Marcia E. Letaw's Blog, page 4
February 20, 2016
Scaling Infinity (Episode 2)
Although I fully intended to further investigations from within the gym, insecurity rooted me to the sidewalk, reciting inwardly: “Higgs lived in a tower that was both tall and short and everything in between. Thus, it possessed a shape so odd that any direction he leapt would have been a leap into the embrace of life. Indecision, however, held him in a continual state of paradox of being neither alive nor dead.”
And then a man approached: mid-twenties, sandy brown hair, medium height, excell...
February 19, 2016
Scaling Infinity (Episode 1)
“There once was a boy who lived in an infinitely tall tower. We shall call him Higgs Boson. It was always balmy in that citadel, yes indeed, the weather was perfect since there was no weather at all, but even the best forecast cannot cure loneliness unless it includes a princess. Well, as it happens, one day a princess scaled the infinitely high tower and rescued Higgs. Her name was China Red:” That’s me, and the voice behind the story was my father’s pressing odd ideas into a young brain.
At...
Scaling Infinity
“There once was a boy who lived in an infinitely tall tower. We shall call him Higgs Boson. It was always balmy in that citadel, yes indeed, the weather was perfect since there was no weather at all, but even the best forecast cannot cure loneliness unless it includes a princess. Well, as it happens, one day a princess scaled the infinitely high tower and rescued Higgs. Her name was China Red:” That’s me, and the voice behind the story was my father’s pressing odd ideas into a young brain.
At...
February 8, 2016
2 Days in Paris
When Marion (Judy Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) stop off, on their way home from an uninspiring trip to Venice, in Marion’s hometown, Paris, it’s supposed to look like the screenshot to the right. Instead things turn out more like the screen shots below with Jack, while unable to understand the conversations that proceed between Marion and her mostly male friends, he can’t help realizing there’s more going on than she is willing to translate. Directed by Judy Delpy, 2 Days in Paris is a hu...
February 6, 2016
Disgrace
Disturbing.
Disturbing not because of events themselves rather it is the failure to quench my sense of moral outrage at these events. I cannot, will not detail the events in question since that would do naught but ruin the experience of reading Disgrace for others. No, it is always best to approach art without bias, to form one’s own opinion.
What is Disgrace about? It’s about a man who is floating, floating, floating away from reality, living more and more in a romantic concept of life broug...
February 2, 2016
Dick
I know it’s Ground Hog Day and I should put up the movie of the same name, but I’ve decided to go with a political film instead to commemorate, in a sense, the beginning of the 2016 presidential race. Don’t worry, Dick is a comedy. Some might say a horror would be more appropriate but really that’s what the primary coverage is for, isn’t it to scare the hell out of us. Well, to recover from the Iowa event, I recommend watching Dick; it’s cathartic plus it will answer all your questions about...
January 30, 2016
Cairo Time
Cairo Time directed by Ruba Nadda is not about chess. Beautifully filmed in Egypt with the weight of thousands of years of culture serving as the audience, Cairo Time is about time, and it’s about betrayal because where culture is different so is time. Where culture is alien, our tools for survival can break down.
January 29, 2016
Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation is the first of a series of three films each of which is directed by a woman, each of which brings to bear a different angle on relationships. Above are Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson both looking lost in Tokyo, feeling very alone in a foreign land until:
Directed by Sophia Coppola, Lost in Translation is a humorous yet inciteful film that takes a look at American culture against the backdrop of Japanese culture. It’s a stunning contrast, a stunning film.
January 15, 2016
Unilateral Neglect Part 3
The psychologist and the author met at the restaurant sitting in its lower portion. Think in terms of a cave.
The author was in better spirits. “Can you tell me, Jocelyn, is there something special about circles—I’m referring to our last meeting in which you claimed that hemineglect sufferers will draw a complete circle when asked to draw a clock?”
“Well, Marcia, I am not so fortunate as Euclid or Descartes to have spent years in studying the ins and outs of mathematical objects. The fact is,...
January 13, 2016
Unilateral Neglect Part 2
The author arrived for her second psych visit empty handed. Putting on an apologetic front, she explained: “I’m sorry, Jocelyn, but Bob was a no show.”
The psychologist ruminated before issuing a response: “I can see that you’re lying, Marcia.”
“Think what you want, Jocelyn.” Anticipation of her appointment had interfered with the author’s sleep cycle. She was cranky.
“Would you like to know what’s behind my statement?”
“Sure, go ahead; let’s hear your psycho mumbo-jumbo.”
“The brain has two...
