Things seen (and an apology for that)

The kind of post that usually gets titled "under construction."

sometimes i think the real reason for the soap is that the layers of bubbles form a veil over the results of what is essentially a murder spree
regardless, if one is to save the flowers, the japanese beetles must be attended to
(not in the spirit of a lady-in-waiting)

I am going through a learning curve with Blogger's new interface, and you will see some layout changes here over the next week or two.  Have not yet entirely figured out how to land at "done" without you seeing some of the interim.

If only I could shake and stir some bubbles over it all...

My apologies.

image author's own

Can a fragrance be in black & white?

Classic topic among film folk: color vs. black & white.  (Discuss among yourselves.)

Today's New York Times discussed a new DVD release of two Michael Powell films, and I took special note of the discussion of "A Matter of Life and Death." Apparently, in the film "heaven is in black and white, while...bursting Technicolor is reserved for earthly delights."

I spent a fair amount of time with film at one point in my life, so it was easy to have a quick flood of associations,  Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire" being foremost among them.  I don't know why scholars and critics didn't point to the Powell movie when Wenders released his film, since clearly there are strong parallels between the two.*  That aside, I began ruminating on the effect of b&w versus color in film and if there was a way to connect this to fragrance.  Motion picture film, mind you, not still photography; scent exists through time, and frequently has a development, whereas a photograph is a frozen moment--even if motion is implicit--for the viewer to linger on, with, within, without.  That's what you learn when you make movies:  it's not just sound + vision, it's sound + vision + time.

Is there such a thing as a black and white fragrance?  I tried at first with the historical angle, but that just doesn't work.  It's like the notion that people dream in black and white, and color dreaming was an aberration; dreaming in black and white was more commonly reported in an era when films (and then television) were in black and white.  Color has been with us for the duration of our history; its obviously an option for a perfume from any era.

So black and white is more about...what?  Focusing on contrast?  Emphasizing moments over movement?  Filtering out extraneous information so that one examines a particular set of details?  

I don't know yet.  I'm pondering this.  I'll tell you this:  It's hard for me to conceive of a white floral that isn't a fragrance that is in "color," soliflore or not.  And I'm thinking that maybe Knize Ten is a black and white fragrance--so clearly about that sharp leather that one starts to see the nubbies in the hide.  But I'm not convinced.  

Maybe if I tried to triangulate it with music...but what is the musical equivalent of color versus black and white?

Sorry...all I'm doing here today is raising questions.  Clearly, I'm not done rumbling this around in my head.

*A male character falls to earth, one due to the mistake of an angel, the other an angel himself.  Both are in love with a woman on earth.  Both need to explain why they should stay on earth.  And, for both, earth is full of "information," i.e., in color.