Star wars

Deborah Solomon in the NYT on the Smithosonian's Norman Rockwell exhibit, drawn from the collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg:

Mr. Lucas’s loans to the exhibition are distinguished by a cache of large-scale drawings, many of them as fastidious and expressive as the paintings for which they served as studies. Asked why Mr. Spielberg wound up with more major paintings, Mr. Lucas replied bluntly, “He paid more.” He continued: “Back when we started this in the ’80s, I wasn’t as rich as people think I was. I was spending all my money making movies.” (His company, Lucasfilm Ltd., produced the Indiana Jones movies, for which Mr. Spielberg was the director.) “Steven worked for hire,” he continued. “When he made money, it all came to him.”

Later, when Mr. Spielberg was told about that comment, he sounded surprised to hear himself described as a cash cow. “Well, isn’t that wonderful,” he said, “that I never underwrote my own film company?”

II. What about the Dark Rockwell?

III. Lucas and Spielberg should remake The Norman Rockwell Code.

Labyrinths, bakeries, and more

1. William Gibson on Borges's Labyrinths (via Ed of the Ranting)—definitely my pick if I could only take one Borges book to a desert island.

Speaking of which, I figured out what I would say if I were allowed only one book, period, to take to a desert island. I would ask for a ukelele (or guitar) chord book, if I were also able to take a uke or guitar as well.

(Wait—why am I thinking I'm about to be marooned on a desert island?)

2. Dizzyhead Mollie's on a roll over at Restricted View: How one publisher mangled Middlemarch.

3. UPDATE: Time to check out the latest issue of Cinema Scope, featuring B. Kite on Rivette, Jessica Winter on Idiocracy . . . (Alas, these pieces aren't available online.)

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4. Brit in Brooklyn was on the scene yesterday after the collapse of Ward Bakery. (Visit the site for more photos.)

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5. Congrats to Dizzyhead Sarah—recipient of the 2007–8 Rome Prize!

6. Have you seen The Norman Rockwell Code?

7. Tomorrow there's a Believer Nighttime Event at the New School. It's part of the PEN World Voices—participants include Miranda July, Uzodinma Iweala, and John Hodgman. (Eric Bogosian is MCing.)

8. Any Humbert Wolfe fans out there?

9. This article about ravens is great!

Their skills when it comes to tricking and cheating, for example, have not been thoroughly explored. Ravens are cunning enough to set up mock hiding places in order to distract their thievish fellows from their real food stores. They're generally very inventive when it comes to tricking those who would snatch away their food. But how much truth is there to reports according to which ravens play dead next to carcasses in order to simulate a case of food poisoning?

(Via Arts & Letters Daily)