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The Blue Velvet Project

Blue Velvet, 47 seconds at a time by Nicholas Rombes

The Blue Velvet Project, #72

Second #3384, 56:24

1. Sandy’s dream, recounted to Jeffrey:

In the dream, there was our world, and the world was dark because there weren’t any robins. And the robins represented love. And for the longest time there was just this darkness, and all of a sudden thousands of robins were set free and they flew down and brought this blinding light of love. And it seemed like that love would be the only thing that would make any difference. And it did.

2. A few moments earlier, Jeffrey said to Sandy:

Frank is a . . . a very dangerous man.

3. From The Flame Alphabet, by Ben Marcus:

Rabbi Burke never used the word devil. The universal coinage was worthless, in his view. Words that mask what we don’t know. But he spoke about dangerous people who orbited the moral world, building speed around us, rendering themselves so blurred, they looked gorgeous. Burke spoke of refusing dizziness, latching on to these satellite monsters . . . so we could travel at their velocity, see them for what they were.

4. A lighter note: in the Blue Velvet Blu-ray interview, Kyle MacLachlan says that the “chicken walk” sequence was a stunt he used to pull on the set and was probably inspired by Steve Martin or John Cleese.

5. From “Dear Reynolds, as last night I lay in bed,” (with the “gentle robin”) by John Keats:

The greater on the less feeds evermore:
But I saw too distinct into the core
Of an eternal fierce destruction,
And so from happiness I far was gone.
Still am I sick of it: and though to-day
I’ve gathered young spring leaves, and flowers gay
Of periwinkle and wild strawberry,
Still do I that most fierce destruction see,
The shark at savage prey—the hawk at pounce,
The gentle robin, like pard or ounce,
Ravening a worm.

Over the period of one full year — three days per week — The Blue Velvet Project will seize a frame every 47 seconds of David Lynch’s classic to explore. These posts will run until second 7,200 in August 2012. For a complete archive of the project, click here. And here is the introduction to the project.

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