Award-winning multidisciplinary artist and designer Sven Signe Den Hartogh has created a new flag, not for a region or a nation or a people, but for all of humanity. It is a lovely emblem.
"This installation represents the new flag of humanity. By creating a transparent flag that stands for equilibrium and equality in the world regardless of (country) borders, skin color, sexuality or other labels. Where flags are normally used to give signals or are used as a so-called representative symbol, this flag is not intended to distinguish people or groups of people, but this is a universal flag that stands for people all over the world to hopefully restore the balance and to show people that there is no need to indicate a difference through labels.
It is my goal to spread the ideas behind this and to raise the ‘New Flag For Humanity’ in many places in the world such as schools, museums, government buildings and other inspiring places to show that we are all equal and that these ideas can hopefully help restore balance in the world."
..."Transparent: Musicale Finale," the end of the 4 season series "Transparent" on Amazon Prime. After binge watching the entire series two years ago (read my review here), the fate of the show was a bit up in the air. Jeffrey Tambor, the actor who played the lead character Maura Pfefferman, was accused of sexual misconduct on the set and was subsequently fired. Which is a shame since not only is Tambor a spectacularly talented actor, the show itself was amazing, winning 8 Emmys, 2 Golden Globes, an AFI award, a British Academy Television award, a Directors Guild of America award, a Screen Actors Guild award, a Producers Guild of America award, 3 Critic's Choice awards, and a Peabody award. Tambor has since apologized for bad behavior and temperamental outbursts but has denied any sexual misconduct. Whatever the truth, I am glad the creators of the show, Jill and Faith Soloway, decided to give the remaining characters and story lines a chance for some closure.
I recently came across a trailer for the series finale and I was quite surprised to see that it is a musical. And I was a bit put off..."Oh, I'm not going to watch that," said I with an inner eye roll. But I should not have been so quick to write it off. My husband was intrigued and took a peek without me. He came back and reported that the first five minutes had knocked him to the floor. So we hunkered down to catch up with the Pfefferman clan.
And indeed, the show does open with a very emotionally effective and arresting song, while each of the characters are introduced by a montage, showing where they are and what they are doing since we saw them last. But each of them are isolated, in their sheltered corners. It's one of the best, most touching opening sequences I've seen in a long time. And at the end of this sequence, we discover that Maura (Tambor's character) has died in her sleep. What transpires is the journey everyone must make when they have lost a loved one and are in a state of grief, but also the extra journey these characters must make to get out of their own ways.
Recommend? If you've seen the first four seasons, it is a must-see. It's moving and dramatic but also as awkwardly funny as it is always was. And it includes a final musical number that will surely push a lot of buttons for some...but if you step back and look, truly see, you will agree with the sentiment.
...all four seasons of "Transparent," the award-winning (8 Emmys, 2 Golden Globes, an AFI award, a British Academy Television award, a Directors Guild of America award, a Screen Actors Guild award, a Producers Guild of America award, 3 Critic's Choice awards, and a Peabody award) Amazon Prime original series. I'd been meaning to see this for a while and I am so glad I did.
If you don't know anything about this series, the story concerns itself with a family whose patriarch (played with stunning restraint and skill by Jeffrey Tambor) decides to live his truth of being transgendered, hence the title "Transparent." But the story arc over the four seasons concerns itself with much more than this single story line. As Shelley the mother (played exquisitely by Judith Light) wisely notes in season three, "When one person in a family transitions, everyone transitions." Billed as a comedy, there are certainly some very amusing and yes, funny moments in it, but taken altogether, it is absolutely a drama. And a sensitive, moving one at that.
In addition to the mother and father (mother and mother) there are three grown children in this family (Gaby Hoffman, Jay Duplass, and Amy Landecker) as well as their associated spouses, lovers, and friends. Over all four seasons, and via multiple story lines and flash backs that move through generations, we get a sweeping story arc that is quite literary at its core. It has fascinating things to say about sexuality, culture, religion, discrimination, psychology, genetic memory, and just generally what it means to be a human being.
The entire cast is beyond talented, and the story, as I just mentioned, is impressive. My only small quibble, and it is a small one, is that there were some things about the fourth season that felt rushed...some of the story lines were given quick answers. Now, I could be imagining this since, as I stop to think of it, the answers were a long time coming, and once an answer to a question arrives, there is an end to that question, that wonder, that probing. Like I said, it is a small quibble and one others may not have even noticed. In no way does it diminish the series or the story as a whole.
"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ museum/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”
I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.
Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft) and I will be happy to provide a link. If you are the owner of an image and would prefer it be removed, I am happy to do that as well.
I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain me. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.
All-time Favorite Films
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)
Amelie
American Beauty (Alan Ball)
Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)
Belle et Bete (Cocteau)
Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)
Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)
Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)
Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)
Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)
Easy Rider
Edward II (Derek Jarman)
Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)
Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)
Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)
Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)
Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)
Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)
