Had an interesting conversation with the HR lady at work today, who was surprised to discover that I am a self-professed Shakespeare Geek.  That’s a fun conversation:  “Me?  A Shakespeare geek?  I’m a huge Shakespeare Geek.  I run a site called ShakespeareGeek.com.” She then, and this is where it gets interesting, starts firing Shakespeare questions at me, one after another, in such a methodical way it made me wonder if it was some sort of exercise HR people do. “What’s your favorite play?” she asked. “Don’t have one,” I said, “They’re all good and offer something different.” “You’ve been asked all these questions before, haven’t you?” “I don’t know yet.  That one, yes.” “You’re on a desert island with only one Shakespeare play to read for the rest of your life, which do you take?” “King Lear, because it’s so much more complex than any of the others that I could read it for the longest time and continually discover new things.” “If you could act one Shakespeare role, which would it be?” “Iago.  Who wouldn’t want to play Iago?” “Which villain causes you the most despise?” This one got me to pause, and I’m not sure I’m stating the question the way she did.  I think she was asking me which villain gives me the most visceral reaction, someone who I really personally hate.  “Tough call,” I answer, “Most of the best villains are so well crafted that I’m too busy being fascinated with them on that level to actually hate them.”  We then have some conversation about “which villain would kick which other villain’s butt”, and how for instance Iago versus Tybalt would be no contest.  Tybalt talks a good game but is a coward at heart. “What about Grendel?” *pause*  “Ummm….what?  Which play is he in?” “Isn’t he the monster on the island?” “Oh, you mean Caliban?” “Yeah, that was his name, Caliban.” “In my house, Caliban is comic relief. ”  (I then recount the story of my 5yr old being worried that Caliban had no friends to play with.) That was at the end of the day and I had to catch a train, but I’ve been thinking about the question.  As I’ve said a million times before, once somebody opens up the door to talk about Shakespeare they’re gonna have to shut me up because I won’t ever stop myself :).  I’m thinking my answer will be Claudius, because he’s such a damned weasel.  Kills his brother, marries his brother’s wife.  He’s a drunk.  Enlists Hamlet’s friends to spy on him, supports Polonius’s manipulation of his daughter as bait.  Tries to get England to do the dirty job of killing Hamlet, and when that doesn’t work, manipulates Laertes into trying to same thing.  Lets his wife drink poison.  And then, when mortally wounded, still cries out “Defend me, friends” as if there’s anybody left that cares if he lives or dies.

http://www.telerama.fr/techno/20743-shakespeare_geek.php Over the last few days I’ve gotten quite a little traffic from a site that turns out to be completely in French.  I see my name quite clearly, so I run it through Google Translate and here’s what I got: Duane Morin is a geek, a true: not only is that American computer programmer, but he spends much of his spare time to update its various blogs. Including the one he takes on William Shakespeare. Nothing that relates to the author of Richard III escapes Duane: As this video of a young girl who recited a passage from Romeo and Juliet in helium; This site reflects La Nuit des rois in sign language ; this anecdote or an actor who would accidentally stabbed while playing Julius Caesar. So you can be a fan of Shakespeare as it is a great fan of Star Wars. I guess that describes me and my little site here pretty well :). But I’m curious about the overall context.  Can someone who speaks French tell me what the point of the page was?  There are several other sites listed.  Is it just a sort of “Sites of the week” sort of thing, or is there a theme?  Are there other Shakespeare references on the page? Thanks :).  I tried to write a comment on the original post, but you have to register to do that and I couldn’t get through the French to do it.

Here’s something I don’t post much about, but I’d like to : casting calls.  I stumbled across the New England Shakespeare Festival auditions page for their 2008 touring production of Much Adoe About Nothing (that’s how they’re spelling it).  …seeking actors and actresses of all ages and types, non-traditional casting, all roles open, for its upcoming summer tour of Much adoe about Nothing. Auditions by appointment will be held in the spring…. They are also hiring tech interns, a stage manager and a wardrobe supervisor. So if you’ve always wondered how you can get in on the Shakespeare action, and you want to tour New England, here’s your chance.  All performers are paid, and company members receive housing and transportation while on tour. (I shouldn’t have to say this, but I have no affiliation with this organization, and nobody came to me asking me to post this announcement.  I really did just find it and think it worthy of posting.  Yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah.)

http://ronrosenbaum.pajamasmedia.com/2007/10/16/ No, this does not mean that if you accidentally drop a line you’re allowed to pick it up and eat it within three seconds. 🙂  Remember that post I made about audio examples of the “correct” way to do iambic pronunciation? Ron Rosenbaum, he of Shakespeare Wars (which I’m not finished with), has a lengthy article up on the habit of making the slightest pause between each line, and why that might be.  Someone writes in to him with an interesting suggestion about how human memory is organized and experienced, and how it fits in quite nicely.  A neat read.

So, I found this link on Life Optimizer about classic books to “boost your learning experience.”  What’s that mean?  I’ve always liked the idea (referenced in the post) that they “give you different lenses to look through.”  The author actually explains how he created his list, looking at two references on the subject “How To Read A Book” and “The Well-Educated Mind”.  His list is composed of those classics that are recommended in both books. Anyway, you just know that when somebody lists important classic books I’m gonna be there to see how our man Shakespeare does.  This particular list has a category for “Drama”, which has 13 entries.  Care to take a guess how many old Shakey is responsible for? 3(*) of them.  For the next question, no, no other playwright is listed more than once.  Which ones?  Richard III, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet.  Interesting combination.  (*) Technically 4, if you count “Sonnets” listed in the Poetry section.