Another Shakespeare Day come and gone, and as unfortunately prophesied, I did pretty much nothing. I was online in a read-only capacity for the most part, and I did mark a bunch of stories that I’ll be posting throughout the next few days. This is just me checking in to see how everybody’s weekend went? I realize it was Easter as well, of course, so hopefully everybody who celebrates that particular holiday had a good one!

So, my son’s birthday is coming up – May 4. As such, he’s begun a countdown. Every day we get questions like “Whose birthday is next?” and “How many days til my birthday?”
Driving home from a mini-vacation yesterday I got to engage in this priceless little conversation:
B: “Is my birthday is next?”
Me: “Well, Daddy’s is next, then yours. I suppose that Shakespeare’s birthday is technically next.”
B: “Are you going to Shakespeare’s birthday party?”
Me: “You know, I almost did. We were thinking about going to Washington D.C for vacation, and if we were down there then yes, we would go to Shakespeare’s birthday party. They have a big building there that is all about Shakespeare, and they would have a party.”
B: “Will any bad guys be invited to Shakespeare’s birthday party?”
Me: “Bad guys? I don’t think that he’d want any bad guys at his party.”
B: “You know, like Macbeth…?”
Me: “No, I don’t think that Macbeth will be going to Shakespeare’s birthday party. Would you like Macbeth to come to your birthday party?”
B: “No.” *beat* “I would invite Hamlet to my birthday party.”
He has promised me that next year he wants a Shakespeare birthday party, because party themes are oh-so-crucial when you are this age. My middle daughter has at times listed off the next 5 themes for her birthday parties. I keep telling him that none of his friends would understand a Shakespeare party, but who knows, we’ll see if he still thinks of it next year. My problem is that I’m well aware that they do this sort of thing because I think it will make me happy, but no matter how cute that is, I would not steal my kids’ birthday party just for a little more Shakespeare.
  

You heard me right!

This weekend marks what may have been Shakespeare’s 447th birthday, and Classical 105.9 FM WQXR – the #1 classical music station in the country – is celebrating with MOVIES ON THE RADIO. Shakespeare’s dramas have been adapted to film many times, and an impressive range of composers have contributed to those movies.

This Saturday at 9pm, WQXR host David Garland will present a selection of Shakespearean film scores in honor of the great Bard of Avon.

Featured pieces include:

·         Romeo and Juliet by Nina Rota

·         King Lear by Dimitri Shostakovich

·         Much Ado About Nothing by Patrick Doyle

·         Kiss Me Kate (based on “The Taming of the Shrew”) by Cole Porter

·         …and more.

Tune in at 105.9 FM or www.wqxr.org to join host David Garland for “Shakespeare at the Movies.” For full program details, visit http://www.wqxr.org/programs/movies/2011/apr/23/.

I’m not a big classical music guy myself, but surely there are folks reading that would enjoy this. Once upon a time I would have worried about radio reception, so it’s nice to see that they’ll be streaming it over the net as well.

Just a sad reminder that with Shakespeare Day coming on a weekend this year, not to mention the Easter holiday weekend, I will be away from the computer and busy with family obligations and thus have no celebrations planned. I am relying on all of you, my dedicated Geeks, to carry the torch and spread the good words. If you get a chance, please send me links and stories and I’ll try to post a recap when I can. I almost certainly can’t send anybody any traffic during the big day, but it’d be nice to have a summary of all the good stuff that went on while I was off collecting colored eggs.
Happy Shakespeare’s Day Eve, Everyone!

So, there’s a group performing Much Ado About Nothing on Facebook next week. I’m not quite sure what this means, although I am sure that I do not have time to follow 30 fictional characters and then watch the proceedings go by on my Wall. Still, though, it’s a curious idea. Is this really a performance of the play, or is this another one of those “walk through the story with a modern twist” things that last year’s mediocre Such Tweet Sorrow gave us when they promised Romeo and Juliet on Twitter?
Took a brief look at the chatter going on pre-show, and it appears to mostly be the latter. This stuff may appeal to a generation younger than mine who live and breathe Facebook status updates, but I’m just not feeling it.