"Ridi, Pagliaccio,
sul tuo amore infranto!
Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor!"

- Canio in Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo

"I do have a test today, that wasn't bull. It's on European socialism. I mean, really, what's the point? I'm not European. I don't plan on being European. So who gives a crap if they're socialists? They could be fascist anarchists, it still doesn't change the fact that I don't own a car."

- Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1647-52, Sculpture.
Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy.

"St. Theresa was a nun who was canonized (made a Saint by the Church) because of the spiritual visions she experienced. She lived during the middle of the 16th century in Spain -- at the height of the Reformation. When we look at the Ecstasy of St. Theresa by Bernini we have to consider the entire space of the chapel. The chapel is called the Cornaro Chapel, after the Cornaro family who owned it and commissioned Bernini to sculpt St. Theresa. St. Theresa wrote several books in which she described her visions. This is her description of the event that Bernini depicts:

Beside me, on the left, appeared an angel in bodily form.... He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest rank of angels, who seem to be all on fire.... In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it—even a considerable share.

St. Theresa describes her intensely spiritual experience in very physical, even sexual terms. Why? We know that an important goal of Baroque art is to involve the viewer. Theresa is describing this in physical/sexual terms so that we can understand. After all, being visited by an angel and filled with the love of God is no small experience. How can we ordinary mortals hope to understand the intensity and passion of this experience except on our own terms?

The first thing that we notice when we walk into the chapel is that we have the scene of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa in front of us, and on either side of us, on the side walls, we see what looks like theater boxes with figures seated in them who are talking and gesturing to each other Perhaps they are kneeling in prayer as they watch the scene of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa. Who are these figures in the theater boxes? They are posthumous portraits of members of the Cornaro family (many of them were Cardinals). Behind them Bernini created a fabulous illusion of architecture -- a coffered barrel vault, doorway and columns. And, if we follow the metaphor of a theater, it feels as though we've got 10th row center orchestra seats -- the best seats in the house! And importantly, what's happened is that we have immediately become a part of the work of art. It surrounds us, and we are literally inside of it. This is, as we have seen, a typical feature of baroque art -- breaking down the barrier between the work and the viewer, to involve us more."

Source: smARThistory.org

Exhibit of B&W photographs of Michelangelo's La Pietà, taken by Robert Hupka.


"From: 'Guide to Saint Peter's Basilica'
This is probably the world's most famous sculpture of a religious subject. Michelangelo carved it when he was 24 years old, and it is the only one he ever signed. The beauty of its lines and expression leaves a lasting impression on everyone.

With this magnificent statue Michelangelo has given us a highly spiritual and Christian view of human suffering. Artists before and after Michelangelo always depicted the Virgin with the dead Christ in her arms as grief stricken, almost on the verge of desperation. Michelangelo, on the other hand, created a highly supernatural feeling.

As she holds Jesus' lifeless body on her lap, the Virgin's face emanates sweetness, serenity and a majestic acceptance of this immense sorrow, combined with her faith in the Redeemer. It seems almost as if Jesus is about to reawaken from a tranquil sleep and that after so much suffering and thorns, the rose of resurrection is about to bloom. As we contemplate the Pieta which conveys peace and tranquility, we can feel that the great sufferings of life and its pain can be mitigated.

Here, many Christians recall the price of their redemption and pray in silence. The words may be those of the "Salve Regina" or "Sub tuum presidium" or another prayer. After Peter's Tomb, the Pieta Chapel is the most frequently visited and silent place in the entire basilica.

It is said that Michelangelo had been criticized for having portrayed the Virgin Mary as too young since she actually must have been around 45-50 years old when Jesus died. He answered that he did so deliberately because the effects of time could not mar the virginal features of this, the most blessed of women. He also said that he was thinking of his own mother's face, he was only five when she died: the mother's face is a symbol of eternal youth."

Source: St. Peter's Basilica.org

Katya: [answering his question] What makes a man attractive? A scar.
Pierre Peders: Why?
Katya: Because... most women have one too.

- Dialogue between Katya (Sienna Miller) and Steve Buscemi (Pierre Peders) in Interview

"Y aquí es donde aparece Junius Pierpont Morgan. J.P. Morgan, el más grande y expeditivo financista de la historia. A Morgan se le ocurrió que si compraba montones de compañías diferentes dentro de una misma industria y las obligaba a trabajar juntas y no unas contra otras, podría expulsar del mercado a la competencia. De esa manera, ¡uno más uno es igual a tres! ¡Sí! Su idea, entonces, consistió en construir algo grande que dominara un mercado, y vernderlo por más de lo que pagaba por cada elemento. Hizo eso con US Steel. Después de que Carnegie se la vendió, Morgan se limitó a comprar toda la competencia".

- Pat en Mr. China de Tim Clissold

"Si no entras a la guarida del tigre,
¿cómo te apoderarás de sus cachorros?"

- Proverbio de la dinastía Han (202 a.C.-220 d.C.):
"Quien no arriesga, no gana"

"Blinded in one eye; can't hardly hear. I get twitches and shakes out of nowhere; always losing my line of thought. But you know what? God keeps reminding me I'm lucky to be alive.
[sniffles]"

- Ted Manson as Mr. Daws in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

- Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"Your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss."

- Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"...en todo caso, había un solo túnel, oscuro y solitario: el mío".

-Castel en El túnel de Ernesto Sábato

Katy Perry
I Kissed A Girl

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry ChapStick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter
You're my experimental game
Just human nature
It's not what
Good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry ChapStick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry ChapStick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it