An old one from the archives. I watched this again recently and, as always, was relieved to hear someone talking sense. Be kind, be positive, be welcoming and things will get better. Thank you, Mr. Cleese.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts
Winston Churchill
Success is not …
WisdomJodorowsky’s Dune: You had me at “Dali as the mad emperor of the galaxy”
InputWatch Frank Quitely Get the Spotlight by the BBC
ReblogI love nothing more than watching artists work.
The BBC is running a series What Do Artists Do All Day? It recently highlighted comic artist Frank Quitely in a recent episode. You can now watch it online and get a sense as to what exactly artists do…
(via Robot 6)
I’ve got a yearning for some far future science fiction, so I’m starting with the purported best in the field. Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun starting with The Shadow of the Torturer.
I’m about four chapters in and I find the textured voice appealing. Giving the first person protagonist an eidetic memory is certainly one way to get detail into flashbacks. Plus, it features Latin, my go-to language for realistic strangeness.
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
Far better is …
Wisdom“The Spotlight”
FictionYou, in the spotlight. Come quick, they’re looking. They can see you, see through you. Every dirty secret. Every public embarrassment. They know what you do at night. They know what you don’t do, but say it’s done. Your unbalanced nostrils. They’ve watched you sit while others suffer. Your ridiculous failures and unearned successes. When you put forth all your effort and fell flat on your face. You said it didn’t matter, but … They know! They know! Your ugliness and cruelty. Your acne and back hair. It’s all exposed.
Come. In here! In here! Find the entrance. Yes, there it is.
A bookmark? So, you’ve been here before. You know then. It’s safe here. Here there is order. Pages come one after another. Here you are the audience and they dance across the stage. The troubled hero. The ingenue. And the villain. Yes, you can hate him. Watch him suffer. No, watch them all suffer.
The hero trips and someone dies. The ingenue, so sweet in her innocence. You can play with her innocence, tease her with it, or take it away. It’s okay, they don’t know. No one can see you here. The villain, you like him don’t you? He dances in the spotlight. You would be him if you could. And here you are.
You hold the spotlight now and when they look to find you they’re blinded and the darkness is yours.
Has anyone ever read the first post on a blog …
Meta… and learned anything worth knowing?
Benjamin Jacobson 