s@lly l-j

door mouse snoring

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800

OK. So you probably already saw this but since when can you have too much of a door mouse snoring? (And, exucse me, but did he not just come straight out of Lewis Carroll?)

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The best composer you've never heard of

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800

That's what the Wall Street Journal said of Morten Lauridsen.

Dana Gioia (past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts) describes him as "one of the few living composers whom I would call great."

What does Mr Lauridsen say?

"There are too many things out there that are away from goodness. We need to focus on those things that ennoble us, that enrich us."

And of his "Lux Aeterna":

"I didn't want to write an elitist piece that only the very best choirs in the world could perform--I wanted to write a piece that could be within the reach of many people, many performers. It's a piece with a message, and I didn't want to complicate that message with complicated musical language."

Reminds me of what another composer said: "Use ordinary words and say extraordinary things." Arthur Schopenhauer

Beautiful, direct, true, from the heart. Too many things away from goodness. I'm so glad Morten Lauridsen isn't.

(The award winning new documentary about him, "Shining Night" isn't yet scheduled to be broadcast anywhere in the US. The Wall Street Journal: "All he does is compose radiantly beautiful music and lead what appears to be a wholly satisfying life, and these days that's not quite enough to make you a household name. Time was when PBS would have snapped it up. Why not now?")

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Keep fit for writers

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800

My favorite part: "And rest". Brilliant!

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Magicians and Writers: truth and illusion

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:51:00 -0800

"Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion."

Tennessee Williams in THE GLASS MENAGERIE

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What the British say and what they REALLY mean

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0800

Anglo-EU Translation Guide
via BBC America

yes. oh dear. sorry. it's pretty much dead on.

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the joy of books

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0800

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for children: digital or paper?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0800

See the full gallery on Posterous

Research done at Temple University showed that paper books provide a more positive parent-child interaction for young children--and that electronic books dampen it. (In other words, a picture book helps a child most when it's paper--not really any surprise to anyone who loves picture books. You know this but you love to hear it from officialdom.)

Children sitting with a parent reading a digital rather than a physical book aren't getting as much interaction. "This research does suggest that parents should be aware of some of the limitations of e-book reading. We shouldn't use e-books to replace traditional books and we shouldn't expect them that they don't. They're not substitutes for a human being." (more here)

It seems it comes down to how you interact with a book and how you interact with a device... the difference between, "Careful! Push here! Hold it this way!" and, "I wonder... what do you think will happen next?"

Are we focused on the device or the story?

I'm all for digital books--and the amazing things they can do. But they can't do everything. They can't replace a traditional book--or a human being.

It's not a question solely for children and their books, is it? It sounds like something we need to be asking ourselves every day of our lives. Particularly at the start of a new year.

Are the tools we use enlarging or dampening our own lives, our own stories? What's our focus--on the new or the essential?

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peanuts christmas special

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Charles Schulz' Peanuts Christmas Special had to fight to get the Peanuts Christmas Special to be what it is. Everyone told him he was crazy.

Here's what he had to convince network executives at CBS to do:
-- to not use a laugh track
-- to use actual children for the voices of the characters
-- and (most crucial of all) to keep the true meaning of Christmas in there and have Linus quote from Luke 2:8-14

The big important personages of CBS all hated the idea and said it would fail. Particularly that Bible stuff.

Thankfully Schultz didn't believe them. And what would it be without that "Bible stuff"?

Sometimes your job isn't just to create something. It's to fight for it.

More here

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more favorite favorite favorites

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0800

a favorite poet and a favorite poem recited by someone who has to got be one of my favorite persons reciting a poem:

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favorite favourite favorites

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:00:00 -0800

Jon Klassen is one of my favorite illustrators right now... and his very funny book I WANT MY HAT BACK is one of my favorite books -- there is talk of a Caldecott for it. (Interesting review in HORN BOOK on that.) It comes from one of my favorite publishers, Candlewick. (Here's the trailer)

It takes hard work to look that easy. And a lot of time to be that simple.

And here's something else quite wonderful: his cover for the NYT book review...

via Jago

via Jon Klassen

Klassen writes of his illustration: "The book being reviewed, 'The Grief of Others' by Leah Hager Cohen, has a scene in it where a little girl holds a mock funeral in a river using ashes and chicken bones. She falls in and almost drowns right after that." via NYT

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Bulbuous Bouffant Vestibules

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:00:00 -0800

I adore this it is insane and kind of reminds me of what I sometimes do with my sister/certain select friends--we can do it for hours... we love it...

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good manners bulletin

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0800

Everyone is agreed. You need good manners to get on in life. Emily Post is very much in agreement (see photo: she is smiling.) (But who is that woman in the hat behind her?) Never mind that. The point is, manners are important.

However, what I want to know is--good manners for you and good manners for me might be different. I mean. What if you were a pig? Would it be polite to be clean and tidy? Of course it wouldn't. It would be Atrocious Disgraceful Conduct.

How about splashing in your bath? Is that naughty? Not if you're an elephant.

Going to bed? Is that good if you are an Owl? No, I tell you. It's Completely Unacceptable Behavior!

Manners and Etiquette are all about knowing when and where and how and being Appropriate. And here's your guide to navigating manners... while at the same time making you laugh. Which I think always helps, right? Children are defintely in agreement.

You can find the book here

OR listen to the silly trailer even:

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Interview with children's writer/illustrator Shaun Tan

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:00:00 -0700

Author illustrator Shaun Tan recently won what amounts to the nobel prize for children's literature: the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. His book THE LOST THING was turned into a great animation (see below). He also worked as concept artist on animated films including "Wall-E". He was interviewed by SPIEGEL and answered the questions by... drawing pictures.

For instance when asked to introduce himself he drew this:

And when the interview said "At age 37, you have received the highest honor in your field. What's next?"... he answered:

Love him. Very cool. Read it here.

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Slime Molds or beauty and the blob

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:00:00 -0700

they look like aliens
they are ancient
they live on land
they might be living in your next door forest, in fact
under your very nose, or shoe

they are...

(scary music here)

The slime molds.

Their real name is "Physarum polycephalum" which, as you know only too well, means "many-headed slime mold"

which, aside from anything else, provides us with a fabulous name to call someone you don't like.

via NYT

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writer's block--shakespeare style

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:00:00 -0700

Anna Cohen's animated short film tells the story of William Shakespeare with writers' block, and how his two "friends" (Romeo and Juliet) assist him in overcoming it. The animation was made using two animation techniques: stop-motion and Flash animation.

Reminds me of a writer (whose name I forget) who just before bed would ask his characters to help him with something puzzling him about their story and tell them he expected them to work on the solution so he'd have it when he woke up.

I know it sounds weird and everything. But it works. I once asked a character what her name was and immediately she told me "Semolina!" as if it was quite obvious. Which I suppose it was--to her. (She is the clever cat in Handbag Friends.)

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antique scary cures/health treatments

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:00:00 -0700

if you were ever tempted to want to live in some distant past... you just have to look at these scary cures

have a headache? look what you'd have to take instead of Advil--what if you happened to get a headache WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET?

Sparklet Nasal-- completely cures head colds, c. 1900-05

And I don't know what she's selling below but I don't want it (it's pretending to be toothpaste but then why the scary hat? and the face? and what about the name BOTOT?)

Botot Dentifrices: Liquid, Powder, Paste, Soap, c. 1925

The Next To Go Fight Tuberculosis, 1919

via NYT

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fabulous english country house libraries

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:00:00 -0700

See the full gallery on Posterous

which one would you like?

(no. you can't have them all.)

I know one thing: my english desk (i think it's a partner's pedestal) would fit right in and feel right at home in any one of these room--even standing in the middle of one. Especially standing in the middle of one.

More fab libraries here.

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Amazing science art: Meteorite Warhol?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 -0700

The American Museum of Natural History is putting on an exhibition called Picturing Science. It's over 20 large format images taken with advanced technology. (Which kind of doesn't tell you much when you think about it--I mean I think I wrote this very sentence using advanced technology, didn't I?--i.e. a mac?)

The other important thing to note before we get to the point is that the exhibition is the idea of Dr Siddall who is a leech specialist. Ew don't want his job. Unless it's just to be able to answer "What do you do?" with "I"m a Leech Specialist." And watch the conversation die. And everyone go off their food.

But take a look at this. It is the mineral composition of a meteorite. Or is it a Warhol?

Fascinating that down to the most minute tiniest invisible details, everything in this world around us is shining and beautiful.

John Calvin said: "There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."

More here

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The story of The OREO

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:00:00 -0700

It claims to be the most powerful cookie in the world. 491 million sold so far...

Note: the evolution of the Oreo embossing: 1912, 1924 and today

Hmm. For a cookie that's all about comfort and milk and coziness... it's being a bit suspicious. For instance...

Who invented it?

No one knows. Apparently a William Turnier. But Nabisco can't confirm he ever worked for the company.

What does the design mean?

It could be just an innocent symbol--this circle topped with a two-bar cross with the word "OREO" inside--merely "an early European symbol for quality" as Nabisco claim--or it it a Cross of Lorraine, as carried by the Knights Templar into the crusades? Or is that dot with four triangles poking out not a four-leaf clover at all but... the cross pattee--also associated with the Knights Templar, as well as the German military and today's Freemasons. Aha! It's DaVinci Code Cookie!

Meanwhile in England... we have Custard Creams and Rich Tea and Morning Coffee biscuits. But they are just quietly going about their business and not nearly as suspicious and besides no one seems to notice them: not the lovely ferns on the Custard Cream (unchanged since their debut in 1910) nor the Art Deco cup on the Morning Coffee biscuits.

Which means either they just have Proper British Reserve or possibly are just much more effective spy biscuits than those show off Oreos.

Either way all this talk of biscuits and cookies must mean one thing: time to put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea...

via The Atlantic

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learning to see: the barnes foundation

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 04:00:00 -0700

Did you get to see it before it shut in June? If not here's your chance... an interactive tour of the old museum. (The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C Barnes, opened in 1925 and is being moved to a new building.)

I went there a few years ago and loved it. The gallery reminds you of those Old Exhibitions from the 19th century where the paintings covered almost the whole wall--reach up to the ceiling. It's said to be one of the finest collections of 19th and 20th century paintings in the world. And it's all housed in a beautiful building.

What is distinctive about this collection though is that Albert Barnes chose and arranged the paintings in "wall ensembles" in the gallery--arranged intentionally to teach students how to see.

The works of art come from different time periods, geographic areas and styles and are hung closely together and deliberately positioned in such a way to encourage you to compare and study. And it works. If you stand in front of each wall and wait, things you might have missed emerge, you start noticing what the paintings have in common, visual elements, shapes, colors, etc.

A really cool way to learn to see.

Kind of like good writing--words put together, positioned in such a way that they open up a window on the world. And help you see. Which is the purpose of art--to make you see.

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