Worth remembering
President Obama at the White House Correspondents Dinner
Obama wasn't perfect, but he was such a voice of reason that he drove the right-wing to Trump. Helluva pendulum.
#wit
Homage to Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)
From a bygone era, both for society and the film-maker....
This was a movie which impacted our pre-Internet society in many ways: comedy/satire, fashion, dating, intellectualism...
I just shared this short-list with a colleague, noting how so many of my long-time interests in #psychology phenomena were stimulated (along with my funny bone) in this film classic.
The whole film can be found online these days, but here are 3 highlights which are now part of my DNA....
Since it's still formatted for 'here'/ pora* (my post, shared privately earlier), I suppose I should share it, prime-time #nostalgia....
~~
This is my touchstone for “Woody Allen” films. As a young man who ‘fell in love’ with Diane Keaton (as did the fashion world) with this film, I was ‘imprinted’ to Annie Hall. Keaton was like a lovable hippie-type (70’s/NY) and Allen the ultimate NY neurotic. Three scenes I’ll never forget:
This one was ('appetizer') is a bit of ‘slapstick’, on 'dating' chemistry +/- :
Cooking Lobster
And this one below, I think, fed my interest in both psychology and the phenomenon of “airheads” and ‘elective ignorance’ (as we see these days too)…
It's a quick look (I think profound) at “intellectualism vs. happiness” - Woody Allen and Keaton see a happy-looking couple. Cynical Woody is in despair about how difficult it is to find happiness in a relationship. He asks for their secret:
'You look like a very happy couple'
And one more, for a trifecta of Annie Hall profundities - this one with Marshall McLuhan in a cameo. Here we see another blow at intellectual smugness, as - waiting in line for a show - Woody endures someone blathering away about ‘the meaning’… Love this one:
Annie Hall [Cinema scene, with Marshall McLuhan]
Hope one or more of these stimulates a smile or moment of thought!
For me, one of the best movies ever made, as craft, comedy, ensemble, & life…
#WoodyAllen #FilmHistory #mindfulness #cynicism #comedy #wit #DianeKeaton #1977 #movies #AnnieHall
A quotation by Maugham, W. Somerset
She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham]
“The Creative Impulse” (1931)
#quote #quotation #pretence #wit
More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/maugham-william-somerset/2723/
Voltaire | Writer, Wit, #Philosopher and Rebel
"After a couple more run-ins with the authorities Voltaire went to live in England for three years. But the French Government continued to pursue their troublesome citizen, censoring or suppressing much of his work and ordering some of his books to be burned. In 1734 Voltaire made a decisive break from France by moving to Switzerland where he was to spend much of his later life.
"He was able to afford such extravagance and live comfortably thanks to the French lottery. Voltaire had teamed with mathematician Charles Marie de La Condamine and other gamblers to exploit a loophole in the way the lottery was run so that their syndicate repeatedly won huge prizes and they all became very rich."
https://www.onthisday.com/articles/voltaire-writer-wit-philosopher-and-rebel
#art #bookburning #book-burning #censorship #england #exile #exploits #france #freedom #history #loophole #lottery #mathematics #painting #philosophy #politics #RaySetterfield #rebel #religion #setterfield #switzerland #voltaire #wit #writer
A quotation by Vauvenargues, Luc de
It is of no use to possess a lively wit if it is not of the right proportion: the perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate.
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747) French moralist, essayist, soldier
Reflections and Maxims [Réflexions et maximes] (1746) [tr. Lee (1903)]
#quotation #quote #accuracy #care #precision #speed #wit
More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/vauvenargues-luc-de/22641/