And now...

Terry Gilliam, 73:

What was your earliest ambition?
I thought of becoming a missionary. I went to church and to college on a Presbyterian scholarship.
Public school or state school? University or straight into work?
Birmingham High School in California, then Occidental College. I scraped through as I was spending my time on extracurricular things.
How physically fit are you?
I’m not. The only exercise I really get these days: our house is four floors, I work at the top and have to go downstairs to eat.
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
Both. And luck — maybe the most important thing. And patience. And pigheadedness. Monomania may also be useful.
How politically committed are you?
Everything I do has a political point. Voting seems to be the less efficient way of changing things.
Do you consider your carbon footprint?
I’m more interested in carbon dating. I want different molecules of carbon to meet each other and get married. I’m fairly careful is all I can say — I don’t measure it.
Do you have more than one home?
Yes. One in London and a place in Italy, in Umbria.
What would you like to own that you don’t currently possess?
A private jet. I’m very simple.
What’s your biggest extravagance?
I’m not extravagant — some might say I’m mean — but I’m careful with my money. What I really cherish is time to wait for what I really want to do rather than having to work to pay for my lifestyle.
In what place are you happiest?
I’m happy a lot but the house in Italy is where I’m most content.
What ambitions do you still have?
It’s not so much an ambition as a need: the need to get The Man Who Killed Don Quixote [his longstanding film project] out of my life so I can get on with my life!
What drives you on?
It seems to be built into the DNA. I think my parents wound me up and the spring is still wound tight.
What is the greatest achievement of your life so far?
A couple of my films will stand the test of time. But what I’m most proud of is the thing I didn’t want anything to do with. I never wanted to have kids when I was younger and they’ve turned out to be great! I love them. And it’s not even my achievement, it’s more my wife’s.
If you had a coat of arms, what would be on it?
Cupid’s foot has got to be there. A tree. The sun. A west wind. A shrew rampant. A key, though we don’t know what it opens or what it locks in. A broken heart, for the sentimental vote.
What has been your greatest disappointment?
I don’t carry regrets. But I wish I’d been able to make more films.
If your 20-year-old self could see you now, what would he think?
I made films for that kid. So I hope he likes them. Around that time I became aware of films being eye-opening, mind-opening, not just entertainment.
If you lost everything tomorrow, what would you do?
I have no idea! I don’t know if I understand the world any more, what the rules are for getting going. Maybe call one of my rich and hugely successful friends...
Do you believe in an afterlife?
No.
If you had to rate your satisfaction with your life so far, out of 10, what would you score?
I’m never satisfied so I’m not sure. Can that be my answer? I hate one-to-10 questions.


- - -

I think I may have found my role model. 























There's no people like show people, they smile when they are low
Even with a turkey that you know will fold, you may be stranded out in the cold
Still you wouldn't change it for a sack of gold, let's go on with the show

from There's No Business Like Show Busines from the musical Annie Get Your Gun with music and text by Irving Berlin




"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at." 
"I am a fox," the fox said. 
"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy." 
"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed." 
"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince. 
But, after some thought, he added: 
"What does that mean—'tame'?" 
"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?" 
"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean—'tame'?" 
"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?" 
"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean—'tame'?" 
"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It means to establish ties." 

Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry, The Little Prince.





It's very difficult to communicate the experience that you inhabit
It comes only in abstract explaination

Eugenio Barba, Holstebro, 22. August 2014





a japanese word described in the monthly newsletter of the lovely noreen blanluet. 
you should subscribe.


one year ago: from the land of paradoxes


















“The presumptions that the future follows the past, that mourning might follow melancholia, that mourning might be completed are all poignantly called into question in these pages as we realize a series of paradoxes: the past is irrecoverable and the past is not past: the past is the resource for the future and the future is the redemption of the past; loss must be marked and it cannot be represented: loss fractures representation itself and loss precipitates its own modes of expression.” 
Judith Butler