Official Great Works Draft (3 Viewers)

[Chiwawa]

Norwood>> I'll be out for most of the day, can you keep my delinquent in line for me? I'm having a hard time keeping track of which alias she's using.

I do not need looked after.

 

[Chiwawa]

Norwood>> I'll be out for most of the day, can you keep my delinquent in line for me? I'm having a hard time keeping track of which alias she's using.

No prob. She has already been PMing me on a regular basis.

wasn't that going to be our little secret?

 

[krista4]

Will add write-up later; just want to get this moving.

I think it's because I'm wearing a hippie shirt today that I decided I really wanted this:

26.20 An Episode in the Life of an Artist Opus 14 aka Symphonie Fantastique - Hector Berlioz (Composition)

That's "Fantastic Symphony" for Yankee23Fan.

Abbreviated Wikipedia write-up:

An Episode in the Life of an Artist Opus 14, usually referred to by its subtitle Symphonie fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) is a symphony written by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is widely regarded as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences worldwide. The first performance took place at the Paris Conservatoire in December 1830. The work was repeatedly revised between 1831 and 1845.

...

The symphony is a piece of program music which tells the story of "an artist gifted with a lively imagination" who has "poisoned himself with opium" in the "depths of despair" because of "hopeless love." Berlioz provided his own program notes for each movement of the work (see below). He prefaces his notes with the following instructions:

The composer’s intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following programme must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression.

There are five movements, instead of the four movements which were conventional for symphonies at the time:

Rêveries - Passions (Daydreams - Passions)

Un bal (A ball)

Scène aux champs (Scene in the country)

Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold)

Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a witches' Sabbath)

First movement: "Rêveries - Passions"

In Berlioz's own program notes from 1845, he writes:

The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer has called the wave of passions [la vague des passions], sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artist’s mind without being associated with a musical idea, in which he recognises a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love.

This melodic image and its model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idée fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony of the melody which launches the first allegro. The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy, its returns of tenderness, its tears, its religious consolations – all this forms the subject of the first movement.

The first movement is radical in its harmonic outline, building a vast arch back to the home key, which, while similar to the sonata form of classical composition, was taken as a departure by Parisian critics. It is here that the listener is introduced to the theme of the artist's beloved, or the idée fixe. Throughout the movement, there is a simplicity of presentation of the melody and themes, which Robert Schumann compared to "Beethoven's epigrams", ideas which could be extended, had the composer chosen to. In part, it is because Berlioz rejected writing the very symmetrical melodies then in academic fashion, and instead looked for melodies which were, "so intense in every note, as to defy normal harmonization", as Schumann put it.

Second movement: "Un bal"

Again, quoting from Berlioz's program notes:

The artist finds himself in the most diverse situations in life, in the tumult of a festive party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beautiful sights of nature, yet everywhere, whether in town or in the countryside, the beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirit into confusion.

The second movement has a mysterious sounding introduction that creates an atmosphere of impending excitement, followed by a harps-dominated passage, then the flowing waltz theme appears, derived from the idée fixe at first, and then transforming it. It is filled with running ascending and descending figures. The idée fixe theme interrupts the waltz twice.

The movement is the only one to feature the two harps. The harps may well symbolize the object of affection, but certainly provide the glamour and sensual richness of the ball being represented. Berlioz wrote extensively in his memoirs of his trials and tribulations in getting this symphony performed due to supply or lack of capable harpists and harps, especially in Germany although this has been more than remedied in these later days..

Third movement: "Scène aux champs"

One evening in the countryside he hears two shepherds in the distance dialoguing with their 'ranz des vaches'; this pastoral duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the wind, some causes for hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore to his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier colouring. He broods on his loneliness, and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own… But what if she betrayed him!… This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio. At the end one of the shepherds resumes his ‘ranz des vaches’; the other one no longer answers. Distant sound of thunder… solitude… silence ...

The two "shepherds" that Berlioz mentions in the notes are depicted with the cor anglais and offstage oboe tossing back and forth a characteristic melody. After the cor anglais/oboe conversation has ended, the principal theme of the movement appears on solo flute and violins. Berlioz salvaged this theme from his abandoned Messe solennelle. The idée fixe returns in the middle of the movement. The sound of distant thunder at the end of the movement is an innovative passage for four timpani.

Fourth movement: "Marche au supplice"

From Berlioz's program notes:

Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is sometimes sombre and wild, and sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which a dull sound of heavy footsteps follows without transition the loudest outbursts. At the end of the march, the first four bars of the idée fixe reappear like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow.

Berlioz claimed to have written the fourth movement in a single night, reconstructing music from an unfinished project, the opera Les francs-juges. The movement begins with timpani sextuplets in thirds, for which he directs: "The first quaver of each half-bar is to be played with two drum sticks, and the other five with the right hand drum-sticks". The movement proceeds as a march filled with blaring horns and rushing passages, and scurrying figures which would later show up again in the last movement. Prior to the musical depiction of his execution, there is a brief, nostalgic recollection of the idée fixe in a solo clarinet, as though representing the last conscious thought of the soon to be executed man. Immediately following this is a single short fortissimo G minor chord that represents the fatal blow of the guillotine blade; the series of pizzicato notes following represents the rolling of the severed head into the basket. After his death, the final nine bars of the movement contain a victorious series of tutti G major chords, seemingly intended to convey the cheering of the onlooking throng.

Fifth movement: "Songe d'une nuit de sabbat"

From Berlioz's program notes:

He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath… Roar of delight at her arrival… She joins the diabolical orgy… The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies irae.

The return of the idée fixe as a "vulgar dance tune" is depicted with a prominent E-flat clarinet solo. There are a host of effects, including eerie col legno playing in the strings, the bubbling of the witches' cauldron to the blasts of wind. It is important to remember that Berlioz's use of the word "orgy" pertains to a cultic gathering and not the more modernized meaning. The climactic finale of the symphony combines the somber Dies Irae melody with the wild fugue of the Ronde du Sabbat (Sabbath Round).

Importance

Berlioz wrote in his essay "On Imitation in Music":

The aim of the second kind of imitation, as we have said before, is to reproduce the intonations of the passions and the emotions, and even to trace a musical image, or metaphor, of objects that can only be seen.

He later adds:

...Emotional (imitation) is designed to arouse in us by means of sound the notion of the several passions of the heart, and to awaken solely through the sense of hearing the impressions that human beings experience only through the other senses. Such is the goal of expression, depiction or musical metaphors.

As part of this he uses an example of cyclical structure in music, which was an idea drawn from Beethoven's use of similar rhythmic structures or shapes in his Fifth Symphony, and the idea of musical "cycles", such as a "song cycle". Berlioz did not know of Mendelssohn's Octet, which also uses this device

Leonard Bernstein described the symphony as the first musical expedition into psychedelia because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature, and because history suggests Berlioz composed at least a portion of it under the influence of opium. According to Bernstein, "Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral."

It is one of the most passionate and emotional symphonic works I've ever heard. That fourth movement especially just kills me.

 

[Chiwawa]

Good morning. I don't mind the idea of the new rule. My only concern is who's going to keep track? I can barely keep track of who's on autoskip right now, and I'm not always here. Neither is anyone else (always here, I mean.) What I think will inevitably happen is that someone will request to be autoskipped only when the clock is on, but somebody else will have missed reading this, and all that person will see is that the first guy was skipped already, and skip him again. Then all hell will break loose, and there's no good way to clean up the mess at that point. This is what I want to avoid. It's actually very difficult to change these sort of rules midstream, because I guarantee you not every drafter reads every post in this thread.

For these reasons, as much as I want to help out Tides of War, I'm not in favor of this change. If someone can convince me why these things I'm concerned about won't happen or an easy way to avoid them, in that case I'm willing to change my mind.

Autoskip on and off switch operator will need to submit an application along with 3 forms of ID, blood sample and mission statement. Volunteers?I think the guys who have been posting the lineups of who is upcoming and who has been skipped etc (which isn't you Tim) can handle this just fine.

 

[Fennis]

Question about Glengarry Glen Ross- I've never seen nor read the play, but I have seen the movie more than once. Is the movie a reliable version of the play? Can I use that as my reference, or is it completely different?

Sadly, the Alex Baldwin character was made for the movie. Other than that its pretty good representation of the play. But really to judge it fairly, I demand you go see the play before judging.

 

[rodg12]

26.19 - Forrest Gump by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump - Acting Performance

One of the great American actors at his best. Love this movie and love Hanks' job in it.

Yowza. Hate this pick.There, see, I don't love every pick.

I know I'm up; just catching up.

Sweet, thanks for using my pick to make a point.

I'm sorry. :( But (MOVIE DRAFTERS TAKE NOTE) I have an almost irrational hatred of that movie. Believe me, I wish MisfitBlondes or my apparent new nemesis TidesofWar had taken it instead.On another note, I'd like to compliment my partner on his excellent pick. I love that play.

It's all good. I guess this quote from wiki is truly valid though..."However, the film is commonly seen as a polarizing one for audiences, with Entertainment Weekly writing in 2004, "Nearly a decade after it earned gazillions and swept the Oscars, Robert Zemeckis' ode to 20th-century America still represents one of cinema's most clearly drawn lines in the sand. One half of folks see it as an artificial piece of pop melodrama, while everyone else raves that it's sweet as a box of chocolates.""

Like I said, I love the movie. Love Hanks job in it. Thought his ability to balance comedy and sadness was awesome. But, you and DC Thunder feel almost exactly the opposite.

 

[krista4]

Question about Glengarry Glen Ross- I've never seen nor read the play, but I have seen the movie more than once. Is the movie a reliable version of the play? Can I use that as my reference, or is it completely different?

It is actually a pretty faithful adaptation, since Mamet did the adaptation, but the Alec Baldwin character was not part of the play. Also, Mamet did not direct the movie.ETA: Fennis beat me to it.

 

[timschochet]

Good morning. I don't mind the idea of the new rule. My only concern is who's going to keep track? I can barely keep track of who's on autoskip right now, and I'm not always here. Neither is anyone else (always here, I mean.) What I think will inevitably happen is that someone will request to be autoskipped only when the clock is on, but somebody else will have missed reading this, and all that person will see is that the first guy was skipped already, and skip him again. Then all hell will break loose, and there's no good way to clean up the mess at that point. This is what I want to avoid. It's actually very difficult to change these sort of rules midstream, because I guarantee you not every drafter reads every post in this thread.

For these reasons, as much as I want to help out Tides of War, I'm not in favor of this change. If someone can convince me why these things I'm concerned about won't happen or an easy way to avoid them, in that case I'm willing to change my mind.

Autoskip on and off switch operator will need to submit an application along with 3 forms of ID, blood sample and mission statement. Volunteers?I think the guys who have been posting the lineups of who is upcoming and who has been skipped etc (which isn't you Tim) can handle this just fine.

This is absolutely true, and why I have agreed to this, with the reservations I stated.

 

[ScottNorwood]

Norwood>> I'll be out for most of the day, can you keep my delinquent in line for me? I'm having a hard time keeping track of which alias she's using.

No prob. She has already been PMing me on a regular basis.

wasn't that going to be our little secret?

I didn't mention the pics

 

[TidesofWar]

About to head to the links, then lunch, so I will be out for 6 hours or so - again, anyone available to take a PM for my 27.08 pick??

If Not, I can be skipped till I returb

 

[timschochet]

Question about Glengarry Glen Ross- I've never seen nor read the play, but I have seen the movie more than once. Is the movie a reliable version of the play? Can I use that as my reference, or is it completely different?

Sadly, the Alex Baldwin character was made for the movie. Other than that its pretty good representation of the play. But really to judge it fairly, I demand you go see the play before judging.

OK, thanks.

 

[rodg12]

About to head to the links, then lunch, so I will be out for 6 hours or so - again, anyone available to take a PM for my 27.08 pick?? If Not, I can be skipped till I returb

anyone here that can take a pick at 27.08?

 

[Abrantes]

And for Fennis:

27.01 Glengarry Glen Ross - Play by David Mamet

My favorite Mamet although several others, and in other formats, are worthy for this draft.

Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1982 play written by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts—from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation, and burglary—to sell undesirable real estate to unwilling prospective buyers. The play draws partly on Mamet's experiences of life in a Chicago real estate office, where he worked briefly in the late 1960s. The title of the play comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters, Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms

The play is noteworthy for the flow of persuasive patter of the salesmen characters, who spend much time trying to convince customers, the oily office manager, and even each other to give them what they want: down payments for real estate, access to valuable sales leads, and even co-operation in conspiracies. The play also shocked audiences with its (for the time) raw language, with its roughly 150 uses of the word "####" or variations (an average of once every 40 seconds of stage time), as in this early scene, when desperate salesman Shelley Levene tries to persuade the office manager, Williamson, to give Levene prospects (or "leads") to sell to:

Levene: I need the leads. I need them now. Or I'm gone, and you're going to miss me, John, I swear to you.

Williamson: Murray...

Levene: ...you talk to Murray...

Williamson: I have. And my job is to marshal those leads...

Levene: Marshal the leads...marshal the leads? What the ####, what bus did you get off of, we're here to ####### sell. #### marshaling the leads. What the #### talk is that? What the #### talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school?

(pause)

That's "talk," my friend, that's "talk." Our job is to sell. I'm the man to sell. I'm getting garbage.

(pause)

You're giving it to me, and what I'm saying is it's ####ed.

Clip from the play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L2zbyHwe4UAlso an unbelievably good movie, but I won't comment further to avoid additional spotlighting.

Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

 

[mad sweeney]

And for Fennis:

27.01 Glengarry Glen Ross - Play by David Mamet

My favorite Mamet although several others, and in other formats, are worthy for this draft.

I've been waiting on picking this play for several rounds (like 10), but I was getting close to pulling the trigger. Very good pick and good value for Round 27.BTW, I agree with you on Forrest Gump. That movie is virtually unwatchable to me. How it won it's Oscar is beyond me.

Same here, there's probably not going to be a happy drafter after the Gump ranking.

 

[krista4]

It's all good. I guess this quote from wiki is truly valid though..."However, the film is commonly seen as a polarizing one for audiences, with Entertainment Weekly writing in 2004, "Nearly a decade after it earned gazillions and swept the Oscars, Robert Zemeckis' ode to 20th-century America still represents one of cinema's most clearly drawn lines in the sand. One half of folks see it as an artificial piece of pop melodrama, while everyone else raves that it's sweet as a box of chocolates.""Like I said, I love the movie. Love Hanks job in it. Thought his ability to balance comedy and sadness was awesome. But, you and DC Thunder feel almost exactly the opposite.

I've been surprised (and pleased) over the years at how many people I've come across who hated this movie, too, since I had thought it was pretty beloved. That wiki quote looks just right. I don't really hate the Tom Hanks portrayal as much as I do the movie as a whole, but anyway it's good I'm not judging performances since I'd find it hard to set my feelings aside in that case.

 

[Fennis]

About to head to the links, then lunch, so I will be out for 6 hours or so - again, anyone available to take a PM for my 27.08 pick?? If Not, I can be skipped till I returb

You complained about cubicle-bound moochers who work banker hours and you are going to play golf and lunch for 6 hours?Cry me a river.

 

[rodg12]

And for Fennis:

27.01 Glengarry Glen Ross - Play by David Mamet

My favorite Mamet although several others, and in other formats, are worthy for this draft.

I've been waiting on picking this play for several rounds (like 10), but I was getting close to pulling the trigger. Very good pick and good value for Round 27.BTW, I agree with you on Forrest Gump. That movie is virtually unwatchable to me. How it won it's Oscar is beyond me.

Same here, there's probably not going to be a happy drafter after the Gump ranking.

 

[timschochet]

Count me in among the Forest Gump haters. That flick was putrid.

 

[El Floppo]

anyone here that can take a pick at 27.08?

^^^^ToW...

 

[rodg12]

Quick update on where we're at and who owes picks....

SKIPPED

23.05 - Doug B (requested skip)

24.16 - Doug B (autoskip)

25.05 - Doug B (autoskip)

26.16 - Doug B (autoskip)

27.03 - Postradamus (autoskip if not here in first 15)

27.04 - Timscochet - UP

27.05 - Doug B - On Deck

27.06 - Abrantes - In The Hole

27.07 - BobbyLayne/flysack (autoskip if not around)

27.08 - Tides of War

27.09 - Wikkidpissah

27.10 - Thatguy (autoskip until further notice)

27.11 - El Floppo (autoskip if not here in first 15)

27.12 - Team CIA (autoskip)

27.13 - Uncle Humuna

27.14 - MisfitBlondes

27.15 - Bob Lee Swagger

Quick question.............

Anybody know if Doug is still on Autoskip????????????

 

[mad sweeney]

And for Fennis:

27.01 Glengarry Glen Ross - Play by David Mamet

My favorite Mamet although several others, and in other formats, are worthy for this draft.

I've been waiting on picking this play for several rounds (like 10), but I was getting close to pulling the trigger. Very good pick and good value for Round 27.BTW, I agree with you on Forrest Gump. That movie is virtually unwatchable to me. How it won it's Oscar is beyond me.

Same here, there's probably not going to be a happy drafter after the Gump ranking.

It'll rank better than whoever picked Keanu Reeves, but probably lower than the fence post.

 

[El Floppo]

Good morning. I don't mind the idea of the new rule. My only concern is who's going to keep track? I can barely keep track of who's on autoskip right now, and I'm not always here. Neither is anyone else (always here, I mean.) What I think will inevitably happen is that someone will request to be autoskipped only when the clock is on, but somebody else will have missed reading this, and all that person will see is that the first guy was skipped already, and skip him again. Then all hell will break loose, and there's no good way to clean up the mess at that point. This is what I want to avoid. It's actually very difficult to change these sort of rules midstream, because I guarantee you not every drafter reads every post in this thread.

For these reasons, as much as I want to help out Tides of War, I'm not in favor of this change. If someone can convince me why these things I'm concerned about won't happen or an easy way to avoid them, in that case I'm willing to change my mind.

Autoskip on and off switch operator will need to submit an application along with 3 forms of ID, blood sample and mission statement. Volunteers?I think the guys who have been posting the lineups of who is upcoming and who has been skipped etc (which isn't you Tim) can handle this just fine.

This is absolutely true, and why I have agreed to this, with the reservations I stated.

I missed the agreeing part.

 

[El Floppo]

It's all good. I guess this quote from wiki is truly valid though..."However, the film is commonly seen as a polarizing one for audiences, with Entertainment Weekly writing in 2004, "Nearly a decade after it earned gazillions and swept the Oscars, Robert Zemeckis' ode to 20th-century America still represents one of cinema's most clearly drawn lines in the sand. One half of folks see it as an artificial piece of pop melodrama, while everyone else raves that it's sweet as a box of chocolates.""Like I said, I love the movie. Love Hanks job in it. Thought his ability to balance comedy and sadness was awesome. But, you and DC Thunder feel almost exactly the opposite.

I've been surprised (and pleased) over the years at how many people I've come across who hated this movie, too, since I had thought it was pretty beloved. That wiki quote looks just right. I don't really hate the Tom Hanks portrayal as much as I do the movie as a whole, but anyway it's good I'm not judging performances since I'd find it hard to set my feelings aside in that case.

I think I mentioned this in the video thread- but I'm in the no-likey category too, but it's grown on me some since it came out. I remember that year there were a bunch of movies that were so "human" and "touching" that revolved around inhuman leads. For me, Gump's superhuman speed and idiot savante mastery of whatever the hell else he did made the movie even more annoying than the overall heavy-handedness. Hanks was good though- can't argue that. But he's been much, much better IMO.

 

[krista4]

I missed the agreeing part.

Good morning. I don't mind the idea of the new rule. My only concern is who's going to keep track? I can barely keep track of who's on autoskip right now, and I'm not always here. Neither is anyone else (always here, I mean.) What I think will inevitably happen is that someone will request to be autoskipped only when the clock is on, but somebody else will have missed reading this, and all that person will see is that the first guy was skipped already, and skip him again. Then all hell will break loose, and there's no good way to clean up the mess at that point. This is what I want to avoid. It's actually very difficult to change these sort of rules midstream, because I guarantee you not every drafter reads every post in this thread.

For these reasons, as much as I want to help out Tides of War, I'm not in favor of this change. If someone can convince me why these things I'm concerned about won't happen or an easy way to avoid them, in that case I'm willing to change my mind.

tim we're keeping track of the skippage as you can a few posts up from yours. As long as the person being skipped is clear on how they want to be skipped we should be fine.

OK. If you guys are all confident that this can be kept track of and nobody will miss it and skip over somebody, let's do it. Hopefully you guys are right and there won't be any mess.

 

[TidesofWar]

Thanks to El Floppo, who has my pick ready for 27.08, and thanks also to rodg who offered

Hit'em straight, folks

 

[krista4]

I am going to be in federal court for most of the rest of the day. Put me on total autoskip if it gets to me - which it shouldn't.

Ohhhh...Look at Mr. Big Shot Lawyer heading off to court. Hey, Perry Mason, try to keep your client OUT of jail for once.

Not just court--federal court.

 

[timschochet]

27.04 On The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) by Nicolaus Copernicus (Non-fiction)

I searched three times to make sure this work was not already chosen; somehow I thought it had. I am stunned, and incredibly lucky to be able to draft this pick in the 27th round.

Arguably one of the 2-3 most important scientific books ever written, this incredibly influential tome deserves, IMO, a top ten ranking for sure, possibly top 5. Wikipedia calls it "the defining ephinany that began the Scientific Revolution." By creating the starting point of modern astronomy, and even more importantly by placing the sun at the center of the universe rather than the Earth, this book sparked a social and cultural revolution, which among other things would have a profound effect on the relationship between religion and state in the western world, leading to the Enlightenment and created the secular world we enjoy today. If anything, these few lines I have written here understates the book's importance, if that is possible.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Quick question.............

Anybody know if Doug is still on Autoskip????????????

This is his only post since he said to put him on autoskip:

Trying to stay with this, but I am getting my arzze kicked at work, plus keeping up with the WIS XII draft time-suck in the Baseball Forum. I'll get in here at some point.

Looks like Abrantes is up after timschochet. I am around and will make my pick - our little city court released me from jury duty, and I'm not heading to the east end until this afternoon.

 

[rodg12]

Quick question.............

Anybody know if Doug is still on Autoskip????????????

This is his only post since he said to put him on autoskip:

Trying to stay with this, but I am getting my arzze kicked at work, plus keeping up with the WIS XII draft time-suck in the Baseball Forum. I'll get in here at some point.

Looks like Abrantes is up after timschochet. I am around and will make my pick - our little city court released me from jury duty, and I'm not heading to the east end until this afternoon.

Thanks BL.

 

[ScottNorwood]

Celestial Spheres

pics?

 

[rodg12]

SKIPPED

23.05 - Doug B (requested skip)

24.16 - Doug B (autoskip)

25.05 - Doug B (autoskip)

26.16 - Doug B (autoskip)

27.03 - Postradamus (autoskip if not here in first 15)

27.05 - Doug B - (autoskip)

27.06 - Abrantes - OTC until :03

27.07 - BobbyLayne/flysack - On Deck

27.08 - Tides of War - In The Hole (Pick PMed)

27.09 - Wikkidpissah

27.10 - Thatguy (autoskip until further notice)

27.11 - El Floppo (autoskip if not here in first 15)

27.12 - Team CIA (autoskip)

27.13 - Uncle Humuna

27.14 - MisfitBlondes

27.15 - Bob Lee Swagger

 

[Abrantes]

Argh! Didn't notice I was comin' up this soon. I'll just post my pick and add the write-up in a bit. Safe to say, the last couple of rounds made me a little antsy with my black & white specials. One of my favorite movies of all time right here.

27.06 Fritz Lang's M (Movie)

One of the coolest movie posters ever

Another sweet poster

Great short piece on Lang's use of sound

There's talk of how this was the first "serial killer movie", and about director Fritz Lang's transition from silent films to this, his first sound film. One can analyze the details if so inclined (for they truly merit in-depth analysis), but the bottom line is that M is simply a stunning film. Fritz Lang transforms "In The Hall of The Mountain King" into a whistled prelude to murder. A chalk-stamped letter "M" becomes synonymous with horror. Every shot is used to build up the tension as police, thieves and beggars hunt down Peter Lorre, who - spotlighting be damned - turns in an all-time great performance. His palpable desperation builds and builds through numerous visual and aural cues as he is systematically cornered, culminating in a pair of "trials" the likes of which I've never seen. As I linked above, Lorre's breakdown in front of the assembled ne'er-do-wells of the city is just...incredible. That this film was made in 1931 is even more fascinating, given how its power hasn't diminished, nearly 80 years later.

 

[flysack]

I thought I asked NOT TO BE SKIPPED after the clock was off??? DAMN IT!!!!

Tides, it's been a general rule that if you allow yourself to be skipped once, then if we come around to you a next time and you still haven't made your pick you're automatically skipped again. This has been the same for everyone.

Then I will not be skipped again.I missed two selections I wanted because I tried to be fair with people that are not willing to reciprocate. Why were they not skipped on the weekend???I said at the beginning the MON-FRI daytime clock was bogus, IMO.Once the clock is off, it should damn well be off.I vote if you are not going to be available on the weekends, youn should be skipped as well, to level the playing field.But that would not fare well with Krista and her desperate following

I tend to agree with everything you said, except the last sentence. And the "desperate following"? WTF do you mean by that?

The guy that married you?BAM! POW!@@lease don't ban me. it was a softball:

 

[Postradamus]

YOU SKIPPED ME!?? I TOTALLY WANTED COPERNICUS. #### THIS D RAFT

 

[El Floppo]

Argh! Didn't notice I was comin' up this soon. I'll just post my pick and add the write-up in a bit. Safe to say, the last couple of rounds made me a little antsy with my black & white specials. One of my favorite movies of all time right here.

27.06 Fritz Lang's M (Movie)

One of the coolest movie posters ever

Another sweet poster

:subscribe:Really thought about this one for later.

"Elsie.... Elsie Beckman..."

Ugh. But ####### brilliant.

eta: and could never look at Peter Lorre the same.

 

[krista4]

Argh! Didn't notice I was comin' up this soon. I'll just post my pick and add the write-up in a bit. Safe to say, the last couple of rounds made me a little antsy with my black & white specials. One of my favorite movies of all time right here.

27.06 Fritz Lang's M (Movie)

One of the coolest movie posters ever

Another sweet poster

And thank you for not taking my favorite movie. I'm getting worried after all the great movie picks.

 

[Postradamus]

27.03 Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia acting performance

http://www.filmsite.org/100greatperformances4.html

Premier ranked it #1 and I'm not one to disagree.

VIDJO

anutter VIDJO

more VIDJOS (watch most of it free on youtube)

 

[krista4]

I thought I asked NOT TO BE SKIPPED after the clock was off??? DAMN IT!!!!

Tides, it's been a general rule that if you allow yourself to be skipped once, then if we come around to you a next time and you still haven't made your pick you're automatically skipped again. This has been the same for everyone.

Then I will not be skipped again.I missed two selections I wanted because I tried to be fair with people that are not willing to reciprocate. Why were they not skipped on the weekend???I said at the beginning the MON-FRI daytime clock was bogus, IMO.Once the clock is off, it should damn well be off.I vote if you are not going to be available on the weekends, youn should be skipped as well, to level the playing field.But that would not fare well with Krista and her desperate following

I tend to agree with everything you said, except the last sentence. And the "desperate following"? WTF do you mean by that?

The guy that married you?BAM! POW!@@lease don't ban me. it was a softball:

I can't ban you for speaking the truth.

 

[krista4]

YOU SKIPPED ME!?? I TOTALLY WANTED COPERNICUS. #### THIS D RAFT

 

[BobbyLayne]

27.04 On The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) by Nicolaus Copernicus (Non-fiction)

I searched three times to make sure this work was not already chosen; somehow I thought it had. I am stunned, and incredibly lucky to be able to draft this pick in the 27th round.

Arguably one of the 2-3 most important scientific books ever written, this incredibly influential tome deserves, IMO, a top ten ranking for sure, possibly top 5. Wikipedia calls it "the defining ephinany that began the Scientific Revolution." By creating the starting point of modern astronomy, and even more importantly by placing the sun at the center of the universe rather than the Earth, this book sparked a social and cultural revolution, which among other things would have a profound effect on the relationship between religion and state in the western world, leading to the Enlightenment and created the secular world we enjoy today. If anything, these few lines I have written here understates the book's importance, if that is possible.

The notion of a stationary Earth at the center of the universe had persisted for hundreds of years before the posthumous publication of Copernicus magnificent work. However, I would like to offer some balance to the hyperbole here, from John Simmons The Scientific 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Scientists, Past and Present:

The "Copernican Revolution" is an eminently useful term, although its actual content has been much discussed and disputed since it was first employed by Immanuel Kant two centuries ago. The term should be understood as referring to Copernicus's break with XXXXXXXXX astronomy and to his priority in developing a Sun-centered model. He did not accomplish it alone. It has long been understood that, as astronomer J.L.E. Dreyer wrote, "Copernicus did not produce what is nowadays meant by the Copernican system." And historian of science I. Bernard Cohen concludes, If there was a revolution in astronomy, that revolution was Keplerian and Newtonian, and not in any simple of valid sense Copernican." This is not to gainsay Copernicus's influence but only to put it in the context of his real achievement.

 

[timschochet]

An objective, unbiased assessment of timschochet's masterpieces:

The Wealth of Nations The most important political tome ever written.

On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres Among the 2-3 most important scientific tomes ever written.

Crime And Punishment One of the 5 greatest novels of all time.

The Trial One of the 2-3 greatest novels of the 20th century.

The Lottery The greatest short story every written.

Paradise Lost One of the top 5-10 greatest works in the history of all literature.

Republicanism Arguably the most important political idea ever created.

Hubble's Discovery of the Greater Universe Among the most important scientific discoveries of all time.

Television The most profound invention of modern culture ever created.

The Steam Engine The key invention of the Industrial Revolution.

Guernica One of Picasso's two greatest works, and a searing statement against the horrors of war.

Luncheon On The Grass Among the 2-3 most influential and controversial paintings of all time.

Michelangelo's Pieta The greatest sculpture of all time.

The Godfather The greatest movie ever made.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Among the 2-3 most influential movies ever made.

The Bicycle Thief Among the top 5 foreign films of all time.

Crumb Voted by Us magazine among the top 20 films of the last 20 years, and one of the best documentaries ever made.

Roots The greatest television show of all time.

Anthony Hopkins in Silence Of The Lambs One of the top 5 greatest acting performances ever.

The Arc de Triomphe Among the world's most recognized and beautiful structures.

Westminster Abbey Arguably has a greater and more fascinating history than any building/structure selected in this draft.

MacBeth One of the top 5 greatest plays in world history.

Beethoven's 5th Symphony The greatest composition in history.

Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusic The most recognized melody of all time.

Like A Rolling Stone The greatest Rock and Roll song of all time.

God Bless The Child The greatest Jazz standard of all time.

Exile On Main Street Among the top 5 rock albums of all time.

 

[Postradamus]

dude, my team is better. just ask MB.

 

[timschochet]

27.04 On The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) by Nicolaus Copernicus (Non-fiction)

I searched three times to make sure this work was not already chosen; somehow I thought it had. I am stunned, and incredibly lucky to be able to draft this pick in the 27th round.

Arguably one of the 2-3 most important scientific books ever written, this incredibly influential tome deserves, IMO, a top ten ranking for sure, possibly top 5. Wikipedia calls it "the defining ephinany that began the Scientific Revolution." By creating the starting point of modern astronomy, and even more importantly by placing the sun at the center of the universe rather than the Earth, this book sparked a social and cultural revolution, which among other things would have a profound effect on the relationship between religion and state in the western world, leading to the Enlightenment and created the secular world we enjoy today. If anything, these few lines I have written here understates the book's importance, if that is possible.

The notion of a stationary Earth at the center of the universe had persisted for hundreds of years before the posthumous publication of Copernicus magnificent work. However, I would like to offer some balance to the hyperbole here, from John Simmons The Scientific 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Scientists, Past and Present:

The "Copernican Revolution" is an eminently useful term, although its actual content has been much discussed and disputed since it was first employed by Immanuel Kant two centuries ago. The term should be understood as referring to Copernicus's break with XXXXXXXXX astronomy and to his priority in developing a Sun-centered model. He did not accomplish it alone. It has long been understood that, as astronomer J.L.E. Dreyer wrote, "Copernicus did not produce what is nowadays meant by the Copernican system." And historian of science I. Bernard Cohen concludes, If there was a revolution in astronomy, that revolution was Keplerian and Newtonian, and not in any simple of valid sense Copernican." This is not to gainsay Copernicus's influence but only to put it in the context of his real achievement.

I never wrote that Copernicus discovered this stuff by himself. But like so many other "discoveries", he is the man who popularized it with his work. My discussion was not about the man himself, but about the book and it's importance. I don't think there's hyperbole involved.I know hyperbole; hyperbole is a friend of mine. The importance of this book is no hyperbole.

 

[El Floppo]

Argh! Didn't notice I was comin' up this soon. I'll just post my pick and add the write-up in a bit. Safe to say, the last couple of rounds made me a little antsy with my black & white specials. One of my favorite movies of all time right here.

27.06 Fritz Lang's M (Movie)

One of the coolest movie posters ever

Another sweet poster

And thank you for not taking my favorite movie. I'm getting worried after all the great movie picks.

Favorite movie you say... hmmmm

 

[Abrantes]

Argh! Didn't notice I was comin' up this soon. I'll just post my pick and add the write-up in a bit. Safe to say, the last couple of rounds made me a little antsy with my black & white specials. One of my favorite movies of all time right here.

27.06 Fritz Lang's M (Movie)

One of the coolest movie posters ever

Another sweet poster

And thank you for not taking my favorite movie. I'm getting worried after all the great movie picks.

I'll try harder next time.I can hazard a guess, but I couldn't find room for it, if it's the one I'm thinking.

 

[timschochet]

"M" is a very disturbing movie with the same feel as The Trial and Edvard Munch's The Scream. It should be recognized that there is a connection between all of these works; they were all part of the German postwar movement known as Expressionism in art.

Nowadays all three works are considered among the greatest of all time, but it's historically interesting to note that the common German's shock and disgust with such "liberal" and "Jewish" art was part of the reason for the rise of Adolf Hitler.

 

[Abrantes]

Beefed up the M write-up and provided a link to Peter Lorre's greatness (although I highly recommend people watch the whole film).

 

[timschochet]

I detest Peter O' Toole. Can't stand to even look at the guy.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Raise your hand if you are going to drink a glass of milk or wine this weekend.



Here's the deal, timschochet - when you make a great value pick, it doesn't need a writeup to justify it.

You just post it and watch everyone go

27.07 (527th pick) - Pasteurization - Scientific discovery

Louis Pasteur

Now that is 27th round value.

 

[timschochet]

I disagree BobbyLayne. What's wrong with being loud and obnoxious?

I deserve to bask in my own glory.