on Philistines and/or Dilettantes

the 'Philistines' pictured on the left are carved into a wall at Medinet Habu - a place near the west bank of the Nile at ancient Thebes. they are depicted there because its Ramses 3s' mortuary temple, and he stopped them invading Egypt around 1200 BC. one of the more famous Philistines was Goliath of Gath - the big guy who went down after being struck by Davids slingshot in a bible story.

There is a more modern variety - defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "a person who is hostile or indifferent to the arts". A recent case of this (2003) was when the Baghdad Antiquities Museum (BAM!) wasn't protected during the invasion and over 7000 pieces remain missing or destroyed. some of these will have pride of place in a safe, on a mantlepiece, in a cupboard or buried in the desert wrapped in a rag.
These 'collectors' are a form of Dilettante.
"A person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge."

Another form of Dilettante has the wrong idea about art. The acceptance as an artist, or as an artistic observer, seems far more important to them than the making of art. Yet some are hungry to be called an artist. They've put ART on a shelf that is slightly out of reach - their fingertips can just touch it, its agonisingly close, but no stepladder - physical or metaphysical - is going to get them there.

"art is more state of mind than way of life", said Rube Timinger as he explored inner space.

on Sergio Leones' 'the good, the bad, and the ugly'

i first saw 'the good, the bad, and the ugly' at the drive-in cinema as a kid. i've since seen it a hundred times or more and it gets better. i always want it to keep going. it sprawls over the screen, Sergio Leone aided by Ennio Morricones' music and Tonino Delli Collis' photography in what is a true collaboration. you can pause it anywhere and the composition is spot on, its like a million great paintings joined together and called 'film'.

tonally the light filters through a muted dusty palette - glints of colour here and there accentuate a bowl of beans, a shiny button, or a drop of blood. its protagonists are violent and uncomplicated - the tale is a simple and dense meditation on greed, luck and death. Eli Wallach as 'il cattivo' is mesmerising, and i challenge anyone to not call his performance one of the greatest ever on screen. the film is a masterpiece as enigmatic as the "Mona Lisa' or "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even".