El Greco - Sfântul Apostol Andrei (1600)

Sfântul Apostol Andrei, al cărui nume am fost binecuvântată să îl port, înfățișat într-o pictură aparținând lui El Greco (1600).

Our secret Garden...

Our secret Garden...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiLosOQP400

#MorningMood (INXS - By My Side)

INXS - By My Side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CXUcihuVJc

Abandoned by his mother, a 10-day-old foal finds new fuzzy friend.

Abandoned by his mother, a 10-day-old foal finds new fuzzy friend.

Photo Gallery: Făpturi Împărătești | Facebook

My Kind of Saturday Night

#MorningMood (The Animals - House of the Rising Sun)

The Animals - House of the Rising Sun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A-4VGfx5lU

The idea is to die young as late as possible.

The idea is to die young as late as possible. #NeverGrowUp

#InVinoVeritas

Photo of the Day: London Fog. 1947. © Anthony Linck

London Fog. 1947. © Anthony Linck

Holiday village near Arkhangelsk, Russia.

Holiday village near Arkhangelsk, Russia.

Illustration by Rofusz Kinga

But I love your feet/ only because they walked/ upon the earth and upon/ the wind and upon the waters/ until they found me. — Pablo Neruda

 Illustration by Rofusz Kinga

Photo of the Day: New York City. 1955. © Elliott Erwitt

New York City. 1955. © Elliott Erwitt

Nopţi întregi de nesomn se scurg ca o clipă...

© Carson Ellis

Nopţi întregi de nesomn se scurg ca o clipă, scăldate într-o bucurie şi o fericire de nesecat, iar când zorile trandafirii îşi trimit primele raze, revărsându-se în odaia sumbră şi învăluind-o cu draperii fantastice de lumină îndoielnică, cum se întâmplă la noi la Petersburg, visătorul nostru vlăguit, stors de puteri, se aruncă în pat şi adoarme în voia spiritului său bolnav, zguduit de extaz, cu un fel de durere copleşitor de dulce în inimă.

― Dostoievski, Nopţi albe (1848)

Profesioniștii: Sofronie Drincec

Un interviu de exceptie cu episcopul Sofronie Drincec, un reprezentant de marcă a lumii ecleziastice româneşti: http://www.eugeniavoda.ro/ro/emisiuni/teologie/sofronie-drincec

Dialogul cu PS Sofronie Drincec face parte dintr-un DVD consacrat emisiunii "Profesioniştii", lansat în anul 2009. DVD-ul mai cuprinde interviurile realizate de Eugenia Vodă cu ieromonah Iustin Marchiş, preot Constantin Coman, IPS Bartolomeu Anania şi PS Virgil Bercea.

Photo of the Day: Paris. 1952. © Willy Ronis

Happiness and youthful, hopeful eyes. Paris. 1952. © Willy Ronis

"Daţi-mi un trup, voi munţilor, pământule larg, fii trunchiul meu, fii pieptul acestei năprasnice inimi..."

"Daţi-mi un trup, voi munţilor, pământule larg, fii trunchiul meu, fii pieptul acestei năprasnice inimi..."

Photo Gallery: Făpturi Împărătești | Facebook

Movie of the Day: Love in the Afternoon (1957)

Gary Cooper (Frank Flannagan) & Audrey Hepburn (Ariane Chavasse / Thin Girl)

2h 10min | Comedy, Crime, Drama | 30 June 1957 (USA)

Director: Billy Wilder

Writers: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay), Claude Anet (novel)

Stars: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier

Memorable Quotes

Ariane Chavasse: I'm against violence. In my opinion, there's too much shooting in the world, and not enough love.

Frank Flannagan: How's that, again?

Ariane Chavasse: I mean, if people loved each other more, they'd shoot each other less!

Claude Chavasse: This is a great honor. Come right in, Mr. Flannagan.

Frank Flannagan: You know me?

Claude Chavasse: Do I know you? Does an art student know Picasso?

Ariane Chavasse: Papa, you are a cynic!

Claude Chavasse: I guess I am.

Ariane Chavasse: You enjoy your work!

Claude Chavasse: I guess I do.

Ariane Chavasse: You'd enjoyed it even if you weren't paid for it!

Claude Chavasse: I wouldn't go that far.

Ariane Chavasse: You know who I am, Mr. Flannagan, I'm the girl in the afternoon.

Frank Flannagan: [on knowing about his numerous conquests] Aren't you a little too young for that?

Ariane Chavasse: I was about to ask you a similar question. Aren't you a little too old for that?

Frank Flannagan: That hurts! First you save a man's life, then you stab him. Is that kind?

Ariane Chavasse: I always tell you what I'm doing, but you never tell me what you're doing.

Claude Chavasse: Because I love you and want to protect you from the sordid stuff I must deal with.

Ariane Chavasse: I bet when Mama was alive you told her what you were doing.

Claude Chavasse: Your Mama was a married woman. Ariane Chavasse: I'm so glad!

Ariane Chavasse: They're very odd people, you know. When they're young, they have their teeth straightened, their tonsils taken out and gallons of vitamins pumped into them. Something happens to their insides! They become immunized, mechanized, air-conditioned and hydromatic. I'm not even sure whether he has a heart.

Michel: What is he? A creature from outer space?

Ariane Chavasse: No. He's an American.

Frank Flannagan: Everything about you is perfect.

Ariane Chavasse: I'm too thin! And my ears stick out, and my teeth are crooked and my neck's much too long.

Frank Flannagan: Maybe so, but I love the way it all hangs together.

Frank Flannagan: He who loves and runs away, lives to love another day.

Monsieur X: Please, monsieur, is the news good or bad?

Claude Chavasse: That depends. Is this your wife?

[Hands over a photograph]

Monsieur X: It looks like her.

Claude Chavasse: Then I regret to inform you that it looks bad.

Monsieur X: Then there IS another man!

Claude Chavasse: There is. And I regret to say that he looks good.

Frank Flannagan: Goodbye, thin girl.

Ariane Chavasse: Goodbye, Mr. Flannagan.

Frank Flannagan: You promised.
Ariane Chavasse: You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Flannagan. There've been so many men before. There'll be so many after this. It's gonna be another one of those crazy years. While you're in Cannes, I'll be in Brussels with the banker. He wants to give me a Mercedes Benz, a blue one, it's my favorite color. And while you're in Athens, I'll be with the duke again in Scotland. But, I don't know whether I'll go yet, because another man's asked me to spend the summer with him in Deauville. He owns race horses. He's very rich. He's number twenty. I mean number twenty one, you're number twenty. So, you see Mr. Flannagan, I'll be perfectly all right. I'll... I'll be all right... I'll be all right!

[last lines]

Claude Chavasse: [voiceover] On Monday, August 24th of this year, the case of Frank Flannagan and Ariane Chavasse came up before the superior judge in Cannes. They are now married, serving a life sentence in New York, state of New York, USA.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them...In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.”

“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.” 

“What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it hides a well...”

“I did not know how to reach him, how to catch up with him… The land of tears is so mysterious.”

“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

“It's the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them”

“You're beautiful, but you're empty...One couldn't die for you.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Photo of the Day: John Coltrane & Miles Davis. New York. 1959.

Two of my all-time favorite artists. ♡
John Coltrane & Miles Davis. New York. 1959. © Don Hunstein

Îţi ating gura, cu un deget ating colţul gurii tale...

“Îţi ating gura, cu un deget ating colţul gurii tale, îi urmăresc conturul ca şi cum aş desena-o cu mâna mea, ca şi cum pentru prima oară  gura ţi s-ar întredeschide, şi mi-e de-ajuns să închid ochii pentru a şterge totul şi a o lua de la capăt, fac să prindă viaţă de fiecare dată gura pe care o doresc, gura pe care mâna mea o alege şi ţi-o desenează pe faţă, o gură aleasă între toate gurile, cu suverană libertate aleasă de mine ca să ţi-o desenez cu mâna mea pe faţă, şi care printr-un hazard pe care nu încerc să-l  înţeleg coincide  întrutotul cu gura ta ce zâmbeşte pe sub cea pe care ţi-o desenează mâna mea.

Mă priveşti, mă priveşti de aproape, tot mai de aproape şi atunci ne jucăm de-a ciclopul, ne privim tot mai de aproape şi ochii se măresc, se apropie între ei, se suprapun, iar ciclopii se privesc, răsuflând descumpăniţi, gurile se întâlnesc şi luptă fierbinte, muşcându-se cu buzele, abia sprijinind limba de dinţi,  zbenguindu-se în lăcaşele lor unde un aer greu intră şi iese însoţit de un parfum vechi şi de tăcere.

Atunci mâinile mele încearcă să ţi se adâncească în plete, să-ţi mângâie încetişor necuprinsul părului în timp ce ne sărutăm de parcă am avea gura plină de flori sau de peşti, de mişcări vii, de aromă nedesluşită. Şi dacă ne muşcăm durerea e dulce, şi dacă ne sufocăm într-o efemeră şi cumplită sorbire simultană a respiraţiei, moartea aceasta instantanee e frumoasă. Şi nu-i decât o singură salivă şi un singur gust de fruct pârguit, iar eu te simt tremurând lipită de mine precum luna în apă.”

(Julio Cortázar - Şotronul, capitolul VII)

Leonard Cohen - Suzanne

Legendarul Leonard Cohen s-a stins. Cât de săraci am devenit... 
Drum lin către stele!

#Throwback #Paris (Chet Baker - Almost Blue)

Chet Baker - Almost Blue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4PKzz81m5c

Movie of the Day: Rear Window (1954)

James Stewart (L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies)

1h 52min | Mystery, Thriller | September 1954 (USA)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writers: John Michael Hayes (screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (based on the short story by)

Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey

Memorable Quotes

Jeff: Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase and come back three times?

Lisa: He likes the way his wife welcomes him home.

Lisa: I wish I were creative.

Jeff: You are. You're great at creating difficult situations.

Lisa: What's he doing? Cleaning house?

Jeff: He's washing and scrubbing down the bathroom walls.

Stella: Must've splattered a lot.

[both Jeff and Lisa look at Stella with disgust]

Stella: Come on, that's what were all thinkin'. He killed her in there, now he has to clean up those stains before he leaves.

Lisa: Stella... your choice of words!

Stella: Nobody ever invented a polite word for a killin' yet.

Lisa: According to you, people should be born, live, and die in the same place.

Lisa: I'm not much on rear window ethics.

Lisa: The last thing Mrs. Thorwald would leave behind would be her wedding ring. Stella, do you ever leave yours at home?

Stella: The only way somebody would get that would be to chop off my - finger. Let's go down to the garden and find out what's buried there.

Lisa: Why not? I always wanted to meet Mrs. Thorwald.

Lisa: A murderer would never parade his crime in front of an open window.

Stella: We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?

Jeff: Readers Digest, April 1939.

Stella: Well, I only quote from the best.

Lisa: Well, if there's one thing I know, it's how to wear the proper clothes.

Lisa: Where does a man get inspiration to write a song like that?

Jeff: He gets it from the landlady once a month.

Stella: Maybe one day she'll find her happiness.

Jeff: Yeah, some man'll lose his.

Stella: [to Lisa] You haven't spent much time around cemeteries, have you?

Stella: How much do we need to bail Lisa from jail?

Jeff: Well, this is first offense burglary, that's about $250. I have $127.

Stella: Lisa's handbag. Uh... 50 cents. I got $20 or so in my purse

Jeff: And what about the rest?

Stella: When those cops at the station see Lisa, they'll even contribute.

Lisa: A woman never goes anywhere but the hospital without packing makeup, clothes, and jewelry.

Stella: Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence.

Lt. Doyle: Oh, Jeff, if you need any more help, consult the yellow pages in your telephone directory.

Lisa: Oh, I love funny exit lines.

Jeff: I get myself half killed for you and you reward me by stealing my assignments.

Jeff's Editor: I didn't ask you to stand in the middle of that automobile racetrack.

Jeff: You asked for a, something dramatically different. You got it.

Jeff's Editor: So did you.

Lisa: A woman never goes anywhere but the hospital without packing makeup, clothes, and jewelry.

Photo of the Day: Chicago Union Station. 1943.

Chicago Union Station. 1943. Photo by Jack Delano.

Photo of the Day: Steve McQueen and his wife, Neile Adams. © John Dominis. California. 1963.

Steve McQueen and his wife, Neile Adams. © John Dominis. California. 1963.

Movie of the Day: It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

James Stewart (George Bailey) & Donna Reed (Mary Hatch)

Un film extraordinar, emoționant, dramatic, înzestat cu un umor seducător pe alocuri. Un film al oricărui suflet care își pierde speranța în viață și în frumusețea ei. "It's a Wonderful Life" aduce în prim-plan utilitatea socială a omului și solidaritatea umană. Fiecare viaţă interacţionează cu atâtea altele, absența sa lăsând un gol imens.

2h 10min | Drama, Family, Fantasy | 7 January 1947 (USA)

Director: Frank Capra

Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett  & Frank Capra (screenplay), Philip Van Doren Stern (story)

Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

Memorable Quotes

Clarence: Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?

George Bailey: What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.

Mary: I'll take it. Then what?

George Bailey: Well, then you can swallow it, and it'll all dissolve, see... and the moonbeams would shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair... am I talking too much?

George Bailey: Just a minute... just a minute. Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. You're right when you say my father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante Building and Loan, I'll never know. But neither you nor anyone else can say anything against his character, because his whole life was... why, in the 25 years since he and his brother, Uncle Billy, started this thing, he never once thought of himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy? He didn't save enough money to send Harry away to college, let alone me. But he did help a few people get out of your slums, Mr. Potter, and what's wrong with that? Why... here, you're all businessmen here. Doesn't it make them better citizens? Doesn't it make them better customers? You... you said... what'd you say a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even ought to think of a decent home. Wait? Wait for what? Until their children grow up and leave them? Until they're so old and broken down that they... Do you know how long it takes a working man to save $5,000? Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about... they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him. But to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well in my book, my father died a much richer man than you'll ever be!

George Bailey: Dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me show me the way... show me the way.

Man on Porch: Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?

George Bailey: You want me to kiss her, huh?

Man on Porch: Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people.

George Bailey: Well, you look about the kind of angel I'd get. Sort of a fallen angel, aren't you? What happened to your wings?

Clarence: I haven't won my wings, yet. That's why I'm called an Angel Second Class. I have to earn them. And you'll help me will you?

George Bailey: [sarcastic] Sure, sure. How?

Clarence: By letting me help you.

George Bailey: I know one way you can help me. You don't happen to have 8,000 bucks on you?

Clarence: No, we don't use money in Heaven.

George Bailey: Well, it comes in real handy down here, bud!

[George has discovered his brother Harry's tombstone]

Clarence: [explaining] Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.

George Bailey: That's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!

Clarence: Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry.

Clarence: You see, George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?

[George returns to the bridge where his nightmare began, hoping to bring back his old life]

George Bailey: [praying] Clarence! Clarence! Help me, Clarence! Get me back! Get me back, I don't care what happens to me! Get me back to my wife and kids! Help me Clarence, please! Please! I wanna live again. I wanna live again. Please, God, let me live again.

[it begins to snow again]

Bert: [shouts] Hey, George! George! You all right? Hey, what's the matter?

George Bailey: Now get outta here, Bert, or I'll hit you again! Get outta here!

Bert: What the sam hill you yellin' for, George?

George Bailey: You... [suddenly stunned]

George Bailey: George... Bert? Do you know me?

Bert: Know you? Huh. You kiddin'? I've been looking all over town trying to find you. I saw your car plowed into that tree down there and I thought maybe you - hey, your mouth's bleeding. Are you sure you're all right?

George Bailey: What the... [licks the corner of his lip and checks his mouth with his hand]

George Bailey: Ha, ha, ha, ha! My mouth's bleeding, Bert! My mouth's bleeding! Zuzu's petals... Zuzu...

George Bailey: [checking his pocket] There they are! Bert, what do you know about that! Merry Christmas!

George Bailey: [running through Bedford Falls] Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!

George Bailey: I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that.

George Bailey: Isn't it wonderful? I'm going to jail!

Harry Bailey: A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town.

Clarence: [In book inscription] Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.

[last lines] 

Zuzu Bailey: Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.

#MorningMood (The Cars - Drive)

Her demons were wrapped so beautifully in her skin.

The Cars - Drive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZA6qiJVfU

WWII soldier reuniting with his wife and son.

WWII soldier reuniting with his wife and son. #WorldWarII

World War II soldiers saying goodbye to their children before going off to war.

WWII soldiers saying goodbye to their children before going off to war. 

Photo of the Day: Pennsylvania Station, 1929.

"Dacă promiţi că nu întârzii prea mult, te voi aştepta aici toată viaţa..."

Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1929. © Drahomír Josef Růžička

Dimineți din altă lume...

Photo Gallery: Făpturi Împărătești | Facebook

Zdzisław Witwicki (1960)

Ilustrație semnată de Zdzisław Witwicki (1960)

Profesioniştii: Bartolomeu Anania

Un interviu de exceptie cu părintele Bartolomeu Anania, unul dintre ierarhii de marcă ai Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, un om cu o reputație extraordinară în lumea credinței, dar și a culturii românești.

Dialogul cu IPS Bartolomeu Anania face parte dintr-un DVD consacrat emisiunii "Profesioniştii", lansat în anul 2009. DVD-ul mai cuprinde interviurile realizate de Eugenia Vodă cu ieromonah Iustin Marchiş, preot Constantin Coman, PS Sofronie Drincec şi PS Virgil Bercea.

Nuntă în cer...