Still on my reading wish list, so this is more of a Book preview; "Stand Still like the Hummingbird": a book-of-essays/anthology. I'm giving it a look-see even though I don't yet own it. However, curiosity got the better of me, so here are some extracts and quotes from an unconventional writer. Some of Henry Miller's early works were banned in his home country of the US for their controversial content involving religion, sex, social criticism, philosophy and explicit language. Six books of his written between 1934-59 were all banned. Here in my opinion is the only imaginative prose-writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past. Even if that is objected to as an overstatement, it will probably be admitted that Miller is a writer out of the ordinary, worth more than a single glance; and after all, he is a completely negative, unconstructive, amoral writer, a mere Jonah, a passive acceptor of evil, a sort of Whitman among the corpses. - George Orwell acknowledging Henry Miller in his Essay: "Inside the Whale" (1940) “I see myself forever and ever as the ridiculous man, the lonely soul, the wanderer, the restless frustrated artist, the man in love with love, always in search of the absolute, always seeking the unattainable.” “ our needs … what is it that we need? certainly the more liberated one feels the less one needs. the sage demonstrates it daily, and the idiot too. just to breathe, to know that you are alive, isn’t it marvelous. “ Extracts from the book - "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird" - a collection of essays from Henry Miller. -- And your way, is it really your way? "There is no salvation in becoming adapted to a world which is crazy." Some further quotes by other writers to continue the theme... ... We look at him through the wrong end of the telescope of Time,
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Answering the question of who is the more evil, sadistic and sinister villain between Raoul Silva and Anton Chigurh... Why? - Because I can. I can't do this however without saying that I'm a big fan of this man, to the left, who has rightfully been described as one of the best actors of his generation, and weighing up pretty well against those in the 'best actors of all time' phantom category. The Best or scariest villainous characters are made even scarier when you toss them into the hands of a sublime actor (take a look at Hannibal, The Joker, Christopher Walken, hehe). To Javier Bardem then, and his two most infamous characters in English cinema. The Contenders: Anton Chigurh - A trained coldblooded Assassin who also happens to be a psychopath (he has tendencies akin to a sociopath, but I'd see him more as a slightly controlled Psycho, but I digress, he fudges the line... click here to compare the two types) Raoul Silva - aka Thiago Rodriguez, former top spy for MI6, now a vengeful sociopath. What they have in common (apart from Bardem):
What's different:
The answer: Creepy, evil, sadistic or just plain nightmare inducing; if you lucked out and somehow crossed paths with someone of either persuasion, then pray you rather meet Anton Chigurh... Why? - Because he's more likely to kill you quickly, via bullet to to the head, or chest. Raoul Silva then is the worse of the two, simply because he's more likely to toy with you and make you feel some of his pain - which is considerable. He's also likely to kill your spirit before he takes your life, slowly... It's a rather interesting dynamic, I thought so anyway. Chigurh has something of a skewed philosophy on life; that he is simply a tool - holding himself to the idea that he is somehow set apart from the rest of humanity, and that good or bad, your fate has already been decided. If he moves in a certain direction, he's likely to kill most he encounters, with an exception every now and then - to be decided by chance, in the form of a coin toss. Cormac McCarthy wrote the character to represent how nonsensical violence is - Chigurh then, is the personification of violence. Silva has no such philosophy - it's kind of like when a human killing machine has been broken on the inside, and somehow restarted with a reset guidance system, targeting its 'creator', with a will to break her ("M") in a similar way. If there is one thing he abides by though, however shrouded in his demented ways it may be, it is in the principal of 'survival of the fittest' - physical wreck's they may be, but he and James Bond are the last two, and hence strongest, rats remaining... (queue chewing sounds) Javier Bardem quotes On his work: Your work cannot come from your vanity…it’s more about, how do I help this story by portraying the character as it needs to be, on every level, for this story to be told?…As actors we have the room to express as many sides of our nature as we are able or willing to show. There is no danger in that…you can get lost, of course. You have to know how to come back. The difference between a person with mental problems and an artist is that only the second one has a two-way ticket. On Anton Chigurh's hairdo: From the haircut and all that? It’s funny, because I saw that photo and I didn’t pay attention to the haircut because it was more of the way he was dressed as well as anything, but I guess they [Coen Brothers] pay attention to the haircut. So, I went to the trailer and they cut it and I saw it and I said, ‘What the hell is that?’ But that helped a lot actually, because in a way he gave this reality to the character this dimension of being very methodical. Everything is in place. It’s kind of mathematical. Like perfectly structured which is the way I thought the character should be. Perfectly clean. I thought this could help, but not for my private life though. On Raoul Silva, and being cast and working on Skyfall: [I had to] put the person [watching] in an uncomfortable situation, where even James Bond could not resist. Watching the trailer for No Country for Old Men just remind me of how brilliant this film is - and why I own the DVD... The Mayonnaise Jar (An oldie but a goodie) When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, When 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and start to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded With an unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- The small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you. So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. 'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.' One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked'. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.' Please share this with other "Golf Balls" |
[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
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