One of the angles and pearls from Francisco’s conversation with Quincy Jones.

The name of Nadia Boulanger is incredible: she taught the greatest 20th century composers, including Aaron Copland…. and Quincy.

 

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Wooing today’s loss of discourse and argument, where civil mutuality has been replaced by aggression and abuse, Francisco reviews some rhetorical strategies used by Socrates, the greatest thinker of Classical Greece, in creating an argument and bringing a sweeping span of consideration to the art of discussion.

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Francisco favorably discusses Jim Jarmusch’s black comedy horror film “The Dead Don’t Die” through its references to George Romero’s 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead” and assorted Americana clichés. No Comments on The Dead Don’t Die – a Film Commentary

In the past few weeks, Francisco traveled the Grand European Tour of the 18th and 19th century, sailing from Budapest and recalling the intellectual culture that sprung up along the Danube from Prague to Vienna on this leg of his journey. He describes the historical and cultural traditions from Mozart to Freud and reflects on the artistic inspiration drawn from Vienna’s cultural and architectural legacy. No Comments on The Grand European Detour (A Preview)

Francisco contrasts the 20th century’s most provocative media critic, McLuhan, with its most profound thinker on technology, Heidegger, and finds agreement between them. No Comments on McLuhan versus Heidegger – Two Visions, One Verdict

Asked for advice about the filmic profession, and performative arts in general, Francisco imagined a response like Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet” — that is, honing the existential compass before plotting the journey across the adult lifespan. Enjoy. No Comments on Two Epiphanies

The rise of digital film, replacing celluloid film, has been seen as a threat to the art of movies. Theorist and filmmaker Francisco Ricardo considers whether this tension makes sense for film at all..

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Today, 23 March, we remember Adrienne Chamberlin, heroic soul who bravely enabled the flight of many projects with her superhuman devotion and intelligence. Here are some clips that she either filmed or was caught in. Enjoy it, and honor a kind person in your midst today! https://youtu.be/oKgfgyVrwC0

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Francisco remembers Richard Burton, one of the greatest actors of the last century, able to recite Shakespeare backward, who arose from grinding poverty in Wales to the heights of fame both on the London stage and the Hollywood screen, and who died at age 58, full of talent, but also of lusts for fame and for alcohol.

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Driving to the Academy for the Oscar nominated documentary selections for this year, Francisco learns that Karl Lagerfeld, of whose life and work he was a scholar, passed away. Here is Francisco’s impromptu appreciation of the person and his unique impact on others. Karl was more than an icon, he was the last modernist in fashion.

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