999 things

104. Lighthouses “It is the one orderly product our middling...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:19:42 +0200

104. Lighthouses

“It is the one orderly product our middling race has produced. It is the cry of a thousand sentinels, the echo from a thousand labyrinths; it is the lighthouse which cannot be hidden the best evidence we can give of our dignity.”

E. M. Forster

103. Bern “This is my first snow at Smith. It is like any other...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:06:29 +0100

103. Bern

“This is my first snow at Smith. It is like any other snow, but from a different window, and there lies the singular charm of it. […] Well, I know now. I know a little more how much a simple thing like a snowfall can mean to a person.”

Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

102. The Beautiful and Damned “Things are sweeter when...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:51:47 +0100

102. The Beautiful and Damned

“Things are sweeter when they’re lost. I know—because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it it turned to dust in my hand.”

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

#101. El Escorial Monastery Library “The vault of the...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:39:30 +0200

#101. El Escorial Monastery Library

“The vault of the library’s ceiling is decorated with frescoes depicting the seven liberal arts: Rhetoric, Dialectic, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy.”

#100. The Godfather “Johnny .. was signed to this...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:54:00 +0200

#100. The Godfather

“Johnny .. was signed to this contract with a big-band leader .. and he wanted to get out of it.. My father went to see the bandleader, and offered him $10,000 to let Johnny go, but the bandleader said no. So the next day, my father went to see the bandleader again, only this time with Luca Brasi. Within an hour, the bandleader signed the release, with a certified check of $1,000.”
“How did he do that?”
“My father made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

#99. Doctor Who“People assume that time is a strict progression...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:55:59 +0200

#99. Doctor Who

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.”
“He’s like fire and ice and rage. He’s like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun. He’s ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe. And… he’s wonderful.”

#98. London fog “The fog was where I wanted to be. Halfway down...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:57:23 +0200

#98. London fog

“The fog was where I wanted to be. Halfway down the path you can’t see this house. You’d never know it was here. Or any of the other places down the avenue. I couldn’t see but a few feet ahead. I didn’t meet a soul. Everything looked and sounded unreal. Nothing was what it is. That’s what I wanted—to be alone with myself in another world where truth is untrue and life can hide from itself. Out beyond the harbor, where the road runs along the beach, I even lost the feeling of being on land. The fog and the sea seemed part of each other. It was like walking on the bottom of the sea. As if I had drowned long ago. As if I was the ghost belonging to the fog, and the fog was the ghost of the sea. It felt damned peaceful to be nothing more than a ghost within a ghost.”

Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

#97. Edgar Degas “Art is not what you see, but what you...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:20:00 +0200

#97. Edgar Degas

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

Degas

#96. The Cure - Disintegration “I think it’s dark...

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:09:52 +0200

#96. The Cure - Disintegration

“I think it’s dark and it looks like rain, you said
and the wind is blowing like it’s the end of the world, you said
and it’s so cold, it’s like the cold if you were dead.
And then you smiled
for a second.”

Plainsong

#95. Royal Palace of Caserta “The estate at Caserta is a...

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:33:00 +0200

#95. Royal Palace of Caserta

“The estate at Caserta is a unique creation of the 18th century spirit, which created buildings of great architectural value that fitted well into a natural landscape, in accordance with planning designs […] representing the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space.[…] The monumental Caserta complex was deliberately created as a rival to Versailles and Madrid […] Its special quality lies in the way in which it it was adapted to the surrounding landscape and incorporated individual pre-exsisting elements into an integrated whole, rather than seeking to modify or ignore it.”

from the UNESCO World Heritage Justification

#94. Davis and White - Samson & Delilah “For their...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:48:00 +0200

#94. Davis and White - Samson & Delilah

“For their young age at the time, this epic, intense performance is simply outstanding. The program was, in fact, their breakthrough, with a soft opening escalating into an intense, passionate drama with deep edges and incredibly high speed.”

Samson & Delilah

#93. Janis Joplin “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:47:25 +0200

#93. Janis Joplin

“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?”

Maybe

Summertime

#92. Oksana Baiul - The Swan “Oksana Baiul is one of the...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:17:00 +0200

#92. Oksana Baiul - The Swan

“Oksana Baiul is one of the timeless artists. She only compares to the greatest ones of their respective genres, such as Maria Callas, Edith Piaf, Michelangelo, to name a few. Her pursuit is a sport, but she way transcends beyond that limited category. This radiant performance by this poor orphan girl is moving beyond words. If i were a religiously inclined person, i would say it constitutes proof of the existence of a loving god — in any case, Oksana makes me proud to be a member of the human race.”

The Swan

#91. Tulip fields “The earth laughs in flowers.” Ralph Waldo...

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:01:21 +0200

#91. Tulip fields

“The earth laughs in flowers.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

#89. Breakfast at Tiffany’s “Never love a wild...

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:40:02 +0200

#89. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

“Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell,’ Holly advised him. ‘That was Doc’s mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can’t give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they’re strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That’s how you’ll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You’ll end up looking at the sky.”

Truman Capote

#90. Acquainted with the night “Some say the world will end in...

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:40:00 +0200

#90. Acquainted with the night

“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

Robert Lee Frost

#88. Vincent Van Gogh “What am I in the eyes of most people — a...

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:08:08 +0200

#88. Vincent Van Gogh

“What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.”

Van Gogh

#87. Reservoir Dogs “You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:48:24 +0200

#87. Reservoir Dogs

“You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize.”

Mr. White

#86. When Harry met Sally… “How about this way? I...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 09:56:00 +0200

#86. When Harry met Sally…

“How about this way? I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible!”

#85. Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 “You see, my dear...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:26:26 +0200

#85. Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35

“You see, my dear friend, I am made up of contradictions, and I have reached a very mature age without resting upon anything positive, without having calmed my restless spirit either by religion or philosophy. Undoubtedly I should have gone mad were it not for music. Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven’s gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness. Alone it calms, enlightens, and stills our souls. It is not the straw to which the drowning man clings; but a true friend, refuge, and comforter, for whose sake life is worth living.”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The magnificent Allegro moderato