Life & People

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

Born	7 April 1770 Wordsworth House, Cockermouth, England
Died	23 April 1850 (aged 80) Cumberland, England
Occupation	Poet
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Literary movement	Romanticism
Notable work(s)	Lyrical Ballads, Poems in Two Volumes, The Excursion

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads.

Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his early years which he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published, prior to which it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

Quotes

Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after being destroyed in the first book.

The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 movie based on Baum's book. In that film adaptation, as in Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and its musical adaptation Wicked, the Witch of the West is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East, although this is neither stated nor implied in the original novel.

Versions in performance media

The 1939 movie

In the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz, Margaret Hamilton plays the Wicked Witch of the West as a stooped, green-skinned witch dressed in a long black dress with a black pointed hat. This representation of the Wicked Witch has become a standard for what witches look like and an archetype for human wickedness. While this relationship is not mentioned in Baum's books, in the movie, the Witch is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East. In fact, she appears in the film much earlier on than in Baum's original novel, demanding the Munchkins reveal who killed her sister, not long after Dorothy's arrival in Oz. She is described by the Good Witch of the North Glinda as "worse than the other one." Therefore, the Witch's role is made much more prominent than in the novel, as she seeks revenge against Dorothy for destroying her sister, even though it was an "accident". She is more menacing than her literary counterpart, making Dorothy too afraid to ever lose her temper with the Witch. She makes sure that Dorothy knows her power when Dorothy meets the Tin Man by throwing a fire ball at them after which she waits to see if Dorothy is too afraid to go on. Before Dorothy and her friends get to the city, the Witch casts a spell of sleeping poppies, the poppies fail to work do Glinda's good magic spell of snow. She then gets on her broom to show more of her power to Dorothy, after Dorothy and her friends see the Wizard they want out to get her broom, she knew they are coming so she sends her flying monkeys unlike Baum's original depiction. The Golden Cap is not mentioned, but the Witch does hold and then angrily cast away a costume piece that could be considered the cap (It greatly resembles the Cap in depicted in W W. Denslow's original illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, after the poppies fail to work. She is killed when Dorothy throws the water when she lights a fire to threaten the Scarecrow. The character ranks No. 4 in the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time, making her the highest ranking female villain, as well as placing 90th on Empire's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

On a 1976 episode of Sesame Street, the Wicked Witch, once again played by Margaret Hamilton, drops her broom and falls onto the street. In order to get the broom back, she must prove that she can be nice. Everyone is scared of her, except for Big Bird and Oscar. After she proves that she is nice, Big Bird is upset when the time comes for her to leave. She reassures him that one day she'll return. The episode was poorly received by parents of frightened young children, and was never aired again. The fate of the footage is unknown.

Margaret Hamilton also played The Wicked Witch of the West on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1978), and reprised her role several times on stage, most notably at The Saint Louis Opera House.

Hamilton also appeared as herself on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. In this appearance, she demonstrated how her costume and acting skills made her appear to be the Witch, and assured her young viewers that there was nothing about her to be feared, because her portrayal in the film was only make-believe.

Quotes·Quotation by Wicked Witch of the West

Margaret Hamilton as Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz

¶ I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Witch_of_the_West

Frances Wright (1795-1852)

Frances Wright

Frances Wright (September 6 1795 – December 13 1852), also widely known as Fanny Wright, was a Scotland-born lecturer, writer, feminist, abolitionist, and utopian, who became a U. S. citizen in 1825.

@ Your spiritual teachers caution you against enquiry — tell you not to read certain books; not to listen to certain people; to beware of profane learning; to submit your reason, and to receive their doctrines for truths. Such advice renders them suspicious counsellors. By their own creed you hold your reason from their God. Go! ask them why he gave it. [Lecture III: Of the more Important Divisions and Essential Parts of Knowledge]

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frances_Wright

Steven WRIGHT

Steven Wright

Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer.[1]

Quotes·Quotations by Steven Wright

Animal

@ Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.

@ Imagine if birds were tickled by feathers. You'd see a flock of birds come by, laughing hysterically!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Wright

Grand Inquisitor Silecio

Grand Inquisitor Silecio

@ Our bodies are prisons for our souls. Our skin and blood, the iron bars of confinement. But, fear not. All flesh decays. Death turns all to ash. And thus, death frees every soul.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Fountain

West Africa

West Africa

West Africa, also called Western Africa and the West of Africa, is the westernmost region of the African continent.

West African Proverb

Sun

¶ The sun is the king of torches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Africa

Western world and Westerner

Western world and Westerner

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident (from Latin: occidens "sunset, West"; as contrasted with the Orient), is a term referring to different nations depending on the context. There is no agreed upon definition about what all these nations have in common apart from having a significant population of European descent.

Although the term originally had a literal geographic meaning, contrasting Europe with the linked cultures of civilizations of the Near East (Muslim world), South Asia and remote Far East (Sinosphere), today it has little geographic relevance. Nations generally accepted to be part of the Western world occupy both hemispheres created by the arbitrary division of the earth at Greenwich or strongly related to Europe.

The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, with the advent of Christianity. In the modern era, Western culture has been heavily influenced by the traditions of Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Age of Enlightenment, and shaped by the expansive colonialism of the 16th-20th centuries. Its political usage was temporarily informed by a mutual antagonism with the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century (1945–1991).

In the contemporary cultural meaning, the Western world includes many countries of Europe as well as many countries of European colonial origin in the Americas and Oceania, such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, etc.

Western Proverb

Advice

¶ A rose too often smelled loses its fragrance.

¶ An onion will not produce a rose.

¶ Extremes meet.

Attitude

¶ From the same flower the bee extracts honey and the wasp gall.

¶ Soft and fair goes far.

Beauty

¶ A rose is sweeter in the bud than full blown.

¶ Beauty draws more than oxen.

¶ Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

¶ Beauty without virtue is a flower without perfume.

¶ Casting pearls before swine.

Care

¶ Care killed the cat.

Confidence

¶ Good wine needs no bush.

Cooperation

¶ It takes two to tango.

Drink

¶ Bacchus kills more than Mars.

Endeavor

¶ He that will thrive, must rise at five.

¶ God helps the early riser.

Flower

¶ Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower.

Friend

¶ A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody.

¶ A life wthout a friend is a life without a sun.

¶ It is his friends that make or mar a man.

Gentleman

¶ Manners and money make a gentleman.

God

¶ God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.

Happiness

¶ Every rose has its thorn.

Honesty

¶ Honesty is the best policy.

Imitation

¶ Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Journey

¶ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Kindness

¶ Kindness is worth more than beauty.

Money

¶ Every man has his price.

¶ Money can't buy happiness.

¶ Money is like an eel in the hand.

¶ Money makes money.

¶ Money ruins many.

¶ No work, no money.

¶ To repay borrowed money is the best way to use money.

Parting

¶ Rats desert sinking ship.

Sagacity

¶ It is not every flower that smells sweet.

Self-care

¶ Likeness causes liking.

¶ No shame, no honor.

Spring

¶ April Showers bring May flowers.

Time

¶ The tree is known by its fruit.

¶ Time is money.

Wisdom

¶ Every cloud has a silver lining.

¶ If you would enjoy the fruit, pluck not the flower.

¶ Painted flowers have no scent.

¶ There is no new thing under the sun.

Sylvia Weis (In Time)

Sylvia Weis (In Time)

Amanda Seyfried as Sylvia Weis from In Time (2011)

@ Sylvia Weis: We're not meant to live like this. We're not meant to live forever. Although I do wonder, Father, if you've ever lived a day in your life.

Woody Allen (1935- )

Woody Allen (1935- )

Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema. He is also a jazz clarinetist who performs regularly at small venues in Manhattan.[1]

Quotes·Quotation by Woody Allen

Death·Immortality

¶ I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it by not dying!

Money

¶ Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

Woody Allen as Alvy Singer from Annie Hall (1977)

¶ That's because they don't throw their garbage away, they turn it into television shows.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen

Dita Von Teese

Dita Von Teese (1972- )

Dita Von Teese (born Heather Renée Sweet on September 28, 1972) is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.

...

@ Madonna is the only modern celebrity who is truly a style icon. Who else has the audacity to dress like her these days? She really influenced how I wanted to look when I was growing up, and made me realize that I didn’t have to look like a blond beach bunny or a Playboy model.
[http://www.contactmusic.com/news/von-teese-madonna-inspired-me-to-be-individual_1037902]

@ At eurovision, The Armenians are killing me with their hair and especially the fierce cateye liner! LOVE! I am part Armenian, in fact.
[https://twitter.com/DitaVonTeese/status/1808509968]

@ Playboy is the second most-recognised symbol in the world after Coca-Cola, It’s a Hollywood walk of fame for female bodies. My dad is a different story – he threw me out of the house when I was 16 because I worked in the lingerie store and wore black lace panties. But he loved that I was on the Playboy cover; suddenly I was his daughter again. In fact, everything changed after the Playboy cover. Before, people were scared of me, but suddenly what I did was validated.
[http://personalispolitical.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/dita-von-sleeze-and-borelesque/]

@ Good manners. They're forgotten in America. I think it's bad manners to stand around in public with ripped jeans and your hair in a mess, holding a Starbucks.
[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-5minute-interview-dita-von-teese-burlesque-artiste-424723.html]

@ You know how some celebrities have fans of the opposite sex, who imagine they’re going to marry them and live happily ever after? I have a different thing. Over the past 15 years I’ve had a few female fans who’ve gone overboard and been upset because we didn’t become best friends and go shopping together.
[http://crushable.com/entertainment/dita-von-teese-talks-about-crazy-ex-marilyn-manson]

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dita_Von_Teese
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Category:Actors

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