The End of the End-

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

And you were, J. S. Like most women, I love to have the last word.

Seriously, I do love Kafka -- and Sartre. Not too keen on Kierkegaard myself, though I bet he is better in Danish.

Oh, and let me just add this bit of dialog from Play It Again, Sam, because I think Woody Allen has been influenced by nearly all the gentlemen you mentioned.

WOODY ALLEN: That's quite a lovely Jackson Pollock, isn't it?
GIRL IN MUSEUM: Yes it is.
WOODY ALLEN: What does it say to you?
GIRL IN MUSEUM: It restates the negativeness of the universe, the hideous lonely emptiness of existence, nothingness, the predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity, like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void, with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless bleak straightjacket in a black absurd cosmos.
WOODY ALLEN: What are you doing Saturday night?
GIRL IN MUSEUM: Committing suicide.
WOODY ALLEN: What about Friday night?
GIRL IN MUSEUM: [leaves silently]

Cira Larkin - Studio 53 · **Voice Talent** Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 497

Threadjack Alert:
That Woody Allen clip, Diane, is one of my favorites of all time. I have it committed to memory. AND....I just finished re-reading Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" this afternoon for the 3rd time. I mean, my God, the poor guy wakes up as a cockroach and all he can think about is that he's late for work. AND...Sartre was a smartre fartre. So, there.

Peter Ganim · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 115

Am I the only one who is secretly pleased and not at all surprised that a thread initially entitled "The End of the End" has morphed into a little philosophical playground?

If there is ever an organic element to be mined from electronic boxes which operate in only two dimensions...this is it.

It ain't a threadjack...it's absolute evolution!

PG
(Who, in a classically existential manner, never really left...of course)

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Peter --

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. We are one deep bunch, huh? (straight line)

And Cira --

We could definitely start a thread just for Woody Allen fanatics. I love his work -- stage, screen and book. That scene is in my memory bank as well, and I have a bunch of others there too. Kafka, of course, is an influence on so many writers (reading M again, eh? Wow -- I think I might just be up for a re-read myself sometime soon.)

Cira Larkin - Studio 53 · **Voice Talent** Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 497

Yes, Diane....I wept over M.
I find that people either love Woody Allen or hate him.

And, Peter, you are inspiring. Great minds think alike.

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Yeah, Cira -- you are right about Woody. I use a mention of him to people as a barometer for compatability.

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

My preferred philosophers come from the playgrounds of life:
- "You can observe a lot by watching."
- "You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
- Yogi Berra, 1970

-"Never look back. Something might be gaining on you."
- Satchell Paige, 1955

- "I'm not allowed to let you see my knickers"
- Carolyn Feldman, 1962

- "You May be Six People, But I Love You"
- Zelig (Woody Allen), 1983

Muse On!

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Excellent quotes, Robert! (Though I'm not familiar with Feldman's work, but I'm sure you would have liked to be even more familiar with it.)

And Yogi Berra -- yes, he's another I find that either you love him or you love him.

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008, 15:20 (GMT) Post subject:

Here are the guideposts to which I tether, though I often cut the line; then I come back and tie a knot; but my fingers aren't strong so they...oh, never mind:

"Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes (not to be confused with Douglas)

"When nothing is sure, everything is possible." -- Margaret Drabble

"The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions -- the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment." -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Stay close to the candles. The stairway can be...treacherous." --
Frau Bleucher, Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks/Gene Wilder)

"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." -- Hedley Lamar, Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks)

(the last quote isn't really a philosophy of life; it just makes me happy)

Cira Larkin - Studio 53 · **Voice Talent** Joined: 08 Nov 2006 Posts: 497

Well, as long as we're waxing philosophical:

Lisa Douglas: Olivah? Vould you like zome hotcakes?

Frau Blucher: Would the doctor care for a brandy before retiring?
Dr. Friedrich von Frankenstein: No. Thank you.
Frau Blucher: Some varm milk... perhaps?
Dr. Friedrich von Frankenstein: No, thank you very much.
Frau Blucher: Ovaltine?

...and
Yes, yes! Say it! He vas my.....boyfriend!

I think that says it all. Now if you all will excuse me, I have to go shout voices into the pantyhose.

Lee Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 1549

And there's this classic:
"I'd rather have this bottle in front of me
than a frontal lobotomy."

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008, 17:39 (GMT) Post subject:

Peter Ganim · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 115

More likely to have been either Fred Allen or Dorothy Parker , who both predate Waits, and to whom the quote has also been attributed.
(My vote is for Parker...sounds just like her)

Diane Havens · **Voice Talent** Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 1281

Peter -- I believe you are correct, sir. Weren't we just quoting that lady the other day in the Poetry thread? Now here she shows up again. Now, that proves what a giant she is. I was working for a while on getting Steve Martin a mention in as many threads as possible. Love him, too.

Melba Sibrel · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008, 18:33 (GMT) Post subject:

Diane -- this must be why I like your forumy persona!! I LOVE Steve Martin. Smart and funny. Nothing sexier.

Shopgirl (both novella and film) is phenomenal. How he could write with such clarity and tenderness from the POV of a character so totally unlike him is unfathomable to me. I totally dug The Pleasure of My Company, too.

And don't even get me started on his banjo....mmmm...

Think I'm going to go write him a poem and possibly garner another restraining order.