tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post7178788810066451710..comments2023-11-02T02:14:31.901-06:00Comments on ReadMoreWriteMoreThinkMoreBeMore: The Train: American Art's Lost MuseDoctor Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13189506916480012553noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-61462687416536447872007-10-23T14:41:00.000-05:002007-10-23T14:41:00.000-05:00The displacement of trains as a widespread form of...The displacement of trains as a widespread form of travel by car and plane seems to be correlated with changes in forms of consciousness and literary narrative -- from the linear, sequential and occasionally aleatoric (think Proust's narrator's reveries on the train to see Albertine in _Remembrance of Things Past_) to simultaneity, or stark, if not contradictory juxtapositions (in such films as Babel, Amores Perros, 21 Grams, etc.).<BR/><BR/>The word "lost" connotes nostaliga, which I'll concede shapes my aesthetic preferences -- my tastes are more modern than postmodern. But I do like the best representations of our current frenetic forms of consciousness. Film, photography and digital media seem, at their best, to capture beautifully the spirit of their own muses of contemporary travel -- the car, the plane, the spaceship.Naz Pantalonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11866820081804792737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-10369526542176499612007-10-23T12:13:00.000-05:002007-10-23T12:13:00.000-05:00Thread Hijack!: I was just reminded about this bo...Thread Hijack!: I was just reminded about this book, now translated as "How to Talk about Books You Haven't Read" (<I>Comment Parler des Livres que l’on n’a pas Lus</I>) - something of a handbook on how to "professor."<BR/><BR/>A review: http://nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/39578/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-67257193628310412772007-10-18T11:02:00.000-05:002007-10-18T11:02:00.000-05:00you know who is great on train songs: richie haven...you know who is great on train songs: richie havens. that guy is on loan from amtrak, i think. <BR/><BR/>of course, the train is an unmistakeable phallus. i suppose this is presumed within your account of the "inspiration" provided by train culture. <BR/><BR/>can one fail to think of a phallus after that hilarious scene in "north by northwest" where cary grant and eva marie saint are about to make whoopy, as it would have called in those days, and then the shots jumps to an exterior, as the train enters into a tunnel?<BR/><BR/>other great train movies: "the miami beach story" (1942) with claudette colbert and joel mccrea. at one point, on the voyage south (board train) she befriends a party of bourgeoisie hunters, who get so tanked that they start shooting at skeet out the window. a black porter appears accidentally, and then runs, imagining some other enterprise underway. fucking funny.<BR/><BR/>"midnight run" with charles grodin and robert deniro. talk about an odd couple. "runaway train" (1985) with jon voight, eric roberts, etc.<BR/><BR/>having had enough experience riding trains, i still think they suck. and i don't miss 'em. rip.Not Chethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10273786971120329655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33488833.post-91616059135680859702007-10-17T18:22:00.000-05:002007-10-17T18:22:00.000-05:00Growing up in Elkhart, there was an unspoken but f...Growing up in Elkhart, there was an unspoken but frequently enacted rule - any lateness was readily excused by "I got caught by a train."<BR/><BR/>"On a direct route to Chicago from Boston, New York and Washington. D.C., Elkhart is well served by major highways, and railroads. The Robert Young Yards of Conrail in Elkhart are the world's second largest freight classification yards."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com