jotted notes from the book to give the flavor of the contents:

 12 – At the Indians’ request, we bring chain saws, machetes, and shotguns to the Rio Cenepa, as well as a large canister of poison for arrow tips. They no longer know how to make it themselves. Vivanco says they will pay for a spoonful with a gold nugget.

79 – The family who had given us a pot of hot water crowded around, and we fixed tuna for them and gave them tea; that is how it is done here – food is always shared, Cesar says, which is why there is no word for “thank you” in their language.

100 – Upon returning to Iquitos, I found the little bookshelf in my cabin encased in a termite mound; I had to peel the few books, the radio, letters, and journals out of the hard coating, and the most recent journal, which was on top, has been devoured, except for the cover, which is covered in plastic.

165 – One time I had grasped hold of a smooth sapling without noticing that a multilane highway of fire ants led up and down it. Then I made the mistake of trying to cut down the tree with my machete to protect those following behind me, but my blow was not strong enough and merely shook the sapling, sending fire ants raining down on me, getting under my shirt and in my hair, and for two days I was climbing the walls.

169 – The helicopter of the Bolivian president, Barrientos, flew into a power line and crashed from a low altitude. He had suitcases full of money with him, presumably from drug deals. The helicopter immediately caught fire, but although people were there and tried to rescue him from the blaze, no one could get close, because the heat made the submachine guns carried by the president and his entourage start firing wildly, and in the hail of bullets no one dared approach.

226 – Across from our headquarters overlooking the Nanay there was a huge explosion in a boiler, fortunately after the work day in the factory there as over. The one night watchman was blown to pieces and sent flying. A smallish bloody piece of him landed with a splat on our porch.

233 – Water is dripping from the roof, but the rain does not refresh anything. The cat has thrown up on the porch. The chickens are standing in the rain getting soaked. My suit is hanging from the rafters of my palm-frond roof, covered with mildew. There is mildew on my shoes and my notebook. you hang up laundry, but it does not dry. My shirts disappear without a trace… this morning a tarantula the size of my fist was sitting in front of me on the table, and for the first time in my life I was only half-afraid.
I've listed this in the category of recommended books, but it does tend to be repetitious and occasionally tedious, so most readers will be satisfied with a quick perusal; probably only film enthusiasts will read it cover-to-cover.

Addendum: Those who like the movie or read the book will also appreciate the movie "Burden of Dreams," the 1981 documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo.

Reposted from 2009 because I kept misremembering Herzog's quote as being about "fecundity" rather than "lewdness." 

31 October 2024

Wisconsin butterflies, 2024


An informative and professionally executed presentation.  Kudos to the members of the Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association for assembling the data, and to Doug Buege for formatting the video.

SWBA homepage, with a list of field trips, info on field guides, camera, places to visit, archives of newsletters, and relevant videos.

30 October 2024

Van Gogh torc


I think this is properly termed a torc rather than a necklace.  Clever.

The artist is not identified at the via, where the discussion is about taste (or lack of same).

Reposted from 2018 for the Halloween season.

Bugs Bunny was originally spelled with an apostrophe ("Bugs' Bunny")

In 1938, Warner Brothers writer Ben Hardaway directed a short film featuring a very sneaky rabbit. The cartoon was called Porky’s Hare Hunt, but the bunny that starred in it didn’t have a name. So, the best creative minds in the business got together and dubbed the up-and-coming star “Happy Rabbit.”

Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was Bugs, also directed he next short starring Happy Rabbit. As the animators drew up early image for the film, one of them labeled a sketch of the rabbit “Bugs’ Bunny,” to make it clear that the drawing was part of Hardaway’s project. The label was mistaken for the name of the character, and soon enough, all the animators were calling Happy Rabbit “Bugs Bunny."
From a post at Neatorama about interesting moments in the history of editing, where you will also discover that Catch-22 was originally entitled Catch-18.

Reposted from 2011 because I had already forgotten this.

"The rich are different from you and me"


As reported by Bloomberg:
Airlines are reinvigorating first class as deep-pocketed customers embrace travel again, taking luxury to new heights up in the sky. 

First-class cabins are increasingly resembling mini hotel rooms, with sofas, double beds, televisions, desks, wardrobes, minibars and in some cases, walk-in showers. The more creative, the better. You can even book a chef...

Even with first class fares going for more than 10 times as much as standard economy seats, demand is there - either for bookings with cash or the rare opportunity to use up miles accumulated on credit cards during the pandemic...

A return Sydney-Los Angeles flight in Qantas first class costs almost $18,000, while Frankfurt-Tokyo on Lufthansa is about $15,000. That’s still significantly less that what some ultra-wealthy travelers fork out for private jets, a segment that experienced a boost during the pandemic as people looked to avoid crowds and virus-related restrictions...

Individual cabins currently feature armchairs and a 212-centimeter (83 inches) flat bed with memory foam mattress, as well as cotton throws, a duvet and pillow menu. 
Details and pix at the link.  

Reposted from 2023 to add this.  The video is lengthy but refreshingly devoid of needless chatter (mostly ambient sounds with text subtitles).  You can browse it by clicking the timeline.

28 October 2024

It's true that there's no prize when you die... (updated)


... but I do keep track of all the books I've read.   I rate them on a scale of 0-4+, so that when I get old(er) and (more) demented, I'll know which ones to re-read.

For the past 25 years, here are the 92 books I've rated 4+ (to be honest, it also includes a fair number of 3.5s), out of a total of 700+.

Year
Author
Title        
1990 ( of 26)
Ludlum
The Bourne Identity

Ludlum
The Parsifal Mosaic
1991 (52)
Colin Watson
Hopjoy was Here

Gerrold
The Man Who Folded Himself

Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude
1992 (63)
Boyer&Nissenbaum
Salem Possessed

Weisman
Witchcraft, Magic and Religion in 17th century Massachusetts.

Frederic
The Damnation of Theron Ware

LeCarre
The Secret Pilgrim

Warren
Brother to Dragons

Clarke
Childhood's End
1993 (39)
None
1994 (44)
None
1995 (38)
Dickson
And So To Murder

Paulson
Winterdance

Kersten
The Jesus Conspiracy

Huyghe
Columbus Was Last

Holand
Norse Discoveries & Explorations in America 982-1362
1996 (28)
Bester
The Stars My Destination

Fowles
A Maggot

Guthrie
The Big Sky
1997 (8)
None
1998 (13)
Krakauer
Into Thin Air

Wahlgren
The Vikings and America
1999 (16)
Jewett
The country of the Pointed Firs

Faulkner
Absalom Absalom (turgid and gloomy)

Hardy and Shaffer
The Wicker Man
2000 (4)
Teale, Edwin Way
A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm
2001 (8)
Ryan & Pittman
Noah's Flood

Lansing
Endurance

Mowat
The Alban Quest
2002 (19)
None
2003 (36)
Brown
Angels and Demons

Hosseini
The Kite Runner

Warren
All the Kings Men
2004 (49)
Menzies
1421 The Year China Discovered America

Wodehouse
Bertie Wooster Sees It Through

Brown
Da Vinci Code

Hoffer
The True Believer
2005 (45)
Whitaker
The Mapmaker’s Wife

Woodham-Smith
The Reason Why [Crimea, Light Brigade]

Ferguson
Naked to Mine Enemies, Volumes 1 and 2

Lapham
Gag Rule.  On the suppression of dissent

Powell
Bring Out Your Dead
2006 (35)
Grogan
Marley and Me

Hanson
Confident Hope of a Miracle

Bamford
A Pretext for War

Needham
Science and Civilisation in China, Vol IV: 3

Wright
The Looming Tower; Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Ryan
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
2007 (29)
Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation

Setterfield
The Thirteenth Tale

Kinzer
Overthrow. America’s Century of Regime Change (skimmed)

Fothergill
Planet Earth

Shorto
The Island at the Center of the World [Manhattan]

McCarthy
The Road

Smith
When the Cheering Stopped

McCarthy
No Country for Old Men
2008 (30)
Hitchens
God is Not Great

Nouvian
The Deep

Ballesta & Deschamp
Planet Ocean

Corrie
Let Me Stand Alone

Marent
Butterfly

McCarthy
Blood Meridian

Weiner
Legacy of Ashes

Winchester
Krakatoa; the Day the World Exploded

Schooler
Last Shot
2009 (31)
Wilson
How Jesus Became Christian

Ehrman
Misquoting Jesus

Keys
Catastrophe

Zuckerman
Society without God

Nasrecki
The Smaller Majority (nature photos)
2010 (49)
Pears
An Instance of the Fingerpost

Nicholls
Paradise Found: Nature in America at the time of discovery

Van Allsburg
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Ludlum
The Bourne Identity

Lester
The Fourth Part of the World

Gilder
Heavenly Intrigue [Kepler and Brahe]

Grann
The Lost City of Z

Holmes
The Age of Wonder

Bergreen
Over the Edge of the World [Magellan]
2011 (21)
Meldahl
Hard Road West

Gaiman
Coraline

Winchester, Simon
The Alice Behind Wonderland

Severin
The Brendan Voyage

Seuss
The Bippolo Seed and Other Stories

Bryson
The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that way

Cohen
The Tree Army; a pictorial history of the CCC, 1933-1942
2012 (18)
Mann
1491

Millard
Destiny of the Republic [bio James Garfield]

Menzies
1434; The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy…

Moon
Blue Highways

Feldman
When the Mississippi Ran Backwards
2013 (21)
Peskov
Lost in the Taiga

Mitchell
Cloud Atlas

Mitchell
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet
2014 (21)
Faulkner
As I Lay Dying             

Sometimes I post reviews in the recommended books category of this blog.

Please feel free to chime in with a comment about your favorite books.

Addendum November 2021:


(can't remember how I created a table in the post 7 years ago, so I'll just copy/paste the updated info)

Addendum November 2024:






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