In the late 1940s, the French writer Rene Barjavel was asked to imagine the future of Paris. He basically predicted millions of people watching Netflix on their phones while walking blindly into traffic. Thanks D.M.
Los diez mandamientos del rodaje de cine /
The Music of the Ainur ---Creation Myth (The Silmarillion, JRR Tolkien) /
http://www.ae-lib.org.ua/texts-c/tolkien__the_silmarillion__en.htm#ainulindale
AINULINDALË - The Music of the Ainur
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of me mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony.
And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent.
Then Ilúvatar said to them: 'Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I win sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song.'
Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Ilúvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void. Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, though it has been said that a greater still shall be made before Ilúvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the Children of Ilúvatar after the end of days. Then the themes of Ilúvatar shall be played aright, and take Being in the moment of their utterance, for all shall then understand fully his intent in their part, and each shall know the comprehension of each, and Ilúvatar shall give to their thoughts the secret fire, being well pleased.
But now Ilúvatar sat and hearkened, and for a great while it seemed good to him, for in the music there were no flaws. But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar, for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he found not the Fire, for it is with Ilúvatar. But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren.
Some of these thoughts he now wove into his music, and straightway discord arose about him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first. Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound. But Ilúvatar sat and hearkened until it seemed that about his throne there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one upon another in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.
Then Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty. But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it, and again there was a war of sound more violent than before, until many of the Ainur were dismayed and sang no longer, and Melkor had the mastery. Then again Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold! a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. And it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern.
………….Thus began the first battle of the Valar with Melkor for the dominion of Arda; and of those tumults the Elves know but little. For what has here been declared is come from the Valar themselves, with whom the Eldalië spoke in the land of Valinor, and by whom they were instructed; but little would the Valar ever tell of the wars before the coming of the Elves. Yet it is told among the Eldar that the Valar endeavoured ever, in despite of Melkor, to rule the Earth and to prepare it for the coming of the Firstborn; and they built lands and Melkor destroyed them; valleys they delved and Melkor raised them up; mountains they carved and Melkor threw them down; seas they hollowed and Melkor spilled them; and naught might have peace or come to lasting growth, for as surely as the Valar began a labour so would Melkor undo it or corrupt it. And yet their labour was not all in vain; and though nowhere and in no work was their will and purpose wholly fulfilled, and all things were in hue and shape other than the Valar had at first intended, slowly nonetheless the Earth was fashioned and made firm. And thus was the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar established at the last in the Deeps of Time and amidst the innumerable stars.
BLM /
What substance am I? Why have I come? Where am I going? Whence is my root? /
"Why do you study knowledge for the sake of worldly mouthfuls? The rope is for people to come out of the well, not for them to go from this well to that well. You must bind yourself to knowing this: 'Who am I? What substance am I? Why have I come? Where am I going? Whence is my root? At this time what am I doing? Toward what have I turned my face?"
–– Shams-i Tabrizi, trans. Chittick, #27 (50-51), Me and Rumi. Thanks Ayn Kha. Image, courtesy of Ali S.
What Did Ancient Rome Look Like? (Cinematic Animation) /
into yourself /
When will you begin that long journey into yourself? - Rumi
#corona2020
Tsoknyi Rinpoche - 'feathers flying in the wind' /
As we go through life, we accumulate layers of ideas about who we are and what we’re capable of achieving. As these layers accumulate, we tend to become increasingly rigid in our identification with certain views about ourselves and the world around us. Gradually, we lose our connection to the basic openness, clarity, and love that is the essence of our being. Our awareness is overwhelmed by hundreds of different thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Some we latch onto because they’re attractive fantasies or scary preoccupations; some we try to shove away because they’re too upsetting or because they distract us from whatever we’re trying to accomplish at the moment.
Instead of focusing on some of them and pushing away others, though, just look at them as feathers flying in the wind. The wind is your awareness, your inborn openness and clarity. Feathers—the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that pass through our awareness—are harmless. Some may be more attractive than others, some less attractive; but essentially they’re just feathers. Look at them as fuzzy, curly things floating through the air.
As you do so, you begin to identify with the awareness that is watching the feathers and allow yourself to be okay with whatever feathers happen to be flying at the time. You’re accepting them without latching on to them or trying to shove them away. This simple act of acceptance—which may only last a few seconds—offers a taste of that open space of essence love, an acceptance of the warmth that is your basic nature, the heart of your own being.
~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Tsoknyi Rinpoche III and Mustafa Gouverneur
Kitab al-Hikam (Book of Wisdom) /
“Sometimes He makes you learn in the night of contraction what you have not learned in the radiance of the day of expansion. "You do not know which of them is nearer to you in benefit."
"When God loosens your tongue in supplication, know that He wants to give you something."
- Kitab al-Hikam (Book of Wisdom) - Ahmed Ibn Ata Allah Al-Iskandari (d. 1309)
The biggest story of all― The Two Towers ( near the end) -J.R.R. Tolkien /
“Yes, that's so,' said Sam. 'And we shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?'
'I wonder,' said Frodo. 'But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to.'
'No, sir, of course not. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. But that's a long tale, of course, and goes on past the happiness and into grief and beyond it – and the Silmaril went on and came to Eärendil. And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We've got – you've got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we're in the same tale still! It's going on. Don't the great tales never end?'
'No, they never end as tales,' said Frodo. 'But the people in them come, and go when their part's ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers ( near the end)
Lord of the Rings visual story timelines /
Click images to enlarge
“DEEN TIGHT” a documentary film :: directed by Mustafa Davis /
Winter prayer /
Terra media: “A short piece illustrating the lovely macro and micro of the San Luis Valley of Colorado. This piece began as an exercise in extreme dynamic range to see how far I could push exposure latitude for darks and lights in a freshly snow covered landscape w my Fs5 and 15+ stops of RAW dynamic range. What emerged was something entirely different.”
J.R.R.T.: A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien (1996) 1h 50min | Documentary /
This is really an excellent deep dive into Tolkien's deeper spiritual intentions and metaphysics, the question of sub-creation, anti-modernity, mythopoetics, Faerie, symbolism and cosmology. Brilliant interviews especially with Christopher Tolkien and Tom Shippey. Narrated by Judi Dench.
On Fairy-Stories - J. R. R. Tolkien /
http://heritagepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/Tolkien-On-Fairy-Stories-subcreation.pdf
"Mythology is not a disease at all, though it may like all human things become diseased. You might as well say that thinking is a disease of the mind. It would be more near the truth to say that languages, especially modern European languages, are a disease of mythology. But Language cannot, all the same, be dismissed. The incarnate mind, the tongue, and the tale are in our world coeval. The human mind, endowed with the powers of generalization and abstraction, sees not only green-grass, discriminating it from other things (and finding it fair to look upon), but sees that it is green as well as being grass. But how powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faerie is more potent. And that is not surprising: such incantations might indeed be said to be only another view of adjectives, a part of speech in a mythical grammar. The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into a swift water. If it could do the one, it could do the other; it inevitably did both. When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power—upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world external to our minds awakes. It does not follow that we shall use that power well upon any plane. We may put a deadly green upon a man’s face and produce a horror; we may make the rare and terrible blue moon to shine; or we may cause woods to spring with silver leaves and rams to wear fleeces of gold, and put hot fire into the belly of the cold worm. But in such "fantasy," as it is called, new form is made; Faerie begins; Man becomes a sub-creator."
Akira Kurosawa's 100 Favorite Films of All Time (one per director) /
“From a filmmaker's perspective, this may be one of the most valuable lists of all time.
Back in 1999, the famed Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa posthumously published his memoir, Yume wa tensai de aru (A Dream is a Genius). Open Culture brought our attention to a massive list of Kurosawa's top 100 films that resides within the book. This list is full of an incredibly diverse array of films, spanning many genres and languages. These movies are absolutely essential to any aspiring filmmaker.
In the words of Kurosawa's daughter, who helped to compile the list: "My father always said that the films he loved were too many to count and to make a top ten rank. That explains why you cannot find in this list many of the titles of the films he regarded as wonderful. The principle of the choice is: one film for one director, entry of the unforgettable films about which I and my father had a lovely talk, and of some ideas on cinema that he had cherished but did not express in public. This is the way I made a list of 100 films of Kurosawa’s choice."
If you ever felt too daunted to star studying a certain director's work, Kurosawa's limitation of one film per director makes this an excellent resource to use as a point of entry. Kurosawa's favorite Kubrick film? Barry Lyndon. His favorite Hitchcock? The Birds.
This list should not only bring to light 100 of the best films ever made, but also 100 of the most influential directors of Kurosawa's time. We see Kurosawa himself pop up on list after list of other contemporary director's greatest influences, so it's exciting to see which of those contemporary directors pop up on his. The list is presented in chronological order.”
1. Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (Griffith, 1919) USA
2. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari] (Wiene, 1920) Germany
3. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler – Ein Bild der Zeit [Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler] (Lang, 1922) Germany
4. The Gold Rush (Chaplin, 1925) USA
5. La Chute de la Maison Usher [The Fall of the House of Usher] (Jean Epstein, 1928) France
6. Un Chien Andalou [An Andalusian Dog] (Bunuel, 1928) France
7. Morocco (von Sternberg, 1930) USA
8. Der Kongress Tanzt (Charell, 1931) Germany
9. Die 3groschenoper [The Threepenny Opera] (Pabst, 1931) Germany
10. Leise Flehen Meine Lieder [Lover Divine] (Forst, 1933) Austria/Germany
11. The Thin Man (Dyke, 1934) USA
12. Tonari no Yae-chan [My Little Neighbour, Yae] (Shimazu, 1934) Japan
13. Tange Sazen yowa: Hyakuman ryo no tsubo [Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo] (Yamanaka, 1935) Japan
14. Akanishi Kakita [Capricious Young Men] (Itami, 1936) Japan
15. La Grande Illusion [The Grand Illusion] (Renoir, 1937) France
16. Stella Dallas (Vidor, 1937) USA
17. Tsuzurikata Kyoshitsu [Lessons in Essay] (Yamamoto, 1938) Japan
18. Tsuchi [Earth] (Uchida, 1939) Japan
19. Ninotchka (Lubitsch, 1939) USA
20. Ivan Groznyy I, Ivan Groznyy II: Boyarsky Zagovor [Ivan the Terrible Parts I and II] (Eisenstein, 1944-46) Soviet Union
21. My Darling Clementine (Ford, 1946) USA
22. It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946) USA
23. The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946) USA
24. Ladri di Biciclette [The Bicycle Thief] [Bicycle Thieves] (De Sica, 1948) Italy
25. Aoi sanmyaku [The Green Mountains] (Imai, 1949) Japan
26. The Third Man (Reed, 1949) UK
27. Banshun [Late Spring] (Ozu, 1949) Japan
28. Orpheus (Cocteau, 1949) France
29. Karumen kokyo ni kaeru [Carmen Comes Home] (Kinoshita, 1951) Japan
30. A Streetcar Named Desire (Kazan, 1951) USA
31. Thérèse Raquin [The Adultress] (Carne 1953) France
32. Saikaku ichidai onna [The Life of Oharu] (Mizoguchi, 1952) Japan
33. Viaggio in Italia [Journey to Italy] (Rossellini, 1953) Italy
34.Gojira [Godzilla](Honda, 1954) Japan
35.La Strada(Fellini, 1954) Italy
36.Ukigumo[Floating Clouds] (Naruse, 1955) Japan
37.Pather Panchali[Song of the Road] (Ray, 1955) India
38.Daddy Long Legs(Negulesco, 1955) USA
39.The Proud Ones(Webb, 1956) USA
40.Bakumatsutaiyoden[Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate](Kawashima, 1957) Japan
41.The Young Lions(Dmytryk, 1957) USA
42. Les Cousins [The Cousins](Chabrol, 1959) France
43.Les Quarte Cents Coups [The 400 Blows](Truffaut, 1959) France
44.A bout de Souffle [Breathless](Godard, 1959) France
45.Ben-Hur(Wyler, 1959) USA
46.Ototo[Her Brother](Ichikawa, 1960) Japan
47.Uneaussilongueabsence[The Long Absence](Colpi, 1960) France/Italy
48.Le Voyage en Ballon [Stowaway in the Sky](Lamorisse, 1960) France
49.Plein Soleil [Purple Noon](Clement, 1960) France/Italy
50.Zaziedansle métro [Zazie on the Subway] (Malle, 1960) France/Italy
51.L’Anneedernierea Marienbad [Last Year in Marienbad](Resnais, 1960) France/Italy
52.What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?(Aldrich, 1962) USA
53.Lawrence of Arabia(Lean, 1962) UK
54.Melodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win](Verneuil, 1963) France/Italy
55.The Birds(Hitchcock, 1963) USA
56.Il Deserto Rosso [The Red Desert] (Antonioni, 1964) Italy/France
57.Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(Nichols, 1966) USA
58.Bonnie and Clyde(Penn, 1967) USA
59.In the Heat of the Night(Jewison, 1967) USA
60.The Charge of the Light Brigade(Richardson, 1968) UK
61.Midnight Cowboy(Schlesinger, 1969) USA
62.MASH(Altman, 1970) USA
63.Johnny Got His Gun(Trumbo, 1971) USA
64.The French Connection(Friedkin, 1971) USA
65.El espíritu de lacolmena[Spirit of the Beehive] (Erice, 1973) Spain
66.Solyaris [Solaris] (Tarkovsky, 1972) Soviet Union
67.The Day of the Jackal(Zinneman, 1973) UK/France
68.Gruppo difamigliain uninterno[Conversation Piece] (Visconti, 1974) Italy/France
69.The Godfather Part II(Coppola, 1974) USA
70.Sandakanhachibanshokanbohkyo[Sandakan 8] (Kumai, 1974) Japan
71.One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest(Forman, 1975) USA
72.O,Thiassos[The Travelling Players](Angelopoulos, 1975) Greece
73.Barry Lyndon(Kubrick, 1975) UK
74.Daichi nokomoriuta[Lullaby of the Earth](Masumura, 1976) Japan
75.Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)USA
76.Neokonchennayapyesadlyamekhanicheskogopianino [Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano](Mikhalkov, 1977) Soviet Union
77.Padre Padrone [My Father My Master](P. & V. Taviani, 1977) Italy
78.Gloria(Cassavetes, 1980) USA
79.Harukanaruyamanoyobigoe[A Distant Cry From Spring](Yamada, 1980) Japan
80.La Traviata(Zeffirelli, 1982) Italy
81.Fanny och Alexander [Fanny and Alexander](Bergman, 1982) Sweden/France/West Germany
82.Fitzcarraldo(Herzog, 1982) Peru/West Germany
83.The King of Comedy(Scorsese, 1983) USA
84.Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence(Oshima, 1983) UK/Japan/New Zealand
85.The Killing Fields(Joffe 1984) UK
86.Stranger Than Paradise(Jarmusch, 1984) USA/ West Germany
87.Dongdong de Jiaqi[A Summer at Grandpa’s] (Hou, 1984) Taiwan
88.Paris, Texas(Wenders, 1984) France/ West Germany
89.Witness(Weir, 1985) USA
90.The Trip to Bountiful(Masterson, 1985) USA
91.Otacnasluzbenomputu [When Father was Away on Business](Kusturica, 1985) Yugoslavia
92.The Dead(Huston, 1987) UK/Ireland/USA
93.Khane-yedoustkodjast? [Where is the Friend’s Home](Kiarostami, 1987) Iran
94.Baghdad Cafe [Out of Rosenheim](Adlon, 1987) West Germany/USA
95.The Whales of August(Anderson, 1987) USA
96.Running on Empty(Lumet, 1988) USA
97.Tonari nototoro[My Neighbour Totoro] (Miyazaki, 1988) Japan
98.Aun[Buddies](Furuhata, 1989) Japan
99.La Belle Noiseuse [The Beautiful Troublemaker](Rivette, 1991) France/Switzerland
100.Hana-bi [Fireworks](Kitano, 1997) Japan
River City Drumbeat - A documentary /
https://www.owsleybrownpresents.com/river-city-drumbeat
For 30 years, the indefatigable Nardie White has offered a path to empowerment for African-American youth in Louisville, KY through his River City Drum Corps. White has dedicated his life to teaching communities about their Pan-African roots, but with retirement approaching, he must train his successor. Set against the backdrop of the American South and featuring glorious drum battles, this uplifting film is a timely reminder of the incredible change one person can create.
Official Site: https://www.rivercitydrumbeatmovie.com
On Twitter: drumbeatmovie
On Facebook: rivercitydrumbeatmovie
On Instagram: rivercitydrumbeatmovie
Director: Marlon Johnson, Anne Flatté
Executive Producer: Owsley Brown
Producer: Owsley Brown, Anne Flatté, Marlon Johnson
Cinematographer: Juan Carlos Castañeda, John Anderson Beavers
Editor: Jeff Boyette
Music: B. Quincy Griffin
Running Time: 94
Language: English
Country: USA
Year: 2019
Werner Herzog on "The Portal", Episode #003: "The Outlaw as Revelator" /
The Fantasy Makers: Tolkien, Lewis and MacDonald /
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and George MacDonald were the pioneers of the fantasy genre and their impact is unmistakable. Their works— exploring Middle-earth, Narnia, and other tales of redemption, sacrifice, and the battle of good and evil—have become best-selling books and blockbuster movies. Contemporary fantasy writers such as J.K. Rowling grew up inspired by their works.
“I have studied the Inklings for decades, especially C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I found this documentary the best synthesis linking the writings of George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien with the original myths and legends that influenced them. I highly recommend this documentary for not only fans of the Inklings but those interested in the foundations of modern fantasy literature and cinema.”- T.R. Knight Amazon
Faith in Imagination: The Fantasy Makers examines the spiritual influences of these fantasy pioneers and the lasting impact their works have on our present-day culture.
Featuring Rowan Williams, Kristin Jefferey Johnson, Malcolm Guite, Allister McGrath, and Michael Ward.
Immortal Technique - Creation & Destruction /
Immortal Technique: Slavery or Death - Can We Kick It Ep.12 - Pt3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrBADvWyw1M
Immortal Technique & Southpaw: Early Years and Rap Superheroes - Can We Kick It Ep.12 - Pt1
