Cioran

Cum să crezi că o rugăciune e altceva decît un monolog, că un extaz are o valoare dincolo de el însuşi, că vreunui zeu îi pasă de mîntuirea sau de pierzania noastră ? E totuşi ceea ce ar trebui să putem crede, măcar preţ de o secundă pe zi.

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Come pensare che una preghiera sia altro che un monologo, che un'estasi abbia un valore al di la di se stesso, che alcun dio si preocupasse della nostra salvezza o della nostra perdizione ? E tuttavia cio che dovremmo poter credere, anche per un'istante al giorno.

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How to think that a prayer is anything but a monologue, that the ecstasy has a value beyound itself, that any god would care about our salvation or our perdition ? It's however what we should believe, even for a second a day.

Ştefan Augustin Doinaş

PINUL ROMAN

La ce te zburleşti, în amurg, ţintuit sub
treptele-albastre ? Blîndul luceafăr pe cer
străluceşte intact, iar săgeţile tale
recad ca o ploaie.

Pe cine implori după miezul de noapte ?
Stelele strigă numele tău, însă vai !
a batjocură, maimuţărind aparenta
juneţe a frunzei.

Te strigă mereu, dar răstoarnă abisul
zeilor : iată - rîpa te-nfăşură,
nu perspectiva divină, în genele tale
adorm cărăbuşii.

Dar soarele ştie c-a stat răstignit pe
trunchiul tău zvelt ; dar cine mai poate-adormi
în stiharele sîngelui său ? - şi de aceea
apune în grabă.

Îndură şi taci ! Unde zeii, odată,
pasul şi-au pus,un gol se deschide. Şi vai !
omeneşte, cu lacrimi, se vindecă-n pulberi
cucernica rană.



IL PINO ROMANO

Verso di che t'increspi nel tramonto, inchiodato sotto
i blu gradini ? La mite stella del mattino nel cielo
splende intatto, e le tue frecce
ricadono come una pioggia.

Chi supplichi dopo la mezzanotte ?
Le stelle gridano il tuo nome, pero, ahime !
alla beffa, scimmiottando l'apparente
giovinezza della foglia.

Ti gridano sempre, ma rovesciano l'abisso
degli dei : ecco - il burrone t'avvolge non
la divina prospettiva, nelle tue ciglia
s'addormentano gli scarafaggi.

Ma il sole sa che e stato crocifisso sul
tuo snello tronco ; ma chi puo piu dormire
nella cotta del suo sangue ? - e quindi
tramonta in fretta.

Sopporta e stai zitto ! Dove gli dei, una volta,
hanno messo il loro passo, il vuoto si apre. E ahime !
umanamente, con lacrime, guarisce nella polvere
la pia ferita.



THE ROMAN PINE

What are you ruffle at,at dusk, bound under
the blue steps ? The gentle morning star in the sky
shines intact and your arrows
fall back as rain.

Who do you beg after midnight ?
The stars shout your name, but alas !
to ridicule, mocking the apparent
youth of the leaf.

They call again, but reverse the abyss
of gods : here - the ravine wraps you not
the divine perspective, in your lashes
get asleep the beetles.

But the sun knows that he stood crucified
on your slim trunk ; but who can sleep anymore
in the surplice of his blood ? And therefore
sets in a hurry.

Support and be silent ! Where gods once
have put their step, a goal opens. And alas !
humanly, with tears, heals in the dust
the pious wound.

"ÜBER LIFE", THE FIRST SERBIAN INTERACTIVE FILM BRINGS STUNNING ACTION, MESMERIZING FANTASY AND EPIC TALE!

Now, this is something really fresh and original. Premiering this November in Serbia and the Balkans region, ÜBER LIFE is the first Serbian interactive film and also one of the first ones in the world as well made in that new technology which gives the viewer a sense of being truly involved and able to choose a course of dramatic action and to affect the fate of the hero.

The new interactive way of watching the movie gives a whole new dimension to the classic epic tale. Or to put it more simple - this is a film which you both watch and play like a video game :)
ÜBER LIFE is universal and archetypal tale about the forces of good and evil, love and courage. The main hero, a man who has lost

everything, opposes deviant religious powers of darkness and unexpectedly discovers love, the true motive for the struggle and life. Driven by strong motives and the will to survive he gets into various adventures, in which dream and reality are constantly intertwined. This epic adventure takes place in three different ways, via multiple choices of dramatic flows,

where the viewers with their participation and selection decide on the further course and destiny of the hero. Film is full of fiction, special effects, action scenes and a large number of dreamy and surreal scenes. For more information you can visit ÜBER LIFE official website.

Swift's new 'Speak Now' has been said before and Taylor Swift calls out John Mayer in new song

Berks County native Taylor Swift has sold so many records in the past four years and become such a cultural phenomenon that it has been easy for reviewers to herald this week's release of her third album, "Speak Now" as more of the same — another triumph.





And that it is. More of the same, that is, not a triumph.
"Speak Now" is a pleasant album, though one that sounds better upon first listen than it really is. And it no doubt will make her legion of young fans happy — for a while.



But the truth is, it's nowhere near as good as Swift's last disc, 2008's "Fearless," and not even as good as her 2006 self-titled debut. And except for "Never Grow Up," by far the highlight, none of these songs has the staying power of the "Fearless" hit "Love Story."


Despite all of the voices — including Swift's — loudly saying "Speak Now" represents a leap of maturity, far too many of its 14 tunes tread the same ground, lyrically and musically, as Swift's previous hits.


Taylor Swift has reportedly criticised John Mayer in a song from her new album.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Mayer had told a friend that he had "hooked up" with Swift in January.

People reports that the song 'Dear John' is a ballad which includes lyrics about an older man who "messed with" a young girl with his "dark, twisted games".


Swift said of the song: "A lot of times when people's relationships end, they write an e-mail to that person and say everything that they wish they would have said. A lot of times they don't push send.

Maria Banuş

MIMUL

Mă uit atent, pierdut, la Director,
la gura lui,
cum detaşează el silabele triumfătoare :
" Mi-am trimis trupa mea,
mi-am îmbarcat oamenii mei,
mi-au dat concurs animalele mele."
Şi ( cu cochetă modestie ) :
" N-au făcut treabă prea rea.
Au luat şi cîteva diplome de onoare.
Publicul era de-a dreptul înnebunit. "

Rotunjesc gura întocmai ca el,
fac la fel, zic :
" Mi-am trimis spaimele mele,
mi-am îmbarcat sacii mei cu fantome,
mi-au dat concurs rimele mele, maimuţele mele".

Mă uit în oglindă cum mişc buzele.
Ce bine îl imit.
Dar îmi lipseşte ceva.
Publicul simte.
Îmi lipseşte ceva,
pumnul meu se desface.
AM, AL MEU scapă, se rostogoleşte,
cu nisipul, cu apa.



IL MIMO

Guardo perdutamente, attentamente al Direttore,
alla sua bocca,
come pronunzia le sillabe trionfanti :
" Ho mandato la mia banda,
ho imbarcato la mia gente,
mi hanno dato il concorso i miei animali ."
E ( con civettuola modestia ) :
" Il loro lavoro non e stato troppo male.
Hanno preso anche parecchie lauree.
Il pubblico era addirittura folle."

Sto arrotondare la bocca proprio come lui,
faccio i stessi gesti, dico :
" Ho mandato le mie paure,
ho imbarcato i miei sacchi con fantome,
mi hanno dato il concorso le mie rime, le mie scimmie."

Mi guardo nello specchio come muovo le mie labbra.
Che bene lo imito.
Ma mi manca qualcosa.
Il pubblico sente.
Mi manca qualcosa,
il mio pugno si apre.
IO HO, IL MIO sfugge, rotola
insieme alla sabbia, all'acqua.



THE MIME

I look lost, attentively at the Director,
at his mouth,
how he articulates the triumphant syllables :
" I sent my band,
I boarded my people,
my animals gave me the contest."
And ( with coquettish modesty ) :
" They did not too bad job.
They have also taken several honorary prizes.
The audience was downright mad."

I am rounding my mouth just like him,
I do the same gestures, I say :
" I sent my fears,
I boarded my bags with ghosts,
my rhymes, my monkeys, gave me the contest."

I look in the mirror as I move my lips.
How well I imitate him.
But something is missing to me.
The audience feels.
Something is missing to me,
my fist opens.
I HAVE, MINE get off, roll,
with the sand, with the water.

CHARLIZE THERON INSTEAD ANGELINA IN "SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN"? ERIC MCCORMACK AS A NEUROSCIENTIST IN "PERCEPTION". "ONCE UPON A TIME" NEW SF FANTASY SHOW ON ABC! JOEL SILVER AND "DEMONOLOGIST"

Eric McCormack, whom we still remember from WILL & GRACE,  has been signed by TNT to play the lead role in their new show PERCEPTION.  Coming from the producers who brought us LEGEND OF THE SEEKER, STAR TREK VOYAGER and SMALLVILLE,

this new show will follow an eccentric neuroscientist who uses his unique outlook to help the federal government solve complex cases. With an intimate knowledge of human behavior and a masterful understanding of the mind, this quirky, crime-solving professor pulls lessons from an odd and imaginative view of the world.

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, the authors of popular LOST, will develop a new TV show together with ABC. Their ONCE UPON A TIME will center around a female protagonist with a mysterious background in a small, present-day Maine town. The series will be a modern take on fairy tales, which will include elements of sci-fi, mystery and fantasy. Similar to LOST, the new show will also have a huge cast.

Just a few days ago I told you about Angelina Jolie possibly taking the role of the evil stepmom in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, but it now seems Charlize Theron is another contender for the villainous role. Unlike Angelina, Charlize has a more relaxed schedule and it's also interesting that if she gets the role she would play alongside Tom Hardy in the role of the huntsman with whom she will also star in the remake MAD MAX: FURY ROAD for which the shooting has been postponed for 2012.

Joel Silver will produce DEMONOLOGIST, an unusual  horror about a family of ghost hunters who think they're taking on another normal job when they realize that the house has been overrun by demons and just plain ghosts.

And don't forget to check out the music HOLLYWOOD SPY is playing for you in the sidebar - DARIN with his breathtaking voice and stunning new video LOVEKILLER, the best newcomers this year HURTS with their larger than life song STAY, and Latin sensation PRINCE ROYCE whose song will make your hips move from the first beat :)

Ion Caraion

ORBUL DIN RÎU

Cu inima la coarne, cineva dă cu copita-n lacrimi.
Încă unul care încearcă să potcovească eterul.
Pe urmă lucrurile se complică şi ard
toate circumvoluţiunile luminii.
( Înainte mor crinii...)
Pustiul e alb,
alb,
alb.

Poate că a fost ultima oară cînd mai încercam
să trezesc duhurile
cu care nu-s prieten.

Dedesubtul apelor doarme un orb.


IL CIECO DAL FIUME

Con il cuore nelle corna, qualcuno da un calcio alle lacrime.
Ancora uno che prova ferrare l'etero.
Poi le cose si complicano e bruciano
le circomvoluzioni della luce.
( Prima muoiono i gigli...)
Il deserto e bianco,
bianco
bianco.

Forse e stata l'ultima volta che cercavo
risvegliare gli spiriti
con quali non sono amico.

Al di sotto delle acque sta dormendo un cieco.



THE BLIND IN THE RIVER

With the heart in the horns, one kicks against tears.
Another one trying to shoe the ether.
Then things get complicated and burn
all the convolutions of the light.
( First die the lilies...)
The desert is white,
white
white.

Maybe that was the last time I tried
to awaken the spirits
to which I'm not a friend.

Beneath the waters is sleeping a blind.

FIRST LOOK OF CHRIS EVANS AS CAPTAIN AMERICA! TOM CRUISE AND TAYLOR SWIFT IN "ROCK OF AGES" MUSICAL??? PAUL HAGGIS DIRECTS INTENSE PRISON FLICK "CELL 211"

Ah, here it is finally, the first official picture of Chris Evans as CAPTAIN AMERICA THE FIRST AVENGER has appeared on the cover of next week's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY! Well, he does look positively dashing, even though we can't see the whole costume. How do you like it?

Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper ... the film comes out next July!

Talented Paul Haggis might direct the English version of the Spanish film CELL 211. This critically acclaimed film centered on a newly hired prison guard who wants to make a good impression on his bosses, when he leaves behind his pregnant wife and comes in a day early to get a tour of the facility. When a brutal prison riot breaks out, he is knocked unconscious and when he awakens, the guard is forced to assume the role of a prisoner alongside the most dangerous killers alive. He tries to defuse the uprising and escape before the prisoners realize who he really is.

Oh, what a strange, strange combination: Tom Cruise has been offered a supporting role in ROCK OF AGES, a film based on the hit Broadway musical, in which country star Taylor Swift will take the lead role. With the sound of 80's pop and rock classics, the film itself will follow a young rocker and a small town girl chasing their dreams in L.A. and Cruise might play a bartender mixing them some cocktails :)

beautiful jewels and wonderful henna or mehndi designs

Mehndi, or henna tattoos, is a Hindu art that forms an intricate design most commonly on the feet and palms of the hand. Most commonly used during Hindu weddings, Mehndi is thought to bring good luck and fortune to the wearer. Not only is Mehndi a beautiful art growing in popularity, the henna used is said to create a “cooling” effect that stimulates the nerve endings.


Women are really fond of Mehndi, and not only women many men are also fond of the women’s mehndi. So if you are looking for different mehndi design so you can get your hands on latest mehndi design.




As Mehndi fashion penetrates into the every corner of a gala day celebration, from the small birthday parties to royal bridal ceremonies, you can create some amazing designs your own henna design book.


The Book contains variety of wedding henna Mehndi designs and information on how to apply Mehndi on complicated and delicate body parts like feet, arms, legs, etc. Now, you don’t need to hire a professional every time you need to apply mehendi as you can do it yourself with help of henna design book from the house of HowToHenna.com.

Ana Blandiana

ÎNCUNUNATĂ CU FLORI DE MAC

Încununată cu flori de mac
Aproape descompuse,
Culese pe frig dimineaţa,
Cînd roua se face brumă
Şi dacă umbli prin iarbă
Striveşti sub tălpi cadavrele de greieri,
Încununată cu flori de mac,
Ciocnindu-mă de fluturi muribunzi,
Înaintez
Prin somnul numit de mine
Noiembrie,
Spre clipa incertă
Care nu e nici moarte,
Nici gînd.

Rîuri mari trec în somn
Spre oceane
Purtîndu-şi peştii adormiţi
În provizorii, umede linţolii.


CORONATA DI FIORI DI PAPAVERO

Coronata di fiori di papavero
Quasi scomposti,
Raccolti al feddo nella mattina,
Quando la rugiada diventa brina
E se cammini attraverso l'erba
Schiacci sotto i piedi cadaveri di grilli,
Coronata di fiori di papavero,
Scontrandomi di farfalle morenti,
Vado avanti
Attraverso il sonno chiamato da me
Novembre,
Verso il momento incerto
Che non e ne morte,
Ne pensiero.

Grandi fiumi passano nel sonno
Verso gli oceani
Portando i loro pesci addormentati
In provvisori, umidi lenzuoli.


CROWNED WITH POPPY FLOWERS

Crowned with poppy flowers
Almost decomposed,
Picked up on cold in the morning,
When the dew becomes frost
And if you walk through the grass
You crush under feet bodies of crickets,
Crowned with poppy flowers,
Rushing against dying butterflies,
I go forward
Through the sleep called by me
November,
To the uncertain moment
Which is neither death,
nor thought.

Large rivers pass in the sleep
Towards the oceans
Carrying their sleepy fishes
In temporary, wet shrouds.

DARREN ARONOFSKY TO DIRECT "MACHINE MAN". A HAUNTED CASTLE IN "THE KEEP". EXCITING TRAILER FOR JAMES CAMERON'S UNDERWATER THRILLER "SANCTUM"

Talented Darren Aronofsky (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, THE FOUNTAIN) has agreed to direct MACHINE MAN, a film based on an unfinished novel byMax Barry, in which the story centers on a tech-savvy engineer who is obsessed with self-improvement so he decides to replace his body parts with state of the art titanium upgrades but comes to learn that several organizations want to use him to serve their own agendas. Aronofsky will do this film after he finishes WOLVERINE II.

Niels Arden Oplev (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) is going to direct THE KEEP, based on Jennifer Egan's bestseller. Set in Eastern Europe THE KEEP brings a story within a story about two cousins with a shared secret who reunite to renovate a legendary haunted medieval castle that turns dreams and nightmares into reality.

Today, you can check out the super exciting and ultra dynamic trailer for the underwater thriller SANCTUM produced by James Cameron which comes to cinemas next February. It follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible

cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever? The cast is lead by two amazing gentlemen Richard Roxburgh and Ioan Gruffudd.

The lazy eye

I was born with a "lazy eye" which causes me to have inaccurate sterescopic vision, double vision, and sometimes no stereoscopic vision at all when my eyes are tired. I have never seen a straight line in my life. I look at a doorway, for instance, and see overlapping images that are constantly shifting. When I think about it, I find it amazing that I can negotiate moving from room to room, or doing anything for that matter, without constantly bumping into things. But, since I've seen this way all my life, I've learned to compensate without my even knowing it. I did have serious problems learning to drive, and I do feel nervous at the edges of land, or on bridges, but that is certainly reasonable, given that I don't know exactly where the edge of anything is.

I've always found it surprising that I am a good draughtsman. The fact that I could tattoo at all seemed implausible. But it made sense to me, for I had an obsession with what I called "the perfect line" for decades. I spent countless hours life drawing, trying to find the edges, never interested in light and shadow. To capture a form in the the fewest possible lines, and have that line be sure and strong - oh! - what a pleasure and a challenge it was.

Now I find out that some Harvard neurobiologists are investigating a link that they believe exists between having poor depth perception due to strabismus (that "lazy eye") and having a facility for the visual arts. Rembrandt, Gustav Klimt, Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg, Marc Chagall, Edward Hopper, Man Ray, N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Willem De Kooning all had "ocular misalignment".

I did think my obsession with line drawing was some sort of overcompensation for my "eye problem." I also believed I might see the world in a flatter way than was normal, and though I can't say what "normal" looks like exactly, it seemed rather natural to portray reality on a flat plane. Now, I read that the ability to translate reality onto the flat plane may be facilitated by having this visual "impairment." I'm fascinated. I'm also rather excited, for I've always thought that my eyesight played a role in how I saw the world, not only visually, but in other ways, and I find it gratifying in some way that science is looking into a piece of this.

When I was very young, my eyesight made me think about just what reality was. Seeing two of everything, and having it overlap and move about, I was fascinated with the problem of knowing which image was the real one. I had to know, of course, in order to move about in the world. These days, I do not labor over which image is the "real one", but I clearly remember struggling with it, and those struggles caused me to question the notion that there was but one reality, or that anything was clearly fixed in space. However, if I judged wrong, there would be consequences.

Very young, I saw knowing what is "real" and where it was as some sort of construct, or agreement. Dogs and cats see the world differently than we do, and goodness, bees see it in a very different way, but we all are looking at the same thing. We are not all bumping into each other (for the most part), and that is truly extraordinary.

Today, I feel rather grateful that I was born with a lazy eye. I've always felt it gave me a different perspective and got me thinking about some interesting concepts at a young age, and so there's always been some gratitude, but now I feel like I'm in some great company. How marvelous!

Image note: Man Ray photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1880-1964
There's another photograph of him where it's clearer that his eyes are not aligned, but I can see it here somewhat. One can't tell with me, unless I've just awoken or am quite sleepy. When I was a kid, before I went to eye training school (yep - there's such a thing, or was once), it was quite noticeable.

Addendum: I have mistakenly called strabismus a "lazy eye", which turns out to wrong. I haven't read anything about this subject since I was quite young, and seem to have been harboring a common misconception. I also have amblyopia upon occasion, which is when the brain does not "acknowledge" information from a healthy eye. When my strabismus was quite pronounced, I did have amblyopia, and did not see double most of the time. This was before the eye training, which was an attempt to correct my "funny looking" left eye. It did not work entirely, and it appeared that when the information my brain received was accurate enough, it started to take notice, thus producing the constantly shifting double vision. I remember thinking I preferred a single image, and wished I had not had eye training. It also took up two years of my life and caused a constant headache. Why I didn't have the more common surgery is a mystery.

ANGELINA JOLIE AND TOM HARDY TO STAR IN "SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN"! ANG LEE DIRECTING THE ADAPTATION OF "LIFE OF PI" BESTSELLER. WARNER BROS. PREPARING A FILM ON WILE E. COYOTE'S "ACME" MANUFACTURER

HOLLYWOOD SPY has already mentioned the SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN project, but now it seems Relativity Media has found themselves the cast headliners: two very sexy people - Tom Hardy who will play the Huntsman (he will also play a new villain in BATMAN) and Angelina Jolie who is supposed to portray the evil queen who sets the Huntsman after her

stepdaughter, Snow White, with orders for the Huntsman to kill her but instead, he becomes her mentor, shackled to Snow White for much of the story as they make their escape. As you can

see from my pics, both Angelina and Tom like showing tattoos and breaking taboos :)Did I just make your day? :)

Now, admit that you've always wanted to visit the famous ACME factory from which that darling genious Wile E. Coyote buys his gear and gadgets :))) Well, Warner Bros. is going to make a feature film centered around the fictional ACME warehouse which manufactures all the silly products used by glorious Wile E. Coyote in his quest to catch the Road Runner. The studio wants to make a live-action CG hybrid franchise about those crazy devices which will not feature the Looney Tunes characters.

According to "Variety" director Ang Lee has cast 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma as the lead actor in his film adaptation of the worldwide bestseller LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel. The intriguing story centers on a boy lost at sea in a lifeboat with four unusual and increasingly hungry companions - a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan, after the ship carrying his family and its zoo animals sinks.

Lucian Blaga

AMURG DE TOAMNĂ

Din vîrf de munţi amurgul suflă
cu buze roşii
în spuza unor nori
şi-aţîţă
jeraticul ascuns
sub vălul lor subţire de cenuşă.

O rază
ce vine-n goană din apus
şi-adună aripile şi se lasă tremurînd
pe-o frunză :
dar prea e grea povara -
şi frunza cade.

O, sufletul !
Să mi-l ascund mai bine-n piept
şi mai adînc,
să nu-l ajungă nici o rază de lumină :
s-ar prăbuşi.

E toamnă.


CREPUSCOLO D'AUTUNNO

Dalla cima delle montagne il tramonto soffia
con rosse labbra
nella cenere ancora calda di qualche nuvola
e attizza
il nascosto fuoco
sotto il sottile velo di cenere.

Un raggio
che viene correndo dall'ovest
raccoglie le sue ali e scende tremante
su una foglia :
ma e troppo pesante il fardello -
e la foglia cade.

O, l'anima !
Nasconderla meglio nel petto
e piu profondamente,
per non raggiungerla nessun raggio di luce :
crollerebbe.

E autunno.


AUTUMN TWILIGHT

From the top of the mountains the twilight blows
with red lips
over the hot ashes of some clouds
and stirs up
the hidden fire
under their thin veil of ashes.

A ray
that comes running from the west
gathers her wings and gets down shaking
on a leaf :
but it's too heavy burden -
and the leaf falls.

Oh, the soul !
Let me hide it better in my chest
and deeper,
no ray of light to reach him :
would collapse.

It is autumn.

A bit of scent

A perfume post! When was the last time? I just searched this blog, and the answer is "no results." Did I not use the word "perfume"? Using the word "scent", I find a lot of results, 10 pages of them, but the answer to "when is the last time I wrote about scent (or perfume)" is "I do not know."

It's not as if I haven't been wearing scents, or smelling things. My apartment smelled like pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg for most of the day, and it was heavenly. While I was baking muffins, I didn't smell a thing, but when someone came in to do some work in the apartment, I had just removed the muffin tray from the oven, and he said, "It smells fantastic in here!" For that, he got a muffin, and I walked outside so I could walk back in again, and appreciate just how good those muffins smelled. I may like the scent I'm wearing, but the smell of baked goods has it beat.*

Today I'm wearing Serge Lutens' Chypre Rouge. I've written about this scent at least four times, including how I came to own a lovely little bottle of this stuff I couldn't possibly afford to buy, why I chose to wear it while duck was cooking, and my waffling about whether I loved it or loathed it (the scent, not the duck).

I have come to feel stupid about scent. I used to have a keen nose, and could tell you what some elusive note was without a thought. I could smell a scent once and remember it. When I lived in the city (not the last time), I could most times identify what scent any person was wearing, though these days that would be considerably harder to do, given the sheer variety.

I have no idea what point I came here to make. Maybe all I wanted to convey is that I still love scent. My obsession seems to have abated, and I no longer spend hours reading perfume blogs each day, nor do I trade samples, though I sometimes feel the urge. Then again, even though I've got a long list on MUA, no one has contacted me about a trade, so perhaps there's a general lessening of interest in the culture. Any perfumista reading this, tell me, is that true, or is it, as they say, just me?

There are some (not) new scents I'm quite curious about. I did find myself looking at L'artisan's website last week, and realizing I still have not sniffed Havana Vanille, which was released in 2009. A 2008 release, Nasomatto's China White, has remained a mystery, for no one sells samples of it, and not one person has it listed for trade. These are but two, and there's at least a year of new releases I am utterly unaware of.

I did count my samples before I moved six months ago, and I was up to over 250 before I gave up counting. Amongst these, I haven't a clue how many I have not worn, but only held up to my nose to assess. I'm nervous about application; I wore some Chergui a few weeks ago, a scent which I declared was my "new lover" on June 17, 2008. So much for old loves. I developed a headache, nausea, and couldn't scrub enough. I wasn't that I didn't like the smell (well, theoretically); it made me sick. I had to take a long walk outside after my futile scrubbing. Afterwards, I felt a bit sad. I was concerned my love of scent was truly over and done with.

It appears not. I'm loving the way I smell right now. Don't ask me to describe it, though. I can do that no longer.

Image note: Juan Sanchez Cotan "Still Life with Game Fowl, Vegetables, and Fruit" 1602

*However, I do not want to wear the smell of baked goods or any other edibles (save mushrooms, perhaps). There's a plethora of perfumes, plug-ins, candles, shampoo, and just about anything one can stick a scent into that smell of chocolate, pumpkin, cinnamon, cakes, even donuts, and, well, I just find them oh so cloying. I'm going to sound like an old curmudgeon, but I want my food to smell like food and my perfume to smell like perfume. Yes, I've made chocolate soap, but it was a disaster, and someone tried to eat one that was in the shape of star. It didn't help that I had wrapped them with colored cellophane like the edible bonbons they should have been.

Okay then

Maybe I'm feeling a bit provocative of late. I didn't mean to shock by voicing some ideas about tattooing that were a bit dark . I was only thinking out loud, and wanting a bit of dialogue. I didn't get it here, but I did in real life. It upset a few, but it did provoke some interesting conversation, and that is all I wanted.

I sometimes don't see what's taboo, or if I do, I want to talk about it and find out what others think.

So, I might be doing it again, by airing these thoughts:

There was a plate of crudites at a party that were particularly beautiful. Carrots with purple skin, bright yellow carrots, "watermelon radishes", and a bunch of other things, all quite colorful, that I had never seen before. I met the grower of these delightful vegetables, and we wound up talking about the immense variety of beans. I do not recall their name, but a friend grows some beans that are particularly stunning - magenta pods filled with purple skinned brilliantly lime green beans. When I was done describing them, a man said, "They would be wonderful to photograph with nudes." Okay. Sure. I said, "Well, they are quite sensuous." He responded, "I didn't say they were sexual." "No, sensuous", I replied.

As it turns out, he was a fine art photographer, and it wasn't some strange comment coming from nowhere. I looked at some of his work on the Web, and some of it seemed to fall into the category of "erotica" more than "fine art photography" (if there is a line). Seeing this, I wondered why he took such seeming offense at thinking I had said "sexual." Reflecting on this, I thought about those slippery categories: 1. Fine art nude photography. 2. Erotica. 3. Pornography. Where's the line?

I have never had a good answer to this question. It seems that the answer is simply a modicum of discretion, and aesthetics, nothing more or less. We know it when we see it.

The "law" has not been able to figure this one out. I certainly can't.

It's considered fine for men to take photographs of nude young women. I'm not saying it's wrong, though sometimes I suspect their motives, but I got to thinking: if a woman did the same thing with young men, wouldn't people, in general, be bothered? I believe so. If I did it, I'm sure it would be scandalous in this small town. Yet, there are many middle aged men who photograph, draw, and paint young nude woman every day here.

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to go out and do something. So, when I think I'm not provocative, or transgressive, I suppose I'm disingenuous, or just blind to myself.

I'm not planning on becoming a photographer of young men, but the idea that it would challenge people did make me think someone ought to do it, simply because it's a taboo based on sexism. Additionally, since I have strong feelings about abuses of power regarding sex and age, and about the idea that youth equals beauty, I will not be engaging in this project (and of course, I'm not a photographer). But, I did think, if I were a photographer, I'd like to photograph older people naked, to challenge myself, for one thing, about my feelings that my body has become "ruined", and this will only get worse. Are wrinkles and sagging skin really that aesthetically displeasing? Isn't this just a remnant of our gaze being affected by having to assess quickly the fecundity or virility of potential mates? I suppose, too, that we are repulsed by that which is dying, but autumn is beautiful, and the starkness of winter can be breathtaking. These last thoughts were not on point, but these are but ruminations. . .

Image note: Goya "The Clothed Maya" 1803
Goya painted the "The Nude Maja" in 1800. "Without a pretense to allegorical or mythological meaning, the painting was the first totally profane life-size female nude in Western art." * The questions start here. Does intent and meaning create the divide between high art and pornography? When I hear a heterosexual man state, "I find the female form beautiful", though that may well be true, why is admitting lust a taboo (and how can it not be so)?

*Licht, Fred: Goya: The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art

Addendum: I have compressed my thinking about these subjects into a smallish space.vI do like talking and writing about my half baked ideas. I also do enjoy hearing what others have to say on any subject I babble on about, so please, if you are so moved, even if I write something that bothers you, please leave a comment.

TOPHER GRACE IS HOLLYWOOD SPY'S FAVOURITE GEEK! NEW POLL: THE BEST LIVING ACTRESS

Our, IT'S CHIC TO BE GEEK poll is over, which off course doesn't mean being geek isn't chic anymore. Geeks remain cool forever! Because it's better being smart, goofy and charming than handsome and shallow. Do you agree? :) And who's the winner? Well it's no one else but that 70's guy Topher Grace with amazing 41% of your votes.

He left equally charming Christopher Gorham in the second place with 24% of votes. The list continues with Zachary Levi (10%) and Adam Brody and John Krasinski (both with7% of votes).

Now, I'm guessing it was kinda expectable that Topher would win this poll. THAT 70'S SHOW, with him as the main star, really was hugely popular all around the world and after the show ended Topher has continued with the successful movie career. Being always adorkable and charismatic, seducing the ladies with his green puppy eyes and winning over guys with his humour, Topher Grace had great romantic roles in IN THE GOOD COMPANY (with Scarlett Johannson and Denis Quaid) and VALENTINES DAY, but he was also an action hero in SPIDERMAN III and PREDATORS. We will be watching him in KEEP COMING BACK with Milla Jovovich and in Curtis Hanson's TOO BIG TO FAIL next year.

It's interesting that Topher is exactly three months younger than your HOLLYWOOD SPY :), that he started his career in musicals, Topher is just the short form of his real name Christopher, actress Chloe Sevigny was his babysitter when he was a kid, he gained 24 pounds of muscle for the role of Venom in SPIDERMAN.

Now since we've proclaimed our favourite geek, let us find THE BEST LIVING ACTRESS. Next two weeks you can vote as much as you like for these four ultra talented, heavenly gifted, breathtakingly expressive, mind-blowingly gorgeous, stunningly omnipotent, otherworldly almighty thespians: Judi Dench (AS TIME GOES BY, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, CHOCOLAT, IRIS, MRS BROWN), Cate Blanchett (ELIZABETH, LORD OF THE RINGS, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, BENJAMIN BUTTON, CHARLOTTE GRAY, THE GOOD GERMAN), Meryl Streep (JULIE AND JULIA, CRAMER VS CRAMER, DOUBT, OUT OF AFRICA, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS) or Kate Winslet (TITANIC, THE READER, LITTLE CHILDREN, QUILLS, IRIS, HEAVENLY CREATURES, HAMLET). Those are the four ladies who deserve an Oscar for each and every of their roles. Who's your favourite among them?

Constanţa Buzea

***

citeşte şi nu te speria
că nu-nţelegi de la-nceput
citeşte şi a doua oară
şi-a unsprezecea oară stăruind
şi vei simţi cum leagănul se mişcă
în foşnetul unor azururi
şi stăruind te vei simţi citind
stînd între omoplaţii unui înger
cuvintele ce n-au fost scrise încă


***

leggi non avere paura
di non capire dall'inizio
leggi anche la seconda volta
e l'undicesima volta insistendo
e sentirai come si muove la culla
nel fruscio di alcuni azzurri
e insistendo ti sentirai leggendo
stare tra le scapole di un angelo
le parole che non sono state ancora scritte


***

read and do not be afraid
that you would not understand from the beginning
read the second time
and the eleventh time insisting
and you'll feel that the cradle moves
in the rustle of some blues
and insisting you'll feel reading
standing between the shoulder blades of an angel
the words that were not written yet

MICHAEL MANN TO GO MEDIEVAL IN "AGINCOURT". "THE LORAX" BY DR. SEUSS GETS ITS 3D FILM. SPOOKY POSTER FOR POST-APOCALYPTIC THRILLER "THE DIVIDE"

The team which made DESPICABLE ME is preparing a new environmentally friendly animated project - THE LORAX by Dr. Seuss, and you can check out the first image of a stumpy little guy who stands on a tree stump deploring the destruction of a

forest. Danny De Vito will give voice to Lorax, and other characters will also include The Once-ler, a shortsighted, greedy creature who chops down every tree he can find, and O'Hare, another industrialist who sells cans of fresh air to the polluted world the Once-ler creates and wants to keep it that way. Betty White and Zac Efron will also be the part of the voice cast.

Last year I wrote a beautiful article revealing that the story of the famous battle at AGINCOURT was going to be made into a film, but now it seems the possible director could be famous Michael Mann (THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS).

Based on the bestselling novel by Bernard Cornwell, this medieval epic will describe the famous 15th century battle between England lead by young king Henry V and France. Henry lead his glorious army in the quest to claim the French crown but he soon discovered that the enemy was more daunting than he could ever have imagined. But although much more bigger, the French army had at least five times more casualties in the end with most of the French noble men dying in the battle.


And check out the cool new poster from next year's futuristic thriller THE DIVIDE. Starring Milo Ventimiglia, Rossana Arquette and Michael Biehn it starts after a cataclysmic explosion

devastates New York and eight strangers take refuge in the basement of their apartment building, a converted fallout shelter. While they try to fathom the catastrophe that has ended their world, suddenly men in HAZMAT suits storm their shelter and open fire. The strangers join forces in a desperate bid to take on this enemy and to, later on, deal with the claustrophobia, radiation-poisoning and dwindling supplies. But in order to survive the end of the world they must first survive each other. HOLLYWOOD SPY has published an intense trailer of THE DIVIDE earlier this year.

Emil Botta

TOAMNA 1934

Copacii înamoraţi vorbeau cu glia în şoaptă,
le-am auzit inima cîntînd.
Am transcris un crîmpei pe o frunză şi am dat-o iubitei ;
ea a rupt-o, distrată de un gînd.

Nu ştiu de voi mai auzi asemenea rare cuvinte de slavă
şi la o noapte asemeni de mi-i mai dat să fiu martor.
Frunze, săruturi, plouau cu nemiluita,
pe faţa pămintului, de plînset jilavă.

Acum pădurea s-a mutat în cer...
Şi umblă copacii de parcă n-ar fi...
Şi o ciocîrlie a scris în spaţiu, stingher :
" Aici a fost odată pădurea ".


AUTUNNO 1934

Gli alberi innamorati parlavano sussurando con la terra,
ho sentito il loro cuore cantare.
Ho trascritto un brano su una foglia e l'ho data al mio amore ;
lei l'ha rotta, distratta da un pensiero.

Non so se sentiro piu cosi rare parole di lode
e a una notte cosi se saro piu testimone.
Foglie, baci, piovevano a catinelle
sul viso della terra, bagnato di lacrime.

Adesso il bosco e spostato nel cielo...
E camminano gli alberi come se non ci fossero piu...
E l'allodola ha scritto nello spazio, sola :
" Qui c'e stato una volta il bosco ".



THE AUTUMN 1934

The loving trees were whispering to the earth,
I heard their heart singing.
I trascribed a fragment on a leaf and I gave it to my love ;
she tore it up, distracted by a thought.

I don't know if I shall hear such rare words anymore
and if I shall witness such a night.
Leaves, kisses, were raining plentfully
on the face of the earth, wet with tears.

Now the forest has moved in the sky...
The trees walk as they wouldn't be...
And the skylark wrote in the space, lonely:
" Here was once the forest ".