Cool, in-depth look at what it took to recreate the Overlook Hotel for the movie Dr. Sleep. Recreating the Overlook Hotel – a set decorator’s journey.
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Aha! I knew it. Square dancing is racist. America’s wholesome square dancing tradition is a tool of white supremacy.
“By bringing back square dancing, as well as other primarily Anglo-Saxon dances like waltzes and quadrilles, [Henry] Ford believed he would be able to counteract what he saw as the unwholesome influence of jazz on America. People, he imagined, would leave the dance halls and cabarets in droves to swing their partners round and round at liquor-free square dance clubs. If jazz was the cause of America’s moral decay, he reasoned, the road to repair it could be as simple as replacing it with fiddles and square dances.”
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Alison Bechdel won a fancy prize. Bechdel to receive Washington University International Humanities Prize. Good for her. (That reminds me. I have The Secret to Superhuman Strength sitting around unread. Should probably read it soon.) Good time to remember the origin of the Bechdel-Wallace test (though when I recite it I usually say two ‘named’ women, to avoid moments like this supercut of every time The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies passes the Bechdel test).
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One of my recent favorite collections of short stories is Wild Milk by Sabrina Orah Mark. Maybe her work might be described as surreal humor? Dream-like literature? I love her use of language and the playful leaps of imagination. Here’s the title story from the collection.
“On the first day of Live Oak Daycare, all the children are given shovels and a small bag of dirt. “We encourage the children—even the babies, especially the babies—to work hard, imaginatively.” Miss Birdy, my son’s teacher, winks. She sits my baby boy in the middle of the floor with his shovel and dirt. He is not even a year old. I look around. The babies are happy. I have never seen such happy babies. Chewing on their shovels. Spreading around their dirt. Miss Birdy gives me a hug. I wave goodbye to my boy, but he doesn’t see me. “Go, go,” says Miss Birdy. “He’s in good hands.” She shows me her hands. They remind me, for some reason, of my hands.”
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Yay! We made it to Friday. Have a great weekend, and if you’re passovering or eastering, I wish you much delicious eating.
(100 Days of Blogging: Post 075 of 100)