58 Shots (for M.A.)

1912-2007:

(note: the title is "L'Eclisse", not "l'eclipse")

"We know that under the image revealed there is another which is truer to reality and under this image still another and yet again still another under this last one, right down to the true image of that reality, absolute, mysterious, which no one will ever see or perhaps right down to the decomposition of any image, of any reality."

"You know what I would like to do: make a film with actors standing in empty space so that the spectator would have to imagine the background of the characters. Till now I have never shot a scene without taking account of what stands behind the actors because the relationship between people and their surroundings is of prime importance. I mean simply to say that I want my characters to suggest the background in themselves, even when it is not visible. I want them to be so powerfully realized that we cannot imagine them apart from their physical and social context even when we see them in empty space."

"I think people talk too much; that's the truth of the matter. I do. I don't believe in words. People use too many words and usually wrongly. I am sure that in the distant future people will talk much less and in a more essential way. If people talk a lot less, they will be happier. Don't ask me why."

Yah Mo Bongo

A great reference in this instant Onion classic:

But the truth is, I'm fine with the fact that 52 years of professional jazz experience boils down to a few secretaries typing a little faster when my song comes on the radio. Really. The one thing I can't get over is when people at my shows yell out requests for "Yah Mo Be There." [sic] That's Michael McDonald, for Christ's sake, and I happen to know even he hates that song. It's eating him alive to have to crank that one out night after night. But c'est la vie.

C'mon, everyone clap along:


Wiki says this tune-of-my-youth was referenced in the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin (which I've not seen - yet):

The main characters work in an electronics store in which a Michael McDonald concert DVD has constantly been playing on the TVs for two years. A salesman, David (played by Paul Rudd), has developed an intense hatred for the DVD and tells the manager "I would rather listen to Fran Drescher for eight hours than have to listen to Michael McDonald. Nothing against him, but if I hear 'Yah Mo B There' one more time, I'm going to 'yah mo burn' this place to the ground!"

Some other folks hatin' on the Yah Mo:

The problem wih the song, and I'll say it right out, is James Ingram. ... I don't think I'm the only one who's annoyed by the whole "Hoooo-HWOOOOO!!!" at the beginning and end of the song, or the "Bup-Bee-Wo!" after every Yah Mo B There. It's just plan annoying, and I don't like it one iota. James Ingram is like the kid at school who does annoying things and gets in trouble or gets beat up because getting some attention by his teacher and the bully at school is better than being ignored by his parents and the dog at home.

But the tune has its fans (dig the keyboardist's moves at the 3:00 mark):


And if you're looking for the definitive bongo karaoke version, look no further:

I {heart} the YouTubes.