Monthly Archives: July 2012

July 10, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.10.12

By ritalovestowrite

 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

— Marcel Proust

Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust  was born in  Auteuil, France  1871.Today is the 141st anniversary of this birth.

[I’m writing today — real stuff that I might get paid for one day — and don’t have time to do the usual research / write up for my Thought of the Day birthday boy or girl. Instead I’ll let Proust speak for himself. Here’s a questionnaire he filled out at a social event when he was 20 years old. Looks like something that would be on Facebook, doesn’t it? Hmmmm I wonder how we’d answer some of these questions…]

 

Türkçe: en:wiki'den

Türkçe: en:wiki’den (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

  • Your most marked characteristic?
      A craving to be loved, or, to be more precise, to be caressed and spoiled rather than to be admired
  • The quality you most like in a man?
      Feminine charm
  • The quality you most like in a woman?
      A man’s virtues, and frankness in friendship
  • What do you most value in your friends?
      Tenderness – provided they possess a physical charm which makes their tenderness worth having
  • What is your principle defect?
      Lack of understanding; weakness of will
  • What is your favorite occupation?
      Loving
  • What is your dream of happiness?
      Not, I fear, a very elevated one. I really haven’t the courage to say what it is, and if I did I should probably destroy it by the mere fact of putting it into words.
  • What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
      Never to have known my mother or my grandmother
  • What would you like to be?
      Myself – as those whom I admire would like me to be
  • In what country would you like to live?
    One where certain things that I want would be realized – and where feelings of tenderness would always be reciprocated
  • What is your favorite color?
      Beauty lies not in colors but in thier harmony
  • What is your favorite flower?
      Hers – but apart from that, all
  • What is your favorite bird?
      The swallow
  • Who are your favorite prose writers?
      At the moment, Anatole France and Pierre Loti
  • Who are your favoite poets?
      Baudelaire and Alfred de Vigny
  • Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
      Hamlet
  • Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
      Phedre (crossed out) Berenice
  • Who are your favorite composers?
      Beethoven, Wagner, Shuhmann
  • Who are your favorite painters?
      Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt
  • Who are your heroes in real life?
      Monsieur Darlu, Monsieur Boutroux (professors)
  • Who are your favorite heroines of history?
      Cleopatra
  • What are your favorite names?
      I only have one at a time
  • What is it you most dislike?
      My own worst qualities
  • What historical figures do you most despise?
      I am not sufficiently educated to say
  • What event in military history do you most admire?
      My own enlistment as a volunteer!
  • What reform do you most admire?
      (no response)
  • What natural gift would you most like to possess?
      Will power and irresistible charm
  • How would you like to die?
      A better man than I am, and much beloved
  • What is your present state of mind?
      Annoyance at having to think about myself in order to answer these questions
  • To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
      Those that I understand
  • What is your motto?
        I prefer not to say, for fear it might bring me bad luck.

For more on the Proust questionnaire and to see one he took when he was a child click here.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Fiction, postaday, Proust, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Writing

July 9, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.9.12

By ritalovestowrite

“If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

—Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks was born in Concord, California, in 1956. He is 56 years old.

Hanks is an actor, director and producer. He started his acting career in the sitcom Bosom Buddies in the early 1980s. His first movie hit was SPLASH. Next came BIG in which he  seemed to both lampoon and perfect his man/child image with sweetness and charm. He left both qualities home when he played the gruff manager of an all-woman baseball team in A League of Their Own in 1992 and we learned that “there is NO crying in baseball.” He took on the role of leading rom.com. man in Sleepless in Seattle in 1993.

Hanks has since proved that he can easily handle both tough, serious roles as well as comedies with layered performances in Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, That Thing You Do, Saving Private Ryan, You’ve Got Mail, Cast Away,  The Road to Perdition, The Terminal, Charlie Wilson’s War,  The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

He has lent his voice to several animated characters, most notably Woody from the Toy Story franchise.

He expanded on two of his most popular films (Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan) by co-producing and directing  HBO miniseries with similar content. From Earth to the Moon followed the Apollo missions from Sputnik to Apollo 17.  Band of Brothers retold the story of “Easy” Company’s WWII European campaign. He later Executive Produced The Pacific which followed three Marines in the fight against Japan in that War.

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks (Photo credit: Alan Light)

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in postaday, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Uncategorized

July 8, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.8.12

By ritalovestowrite

“He had delusions of adequacy.”

—Walter Kerr

Walter Kerr was born today in Evanston, Illinois  in 1913. He would have been 99.

Kerr was a mid 20th Century New  York theatre critic, director and author. His sharp, witty reviews could make or break a Broadway show and he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Kerr also put his money where his mouth is– producing work for the stage as a writer and director. With his wife Jean Kerr he wrote Goldilocks, which won the 1958 Tony Award. Kerr directed the production. He also directed Touch and Go andKing of Hearts.

His books include How Not to Write a Play, Criticism and Censorship, The Theatre in Spite of Itself, and Thirty Plays Hath November.

In 1990 Broadway gave Kerr the ultimate honor. It named a theater after him. The old Ritz Theatre at 218 West 48th Street was renovated and reopened the Water Kerr Theatre. It opened to August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and has since house six Tony Award Winning Plays.

Marquee of the Walter Kerr Theatre, advertisin...

Marquee of the Walter Kerr Theatre, advertising Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens 218 West 48th Street, Manhattan, New York (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Broadway, Musical Theatre, postaday, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, United States, Walter Kerr, Writing

July 7, 2012

Random Thought: Corn

By ritalovestowrite


 

Driving down a country road yesterday I noticed that the corn has started to spike. I love when that happens. It is already over my head, so walking next to the corn field on my daily walks with the dog is like walking next to a cool, living wall of green. But driving by it yesterday I got a whole different perspective. I got the feeling God went to some cosmic fabric store bought a giant bolt of green corduroy and threw it over the hill. Ahhh, the beauty of living in the country.

Leave a comment | posted in Uncategorized

July 7, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.7.12

By ritalovestowrite

“I like Beethoven, especially the poems.”

—Ringo Starr

Richard Starkey was born today in Liverpool, England  in 1940. He is 72 years old.

For those of you who may not have turned on a radio in the last 50 years… Richard  Starkey is better known by his alias Ringo Starr. Starr was the drummer for the 1960’s rock and roll band the Beatles. Ringo met the nascent band in Hamburg, Germany. He was later asked to replace Pete Best as the Beatles drummer, and, with the exit of bass player Stu Sutcliffe, the Fab Four were born.

The Beatles released  their first 45 –“Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You”– in 1962 to moderate success, followed by “Please Please Me” which launched the group to the top of the English Charts. Beatlemania was born.

Although Ringo took a back seat to the juggernaut composing team of Lennon and McCartney and sang only a fraction for the Liverpudlian mop tops he was wildly popular. His easy going manner and self deprecating humor made him a fan favorite that lasted long after the band broke up.  Ringo wrote and sang one of the groups most popular songs, “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

He also starred in film and  television. Including his role as Mr. Conductor in the beloved children’s program Thomas the Tank Engine.

 

 

1 Comment   |  tags: , | posted in Music, postaday, Ringo, the Beatles, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

July 6, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.6.12

By ritalovestowrite

“I have not yet begun to fight”

John Paul Jones

John Paul was born in Arbigland Scotland in 1747. Today is the 265 anniversary of his birth.

At 13 he started his seaman’s apprenticeship. After a brief stint on Slave Ships — which he quit calling it an “abominable trade” — and time as a Master Supercargo (the officer in charge of buying and selling the cargo of a ship), Paul became a captain at 21.  He worked the trans Atlantic routes to the Caribbean and Virginia and amassed a small fortune in the merchant marine business by 1773, but his hot temper got him into trouble more than once. And when he killed a mutineer in the West Indies he had to flee to Virginia. It was then that he changed his name to John Paul Jones.

War with England was brewing and John Paul Jones offered his services on the sea. With the endorsement of Richard Henry Lee, Jones was commissioned as a First Lieutenant into the vast Continental Navy (they only had six vessels) on December 7th, 1775. As his ship, the Alfred set sail from the Delaware River on its maiden cruise he hosted the Grand Union Flag, (the first national flag of the United States,) it was the first time a US ensign was flown over a naval vessel. He next took command of the sloop Providence. He captured 16 prizes along the coast of Nova Scotia. Although he argued with Naval authorities, his reputation grew, he was given command of the USS Ranger and set sail for France. There he befriended American diplomats in Paris John Adams, Arthur Lee, and especially Benjamin Franklin (he named one of his boat the Bonhomme Richard in honor of Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac.)  When the Bonhomme Richard was in dire straights in the Battle of Flamborough Head with the frigate Serapis he was offered the chance to surrender. Jones, of course answered that he had not yet begun to fight. He lost the Richard, but went on to capture the larger frigate.  Jones later earned the moniker  “Father of the American Navy.”

After the American Revolutionary War  Thomas Jefferson (who was then the American Ambassador to France) recommended him for service in Catherine II’s  Russian Navy. John Paul Jones then became Kontradmiral check Pavel Ivanovich Jones and served with Potemkin in the Black Sea campaign.

John Paul Jones, line drawing

John Paul Jones, line drawing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1923.

A replica of the Grand Union Flag, the first flag of the United States of America.
(This image has been released into public domain by its author, Makaristos, and is courtesy Wikipedia.)

 

Public domain I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.
In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in American History, History, John Paul Jones, postaday, Sailling, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, United States

July 5, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.5.12

By ritalovestowrite

“If I shoot at the sun I may hit a star”

— P.T. Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut in 1810. He would be 202 years old today.

According to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey website P.T. Barnum presented “the public of the 19th century shameless hucksterism, peerless spectacle and everything in between.”  The consummate promoter, Barnum began by presenting acts in New York. Here’s a few of the live acts and curiosities the “Master Showman” brought to the public: Joice Heth — a blind, nearly paralyzed slave woman, whom he claimed was the 161 year old Nurse to George Washington;  Charles Stratton, aka General Tom Thumb– “The Smallest Person that Ever Walked Alone;” and the embalmed remains of the “Feejee Mermaid.” In 1850 he presented a more refined act when he brought “The Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind to the American Stage.

In 1870 Barnum took his show on the road with P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. The Circus made $400,000 its first year and quickly became known as the “The Greatest Show on Earth”  Barnum also started America’s first aquarium.

Barnum lectured as a temperance speaker, served two terms in the Connecticut legislature and was mayor of Bridgeport.

Image courtesy of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus website

1 Comment   |  tags: | posted in American History, History, postaday, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

July 4, 2012

Today’s Thought 7.4.12

By ritalovestowrite

“…We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…”

–The Declaration of Independence

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA

The Declaration of Independence  was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on this date in 1776. It is 236 years old.

The document was written by Thomas Jefferson with help from the “Committee of Five” (Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman). It announced that the thirteen American colonies had severed ties from the British Empire.

The interior of Independence Hall. This is the room where the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

For the full text of the Declaration of Independence go HERE.  Links to the full text of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights can also be found on that page.

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in American History, Patriotic, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, United States

July 3, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.3.12

By ritalovestowrite

“Every exit is an entrance somewhere else”

–Tom Stoppard

Tom Straussler was born this day in Zlin, Czechoslovakia in 1937. He is 75  years old.

As War World II loomed in Europe his family moved to Singapore to escape the Nazis. In 1941 as the Japanese were poised to invade Singapore he and his mother and brother fled to Darjeeling, India. (His father stayed in the city and was died in the invasion.) After the war they moved to England and his mother remarried. Kenneth Stoppard adopted Tom and his sister.

Stoppard left school when he was only 17 and began to write for local newspapers. He started writing plays and scripts and in 1963  his first television play, A Walk on the Water was produced. Success on the stage came with his hugely popular Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a play that looks at Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters. For the screen he penned Empire of the Sun, Billy Bathgate, and co-wrote Brazil and Shakespeare in Love. He won the “Best Screenplay” Oscar  for Shakespeare in Love.

His other works include: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Real Thing, Arcadia and Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth

Tom Stoppard on a reception in honour of the p...

Tom Stoppard on a reception in honour of the premiere of “The Coast of Utopia” in Russia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 Comment   |  tags: | posted in Film, postaday, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Uncategorized, World War Two, Writing