Movie: Goyas Geister --- Goya's Ghosts (2006): w/ Javier Bardem (Lorenzo), Natalie Portman (Inés / Alicia). Directed by Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus). Some dark moments, good pace, some historic facts on the Spanish Inquisition in the late 18th century. Little about Goya and his life, rather than using Goya as an excuse to tell a tale of his time. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
Movie (YT): The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970). w/ Roger Moore (Harold Pelham), Hildegard Neil (Eve Pelham). Directed by Basil Dearden. Good idea, but pace too slow, scope too narrow. Ending not consistent and somewhat disappointing. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
Movie (YT): Stargate (1994). w/ Kurt Russell (Col. Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil), James Spader (Dr. Daniel Jackson). Directed by Roland Emmerich.Together with the military, a somewhat nutty specialist for hieroglyphics travels to a distant galaxy where they encounter an ancient civilization. Story flat. Some things unexplained. Mediocre acting and meager character development. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
Movie: Love in the Time of Cholera --- Die Liebe in den Zeiten der Cholera (2007). w/ Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt. Directed by Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Poet becomes rejected by his true love and waits until after her husband's death 52 years later to make his next move on her. Probably good movie, but story very slow, too sappy, annoying. Overall rating 3 out of 10.
Movie (YT): Lifeforce (1985): w/ Steve Railsback (Col. Tom Carlsen), Peter Firth (Col. Colin Caine), Frank Finlay (Dr. Hans Fallada), Mathilda May (Space Girl), Patrick Stewart (Dr. Armstrong). Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist). Sci-Fi, horror. Manned space mission investigating comet Halley finds alien lifeform in the shape of a beautiful women and two male companions. After bringing them to earth, it becomes apparent that they are vampires that draw the lifeforce from their victims. Zombie scenes remind of Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983) and therefore lack originality. Story rather flat. Some gruesome scenes, some good special effects for its time. Mathilda May plays most of here role nude. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
Cosmetics Directive/Regulation: Provides regulatory framework for phasing out animal testing for cosmetics purposes. Bans testing of finished cosmetic products and cosmetic ingredients on animals. Prohibits to market in the EU finished cosmetic products and their ingredients which were tested on animals for cosmetics purposes. The testing ban on finished cosmetic products applies since 11 Sep 2004; the testing ban on ingredients or combination of ingredients applies since 11 Mar 2009. The marketing ban applies since 11 Mar 2009 for all human health effects with the exception of repeated-dose toxicity, reproductive toxicity and toxicokinetics. For these specific health effects the marketing ban applies since 11 Mar 2013, irrespective of the availability of alternative non-animal tests. Exemptions: Substances which are also used in other industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals) and are thus not developed for cosmetic products exclusively. Products containing animal-tested ingredients that were developed before the ban. Industry revenues (2010): 71 billion EUR ($93 billion). Ärzte gegen Tierversuche (in German).
Art: Mati Klarwein (1932-2002): German-born painter. Painted Annunciation in 1961, which later (1970) became the cover of the album Abraxas by Santana.
Klarwein also created the cover for Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (1969). Studied with Ferndand Leger and Salvatore Dali.
Art: In its Digital Collections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, the Metropolitan Museum in NYC makes available as PDFs numerous publications, including older catalogs. Great place to browse and download.
Music: Collection of sheet music and some recordings of classical pieces at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) in Wiki style.
Poetry: Six-word memoirs: Describe life in six words. Some inspiring, compact accumulations of words with meaning.
Movie: Herr Lehmann (2003, in German). Directed by Leander Haußmann (Sonneallee). w/ Christian Ulmen (Herr Lehmann), Detlev Buck (Karl), Katja Danowski (Katrin), Janek Rieke (Kristall-Rainer). A few days in the life of barkeeper 'Frank' in Berlin-Kreuzberg in the days just before the wall came down. Too many losers, but some funny, ironic moments. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
Movie (YT): Ulysses (1954). Directed by Mario Camerini. w/ Kirk Douglas (Ulysses), Silvana Mangano (Penelope, Circe), Anthony Quinn (Antinoo). Abridged story of Odysseus told after the ancient Greek poet Homer. Romantic action film. Overall rating 6 out of 10.
Music: Adeste Fidelis is a Christmas tune attributed to John Francis Wade (1711–1786), possibly based on a 13th century version by John of Reading. The English translation is "O Come, All Ye Faithful" by the English Catholic priest, Frederick Oakeley. German: "Nun freut euch, ihr Christen" or "Herbei, o ihr Gläub'gen". Contains the line: 'Kommt lasset uns anbeten...'.
Virtual Choir: Eric Whitacre's virtual choir projects on YouTube/Vimeo. 1.) Lux Aurumque 2.) Sleep 3.) Water Night. View how it all started (from EW Blog). Whitacre's presentation at TED2011 with explanations:
Movie: Office Space (1999). w/ Ron Livingston (Peter Gibbons), Jennifer Aniston (Joanna). Directed by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head). Partly based on the animated short 'Office Space' from 1991. The life of an abused and frustrated office worker changes after he sees a hypnotherapist, as suddenly everything works out in his favor. Funny. Just like the real corporate world. Overall rating 8 out of 10.
Art: George Bellows (1882–1925) at the Metropolitan Museum, NYC, Nov 15, 2012 – Feb 18, 2013. Colorful, expressive. Covered different subjects (sports, tennis, portraits, landscapes, tenements, war). Most renowned are two boxing scenes, painted at the beginning and the end of his career. Bellows died prematurely of appendicitis at the age of 42.
Art: Discovering Columbus: Art project by Tatzu Nishi (b. 1960, Nagoya, Japan) on Columbus Circle, NYC, Sep 20 – Dec 2, 2012, funded by Public Art Fund. The 13-foot-tall statue of Columbus that rests 75 feet atop a granite column on the SW-corner of Central Park is little known, usually visible only as a silhouette against the sky or at a distance from surrounding buildings. Nishi therefore placed the statue in a fully furnished, modern living room built around it in its native location atop a scaffold. Surreal to be able to study the oversized statue in this environment. Also, great views of the City when looking outside the windows.
TV-Mini Series (YT): Der Seewolf (The Sea Wolf, 1971), Episodes 1 - 4 (in German). After the novel 'The Sea Wolf' and other stories by Jack London. w/ Edward Meeks, Raimund Harmstorf. Directed by Wolfgang Staudte, Alecu Croitoru, Sergiu Nicolaescu. Produced by Walter Ulbrich. Mostly filmed in Romania. After being shipwrecked in the bay of San Francisco in 1906, the writer Humphrey van Weyden (Meeks) is rescued by the sealer 'Ghost' bound for the South Seas and captained by Wolf Larsen (Harmstorf), who is also called 'Sea Wolf' for his cruel and immoral take on life. But Weyden is puzzled by the fact that Larsen is also well read. It dawns on him that, as juveniles, they had been friends, although Larsen does not seem to remember their time together. Weyden ultimately escapes from the 'Ghost' and survives under extreme circumstances. Years later, on his own ship, Weyden tracks down Larsen to take his revenge. Good story, though told lengthy at times with stretches of little activity. Overall rating 7 out of 10.
"Dad, when do you think you'd be ready to die?" And he said: "When I stop being curious." (Libby Wallfisch, Australian Baroque violinist).
Jazz: Nat Janoff, 55 Bar, NYC, 11/18/2012. Jazz guitar, with drums and electric bass. Liked his original tune 'Sunday Morning' from the latest album 'Come Together Move Apart'.
Mathematics: German mathematician Georg Cantor (1845-1918) invented set theory (Mengenlehre). He also realized that there are different types of infinity. Cantor suffered from manic-depressive illness and ended up in mental institution.
Movie (YT): Barbarella (1968) w/ Jane Fonda (Barbarella), John Phillip Law (Pygar), Anita Pallenberg (The Great Tyrant), Milo O'Shea (Concierge/Durand-Durand). Directed by Roger Vadim. Barbarella travels from Earth to the planet Lythion to find Duran Duran, who turns out to have become a mad, evil scientist. Poor story, poor special effects, even for it's time. Fonda is very pretty and shows some skin. Film encourages free love. Overall rating 4 out 10
"Death is the most important day in life" (Der Tod ist der wichtigste Tag im Leben, dradio-Hintergrund, about death and mourning in West Africa).
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