Monday Artday: speed

The Monday Artday challenge word this week is “speed”. Neil Simon’s 1965 play (and subsequent 1968 film) “The Odd Couple” told the story of Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. Oscar is a New York City sports writer and a horrible slob. His recently-divorced friend, Felix, has been kicked out of his home. Oscar invites Felix …

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from my sketchbook: hope?

Everyone on this earth has felt some kind of unsubstantiated prejudice. At some point in their lives, everyone — the cashier at Target, Michael Douglas, the woman who takes your picture for your new driver’s license, The Pope — dislikes someone for a stupid reason. If you say “Oh no. Not me.”, then you’re prejudice …

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DCS: james whale

James Whale didn’t care what people in Hollywood thought of him. Whale was openly gay in 1930s Hollywood, at time when gay actors and actresses had to hide their sexual orientation at a risk of jeopardizing their careers. He was an innovative director. Universal Pictures owed its stellar success in the 1930s much in part …

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DCS: irene gibbons

Irene Gibbons was an Oscar-nominated costume designer in Hollywood for thirty years. She took over from Adrian at MGM, and went on to establish her own company, Irene, Inc. She was known only as “Irene” in her screen credits. Doris Day wrote in her 1975 autobiography that she got to know Irene quite well. One …

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SFG: nice

The challenge word on sugarfrostedgoodness.com is “nice”. Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd. He provided the musical direction and psychedelic influence in the band’s early work. He recorded two albums with Pink Floyd and two solo releases before mental illness and heavy drug use put him into a self-imposed seclusion lasting more …

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Monday Artday: zombies

This week’s challenge word on Monday Artday is “zombies”. A zombie is a reanimated human corpse. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou. One origin of the word “zombie” is “jumbie”, the West Indian term for “ghost”. Another is “nzambi”, the Kongo word meaning “spirit of a dead person.” According …

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