#the french parnassus

[saffrini]

The French Parnassus

Artist: Louis Garnier

Date: 1718-1732

Location: Château de Versailles

Medium: Bronze Statue

Art Movement:?

Date first seen: 30 March 2022

[enlitment]

Hi, I saw your post about the Desmoulins ask game, and I didn't know he wrote poems, so I tried to look them up but i got nothing. Even tried to search in french but I couldnt find anything. So how do we know he wrote poems? Or is it like a fanon thing lol? Thank you so much if you answer, have an amazing day :)

Hi! - I guess he wouldn't share his his poems with people if they are no traces of them online :( it's more of a headcanon on my part then, since to me, he just seems like someone who would show people his poems at random times.

That said, it's not completely made-up. I based it on one of his letters which I came across in this post ~

 "Forgive me for this poetic style, it’s because I was writing verses only a moment ago, and I haven’t quite recovered from the intoxication of Parnassus, because, although it’s ten o'clock in the morning, I am only getting out of my sheets where I have been rhyming since seven o’clock; this is how I relax from my examination which I am finally done with (...)"

Une lettre de jeunesse de Camille Desmoulins (May 10 1782). Cited in Bulletin de la Société historique de Haute-Picardie (1914-1944) volume 16 (1938).

so we know he's been intoxicated by Parnassus at least once!

Thank you for the ask and have a nice day too ✨

[adarkrainbow]

Spooky season fairytales (5)

We have looked at movies (or additional material) exploring individual fairytales that could fit the spooky season. For the candy and the witchy, we looked at Hansel and Gretel. For the apples and the disguises, Snow White. For the monsters and horror, Little Red Riding Hood. But now let's take a look at those stories that are definitively dark, spooky, horrifying stories... But that use several fairytales together at once.

Let's start with...

Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm.

Aka probably the most disturbing fairytale movie you will have ever seen. And not even fully disturbing on purpose... I mean, there are many moments intended to be disturbing, but there's just as many that were disturbing by accident. But this movie marked an entire generation and gave nightmares to many, many people. Be ready... for disturbing stuff.

The plot of the story is quite simple to explain, but it hides deeper things. The story is basically an alternative history exploring a different incarnation of the brothers Grimm, now poor crooks trying to make a life in a Germany ravaged by the Napoleonian wars by being fake "ghost/witch/goblin" hunters, using their folkloric knowledge to play on the terror of villagers. It all backfires on them, however, when the French authorities send them to "investigate" a problem of missing girls in a remote village - a series of mysterious disappearances the villagers explain with a bunch of superstitions and folktales. The two brothers will then discover that some fairytales are real, and evil lurks within the woods...

Now, there is ONE thing, one VERY important thing to know to understand the nature of this movie. This movie was the result of a sterile and useless war that disappointed everyone - and this is why you have in effect a movie that could have been great, but is just... okay, alright, with some very good, some very bad... and a LOT of disturbingness. This movie is a Terry Gilliam product, a Terry Gilliam fantasy film, and if you know his other works, you'll recognize his brand. His exploration of the themes of dreams, belief, escapism, hope in front of corruption, despair, the death of the imagination and tyranny ; his style of oniric, surrealistic fantasy superposing creepy and dark creatures with extravagant and comical characters resulting in disturbing comedy and absurd horror and unsettling wonders. We are talking of the man behind Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchaunsen, Time Badits, The Zero Theorem, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, etc etc... And this movie still bears the mark of his imagination, mind and style, and you can see how he twisted fairytales into a horrifying nightmare. But it is only half of a Gilliam film.

Because the other half was the result of another man imposing with brute power, a lot of anger, and a lot of money, his own ideas upon the piece. Bob Weinstein, yes, of the Weinstein brothers. He was a producer of the movie, and the kind of producer that was going to direct, write and do everything with the movie. Weinstein's idea of the piece was basically what would later be known as "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters". This movie was that Weinstein wanted "The Brothers Grimm" to be. While Gilliam wanted a movie in line with his "Time Bandits", his "Brazil", his "Fisher King" and... well his Gilliam brand. But Weinstein wanted more action, more battle scenes, only big-name actors, he wanted all the women to be sexy... Heck, Bob Weinstein refused to have Gilliam's choice of Johnny Depp playing William Grimm, because he wasn't "commercial" enough, and when he was replaced by Matt Damon, Gilliam wanted Damon to wear a prosthetic nose so he looked more like the historical Grimm, only for Weinstein to refuse again because it would have ruined his "good looks". Similarly, for the main female role of Angelika Gilliam wanted Samantha Morton, but the Weinstein brothers (yes both of them) refused because she wasn't sexy, and insisted on having a sexy actress - in this case Lena Headey.

This movie was a constant, constant battle, feuds and struggles with no end - and it was so frustating that Terry Gilliam, out of spite and despair at seeing his project ruined, went on to make a separate movie while "The Brothers Grimm" was done (and this movie was the very disturbing and unfamous "Tideland", which is a good reflection of what Gilliam's state of mind was at the time). In the end, in Gilliam's own word, he managed to make a movie that wasn't what the Weinstein brothers wanted, and in such a way it was good... but he also couldn't make the movie he wanted either, and so nobody won here. And you can feel that indeed this movie is tugged between two directions, stuck between two roads, halfway between "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" and "The Company of Wolves", a monstrous hybrid between "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Pan's Labyrinth".

But it still has its own horror, its own charm, you can see the movie that was intended to be made, that was half-made - and it still marked the history of fairytale cinematic adaptatons with some of the creepiest, most nightmarish ideas and imageries that ever were. This movie is probably the most disturbed adaptation of "The Gingerbread Man" you'll have ever seen, and the HORSE! By all gosh, you think Little Red Riding Hood's wolf was bad, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE BIG BAD HORSE! This is a nightmare-fuel movie, people. And I do not sugar-coat this.

Next on our list would be the 2015's "Tale of Tales" movie, an Italian product (with French and British help and participation). This movie is, to my knowledge, the only movie adaptation of Basile's Pentamerone, and since it couldn't possibly cover the hundred and so stories, three were selected and readapted to fit into a greater ensemble: The Enchanted Doe, The Flea, and The Flayed Old Lady.

Together, these three stories were reinterpreted and woven to focus on the Maiden-Mother-Crone archetype (the girl-princess in The Flea, the mother-queen in The Enchanted Doe, the old women of The Flayed Old Lady), and thus explore women's relationships to men in their most negative lights ; but moreso, the movie was designed around the themes of extreme and dangerous desires - the theme of obsession.

This movie is beautifully shot and designed, with incredible sets, excellent practical special effects and gorgeous costumes - but this movie is also very mature, very sad and very dark. One thing that needs to be known is that the original Pentamerone is a comedic work. Its fairytales are all pieces of vulgar humor and extravagant farces, filled with slapstick-gore scenes and lots of sexual jokes. It wasn't the oniric folk-wonder of the Grimms, it wasn't the refined and elegant terror interwoven with modern and delicate miracles of Perrault and d'Aulnoy - these were "laugh-out-loud" and "burst-your-gut" stories of old women pissing and ogres farting loudly and husbands cheating on their wives and bad people scamming idiots before being strongly beaten up...

What this movie did was take back the stories, and remove all the humor and extravagance of it. And as the saying goes, when you remove the laugh track of a sitcom, you get an uncomfortable tragedy. This movie still has the gore, the sex, the crazy or foolish characters, the caricatures and the bizarre... But without the humor and the jokes, it all becomes sadness and horror, it becomes distubring and grotesque. In a way, this movie at the same time works as the antithesis of Basile's original work, and yet as a very faithful adaptation since, while it betrays the original intentions, it brings to light what the stories are fundamentaly made of and the themes it was driven by.

It also helps understanding the aesthetic of the movie to know that one of the main inspirations for this piece were the drawings and paintings of Goya.

And the final piece of this post would be Adam Gidwitz's "A Tale Dark and Grimm".

Now, you might be aware of a certain Netflix animated adaptation that was released not so long ago. Aka this one:

But it will not appear on this list - or rather I will mention it by extension of the original book, which is the one I wanted featured on this list.

Because very simply - the original novel is actually "darker and grimmer" than the series adaptation. Gidwitz's novel and the Netflix series both begin with a a heavy dose of dark humor, creepy slapstick and child-level jokes - but the novel relied on a progression. Tale after tale, with each new chapter in Hansel and Gretel's life, as they grew from children to adulsts, the stories got gloomier and more serious, and the humor became scarse and more cynical. There was really a neat and clear evolution from a "big laughs" goofy-gory show in the first chapters to a teary tragedy/sinister epic in the end. But with the Netflix series? They decided to emphasize the humor and jokes a lot to give the story a truly "cartoony" feeling, and they kept jokes and humor all throughout stories which originally did not have any...

So overall, while everybody called the show "dark", in truth I found it much more light-hearted and kid-friendly than the original novel X) And for this spooky season, I truly advise you go read the ORIGINAL book.

[EDIT: My friend @lapluieellepleut warned me I might have been a bit misleading with this description so I will insist: the original novel is still aimed at kids and pre-teens. Aka... this is a children's novel. This is not an adult read, not even a full teenager one. It is still a simple, sweet, funny story, though with morbid humor and trying to highlight the brutality and darkness of the Brothers Grimm fairytales. But... don't expect a Stephen King novel or a Shakespearian tragedy. Its still a kid tale. If you want something more adult in tone, go look at The Book of Lost Things - "A Tale Dark and Grimm" would be for the age range below The Book of Lost Things.]

If you have read it already, the book had two sequels to form a trilogy. The first one is "In a Glass Grimmly", which is just as good as the original ; and the second sequel (third part of the trilogy) is "The Grimm Conclusion"... Which I did not read. I heard it isn't as good as the others and the quality drops, but I'll give you more info once I actually read it.

Oh, and if you are ever in France or able to read French, do yourself a favor and pick the French edition of this book, aka, this one:

"The terrifying tale and bloody fate of Hansel and Gretel". On top of having perfectly creepy shadow-puppet silhouettes full page illustrations, it also uses a color-code for the text (mixing night-black and blood-red) similar to what for example The Neverending Story used. Truly emphasizes the creepiness and darkness of the novel - while making it even more obvious the humoristic part and more jarring the jokes.

[agentnico]

The Beast/La Bête (2024) review

Dolls, Blue Moon and… pigeons.

Plot: In the near future where emotions have become a threat, Gabrielle finally decides to purify her DNA in a machine that will immerse her in her previous lives and rid her of any strong feelings. She then meets Louis and feels a powerful connection, as if she has known him forever. A melodrama crossed by the genre, which unfolds over three distinct periods, 1910, 2014 and 2044.

Essentially this is a film that covers every genre possible. From *deep breath* melodrama to romance to thriller to mystery to sci-fi to drama to psychological to surrealism… the list goes on. It is so difficult to stick The Beast (or La Bête as the French title goes) into a specific box, as it’s so many things all at once. This is a bold and audacious piece of filmmaking from French director Bertrand Bonello, based on a Henry James short story/novells “The Beast in the Jungle”. However this film is anything but short. At over 2 and a half hours, this takes you on a disorientating, divergent and daring odyssey through time, and it is both bombastically incredible yet also highly frustrating. Look, this didn’t completely burn out my eye-sockets like Edward Yang’s 1991 epic magnum opus A Brighter Summer Day that was 4 flipping hours long! Don’t get me wrong, that movie has novelistic level of richness in character, narrative and depth, but at that runtime you’re taking the actual mick! So The Beast is nowhere on that scale, but it is definitely a movie that will challenge you mentally, and will make you question everything.

Exhausting is a word I’d choose to use when describing this film. Not in a negative way, but more so how it throws so much at you, but doesn’t explain the half of it. In fact it is very Lynchian in its absurdist style, and reminded me in some ways of Mullholland Drive - a movie at the end of which I too found myself asking the simple yet well earned question of “what the actual f***??”. The Beast feels, especially at the beginning, as if it should have been a piece of poetry, as scenes were happening, and even though there was the loose narrative connection of them being various versions of characters’ past lives, for the most part it seemed like a cluster of random allegorical shorts squeezed together in an anthological format. In the end it does come together granted, but as a collective Parnassus package this movie isn’t supposed to work. It can easily be called out for being pretentious and convoluted and slow, but I do believe this thing somehow, for no genuine explanation, works! It’s a baffling interweaving of the intimate and the spectacular, classicism and modernity, known vs the unknown, yet at this core this is a love story, that is expressed in its varied forms. Essentially The Beast is the answer to the ideology of human connection. Deep.

Wes Anderson darling/Bond girl Lea Seydoux is truly magnetic in this role. She delivers so much through her eyes, and I felt every emotion, even in scenes where I was completely narratively lost. This is easily her best performance I’ve seen from her. George MacKay has less to work with, as he’s more of a foil to Seydoux’s counterpart, but his chemistry with her is solid, and also in the LA segment he absolutely nails this incel character called Louis Lewanski who blogs/monologues on his iPhone about hatred towards women. It’s a performance that is suffused with pitch black humour and a mounting sense of dread. Both Seydoux and MacKay are incredible in this, but also I must applaud the look of this movie. Each shot feels like it should be a painting in a museum. The use of colour to the camera set up to the angle and blocking, with pitch perfect set designs and costumes, this movie looks crisp. The imagery somewhat reflects the movie’s focus on visions and dreams, and honestly this may be the most beautiful looking film this year.

La Bête will stick in my brain and haunt me for a long while, and in fact with how AI is such a current majorly spoken about topic, it does make one wonder if we do become overly reliant on artificial intelligence, will we lose all that is necessary to the human spirit - our emotions, our fears, our doubts? Additionally, the psychological idea of fear and that behind everything that we’re afraid of there is a wish, and the romantic ideal of persistent love…. gosh, this movie is sublime! I do think in parts it does get up its own arse, don’t get me wrong, but this is the type of movie that has something to say, and also is very much the kind of film Letterboxd users would quote as “THIS IS CINEMA!”.

Overall score: 8/10

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 In Heaven To You 🥺

The Young & Incredible Australian🇦🇺 Actor Of The Dark Knight Trilogy 🦇

Who Was Gone Too Soon 😭

Ledger was born on 4 April 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, to Sally Ramshaw, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver and mining engineer whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry. The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfather Frank Ledger. He had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

He was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film career. His work consisted of 20 films in a variety of genres, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Casanova (2005), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Candy (2006), I'm Not There (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two of which were posthumously released. He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.

Ledger died in January 2008 from an accidental overdose as a result of prescription drug abuse. A few months before his death, he finished filming his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight; the performance brought him universal acclaim and popularity, and numerous posthumous awards including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He Was 28 Years Old

Please Wish This Beloved Australian Actor & Now A Legend Gone Too Soon 😢

His Name Will Forever More Be Remembered

His Acting Will Live On In Future Generations To Come

& His Last Movie Will Go Down In History As His Greatest Achievement Of All Times

The 1 & Always

MR. HEATH ANDREW LEDGER 🇦🇺 AKA THE JOKER 🃏 OF THE DARK KNIGHT 🦇

HAPPY HEAVENLY 45TH BIRTHDAY 🎂 ✨ TO YOU MR. LEDGER & YOUR MEMORY WILL LIVE ON IN OUR HEARTS 💕 🥺

WHY SO SERIOUS 🃏

#HeathLedger #10ThingsIHateAboutYou #AKnightsTale #MonstersBall #BrokebackMountain #TheDarkKnight #TheJoker #WhySoSerious

[queens-an-tings]

Marguerite de Navarre, aka Margaret of Navarre, or Marguerite of Angoulême.

Portrait attributed to Jean Clouet, c. 1527.

Daughter of Charles of Orléans and Louise of Savoy, and older sister to Francis I.

Wikipedia: As an author and a patron of humanists and reformers, she was an outstanding figure of the French Renaissance. Following the example set by her mother, Marguerite became the most influential woman in France during her lifetime when her brother acceded to the crown in 1515. Her salon, known as the “New Parnassus”, became famous internationally.

Explain reference to Parnassus.

[brookston]

Holidays 1.8

Holidays

Argyle Day

Around the World Day

Babinden (Old Midwives' Day; Bulgaria)

Battle of New Orleans Day (Louisiana)

Bowiemas

Bubble Bath Day

Colorism Awareness Day

Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)

Dave Thomas Day

Earth’s Rotation Day

Emperor Norton Day

Gorp Gorp (in “Teen Titans”)

International Choreographers Day

It All Adds Up Day

Jackson Day (Louisiana)

Man Watcher's Day (a.k.a. Male Watchers Day)

Marble Day (French Republic)

Marrow Donor Day (Armenia)

Mercenaries Day (Nigeria)

Midwives’ Day

National Butcher’s Day (Cambodia)

National Career Coach Day

National JoyGerm Day

National Labrador Retriever Day

National Snuggle a Chicken Day

National Vision Board Day

National Winter Skin Relief Day

Nymph Guzom (Sikkim, India)

OA Day of Action

Old Hickory Day

Rationing Day (UK)

Redistribution of Wealth Day

Rock 'n' Roll Day

Roy Batty Inception Day (Blade Runner)

Show and Tell At Work Day

Stephen Hawking Day

Sussex Independence Day (UK)

TRP Day

Vomit Day

War on Poverty Day

Women's Day (a.k.a. Midwife's Day; Greece)

World Buddhist Flag Day

World Literacy Day

World Typing Day

Yinekokratia (Man & Women Switch Roles; Greece)

Food & Drink Celebrations

English Toffee Day

Milk Carton Day

National Eat Something Raw Day

2nd Monday in January

Coming of Age Day (a.k.a. Seijin no hi; Japan) [2nd Monday]

Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico) [2nd Monday]

National Clean Off Your Desk Day [2nd Monday]

National Fourth Graders Day [2nd Monday]

National Gluten-Free Day (a.k.a. NGFD) [2nd Monday]

Plough Monday (Traditional start of Agricultural Year) [Monday after 6th]

Independence & Related Days

Caddia (a.k.a. Federal Republic of Caddia; Declared; 2018)

Monaco (Declared, 1297)

Festivals Beginning January 8, 2024

Festival au Désert (Timbuktu, Mali) [thru 1.10] (Currently in Exile)

International Kite Festival in Gujarat (Ahmedabad, India)

Feast Days

Abo of Tiflis (Christian; Saint)

Apollinaris Claudius (Christian; Saint)

Belus (Positivist; Saint)

Bubble Bath Day (Pastafarian)

Carmentalia: Day of Sacred Pregnancy (Pagan)

Dakini Day (Vajrayana Buddhism; Tibet)

Elisabetta Sirani (Artology)

Eurosia Fabris (Christian; Blessed)

Feast Day of Justita (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Flitzpizzle (Muppetism)

Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)

Gudula (Christian; Saint) [Brussels]

The Haloa (Fertility Festival for Demeter & Dionysos; Ancient Greece)

Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church US)

Jan Nieuwenhuys (Artology)

Jimi Hendrix Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Justitia (Roman Goddess of Justice)

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Artology; Saint)

Lawrence Giustiniani (Christian; Saint)

Lucian of Beauvais (Christian; Saint)

Maximus of Pavia (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)

Pavel Filonov (Artology)

Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches)

Sacrifices to Janus (Ancient Rome)

Second Day of Orthodox Christmas (Orthodox Christian; Moldova, Montenegro)

Severinus of Noricum (Christian; Saint)

Stephen Hawking Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Thorfinn of Hamar (Christian; Saint)

Toka Ebisu Matsuri begins (Festival of Ebisu; Japan) [thru 11th]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

All Creatures Great and Small (UK TV Series; 1978)

Arrowsmith, by Sinclair Lewis (Novel; 1925)

Battle of the Giants or It Takes Two to Tangle (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 87; 1961)

Blackstar, by David Bowie (Album; 2016)

Bye-Bye, Boris or Farewell, My Ugly (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 88; 1961)

Dollars and Scents or Putting on the Dog (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 193; 1963)

G., by John Berger (Novel; 1972)

House of Lies (TV Series; 2012)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Film; 2010)

Jealous Lover (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1933)

Leap Year (Film; 2010)

Leprechaun (Film; 1993)

Lupin (TV Series; 2020)

A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 2013) [Wheel of Time #14]

One of Our Meese is Missing or Heads You Lose (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 194; 1963)

Pink-A-Rella (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1969)

Pirates of Penzance (Broadway Musical Revival; 1981)

Podkayne of Mars, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1963)

Poirot (UK TV Series; 1989)

The Revenant (Film; 2016)

Salty McGuire (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1937)

Shot and Bothered (WB LT Cartoon; 1966)

(Sittin’ On” The Dock of the Bay, by Otis Redding (Song; 1968)

So I’m a Spider, So What? (Anime TV Series; 2021)

Vessel, by Twenty One Pilots (Album; 2013)

Ways of Seeing, by John Berger (Art Philosophy; 1972)

Youth in Revolt (Film; 2010)

Today’s Name Days

Erhard, Gudula, Severin (Austria)

Bogoljub, Severin, Teofil (Croatia)

Čestmír (Czech Republic)

Erhardt (Denmark)

Gunnar, Kunder, Kunnar (Estonia)

Hilppa, Titta (Finland)

Lucien (France)

Erhard, Gudula, Heiko, Severin (Germany)

Agathon, Dominiki, Kelsios, Parthena, Theofilos, Vasilissa (Greece)

Gyöngyvér (Hungary)

Massimo, Severino (Italy)

Erhads, Gatis, Gundabis, Ivanda (Latvia)

Apolinaras, Gintė, Teofilis, Vilintas (Lithuania)

Torfinn, Turid (Norway)

Erhard, Mścisław, Seweryn (Poland)

Domnica, Gheorghe (Romania)

Severín (Slovakia)

Luciano, Severino (Spain)

Erland (Sweden)

Alvis, Elvis, Severin, Severina, Severne (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 8 of 2024; 358 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 2 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 27 (Xin-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 27 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 26 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 8 White; Onenday [8 of 30]

Julian: 26 December 2023

Moon: 10%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 8 Moses (1st Month) [Belus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 19 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 18 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.8

Holidays

Argyle Day

Around the World Day

Babinden (Old Midwives' Day; Bulgaria)

Battle of New Orleans Day (Louisiana)

Bowiemas

Bubble Bath Day

Colorism Awareness Day

Commonwealth Day (Northern Mariana Islands)

Dave Thomas Day

Earth’s Rotation Day

Emperor Norton Day

Gorp Gorp (in “Teen Titans”)

International Choreographers Day

It All Adds Up Day

Jackson Day (Louisiana)

Man Watcher's Day (a.k.a. Male Watchers Day)

Marble Day (French Republic)

Marrow Donor Day (Armenia)

Mercenaries Day (Nigeria)

Midwives’ Day

National Butcher’s Day (Cambodia)

National Career Coach Day

National JoyGerm Day

National Labrador Retriever Day

National Snuggle a Chicken Day

National Vision Board Day

National Winter Skin Relief Day

Nymph Guzom (Sikkim, India)

OA Day of Action

Old Hickory Day

Rationing Day (UK)

Redistribution of Wealth Day

Rock 'n' Roll Day

Roy Batty Inception Day (Blade Runner)

Show and Tell At Work Day

Stephen Hawking Day

Sussex Independence Day (UK)

TRP Day

Vomit Day

War on Poverty Day

Women's Day (a.k.a. Midwife's Day; Greece)

World Buddhist Flag Day

World Literacy Day

World Typing Day

Yinekokratia (Man & Women Switch Roles; Greece)

Food & Drink Celebrations

English Toffee Day

Milk Carton Day

National Eat Something Raw Day

2nd Monday in January

Coming of Age Day (a.k.a. Seijin no hi; Japan) [2nd Monday]

Eugenio Maria de Hostos Day (Puerto Rico) [2nd Monday]

National Clean Off Your Desk Day [2nd Monday]

National Fourth Graders Day [2nd Monday]

National Gluten-Free Day (a.k.a. NGFD) [2nd Monday]

Plough Monday (Traditional start of Agricultural Year) [Monday after 6th]

Independence & Related Days

Caddia (a.k.a. Federal Republic of Caddia; Declared; 2018)

Monaco (Declared, 1297)

Festivals Beginning January 8, 2024

Festival au Désert (Timbuktu, Mali) [thru 1.10] (Currently in Exile)

International Kite Festival in Gujarat (Ahmedabad, India)

Feast Days

Abo of Tiflis (Christian; Saint)

Apollinaris Claudius (Christian; Saint)

Belus (Positivist; Saint)

Bubble Bath Day (Pastafarian)

Carmentalia: Day of Sacred Pregnancy (Pagan)

Dakini Day (Vajrayana Buddhism; Tibet)

Elisabetta Sirani (Artology)

Eurosia Fabris (Christian; Blessed)

Feast Day of Justita (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Flitzpizzle (Muppetism)

Gauchito Gil (Folk Catholicism)

Gudula (Christian; Saint) [Brussels]

The Haloa (Fertility Festival for Demeter & Dionysos; Ancient Greece)

Harriet Bedell (Episcopal Church US)

Jan Nieuwenhuys (Artology)

Jimi Hendrix Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Justitia (Roman Goddess of Justice)

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Artology; Saint)

Lawrence Giustiniani (Christian; Saint)

Lucian of Beauvais (Christian; Saint)

Maximus of Pavia (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Prompt Succor (Roman Catholic Church)

Pavel Filonov (Artology)

Pega (Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches)

Sacrifices to Janus (Ancient Rome)

Second Day of Orthodox Christmas (Orthodox Christian; Moldova, Montenegro)

Severinus of Noricum (Christian; Saint)

Stephen Hawking Remembrance Day (Pastafarian)

Thorfinn of Hamar (Christian; Saint)

Toka Ebisu Matsuri begins (Festival of Ebisu; Japan) [thru 11th]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

All Creatures Great and Small (UK TV Series; 1978)

Arrowsmith, by Sinclair Lewis (Novel; 1925)

Battle of the Giants or It Takes Two to Tangle (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 87; 1961)

Blackstar, by David Bowie (Album; 2016)

Bye-Bye, Boris or Farewell, My Ugly (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 88; 1961)

Dollars and Scents or Putting on the Dog (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 193; 1963)

G., by John Berger (Novel; 1972)

House of Lies (TV Series; 2012)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Film; 2010)

Jealous Lover (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1933)

Leap Year (Film; 2010)

Leprechaun (Film; 1993)

Lupin (TV Series; 2020)

A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 2013) [Wheel of Time #14]

One of Our Meese is Missing or Heads You Lose (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 194; 1963)

Pink-A-Rella (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1969)

Pirates of Penzance (Broadway Musical Revival; 1981)

Podkayne of Mars, by Robert A. Heinlein (Novel; 1963)

Poirot (UK TV Series; 1989)

The Revenant (Film; 2016)

Salty McGuire (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1937)

Shot and Bothered (WB LT Cartoon; 1966)

(Sittin’ On” The Dock of the Bay, by Otis Redding (Song; 1968)

So I’m a Spider, So What? (Anime TV Series; 2021)

Vessel, by Twenty One Pilots (Album; 2013)

Ways of Seeing, by John Berger (Art Philosophy; 1972)

Youth in Revolt (Film; 2010)

Today’s Name Days

Erhard, Gudula, Severin (Austria)

Bogoljub, Severin, Teofil (Croatia)

Čestmír (Czech Republic)

Erhardt (Denmark)

Gunnar, Kunder, Kunnar (Estonia)

Hilppa, Titta (Finland)

Lucien (France)

Erhard, Gudula, Heiko, Severin (Germany)

Agathon, Dominiki, Kelsios, Parthena, Theofilos, Vasilissa (Greece)

Gyöngyvér (Hungary)

Massimo, Severino (Italy)

Erhads, Gatis, Gundabis, Ivanda (Latvia)

Apolinaras, Gintė, Teofilis, Vilintas (Lithuania)

Torfinn, Turid (Norway)

Erhard, Mścisław, Seweryn (Poland)

Domnica, Gheorghe (Romania)

Severín (Slovakia)

Luciano, Severino (Spain)

Erland (Sweden)

Alvis, Elvis, Severin, Severina, Severne (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 8 of 2024; 358 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 2 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 27 (Xin-Wei)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 27 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 26 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 8 White; Onenday [8 of 30]

Julian: 26 December 2023

Moon: 10%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 8 Moses (1st Month) [Belus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 19 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 18 of 31)

[classicalmusicdaily]

Mychael Danna is an Emmy and Oscar-winning film composer known for his evocative blending of orchestral and electronic music with non-Western traditions. His numerous Genie Award-winning scores for filmmaker and longtime partner Atom Egoyan, as well as his Oscar-winning score for Ang Lee's 2012 film Life of Pi, are among his highly acclaimed compositions. Mycheal Danna At the University of Toronto, Danna developed a penchant for communicating difficult concepts in a way that is musically understandable. He was exposed to early music and global music there, which eventually shaped his style. In 1985, Danna won the school's first-ever "Glenn Gould Composition Award" and started composing music for student theatre companies, beginning his collaborative artistic relationship with Egoyan. Since 1987's Family Viewing, Danna has provided the music for all of Egoyan's movies (1987). The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television awarded Danna Genie Awards for his work on the Egoyan movies Ararat (2002), Felicia's Journey (1999), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), and Exotica (1994), as well as for his Oscar-winning score for the movie Water (2005). After working with Ang Lee on the scores for The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride with the Devil, Danna won the 2013 Golden Globe and the 2013 Oscar for his work on Life of Pi (2012). (1999). A church choir sings in Sanskrit, Indian sitars play French melodies, European instruments play South Asian patterns, and a variety of other musical combinations soar alongside a full studio orchestra in Life of Pi (2012)'s complex soundscape, reflecting a very international story. Along with Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) and Tideland (2005), Bennett Miller's Moneyball (2011) and his Oscar-winning drama Capote (2005), Mira Nair's Vanity Fair (2004), Monsoon Wedding (2001), and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), and Billy Ray's Breach (2007) and Shattered Glass are other notable collaborations (2003). The Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine (2006), for which Danna was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album, Marc Webb's celebrated romantic comedy 500 Days of Summer (2009), and James Mangold's Oscar-winning picture Girl, Interrupted round out Danna's list of accomplishments (1999). According to Danna, his strategy is to "make music an intrinsic element of the storytelling, not just duplicating what is happening onscreen, but adding unexpected dimension and insight that improve the experience of the director's vision. Since his 1978 debut on the Canadian science-fiction musical "Metal Messiah," composer Mychael Danna has been recognised for hundreds of cinema and television themes. He has collaborated with several of the best Hollywood filmmakers and provided the music for various films directed by Atom Egoyan and Ang Lee. For his score to Lee's 2012 film "The Life of Pi," he received the Academy Award and the Golden Globe, in addition to five Genie Awards in his native Canada. For five years, Danna worked as the resident composer at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto (1987–1992). Music for dances has been used in performances such as Dead Souls (Carbone Quatorze Dance Company, 1996; directed by Gilles Maheu), and Gita Govinda (Royal Winnipeg Ballet, 2001; choreographer Nina Menon). Danna received an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto in June 2014 for his work in the music industry. Since his 1987 feature film debut as a composer for Atom Egoyan's Family Viewing, Danna has been nominated for thirteen Genie Awards. He has received five awards for Original Score Achievement in Music. In the field of film music, Danna is regarded as one of the pioneers of fusing non-Western sound sources with symphonic and electronic minimalism. Because of his notoriety, he has been able to work with filmmakers like Denzel Washington, Atom Egoyan, Deepa Mehta, Terry Gilliam, Scott Hicks, Ang Lee, Gillies MacKinnon, James Mangold, and Mira Nair.

His score for Ang Lee's Life of Pi received nominations for two Academy Awards, including Best Original Song for Pi's Lullaby and Best Original Score. Other movies include Onward by Dan Scanlon, On the Basis of Sex by Mimi Leder, The Breadwinner by Nora Twomey, Capote and Moneyball by Bennett Miller, and (500) Days of Summer by Marc Webb. The Academy Award for Best Original Score went to Mychael Danna, the score composer for Life of Pi. The Canadian composer triumphed over John Williams, Thomas Newman, Dario Marianelli, and Alexandre Desplat in a battle of composers. Different Interviews Regarding his Work: The honour follows Danna's earlier Golden Globe triumph in the same category. Earlier in February, Thomas Newman's soundtrack for Skyfall won the BAFTA for best soundtrack, but he was unable to duplicate the feat at the Oscars. Tale won three Golden Globes—often regarded as a forerunner to the Academy Awards—in the following categories: Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy), Best Actor (Musical or Comedy, for Hugh Jackman), and Best Supporting Actress (musical or comedy, for Anne Hathaway) After collecting nominations for the music and the song "Pi's Melody" from the movie on Thursday, Mychael Danna's score for Ang Lee's Life of Pi won the award. Director Ang Lee and his parents were acknowledged by Canadian composer Danna for "the gift of music that you gave me." I felt very, very lucky to be a part of the entire Life of Pi experience, and I speak for the entire cast and crew, even before this, he continued. Ang Lee's film adaption of Yann Martel's book Life Of Pi is unquestionably one of the most eagerly awaited films of the year. Critics have already hailed it as a visual masterpiece for telling the strange tale of a youngster who is trapped in a lifeboat with just a tiger for company. However, Mychael Danna, the composer, wonders how on earth one goes about writing music for a movie like this. Danna talked to Classic FM's Lucy Coward about the process of writing the movie's score (for which he has since gotten a coveted Golden Globe nomination), how some of the music was inspired by his upbringing, and why staying in his compositional bubble for four months worked so well. In regards to the movie itself, Danna says: "Working on this project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and in a way, my entire career has brought me to this picture." It's difficult to disagree when praise is pouring in and expectations for the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards are high.

[ieisia]

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff

J.H. van 't Hoff with Wilhelm Ostwald 

Jacobus Henricus "Henry" van 't Hoff Jr. (Dutch: [vɑn (ə)t ˈɦɔf]; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His pioneering work helped found the modern theory of chemical affinity, chemical equilibrium, chemical kinetics, and chemical thermodynamics. In his 1874 pamphlet Van 't Hoff formulated the theory of the tetrahedral carbon atom and laid the foundations of stereochemistry. In 1875, he predicted the correct structures of allenes and cumulenes as well as their axial chirality.  He is also widely considered one of the founders of physical chemistry as the discipline is known today.

Van 't Hoff earned his earliest reputation in the field of organic chemistry. In 1874, he accounted for the phenomenon of optical activity by assuming that the chemical bonds between carbon atoms and their neighbors were directed towards the corners of a regular tetrahedron. This three-dimensional structure accounted for the isomers found in nature. He shares credit for this with the French chemist Joseph Le Bel, who independently came up with the same idea.

Three months before his doctoral degree was awarded, Van 't Hoff published this theory, which today is regarded as the foundation of stereochemistry, first in a Dutch pamphlet in the fall of 1874, and then in the following May in a small French book entitled La chimie dans l'espace. A German translation appeared in 1877, at a time when the only job Van 't Hoff could find was at the Veterinary School in Utrecht. In these early years his theory was largely ignored by the scientific community, and was sharply criticized by one prominent chemist, Hermann Kolbe. Kolbe wrote:

A Dr. J. H. van 't Hoff of the Veterinary School at Utrecht has no liking, apparently, for exact chemical investigation. He has considered it more convenient to mount Pegasus (apparently borrowed from the Veterinary School) and to proclaim in his ‘La chimie dans l’espace’ how, in his bold flight to the top of the chemical Parnassus, the atoms appeared to him to be arranged in cosmic space.

However, by about 1880 support for Van 't Hoff's theory by such important chemists as Johannes Wislicenus and Viktor Meyer brought recognition.

Van 't Hoff became a lecturer in chemistry and physics at the Veterinary College in Utrecht. He then worked as a professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology at the University of Amsterdam for almost 18 years before eventually becoming the chairman of the chemistry department. In 1896, Van 't Hoff moved to Germany, where he finished his career at the University of Berlin in 1911. In 1901, he received the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with solutions. His work showed that very dilute solutions follow mathematical laws that closely resemble the laws describing the behavior of gases.

[thecorsetcollection]

dvd collection #-i

9 dir. Shane Acker 12 Monkeys dir. Terry Gilliam Aftermath Genesis dir. Nacho Cerda All That Jazz dir. Bob Fosse Altered States dir. Ken Russell Amour dir. Michael Haneke Angst dir. Gerald Kargl Annie Hall dir. Woody Allen Another Public Enemy dir. Kang Woo-Suk Antiviral dir. Brandon Cronenberg Audition dir. Takashi Miike Battle Royale dir. Kinji Fukasaku Before Sunrise dir. Richard Linklater Before Sunset dir. Richard Linklater Begotten dir. E. Elias Merhige Bill Osco's Alice in Wonderland dir. Bud Townsend Black Swan dir. Darren Aranofsky Blood and Black Lace dir. Mario Bava Blue Valentine dir. Derek Cianfrance Blue Velvet dir. David Lynch Bottle Rocket dir. Wes Anderson Bruno dir. Larry Charles Bubba Ho-Tep dir. Don Coscarelli Bully dir. Larry Clark The Burning Moon dir. Olaf Ittenbach Cabin Fever dir. Eli Roth Cache dir. Michael Haneke Calvaire dir. Fabrice du Welz Cannibal Ferox dir. Umberto Lenzi Cannibal Holocaust dir. Ruggero Deodato Casablanca dir. Michael Curtiz Castle in the Sky dir. Hayao Miyazaki Cigarette Burns dir. John Carpenter The Conjuring dir. James Wan Coraline dir. Henry Selick Corpse Bride dir. Tim Burton Crimson Peak dir. Guillermo del Toro Cure dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa Delta Farce dir. CB Harding The Dentist dir. Brian Yuzna The Devil's Backbone dir. Guillermo del Toro Dogville dir. Lars Von Trier Double Indemnity dir. Billy Wilder The Dreamers dir. Bernardo Bertolucci Drive dir. Nicolas Winding Refn Dune dir. David Lynch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dir. Michel Gondry The Evil Dead (1982) dir. Sam Raimi The Evil Dead (2013) dir. Fede Alvarez Experimental FIlms dir. Maya Deren Fando y Lis dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson Flowers dir. Phil Stevens The Fountain dir. Darren Aranofsky Freddy Got Fingered dir. Tom Green The French Dispatch dir. Wes Anderson Frontier(s) dir. Xavier Gens Funny Games (2007) dir. Michael Haneki Girl, Interrupted dir. James Mangold Goodnight Mommy dir. Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala The Grand Budapest Hotel dir. Wes Anderson The Great Muppet Caper dir. Jim Henson Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood dir. Hideshi Hino Gummo dir. Harmony Korine Half Baked dir. Tamra Davis Happiness of the Katakuris dir. Takashi Miike Hara-Kiri dir. Takashi Miike Hard Boiled dir. John Woo Hard Candy dir. David Slade Heathers dir. Michael Lehmann Hellraiser dir. Clive Barker Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer dir. John McNaughton Her dir. Spike Jonze A History of Violence dir. David Cronenberg The Holy Mountain dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky The Host dir. Bong Joon-Ho The Hunt dir. Thomas Vinterberg Ichi the Killer dir. Takashi Miike The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus dir. Terry Gilliam Imprint dir. Takashi Miike In a Glass Cage dir. Agustin Villaronga Inland Empire dir. David Lynch Inside dir. Verane Frediani & Franck Ribiere I Saw the Devil dir. Kim Jee-Woon I Spit on Your Grave dir. Meir Zarchi Isle of Dogs dir. Wes Anderson

[afterthegreatunknown]

After finally (finishing) going through the Six Baudelaires AU Tag, having asking as anon to @unfortunate-stranger-losers (who I hope doesn’t mind getting tagged) about creating a curse concept idea for their AU with other characters during my browsing (reading) of the tag, it’s time to present the Curse Concept ASOUE AU No One Asked For...

The Seven Six Widdershins Family Members AU

What is this Curse Concept AU?

Exactly as the name implies. There are seven six members of the Widdershins family. The Netflix!Widdershins Family and Book-Verse!Widdershins Family (with Book-Verse Headcanons) instead of being the canonical family of three, are now combined together to make a family of six.

(Movie!Fernald was present when it was form, and with a very active role. Ultimately though, Movie!Fernald ended up not playing a very active role; that said elements of him are sort of haunting around, and Book!Fernald fills the void of Movie!Fernald but not really.)

How in the WORLD are they related?

Netflix!Widdershins: Patriarch, Father and Stepfather; ~65 years old

Book!Widdershins: Eldest (Adopted) Son of Netflix!Widdershins, Stepbrother to Netflix!Fernald and Netflix!Fiona; ~39 years old

Neflix!Fernald: Stepson of Netflix!Widdershins, Step-Uncle to Book!Fernald and Book!Fiona; ~34 years old

Book!Fernald: Stepson of Book!Widdershins, Step-Grandson to Netflix!Widdershins; ~29 years old

Netflix!Fiona: Stepdaughter of Netflix!Widdershins, Step-Aunt to Book!Fiona (And Book!Fernald but she’s younger than him...); 17 by TWW

Book!Fiona: Stepdaughter to Book!Widdershins, Step-Grandaughter to Netflix!Widdershins; 15 by TMM

(Basically, almost everyone could be mistaken for either siblings or cousins; Netflix!Widdershins being an old man is exempt.)

Names for Netflix!Widdershins Family Members

Netflix!Widdershins due to development changes from the initial idea to the concept idea now, takes elements of a Snicket OC in the AU: Widdershins’ Sr (Widdershins’ Adopted Father). But my Snicket OC name or headcanon name for Netflix!Widdershins didn’t quite fit for the AU, so I went with a new name: Ephraim, which originated from the Hebrew word meaning ‘fruitful’.

Netflix!Fernald I knew off the bat needed a French Surname as his first name. I ended up with Verne, a reference to the French author, poet, and playwright Jules Verne. Netflix!Fernald also goes by the name of Nemo, a shout-out to Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s most well-known novels, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Netflix!Fiona’s name was the hardest one, because I wanted it ‘matching’ with Fiona’s name (meaning ‘fair’ in the Gaelic [Irish] language). I ended up going with Tegan, which derives from the Welsh word teg (fair) that means ‘darling’, ‘loved one’, or ‘favorite’, and I’ll can say that in the AU, Netflix!Fiona is the favorite child of Netflix!Widdershins.

Regarding My Face Claims for Book!Widdershins Family

Book!Widdershins in my headcanon, because my initial image of him when reading TGG, is (half) Cambodian. I don’t have a face claim for him (I go back and forth between two Cambodian actors who fit the image I have), but for the AU, Book!Widdershins’ Face Claim is Rous Mony from Buoyancy (2019). He needs facial hair, and well, that type of mustache will do (it’s not the canonical one, but it fits).

Book!Fernald does have a face claim (sort of; I think Arthur Darvill is very close to my personal image), but it doesn’t work for the AU, so I needed a new one. I ended up with Andrew Garfield from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). I don’t know why I went with Andrew Garfield in this role in particular. I think it’s because he looks like a mess, and Fernald is a mess all around due to his life choices.

Book!Fiona, just like Book!Widdershins, I don’t have a face claim for (it’s hard for me to find the right brown hair actress, especially in their teen years). But awhile back, I was listening to the ASOUE movie soundtrack and suddenly thought, “Hmm, I bet if the movie continued on, Fiona would be a blonde.”  And thus came the face claim of AnnaSophia Robb from Race to Witch Mountain (2009).

About a certain fire...

While I go with the theory Mrs. Widdershins worked with Gregor when creating the Medusoid Mycelium and she ended up dying in the Anwhistle Aquatic Fire for my book-verse headcanons, this is not the case in the AU. There’s no choice but to pull a Netflix ASOUE by having to omitting their importance and put it on other characters.

Mrs. Widdershins, both of them, are dead in unrelated fires and no one in the family has a role (indirect or direct) in them. To get back on topic, when it comes to the players of the Anwhistle Aquatic Fire, in what is a major divergence for the AU, Book!Fernald didn’t partake at all in the fire, like how Netflix!Widdershins controversially didn’t partake in the fire.

Book!Widdershins and Netflix!Fernald still partake in the fire with their canonical motivations/implied canonical motivations; Book!Widdershins did it due to his dislike of Gregor’s actions + possibly did it on Kit Snicket’s asking, Netflix!Fernald did it due to being horrified of the dangers Gregor didn’t care about. But with Book!Fernald being absent, there is a serious ripple effect that changes how half the characters behave and act in the AU.

One Last Note

If this screams ‘April Fools Day’ joke know that it’s not I swear the timing just happened to be a coincidence and it just occurred to me now as I write this final part.

I don’t plan on making the Seven Six Widdershins Family Members AU into a full-length multi-chapter fic (it’s too much), but I did made content that is mainly incorrect quotes of how I picture their dynamics, as well as summaries and script format scenes of things that happened in ASOUE when Fernald is involve (or not). I also have more concrete stuff akin to a proper fanfic, but many of those need to be edited before I even think about posting them.

To those that made it this far, congratulations on reading to the end of the Curse Concept AU post alongside me. Please enjoy this incorrect quote of the Seven Six Widdershins Family Members, featuring Movie!Fernald (it was made when he was still around with a very active role but with no name, while the Netflix!Widdershins Family Members are edited with their AU names).

*Everyone is standing around the broken coffee maker*

Ephraim: So. Who broke it? I'm not mad, I just want to know.

Everyone:

Widdershins: ...I did. I broke it, Father.

Ephraim: [Beat] No. No you didn't. Verne?

Verne: *absolutely offended* Don't look at me, Stepfather. Look at Fernald.

Fernald: *is not amused* What?! I didn't break it.

Verne: Huh, that's weird. How'd you even know it was broken?

Fernald: Because it's sitting right in front of us. [Beat.] And it's broken.

Verne: Suspicious.

Fernald: No, it's not!

Tegan: If it matters, probably not, but Niece Fiona was the last one to use it.

Fiona: *offended* Liar! I don't even drink that crap!

Tegan: *crossing arms* Oh really? Then what were you doing by the coffee cart earlier?

Fiona: I use the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticle. Everyone knows that, Tegan!

Widdershins: *trying to take control* Okay, let's not fight! I broke it! Aye! Let me pay for it, father!

Ephraim: No! Who broke it!?

Everyone:

Fernald: You know, I just realize (Movie!Fernald) been awfully quiet.

Movie!Fernald: Oh, REALLY?!

*Everyone starts arguing with one another, pinning the blame wildly*

Ephraim, now outside of the room: I broke it. I burned my hand so I punched it.

Ephraim: I predict 10 minutes from now they'll be at each other's throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick.

Ephraim: [Beat]

Ephraim: Good. It was getting a little chummy around here.

[the-other-art-blog]

Jo’s Boys: Chapter 2 Parnassus (Part 2) May and Amy

As I said on Part 1 of these chapter post, the following quote says so much about Amy, but also relates to May.

...for she was one of those who prove that women can be faithful wives and mothers without sacrificing the special gift bestowed upon them for their own development and the good of others.

May married before Louisa started writing this book. It looks like Louisa was very interested in how May balanced family and work. At the time women had two options, either they focused on their careers or they get married. Trying to combine them seemed crazy.

There were a few literary works addressing this issue at the time. In 1877 Elizabeth Stuart published The Story of Avis which depicted a woman who gave up her art after getting married. Louisa read this book and warned May about it, but her sister was determined to prove those thoughts wrong. She writes,

‘I mean to combine painting and family, and show that it is a possibility if left alone.’

This blessed lot is mine, and from my purpose I shall never be diverted... I am free to follow my profession, I have a strong arm to protect, a tender love to cherish me and I have no fears for the future.

And indeed she succeeded those two years of marriage. In fact, 1879 proved to be one of May’s most prolific and successful years of her career. It’s such a shame May died just weeks after giving birth when her career was going so well.

To quote that same letter, “May decided wisely”, and Amy too.

There’s the idea that Amy stopped pursuing an artistic career because Louisa was jealous of how easy things came for May. She wasn’t wrong. May was incredibly lucky and there was always someone willing to help her. And as the baby of the family, she was often shielded from the hardships of life. So if Louisa was bitter, I wouldn’t blame her (although she pampered May too). And if this were true, I think her vision of May changed by the time she wrote this book.

I think Louisa gave Amy this development as part of her curiosity and admiration towards her own sister.   🥰 🥰 🥰

Come to think if it, Amy never really stopped drawing. After rejecting Fred, Louisa tells us that Amy has a quieter trip and that she spends her time sketching ( faceless knights in shinny armor or couples dancing, but that’s another story 😉 ). And in the last chapter, Amy is making a bust of baby Bess. Of course Amy would never drop her art, even if she tried. It’s such a fundamental part of who she is that it’s impossible for her to stay away from it. It defines her and differentiates her from everyone else around her.

Now, long has been discussed about May’s approval or dislike towards the character of Amy. The only direct quote I have found from May about Amy is a letter to Alf Whitman where she refers to her book counterpart as “horrid stupid”. She might be referring to Amy’s selfishness and vanity, as she recognizes she was the same once but now she is changing (like Amy did). However, this was before Part 2 was published.

Regardless, I am convinced that May would have loved how Amy’s life turned out. May was an incredibly generous person who dreamed of offering art to everyone, no matter the social class nor the color of their skin. She was always willing to help a fellow artist. She gifted Daniel Chester French his first sculpting tools, yeah THE Daniel Chester who sculpted the Lincoln Memorial! (In fact, he wrote the preface for May’s Memorial by Caroline Ticknor in 1928. He was always grateful for all the support and encouragement May gave him.)

Another thing that Amy and May have in common is the criticism towards their marriages. Many people don’t consider May feminist enough because she didn’t participated in the suffragette movement, she got married and she expressed how much she loved her domestic life. Who cares if she openly criticized the art system and spoke openly about the unequal opportunities that women have in artistic education. Even less, if she rejected multiple suitors until she found the right one, someone who would love her and respect her career.

In one of her letter, she said,

‘the lonely artistic life that once satisfied me seems the most dreary in the world’

Many people judges her and claims that she succumbed to the patriarchy. Really, what May was calling “dreary” was the lonely life she had. She was in Europe away from the rest of her family, she couldn’t even say goodbye to Marmee when she died. She was depressed for a while and felt guilty for not coming back home. The only person who was able to cheer her up was Ernest (like Laurie did with Amy 😊 ). She could go wherever she wanted because she had nothing attaching her to a certain place. But May always dreamed of marriage and a family. In a previous letter she says,

If mine can’t be a happy domestic life, as such as I have longed for and prayed for, perhaps the good God meant me for great things in other ways.

Just months before meeting Ernest, she still dreamed of romance! So sue her if she was happy with her husband and her domestic life. That was her dream.

I haven’t finished reading The Story of Avis, but by the synopsis, it seems that part of the problem was Avis’ husband and his lack of support towards her artistic career. This is an issue that neither May nor Amy had.

Ernest was one in a million. He never represented an obstacle to her career, on the contrary, he was an enthusiast. In the end, May got her Laurie   🥰 🥰 🥰

Now that I think of, Louisa followed the destiny of the real-life people in her characters. Beth, John and Marmee died in the novels because Lizzy, John and Marmee died in real life. However, she kept Amy alive.

Nobody expected May’s death. She had had such luck in life that it felt impossible for it to stop.

In various letters, May had asked Louisa to visit her in Meudon (where she lived with Ernest). Unfortunately, Louisa couldn’t go. There were responsibilities at home and her health was a big issue and she didn’t want to be a burden.

May’s death was devastating for Louisa. In one of her diary entries she remembers the last time she saw her, waving goodbye from the ship to London. Then she writes,

A lonely time with all away. My grief meets me when I come home, and the house is full of ghosts.

To me that phrase is incredibly personal. My grandparents and two of my aunts lived together. In the last years they’ve all been passing away and now the house that once was full of life is abandoned.

Louisa apologized in the preface of this book for writing little about Amy,

Since the original has died, it has been impossible for me to write of her,...

Indeed, I would have love to read more about Amy, but these first two pages about her are so important and tell us so much about her, her marriage and her career.

Maybe Louisa had already written this chapter before May’s death. Who knows. Maybe Louisa couldn’t bear another loss in her fictional family too. If May was gone, at least Amy would live and have a happy long life.

[minervacasterly]

The influence of French female scholars on Anne Boleyn & her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I:

"During her time in France, Anne had undoubtedly been in the service of Queen Claude, rather than Francois I's sister Marguerite as has sometimes been supposed, but Anne was also acquainted with Marguerite's mother, Louise of Savoy. Louise herself had been trained at the court of Anne of Beaujeu, a daughter of Louis XII and a powerful regent during the minorities of both her brother and cousin, Charles VIII and Louis XII, respectively. Anne of Beaujeu was known as a promoter of women's learning a devotee of the scholar Christine de Pisan, and the author of a manual, the Enseignements, dedicated to her daughter Suzanne. Louise gave Marguerite a princely education, so much that as a patron, poetess, and sponsor of the new humanist learning, Marguerite's own court became known as the "New Parnassus." The French historian Michelete termed her the "Mother" of the French Renaissance. She thus represented a tradition of ruling women whose accomplishments embodied those of the Renaissance and from whose authority Elizabeth, in her translation, could draw." - Lisa Hilton, ELIZABETH: RENAISSANCE PRINCE Anne's daughter also followed in her footsteps. During her father's reign, Elizabeth I translated many of Marguerite's works, including "The Mirror of the Soul" which she dedicated to her stepmother, Queen Kathryn Parr and gave it to her as a gift for the New Year. Some historians like Lisa Hilton believe that Elizabeth drew inspiration from these remarkable figures and like her mother "formed her own-self conception as an educated woman fit to rule." While Queen Claude was not a leading member of the French Renaissance, she was one of the most pious and revered figures in France, and through her example, Anne learned a great deal. As Henry's Queen, Anne also demanded the best behavior in her ladies, encouraging them to spend their leisure time reading the newly translated English bible rather than in banal pursuits. The same can be said about Queen Elizabeth I, who didn't want any scandals on her court and did her best to prevent her ladies from engaging in illicit affairs. Molding themselves after well known and religious women, the two realized the power they could wield through their religiosity and education. Additional sources:

Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy (Although it touches on it briefly, it highly remarks on the influence Marguerite had on Elizabeth when she was young.)

The Life of Elizabeth by Alison Weir

The Private Lives of the Tudor by Tracy Borman

Elizabeth I by David Loades

Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey

[connoisseur-art]

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, Leonardo

~Isabella d'Este~ Cartone per il Ritratto di Isabella d'Este

1500

Black and red chalk, yellow pastel chalk on paper

The Louvre Museum.

Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539)

Marquise of Mantua.

She was born to the Duke of Ferrara and his wife Eleanor of Naples in 1474, the oldest and favorite of their children. Her mother ensured that she received an excellent education, even by male standards of the day, which emphasized the classics, including Greek and Latin. However, she seems to have struggled more in learning to read Latin, and in adult life received additional lessons to help her reading skills. She was particularly fond of music, singing and dancing, and learned to play several instruments including the lute and harpsichord. Her taste in music was predominantly secular.

Isabella started to collect objets d’art soon after she moved to her palace in Mantua. With regard to paintings, she was foremost a collector who relied on the advice of others in the court, rather than a connoisseur in her own right. Surprisingly, her purchases had to be made from her own wealth, which was quite limited, and in times of hardship she resorted to pawning jewelry to raise funds. Her patronage concentrated mainly on music and sculpture. She was unusual for promoting women as singers, and placing them in choirs. Her literary sponsorship was limited: she seems to have enjoyed swashbuckling stories of the adventures of knights, such as those in Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, and was a faithful supporter of his work.

Her sponsorship and taste in paintings is largely reflected in the works which she commissioned for her private study, her famous studiolo, which thankfully have been well preserved as they passed to the French Kings, and most are now in the Louvre as a result. Combined with records in her copious correspondence and a crucial inventory, it has been possible to reconstruct this studiolo in detail. Her period of collecting covered the appointments of two court painters in Mantua: Andrea Mantegna until his death in 1506, thereafter Lorenzo Costa.

Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506)

Parnassus (Mars and Venus) (1496-97),

oil on canvas, 159 x 192 cm,

The Louvre Museum, Paris.

This painting refers to the classical myth of the affair between Mars and Venus, the latter being married to Vulcan, who caught them in bed together and cast a fine net around them for the other gods to come and mock their adultery. The lovers are shown standing together on a flat-topped rock arch, as the Muses dance below. To the left of Mars’ feet is Venus’ child Cupid who is aiming his blowpipe at Vulcan’s genitals, as he works at his forge in the cave at the left. At the right is Mercury, messenger of the gods, with his caduceus and Pegasus the winged horse. At the far left is Apollo making music for the Muses on his lyre.

 It’s an unusual theme for a woman of the time to have chosen, although it has largely been interpreted with reference to a contemporary poem which seems less concerned with the underlying story of adultery exposed.

Andrea Mantegna (1431~1506),

Triumph of the Virtues (Pallas Expelling the Vices from the Garden of Virtue) 1499~1502,

tempera and oil on canvas,

The Louvre Museum, Paris.

Pietro Perugino (1448–1523),

Combat of Love and Chastity (1503),

tempera on canvas,

The Louvre Museum, Paris.

 Its theme is literary, as laid down in the contract by Isabella’s court poet, and shows a fight between the personifications of Love and Chastity, which may have worked well in words but doesn’t translate into visual art at all well.

 It features a gamut of mythological figures in no particular order, including Apollo and Daphne, Jupiter and Europa, Polyphemus and Galatea, and Pluto and Proserpina – all couples in which the man abducted and/or raped the woman. In front are Pallas Athene about to kill Eros with a lance, and a more evenly matched fight between Diana with her bow and Venus, who is singeing the huntress with a burning brand. Isabella laid out strict instructions, for example requiring that Venus, who is traditionally shown naked, was clothed. Even the owl perched in the branches of the sacred olive tree at the left was prescribed in the commission. When Perugino didn’t follow these, she protested, and on completion she wrote that it should have been better finished to set alongside her Mantegna, and was clearly unimpressed. For this the artist was paid just 100 ducats.

Lorenzo Costa (1460–1535),

The Garden of the Peaceful Arts (The Crowning of a Female Poet) (1504-06), oil on canvas

The Louvre Museum, Paris.

Mantegna had originally been commissioned to paint this, but died before he could make much progress on it. Costa started from scratch, and under Isabella’s direction according to her poet’s literary theme produced this strange painting which is often known as an allegory of Isabella’s coronation, or construed as an account of Sappho’s career.

Lorenzo Costa (1460–1535) and Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506),

The Reign of Comus (1506-11),

tempera on canvas,

The Louvre Museum, Paris.

Another commission which Mantegna had started to work on just before he died was completed by Costa in 1511, The Reign of Comus, which again uses tempera for a complex composition. Comus, ruler of a land of bacchanalia, sits talking to a near-naked Venus in the left foreground. Just to the right of the centre foreground, Nicaea is lying unconscious through alcohol, against Dionysus (Bacchus), who got her into a stupor so that he could rape her.

 Under the arch is the unmistakable two-faced Janus with Hermes, apparently repelling potential newcomers to the bacchanal. In the centre is a small group of musicians, and various naked figures are cavorting in the waters behind.

References

~Alison Cole (2016) Italian Renaissance Court ~ Art, Pleasure and Power, Laurence King.

~Christine Shaw (2019) ~Isabella d’Este, A Renaissance Princess, Routledge.

[desimonewayland]

Charles de Wailly (French, Paris 1730–1798 Paris)

Design for the Temple of Apollo in the Gardens of the Chateau d'Enghien, Belgium 1780

Pen and Ink, partially over charcoal underdrawing, watercolor

This drawing is part of a larger plan developed by the Duke of Arenberg to redesign the palace and gardens. In 1780 he attracted De Wailly to this end, who finished his overall redesign in 1782, which was never realized. His plans for the garden included this Temple of Apollo, as well as a group of follies in the shaped of ruins of classical architecture, which he named “New Herculaneum”. The temple was meant to be the crowning feature of the area of the garden described as Mount Parnassus. De Wailly devised an ingenious raised temple, characterized by a double spiral staircase at its center. The drawing in pen and ink with watercolor shows the Temple situated in its park-like surroundings and shows various people admiring the structure and walking along the garden pathways.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019