Friday, September 4, 2026

Born on this day – Joseph J. Dowling:


Joseph J. Dowling


Actor

September 4, 1850 – July 8, 1928

Credits:

A Certain Rich Man (1921); A Confidence Game (1915); A Law Unto Herself (1918); A Little Sister of Everybody (1918); A Man in the Open (1919); A Man's Country (1919); A Man's Man (1917); A Piece of Amber (1915); A Romance of Old Holland (1914); A Splendid Hazard (1920); A Trick of Fate (1919); A White Man's Chance (1919); Adele (1919); Alimony (1917); All of a Sudden Norma (1919); An Alien Enemy (1918); And a Still Small Voice (1918); Bawbs O' Blue Ridge (1916); Beckoning Roads (1919); Big Happiness (1920); Blindfolded (1918); Bullets and Brown Eyes (1916); Carmen of the Klondike (1918); College Days (1915); Confessions of a Queen (1925); Dollar Devils (1923); Enemies of Children (1923); Eric the Red's Wooing (1914); Everybody's Sweetheart (1920); Fightin' Mad (1921); Flower of Night (1925); Free and Equal (1918); Ghost of the Rancho (1918); Her Night of Romance (1924); Her Purchase Price (1919); His Brother's Keeper (1915); His Nibs (1921); His Robe of Honor (1918); Home (1916); Honor's Cross (1918); Humdrum Brown (1918); If You Believe It, It's So (1922); Josselyn's Wife (1919); Kitty Kelly, M.D. (1919); Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921); Live Sparks (1920); Lord Jim (1925); Lorraine of the Lions (1925); Madam Who? (1918); Maid o' the Storm (1918); Master of His Home (1917); More Trouble (1918); New Lives for Old (1925); One Clear Call (1922); One Dollar Bid (1918); One Night in Rome (1924); Paddy O'Hara (1917); Patriotism (1918); Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922); Riders of the Dawn (1920); Sink or Swim (1920); Sleuthing (1913); Social Ambition (1918); Somewhere in France (1916); Sudden Jim (1917); Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924); The Apostle of Vengeance (1916); The Bargain (1914); The Beautiful Liar (1921); The Beckoning Flame (1915); The Bells (1918); The Breaking Point (1921); The Brink (1915); The Christian (1923); The Courtship of Myles Standish (1923); The Criminal (1916); The Danger Point (1922); The Deserter (1916); The Devil to Pay (1920); The Dream Cheater (1920); The False Code (1919); The Gaiety Girl (1924); The Girl Who Came Back (1923); The Girl Who Ran Wild (1922); The Goddess of Lost Lake (1918); The Golden Princess (1925); The Grim Comedian (1921); The Gun Fighter (1917); The Half Breed (1922); The Hammer (1915); The House of Whispers (1920); The Iced Bullet (1917); The Iron Strain (1915); The Joyous Liar (1919); The Kentucky Colonel (1920); The Kite (1915); The Law Forbids (1924); The Lighthouse Keeper's Son (1915); The Little Irish Girl (1926); The Long Lane's Turning (1919); The Lord Loves the Irish (1919); The Lure of Egypt (1921); The Man from Oregon (1915); The Master Man (1919); The Midnight Stage (1919); The Miracle Man (1919); The Other Woman (1921); The Pinch Hitter (1917); The Pride of Palomar (1922); The Rainmaker (1926); The Reward (1915); The Scourge of the Desert (1915); The Scrub (1915); The Sea Ghost (1915); The Shoal Light (1915); The Silver Bell (1914); The Sin of Martha Queed (1921); The Smart Aleck (1920); The Spenders (1921); The Spider and the Rose (1923); The Square Deal Man (1917); The Stepping Stone (1916); The Thoroughbred (1916); $30,000 (1920); The U.P. Trail (1920); The Yankee Way (1917); Those Who Dare (1924); Tiger Rose (1923); Todd of the Times (1919); Trail of the Axe (1922); Unseen Hands (1924); Untamed Youth (1924); Wedlock (1918); What Love Will Do (1923); Why Girls Go Back Home (1926); With Hoops of Steel (1918); Women Who Give (1924); Wooden Shoes (1917).

The answer? Start another book!


I finished my book.
And now I don't know what to do with myself.

Recommended reading - The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir (2002):


The Art of Noir
The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir

By Eddie Muller.

Published by Harry N. Abrams.
Published 2002.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 1468307355
ISBN-13: 978-1468307351

Description:

The poster art from the noir era has a bold look and an iconography all its own. During noir's golden age, studios commissioned these arresting illustrations for even the lowliest "B" thriller. The Art of Noir is the first book to present this striking artwork in a lavishly produced, large-format, full-color volume. The more than 300 dazzling posters and other promotional material range from the classics to rare archive films such as The Devil Thumbs a Ride and Blonde Kiss. With rare offerings from around the world and background information on the illustrators, The Art of Noir is the ultimate companion for movie buffs and collectors, as well as artists and designers.

Mary Roberts Rinehart, on writing:


My crime books are actually novels and are written as such.
One might even say that each one is really two novels, one of which is the story I tell the reader,
and the other the buried story I know and let slip now and then into a clue to whet the reader's interest.

- Mary Roberts Rinehart.

Thursday, September 3, 2026

On this day in movie history - The Human Voice (2020 movie & play):


The Human Voice

directed and written by Pedro Almodóvar,
based on the play The Human Voice by Jean Cocteau,
released at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on September 3, 2020.
Music by Alberto Iglesias.


Cast: Tilda Swinton, Agustín Almodóvar, Miguel Almodóvar, Pablo Almodóvar, Diego Pajuelo, Carlos García Cambero, Dash the Dog.

Recommended reading:


The Human Voice

Play by Jean Cocteau.

Translated by Daniel Raggett.

Published by Oberon Books.
Oberon Modern Plays.
First published 1929.
ISBN-10: 1786826542
ISBN-13: 978-1786826541

Description:

'I'm whispering into your ear – and we couldn't be further apart.'

A woman, a phone call, a final conversation. In this extraordinary and prophetic monologue, a woman fights for the person she loves. Jean Cocteau's iconic play explores our desperate need for human relationships – and the machine that has changed them forever.

On this day in music history:

Harmonic Activations: The Alchemy of Crystal Sound by Tryshe Dhevney (2014)
I Am Rachel Platten by Rachel Platten (2024)


Harmonic Activations: The Alchemy of Crystal Sound
Album by Tryshe Dhevney,
released September 3, 2014.
Track list: Awaken Intuition Activation; OM Frequency Activation; High Heart Activation; Ascension Portal Activation; Throat Chakra Activation; Endocrine System Activation.


I Am Rachel Platten
Album by Rachel Platten,
released September 3, 2024.
Track list: I Know; First Day; Slow December; The River; Bad Thoughts; Mercy; Surrendering; I Don't Really Care (Set Me Free); Girls; Gimme Something; Need You; Caroline (feat. Michael Bolton).

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: Voyager (1997)


Star Trek: Voyager
Season 4. Episode 1.
Episode entitled: Scorpion, Part II.
Released September 3, 1997.
Directed by Winrich Kolbe.
Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.
Written by Brannon Braga, Joe Menosky, Bryan Fuller, Lisa Klink.
Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
Music by Jay Chattaway.
Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Biggs-Dawson, Jennifer Lien, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Jennifer Lien, Majel Barrett, Patrick Barnitt, Steve Carnahan, Damaris Cordelia, Erica Lynn Duncan, Neo Edmund, Kerry Hoyt, Zach LeBeau, Mark Major, David Anthony Marshall, Johnny Martin, Louis Ortiz, Richard Sarstedt, Hallie Singleton, John Alex Tampoya, Nikki Tyler-Flynn.