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Open thread 2/22/24 — 59 Comments

  1. Riley Gaines’ attacker was not charged. Of course not, she is a Conservative Woman that speaks out against the outrage of MEN in Womens sports. That BB player should have been charged. This will stop when others refuse to participate.

    Dick Cavet was rarely intimidated, but he certainly was by Sophia. She is 89. Interesting that her brother in law was son of Mussolini.

  2. Back in the day, Cavett was the 2nd best talk show host on TV. (Buckley was #1.)

    And of course Sophia was the hottest of the new actresses of the 50s. And it was a good decade for beautiful actresses.

  3. The emporer wears whatever he/she/…. wants. And does as emporers do.

    In the dark ages emporers got curb stomped for such abuse of women, girls, and boys.

    The Gods of Copybook Headings will have a say.

  4. Anyone here lose their Cell Phone coverage?
    But outage, and they refuse to say why. Hacking? Sun activity? Stupidity?

  5. Before leaving CT, I was a volunteer docent at the New England Air Museum (neam.org). One of my fellow docent was a 90 year young pilot who spent his career flying for PanAm. He retired when PA went under. He was full of great stories. He regularly flew the NYC Rome route and said Sophia was a regular pax, so much they got to chatting during the boarding each flight. He said she was a wonderful, down to earth lady. On one flight the stew brought a hand written note to the cockpit..it said “Mac, we *really* have to stop meeting like this! Sophia” He said he still had the note.

  6. Marisa (at 10:37) Thank you for that. The book sounds great!
    Speaking of The Bee Gees: Golden Books has just released a series of biographies for very young children (say, 4 and up). They have The Bee Gees, The Beatles, George Washington, Bruce Springsteen, Abraham Lincoln, Dolly Parton, Pope JohnPaul II, Ronald Reagan….and others…a real mix. They are very well written and illustrated. Even sad events are touched on.
    At Christmastime, my grandchildren (4 & 6) loved The Bee Gees one especially as they could go online and see/hear them perform…as little kids! This was their first experience reading a book about real people. I picked up Washington and Lincoln for Presidents Day.
    So many of us are grandparents – I thought you might like to know about a good gift idea. Actually, I enjoyed reading them myself!

  7. Clearly “Biden” NEEDED to see Herridge’s files—the only genuine reporter CBS had left and she did her best to report the truth…

    …which was/is CLEARLY a HYUGE problem for the current rabid “administration”.

    Ergo….time to give her the Sharryl Atkisson treatment….
    Cf. “Vendetta: How the Obama Administration Harassed Sharyl Attkisson for Her Reporting on Operation Fast and Furious”—
    https://www.cato.org/commentary/vendetta-how-obama-administration-harassed-sharyl-attkisson-her-reporting-operation-fast

    And possibly related:
    https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/08/media/herridge-fox-journalist-sources-sanction/index.html
    https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-fox-news-china-courts-0915d181b3e55df90f320951abc0c163
    Note: Didn’t know that Herridge worked previously for Fox News….

  8. Tablet Mag, “U.S. Scheming for a Palestinian State Unwittingly Strengthens Netanyahu”, Gadi Taub: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/biden-scheme-for-palestinian-state-strengthens-netanyahu

    If the news that the U.S. is going to recognize a Palestinian state that doesn’t exist was intended to break up Prime Minister Netanyahu’s wartime coalition, it’s unlikely to work. Contrary to what the Biden administration assumes, the obstacle to the “two-state solution” is Israel’s electorate, not its prime minister. The more the administration tries to ram this misguided plan down the throat of traumatized Israelis who are in no mood to compromise their security, the more the country’s prime minister will recover political support.

  9. “Eeyore on February 22, 2024 at 11:16 am said:
    Back in the day, Cavett was the 2nd best talk show host on TV. (Buckley was #1.)

    And of course Sophia was the hottest of the new actresses of the 50s. And it was a good decade for beautiful actresses.”

    Those here are too young to have been part of the “Golden Age of Hollywood” weekly movie-going culture. Those generations have by and large passed on.

    But what many of the older of Neo’s readers were born into was the era when Hollywood tried to sell what a television could not, the aesthetic and emotional impact of a truly big screen experience.

    And Loren was in two of what I would judge as the most senically engrosing or effectively atmospheric on-location films of that era. ( and I’m not making a reference to her emergence from the sea)

    Those would be Boy on a Dolphin which I have referred to before, and It Started in Naples.

    I suppose one should care about the plots, but from a sheer travelogue of the times perspective, they are worth watching. And I think that that was a major part of the effect intended by the producers. The former in CinemaScope, the latter in VistaVision.

    The same might be said for Roman Holiday which while a chick flick like It Started in Naples, is worth watching on a 50 or larger inch flat screen for the views and backdrops, alone.

    Some spectacular color cinematography in those days …

  10. I supose “Riso amaro”, or “Anna” or various neorealist films could be said to offer a qualified travelogue experience of some sort. But frankly when looking for a distraction, I prefer the fanciful, airbrushed, kind.

    La Ragaza con la Pistola with Monica Viti made much later, but still ancient in our terms, kind of has a few of those qualities, as does her weird Modesty Blaise. Then again, I guess much the same could be said for any number of mid 1950s through the 1960s films which emphasized location shooting.

    Some reading Neo’s blog may actually have been of an age to have experienced and remember the backdrop of “Mod” London, or 1960s Europe.

  11. I was shocked when CBS fired Herridge. She’s a top-quality real reporter. They claimed it was part of a general cost reduction. The seizing of her files looks like it was targeted. Is this at the behest of the Biden administration?

  12. Marisa:

    Sounds like an interesting book. Thanks.

    I actually thought of the Bronte comparison on my own, though, because to anyone who knows the history of both families the parallels are strange but rather obvious. A shared childhood obsession and honing of skills by a bonded sibling group who are all geniuses in a certain arena, going on to adulthood success. Also, early death plays a role too.

    I also later had read Robin’s comparison of the family to the Brontes, and I thought that was an interesting insight for him to have had. He was a history buff.

  13. First comment ever on Neo, but have been reading with interest for years. Thank you.

    Sophia was wonderful, and there are lots of stories about her flirting in English. Some story about a skeevy MLB relief pitcher discovering that he could dial international from the bullpen, and getting Ms. Loren on the line.

    Maybe she was just polishing her English.

    Janis Joplin was on Cavett several times, all shows intriguing. I think she fell in love with him.

    Joplin was so talented, such a powerful voice! And successful. And sad.

    Sad because it got her nowhere with men, and you can see from the Cavett shows that she liked men.

    She lamented once that after a big concert, she was the only one to go home alone. Image search a picture of Janis Joplin and the Holding Company, it’s like the homeliest band in history!

    Groupie girls find fame and fortune sexy. I’m not saying that’s ignoble. Guys are sexually attracted only to a lovely form. That’s not ignoble either. It’s just how we are.

    It’s a pity Janis couldn’t find happiness

  14. DNW: “Jessica” (1962), with Angie Dickinson zipping around a small town in Sicily on a Vespa. Shot on location. In Panavision Technicolor. Va-va-voom.

  15. Walt,

    Welcome!

    ” Guys are sexually attracted only to a lovely form.”

    I have read that Mama Cass Elliot had no trouble finding men who would spend time with her. Isn’t there a Leonard Cohen song about a post gig (pre gig?) assignation with Janis Joplin? From what little I know about Janis Joplin’s life she didn’t seem to “go home alone” very often.

  16. Walt; Rufus:

    Indeed, guys are attracted to beauty. But that doesn’t mean that beauty is required. Rock stars are rock stars, male or female, and if they’re willing to sleep around they usually find takers.

    However, both Mama Cass and Joplin had trouble finding love – at least, that’s what I read. But that’s true of many beautiful people as well.

  17. both Mama Cass and Joplin had trouble finding love –
    ==
    Did either have the slightest idea of what men are for?

  18. Thanks for the welcome, Rufus!

    And Neo responding makes me feel all important.

    I was just talking about initial attraction. What makes a guy approach a woman? Get to know a woman, and a guy will throw form out the window.

    I’m just saying there aren’t guy groupies who want the guitarist but will settle for the drummer that night.

    Mama Kass had a form that appealed to certain men. So did Twiggy. Other men like long legs. Others like curvy.

    But women find a sense of humor SEXY. Men just find it funny. Women find success SEXY. Men don’t, unless they’re just after money, and that’s ignoble for sure.

    C’mon. Identical twin men. One drives a Ford Fiesta, the other drives a Benz. Which one is sexier?

  19. Diana Rigg – yes! For a 10-year old boy, watching her in the Avengers, was eye-opening.

    I never found Sophia Loren to be very attractive either, and in some movies quite ugly. She got better looking in her 70’s. Now, Gina Lollobrigida … she was more to my taste. As if my taste matters.

  20. Hubert on February 22, 2024 at 2:51 pm said:
    DNW: “Jessica” (1962), with Angie Dickinson zipping around a small town in Sicily on a Vespa. Shot on location. In Panavision Technicolor. Va-va-voom.

    I’ve never seen nor heard of that movie. I trust your judgment though. In fact, most, even moderately attractive women, would gain a certain something when zipping around on a Vespa.

  21. Walt:

    My answer to your question about which twin would be sexier – Benz guy or Ford Fiesta guy – is simple: the more entertaining and amusing one of the two. Either car is fine with me as long as it runs; I basically couldn’t care less about cars.

    When I met Gerard he was driving a spiffy older Mercedes – from the 80s – that he used to get many compliments on. It looked very sharp. Next car was a big Lincoln town car or something of the sort. Then an ordinary Nissan Altima or one of those types (see; I don’t even remember). He used to tease me about how ignorant I am about cars. But he could just about always make me laugh.

  22. Steph:

    Sophia Loren had an exaggerated sort of beauty – dramatic, large, unusual features. Some prefer it and some don’t. She was also tall and very statuesque, which completed the picture.

    Her best movies IMHO: Two Women and Marriage Italian Style. She was fabulous in both, but very different in each.

  23. Several of the guys here have mentioned actresses who were esteemed and popular but who would nonetheless win no contests in the voluptuous or sexpot department.

    Yet, that does not nean that they are not pleasant to look at, attractive in personality, or stylish in a way even a guy can appreciate.

    Keeping in mind that we are talking about the images projected on film and not the actual person, there may be by way of contrast other more sultry actresses who we imagine would affect us – with a certain sense of, shall we say, “urgency” – should we come into close contact, but who might be intolerable personality-wise.

    Deco mentioned an actress who some would place In the former category, and I might toss in Audrey Hepburn, or any number of primarily television actresses from the era who habitually portrayed upper class, socialites, or housewives.

    The point is that even as judged by the same man there are multiple evaluation lines here that may all trend in a positive direction, but which don’t necessarily ever intersect at a critical point.

    Kind of makes you appreciate the woman you have, all the more.

  24. “Her best movies IMHO: Two Women and Marriage Italian Style. She was fabulous in both, but very different in each.”

    Ever see, “The Black Orchid”?

    Set in your neck of the woods.
    Kind of a minor film, but sort of interesting. Almost affecting.

  25. “Sophia Loren had an exaggerated sort of beauty – dramatic, large, unusual features.’

    She can approach loveliness at times, such as in the two movies you note. But then, in Legend of the Lost, or her scenes with Clifton Webb in Boy on a Dolphin, … yikes! Something about her mouth is too unusual and exaggerated.

    Like you said, some prefer it and some don’t.

  26. Oh . . . and Odysseus is on the moon. No word as yet on whether he’s found faithful old Argos lying on a dungheap.

  27. Janis Joplin was on Cavett several times, all shows intriguing. I think she fell in love with him.

    Walt:

    There are Cavett Show DVDs with those interviews. I agree. There was a spark of something passing between the two.

    –“JANIS JOPLIN’s Final Interview | The Dick Cavett Show”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syk_2gQgE9w

  28. Dear Neo,

    Dinner at 8, I’ll pick you up in my 2002 Nissan Clunker ?

    Thanks for this website, my day not complete without scanning your posts.

    The ballet ones are fun!

  29. rust never sleeps

    beauty and youth are fleeting

    gravity never stops

    In the long run personality and character endure.

  30. Our resident but retired professor of surgery, Dr Kennedy, has long worried about the impact of galloping DIE degrading merit in med schools and therefore becoming hazardous to patients.

    On the testimony of Dr Bosshardt, a board certified plastic surgeon from Florida, DIE teachings in Med school constitutes a clear and present danger.

    Less than a month ago, in his first YT interview, he explains how his concerns were met with institutional rejection —and he explains how this has downgraded patient care and medical standards.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MwsGR3YRXk

    More recently Dr Bosshardt has also done a long-format interview with YouTuber Benjamin Boyce — but I’ve not yet listened to it.

  31. Steph
    Black tastes matter,
    White tastes matter,
    Male tastes matter,
    Female tastes matter,
    All tastes matter.

    Just ask the set of interlocked corporate giants and billionaires promoting that narrative!

  32. That interview was fun. I really haven’t paid much attention to Sophia Loren over the years, as she was a bit before my time. But I think she’s attractive.

    To her question about the qualities that make for attractiveness, had I been on the spot instead of Cavett at that moment, I would have made reference to a certain harmony between the woman’s inner and outer selves that seems to make the difference.

  33. About the recent brouhaha over Google’s Gemini AI chatbot’s diversity images:
    https://notthebee.com/article/google-geminis-senior-director-apologized-for-the-ais-apparent-racism-against-white-people-but-then-people-dug-up-his-old-tweets-and-hoo-boy

    Let’s look at the actual coding that Gemini uses.
    Users managed to get the AI to admit that it will insert words like “diverse” or “non-binary” into your prompt to force the system to return the woke results that it wants us to see:

    Gonna be a long time before anybody sane trusts these ‘bots to provide actual factual information.

  34. Transnistria occupies the border strip between Ukraine and Moldova, albeit nominally part of the latter.

    In days, the local assembly is expected to declare the wish to join Russia. While Putin use this to expand his war?
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13116937/Putin-brink-new-land-grab-possible-announcement-annexing-Moldova-Transnistria.html

    The noise says “yes”, and Biden has declared his intent to give Ukraine longer range missile with which to attack deep into Russian territory.

    None of this is good. But I bet Putin’s claim will indeed manifest itself — it serves his re-election purposes too well to resist.

  35. Why does sending ordnance and weapons systems to attack Russia always get the “this is not good” response from some? Are Nerf guns, spit balls, and stern words all that are to be allowed?

    Cowed by a former commie?

  36. you see who they regard as the real enemy, and who they allow to loiter and you still ask this question,

  37. Doesn’t take weapons to confine Russia.

    Drill, baby, drill.

    Price of oil drops, no rubles for Vlad.

  38. that was certainly a factor, zapping a wagner column, or a syrian airbase did keep the Khozayin in line didn’t it, but then Colonel Bearclaw had to go for his honeypot

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