Hot Take: Let’s Normalize Artists Being Proud Of Themselves And Their Work. We’re Allowed To Think

“And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? – now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.”

—

Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Birb and friends

𝐌𝐮𝐬é𝐞 𝐝'𝐎𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐲 -Paris, France

Sketches by Bengali film director/artist, Satyajit Ray for his unproduced THE ALIEN. Late 1960s.

At one point Peter Sellers was more or less attached, Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando were interested, but Ray got scammed by his representative in Hollywood and the project unfortunately stranded. Ray later believed films such as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and E.T. especially were directly inspired by his work, as mimeographed copies of his script were freely floating around in Hollywood.

I first came across this story in a biography on Peter Sellers that I read in the late 1990s. I remember thinking, I wish I could read Ray’s script, see his sketches. Well, long live the Internet. There’s a book on the episode now too (image 3).

A point of light appears as a reflection in the water, grows bigger and bigger until the pond itself is lit up. The chorus of frogs, crickets and jackals grows in volume, and is joined by a humming sound. In a blaze of light something descends on the pond, shattering its placidity.

Lessons in 2022

The Feynman Technique

Too many people believe that everything must be pleasurable in life, which makes them constantly search for distractions and short-circuits the learning process.

-Robert Greene

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