Posts Tagged ‘Wile E. Coyote’
“Beep, Beep”*…
Here is a parable. For decades, a master artisan crafts works of beauty and genius. His creations are acclaimed by virtually all who behold them. Nearing the end of his life, the artisan, wealthy and revered, his name rightly and indelibly etched into the history of his medium, sets out to describe for posterity how he created such great works, the discipline underlying their brilliance. He writes down the rules he set for himself. And they are wrong…
From Albert Burneko‘s fascinating essay on Chuck Jones [c.f. here and here], his Road Runner cartoons, his “Nine Rules” for creating those masterpieces… and the profound way in which those rules miss the point. Some readers will agree with Burneko; others may disagree. But all will enjoy the journey (and perhaps especially the exquisite cartoons that are liberally used as examples):
“How Wile E. Coyote Explains The World.”
* Road Runner
###
As we buy Acme, we might recall that it was on this date in 1919 that two men who were to figure prominently in the development of animation were mustered out of the armed services: A.A. Milne was discharged from the Signal Corps of the British Army, and Roy Disney was released from the U.S. Navy. Milne went on to write one of the best-love children’s series ever, featuring a character, Winnie the Pooh, that Roy Disney helped his brother and partner Walt turn into an animated staple.
I’m a roadrunner, baby…
Given the breadth of James Franco’s artistic endeavors, he was bound to inspire imitation…
[TotH to Flavorpill]
As we rethink our use of the comparative superlative “an arm and a leg,” we might recall that it was on this date in 1901 that the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris opened a show of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh– who had committed suicide 11 years earlier. Van Gogh, who had sold only one work during his lifetime, was commemorated by small (and uneventful) shows after his death. But the BJ show– 71 paintings– became a sensation… and Van Gogh began his rise to a level of esteem and fame surely unimaginable to him during his life.
self-portrait, 1887 (source)
Owning a piece of the past: an investment option for our times?…
source: Bonhams
As one passes the first anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers, one might be wondering where (beyond one’s mattress) one should be parking what’s left of one’s resources.
As Wired.com reports, the auctioneers Bonhams have an idea: natural history artifacts. The 42 items to be gaveled in a sale to held in Las Vegas on October 3 range from a fossilized fish, estimated to go for about $1,000, to a 66 million-year-old T-Rex skeleton (above), one of the best ever found– and estimated to fetch as much as $8 million. Other highlights include the largest shark jaw ever found, a giant pig skull, and the skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur.
Collectables, of course, have an uneven history as investments… but then, how’s that stock portfolio doing this last year or so?
As we rethink our portfolios (and the arrangement of our living rooms), we might recall that it was on this date in 1949 that Warner. Bros. introduced the Road Runner in the cartoon short “Fast and Furry-ous.” Created by Michael Maltese and the incomparable Chuck Jones, The Road Runner’s “beep, beep” (like the sounds of most other Warner Bros. cartoon characters) was voiced by Mel Blanc.
The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote make their debut
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