http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/international/2009/August/Tomb-May-Hold-Answer-to-How-Much-Shakespeare-Actually-Wrote.html I’ve never heard the name Fulke Greville, so I’m not sure how much of a contender for Authorship he really is.  However, this intrigues me:

Some of the writings of Greville, a “distant ancestor” of the historian A.W.L. Saunders, have suggested to Saunders that there are manuscripts contained in the tomb; a radar scan of the tomb shows “three ‘box like’ shapes,” according to the Telegraph’s David Harrison. The manuscripts would still be intact if they had been encased in lead boxes, which was a common practice at the time.

People have always said “Until we find some actual manuscripts we’ll just never know” about many things.  I suppose it’s still possible that there really are some out there, and it’s fascinating to think about. UPDATE: Much better link here talks more about who this Greville person is, but also pads pretty heavily throwing in bits about Shakespeare’s will and the whole “second best bed” thing which seems to have no relation to the story at all. I also had to read the “This will keep the Shakespeare industry going for years” quote a few times before I realized she was talking specifically about “we’ll be analyzing any new findings for years.”  I thought that 400 years in, the Shakespeare industry is doing pretty well on its own, thank you! 😉

I wish I had this on video, but yesterday while on vacation my children (and their cousin), 7, 5, and two 3 yr olds “put on a show”.  I was probably the only one there who fully appreciated the similarity as they all stood up by the garden shed, ready to perform and the came out for introductions.  My 5yr old daughter played the role of Chorus/Quince to introduce the players, including my overacting 7yr old who could easily have passed for Bottom.   I did shout “O for a Muse of Fire!” but nobody got it 🙂 The introductions even included my 3yr old son “as the Monster”, and right on cue he came out, roared, and went back.  “Well roared, Monster!” I called. I have to show them Dream, if only that final scene, to see if they get it.  I think it’d be hysterical.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/celebrities/6570989.html Remember Tony Danza?  Whether you only go as far back as “Who’s The Boss” or all the way to “Taxi” it’s hard to forget the guy – sort of a real life “Joey” from Friends. How’d you like him teaching your kids Shakespeare?  All in the name of good reality television.  Sounds like somebody should just pitch it as a sitcom … and then kill it because “loveable goofy guy with no academic smarts ends up being the best teacher these kids ever had because he teaches  them about life” has already been done a few zillion times.  (And I’d be willing to bet that every time they had a “Let’s do Shakespeare” episode :)) [* The title comes from the old joke about Tony Danza either being *such* an Italian stereotype, or else just being so dumb, that he always plays a character named “Tony”.  While this is not technically true, his IMDB profile does list five Tony credits to his name … as well as one “Pony”.]

http://games.ign.com/articles/101/1013349p1.html When I see headlines like this I immediately scan for Shakespeare (I know he didn’t write novels but typical web writers don’t make such clean distinctions…)  Alas, no Bard in this list. But it does beg the question, what Shakespeare makes for good video games, and what sort of game would it make?  I’ve seen a number of variations on Romeo and Juliet as a game, ranging from text adventure to platform/jumper.  But what else?  Could Macbeth make a good first person shooter? 

http://chud.com/articles/articles/20456/1/OF-COURSE-3D-SHAKESPEARE-WHY-DIDN039T-I-THINK-OF-THAT/Page1.html 3D Shakespeare.  Love it.  Immediately makes me think of Macbeth more than Hamlet, though.