The Metathing Is Not The Thing

The Imaginary Cinephile

I want to regard my public as infinitely intelligent, as understanding notions of the suspension of disbelief and as realising all the time that this is not a slice of life, this is openly a film.
— Peter Greenaway

Proverb

Too many proofs spoil the truth.
— Peter Greenaway

Profit-Maximising Cinema

There are, after all, approaches to be made other than the dependable routes that massage sentimental expectations and provide easy opportunities for emotional identification.

— Peter Greenaway

Angles On Experience

He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher … or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.
— Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'

Waterfall

Virtual Unreality

We don't need virtual reality, we need virtual unreality.
— Peter Greenaway

Up & Down

Cinematic Metaphor

Americans don't understand what metaphor in cinema is about. They're extremely good at making straightforward, linear narrative movies, which entertain superbly. But they very rarely do anything else.
— Peter Greenaway

Reptiles

Drawing Hands

Relativity

Cosmogenesis

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
— Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
— Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'

No Trouble

the day the world stood still
the day the world stood still
no trouble —
not even at the mill
— John Cooper Clarke 'The Day The World Stood Still'

Fungal Bioluminescence

Fog Fern & Fire

A Little Bird Told Me

The Two Outlooks On Life

So … is the glass half–broken
or is the glass half–fixed?
 — Michæl Leunig

Picasso Was Here

Revolution

Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
— Graffiti in 'O Lucky Man!' [dir. Lyndsay Anderson]

All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.
— Albert Camus

Dingly Dell

Whiskey "Bar"

'whiskey'
comes from
Irish/Gælic 'uisce beatha'
meaning
'water of life'

'MacBeth'
comes from
Irish/Gælic 'mac beatha'
meaning
'son of life'

Venereal Anagram

Subtraction In Ancient Egypt

Rameses – Ra ≠ Moses

Andromorphism

The personification of some phenomenon, such as the human species, as 'man'.

Mythological Anagram

Solidarity, Sibling

Reg: We, we need doers in our movement, Brian. But before you join us, know this: There is not one of us here who would gladly suffer death to rid this country of the Romans once and for all.

Rebel: Uh.. well one.

Reg: Oh yeah, yeah. There's one. But otherwise, we're solid. Are you with us?

Intellectual Property

Only puny secrets need protection. Big discoveries are protected by public incredulity.
— Marshall McLuhan

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are that good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.
— Howard Aiken

Q.E.D.

A witty saying proves nothing.
— Voltaire

Bliss

On a summer's evening Mr Curly arrives at the Hiatus Hotel for a night of amusement and romance. The duckherd waves … the palms rustle in the balmy breeze … a mandolin plays … glasses tinkle … laughter … kisses … on and on … over and over … life is joyous.
— Michæl Leunig

Green … and Blue

The Owl and the Pussy Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat
— Edward Lear 'The Owl And The Pussy Cat'

They sailed away in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they sailed so fast,
With only a beautiful pea-green veil
Tied with a riband by way of a sail,
To a small tobacco-pipe mast …
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.
— Edward Lear 'The Jumblies'

But before he touched the shore,
The shore of the Bristol Channel,
A sea-green porpoise carried away
His wrapper of scarlet flannel.
— Edward Lear 'The Pobble Who Has No Toes'

And at night by the light of the Mulberry moon
They danced to the flute of the Blue Baboon
— Edward Lear 'The Quangle Wangle's Hat'

Paradigmatic

"Talking of axes," said the Duchess, "chop off her head!"
— Lewis Carroll

Ignorance Is Bliss Anagrams

Being Is Difference

Space is boundlessness by re-entrant form not by great extension. That which is is a shell floating in the infinitude of that which is not.
Arthur Eddington 'The Nature of The Physical World'

The first phase of the cosmogonic cycle describes the breaking of formlessness into form …
— Joseph Campbell 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces'

The Breaking Of The One Into The Manifold
— Joseph Campbell 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces'

Unspeakable

In today’s modern Galaxy there is, of course, very little still held to be unspeakable. Many words and expressions which only a matter of decades ago were considered so distastefully explicit that were they merely to be breathed in public, the perpetrator would be shunned, barred from polite society, and, in extreme cases, shot through the lungs, are now thought to be very healthy and proper, and their use in everyday speech is seen as evidence of a well-adjusted, relaxed, and totally unf [bleep!] ked-up personality.

But though even words like “juju-flop,” “swut,” and “turlingdrome” are now perfectly acceptable in common usage, there is one word that is still beyond the pale. The concept it embodies is so revolting that the publication or broadcast of the word is utterly forbidden in all parts of the galaxy except one - where they don’t know what it means. That word is “Belgium”.

A Poor Second To Belgium

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Pony trekking or camping
Or just watching TV
Finland, Finland, Finland
It's the country for me

You're so near to Russia
So far from Japan
Quite a long way from Cairo
Lots of miles from Vietnam

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Eating breakfast or dinner
Or snack lunch in the hall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all

You're so sadly neglected
And often ignored
A poor second to Belgium
When going abroad

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all

Finland has it all