Friday, January 2, 2026

Born on this day – William Humphrey:


William Humphrey


Actor

Director

Writer

January 2, 1863 – October 4, 1942

Credits:

A House Divided (1919); A Husband's Trick (1913); A Message from Beyond (1911); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909); A Princess of Bagdad (1913); A Slight Mistake (1911); A Southern Soldier's Sacrifice (1911); A Strange Adventure (1932); A Tale of Two Cities (1911); Aflame in the Sky (1927); An Aeroplane Elopement (1911); An Affair for the Police (1914); An Infernal Tangle (1913); An Unwritten Chapter (1913); Are We Civilized? (1934); Atonement (1919); Babbling Tongues (1917); Beau Brummel (1924); Benedict Arnold (1909); Captain Mary Brown (1913); Cheating Blondes (1933); City of Shadows (1927); Curtain at Eight (1933); Dangerous Innocence (1925); Devil-May-Care (1929); Dick Tracy (1937); Drusilla with a Million (1925); Every Inch a Man (1912); False Pretenses (1935); Fathers of Men (1916); Find the Witness (1937); Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds (1914); Foolish Monte Carlo (1920); For Another's Crime (1915); Forgotten; or, an Answered Prayer (1911); From Out of the Past (1916); Get That Man (1935); Haldane of the Secret Service (1923); Hearts of the First Empire (1913); Hearts of Women (1914); Hearts to Let (1915); Her Forgotten Dancing Shoes (1912); Heredity (1915); His Dominant Passion (1914); His Life for His Emperor (1913); His Wedded Wife (1914); Husks (1916); In Neighboring Kingdoms (1910); Jean and the Waif (1910); Jean Rescues (1911); Joan of Plattsburg (1918); King Lear (1909); Lady Robinhood (1925); Les Miserables (Part I) (1909); Life's Crossroads (1927); Madame Racketeer (1932); Manhattan Parade (1931); Maria's Sacrifice (1914); Mixed Identities (1913); Mr. Barnes of New York (1914); Mr. Bingle's Melodrama (1914); Murder at Midnight (1931); My Lady of Idleness (1913); Napoleon and the Empress Josephine (1909); Napoleon, the Man of Destiny (1908); Nocturne in E-Flat (1914); None But the Brave Deserve the Fair (1912); Nothing to Wear (1912); Oliver Twist (1909); On Her Wedding Night (1915); On the Turn of a Card (1915); One Night in Rome (1924); One Year Later (1933); Picciola; or, the Prison Flower (1911); Planting the Spring Garden (1912); Playing the Pipers (1913); Polishing Up (1914); Prejudice of Pierre Marie (1911); Red and White Roses (1913); Richelieu; or: The Conspiracy (1910); Ruy Blas (1909); Sam's Sweetheart (1915); Scaramouche (1923); Secret Sinners (1933); Selecting His Heiress (1911); Subway Express (1931); Tangled Destinies (1932); Temptations of a Shop Girl (1927); Tested by the Flag (1911); That College Life (1913); The Actress (1928); The Arizona Express (1924); The Awakening of Barbara Dare (1914); The Bogus Napoleon (1912); The Butler's Secret (1913); The Butterfly's Lesson (1915); The Chains of an Oath (1913); The Cobbler and the Caliph (1909); The Cowboy Counsellor (1932); The Crime of Helen Stanley (1934); The Dandy, or Mr. Dawson Turns the Tables (1912); The Danger Girl (1926); The Death of King Edward III (1911); The Dice Woman (1926); The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924); The Drudge (1914); The Duke's Jester or A Fool's Revenge (1909); The Fighting Pilot (1935); The Flirt (1913); The Flower of the Hills (1915); The Footlights of Fate (1916); The French Spy (1912); The Freshet (1911); The General's Daughter (1911); The Girl and the Judge; or, A Terrible Temptation (1910); The Glove (1913); The Godless Girl (1928); The Gold Hunters (1925); The Golden Hoard; or, Buried Alive (1913); The Good in the Worst of Us (1915); The Governor Who Had a Heart (1912); The Heart of the King's Jester (1912); The Judgment of Solomon (1909); The Lady of the Lake (1912); The Life of Moses (1909) (1909); The Life of Napoleon (1909); The Line-Up (1913); The Man Life Passed By (1923); The Man That Might Have Been (1914); The Man Who Knew (1914); The Midnight Bride (1920); The Midnight Limited (1926); The Military Air-Scout (1911); The Millionaire's Hundred Dollar Bill (1915); The Money Kings (1912); The Penalties of Reputation (1913); The Phantom of the Opera (1925); The Plainsman (1936); The Price of Vanity (1914); The Public Menace (1935); The Radium Thieves (1915); The Return of Maurice Donnelly (1915); The Scar (1915); The Scarlet Car (1917); The Scoop (1912); The Secret Seven (1916); The Senator's Brother (1914); The Shadow of Fear (1915); The Silent Lover (1926); The Slightly Worn Gown (1915); The Snare of Fate (1913); The Social Code (1923); The Song of the Ghetto (1914); The Spirit of Christmas (1913); The Strangers' Banquet (1922); The Three of Them (1910); The Trap (1913); The Unchastened Woman (1918); The Unholy Three (1925); The Upper Hand (1914); The Vampire Bat (1933); The Volga Boatman (1926); The Way of a Woman (1919); The Way of the Cross (1909); The Way of the Transgressor (1915); The Wife Whom God Forgot (1920); The Wrong Patient (1911); Three Wise Crooks (1925); To Cherish and Protect (1915); Twelfth Night (1910); Two Men and a Woman (1917); Uncle Bill (1914); Vanity Fair (1923); Washington Under the American Flag (1909); Washington Under the British Flag (1909); Yours to Command (1927).

Recommended reading - Silent Movies (2007):


Silent Movies

The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture

by Peter Kobel.
Preface by Martin Scorsese.
Foreword by Kevin Brownlow.

Published by Little, Brown and Company.
Published 2007.
Hardcover.
ISBN-10: 0316117919
ISBN-13: 978-0316117913

Description:

Drawing on the extraordinary collection of The Library of Congress, one of the greatest repositories for silent film and memorabilia, Peter Kobel has created the definitive visual history of silent film. From its birth in the 1890s, with the earliest narrative shorts, through the brilliant full-length features of the 1920s, Silent Movies captures the greatest directors and actors and their immortal films.

Silent Movies also looks at the technology of early film, the use of color photography, and the restoration work being spearheaded by some of Hollywood's most important directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

Richly illustrated from the Library of Congress's extensive collection of posters, paper prints, film stills, and memorabilia – most of which have never been in print – Silent Movies is an important work of history that will also be a sought-after gift book for all lovers of film.

"If you ever wondered why film buffs get weak in the knees about the movies made before talkies, this book can help you understand. . . . it is beautifully designed with a dazzling array of movie stills, posters and promo material drawn from the Library of Congress' memorabilia collection." – San Francisco Chronicle.

"The definitive visual history of silent film." – New York Daily News.

"A handsomely designed and illustrated pictorial history of the voiceless cinema." – Los Angeles Times.

"A ravishing, oversize, million-pound study of the silent movie era, not just its films, but its promotion, its culture and the way these movies changed how we think about the world." – Washington Post Express.

"Kobel has lovingly detailed this world-from the zany publicity campaigns to the lavish scripts to the decadent star lifestyles. SILENT MOVIES is an essential addition to any film or design lover's library." – Encore magazine.

"Spectacular." – The New York Times.

"This isn't a coffee table book, though any coffee table would be lucky to be graced by it. The excellent text manages the trick of being exhaustive without being exhausting, while the photos – and stills, and posters, and lobby cards – are enchanting." – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal Online.

Introvert insight:


Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet.
I know more than I say, think more than I speak and observe more than you know.
– Michaela Chung.

I over-simplify and say I don’t like people,
when what I actually dislike are the surface-level interactions of most social gatherings.
– Rachel Ginder.

I simply don’t shine in company.
Mostly I prefer to retreat with a book.
– Barbara Hambly.

Not all introverts are shy.
You just haven’t seen them with their close friends circle.

Some people tremble at the idea of being alone.
I don’t understand.
I love my solitude.
My energy is never leeched; my feelings are never hurt.
I treat myself well, I entertain myself, but it’s peaceful.
– Sylvester McNutt.

The older I get, the more I would rather sit alone, in silence,
than with people who judge the way I live.
– Kristen Butler.

The smarter you get, the less you speak.
You grow to realize not everyone is worth confrontation.
Your time is valuable.
Your energy is priceless.
You won’t waste either on people who don’t deserve them.

World Introvert Day - January 2:


World Introvert Day


January 2

This is a day for the dreamers.
The thinkers.
The quiet ones.
The ones sitting in the back of the room or standing at the edges.
The ones who know more than they show and feel more than they let on.
Today we celebrate introverts.

– Jenn Granneman.

#WorldIntrovertDay

Jhumpa Lahiri, on books:


That's what books are for ... to travel without moving an inch.

- Jhumpa Lahiri.

Thursday, January 1, 2026

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990)


Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3. Episode 10.
Episode entitled: The Defector.
Released January 1, 1990.
Directed by Robert Scheerer.
Written by Sam Rolfe, Richard Danus.
Created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Ron Jones.
Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Gates McFadden, James Sloyan, Andreas Katsulas, John Hancock, Simon Templeman, Rachen Assapiomonwait, Majel Barrett, Jeremy Doyle, James McElroy, Oliver Theess, Natalie Wood.

On this day in music history:

Woodlands by Eric Tingstad, Nancy Rumbel & David Lanz (1987)
Mozart Requiem (1991)
Nightscenes by Michael Whalen (1996)
Cecilia Bartoli: Live in Italy (1998)
Cecilia Bartoli Sings Haydn (2001)
Wayfaring Stranger - A Spiritual Songbook by Kristin Asbjørnsen (2006)
Wildfire by Rachel Platten (2016)


Woodlands
Album by Eric Tingstad, Nancy Rumbel & David Lanz,
released January 1, 1987.
Track list: Willow; Magnolia; Oaks; Cypress; Cottonwood; Deodora; Sequoia; Woodlands; Bamboo; Madrona.


Mozart Requiem
Directed by Humphrey Burton, Michael Weinmann.
Cast: Georg Solti, Arleen Augér, Cecilia Bartoli, Vinson Cole, René Pape, Chor der Wiener Staatsoper / Konzertvereinigung Wiener, Wiener Philharmoniker.
Released January 1, 1991.


Nightscenes
Album by Michael Whalen,
released January 1, 1996.
Track list: Evening Blurs Into The Neon; Close Your Eyes, The Right Approaches; Acquainted With The Night; Part One: Light-Sky-Stars; Part Two: Passages; Part Three: Faces; Part Four: Love; Into The Darkness Part One: The Heart Of Midninght; Into The Darkness Part Two: Journey Towards The Sunrise; It Happened On A Sunday.


Cecilia Bartoli: Live in Italy
Directed by Brian Large.
Cast: Cecilia Bartoli, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca.
Released January 1, 1998.


Cecilia Bartoli Sings Haydn
Directed by Brian Large.
Cast: Cecilia Bartoli, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus musicus Wien.
Released January 1, 2001.


Wayfaring Stranger - A Spiritual Songbook
Album by Kristin Asbjørnsen,
released January 1, 2006.
Track list: Trying To Get Home; I’m On My Way; Ride Up In The Chariot; Now We Take This Feeble Body; In That Morning; Come Go With Me; Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down; Going Up; Don’t Be Weary Traveller; I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger / Going Over Jordan; Oh Glory.


Wildfire
Album by Rachel Platten,
released January 1, 2016.
Track list: Stand by You; Hey Hey Hallelujah (feat. Andy Grammar); Speechless; Beating Me Up; Fight Song; Better Place; Lone Ranger; You Don't Know My Heart; Angels in Chelsea; Astronauts; Congratulations; Superman.