Polymath and raconteur par excellence, Peter Ustinov, tells a wartime anecdote on a 1972 episode of Parkinson. The other guests on this episode were Jackie Charlton, Jimmy Reid and Blossom Dearie.
Imagine what it must have been like in the green room!
Good morning.
Bob Mackie was one of those people who knew how to make you feel like glittering magic, all you had to do was slip into one of his creations.
While the entertainment industry needed smoke and mirrors, all Bob needed was a few yards of sheer fabric, a needle and thread … and beads, lots and lots of beads!
When you wore one of Bob’s creations, you felt like a million dollars.
Bob’s imagination, designs and creations will continue in legend. Bob, your genius will continue to sparkle like the millions of beads you meticulously placed on those of us fortunate enough to have known you.
I still have my gowns and treasure them as much as the day I first put them on. Rest well Bob! -Barbara Eden
Bob Mackie, the “Sultan of Sequins” known for creating flamboyant, show-stopping looks for divas like Cher and Diana Ross, has died at 87.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today,” a statement on his Instagram read. “He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do. His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”
https://t.co/nHXQzsISWe
ICYMI: this old head is honored to be among this year's 25 New Faces of Film in @FilmmakerMag !
A thousand thank-yous to @44getting and @celizotte for pole-vaulting me into the pantheon and David Cardoza + Dan Welch of Cashiers du Cinema or capturing my likeness!
I was stunned to learn the other day that Smith College is no longer collecting material about Sylvia Plath. I had offered to donate my digital recordings of interviews with Al Alvarez and others, including Smith students, and the archivist did not show the least interest.
I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.
Orson Welles talking about the larger acceptance of experimental cinema during an interview in 1962:
"Oh it's wonderful, and it's very hopeful. I mean there are all sorts of difficult subjects being made into mainstream pictures nowadays and they are doing well. People are going to see them. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR and LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD. I mean, I don't like them, but I'm so glad that they were made. It doesn't matter that I don't like them. Resnais would probably hate THE TRIAL, but what matters is that a difficult and on the face of it, an experimental, film got made, and is being shown and is competing commercially! In other words what is dying is the purely commercial film, at least that is the great hope!"