Roger Ebert: Universe

Editor's note -- Roger Ebert died on Thurs., April 4th from cancer. His blog inspired a few flippant posts here; my favorite is Dust, based on his blog post from April 2011. Now is the perfect time to link it again; it's about the nature of life and death in an incomprehensibly vast universe.

RT @ebertchicago Why the meaninglessness of the Universe consoles me. My new blog entry, just posted. 

A quintessence of dust

A message from light years away would probably miss me in my box of space and time, but I find that Art can shout to me across a few years or centuries, and it carries the same message: "Yes, I exist, and you are not alone."

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, 

how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and

admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! 

the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals--

and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? 

Man delights not me--nor woman neither, 

though by your smiling you seem to say so.

That's what we are, a quintessence of dust. That Shakespeare could so conclude, and then end with a little joke is, to me, a great comfort.

  

Introducing General Zod

Editor's note -- Sad and Useless: the most depressive humor site on the net presents:

Movies from an Alternative Universe!

re-imagined by Peter Stults 

Stellar! 

John Wayne at his Most Patriotic!    Spencer Tracy is Pure Kryptonite!
Clint Eastwood is a convincing menace!
--Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times


.............

karenagardner k. a. gardner 

Movies from an Alternate Universe -- William Shatner and Natalie Wood in "Avatar" !! po.st/MqEeUg via @Po_st

Not Man Ray

Editor's note -- Roger "I dunno" Ebert didn't know this is a picture of a guy holding a headless action figure while standing next to a bizarrely-dressed mannequin.

It's not easy to recognize Salvadore Dali because his mustache is normal-looking.

Editor's note -- The guy holding the action figure is Salvatore Dali. The Editor assumes that Man Ray took the picture because they were friends and did weird things together. 

ebertchicago Roger Ebert 

 by karenagardner

Photo for 10/25 of I dunno what: bit.ly/rBfMxz

~8~

Honky Tonk Woman

Editor's note -- In which Roger Ebert is unaware this is a picture of Mick Jagger in drag.

Editor's note -- Maybe, Roger. It all depends on who you think it is.

ebertchicago Roger Ebert 

 by KarenAGardner

Photo for 9/28: Is this who I think it is? bit.ly/nIxapp

Covert cat?

Editor's note --  Author and former CIA Agent Larry J. Kolb relayed this picture of a short man conferring with a suspiciously tall cat to Roger Ebert's Journal.

  

Editor's note -- As it turns out the cat was not an undercover spy in a covert operation, but was simply overly tall.

ebertchicago Roger Ebert 

 by KarenAGardner

Photo for 9/9 of a tall cat: bit.ly/mWIWis


~8~

Dust

Editor's note -- Wherein Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert explains why the meaninglessness of the Universe consoles him:

A message from light years away would probably miss me in my box of space and time, but I find that Art can shout to me across a few years or centuries, and it carries the same message: "Yes, I exist, and you are not alone."

What is this quintessence of dust? 

Editor's note --- And who is Art ?!?

ebertchicago Roger Ebert 

 by KarenAGardner

Why the meaninglessness of the Universe consoles me. My new blog entry, just posted. http://bit.ly/eXWyPf

~8~