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
Blog
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.
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.
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”
Where is that bitch of an American girl? She must VANISH! She must die, d i e, D I E !
– Joan Bennett, as Madame Blanc in Suspiria (1977)
On est toujours un peu fautif.
One is always a bit at fault.
– Albert Camus (1942)
On ne plaisante pas avec la police parisienne!
You don’t joke around with the Paris police force!– Inspector Vital, in J-L Godard’s A bout de souffle (1960)
Consider what a great girl you are. Consider anything, only don’t cry!
– the White Queen (1871)
Tous hommes n’ont pas bon sens rassis.
Not all folks have good settled sense.– François Villon (1461)
I think I never spent so sad an hour, / Dear Friend, as that one at the Church tonight!
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Nothing But Stones”
A little less noise there, a little less noise!
– Mr. Darling to the Darling children (1911)
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
M 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.
M 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)
Why didn’t they tell us the T R U T H ? He was O U R prisoner!– Donald Pleasence as Father Loomis in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987)
Times have changed, Doris. Either you go along, or else you’re out of it.– Kim McAfee (Ann–Margret) in Bye–bye, Birdie (1963)
Shut up, Bobby Lee. It’s no real pleasure in life. – The Misfit, in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find