Well, it’s school time again. My 8 and 6yr old daughters went off this morning, their 4yr old brother heads off to preschool next week. I am hoping that we’ll have some students (of whatever age) stop by to talk about Shakespeare, even if it’s just to get help with their homework. Sometimes our discussions end up with a fairly high barrier to entry, like you’ve got to be an experienced Shakespeare geek before you can play, and I want to make sure random visitors know that this is not the case. I think that we should spend some more time on the basics – plot summaries, character sketches, that sort of thing. I suppose I can do whatever I want, it’s my site :), but I want to put up content that will appeal to a wide audience. So, I’m casting for ideas. If you’re a student (and by that I mean high school, college, or what have you), what would you like to talk about? If you’re already a Shakespearean of whatever flavor, what do you think we should spend some time talking about? I’d like to strike a balance between content that is useful and welcoming to folks who are hesitant to dive into Shakespeare, without boring those that would much rather dig deeply into the trickier questions.
I Say We Shall Have No More Bard!
Earlier today, Stanley Wells wrote on Twitter:
Also I never ever refer to Shakespeare as ‘the bard’. So don’t let me see any of you doing so either.
This set off quite the tweetstorm from his followers, many of whom (myself included) chimed in with admissions of guilt. I plead innocent on the grounds of technological limitation, though! I’m only talking about times when I use the word bard in a typed form, such as web sites that won’t let me use “ShakespeareGeek”. Or, of course, if there’s a pun to be made. I can never resist a good pun. Spoken, though? I honestly don’t think I ever refer to Shakespeare as anything but Shakespeare when speaking of him. Thoughts?
Free Will : Open Mic Shakespeare
Look what just fell into my lap! Open Mic Shakespeare The Burren Somerville, MA September 11, 2010 4pm FREE I did this (well, attended) once, a couple of Shakespeare’s Birthdays ago. Not this event, specifically, but an Open Shakespeare Mic Night. A great time! If you’re in the neighborhood, come check it out. If my social director (i.e. wife) tells me we’re free and can swing a babysitter I’ll almost certainly be there. If you can’t be there, feel free to answer this question: Given the opportunity to do an open mic Shakespeare performance, what would you perform?
Android Shakespeare Suggestions?
Hi Gang,
This question just came up on Twitter. I’ve got an iPhone, not an Android-based phone, so I can’t say much about what’s available for those devices.
Anybody out there know what the Shakespeare situation is for Droid-style phones? I would hope that somebody’s done a Complete Works browser, but even that I’m not so sure about.
Who can help us out here?
UPDATE APRIL 2, 2012 Funny how things change! Now not only do I have an Android phone, but my first app “Insults for Shakespeare Geeks” is now available in the Google Play Store!
[Contest] IPad Owners! Got Shakespeare?
Earlier this year we were pleased to give away some copies of Shakespeare In Bits’ interactive Romeo and Juliet application, that time for the PC.
They then turned around and cranked out an iPad edition, which has been going very well for them (Apple has chosen to feature them multiple times). To mark the Back to School season we’re offering 3 promotional codes for those who want to give it a try!
Rules
* This is specifically for the iPad version. Don’t enter if you don’t have one, or know someone who you’ll be giving the code to.
* Contest runs between now and Tuesday, September 7. I pick that day because my kids go back to school on Wednesday.
* Leave a comment on this post answering this question: What play would you like to see get the interactive iPad treatment next?
* I will need a way to contact you if you win, but I don’t expect people to include their email addresses in posts, so I’ll publicly post the chosen winners when the time comes. It’s up to you to come back and look for your name.
Got that? As always, blah blah blah, I have to write in here that I reserve the write to modify or extend the rules, or otherwise scrap this contest and start over, if any unforeseen circumstances would compromise the integrity and fairness for everybody involved. Fair enough? I haven’t had to do that yet, though, but I always worry that I’ll leave a loophole that makes it possible for somebody to cheat.
Ok, go!
UPDATE Wednesday, September 8 : I see new entries coming in, but I’m sorry, I have to abide by the rules that I set up – contest is over as of the end of day Tuesday. Winners will be announced as soon as I can connect up with the guy supplying me the prizes :).