I got one response to the post about "Julius Caesar"...one! What's wrong with you guys!? I thought Theory corner readers were more together than that. Is Shakespeare not good enough? Not worth listening to? Would you care to tell me who's more worth listening to? Is there a better writer that I don't know about!?The version I put up is, or at least is close to being, an excerpt from a best version. The best version of the best writer isn't worth your attention?
Sorry Uncle Eddie... we're swine. You're awesomely radiant pearls are all too worthy to be cast before our pig-like ignorant snouts!
ReplyDeletehe's overrated
ReplyDeleteMy Only excuse is,I haven't seen it yet.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Eddie, I love Shakespeare but I can't watch videos at school. I'll look over the posts I've missed when I get home.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald is an Irish name, is it not? Did you get hammered on St. Patty's Day?
I commented! Honestly, though, I missed that post. You're going to fast for me, buddy!
ReplyDelete- trevor.
I guess he's alright. At writing. You know, for back then. I guess.
ReplyDeleteCan he really compete with the likes of our modern genius though? Like America's Next Top Model and so on?
I don't think so. He did what he could.
The important question is really - could he have written a cartoon?
Is it bad that your photo for "MAD" made me chuckle? Add my apology to the soon-to-be-mounting pile, please. It's for posts exactly like that one that I keep coming back here. That and the naked chicks. ;-).
ReplyDeleteTwo truisms of blogging:
ReplyDelete1: the vast majority of people who read a post don't ever write a comment-usually because they don't feel they have anything much to say, not because they find the post lacking
and
2: never, ever do these posts to amass comments. If that's going to be your reward/motivation then you're doomed to the occasional-in your case, ridiculously occasional-disappointment.
I mean, please: you get dozens of comments on almost every single thing you put up. Even John doesn't fuss when he gets a mere couple of responses. Be happy.
I think Andrew is onto something. Shakespere needs more naked chicks.
ReplyDeleteSee ya
Steve
Eddie, what do you think of the British contention that Americans aren't fit to study or perform Shakespeare? Obviously you disagree, but don't you think the British accent adds to it a lot?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Shakespeare and such, with that dramatic lighting from below emanating out of your new iMac in that Ides of March post, you almost look like Lord Olivier himself, Eddie! Sorry I can't really comment on the clip, as it's been many years since I read "Julius Caesar", and my taste in literature runs more toward Miss Muffet and Bo Peep anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou know, if you're really trying to grab your readers' interest and get the post count up, you should forego the Bard in favour of more of that Yiddish vaudeville stuff we're all clamoring for! :)
Or combine the two by running this Wayne and Shuster clip from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWw1JSgNu_w
Shakespeare was no Manny Stallman.
ReplyDeleteQuote: "Shakespeare was no Manny Stallman."
ReplyDeleteNeither was Sir Francis Bacon. In fact, I don't even think he was kosher...
Well, the Brits aren't fit to chew sausage, with their teeth.
ReplyDeleteI liked the videos a lot, and it's not the sort of thing I'd actively seek out on my own so thank you for introducing it to me.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to pedantically point out that 'some guy' means ENGLISH accent. Britain is comprised of three countries all with their own distinct accents.
Thank you!
No offense, Eddie, but the world has changed. The language of the masses is no longer in type, it's iconic and visual. Poetry takes too long to read, and that's all Shakespeare really is, afterall.
ReplyDeleteGive me an image with strong composition, atmospheric lighting, visual symbolism and subtext content... and you've said all Shakespeare can say in one second... instead of 10 paragraphs of meandering.
Your audience said it best, Shakespeare = yawns.
Anon: I'm not offended and I appreciate the fact that you said what a number of people were probably thinking.
ReplyDeleteEven so, I disagree. Shakespeare plays were meant to be heard, not read, so there's no excuse for non-readers to avoid him just because they don't like to read. Listen to the whole one-hour radio broadcast of Welles' Julius Caesar (you can probably still buy it on disc) and you'll see what I mean.
Also, Shakespeare's words convey meaning that visuals alone can't. What wordless visual could convey Queen Maab, Marc Antony's speech, or "The quality of mercy..."? Even when Shakespeare actually describes something like Cleopatra's barge the image it provokes is better than any picture I can imagine.
Poetry isn't dead, it just changed its address. It thrives in the form of music lyrics, especially in rap music, which is just poetry to a beat. I can't imagine poetry dying as long as people take delight in speech. My guess is that every culture, no matter how primitive, has made an artform of stylized speech. Poetry is verbal music and love of music resides in our DNA.
Whether someone like Milton will be read much in coming decades is another thing.
Milton may not be read much, but they will still be talking about his length.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare = yawns? Horse shit!!!
ReplyDeleteShakespeare wrote some of the most entertaining literature of all time. Any one who writes creatively rips off Shakespeare whether it be intentional or not.
It's been awhile since I've cracked open anything of Willie's, but I'm sure it's just as good as I remember it being.
Hey Eddie, did they ever tell you about the origins of "Ring Around the Rosey?"
ReplyDeleteThe song originated as a plague song; 'Ring around the rosey' represents the painful, puss-filled sores that erupted all over the suffers body. 'Pockets full of poseys' are the flowers people held over their noses to block out the stench of unburied decaying corpses. 'Ashes, ashes' is the sneezing that accompanied the plague; 'we all fall down' is death.
Sometimes the dead were burned to prevent the plague from spreading, so the "ashes" also represent the remains of the dead after they were buried.
And to think, parents worry about the influence of video games on their impressionable children.
Also, I’m of a fan of the Bard’s work, from Secondary school to today, but my silly teacher never really looked over some of his more brilliant work, such as 'King Lear,' The Tempest, Titus Andronicus, or Othello. (my personal favorite)
Instead, she focused on Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius. Interesting story about the last one, and I'd asked her why she picked Caesar, especially when the comedies were a lot more fun? Simply, to deal with teenagers: Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays, and it doesn’t have any sex. That would, in some measure, explain why some of my class mates hated Shakespeare.
I have some thoughts on Othello, if you want to hear them, so please give me a shout.
From an inspiring animator/ artist
P.S. Thank you for that advice you've given to me for my portfolio; it’s now in the drop box, waiting to be evaluated.
The waiting game begins.
Awesome!
ReplyDelete