Cellar Septet

For all his Midwestern charm, Ray Bradbury could be disturbing even when he wasn't working in Weird Tales mode. One example is "The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse." It's a tale of exploitation, addictive fame, self-mutilation, and the loss of self. I'm not the only one who remembers it, and the text can be seen here. (While he wasn't the loudest Cold Warrior, Bradbury may have been surprised to see his work memorialized on an international computer network by Russians who leave Cyrillic comments.)

It might be overly dramatic to say that we are all George Garvey now. Still, it's true that the kind of image consciousness that was once limited to entertainers and aristocrats has spread to the general population. And many have found that they have no natural defenses against it.

Magic 👁

Ever wonder about Chinese typewriters? I have.

The Chinese writing system is pictographic. Written characters represent entire words, not just phonemes as in our Latin alphabet. There are currently more than 100,000 of these characters. The advantage of this is that people who speak entirely different languages can understand what each other write if both are familiar with Chinese writing.

One disadvantage is that mechanical reproduction of this language isn't exactly straightforward. If a Chinese-language typewriter (or computer keyboard) were made on the same principle as an English-language one, it would be about the size of a truck and no one would be able to find anything on it.

In the forties, a Chinese author named Lin Yutang had a remedy. He invented a typewriter where a relatively small number of keys could be used to select from a much larger number of characters. The invention actually took some time to take off, but it was absolutely crucial in spreading the language.

Yodeling with a capital J

 

I don't know or much care how Dame Edith Sitwell is ranked as a poet these days. She speaks to me, anyway. She pursued her vision with verve, and it remains infectious.

Façade came early in her career. She'd do many other great poems. But this suite with accompanying music is a terrific example of her having fun.

Travelin'

I just watched Obsession. That's Brian De Palma's Obsession. De Palma had gained attention with a few thrillers in the preceding years, very much descendants of Hitchcock. This one feels like the first time he had something of a big budget. As a couple of examples, the middle of the film is shot on location in Venice, and he got to work with composer Bernard Herrmann.

The story is a bit of a midpoint between Vertigo and Oldboy, and it doesn't always make sense. Genevieve Bujold is quite lovely, though, and gives an engaging performance once she appears as the second of her two characters. John Lithgow is good too. Oddly enough, he was actually younger than Bujold.

Oh Aubrey

 

Aubrey Beardsley, avatar of Art Nouveau and the Decadent movement. He may be the best remembered of Oscar Wilde's collaborators. Certainly he's left his mark on the world of illustration in the years since he worked. 

One thing I didn't realize about him until very recently. Besides his getting a free bowl of soup with his haircut, I mean. With all the drawings he did, prints he made, all the indelible images, he was only 25 when he died. Who knows what he would have gone on to do.

In his death throes he begged his publisher and a friend to destroy all of his obscene drawings, which by some standards would be the majority of them. They didn't obey, of course. He could still tell St. Peter that he'd given it the old college try.

⛄

Sunday we got a titanic amount of snow. Come this morning, it was still snowing, but not nearly as fast or at the same volume. It had basically stopped accumulating, although it got a little fluffier after 8PM. 

Lots of shoveling going on. There were impacts on other things. All the banks were closed as far as I could tell. So were most eateries. Garbage day has been pushed back by a day...at least. Not many of the neighbors have their barrels out, so I don't know. 

Groceries were still open. Buses still running, thank God. And I think I saw a mail truck driving along, so the creed appears to be in effect.

Skimping

I saw a guy at the supermarket today wearing shorts. Short shorts. A friend of mine from a couple of years back was one of those guys who would switch to shorts as soon as it was spring on the calendar, even if the weather was still wintry. A little showoffy but I could see what he was going for. But today might turn out to be the coldest day of the year, and is likely to at least be in the top five. Whatever point you're trying to make, there are better ways to make it.

But that's me. I wore socks to bed last night and intend to do the same tonight.