Skype Me

The reason I started this blog, way way back in 2005, was because I wanted to talk about Shakespeare and didn’t have people in my life with whom I could do that.  Well, I mean, I could, but all they’d do is smile and nod politely and then make for the exits.  So I decided that every time I wanted to talk about Shakespeare, I’d post.  Sometimes you nice people even write me back!

Sometimes, though, a more one-to-one conversation is in order.  A blog is not a conversation, it’s more like a cocktail party conversation where people are constantly coming and going and you’re never really sure who even heard you or was listening, until and unless they respond.  Sometimes what you need is a dedicated, focused conversation between two people were you have some reasonable expectation that the person is listening to you and probably going to respond.

With that in mind, here’s my Skype info.  If you want somebody with whom you can randomly chat about Shakespeare, hit me up.  I’d love to have some more detailed conversation with those of you who’ve been following and commenting for years!  I can’t promise how often I’ll be around, but who can?

Skype.ui({
“name”: “chat”,
“element”: “SkypeButton_Chat_shakespearegeek_1”,
“participants”: [“shakespearegeek”],
“imageSize”: 32
});

“Now, Do The Eye Business.” – Peter Brook Directs King Lear

How am I the last to know that ORSON WELLES DID A KING LEAR DIRECTED BY PETER BROOK, AND IT’S AVAILABLE ON VIDEO???  Why does nobody tell me these things?

The subject line comes from the behind the scenes look provided by the trailer, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes.  They act out the obvious scene with the eye business, so Orson Welles himself is not present.

Absolutely fascinating to me; I didn’t know this existed.  Immediately goes onto my must-watch list.

Streaming Shakespeare

Just how much Shakespeare is, literally, at your fingertips?  I was thinking about this the other day while searching my Netflix account for keyword “Shakespeare”.  And then I thought, “Yes but I also have Amazon Prime.  And what about YouTube?  People upload full versions of movies to YouTube all the time. You can watch 10 Things I Hate About You right now, actually.”

Apparently I’m not the only one thinking along these lines, because Can I Stream It? exists and looks to be pretty awesome. Go ahead, type in “shakespeare” and watch what happens.  All the Shakespeare movies, along with a button telling you where you can get them.

Oh look, I can rent Josh Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing on Amazon for $1.99.

There’s also a feature where I can sign up for notifications, and get a message when it’s available for streaming on Amazon Prime or Netflix (or any of a number of other services that you may have, that I do not).

It could be a smidge better – I’d like the option to filter out certain services.  Why get my hopes up that a movie is available for streaming on Hulu if I don’t have Hulu?  But I can understand why they leave it in.

Ok, so, here’s the game.  Play around with search.  Report back on your most interesting finding, the one that makes you say, “Oh, wait, ______ is available online?  Freaking awesome!”

I found a 1981 Cymbeline that’s only available on Netflix DVD, so I guess I’ll wait on that one.

I found a Shakespeare Conspiracy movie from 2000 starring Derek Jacobi? Has he always been on the wrong side of the authorship argument? I thought (hoped?) they just paid him off for that last movie.  No link for authorship movies :-P.

You can rent Sir Ian’s Acting Shakespeare, but I added that one to my “alert when streaming” queue.

Oh hey cool, Fiennes’ Coriolanus is available for streaming on Netflix!  And Sir Ian’s King Lear is on Amazon Prime!

Ok, that’s enough from me.  What have you found?

UPDATE  : Ok, I spoke too soon.  Behold King Lear, a Jean-Luc Godard film starring Burgess Meredith, Molly Ringwald and Peter Sellars.  WTactualH?

Who Needs a Shakespeare Domain?

No, not one of mine! 🙂
I was on one of the domain registration sites today for a different project and for kicks and giggles I just typed in “shakespeare”.  Of course www.shakespeare.com and all its variants were taken, but what I found interesting was the list of suggestions on the side.  Check it out!

Some of those look pretty good if somebody’s up for a project.  LoveShakespeare?  Virtual Shakespeare? ShakespeareNotes?    Personally I’ve already got too many projects and not enough time (as the above links will attest to), so I’m not rushing to do little more than add $$ to my hosting costs every year.
If you grab one (and plan to do something with it!) let me know!  I’d love to help drive traffic to the finished product.
UPDATE : I also noticed that while “ShakespeareDay.com” is taken (and on the auction block for over $2000!), “ShakespeareDay.org” is wide open.  So if somebody’d liked to camp on that and set it up as a home for the movement to change “Shakespeare’s Kind of Birthday But Definitely The Day He Died So We Just Tell People He Was Born and Died On The Same Day To Make It Easier Day” to “Shakespeare Day” in the hearts and minds of the people, you go right and and go for it, you know I’ll be the first one to sign the petition.