Rome! l’unique objet de mon ressentiment!
Rome, only object of my rancor! – Camille, in Pierre de Corneille’s Horace (1640)
Blog
Mark in the Bee-Hive State Part 4: The Salty Terror of Saltair
In Part 4, ‘Mark’, losing for a moment his spiritual bearings, is plunged into a phantasmagoric horror associated with a terrifying Utahan resort of yesteryear.
On est toujours un peu fautif.
One is always a bit at fault.
– Albert Camus (1942)
Mark in the Bee-Hive State Part 3: Definitely in the Desert
The third part of the account of ‘Mark”s journeys in the state of Utah. He starts off on a sound footing, only to misstep subsequently.
Laugh, and the world laughs with you,
Weep, and you weep alone,
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth;
But has trouble enough of its own.Riez: le monde est ton compère;
Pleurez: vous voilà solitaire.
Car ce monde affligé
Requiert hilarité
Connaissant trop bien la misère. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Solitude”
‘Mark’ in the Bee-Hive State Part 2: Approaching the Land of Stone and Sand
In Part 2, ‘Mark’ is heading off to the desert but first gets some unexpected spiritual treats.
La forme d’une ville / Change plus vite, hélas! que le cœur d’un mortel!
The form of a town, alas, changes more quickly than a mortal’s heart!
– Baudelaire, “Le Cygne”
Mark in the Bee-Hive State Part 1: Mysteries of Salt Lake City
Are spiritual quests a thing of the past? Not a bit of it. Here are memorialized certain high-points of a journey recently made by a friend of mine — I will call him ‘Mark’ — to the land of Brigham Young.
Where is that bitch of an American girl? She must VANISH! She must die, d i e, D I E !
Où est cette maudite garce américaine? Elle doit DISPARAÎTRE! Il faut qu’elle meure, m e u r e , M E U R E !
– Joan Bennett, as Madame Blanc in Suspiria (1977)
Doctors on the French Stage
On April 21st, 2016, students in my French course Travaux pratiques de la scène put on a show highlighting the important place of medicos in French theater.
Quand on lui dit: Comment? Il répond: Je le veux!
When you say to him: How? He answers: Just do it! – Philippe Quinault, Cadmus & Hermione
Alaskan Signage
Amazing sights seen on a recent (August 2014) trip to the Frozen North, aka Alaska, and in particular on and about the Alaska Marine Highway.
So let it be written — So let it be done!
Qu’on l’écrive ainsi — et qu’on le fasse pareillement! – Rameses (Yul Brynner) in The Ten Commandments (1956)
Looking Back At: The Exorcist (1973)
A mini-review of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. I wouldn’t see it when it came out, out of religious scruples, but now (having become inured to the horror genre in the meantime) I think very highly of it and never re-watch it without pleasure.
Je pense aux matelots oubliés dans une île, / Aux captifs, aux vaincus!…à bien d’autres encor !
I think of the sailors left behind on an island…of the captives, the conquered…of many others yet!– Baudelaire, “Le Cygne”
Ten Public Figures Who Have Influenced My Speaking Style
It is good to show gratitude where it is due. In this post I acknowledge my debt to excellent public speakers who have left their mark on me.
Sétoc. Y a-t-il rien de plus respectable qu’un ancien abus?
Zadig. La raison est plus ancienne.
Sétoc. Is there anything more venerable than an old abuse?
Zadig. Reason is older still.– Voltaire, Zadig
Silvie. Elle est très faisable. Mais je crains que ce ne soit abuser de vos bontés.
Orgon. Dans ce monde, il faut être un peu trop bon pour l’être assez.
Lisette. Il n’y a que le meilleur des hommes qui puisse dire cela.
Silvie. It’s quite doable. But I fear I will be taking advantage of your kindness.
Orgon. In this world, one has to be a little too kind to be kind enough.
Lisette. Only the kindest of men could say that!
– Marivaux, Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard (1730)
Ich liebe die Dunkelheit, und die Schatten, wo ich allein mit meinen Gedanken sein kann.
I love the darkness, and the shadows, where I can be alone with my thoughts.– Klaus Kinski as The Count in W. Herzog’s Nosferatu (1979)
Non! non! quatre fois non! je ne suis pas ta fille!
No! No! Four times no! I am not your daughter!– Eugene Ionesco, la Cantatrice chauve (1950)