It’s gradual paralysis. ibid. doctor
Two years probably. No more. ibid. dad
You have to fight for what you believe in tooth and nail or the buggers will stop you. ibid. tutor to Hawking
The physics is wrong. ibid. Hawking to Hoyle
Existence – well, does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. Control 2007 starring Sam Riley & Samantha Morton & Alexandra Maria Lara & Joe Anderson & Toby Kebbell & Craig Parkinson & James Anthony Pearson & Harry Treadaway & Andrew Sheridan & Robert Shelley & Matthew McNulty & Ben Naylor & John Cooper Clarke et al, director Anton Corbijn, opening monologue
Warsaw – now we’re Joy Division. ibid. Ian
First gig in London and nobody there. ibid.
Who’s Anik? … I don’t deserve this. ibid. her to him
I never meant for it to grow like this … I’ve no control any more. ibid. Ian
Did you call 911? Sid & Nancy 1986 starring Gary Oldman & Chloe Webb & David Hayman & Debby Bishop & Andrew Schofield & Xander Berkeley & Perry Benson & Tony London & Courtney Love & Edward Tudor-Pole & Kathy Burke & Sara Sugarman et al, director Alex Cox, opening scene rozzer to Sid
Fucking great we are. The Sex Pistols. Do yourself a favour. ibid. Sid
Never trust a junky. Isn’t everyone? ibid. Nancy
Sidney is more than a bass player. He’s a fabulous disaster. ibid. Malcolm
Sid! What about the farewell drugs? ibid. Nancy
Everybody wants to get on the Van Gogh boat. There’s no trip so horrible that someone won’t take it … We must credit the life of Vincent van Gogh for really sending this myth into orbit. Basquiat 1996 starring Jeffrey Wright & David Bowie & Benicio del Toro & Dennis Hopper & Gary Oldman & Michael Wincott & Courtney Love & Claire Forlani & Tatum O’Neal & Christopher Walken & Willem Dafoe & Parker Posey & Sam Rockwell et al, director Julian Schnabel, opening commentary
One is at the mercy of the recognition factor. ibid.
It’s about integrity. ibid. friend to Basquiat
There’s never been a black painter in art history who’s been considered really important. ibid. dude
The real voice of the gutter. ibid. Patron
I can’t even see what’s good any more. ibid. Warhol
Jean Michel Basquiat, American painter, died on August 12th 1988 of a heroin overdose. He was 27 years old. ibid. caption
I would like to know who this Mr Neruda is: because he boasts about peace while supporting strikers who attack our law enforcement. Neruda 2016 starring Luis Gnecco & Gael Garcia Bernal & Alfredo Castro & Mercedes Moran & Diego Munoz & Pablo Derqui & Michael Silva& Jaime Vadell & Marcelo Alonso & Francisco Reyes et al, director Pablo Larrain, right-wing politician
Union leaders, communist party members, are being thrown into jail. And it’s all being done by your president. ibid. Neruda
It is said Neruda is the most important communist in the world. ibid. commentary
In Chile there’s no freedom of speech. There’s no freedom of fear. Today 6th January 1948: I’m being persecuted for remaining faithful to lofty human aspirations. And for the first time I had to sit before a court for reporting to the Americas despicable violations of those freedoms. ibid. Neruda
Catch him and humiliate him. They we’ll throw a party. ibid. president
Neruda likes sex, murder and violence. ibid. wife
Poets organise an heroic resistance against Chile’s fascism. ibid. Picasso
Goring, Oxfordshire, Christmas Eve 2016: George Michael is holed up in his country mansion. Biopics: George Michael aka The Double Life of George Michael, Channel 5 2018
In the last ten years of his life George Michael became known more for run-ins with the tabloids and the law than he did with his music. It was a period marked by reckless behaviour, personal crises and a downward spiral. ibid.
One man who lived two lives. ibid.
George and Andrew: they were schoolboy buddies. ibid.
By 1984 Wham was unstoppable. ibid.
In 1986 80,000 fans saw Wham perform for the last time. George had called time on the band. ibid.
‘I just wanted to be filthily famous.’ ibid. George
As an older man George Michael was openly gay. Going to a park in north London for sex became a ritual. ibid.
He wanted to find love. ibid.
The battle with Sony was but the start of self-destructive behaviour. ibid.
George increasingly shut himself away … known more for his drug use than his music. ibid.
George disappears from public view to nurse his mother. ibid.
Outside reached number two in the UK charts. ibid.
In 2006 George was involved in a series of driving incidents. ibid.
His first world tour in fifteen years. ibid.
Three months into the tour George collapsed back stage. He went into a coma and spent a month in Intensive Care. ibid.
For a man who cheated death, he seemed invincible. ibid.
His demons hadn’t left him. ibid.
‘This witch, this evil-doer, this monster, has no respect for the tradition of our constitution. None.’ RBG, opening opinion, 2018
‘She is anti-American.’ ibid.
‘To see somebody in her 80s become such an icon.’ ibid. journalist
‘What has become of me could happen only in America.’ ibid. RBG
Laws in Effect in 1970: Employers in most states can legally fire a woman for being pregnant; Banks can require a woman applying for credit to have her husband co-sign; In 12 states, husbands cannot be prosecuted for raping their wives. ibid. caption
Califano v Goldfarb 1977: Ginsburg challenges federal law providing different survivor benefits to men and women. ibid.
I did see myself as a kind of kindergarten teacher in those days. ibid. RBG
Sam Cooke: Everyone knows his songs but hardly anyone knows his story … On December 11th 1964 the inconceivable happens: a tragic fall from the heights of stardom. Sam Cooke, one of the most talented singers and music producers of his generation, was shot in a seedy motel. Lady, You Shot Me: Life and Death of Sam Cooke, Sky Arts 2018
‘Lady, you shot me.’ bid. reputed last words
September 17 1971 Nixon: Jane Fonda. What in the world is the matter with Jane Fonda? I feel sorry for Henry Fonda who is a nice man. Jane Fonda in Five Acts, Sky Atlantic 2018, Nixon’ tapes
When you grow up in the industry and you see er what the people are really like behind their masks, you know you’re not too encouraged to become an actor. ibid. Jane
She’s lost out there as his [Henry] daughter. ibid. brother Peter
I was Miss Army Recruiter in 1959. ibid. Jane
I am a woman. I am gonna be damaged. I am gonna be crushed. ibid.
Anyone can change and become fierce. ibid.
‘This past is a curious thing. It’s with you all the time. I suppose an hour never passes without you’re thinking of things that happened ten or twenty years ago. And yet most of the time it’s got no reality; it’s just a set of facts you learned like a lot of stuff in the history books. Then, some chance or sound or smell, especially smell, sets you going. And the past doesn’t merely come back to you: you are actually in the past.’ Arena: George Orwell I: Such Were the Joys, BBC 1983
George Orwell: One of the most remarkable figures of twentieth century literature. For Orwell was not one of those writers whose life disappeared into his work; his history is a history of the troubled times in which he lived. ibid.
‘From a very early age, perhaps from the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer.’ ibid.
‘He was one of those boys who seemed born old.’ ibid. teacher
‘The truth is that kids aren’t in any way poetic. They’re merely savage little animals. Except that no animal is a quarter as selfish.’ ibid.
We know almost nothing of his life in Paris. ibid.