Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Special Quote of the Week- Frederico Fellini




We wrap our series of quotes from famous Italians in honor of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification with a quip from the great Italian film director Frederico Fellini (1920-1993).

Among his famous films are "La Strada" (1954), "La Dolce Vita" (1960) and "8 1/2"
(1963). Fellini was a surrealist and this side of him was illustrated quite strakly with his later films, including "Satryicon" (1969) and "Amarcord" (1974).

Here is his quote:

"Censorship is advertising paid by the government."

SIDEBAR: We were wondering about the origins of the term 'gazooks,' also spelled 'gadzooks.' It turns out that it means several things. Two of them are: 1) an expression of alarm and 2) a term of surprise. I knew I had first heard the term on a cartoon or children's show as a child, but I forgot which one it was.

Well, it turns out, according to the Urban Dictionary, that the term was used very frequently on the now-campy "Batman" tv series with Adam West (as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin), which ran from 1966-68. Amazingly enough, there are 120 episodes of the show because it aired twice a week. Today, Adam West is 82 years old.

UPDATE: And, in the gazooks! department, this entry was actually meant for our other blog "Politics, Culture and Wastes of Time." Oh well....

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