J.M. Barrie: “The Colours Become So Vivid”

 

Photographer Unknown, Gay Film Computer Graphics, Gay Gifs, (The Colours Become So Vivid)

“If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Markus Zusak: “Shower After Shower”

Photographer Unknown, Shower After Shower

When their bodies had finished scouring for gaps in the door, their souls rose up. When their fingernails had scratched at the wood and in some cases were nailed into it by the sheer force of desperation, their spirits came toward me, into my arms, and we climbed out of those shower facilities, onto the roof and up, into eternity’s certain breadth. They just kept feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Antonio Canova

Antonio Canova, “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss”, Detail, 1787, Marble, Louvre Museum, Paris

“Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” is a marble sculpture by Italian artist Antonio Canova, who was raised by his stonemason grandfather, Pasino Canova. Antonio Canova valued his independence as an artist, believing that art was above politics. However, through pressure by the French on the papacy, he was forced to accept titles and honors.

The marble sculpture is in a Neoclassical style but shows characteristics of the then emerging Romantic movement. There were two versions of this piece; the image shown being the prime version, which was acquired by Joachim Murat, Marshal of France and Admiral of France under the reign of Napoleon. After Murat’s death, the sculpture entered the Louvre Museum in 1824.

Image reblogged with thanks to http://abrighterhellas.tumblr.com

Calendar: November 25

A Year: Day to Day Men: 25th of November

The Jaguar Hunter

November 25, 1920 marks the birthdate of actor Ricardo Montalbán

Born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Spanish immigrants, Ricardo Montalbán made his New York stage debut in 1940 in a small role in “Her Cardboard Lover”, starring Tallulah Bankhead. In 1947 he landed his first major Hollywood film role in the musical “Fiesta”, playing twin siblings with Esther Williams. Montalbán had a memorable dance number in that film with Cyd Charisse.

The dark, handsome Montalbán with the Spanish accent would go on to play numerous Latin romantic-types. He teamed up again with Esther Williams in two more films, the musical romantic comedy “Neptune’s Daughter” and the 1948 romantic comedy “On an Island with You”. In 1949, Montalbán broke from his romantic typecast to play a border agent in the suspense drama film “Border Incident” directed by Anthony Mann.

During the 1950s and 1960s Montalbán was one of only a handful of actively working Hispanic actors in Hollywood, often playing characters of different ethnicities, such as the character Nakamura in the 1957 “Sayonara” and Tokura in a “Hawaii Five-O” episode. He also starred as a naive, penniless French duke in the romance comedy “Love is a Ball” released in 1963.

Ricardo Montalbán’s best known television role was that of the man in the white suit with the cultured demeanor, Mr. Roarke, on the television series “Fantasy Island” which ran from 1977 to 1984. The series was one of the most popular on television at that time, making him and his co-star Herve Villechaize, playing Tattoo, popular icons.

Montalbán’s most well-known film role was the character of Khan Noonien Singh in the 1982 “Star Trek II: The Wrath of khan”, in which he reprised the role he had originated in the 1967 episode of “Star Trek” titled “Space Seed”. Montalbán was already physically fit; so Khan’s costume was specifically designed to display his physique. He agreed to take the role at a significant pay cut because he relished reprising his original character. His only regret, Montalbán said, was that he and William Shatner never interacted in their roles; the scenes were all done through video communication, filming their scenes months apart to accommodate Montalbán’s schedule for “Fantasy Island”.

Montalbán reacted to the poor way Mexicans were being portrayed by establishing with other stars the Nosotros (We) Foundation in 1970 to advocate for Latinos in the movie and television industry. He served as its first president. The foundation created the Golden Eagle Awards, an annual awards show that highlights Latino actors. The awards are presented in conjunction with the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival, held at the now renamed Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Hollywood.

Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress, “Sebastiane”: Film History Series

“Sebastiane”, 1976, Directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress

Sebastiane” is a 1976 Latin-language British historical thriller directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress. The screenplay, written by Jarman, Humfress, and James Whaley, portrays events in the life of Saint Sebastian, including his martyrdom by arrows. The film, which was targeted to a gay audience, was controversial for the homoerotism portrayed and for being dialogued entirely in vulgar Latin. It was the only English-made film to have required English subtitles.

Intensely erotic, “Sebastiane” was filmed in Sardinia, near the town of Buggerru, and in locations in Italy. The film is an early film by the noted experimental and outspokenly gay director Jarman and features the debut of actor Leonardo Treviglio in his role of Sebastian. A bold film having the distinction of being the first non-porn film to show a male erection, “Sebastiane” now is probably only for the film aficionado who loves film- making and its history. A milestone in the history of non-porn gay films.

Subjective Experience

A Subjective Experience

“Human consciousness cannot be a passive observer of the outer world, just interpreting the input signals that are being received by the brain from the external world. Rather, it compares the fitness of a person’s inner world — feelings, perception, imagination, dreams, desires, etc. — with the external world, allegedly accepted as ‘objective reality’ outside individual consciousness. However, such an objective reality cannot be so objective as it is believed to be. Due to various internal processes to achieve a balance between the inner and outer worlds, consciousness insensibly changes the physical characteristics of reality, making it a subjective phenomenon, at least to a large extent. For this reason, in order to determine what is real (outside of human consciousness) and what is just a subjective experience, it is actually a difficult job.”
― Elmar Hussein

Valerie Ganz

Valerie Ganz, Five Paintings from the “Shower” Series, circa 1980s, Mixed Media

Valerie Ganz was born in Swansea, South Wales, United Kingdom, overlooking the dramatic sweep of Swansea Bay with its background of heavy industry. She attended Swansea College of Art and studied painting, sculpture and stained glass. Ganz remained as a tutor until 1973 when she turned her attention to painting full time.

As Valerie Ganz’a interest in the landscape of South Wales grew, her attention was drawn to the landscape of its industrial areas and, in particular, to its mining industry. Over a period of many years, Ganz worked at fourteen different collieries, taking a house and studio in 1985 at Six Bells, Abertillery.

For a year Ganz worked at the Six Bells Colliery, alongside the miners both above ground and at the coalface. In the evening she made studies of the miners and their families at choir practice, in the snooker halls and in the chapel. This work formed the basis of the mining exhibition in 1986 at the Glynn Vivian Gallery in Swansea. The exhibition was entitled “Mining in Art”; her work was shown along with the works of fellow artists Josef Herman, Jack Crabtree and Nicholas Evans.

Valerie Ganz died after a prolonged period of illness on the twenty-eighth of September in 2015 at Swansea, United Kingdom. Today, her works are held in the collections of the National Coal Mining Museum for England in Wakefield as well as the Newport Museum and Art Gallery in Wales.

Insert Image: Valerie Ganz, “Ben Waits Patiently”, circa 1980s, Oil on Canvas, 31.5 x 26 cm, Private Collection

Cormac McCarthy: “The Iron Dark of the World”

Photographer Unknown, (The Iron Dark of the World)

“By early evening all the sky to the north had darkened and the spare terrain they trod had turned a neuter gray as far as the eye could see. They grouped in the road at the top of a rise and looked back. The storm front towered above them and the wind was cool on their sweating faces. They slumped bleary-eyed in their saddles and looked at one another. Shrouded in the black thunderheads the distant lightning glowed mutely like welding seen through foundry smoke. As if repairs were under way at some flawed place n the iron dark of the world.”
― Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses