PICTURES OF THE WEEK
I came across this dinosaur topiary on Valencia street, and learned that it is in the only private parkelt in all of San Francisco.
Hanlon’s Razor to Harpo Marx
Or, my travelogue from the other nights’ trip down a rabbit hole.
Some people like sports. Some people like TV. I like indulging my curiosity and doing research on spiraling topics. I took notes on a particular nights roamings, and thought I’d share them with you, as a bit of a travelogue down a rabbit hole, as I burrowed through topics.
It started with a conversation with my friend G.E.A. about producing, and how I often find Hanlon’s Razor something worth remembering: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." In reading the wikipedia article, I realized I didn’t REALLY know what an “aphorism” was, so of course I went to that wikipedia page as well. I looked through the list of Aphorists, and decided to check in on Dorothy Parker, a name I’m familiar with, and have appreciated the quote attributed to her of “If you don’t have anything nice to say, come sit next to me.”
In reading Dorothy Parker’s Wikipedia page, it was noted: Her ashes remained unclaimed in various places, including her attorney Paul O'Dwyer's filing cabinet, for approximately 17 years. That gave me pause, thinking that someone as well known as her wouldn’t have someone claim their ashes. I’m curious where all those people who “didn’t have anything nice to say” were...
I realized I had no idea what Dorothy Parker sounded like, and jumped over to YouTube to see what I could find. I found a clip of her reading one of her poems. (And if you like Anne Hathaway, watch her read another poem by Parker, GREAT performance.) That was linked to a documentary about the Algonquin Round Table (which started out as a practical joke), called The Ten-Year Lunch. I watched part of it, and realized Harpo Marx was part of the Round Table! Which explained why one of the suggested videos was a documentary on the Marx Brothers, called Inside the Marx Brothers.
I watched part of that, and loved the story of their lives. I often think of famous people living in the 40’s and 50’s having it easy, linear lives, but whenever I delve deeper, it seems they are anything but! One of my favorite moments was finding out that Harpo was single until his mid-40’s, and then he got married and adopted 4 kids.
A day or two later, another story about a Marx brother, this time Groucho, caught my eye. It was about his last movie, and how his character took LSD, so he wanted to try it in real life. During his experience, this happened: “Groucho related a story about one of his all-time favorite contestants on his TV quiz show You Bet Your Life. "A gentleman with white hair, on in years, but a chipper fellow," Groucho recalled. "I inquired as to what he did to retain his sunny disposition," Groucho said. "'Well Groucho, I'll tell you,' the gentleman replied, 'Every day I get up and I make a choice to be happy.'" Groucho never forgot the old man, his cheerful attitude, or his upbeat remark.”
Hope you enjoyed the rabbit hole! So, what have you been looking up lately?
From:https://austinkleon.com/2018/02/26/the-lifelong-creative-learning-spiral/ - G.E.A turned on to this newsletter, and I really liked this graphic.
I got to see Cere Davis’ Liquid Loom this weekend. I loved seeing everyone experience shooting static electricity at the screens, and then touching the pins to “weave” on the screen. Picture by J.R.
