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‘Give Me Your Hands, If We Be Friends…’
After years of shameless freeloading, I was finally compelled to join the Ricochet community this weekend. Would that I could say this action was prompted by a particularly persuasive entreaty by Rob Long which rendered further avoidance inconceivable. While I could defensively insist that it has long been my intention to become a member, I will refrain from offering excuses. My ultimate motivation for joining Ricochet was a heightened need, brought about by recent events, to seek a level of ideological kinship not presently available to me.
Beyond my nuclear family (i.e., parents and siblings), the circles in which I travel are overwhelmingly left-leaning. As an introverted, lifelong resident of the Boston area employed in the Arts, there is little opportunity to make any connections of a right-of-center persuasion. It is my sincerest wish that this forum will assist in filling that void.
It is my intention to post with some regularity. In addition to conservative/libertarian politics, my main points of interest include opera/operetta/classic musical theatre, Gilbert & Sullivan, Shakespeare, and silent cinema, and I expect that I will feel motivated to expound upon these and other topics with greater frequency than on politics. I hope that some of my fellow Ricochetti will find my musings of sufficient interest to indulge me.
Published in General
What kind of knife? Tactical or a spider knife?
Heh. You’re right. A good host lets people mingle instead of buttonholing them and oversharing.
Me too. He’s the most American of the three, in so many ways.
Did it have the original score? Because that work is amazing. This new recording brings out things I never heard in the original, and you can only imagine sitting in the theater and feeling that organ pedal point at the end in your guts. A reminder that silent cinema – well, it wasn’t.
From what I understand they were able to reconstitute the film after they discovered the score, because the cues referred to the scenes they kept finding in cans in closets in Argentina or Berlin or Topeka.
I was going to say I prefer my silent movies in German. Early Bily Wilder and even Hitchcock was cutting his teeth there.
My father grew up in the South End, on Clarendon Street.
Once an aspiring opera singer, I changed tacks when the elephant in the room became too obvious to ignore; that I was woefully inadequate at singing opera. I have settled for working in box offices, which I have done for the past fifteen years. I will refrain, at this time, from revealing the identity of my current employer, but suffice it to say I work for one of the preeminent arts organizations in the country (nay, the world!), which should narrow down the list of possible candidates considerably.
I have not yet heard this particular score. The music for the screening I saw was provided by a gentleman from the New England area who specializes in an improvisational style of silent film accompaniment. However his performance compares to the original score, I was not disappointed.
The few missing sections were replaced with production stills which served as placeholders for the missing footage. If these passages have, indeed, been restored, I should not be sorry to stand corrected.
Welcome!
Do you sing? Play an instrument? Both?
If you saw it in 2019, that was the latest version. I don’t think they’ve found anything since the 2010 restoration. The missing footage is not missing at all, if I recall correctly – it was just too damaged. About 20+ minutes were cut for the wide release, carving out an entire subplot, so it’s like finding a lost print of Empire Strikes Back that has almost a half-hour of Bobba Fett backstory.
I got it for my silent-movie friend, and there’s just a couple scenes not yet completely restored, still. They’ve done a really amazing job. I remember when an earlier print was shown at a sci-fi convention I went to, and sometimes it felt like 50% or more title cards, saying what you were SUPPOSED TO BE seeing, but weren’t…
I played a pirate in “Pirates of Penzance” in junior high-school. Drew Carey played the role of Fredrick.
Welcome! I see that we share a number of interests and I look forward to reading your posts.
Oh! Oh! I’m so excited! As a non-artsy person myself, I admire those that are and relish the learned guidance I can glean from others. I look forward to your posts – artsy and not.
-DP
If I remember correctly, there was a wonderful place for brunch on Clarendon. Corner of…I don’t remember. Also, last I looked for it, nearly 20 years ago, it was gone. So sad. It was VERY good. Had my graduation day brunch there.
Welcome! What an elegant and gracious self-introduction.
I really feel you on the “lonely conservative in the arts” thing. I have worked in or adjacent to museums, theaters, and libraries for the past 15 years; I am of necessity about as deeply undercover as a mob informant. The only in-person political conversations I’ve had since 2006 have been with Mr. Charlotte and my dad, so Ricochet is a salutary outlet.
But aren’t the lefties tolerant of everyone?
Good one!
Like many who love to sing in choruses and choirs, I am in the same position. I belong to a very fine choral group controlled by aggressive religious progressivists who cannot imagine that there are doubters in their midst. By repeating the party line that “singing is Unsafe, and Unsafe is not Virtuous, so singing is not Virtuous”, she maintains her virtuous reputation. I am 100% undercover. I am waiting passively for the prog rulers to signal to our choral director that once again, “Singing is Good and has always been Good”, and erase from history the declaration that “Singing is Evil and has always been Evil”.
Glad you asked. It’s kind of a mute point because I’m always packing a “roscoe” anyway (always bring a gun to a knife fight-just saying) as no matter how good I think I am with a blade, I know I’m not that good, and I’ve got the scares to prove it. I prefer a fixed tactical, but when that is not practical, I role with a folder. My two go-to daily carries now are a Tanto design/Damascus steel blade, made my a local blade smith here in south central Texas:
And a ColdSteel Counter Point# 1 folder:
Both are easy to carry and not that hard on cloths.
Knives make fighting a dude 100 pounds heavier than you way easier and I hear it’s more effective in close range combat than guns.