And the worst and best of all we knew stayed out to rust in the morning dew
Definitely sick. Sore throat, stuffed nose, disturbing sensation that my brain has gently extracted itself and floated off somewhere I can't do much with it, and I seem to have wiped out my energy reserves for the day by walking to Porter Square to pick up my copy of Emeric Pressburger's The Glass Pearls (1966) from Porter Square Books. On the way down we passed a basketball court full of kids playing cricket—the batsman and the bowler were getting trash-talked by their respective opposing sides. The blackened plywood over the doors of the former MBTA substation on School Street had been removed and an enormous spool-like chunk of what must have been a dynamo dragged out onto the weedy grass behind the chain-link, glittering with mica insulation and copper ends. ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spatch got pictures which I am hoping came out. We have no idea what is being done with the property, but there were abandoned construction gloves on both sides of the fence. They'll probably demolish the mural. I hope Rob got pictures of that, too.
Courtesy of this impressive timesink, I think this may be the single worst photograph of Leslie Howard I have ever seen:
I am unsurprisingly charmed by it.
Oh, and the ostensible president of this country shared classified information which wasn't ours to share at last week's meeting with Russian officials which American reporters weren't allowed into, all of which may not be technically illegal, but is certainly a great way to endanger sources and jeopardize security and in general look like a complete tool of the Russian government, which I hate that I am even writing because my entire childhood was spent observing the de-escalation of the Cold War and you know, I still don't think it was a bad idea.
spatch got pictures which I am hoping came out. We have no idea what is being done with the property, but there were abandoned construction gloves on both sides of the fence. They'll probably demolish the mural. I hope Rob got pictures of that, too.Courtesy of this impressive timesink, I think this may be the single worst photograph of Leslie Howard I have ever seen:
I am unsurprisingly charmed by it.
Oh, and the ostensible president of this country shared classified information which wasn't ours to share at last week's meeting with Russian officials which American reporters weren't allowed into, all of which may not be technically illegal, but is certainly a great way to endanger sources and jeopardize security and in general look like a complete tool of the Russian government, which I hate that I am even writing because my entire childhood was spent observing the de-escalation of the Cold War and you know, I still don't think it was a bad idea.
no subject
I'll look forward to seeing
(And I hope this illness is a very, very brief one.)
no subject
Oh, jeez, he does. I'm trying to imagine Harold playing polo. I mean, I think it would send him to bed for a week at least, but I also think John's reactions would be priceless.
I'll look forward to seeing spatch's photos, if they come out.
I'll link them if they do! [edit] Here!
(And I hope this illness is a very, very brief one.)
Thank you. At the moment it is still in the worsening stage, but it could get it over by tomorrow night and buzz off, I'd be fine with that.
no subject
no subject
Man, I wish!
(Thank you.)
no subject
no subject
Thank you!
LH
Section in which a main character is getting a new head shot, taken by a Hungarian refugee photographer. Ambrose (aging actor) tries to explain to the photographer the look he wants, hoping to match the current crop of popular actors
>>"Darkly atmospheric." He jabbed a finger at the picture of Leslie Howard (another Hungarian, come to think of it; Christ, they were everywhere).<<
Re: LH
That's in keeping with the attitudes of the time. Per Macdonald:
"Most commentators strongly disagreed with Korda's ideas [that the best films about a country were made by outsiders to it] and felt that British films should be the product of British talent. The ACT (cinema technicians' union) was vociferous in its protest. It seemed to them that all the choicest fruit was being plucked by foreigners, with only the dregs (i.e. the 'quota quickies') left for their members. 'Are so many foreigners really necessary?' asked the Kinematograph Weekly. Korda meanwhile attempted to discourage the notion that he just gave jobs to any old compatriot who found his way into his office, and had a sign pinned above the door: IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO BE HUNGARIAN."
So, well-represented, Their Finest. (How are you finding it as a novel compared to the film?)
Re: LH
no subject
There's a lot of it about: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/23/trump-administration-manchester-bomber-name-leak "Sanderson warned of ill judgment and lack of discipline in the White House. “This is a leaky administration. What does that mean for sharing information we need to going forward? The UK and Israel are probably our two biggest sources of intelligence. Now they’re thinking, ‘Is this going to cause us damage every time we share?’ Then you have to calculate every piece of information.”"
And still ongoing even after UK displeasure: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/may/24/manchester-arena-bombing-terror-attack-victims-threat-critical-ariana-grande-concert-live-news?page=with:block-5925880de4b0e76a8f2065aa#block-5925880de4b0e76a8f2065aa
no subject
I suppose if this administration alienates all its traditional intelligence partners and eventually they refuse to continue to share, it will just have to do its own research, all by itself, and then there will be no one to contradict its findings.
no subject
Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
no subject
Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
You know, I never made the connection before between that epigram and Bob Dylan's "Sweetheart Like You": "Steal a little and they throw you in jail / Steal a lot and they make you a king." I believe they both go back to Seneca in any case, but I wish it would all stop being so relevant.
no subject
This.