O that I had been writ down an ass! (and other writings of asses)

[prog]

Much ado was as great as everyone said it would be, of course. I enjoyed it more than the other Shakespeare on the Common play I saw, Twelfth Night three years ago. (The two that happened between then and now apparently weren't very good, so I skipped them.) Both during the set-up and then the intermission, newcomers kept asking me what play was happening. I am glad I project this aura of knowing in fields besides directions-giving. (People ask for me directions all the time, on the street and in the subway.)

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It was a warm summer day, and so I got to see yet more instances of a certain fashion (trend|accident) among the young ladies. I dunno, man... am I strange for finding this sort of display quite unflattering, regardless of bodytype (or gender, for that)? I mean, I felt active embarrassment for these people. I'd like to think that I actually have a point here and am not just being "old", like someone who grew flustered at a flashed ankle back in apocryphal times. Enh.

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I heard Bill Maher on Fresh Air last night and he was great and I am now kicking myself for forgetting to try Tivoing last friday's season premiere of Real Time (coz HBO reruns it a lot). Maybe tonight. Anyway, everything he said was balm to my soul, still raw from that morning's revelation of the financial-building bullshit. He has a gentle way of putting things, and I enjoyed hearing him speak of the virtue of veteran presidents (he voted for Dole in 1996). I cringed when he made a throwaway remark on The Stupidity Of The American People, which reminded me why I tossed out my Real Time Tivo season pass before. (To his credit, I have never heard him say "sheeple", which is a direct verbal interface to the off-switch in my brain stem, just like in Snow Crash.) I'll still give him one more one more one more chance.

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Today's Doonesbury is strange... it's as if Bill Amend suddenly learned to draw. OH SNAP

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Tivoed O'Grady on colorwheel's rec. It seems to be the latest animated project from Soup 2 Nuts, late of Home Movies. Watched 5 minutes this morning before I had to drive to the Diesel. (I had to drive to the Diesel because this how I avoid street sweepers, on the mornings when I get up in time. Which is all of them, if I know about it the night before, and can prepare properly. This involves writing MOVE CAR on a sheet of paper, which I then place over my (cell phone|alarm clock), which itself lay on my desk.)

Not enough to form an opinion yet, but I'm unfortunately pessimistic about my ability to actually like it. Firstly, it seems to be a children's show, with humor less complex than that found in Home Movies. "Worse", it sports a high-school setting, which even in a bizarrely drawn cartoon depiction makes me feel squirmy. Maybe as an ex-con would feel watching a show about prison, or something. I dunno. Anyway, this show is going to have to labor hard to win me over. And I don't think it will labor hard for me, because I'm not its audience. But we'll see.

Comments

wow

[cthulhia]

I preferred Twelth Night over Much Ado. More clever non-verbal script interpretations, better stage antics, amusing demonstration of the suitability of iambic pentameter for appalachian accents. Less jarring use of pink. more amusing use of cans of beer as props.

Then again, this one had better uniforms and the set itself was more detailed.

The middle two were actually pretty good, they just weren't comedies. It's hard to do Henry V and not be compared to Branaugh (which would be part of my complaint about Much Ado -- hell, I was wishing for Michael Keaton as the local constable, instead of AnnoyingWoman). It's hard to do Hamlet and not compare it to, well, everyone.

Re: wow

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I disagree with that last paragraph. I didn't think the middle two were pretty good--I thought they had moments, but I'm not sure I'd call them, overall, "good". And it's not a fact about comparisons to other productions; I've seen a number of productions of Twelfth Night (including the Trevor Nunn movie) and was nevertheless quite able to enjoy theirs.

For instance, the problem with Henry V wasn't that it wasn't Branagh; the problem was that the lead, Anthony Rapp, just wasn't very good. He was good in Rent, he was good in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but either Shakespeare didn't agree with him, or acting outside a musical didn't. But he played Henry with no subtlety, and delivered most of the monologues at a single emotional pitch, having started out at a point too high for him to build.

And the Scottish Play (not Hamlet) had a number of problems as well. (For what it's worth, I'd never seen a production before, never even read it all the way through, so this has, again, nothing to do with comparison.) The vision wasn't very well-executed, as if they'd picked an idea ("Let's compare them to Juan and Evita Peron!") and then hadn't committed to it wholeheartedly. As I recall, we adored the lead's performance, but found the Lady to be stiff, and many of the other supporting actors to be kind of sub-par.

Re: wow

[temvald.livejournal.com]

I didn't think the middle two were pretty good--I thought they had moments, but I'm not sure I'd call them, overall, "good".

and this from someone who usually just views theatre as entertainment. it's a pretty safe bet that if tahnan doesn't think a performance is good, then most people would sooner throttle themselves with their own innards than sit through even the first act.

butt cleavage

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Yeah, very silly. But it kind of goes along with "What are they thinking?" fashion trend of wearing pants - typically sweatpants - with words printed across the butt. Huh? (On the other hand, maybe this just proves we've come full circle on displaying sexual availability. I mean, some people think that the reason human females have big breasts is to mimic the buttocks *shrug*)

I cannot wait for low-rise pants to go out of style; I'm annoyed that it is nigh impossible to find cargo pants with a waistband at, well, waist level.

O'Grady

[ex-colorwhe.livejournal.com]

FYI, i wasn't recommending it as in I think you'll like this, I was recommending it as in You should see this because of who made it.

I don't like it myself. I'll try again, but blech for now. I'd'a mentioned that, but by then I'd discovered you prefer the tahnan nospoilersatall category, so I didn't say another word (after the plenty I'd already said).

MOVE CAR

[keimel.livejournal.com]

Why not 'cron' or 'at' job your move car notes? I did it for the time I work in Bangor at MINT. Every two hours, I'd page myself from an at job.

at 13:30 -f ./pageme

or some such, where pageme was a shell of 'mail' sorts... I'm sure you could even make the 'at' job be the script. I just simplified it by calling the script instead of writing it all the time.

Well, enough geek out. HTH

directional

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

People ask me for directions and the like alot, too. I think it's a combination of looking "not clueless" and "not dangerous". It's gotten less so, lately, I think because I spend so much time downtown and on public trans that I've developed much less open facial/body language.

Thanks for the warning re: asscleavage. I think it looks like people forgot to check the mirror before they went out, but I am getting old.

(ps. hi!)