So, Megan Fox is the sexiest woman in the world, according to FHM magazine.  It also happens that she has a King Lear tattoo, which I’ve pointed out in the past.  You know what that means, right?  Traffic spike for Shakespeare Geek! 🙂  I’m getting a heck of a lot more traffic from people googling “Megan Fox tattoos” then I ever got from Folger, I’ll tell ya that. Other than that, it’s a slow day. 🙂

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/03/27/abc-orders-two-more-pilots/ I’m surprised I missed references to “The Prince Of Motor City” the first time around.  This potential new ABC drama claims to have “Shakespearean themes.”  The obvious guess (as the above post points out) is a battle over who takes charge of the family business when the dad dies, the son is not quite ready, and the evil uncle swoops in and takes control. Could be good, I suppose, if they actually went for it and did a planned 2-season run or something, complete with accidental murder of the uncle’s advisor, eventually insanity and suicide of the girlfriend, and so on, culminating in the big death scene at the end of the series.

http://akfarrar.vox.com/library/post/shakespeares-oldest.html Our very own Alan K Farrar (how many blogs do you *have*, Alan???) reciting Shakespeare’s sonnet 145, labelled as his “oldest piece of writing, written when he was around 18 to his wife, Ann Hathaway.” I’m curious – do we know that to be fact (or at least, strongly evidenced theory)?  This is the “I hate from hate away she threw” sonnet, which is typically considered a direct reference to his wife (“hate away” -> “Hathaway”).  But I’m not sure where the logic comes from that it is the first?  I realize that they were not published or numbered in chronological order, so the 145 doesn’t bother me so much.  I’ll call it the first if somebody explains to me why it is, and not just because it doesn’t fit the same iambic pentameter structure of all the others and thus must have been an early effort.  That logic could just as well demonstrate that Shakespeare didn’t write that one at all.

http://www.shakespearescene.com I just got word of a new “Shakespeare magazine” coming out called Shakespeare Scene.  Looks intriguing.  I wonder a bit how much popular interest such a magazine will have, especially with a worldwide audience (it is published out of the UK).  Would I in the United States care about productions in Australia, or would I feel that my money ($12/issue!) was being wasted on pages of content that is irrelevant to me?  I do like that they plan to have content on the plays themselves, and biographical bits on Shakespeare himself, rather than just modern interviews and other contemporary issues.  I suppose that will be the balancing act, figuring out how best to present both types of information in a way that satisfies the audience who wants one, while not alienating those who want the other. I wish them luck with it!  The more Shakespeare in the world, the better.