invisible birds (forthcoming)

eugène atgetjosef sudekhenry fox talbotrichard longas if you were the voice that moves up and down the rungs of the world, between earth and sky, never beyond, always in the infinite globe, free but inside it, over there, close at hand, where the silver branches fork, awaiting nothing, fleeing nothing, traveller whom a second's joy, for no reason at all, steals from the journey's movement and

second addendum to the essential cinema

- lindsay anderson: o lucky man!, 1973- paul thomas anderson: there will be blood, 2007- robert benton: the late show, 1977- ingmar bergman: virgin spring, 1960- claude berri: le vieil homme et l'enfant (the two of us), 1967- mary ellen bute: rhythm in light, 1934- nuri bilge ceylan: uzak (distant), 2002- coen brothers: no country for old men, 2007- joseph cornell: carousel animal opera, 1930-

hope

"Mahler is matter-of-fact even in the supreme metaphysical sense, in that he jettisoned the aesthetic illusion of meaningful totality which no longer existed, if indeed it ever did. Mahler, whose uncompromising spirituality separated him from the hedonism of his age, from Debussy and from Strauss and whose mind selflessly strove to conceive of something that goes beyond mere existence - Mahler

heads

More tears are shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.- St. Teresa of Avila Guest entry by Anne Gibbs of THE LOST SOCIETY OF COLLECTORShttp://lostsocietyofcollectors.blogspot.com/

a dream dismissed, as shapeless night, orphaned by immensity

she said, 'the moon is up; and see -how in the height the smoke-shaft gleamsand the shadow glides, uncaught beneath ! -our life resembles, not the smoke,but the shadow flying to its death.'fyodor tyutchev, versions from fyodor tyutchev, oxford university press, 1960the moon, who is caprice itself, looked in through your window as you lay asleep in your cradle, and said: 'this child pleases me.'

trains in cinema, part 4

- woody allen: zelig, 1983- pt anderson: there will be blood, 2007- wes anderson: darjeeling limited, 2007- james benning: rr (railroad), 2007 *- claude berri: le vieil homme et l'enfant (the two of us), 1967- robert bresson: un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou le vent souffle où il veut (man escaped), 1956- robert bresson: pickpocket, 1959- frank capra: mr. smith goes to washington, 1939- frank

friendship

"Friendship cannot be separated from reality any more than the beautiful. It is a miracle, like the beautiful. And the miracle consists simply in the fact that it exists.""The essence of created things is to be intermediaries. They are intermediaries leading from one to the other, and there is no end to this.""…It is necessary to be dead in order to see things in their nakedness."Simone Weil,

marfa, and the west texas landscape in american cinema

images from the coen brother's no country for old men, 2007cinematography by roger deakinsnew series of posts on marfa's influence on american cinemafound here
What seems paradoxical about everything that is justly called beautiful is the fact that it appears.- Benjamin, Schriften I, 349

saints

Josephine's road, however, must go downhill. The time will soon come when her last notes sound and die into silence. She is a small episode in the eternal history of our people, and the people will get over the loss of her. Not that it will be easy for us; how can our gatherings take place in utter silence? Still, were they not silent even when Josephine was present? Was her actual piping notably

blurred layers of sound

classic drone (number 1):colin andrew sheffield, first thus, elevator bath, 2005first thus: the first edition published in the present form. often used to denote a book that was published previously by a different publisher.i'm not sure how i ever let this one escape me the past couple of years. i've always enjoyed colin's previous projects, which are also available on his own fine label,

our house, like a solo performance, proudly resounds amongst the confusion and clamor of the disproportionate piers of the capital

melnikov and his wife next to their future house in moscow, late 1920'sfrom architecture of konstantin melnikov: 1920's-1930's, toto, 2002

between transparency and the invisible - shapes floating weightless upon a grainy surface

untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1961untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1961Untitled (Tamarind 961), gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1970untitled, gertrude goldschmidt, 1963untitled, gertrude