Word: flutterings
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...bridge two aviation ages. But its birth in the late 1950s was a painful one. Two of the early Electras lost wings, one over Texas in 1959, the other over Indiana in 1960. Ninety-seven people died. The 400-m.p.h. propjet plane was found to suffer from a "runaway flutter," in which vibration was transmitted from an engine to a propeller and then to a wing, which would sometimes shake loose. Lockheed spent $25 million to modify the design and strengthen the plane. Gradually, most pilots lost their fear of the aircraft, and a military version, the P-3C Orion...
Gubaidulina's Offertorium (1979-80) uses the theme of Bach's Musical Offering as the takeoff point for a complex violin concerto that lasts about 35 minutes. Atonal passages mingle freely with tonal ones as the theme is atomized and then reconstructed in reverse; the modern orchestrational device of flutter-tonguing for flutes and brass is complemented by traditionally virtuosic writing for the solo violinist. Gubaidulina, 53, also evokes her Russian predecessors Stravinsky and Prokofiev, most strikingly in a passage of glissandi string harmonics that recalls The Firebird. By Western standards, Offertorium may be tame, but given the governmental restrictions...
Most of the other characters--a brightly-dressed flutter of engaged, soon-to-be-engaged, and married couples--alternate between stiffness and competence, depending on how much artificial language their characters spew out. The ones intended to be irritating (Curt Raffi and Jennifer Burton) achieve a bit more success in such instances than the ones who are merely sweet (David Angel and Laurence Bouvard), but this, too, is only partly blameable on the actors. Children in bright dresses, tuneful incidental music by Brooks Whitehouse, and lederhosen all around contribute to the impression of a light and pleasant entertainment, the "comedy...
...stern congressional warning, a new flutter from Andropov...
Scores of famous names flutter effortlessly from Selznick's pages: Anita Loos, Irving Thalberg, Sam Goldwyn, Janet Gaynor, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo and Uncle William, known at the office as Mr. Hearst. Banker-Politician Averell Harriman coached her in bridge and croquet, and Howard Hughes wanted her to be his "woman friend" because, as Go-Between Gary Grant suggested, she was a "tested product...