Word: swords
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After the Mass celebrating the start of his ministry, the new Pope strode to the edge of the crowd, carrying his heavy, crucifix-topped staff. Then, with a vigorous gesture reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox services, he thrust it up like a giant sword of faith. When a young boy rushed out with flowers, a Vatican official tried to shoo him off. John Paul called the boy forward and hugged...
...Disney gruel here. Second greatest soundtrack to Days of Heaven. Some filmic dryasdusts dredge up the 1914 seven hour version with Belgian director Lionel Von Rennselaeaer's lighthearted experiments in figure/ground confusion done on highly explosive nitrate stock, but the lead was played by a stolid burgher whose sword work looked something like Boog Powell trying to bunt. Flynn, the great rakehell, leaves no doubt that he knew how to rustle Maid Marian's bustle and no one could accuse his progeny of lacking cojones--witness Sean Flynn's disappearing into the Cambodian jungle with a moped, a Nikon...
Turning away from the river, the course climbed a hill and then descended onto the grassy "green sword" that splits Blackstone Boulevard, where a walk-a-thon was in progress. The hoards of people and dogs milling around turned Blackstone Boulevard into an obstacle course and provided the biggest challenge of the day, since no extra points were awarded for wiping out spectators...
...been eight years since Cleopatra put an asp to her bosom, Mark Antony had fallen upon his sword, and Rome's victorious Octavian had taken over Egypt. But the Nubian villagers of Dendur, 400 miles up the Nile from Alexandria, had nothing against the Romans. In fact, on the orders of the new Emperor, now called Augustus, visiting Egyptian artisans were building a temple dedicated to two young Nubian princes, Pedesi and Pihor. Both had drowned in the Nile, and victims so chosen by the god of the Nile were automatically apotheosized, as a Greek might be by a lightning...
Still, the tales of Camelot are dramatic no matter who tells them. The somber denouement, in which the mortally wounded Arthur restores his invincible sword to the mysterious Lady of the Lake, possesses a grandeur undiminished by familiarity. Aware of the story's inherent drama, Berger eventually abandons farce in favor of a simple, unadorned narrative. "All men of that time lived and died by legend," he notes with uncharacteristic fervor, and his homage to those legends is a relief after the showy wit that dominates so many chapters. - James Atlas