Ich Bin Von Kopf Bis Fuss Auf Liebe Eingestellt

The terrific Open Culture site has unearthed Marlene Dietrich's 1929 screen test for "The Blue Angel," which catapulted her to eternal fame.



This site's an absolute gold mine for the thoughtful, intelligent use of the Web. Despite the pleas of some Internet scolds that there's no such thing.

It's not easy going green

As the unfortunate culture wars in American politics have been revived in time for the November elections, there's nothing more refreshing than thinking far beyond our borders for some needed perspective on matters that are hardly sexy. Or just about sex.

Global thinkers Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria engage in a lively Q & A on the former's new book on global warming and environmentalism. I've had my disagreements with both, namely their often too-sweeping pronouncements, but this conversation sure beats the hell out of whether Sarah Palin's pregnant teenage daughter is a viable campaign issue:

"America's problem is that we've lost our way--we've lost our groove as a country. And the basic argument of the book is that we can solve our problem by taking the lead in solving the world's problem."

But it's a yawner to the American electorate beyond the "drill, drill, drill" refrain. And it's probably too late to avoid the red meat fare we're going to be served for the next two months.

Excavating an oeuvre

I've not yet picked anything up by the late South American novelist Roberto Bolaño, but five years after his death his full body of work is only now being fully revealed and is still awaiting translation:

• Monsieur Pain (novel)
• Antwerp (novel)
• The Insufferable Gaucho (novel)
• Parenthetically (essays)
• Assassin Whores (short stories)
• Secreto De Mal (posthumous collection of writings-stories, sketches, poems, miscellany)

The titles of Bolaño's works apparently have managed to generate as much attention as the substance of what he writes.