Hi everyone,

So, I did just like I said, today’s Black Friday and I sent a note out to my email subscribers announcing the start of my book giveaway.  I previewed it by sending it to myself, and off it went.

And then I promptly got a response back from one of my readers saying that they got garbage – a paragraph of text, and then nothing.  No mention of book, no links, no nothing.

When I got my actual copy (I am, of course, subscribed to my own list for just these purposes :)), I got the same junk.

I’ve contacted the support people for the list server asking what the heck.  Unfortunately this means that, at least for now, I’ve got to cancel the giveaway. I have no idea when I’ll be able to generate a functional email.

I completely understand if people signed up specifically for the giveaway and now want to unsubscribe. I can see how this would sound like a scam for collecting email addresses, but it’s not. 

Sorry for the inconvenience.  My timing was pretty lousy, of course, trying something on such as weird semi-holiday.  Oh, well.  Lesson learned.

Duane

Once upon a time, Bardfilm challenged me to do a Pink Floyd / Shakespeare mashup game.  It’s actually much harder than it looks once you realize that most casual Pink Floyd fans are only really going to recognize “Another Brick In The Wall”, “Money” and “Dark Side Of the Moon.”

Here’s my best shot at it!  Who’s got more?  I did my best to keep them all in tune, if you want to hum them to yourself 🙂

• All in all it was all just chinks in the wall.
• Well (not!) shone, dark side of the moon!
• One of these days I’m going to cut you into little pieces! And then maybe bake you into a nice pie, serve you to your mom.
• Hush now baby, baby, don’t you cry. Mother’s gonna dash all your brains out for you.
• Good morning, Chair your honor; the crown will plainly show my daughter who now stands before you, was caught red-handed saying, “Nothing.” Saying “Nothing!” in a most ungrateful manner – this will not do.
• Crazy, toys in the attic, Lear is crazy, truly gone fishing. They must have taken his kingdom away, crazy!
• Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky. Shine on, you blinded Gloucester.
• You are young and life is long, and there is Claudius to kill today.
• Ducats, get away.  Make a good loan, interest pays, you’re ok.
• The lunatic is on the heath.
• Careful with that axe, Titus!
• Emilia tries, but misunderstands (wah-oooo),
  She’s often inclined to steal somebody’s hanky til tomorrow…
• You’ll lose your mind and play
  Free games for may
  See Ophelia play.

‘Tis the season for Shakespeare Geek to get a bunch of new Shakespeare books for Christmas.  This year I’ve decided to make some room on the shelves by giving away a bunch of my old ones.

Please note that these are my own books, sometimes purchased with my own money and sometimes review copies that I’ve received in the past. Either way, I want to make sure everybody understands that they are not brand new.  I won’t bother giving away anything that’s got major damage, of course.  I’m just talking about usual wear and tear, the occasional smudge on a page or fray at the edge of a book jacket sort of stuff.

Still interested?

Ok, here’s how it’s going to go down.  I’m both announcing and giving away these books in the email newsletter.  Starting Friday I will announce via email what book I’m giving away next, and anybody interested in that particular book will be asked to reply to that email saying so.  From everybody that replies, I will choose a winner and send off the book.  I don’t yet know how many books we’ll do this for.

Rules

1) Sign up for the email newsletter.  You will receive a confirmation email that you will have to click, so please don’t forget that step.  My email blasting software will consider you “unconfirmed” if you don’t do that second bit, and you won’t get future email.

2) Be on the lookout for email from me.  I don’t yet know what I’ll call it, but expect something obvious like “Shakespeare Geek Book Giveaway”.  I’m still going to be half asleep from the turkey.

3) Unlike many email blasted newsletters, this one has a “write back” function that I plan to use.  If you are interested in possibly winning the current book, write back and say so.

4) In your reply, please take a moment to give me some feedback on how else you’d like to see the email feature used.  I can’t afford to give stuff away every week, you know!  Would you like to see original email-only content, or a digest of what’s gone on in the blog?  Let me know!

5) Each giveaway will last about a week, depending on how badly the holidays mess up my schedule.  Details will be in each email.

6) US RESIDENTS ONLY.  My apologies to my international friends, but if I’m going to make this a regular feature there’s just no way that I can afford to open it up to international shipping costs.

Any questions?

Sign up now!  Once the giveaways start I will NOT NOT NOT be announcing every single book in a new post!  If you’re not getting the emails when contest announcements go out you will NOT know about them!

Want a HINT?  The first book I’m giving away is one of the very first I ever reviewed (2008), but I can find references to it going all the way back to 2006.

Many Shakespeare aficionados and Shakespeare scholars have expressed outrage at the recently-released Anonymous, which attempts to propose that William Shakespeare did not write the plays written by William Shakespeare. The film has initiated responses ranging from careful scholarly correction to mild annoyance to vituperative vitriol. Bardfilm’s reaction has, for the most part, been moderate, but his demands to substitute the word “Shakespeare” for “Oxford” in most instances represent the typical Stratfordian overreaction. Still, here’s Bardfilm’s list of proposed changes to ordinary English expressions in light of the claims of Oxfordians:

The comma that some style guides recommend putting after the penultimate item in a list (a.k.a. the serial comma) shall be henceforth known as the “Shakespeare Comma” instead of the “Oxford Comma.”

The Seventeenth Earl of Oxford shall be henceforth known as “The Seventeenth Earl who Failed to Write the Plays of Shakespeare.”

The genetic cross of Cotswold with Hampshire Down sheep shall be henceforth known as “Shakespeare Down Sheep” instead of “Oxford Down Sheep.”

The city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England shall be henceforth known as the city of Shakespeare in Shakespeareshire, England.

Those wide, baggy-legged trousers shall be henceforth known as “Shakespeare Bags” instead of “Oxford Bags.”

The British automobile produced from 1913 to 1971 shall be henceforth known as the “Morris Shakespeare” instead of the “Morris Oxford.”

The shirts made from that basketweave fabric shall be henceforth known as “Pinpoint Shakespeare” instead of “Pinpoint Oxford.”

The type of shoe having shoelace eyelets beneath the vamp shall be henceforth known as “Shakespeare Shoes” instead of “Oxford Shoes.”

The magnificent, extraordinary, incomparable dictionary used to find some of the terms on this list shall henceforth be known as “The Shakespeare English Dictionary” instead of “The Oxford English Dictionary.”

A “flattened paper tube inserted between the spine of a book and its cover to strengthen the spine and allow the book to be opened flat more easily” (cf. SED) shall be henceforth known as a “Shakespeare hollow” instead of an “Oxford hollow.”

The “kind of punch containing calf’s foot jelly” shall continue to be known as “Oxford punch.”

The delicious and delighful coarse-cut marmalade originally manufactured in Shakespeareshire shall be henceforth known as “Shakespeare Marmalade” instead of “Oxford Marmalade.”

And, perhaps most importantly . . .

The place where boviform mammals cross a stream shall be henceforth known as a “shake speare” instead of an “ox ford.”

Our thanks for this guest post to kj, the author of Bardfilm. Bardfilm is a blog that comments on films, plays, and other matters related to Shakespeare.