For decades, it’s been just about impossible to see a movie or turn on the TV without witnessing a romantic kiss. And whether it represents the long-awaited union of two people who were meant for each other, a quick peck between married folks, or a stolen adulterous moment, a passionate smooch still has the power to captivate us. But here’s something we’ve never thought to wonder: What did the first kiss on film look like, and when did it happen? Thanks to Brainpickings, we’ve now seen it for ourselves. Thomas Edison shot cinema’s first smackeroo in 1896, at his Black Maria studio, in an era where kissing in public was still quite risqué. Perhaps that’s why the brief clip, starring the actress May Irwin, is so wonderfully awkward. First, she and her unidentified, mustachioed paramour whisper what we assume are sweet nothings to each other, and it sort of looks like he’s chewing on her face. Then, he bestows on her some curious, rapid-fire kisses. Watch and puzzle over these bizarre, turn-of-the-century mating rituals after the jump, and then read more about the history of the film at Brainpickings.
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Ever wonder what it was like to ride over the Brooklyn Bridge in the 19th century? Jason Kottke pointed us to this early Edison video, taken from the front of a B.M.T. train traveling from Brooklyn to Manhattan in 1899. We’re not sure whether the shaky image has more to do with the camera or the vehicle, but one thing is clear: the simple crossing was a hell of a lot more exciting (and apparently scarier, too) a hundred years ago than it is now.
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To say that Lydia Millet’s first book of short stories (after six novels) is merely a tome about human and animal relationships would be a blatant understatement — too Cesar’s Way. In Love in Infant Monkeys, the animal and human (er, superhuman, in the case of Madonna in the opening story, “Sexing the Pheasant”) hierarchy is leveled, with each influencing the other’s life, decisions, and emotions. You meet David Hasselhoff’s dog, the elephant that Thomas Edison electrocuted, and a ferocious Komodo dragon that an Indonesian billionaire bought for Sharon Stone.
After the jump, Millet discusses why she saw Noam Chomsky at the dump, which animal humans resemble the most, and what she’d like to do to a baby spider. Read More »
