http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18526207 Whenever something spreads around this rapidly I’m never sure whether to skip it because you all have already seen it, or blog it because that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. Anyway, NPR did this bit of a Shakespearean spin on the upcoming SuperBowl. As a lifelong Boston native, there was no way I was going to let this one slip by :). GO PATS !
Shakespeare's Wife : A Review
http://earmarks.org/archives/2008/01/31/178 But not by me. This is Germaine Greer’s book about Anne Hathaway, and quite frankly I have no interest in reading it. But the reviewer seemed to like it, and others among my readers may like it as well, so here you go. It’s not that I particularly dislike Greer, or Hathaway. It’s just that this looks like a typical biography. Namely, I expect it’ll go something like this: Everything you know about X is wrong. Here, let me show you with evidence that I found to support my case while ignoring all the evidence against it. If one person can write a book that says “26 was an incredibly old age for a woman to be married” and somebody else can write a book that says “26 was the average age for a woman to be married”, and both claim to have evidence, which should I believe? The answer, to me, is that they cancel each other out and I don’t pay attention to either.
Books That Make You Dumb
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/01/books_that_make.html Great example of what you can do with mashups. These guys looked at the most popular books at every college (according to Facebook), and the average SAT score. So “Lolita” is popular at schools when an average SAT score over 1300, while “The Color Purple” is popular down at the 850 range. Our pal “Shakespeare” spans the 1050-1150 range, where he’s kept company by A Wrinkle in Time, Anna Karenina, A Farewell to Arms, The Great Gatsby, and others. Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice also fall in this section, although they both skew higher toward the 1150 mark. Interestingly Hamlet is called out by itself, and drops 100 points to the 1000-1050 range.
Romeo and Juliet, as Soccer Fans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afn6lwPaSjo This video is in Italian (I’m guessing), but there are subtitles. The premise is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet where they are fans of rival soccer teams. Not a bad idea. I guess it’d be funnier if you’re local to wherever the film was made and understand the teams involved.
Romeo and Juliet : Mad Libs
http://library.thinkquest.org/10502/rajlib.htm Have I linked to something like this before? I can’t remember, but it seems familiar. Anyway, you know Mad Libs, right? This is the game where you fill in a name, a verb, an adjective…. and then you read the story you produced. Only in this case it’s Act 4, Scene 5 where the Nurse has found Juliet’s lifeless body. I always thought Mad Libs are funnier if you see the template first, and then deliberately fill in goofy words.