Toni Morrison, on books, reading and writing:

If there's a book you really want to read,

but it hasn't been written yet,

then you must write it.

- Toni Morrison.

Recommended reading – Annihilation

 

Annihilation

by Jeff VanderMeer.

Published by MCD x FSG Originals.

First published 2014.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0374537151
ISBN-13: 978-0374537159
 
Description:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers – they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding – but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

Born on this day – George Frideric Handel:

 

George Frideric Handel

Composer

February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759

Born on this day – Dorothy Morris:

 

Dorothy Morris

Actress

February 23, 1922 – November 20, 2011

Credits:

Marcus Welby, M.D. (1971); The Name of the Game (1970); Dragnet 1967 (1970); Seconds (1966); Wagon Train (1964–1965); The Lieutenant (1963–1964); This Is the Life (1956–1963); Shannon (1962); Rawhide (1959–1962); Tightrope (1960); The Untouchables (1960); Border Patrol (1959); The Power of the Resurrection (1958); The Donna Reed Show (1958); Macabre (1958); Casey Jones (1957); Navy Log (1957); Whirlybirds (1957); The Millionaire (1957); Little Miss Big (1946); Club Havana (1945); Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945); Main Street After Dark (1945); Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944); Rationing (1944); None Shall Escape (1944); Cry 'Havoc' (1943); I Dood It (1943); Someone to Remember (1943); Young Ideas (1943); Pilot #5 (1943); The Human Comedy (1943); The Youngest Profession (1943); Keeper of the Flame (1942); Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942); Seven Sweethearts (1942); Calling All Pa's (1942); The Magic Alphabet (1942); The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942); Somewhere I'll Find You (1942); Maisie Gets Her Man (1942); Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942); Barbee-Cues (1942); Rio Rita (1942); This Time for Keeps (1942); What About Daddy? (1942); We Were Dancing (1942); We Do It Because- (1942); Babes on Broadway (1941); Design for Scandal (1941); Strange Testament (1941); The Chocolate Soldier (1941); Down in San Diego (1941); When Ladies Meet (1941); Whistling in the Dark (1941); Her First Beau (1941).

Born on this day – Majel Barrett-Roddenberry:

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry

Actress

Voice Artist

Producer

February 23, 1932 – December 18, 2008

Credits:

Hamlet A.D.D. (2014); Star Trek III: Redemption (2013); Star Trek II: Retribution (2012); Star Trek Online (2010); Star Trek (2009); Star Trek Phase II (2004); Star Trek: Enterprise (2005); Star Trek: Nemesis (2002); Family Guy (2001); Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001); Andromeda (2000–2005); Mars and Beyond (2000); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (1999); Earth: Final Conflict (1997–1999); Star Trek the Next Generation Companion A Series Guide and Script Library (1999); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999); Diagnosis Murder (1998); Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1996–1998); Star Trek: Generations (1997); Star Trek: Borg (1996); Star Trek: First Contact (1996); Babylon 5 (1996); Mommy (1995); Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity (1995); Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual (1994); Star Trek: Generations (1994); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994); Teresa's Tattoo (1994); Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1993); Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986); General Hospital (1983); The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979); Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979); The Suicide's Wife (1979); The Next Step Beyond (1978); Spectre (1977); The Domino Principle (aka The Domino Killings) (1977); Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974); Planet Earth (1974); The F.B.I. (1974); The Questor Tapes (1974); Westworld (1973); Genesis II (1973); Columbo (1973); This Is the Life (1971); The Young Lawyers (1971); Star Trek (1966–1969); Here Come the Brides (1968); The Second Hundred Years (1967); Track of Thunder (1967); A Guide for the Married Man (1967); Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1967); Country Boy (1966); Love on a Rooftop (1966); The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1966); Bonanza (1962–1966); Made in Paris (1966); Sylvia (1965); Many Happy Returns (1964); The Lieutenant (1964); The Eleventh Hour (1963); The Quick and the Dead (1963); Dr. Kildare (1963); The Lucy Show (1962); 77 Sunset Strip (1962); Cain's Hundred (1962); Pete and Gladys (1961–1962); Back Street (1961); Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1961); Leave It to Beaver (1960); The Untouchables (1960); Johnny Midnight (1960); Whirlybirds (1959); The Buccaneer (1958); As Young as We Are (1958); The Black Orchid (1958); Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957).

Born on this day – Paul Morrissey:

Paul Morrissey

Director

Writer

Cinematographer

February 23, 1938 – October 28, 2024

Paul Morrissey (left), with Andy Warhol (right).

Credits:

A Letter to True (2004); A Look on the Wild Side (2002); A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2007); About Face (1964); Acid Head: The Buzzard Nuts County Slaughter (2011); All Aboard the Dreamland Choo-Choo (1964); American Masters (2006); Andy Makes a Movie (1968); Andy Warhol (1972 / 1987); Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture (2001); Andy Warhol's Factory People (2008); Arena (1993); Beautiful Darling (2010); Beethoven's Nephew (1985); Bike Boy (1967); Blood for Dracula (1974); Blue Movie (1969); Chambre 666 (1982); Chelsea Girls (1966); Danny Says (2015); Diane the Zebra Woman (1962); Divine Trash (1998); Excavating Taylor Mead (2005); Factory Days: Paul Morrissey Remembers the Sixties (2006); Fear, Panic & Censorship (2000); Flesh (1968); Flesh for Frankenstein (1973); Forty Deuce (1982); Heat (1972); Helmut Berger, My Mother and Me (2019); Hyper show (2002); I a Man (1967); I Miss Sonia Henie (1971); Imagine (2006); International Velvet Superstar (1994); Jonas in the Desert (1994); L'Amour (1972); Like Sleep (1965); Little Joe (2009); Lonesome Cowboys (1968); Madame Wang's (1981); Man Outside (1965); Midnight Cowboy (1969); Mixed Blood (1984); My Hustler (1965); New Old (1979); Nico Icon (1995); Notes on Marie Menken (2006); Paperback (1977); Paul Morrissey, in the Flesh (2008); Paul Morrissey: Autumn in Montauk (2002); Peaches and Cream (1964); Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story (2000); Psycho Cop (1989); Raw Paul Morrissey Q&A Footage from Chiller Theatre, October 27, 2012 / Video (2021); Resident Alien (1990); Rich and Famous (1981); San Diego Surf (1968); Screen Test #1 (1965); Screen Test #2 (1965); Screen Test #3 (1966); Screen Test #4 (1966); Sleep in a Nest of Flames (2001); Sonic Cinema (2000–2003); Spike of Bensonhurst (1988); Superartist (1967); Superstar in a Housedress (2004); Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990); Tarnation (2003); That Summer (2017); The Andy Warhol Diaries (2022); The Andy Warhol Story (1967); The Armchair Hacker (1985); The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978); The Loves of Ondine (1968); The Making of Sonia Henie (2009); The New Cinema (1984); The South Bank Show (1978); The Velvet Underground (2021); The Velvet Underground and Nico (1966); Trash (1970); Trash / News from Nowhere (2010); Uptight #3 - David Susskind (1966); Veruschka - Die Inszenierung (m)eines Körpers (2005); Viaggio nel Cinema in 3D: Una Storia Vintage (2016); Warhol (1973); Women in Revolt (1971); X-Rated (2004).

 

Born on this day – William Hjortsberg:

 

William Hjortsberg

Writer

February 23, 1941 – April 22, 2017

Credits:

Books:
Alp (1969); Angel's Inferno (2020); Falling Angel (1978); Gray Matters (1971); Jubilee Hitchhiker (2012); Manana (2015); Nevermore (1994); Odd Corners (2004); Sometimes Horses Don't Come Back (1963); Symbiography (1973); Tales and Fables (1985); Toro! Toro! Toro! (1974).

Movies:
Rich Hall's Continental Drifters (2011); Creating a Myth... the Memories of 'Legend' (2002); Angel Heart (1987); Legend (1985); The Georgia Peaches (1980); Thunder and Lightning (1977).

On this day in music history - American VI: Ain't No Grave, by Johnny Cash (2010)

American VI: Ain't No Grave

by Johnny Cash

was released February 23, 2010.

On this day in television history – James Ellroy's L.A.: City of Demons Released (2011)

 

James Ellroy's L.A.: City of Demons

Documentary.

Season 1 Episode 6

Episode entitled: Hot Spot Homicide.

Released: February 23, 2011.

Series directors: Brian Coughlin, Gabe Torres, Brian Coughlin and Robert Kirk.
 
Cast:

James Ellroy, Heather Aitken, James Avise, Gregory DePetro, Michael Fallon, Brad Lewis, Allen Marsh, Deanna Morris, Arman Pardisi, Franklin Ruehl, Christopher Warner.

On this day in movie history - Madonna of the Desert (1948)

Madonna of the Desert

directed by George Blair,

written by Albert DeMond,

based on a story by Frank Wisbar,

was released in the United States on February 23, 1948.

Music by Mort Glickman.

Cast:

Lynne Roberts, Don Barry, Don Castle, Sheldon Leonard, Paul Hurst, Roy Barcroft, Paul E. Burns, Betty Blythe, Grazia Narciso, Martin Garralaga, Frank Yaconelli, Maria Genardi, Renee Donatt, Vernon Cansino.

On this day in movie history - Harper (1966)

Harper

directed by Jack Smight,

written by William Goldman,

based on the novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald,

was released in the United States on February 23, 1966.

Music by Johnny Mandel.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, Robert Webber, Shelley Winters, Harold Gould, Roy Jenson, Strother Martin.

On this day in movie history - The Number 23 (2007)

The Number 23

directed by Joel Schumacher,

written by Fernley Phillips,

was released in the United States on February 23, 2007.

Music by Harry Gregson-Williams.

Cast:

Jim Carrey, Paul Butcher, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Rhona Mitra, Bud Cort, Chris Lajoie, Mark Pellegrino, Lynn Collins, Michelle Arthur, Ed Lauter, Corey Stoll.

On this day in movie history - Annihilation (2018)

Annihilation

directed and written by Alex Garland,

based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer,

was released in the United States on February 23, 2018.

Music by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow.

Cast:

Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi, Sammy Hayman, Josh Danford.