Head Rattle

I.
Elizabeth Taylor: dead. My favorite celluloid Liz memory is seeing a score of "Nubian" slaves hauling her on a giant Sphinx, while she's wearing a solid gold bird-feather hoodie, into the "Roman forum" before a cheering crowd of thousands of plebians and aristocrats (extras; "who's catering this gig?"), and then bowing before Rex Harrison/Julius Caesar and giving him (and us) a big wink. That was both the apotheosis and last gasp of the old Hollywood, even if it was shot in Rome.

II.
Never was a big Duran Duran fan, although I always liked the melodramatic "A View to a Kill". How about that live DD concert stream last night, overlayed with a random grab-bag of Lynchian tropes and doodling: fire, smoke, spinning objects, industrial widgets, dancing dolls, cheese heads, etc.? Kinda silly. Funds, though, for a future feature, one hopes. Big fish?

III.
What is an "intellectual fantasy"? Apparently, I'm going to find out as I read (yes, read) Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino. Reach out and touch the moon? Quite literally? Okay....