dirac

The good news is, as I read today, that WNYC is buying WQXR. I expect the station to continue its classical music mission, but perhaps improve. Personally I've found the programing a bit boring and unadventurous, so this might be an improvement. The programming of the classical station in my area isn't what you'd call daring, either, but it's the only classical channel so you take what you can get. It will be interesting to see how the station does in its new position on the dial. In radio as in real estate, location matters.

I'll pick a trait to start with: landings. I am endlessly admiring a superb dancer (especially a male dancer) for having made a "just so" landing where it seems the pressure to the floor is no more than an ordinary walking footfall......dare I say it, a cat like landing. Balanchine used to tell his dancers not to put their heels down, kitty-cat style. Reportedly he taught his cat Mourka to jump, although the photographs I’ve seen of Mourka and Balanchine in action tend to remind me of . (About four and a half minutes in.)

Was this the remark you were referring to, miliosr? Pina Bausch's company says it will carry on for now, and local officials say they will continue to provide funding for the immediate future.

I don’t know if a rigorous scientific study has been done on the subject. Fonteyn was a Cat Woman and so was Farrell (although Farrell plays for both teams and has a dog these days, I understand). Balanchine loved to related his dancers to felines (and horses). My little tabby was also an alpha cat. She tyrannized the dogs and the younger calico cat, eating the latter’s food, hissing at her whenever she got too close, and appropriating for herself any napping spot she seemed to favor. She was also a great one for snuggling. I miss her very much. There's also Dick Whittington's cat. A related BBC story, with video of one furry manipulator.

Thanks for the data, Sandy. I'm a little surprised that anyone would try. The last thing I need around the house is a bobcat sized kitty. Mine did something similar. Ambled into the house, looked around as if to say, "Nice place you got here. I might do you a favor and stick around" and sprawled comfortably on a throw rug.

I felt that way when my elder cat died at the age of twenty, but it seemed no disrespect to her to adopt another, in this instance a stray tomcat who began hanging around and it was either take him to the pound or take him in. He is a large black Persian mix who resembles Chandler’s Taki and he has an obsession with drinking from faucets. I agree, though, that some animals become true familiars and others one feels less strongly about. Thanks for that picture, sunday. I always thought it was symbolic that Hitler had a dog. Nobody tyrannizes the tyrant. I certainly can’t imagine the Fuehrer turning on the tap for a cat waiting by the sink. You know, I had second thoughts about my phrasing, Sandy, but I decided to let it stand. You, Patrick, and Peggy are correct, you can never really own a cat. I don't know how I could have forgotten The Cat in the Hat, Kathleen. I still have my old copy somewhere.

Dirac, your source skipped these interesting lines--of which there seem to be thousands--from Smart's poem: Jubilate Agno is full of such lines. Thank you, PeggyR, cartoons certainly do count, at least in my opinion. True, perky, Hemingway was a big Cat Guy. Raymond Chandler had a black Persian named Taki, who was photographed with him regularly. Dogs, at least our dogs, are much more straightforward, I agree.

A study shows that your cat controls your relationship, not you, but of course if you own one you already knew that. My cats wake me up by yelling in my ear, if you call that manipulative. Hurling them off the bed seems to be no deterrent. I suppose we have to shift this topic to reading in some way. Do you have a favorite literary cat? I nominate Christopher Smart's Jeoffry.

I used to get Ovation and then the powers that be at Comcast took it away entirely (and I have a pretty pricey package). I wasn't terribly happy with it - many, many repeats and many, many commercials when I was watching -- but it was certainly better than nothing. A&E should just take away the "A" part of the name and Bravo is simply too depressing to discuss. I can't say I find the multiplex experience very stimulating even for movies -- the new theaters being built in my neck of the woods have stadium seating with many small screening rooms with giant screens and giant volume. Parking is difficult, you have to walk what seem to be miles before you get to your movie, and the lines are hideous. It's different in the cities, of course.

Nicholas Kristof, presumably at loose ends for a column, puts together a list of best-ever children’s books. These are classics, sure, but they’re also on the older side, and there are some notable omissions. Which books would you add to the list? And are there more contemporary titles from the last couple of decades or so that are great reads for kids?

Nitpick: it's Los Tarantos, actually. See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056555/ I suppose Saura's Carmen has already been mentioned. A good Russian movie would be the mammoth version of War and Peace directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063794/ Not all the DVD versions are the same, however. There are battlefield coreographies even, but with battallions of extras on TDY from the Soviet Army, instead of dancers. The ball sections in the Natasha Rostova part are beautiful. Thanks for posting, sunday. I have never seen the Bondarchuk War and Peace and you remind me that I should. Truffaut got off to a stunning start by making three instant classics in a row, but later on his output was up and down. He never made anything entirely not worth seeing, though. Well, maybe The Bride Wore Black. Hitchcock was a bad influence on him.

I would add the qualification that any good play written for the live stage belongs on the live stage. They’re not the same without the physical presence of the actors, and in addition when filming theatrical performances you have actors blown up on the big screen who are projecting to the balconies. It would be nice to see a National Theater production of Henry V, say, but the Branagh version is splendid and you didn’t have to pay twenty dollars to go see it. A production of Phedre conceived and filmed for television could be excellent, as well. I hope there's a DVD of this one.

Although “vulgar” is often used as an epithet, it’s also a perfectly useful descriptive term if used properly, nor is it always deployed as an insult. There are many adjectives frequently used in criticism that don’t necessarily tell us much either, but that’s generally the fault of the writer. As for using “vulgar” negatively – well, sometimes there’s just no other way to say it. Welcome to the board, sweetnut.

I’ll give it a try. I did have a go at The Da Vinci Code, hoping for precisely the cheap fun you describe, and although it was simply written and not especially long I couldn’t get through it. I’ve read Pompeii, it is great fun. I know bart has too, he mentioned Harris’ books on another thread back when. I also like Harris’ Bletchley Park novel, Enigma.

The article does say it's listing novels only - my post is misleading when it says 'best books,' sorry about that. I don't think they mean to be discriminatory, although it's probably true that when many people think of summer reading they think of fiction. (I think the Visconti film of The Leopard is wildly overrated, doesn't catch the essence of the book at all. It looks good, though.) I wouldn't fancy reading The Death of Ivan Ilyich on a lovely summer's day at the beach, but to each his own.

The Guardian runs a list of best books for summer reading. Comments? Suggestions? And what are you reading this summer?

"Laura" will be excerpted in Playboy.

It’s rare to have dancers as guests rather than coming on to do a jig and leave. I’m not knocking that, but it’s good to hear dancers as well as see them. The only talk show that features dancers regularly is Charlie Rose.

Maureen Orth’s commentary and cumulative reporting on Jackson in Vanity Fair. I imagine there's a lot more that hasn't come to light yet. We should not forget that Jackson wielded considerable power and wasn’t especially shy about using it. The rich, famous, and powerful always have their enablers but this does not deprive them of autonomy and the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Yes, thanks so much for posting, atm711. I hope Franklin has a wonderful birthday. Long may he wave!

Oh, they’re still around. If anything there are probably many more of such throwaway references today. Frasier specialized in them, The Simpsons used to dabble in them, too. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 used to toss in references to Gargantua and Pantagruel. Those are just shows I used to watch regularly and there are probably more current examples. I wasn’t a big fan of Lost, but it did much to promote the great cult novel The Third Policeman. There was a PBS special on Bob Newhart not long ago, and Newhart notes that he was adamant about not having any onscreen children for that reason – he didn’t like those shows where Dad is the distracted doofus. So, no kids for Bob and Emily or Dick and Joanna.

For the record, Patrick, I hadn’t realized you had used the phrase ‘consider the source.’ I was referring to the gist of sejacko’s post, not the literal wording. So your post was neither taken out of context nor misattributed by me. Mashinka, your friend's comment reminded me of .

My favorite Malden performance is in "Baby Doll" -- dazed, confused, and running around in a perpetual tizzy of frustrated lust. He also made the priest in "On the Waterfront" bearable instead of insufferable, and not many actors could have accomplished that. He was terrific in "One Eyed Jacks," too. Malden and Michael Douglas had great chemistry in "Streets of San Francisco," which still runs on cable and holds up very well today.

(Off topic -- you see the same casting pattern with Denzel Washington, as well. I remember reading that Washington avoids being cast opposite a white woman romantically because he doesn't want to annoy his African-American female fans. So there's a perception issue there as well. Or you have a picture like "Cry Freedom," where the primary significance of the death of Steve Biko seems to be as a wake up call for Kevin Kline.) Good points, sidwich, thanks.

Yes, indeed, diane. In this particular instance, as sejacko says earlier in the thread, one must consider the source.