netgirl_y2k

- Reading, a stranger on a train, with whom I had a random-ish conversation about literature and philosophy, gave me this quote from Roald Amundsen to take away (literally - it was printed on a slip of paper): "Seier venter den, som har alt i orden - held kalder man det. Nederlag er en absolutt følge for den, som har forsømt at ta de nødvendige forholdsregler i tide - uheld kaldes det" (Victory awaits him who has everything in order - luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck). I disagree but it's a tidy soundbite.

- Watching, Song of Summer, 1968, the bio-doc of Eric Fenby’s relationship with Frederick and Jelka Delius directed by Ken Russell and written with Eric Fenby. This is another story showing a determined and dedicated woman as essential for a Great Man’s success: he does the art while she does EVERYTHING else (although Jelka also suggested poetry to inspire Delius and translated it when necessary!). Jelka Delius, played brilliantly by Maureen Pryor, is rarely offscreen and when she’s physically absent she’s either being talked about by the other characters or her paintings of powerful female nudes are overlooking them (ETA: symbolically, at least, afaik Russell didn't have her actual paintings... like Delius didn't specifially own Munch's Scream), which is an image presumably derived partly from Jelka’s oil portrait of Frederick Delius in which she depicted him with a painted female nude looking over his shoulder and with both models in echoing postures: hand cupping face. The other actors in Song of Summer, especially Christopher Gable as Eric Fenby (Delius’ amanuensis), are also very good (although we shall gloss over Russell’s cameo selfie as a Catholic priest shamelessly shagging a girl in a church pew). The Percy Grainger sequence, set to Grainger’s music, is lolarious. I also loved the extremely casual mention of Fenby’s severe mental illness, "After the party I had a complete nervous breakdown" [with the implied subtext ~but life goes on~] accompanied by the depiction of empathetic manpain from genuinely trying circumstances. Song of Summer is an outstandingly excellent bio-doc-film, often credited as Russell’s best, and I’ve definitely seen it before but it didn’t stick in my mind then and I don’t think it will now. I only have Russell’s Debussy (65) and Rousseau (65) films left to watch out of the 1960s BBC art bio-docs cos the Bartok (64) isn’t online. So far Song of Summer (68) is probably the best film, but I preferred the accomplished simplicity of the Elgar (62) and the OTT silent movie style shenanigans of Isadora (66). I’m going to end up watching The Music Lovers too aren’t I? SOMEONE STOP ME, PLZ!

- Watching, mannequins + a man, because I wouldn’t want anyone to accuse me of failing to post equal opportunity nudity (nsfw) after linking to Jelka Rosen’s painting.

- So, what are you doing, thinking, wondering about, reading, watching, making, or writing, that you don't usually post about?