From Dorothy Sayers' dedication to Nine Little Tailors (1934): "From time to time complaints are made about the ringing of church bells. It seems strange that a generation which tolerates the uproar of the internal combustion engine and the wailing of the jazz band should be so sensitive to the one loud noise that is made to the glory of God."

And ( Read more... )

In the most recent issue of The New Yorker there's a profile of Marlon Brando which mentions in passing that the actor flunked kindergarden. Wow. I didn't even know that was possible.

(And to make this post a little more substantial, I was very taken with a new-to-me bit where Stella Adler was asked if Brando was a great actor and she responded, " ( Read more... )

Seen somewhere on the Intertubes today; not an exact quote:

The Constitution has its problems, but it would be a hell of a lot better than what the US has got now.

All questions of government in a democracy [are] questions of money.
-- Mark Alonzo Hanna.

"I met her on the Live Journal -- which I kept in prison. I have been BLOGGING. After posting an especially attractive picture of my prison-sculpted abs, she commented that I was not only 'pwn,' I was 'teh sex,' whatever that means."

---The Monarch.

"I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."

-- John Adams, in a letter to Abigail, talking about . . . July 2.

Oh well.