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The alternative attraction list

  
  

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Persephone
23:41 / 30.07.06
Here's my thing: I certainly think that the fun of Columbo is watching the shambolic detective act. The part that makes me burn is that beneath it all, he's a Mozart-like genius. It isn't really about deduction with him. He only uses deduction to prove what he already knows to other people. What he understands, he understands via something like inspiration. And I want to be near that.

I also have this theory that Columbo is probably great in bed, do you want to hear about that? It's the same idea --that beneath, this man knows very well what he's all about. Probably knows what you're all about.

In Wings of Desire, Peter Falk plays himself as a former angel who chose to become human. Because angels have understanding, they have no need for reason and sensation. That just brilliantly dovetails with what Columbo has going on. Maybe it's an explanation for all the geniuses in the world.

Also I love his wonky eye.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
23:51 / 30.07.06
Thanks, Persephone - not only am I now looking at Colombo in a differeny light, but I also think I know something of value about you.

Also, wonky eyes are sexy.
 
 
grant
14:19 / 01.08.06
Just was telling an amblyopic friend that, using Ellen Barkin as a point of comparison.

But not for this thread.

No. Someone mentioned Dorothy Parker? I have this chain of association that starts with Parker and ends with Myrna Loy.



Her iconic role keeps getting called "the perfect wife" in biographies, which kind of confuses me, because when I read that phrase I think of The Stepford Wives, and none of the Loy characters I've ever seen would have put up with any damn robots. They were quick, witty, independent and superior -- more like a sparring partner than a doting mate.

As a person outside of her roles, she was outspokenly anti-fascist (this was before the U.S. entered the war) and outspokenly anti-McCarthy (and pro-civil rights) at a time when neither women nor actors were supposed to be outspokenly anything. But Loy was, to some degree, her voice -- her appeal for me is always the ease with which words come out of her mouth. That's what makes The Thin Man movies work. Were they shambolic detectives? They lived well, and they were masters at hiding razor intellect behind an urbane veil of martinis, cigars and all-night parties. And both as an actress and a character, Myrna Loy was a master at collaboration.

I wonder if she's responsible for Angelina Jolie's career trajectory. Both started as sex symbols, and both wound up working for the UN.

-------

Ha! I'm looking at the Myrna Loy movies on Netflix right now, and right in the middle is Columbo: Season 2 (4-Disc Series) (1972).
 
 
Zan
10:37 / 04.08.06


Henry Brougham (1778-1868)

Briefly:

He was elected to the Royal Society at the age of 25; founded the Edinburgh Review to pay for his education in law; hung out with Hazlitt and Byron; successfully defended 38 loom-workers accused of forming a trade union and Princess Caroline in her divorce from George IV; helped pass the 1832 Reform Act, the 1833 Anti-slavery Act and the Matrimonial Causes Act, which made divorce the business of the courts rather than parliament; spoke out against the government’s actions in the Peterloo Massacre; was a strong believer in state-funded education and equal rights for women; and got chucked out of Lord Melbourne’s government for being too radical.

All of which I post to give an intellectual justification for my reaction the first time I saw this painting in the National Portrait Gallery, which was ‘Squeee! Mr Darcy!’ I like his eyes, which seem appraising without being cold, and his eversoslightly raised eyebrow, and his lovely straight nose. I freely confess that the fact he appears to have been quite a decent bloke is merely an added perk.

Oh, and he invented the brougham carriage, hence the name. Hats off!
 
 
Ex
11:49 / 04.08.06
He is oddly dishy, Zan. It's like he's got Byron's lower-half of the face but with eyes that are looking forward to social equality, and possibly a fumble later in the night in a capacious cab.
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
12:57 / 26.08.06
Oh, some lovely choices here, many of which I'll happily second.

Okay, this one may break several rules, but I'm going to argue for her inclusion. She has done some TV stuff, but isn't known for it particularly, and my adoration has very little to do with this.

My Lust for Margaret Cho Knows No Bounds: A Photoessay

Why? Because she has beautiful mad eyes, a slightly wonky set of features (something I have a bit of a weakness for, I think) and a mouth which looks tiny and dainty when shut, but is a huge powerhouse when open.

She's shouty and sexy, confident, intelligent, political, a fierce woman and (look, I'm fantasising here) an undoubtedly wonderful lover. (I do know that she's a perv, which doesn't do my fantasising any harm at all.)

I love her outspokenness, her wit, and the way she seems to inhabit and perform some very different versions of herself, switching and melding these with great facility.

This is something else I have a real weakness for, probably partly because it allows me to construct a variety of fantasy 'interactions' with the object of my lust.

Thus we get:



Shouting angry beautiful performing Cho. (I love women who are beautiful when angry/animated/opinionated.)



Cosy, jumpered-up-in-the-park-with-huge-dog Cho. I want to meet her in the park and go for long walks on crisp winter days, driking hot chocolate out of a flask.



Bling Cho. Sexy in a totally 'look at me, look how fucking sexxxxxy I am' way.



'Asian Babes' Cho - beautiful in a cold and nasty way, it's the sarcastic bite to the presentation that gets me weak at the knees.

The photo marked 'Austin Young 6' on this page - NOT WORK SAFE - Witty, sexy image of a woman famous for being a culturally non-normative loudmouth. Gagged(?) and flicking a victory sign. Beautiful.

The way she can age and reverse-age herself through presentation. Just look at the photos on that site.

There's also a certain amount of 'I wish I was her' in my lust, definitely. At times, I feel like she represents a version of me without the shit bits, and that's an incredibly narcissistic but powerful factor for my attraction.

Look at the (Worksafe) photos on this page too: the range of facial/bodily expression. I adore physical demonstrativeness/skill in performing emotional states. Mmmmmmm

Also, godammit, just look at her: FIT.

Haus/moderators, I realise she bends some of the rules, but may I humbly petition for her inclusion? (and if not, can someone pm me so I can save this elsewhere to pore over at my leisure)

The woman even looks sexy dancing with Big Bird, for chrisssakes:



I'll leave you with that the Margaret Cho quote that got me thinking and lusting:

"I saw The Passion of the Christ. I couldn't handle that movie. All I could think was 'Jesus, please! Use your safeword! Oh my God, he is such a bottom!'" (from the Sensous Woman tour.)

and a final image:

  
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
13:17 / 26.08.06
Of course, my listing of the brains, wit, and political awareness and anger and her massive services in racial/cultural/sexuality/antiwar activism is, like Xan, totally just me justifying intellectually that I think she's supremely sexy, and probably lusty and fantastic in bed.
 
 
Cat Chant
20:16 / 26.08.06
[threadrot] Zan, can I ask you where your name comes from? It's the name of one of my favourite characters in fiction, and I was wondering if by a huuuge coincidence that's where you got it from. [/threadrot]
 
 
Zan
16:45 / 30.08.06
Deva - sorry for the late reply - I'm having trouble getting online regularly.

No, I'm afraid I picked Zan because it's the syllable of my name that most people are calling me by at the moment. If it's not continuing the threadrot too much, I'd love to know what great character's name I've nicked though!
 
 
Tryphena Absent
16:09 / 02.09.06
I have just realised that Sax is hott for Julie Myerson. I know that this thread is not really up for the rotting but I really have to respond to this.

Old Julie is my favourite reviewer on Newsnight because she is intensely reliable. I disagree with everything she says about every show, book or film she reviews. If she thinks something is bad then I go and see it. I don't read her books because I worry I might like them and my view of the world would go wrong. In a way I too harbour a secret crush on Myerson because there's something appealing about that level of wrongness about culture. She is my cultural arch-enemy.
 
 
Whisky Priestess
21:37 / 03.09.06


Well helloooooo sexy Michael Faraday ...

Basically, Faraday was a hott fucking genius. He had no formal education but started going to Humphry Davy's lectures at the Royal Institution and became his assistant.

He invented the electric motor and in the 1830s he produced the most amazing quantity of work. He discovered electromagnetic induction, the battery (electropotentials), the electric arc (plasmas) and the Faraday cage (electrostatics). Faraday also instituted the Royal Institution Christmas lectures (1827). He trashed spiritualism and the following quote is attributed to him:

When the Prime Minister asked of a new discovery, 'What good is it?', Faraday replied, 'What good is a new-born baby?'

Go Faraday!
 
 
Ganesh
21:44 / 03.09.06
Old Julie is my favourite reviewer on Newsnight because she is intensely reliable. I disagree with everything she says about every show, book or film she reviews. If she thinks something is bad then I go and see it.

Off-topically enough, Cosmo Landesman fulfills the same functional role for me, with this 180 Degrees Wrong film reviews, in the Sunday Times.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
22:16 / 03.09.06
Whiskey P.: Good call. Mmmm, Faraday.

With me it's Merlin, most specifically Merlin as he appears in Edward Burne-Jones' The Beguiling of Merlin. I have had a total pash on Beguiled!Merlin since the age of eight. My feelings are therefore a wonderful molten mix of "want to hug and hold hands" "want to be when I grow up" and "want to do grownup things with."

First off, I love that shock of white hair in conjunction with that ageless face. I like the way he's dressed, in dreamy, no-place, no-time clothes. I love the drowsy stillness of his pose, a man drifting into a trance, especially in contrast to the relative energy of Nimue who looks like she's dancing with that spellbook.
I love the expression--wary, conscious that all is not well, yet somehow resigned:

"Hey."

"What?"

"You're beguiling me, aren't you?"

"Nuh uh!"

"Aww man. You're totally beguiling me."

"Am not! Honest!"

"Aww, look at this. I'm already all beguiled. Damn. Hey, are you dancing?"

"No!"

"Yeah you are. That's the Dance of Evil Triumph."

"Well, maybe a bit."

I heart Merlin.
 
  

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