Renée Magritte, The Anger of Gods

James Dean and Sammy Davis Jr.

Gloria Swanson in Via Veneto, 1950

Fred and Ava Astaire on the Champs Elyséees, 1961

submerge

Montserrat Gudiol.

First Row Orchestra, Edward Hopper

in smoke

The Road to Nikko, by Hasui Kawase

Lucian Freud, Head of a Greek Man, 1946

The Heart

Popsurrealistic art by Emmy Lincoln

ace(s) of spades

I have a dream

— Robert F. Kennedy, Remarks to the Cleveland City Club, April 5, 1968 —

We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire weapons and ammunition they desire. 

 Too often we honor swagger and bluster and the wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach nonviolence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them. 

Some looks for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear; violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

crow of the day

three stars

Frances Farmer, 1940 Marlene Dietrich, 1933 Lauren Bacall, 1960

Alfred Hitchcock shows Barbara Harris how to play a scene in Family Plot (1976)

The Cleverness of Crows

As researchers explore the nature of the intelligence of animals, the corvid family presents some arresting examples of brainy birds. 

The most common corvids are crows, ravens, and jays; other relatives are the rooks, magpies, choughs, nutcrackers, and jackdaws. The familiar corvids are large, noisy, and social, and they are not shy in the presence of people. They play pranks, tease other animals, and engage in aerial acrobatics for fun. Crows live happily in human settlements and have found many ways to exploit the curious human trait of discarding food. The strong social structure of corvids has been widely studied, as have their complex vocalizations and cooperative actions. Pioneering animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz studied jackdaws in his native Austria; his King Solomon’s Ring reports his interactions with them and observations for their behavior. 

Corvids are known to mimic human voices and other sounds and to enjoy the confusion that results. Zookeeper Gerald Durrell recounted the antics of his pet magpies, who learned to imitate the Durrell’s maid’s call to the chickens to come and be fed. When the magpies got bored, they called the chickens, who came running in anticipation of a treat. When the disappointed chickens went back to roost, the magpies called them again, and again, and the chickens, no match for the clever magpies, fell for the ruse every time. In the 19th century crows and ravens were considered to be the cleverest of birds — inquisitive, playful, and able mimics — and though today parrots are giving them a run for the money, there are some areas in which crows truly shine. Zoologists and behaviorial researchers have documented numerous examples of the crow’s sharp mind, adding to the vast body of anecdote and folklore surrounding these birds.

moth

insects

look up!

MissBetteDavis

"Cubby" Broccoli and Roger Moore on the set of Octopussy (1983)

Alicja Kwade

the art of being cool

under the sea

Jeanne Moreau

Toyota 200GT

Escape, Jeremy Miranda

Colorful Rock Formations in China

The Camerasutra

Alain Delon in Venice

wrapped stars

matches

Fred Astaire and Junior

Alfred Hitchcock gives instructions to Veronica Cartwright, Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Jessica Tandy prior to shooting the final scene of The Birds (1963).

crow of the day

Wang Ningde

Spencer

I’d like to say that I have a theory about acting, but I don’t. It’s just that I was born a sentimental Irishman, and I play the parts the way they react on me.