February 17, 2004
Five Questions
Following Don, who is following OGIC, to whom the questions were asked, I am going to answer these one at a time:
(1) What book have you owned longest—the actual copy, I mean?
(2) If you could wish a famous painting out of existence, what would it be?
(3) If you had to live in a film, what would it be?
(4) If you had to live in a song, what would it be?
(5) What’s the saddest work of art you know? And does experiencing it make you similarly sad?
I will start with #1, and will tell you that the answer is different now than it would have been three years ago. Three years ago, I would have forgotten about a whole section of my library that was boxed away both physically and mentally. However, someone has come into our lives two and a half years ago who suddenly made that part of the library relevant again.
There are probably multiple titles that would win the prize, but the one that I think was my first book that still is in the library is "The Owl and the Pussycat," followed by Richard Scarry's Book of Nursery Rhymes. Perhaps the order is wrong, but I think that is it.
Posted by erik at February 17, 2004 3:13 PM | TrackBackConcerning Van Gogh, maybe I need a better education. I must agree with you on Warhol, though, and Duchamp: I saw an exhibit of his in grade school, and he seemed like a mocker, a scoffer, and a rearranger, not an innovator.
As I just noted at Mixolydian Mode, I changed my mind on #5 to the theme from The Godfather. That's a real garment-render!
Posted by: KTC at February 20, 2004 6:08 AMVan Gogh?!? Say it ain't so.
I agree with you about being stuck north of the Alps with a bunch of Puritans. Not for me.
Posted by: Erik Keilholtz at February 19, 2004 4:36 PM5. This is really difficult. I'm too scared of bottoming out to do much deep exploration of the sad, so any work I pick would have to be either something that jumped up and throttled me or else something that I chanced upon while browsing.
With that disclaimer I will say "The Last Time I Saw Richard," by Joni Mitchell, from the Blue album.
Posted by: KTC at February 19, 2004 10:05 AM1. My St. Joseph's press black "My Mass Book." I got it when I was about 5, in 1965.
2. Anything by Van Gogh.
3. I was going to be a broken record and say Babette's Feast; but, after some thought I realized that no matter how fervently I hope to emulate Babette, I really wouldn't want to spend fourteen bleak, ugly years in Jutland with Puritans eating ale-bread!
A much sweeter atmosphere is found in Roberto Benigni's Johnny Stecchino: the view off Maria's balcony in Palermo is out-of-this-world gorgeous!
4. "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
5. That's a toughie.
Posted by: KTC at February 18, 2004 12:55 PM