Song for a Snow Day

Between reading Francis Hunt and Singing Bear's blogs, I thought of one of mine and WP's favorite films, McCabe and Mrs. Miller. And what a fitting setting for what is going on weather-wise around these parts. No amount of  "summer feeling" can erase the reality of this storm. Yikes.

Pagan Sphinx Entertainment Highlight

Please somebody tell me they like Lina Wertmüller films! If you happen to be a film scholar just keep in mind that I'm not! This, folks, is my usual little ditty. I have the attention span of a mosquito when it comes to long dissertations.  Go easy on me!   All tongue and cheeky, of course! :-)

Anyway, I've seen the film from which this intro was taken - Pasqualino Settebellezze, a.k.a.
Seven Beauties. I've seen it several times over the years but it was only yesterday that I took the time to discover whose voice is performing the sort of spoken word song/poem in the intro. He is Italian singer songwriter, actor and comedian  Enzo Jannacci.  Oh, yeah.




Here is the English dub version. Being a natural speaker of Portuguese, I prefer the Italian version with English subtitles. If you accept the challenge to listen to both, please let me know which you like better.

Pagan Sphinx Entertainment Highlight and Music for Sunday

 First, a young Jeff Bridges (with Cybil Shepard and others) in the great 1971 film The Last Picture Show



 And then as The Dude in The Big Lebowski (a Coen Brothers film) with music by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition (that's the "music for Sunday" part.  ;-)

Pagan Sphinx Entertainment Highlight and Music for Sunday

From one of our favorite films Black Orpheus 

1959

Marcel Camus directed nearly a dozen films, including Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), which won the Golden Palm at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.

This one goes out to the one I love.

Music for Sunday - King of the Beats: Jack Kerouac

 Note to readers:  I have this all wrong!  The documentary that the featured song comes from is not King of the Beats; it's something else I'm not able to find quickly and I's got stuff to do! This will have to do.  In any event, at least the whole post is connected around Jack Kerouac, albeit loosely.
Sorry 'bout that.


 A song by Ben Gibbard (Deathcab for Cutie) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt).

If the end of the video clip were not cut off, the narrator would have gone on to say that this song is from the DVD documentary King of the Beats, about the life and work of author, poet and painter Jack Kerouac (1922-1969).
 

The link above will take you to the documentary in its entirety, I believe. It's slightly over an hour long but well worth it if you're a Jack Kerouac fan or if you have nothing better to do.  ;-)  I watched the whole thing not for lack of other things to do (which I have too many of) but because I like to learn the stories of creative people, particularly those with an immigrant background. Jack Kerouac was the son of French-Canadian immigrant parents and grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts. But honestly, I started to read On the Road when I was in high school in the mid-seventies and I never finished it. He's on my list for Nova Scotia summer reading in 2010.

Happy Sunday

Love,

Pagan Sphinx

Music for Sunday - Les Triplettes de Belleville

Music for Sunday

I Dig This Soundtrack

A few days ago I funned around with a meme that Ed tagged me for. The last item on the meme list was to feature a clip from a favorite movie. Now, I have a ton of favorite movies, so Breaking the Waves is a recent favorite. I think I saw it for the first time last year on IFC but only partially. So I rented it and have now seen about three times.

I like it in part because the story of Bess McNeill is told in film "chapters" that change with dramatic images and great songs. So I just had to buy the soundtrack CD. It arrived, used from a vendor on Amazon. Under $5 plus free shipping. Being housebound and ill, this was a bit of a bright light for me.

This is about 2o minutes in length; a sampling of my favorite songs from the CD, so I understand if you skip around the tracks or skip it altogether! And I recommend the movie highly, though it's not for the faint-of-heart.

Breaking The Waves

Selections from the soundtrack to the film Breaking The Waves

1) A Broken Dream
Python Lee Jackson, featuring Rod Starwart
2) Hot Love - T Rex
3) Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
4) Cross-eyed Mary - Jethro Tull
5) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

Meaningless Meme

Ed tagged me for the Meaningless Meme and I, being unable to say no to such easy frivolity, am playing along.



1. Five names you go by:
* Gina
* Mommy
* Baby (at least it's not "Babe". which always reminds me of the pig)
* Mrs. P (which is not accurate but people always assume we're married)
* Pagan Sphinx (you know, in the blog world)

2. Three things you are wearing right now:
* earrings (always)
* an Indian print scarf
* purple tights

3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:

* a vacation
* a new work environment

4. Three people who will probably fill this out:

* Sherry
* Steve (because I'm curious as to what movie clip he'll choose)
* You!

5. Two things you did last night:

* Watched the movie Zodiac with WP
* Ordered a pizza

6. Two things you ate today:

* toast with butter
* black coffee

7. Two people you last talked to on the phone:

* SG2
* one known as a "busybody" - don't ask :-/

8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

* go to work
* pay bills

9. Two longest car rides:

* Paris to Lisbon (as a wee lass)
* Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

10. Two of your favorite beverages:

* wine
* sparkling spring water


And finally, my favorite part: a clip from a favorite movie, Breaking the Waves with the incomparable Emily Watson as Bess McNeil, and a stellar soundtrack.