(via The Guardian) I found the article on Marilyn Monroe by Richard Meryman @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2155615,00.html interesting and insightful.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Jewelers Are Drawn To An Already Gilded Avenue
Jane L Levere writes about the new trend among high-end retailers to be at Madison Avenue (the perception: the best location for a jeweler is right next to a jeweler + clustering tends to focus consumers on the category + it leads to commercial success for everyone) + other viewpoints @ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/realestate/commercial/12jewel.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Dumbfounded
2007: This Harry Winston story is brilliant.
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) A N Wilson writes:
There is one story Harry Winston enjoys telling more than others, because he is a great believer in fate.
It concerns the Hope Diamond, which has a fascinating history and has acquired notoriety for bringing bad luck to its private owners. Harry Winston defied the Hope Diamond legend and trusted his own fate by buying the diamond from the estate of the late Mrs Evelyn McLean for one million dollars. This was in 1947.
Let Harry tell his story here:
“A little later I was in Lisbon with my wife, Edna. As our two sons were still quite young, Edna and I decided to return home on separate planes, as people with children often do. So Edna took off for New York on schedule on the Friday evening and I booked to follow the next day.
“Edna’s plane landed at Santa Maria, in the Azores for the usual refueling. Some slight engine trouble was discovered and there was a delay of some hours. The passengers chatted amongst themselves and it soon got around the lounge that Mrs Harry Winston was a passenger. One man refused to continue the journey and asked to be booked on the next plane.
“On my way to the airport the next evening I was handed a cablegram from Edna announcing her safe arrival. I put it in my pocket. On the plane I took a sedative and had a pleasant nap, with nobody in the adjoining seat to disturb me. On reboarding the plane at Santa Maria, after refueling , I found a very talkative man in the seat next to me. He told me how he had escaped from traveling on the same plane as the wife of the owner of Hope Diamond.
“I’m not superstitious, he claimed, ‘but why should I tempt fate? I decided to change planes and here I am. Besides, there was engine trouble on that plane.’
“He talked and talked for quite a time but eventually grew quite enough for me to begin to drop off to sleep again. Then his voice broke through to me: ‘I wonder if that plane arrived safely.’
“I could not resist it. I fished the cable out of my pocket and passed it across to him to read. The he gazed dumbly at me. He never opened his mouth again that night. I slept well.”
(via International Diamond Annual, Vol.1, 1971) A N Wilson writes:
There is one story Harry Winston enjoys telling more than others, because he is a great believer in fate.
It concerns the Hope Diamond, which has a fascinating history and has acquired notoriety for bringing bad luck to its private owners. Harry Winston defied the Hope Diamond legend and trusted his own fate by buying the diamond from the estate of the late Mrs Evelyn McLean for one million dollars. This was in 1947.
Let Harry tell his story here:
“A little later I was in Lisbon with my wife, Edna. As our two sons were still quite young, Edna and I decided to return home on separate planes, as people with children often do. So Edna took off for New York on schedule on the Friday evening and I booked to follow the next day.
“Edna’s plane landed at Santa Maria, in the Azores for the usual refueling. Some slight engine trouble was discovered and there was a delay of some hours. The passengers chatted amongst themselves and it soon got around the lounge that Mrs Harry Winston was a passenger. One man refused to continue the journey and asked to be booked on the next plane.
“On my way to the airport the next evening I was handed a cablegram from Edna announcing her safe arrival. I put it in my pocket. On the plane I took a sedative and had a pleasant nap, with nobody in the adjoining seat to disturb me. On reboarding the plane at Santa Maria, after refueling , I found a very talkative man in the seat next to me. He told me how he had escaped from traveling on the same plane as the wife of the owner of Hope Diamond.
“I’m not superstitious, he claimed, ‘but why should I tempt fate? I decided to change planes and here I am. Besides, there was engine trouble on that plane.’
“He talked and talked for quite a time but eventually grew quite enough for me to begin to drop off to sleep again. Then his voice broke through to me: ‘I wonder if that plane arrived safely.’
“I could not resist it. I fished the cable out of my pocket and passed it across to him to read. The he gazed dumbly at me. He never opened his mouth again that night. I slept well.”
First Japanese Diamond Unearthed
(via Kyodo News) Japan Times writes about recent discovery of diamond (s) by researchers in Ehime Prefecture, Japan + other viewpoints @ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070911a4.html
Friday, September 14, 2007
Crimes And Misdemeanors
Greatest Opening Film Lines (Crimes and Misdemeanors - 1989):
We're all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly. Human happiness does not seem to have been included in the design of creation. It is only we, with our capacity to love, that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even to find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.
I liked this one.
We're all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly. Human happiness does not seem to have been included in the design of creation. It is only we, with our capacity to love, that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even to find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.
I liked this one.
Pearl S Buck
You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.
Subodh Gupta: Cow Dung, Curry Pots, And A Hungry God
Pernilla Holmes writes about Indian contemporary artist (s) + the Indian perspective + the way the artist (s) connect with the world (via gentle humor and provocation) + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2325¤t=True
Smaller Houses Can Win Big
Kelly Devine Thomas about smaller auction houses + the way they do business + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1898
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