Dear Mr. Garvey,
I’m grateful to you, for referring me to your case. The subject of animal captivity has been of interest to me for quite a while. And my secretary has prepared research material that I think you will find illuminating. If you would be so kind as to send me the June 5th letter of which we spoke, my associates and I will review it immediately. Please feel free to call me at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
E. Edward Grey
From the movie, Secretary (2002).
You’ve just read the dialogue from one of the hottest movie scenes I’ve ever watched. “Read it again.”
[Vitus, a 12-year-old child prodigy & genius tries persuading his 19-year-old babysitter, Isabel to marry him…]
Vitus: Well, statistically, women are usually seven years younger than their partners, but that’s really stupid because men die seven years earlier. So women are widows for 14 years.
Isabel: You’re a real genius at math.
Vitus: We would die at the same time. Besides, a woman’s libido is at its peak 10 years later than a man’s.
Isabel: The libido?
Vitus: Exactly. That’s why so many relationships fail. Women should be older than their men. We would make the perfect couple.
Chris Rhee, a 22-year-old non-genius, fondly dedicates this quote to Maura Tierney, Tina Fey, Patricia Heaton, Diane Lane, Rachael Ray, Jane Leeves, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mary-Louise Parker, Marisa Tomei, Jodie Foster, Gina Bellman, Jane Krakowski, and Marissa Mayer.
I just simply wouldn’t do anything that I wasn’t terribly in charge of. I don’t let anything go. I worry about the font on the back of the DVD.
-Ricky Gervais in an interview with The A.V. Club from 2007
You know it’s true: Ricky Gervais is the director/writer/star of two hit television shows, The Office and Extras.
His quote reminds me of Tonedeff, a hip hop artist who released his debut album, Archetype, in 2005. Most of the album was produced by himself with guest appearances confined to one song. Included was a self-edited DVD of extras and a self-designed cover/booklet.
Also, I’ve read that David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos writes the story arcs for each season and finalizes the scripts for every episode.
In my opinion, these guys consistently put out high quality creative media, but usually with a longer delay between project releases (since they have to stretch themselves across several jobs and take their time with the creative process).
Television shows, movies, record albums, etc. that are essentially created by committees might release things at a quicker pace, but the voice/tone and feel isn’t nearly as consistent cause so many people are throwing their input into the creative pot.
I promise not to clog up this website with pithy quotes of the day from various clever people. The market for that is already way flooded.
-Stephen J. Dubner
Excuse me while I go hang my head in shame.
Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.
-Paul Rand
A little while ago, I re-designed this website because I wanted to add a few things and make a lot of tiny layout changes: tons small tweaks to margins, fonts and colors that will probably be appreciated only by myself. It’s also the first design of mine to be done completely away from home, in Los Angeles, produced solely on my MacBook (utilizing every single pixel of the 13” screen).