My family is going through the classic Muppet Show (via Netflix) one episode disc at a time, and tonight we got to see Season 1, Episode 1 – the very first Muppet Show. They often did a “ballroom” segment, where various couples danced and told relatively standard jokes.  In this episode, two pigs are dancing.

Pig #1:  Do you prefer Shakespeare to Bacon?

Pig #2:  I prefer anything to bacon!

<insert Statler and Waldorf old man laugh here> Later in the show, though, Kermit tells Juliette Prowse that he does not want to be accused of “gilding the lily pad.” I wonder if the writers that threw in the Shakespeare joke realized the connection?

What do Shakespeare’s sonnets sound like?  There’s no end of discussion about performance of the plays, what iambic pentameter and punctuation mean to the motivation of the characters, and even the stage directions.  But what of the sonnets? Intended for publication (or perhaps not?), we’re not used to hearing them performed in quite the same way. Such is the challenge that Will Sutton over at I Love Shakespeare has taken upon himself, recording his performance of all 154 sonnets. I’ve known about his site for awhile, and it took a reminder to get me off my butt and look at it more seriously.  After all, it takes awhile to listen to that many sonnets.  Will’s got his own embedded player as well, so you can follow along with the text of the sonnet while you listen to his performance. Truthfully, though, the geek in me couldn’t resist a shortcut.  After admiring the site’s coding (nice use of XML, Will) I wrote a quick scraper to pull down all the MP3 files and get them onto my ipod.  I lose the text that way, but it’s the only real way I’m ever going to get the time to listen to them :). The actual audio is interesting.  These are not “dramatic readings” like you might hear out of a Ralph Fiennes or Alan Rickman on the Love Speaks cd.  No, these are more like…how to put it, like a reference version.  There are actors who say “Well, this is *my* interpretation.”  I think Will’s approach is more that there is specifically a “right” way to do it, and he’s trying to deliver them that way.  It’s pretty clear that he’s doing this out of love for the material.  The audio production quality is quite high.  This does not sound like a guy sitting behind the built-in mic in his laptop.  There are no throat clears or unexpected pauses for breath.  He’s taken the task seriously and done a very nice job of it. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not qualified on how good his actual delivery is.  Is he pausing in all the right places, emphasizing where he should?  I mean, it sounds good to me.   I know you can’t listen to a long stream of them with no context – they start to run together.  That’s totally my fault for trying to play them like that.  Although it does actually make me think that he could try his had at an audiobook.  Make some bumpers that talk briefly about each sonnet, and then deliver the performance.  Repeat until done.  Wrap that all up into a single MP3 file, package it with a PDF, and put it out on the net.  Could be a big hit.  I know a number of sonnet books, but very few offer audio commentary.  Those that due, certainly do not do a performance of all 154.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20091021/NEWS02/910210324/Judge-orders-Kerik-jailed-for-violating-court-order Courtesy of our friend Carl Atkins comes this pointer to the case of Bernard Kerik, who if I understand it right is a former head of New York City corrections department, and is either in the midst of a corruption trial or appealing one, or something.  Anyway, it seems that Mr. Kerik’s half a million dollar bail was just revoked by US District Judge Stephen C. Robinson on grounds that he (Kerik) was disclosing confidential information about his case. Why is it here?  Because this particular judge likes to quote Shakespeare:

The judge recited Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 in reference to Kerik, to illustrate his point that Kerik sees himself as an outcast unjustly attacked by the federal government.

The actual line, for those not familiar, is “When in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state.”  I’m guessing the judge picked up on the “I all alone beweep” bit, i.e. “No one else is weeping for you, buddy.”

http://thescorecardreview.com/news/2009/10/30/anthony-hopkins-joins-kenneth-branaghs-thor/6235 Bonus points to the article’s writer who starts off with “Sounds more like a Shakespeare play than a superhero movie,” because yes, yes it does.  Kenneth Branagh going from Hamlet to Marvel is strange enough, but adding in Anthony Hopkins as Odin?  Anthony Hopkins who is set to play King Lear sometime next year? I’m actually both intrigued and a little worried by this.  How can a man play the most powerful of all the gods, and then switch over to a frail old man who spends most of his time between raging against those same gods, and cowering before them?  It’ll be genius if he can pull it off.

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2009/10/28/sir_ian_mckellen_reflects_on_his_recent_roles/ Just a little piece on Sir Ian McKellen from the Boston Globe this week, for those who are fans.  Thoughts on the popularity of his Shakespeare versus his Gandalf and Magneto, and what his next project will be (alas, though a “classic”, it’s not Shakespeare). If you’re at all sitting there and thinking to yourself that old Shakespearean actors must be a complete bore to listen to, do not miss Sir Ian Pretending.  He may not get to use it much in his blockbuster roles, but the man’s got a killer sense of humor.