I Humbly Accept This Award...

Christianne Benedict (aka Vulnavia Morbius) passed a 7x7 Award to 21 Essays several weeks ago.  My first obligation is to thank her.  Chris, I’m not sure which I appreciate more—your being a steadfast friend for the past dozen years or your being the best writer on film currently working on the internet.  Either way, you’re an inspiration.  Thank you, Chris!

Visit Krell Labs to understand what I mean when I say she’s the best writer on film.  You’ll see.

Now the 7x7 Award rules are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.  (Check!)

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.

3. Share seven of your worthy posts under the following headers: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful, Most Popular, Most Controversial, Most Surprisingly Successful, Most Underrated and Most Pride Worthy.

4. Nominate seven other bloggers and notify them.

Seven random facts:

1.  I don’t eat sandwiches. 

2.  I love shoofly pie. 

3.  On the Dawkins belief scale, I fall between Agnostic and Weak Pacifist. 

4.  And yet I choose to be a Christian. 

5.  I don’t understand how airplanes fly.  I honestly don’t think they can.

6.  My right eye is so weak that tears run down my face when I attempt to watch 3-D movies. 

7.  My Myers Briggs type is INTJ.

Seven worthy posts:

Most Beautiful Piece

“A Deeply Moving Song” is the last entry in my series on Christina Rossetti’s “In the Bleak Midwinter.”  Very little in this world is as beautiful as the concluding video featuring Rufus and Martha Wainwright and the last public appearance of Kate McGarrigle.

Most Helpful

“Science Fiction Maps and Martians” is my helpful version of MapQuest directions to Planet X.

Most Popular

“24 1/2th Things I Love About Duck Dodgers”:  The internet sure does love lists!

Most Controversial

I’m still awaiting the day when one of my posts provokes controversy, but “Deconstructing Daffy Duck” generated a little heat on the IMDb Classic Film Board when it was suggested that I was getting too high-falutin’ pretentious about Looney Tunes.

Most Surprisingly Successful

My son Terry and I collaborated on a poetry series based on our unpublished novel The Poem Beasts.  The entry “Pegasus” proved to be surprisingly popular.  Terry deserves nearly all the credit for this one.

Most Underrated

“King Kong in Doré Land” matches up 1933 Kong landscapes with prints by Gustav Doré.  The influence of Doré imagery upon Kong is well known but I thought this post was unusually successful in creating a visual comparison.

Most Pride Worthy

“Kong and My Dad”:  The most intensely personal essay that I’ve written to date.

Seven Excellent Blogs

I hesitated over my choices for a long time because I was unsure if I was supposed to restrict myself to film blogs.  Judging from some Google searches, it looks like all blogs are eligible.  Therefore, I’m taking the liberty of freely ranging across the blogging landscape with my selections.

And dear winners:  Please feel under no obligation to continue spreading this meme.  It’s all just for fun and promotion.

Caftan Woman is a dear friend from the IMDb Classic Film board.  Her love of old movies always clearly shines through her delightful blog.

Memories of the Future is Jesse Ataide’s film blog.  Jesse’s an old friend (in internet years) and we share many film loves in common (Agnes Varda for starters!).  His posting schedule has been rather lazy recently, but when he does post, it’s guaranteed quality reading.

It’s About Time surveys the entire world, looking for grace notes from art, history, and nature.  It’s a joy.  And Barbara’s other blogs are joys as well, so be sure to check out her more specialized forays into history and gardening.

Here and There connects with my professional interest in archives and special collections.  I love it when author Debra Schiff takes her readers along on personal behind-the-scenes tours led by knowledgeable curators, archivists, and librarians.

Wynken de Worde is named for an important English printer of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.  Usually Sarah Werner’s blog lovingly examines old books, but sometimes it veers into unexpected territory.  My favorite post was “Traces of My Dad,” a lovely meditation on the newspaper columns of her deceased father.  

The Muted Trumpet courageously tackles issues of theology, philosophy, and literature.  Author Sam Buntz doesn’t post often but I always slow down to carefully read his pieces when he does.  It’s one of the most thoughtful blogs on the internet.

Sexy Archaeology lives up to its title.  Or at least it does for those of us who think that archaeology is a singularly passionate field of work!  Through this blog, author Kurt Thomas Hunt keeps me up-to-date on breaking news from the field.

I promise to return to regular blogging very soon.  Next year up on the random year generator:  1963.

Next blog series:  6 essays on Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929)
as part of the  “For the Love of Film”
Film Preservation Blogathon
May 13-18, 2012

© 2012 Lee Price