On Tuesday I posted an article about why schools are required to read “Romeo and Juliet.” I’d like to continue with another answer that is not quite as good, but has shaped the course of the play’s history.

Romeo and Juliet: Why Do We Have To Read This Play?

Answer # 2: We still read it because at one time, Romeo and Juliet was considered to be good for ‘moral instruction.’

In the 1770s, Shakespeare’s plays were read aloud, not as dramatic literature, but moral lectures to teach people about jealousy or love or ambition (Source: This American Life). Shakespeare was considered by many to be “The best judge of human nature,” as the dedication page says on the 1753 edition of Romeo and Juliet.

Notice how in this picture, we see Romeo and Juliet as the lightest objects in the play, while their parents are directly center, holding hands. The “glooming peace” starts with the window, reflects off the dead lovers, and inspires the parents.

To readers and playgoers in the genteel age of the 18th and 19th centuries, Romeo and Juliet seem to champion love and peaceful co-existence, making the play seems to be a good play to teach young people. There is evidence in the play that supports this idea that Shakespeare was judging the youthful Romeo and Juliet to be morally superior to their parents. Shakespeare describes their parent’s hate as a canker or a parasite, sucking the life out of a flower, the feud has infected so much of Romeo and Juliet’s world, that it makes it impossible for their love to take root. In response, the young fight with their peaceful love to save the destructive world that their parents have created, and die as a sacrifice to true love. Looking at it this way, Romeo and Juliet take on a Christ-like status, dying to redeem their parent’s sins, which certainly would have appealed to the predominantly Christian audiences of the 18th and 19th centuries.

This approach does have its problems though:

• Problem #1: Although he dies nobly, Romeo also engages in many immoral behaviors, including his attempts to seduce Rosalind at the start of the play, his hot-blooded murder of Tybalt, and his purchase of illegal drugs from the Apothecary.

• Problem #2: The Language is FILTHY! When people like David Garrick adapted Romeo and Juliet, he cut all of Sampson and Gregory’s dirty jokes, and most of Mercutio’s. Even audiences today might be shocked to learn that one passage in Romeo and Juliet is still considered by modern standards to be PG-13:
  Mercutio:
  • Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
    And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
    As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.
    Romeo, that she were, O, that she were
    An open a**, thou a poperin pear!

Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene ii

I won’t go into what Mercutio is actually talking about when he mentions the pear-like medlars, which women used to joke about when they were alone. Suffice it to say that if you ever believed that Shakespeare ennobles us because he only speaks in proper, age-appropriate language, I can only say that you are:

• Problem #3: Nobody ever thinks in this play!

Claire Danes from “Romeo and Juliet” (1996) holds a gun to her head, and threatens suicide rather than marrying Paris.

•  Even though their parent’s feud is morally wrong, neither Romeo nor Juliet try to deal with it in a lasting, practical way, but instead try to run away from the problem. As Peter Saccio says in his lecture on Shakespearean tragedy, this approach is highly flawed: “Romeo and Juliet cannot live outside the social strata that their parents have created,” which means that they can’t run away forever or their lives will literally waste away. However lovely Romeo and Juliet’s  love is, it blinds their judgement too.
• Even Friar Lawrence acts rashly as this wonderful video demonstrates:

• Problem #4: The parents, (especially Lord Capulet), are also terrible moral figures-

• As you can see in this lovely video from the BBC, Capulet attempts to fix his daughter up with an arranged marriage to manipulate the Prince to favor the Capulets. When Juliet refuses, Capulet reacts violently and threatens to disown her and hit her. Hardly an example of proper fatherly devotion.

Looking at all these examples, one could make the argument that Romeo and Juliet is a better example of immoral behavior. One could even argue that the tragic death of the two lovers was just the natural consequence of  their hasty, overly passionate affair.

As dubious as the morals in this play are, they can and have been used to construct several moral arguments, such as arguments against  pre-marrital sex,  or  arguments to pursue peace, or arguments for young people to be wiser in relationships. Each one is legitimate and Shakespeare gives each one its time to shine.

(Shakespeare always made sure to put his earring in the non-gay ear when having is portrait done.)

That’s it…
Below is literally what I could muster in a 10 minute period. I will admit it took a further 2 minutes after the fact to correct some terrible spelling and a word that seemed like it existed when I typed it but mysteriously turned into what sounded more like the groan of ecstasy coming from Chewbacca himself.
So, make of it what you will. It may seem a little insignificant, but this moment for me is something of a textual revolution; the best text I’ve had in years… Enjoy.

.

I can’t get enough sleep, not enough hours in the night required.
I’m having the strangest of thoughts; it must be because I’m so tired.
All the self-imposed isolation has me socially nullified.
The complexities of community this generation has already denied.
A concrete jungle; the modern abyss; a place called home.
Waiting for a new a hero; a leader; a father to dethrone.
The building blocks of the past come tumbling down.
A utopia for the masses, a kingdom without a crown.
Law, disorder and total chaos reign supreme.
The desire for every King is for that one Queen.
With trust, and hope, being defeated by anger and fear.
In this existential hell, who will lead us clear?
Retribution against the invisible might.
Seeking solace, in the blackest of night.
Shattering reality, for a glimpse of light.
Together we stand, united we fight.
Our weapons are not that of the bow and arrow.
The arsenal exists within our hearts, our sinew, and our marrow.
A new dawn is rising, completely compromising, even surprising.
The power of speech, deduction, and understanding take hold.
Our minds sharpened, our communicative skills loaded.
The digital frontier beckons, utopia, ready to be coded.
Electrical impulses question the fundamental meaning of what is me.
I’ve woken up; I realise my issues. Simply put, I watch too much T.V.

Peace!

in search of sonnet and of sage

but now blank verse is all the rage.

at least when I was more your age.

“Trochees” rush and tumble.

But because they could just stumble

you had better keep them humble.

to keep from one big jumble.

While the “anapests” run like a hurrying brook

and contain a great secret you might overlook

a magic attraction that keeps on the hook

your blossoming interest to take that last look.

“Dactyls” are stately and classical,

snobby, aloof, and theatrical.

No matter how basic and tactical

this rhyme may never be practical?

We left our apartments early this morning for a tour of Shakespeare’s Old Globe Theater and a performance of Taming of the Shrew. Being a complete theater and Shakespeare nerd, I had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

We were lucky enough to have a wonderful tour guide at the Globe; he was also a professional actor, so he was enthusiastic and incredibly entertaining. This was my favorite tour so far as because I have always been intrigued by theater history and am eager to build upon the knowledge I already have of the Shakespearean era.

A couple interesting facts from our tour:

1. Theatre was banned within London city limits in the late 16th century as the Church and London officials objected to the immoral nature of theaters and entertainment during that time. So the original Globe Theater was built outside the city of London, on the opposite side of the River Thames.

2. The term “box office” originated during Shakespearean times. As people entered the theater they put one penny in a box by the door, which was payment for seeing the show (people would pay 2 pennies for better seats and so on…). When the show started the man holding the box would lock it up back stage. This was the Elizabethan “box office.” I actually let out an audible “Oh wow, cool!” today on the tour. NERD ALERT.

3. One way of showing the social class of Shakespearean characters was through the color of their clothing. If a character was wearing red or purple, they were from aristocratic or royal class. It was a difficult and tedious process to dye fabric that color, so it cost more money, which made it only available to wealthier classes. Poorer classes and characters wore more drab clothing; grays, whites, linens, wool. I think it is so interesting how color denoted your social class during Shakespearean times.

The Taming of the Shrew was fantastic. We were standing for the entire 3 hours, so it was definitely a different theater experience than I am used to, but the show was amazing. I’ve seen Shakespeare performed many times, but this was one of the most well-done shows I’ve seen so far. I loved seeing Taming of the Shrew because, although I have acted in a few scenes from this show, I’ve never seen it all the way through.

This is without a doubt my favorite day in London so far!

Our learned frined Wikipedia provides the following for amusement…

“According to one account, in 1940, during the Blitz in London, a Canadian officer suggested to Al Tabor, a British bandleader of the 1920s, that he write a party song with actions similar to “Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree”. The inspiration for the song’s title that resulted, “The Hokey Pokey”, came from an ice cream vendor whom Tabor had heard as a boy, calling out, “Hokey pokey penny a lump. Have a lick make you jump”. So its all entirely innocent, if full of dubious innuendo…

In a more animated account in about 1870′s Robert Wright wrote of the “gang” in Dodge City, Kansas using “hokey-pokey” which was actually bisulphite of carbon. It was administered as a bad joke to “any animal with hair, it has a wonderful effect. For the time being, the animal just went crazy…”. While perhaps not the origin of the word, this certainly accounts for perhaps some words to the dance “shake it all about”.

And perhaps the best (well more bizarre even than a bisulphite of carbon theory) was proposed by the Anglican Canon Matthew Damon, Provost of Wakefield Cathedral, in God’s own County of  Yorkshire, who claimed that the dance as well comes from the Catholic Latin mass. Obviously… The priest would perform his movements with his back to the congregation, who could not hear well the words, nor understand the Latin, nor clearly see his movements.

So there you have it. More things you never thought you wished, or needed to know. And now know that you didn’t.

#J. #Michael #Bailey #Utah #Shakespearean #Festival

By Guest Contributor On March 15, 2012, Kendra James:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  is like The West Wing. But in space. With a Black president. Kind of.

That’s normally how I find myself trying to describe the show to the uninitiated, as I firmly believe that it’s the Trek series you have to use when trying to get people into Trek canon, especially people of color. Deep Space Nine (DS9) causes a strange division in the world of Trekkies. I’ve always found (non-scientifically; I just spend a lot of time at cons) that people either love it or loathe it. Meanwhile, I can’t wait to show it to my kids.

DS9 has your aliens and spaceships, and characters do occasionally say things like “set phasers to stun,” but the Trek cheese-factor is more often than not outweighed by the political storyarcs covered over six out of the show’s seven seasons, its criticisms of 20th century history, race relations in America, and lead actor, Avery Brooks, who stars as Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko–the first and only African-American captain to lead a televised Star Trek franchise.

In both the original Star Trek series (TOS) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), the existence of the United Federation Of Planets provided a perfect excuse to ignore (human) race and racism completely. The Trek franchise has always featured black actors and actresses, well developed Black characters, and TOS even featured the first televised interracial kiss in the episode “Plato’s Kiss.” Both shows dismissed racism on Earth as being as outdated as using money, instead highlighting racial politics between alien species rather than humans.

This model may have continued through DS9 had they hired any other actor to portray Captain Sisko. However, Brooks–a Shakespearean-trained actor, graduate of Oberlin College, and the first African-American to earn an MFA in acting and directing from Rutgers University, where he has also worked as a professor–brought much of himself to the role, and that included an emphasis in the importance of the African-American experience. Even nearly three hundred years in the future. Whether Trek fans were ready for it or not, DS9 brought the topic of race closer to home.

While I suspect that direct tone is one of the reasons DS9 isn’t as popular as its’ predecessors–along with the heavy emphasis on backroom politics instead of “seeking out bold new worlds”–if you didn’t like TNG chances are you’re going to love a show that goes out of its way in the first episode to distinguish Sisko from the already-established Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In the premiere we learn Picard (while under control of the alien species The Borg) had killed Sisko’s wife.

In a meeting between the two, Sisko speaks to Picard in a tone he’s likely never heard from a non-superior officer before, and Sisko’s dislike of the man–and the stationis made apparent. With that, Sisko distinguishes himself immediately in the DS9 pilot as one of the few people with the mettle to speak openly to Picard and to not simply fall under the spell of influence the captain was often written to command. While the scene was likely included to make the segue from TGN to DS9 as smooth as possible, Picard does not exist to emerge as the hero of the scene or to bring Sisko back in line, so to speak. Because Sisko is given his outrage, his choice to accept permanent assignment there later is that much more genuine.

The meeting also introduces what would be one of the series’ most important subplots:  Sisko is a family man in a way that neither Picard or Kirk ever were. He’s a widower with an 11-year old son Jake  (Cirroc Lofton), a situation that was one of the reasons for resisting his assignment to the station.

In William Shatner’s documentary The Captains, Brooks said it was important to him to portray a black father on television that plays an positive role in his son’s life.

“I read the pilot, and said well, this is very interesting to me,” Brooks said. “A man dealing with loss, having to raise a child–indeed a male child–by himself, and be brown as we spin this tale in the 20th century about the 24th century.”

The depiction of the black father continued to be an important dynamic to Brooks through the show’s finale, like when he initially thought they were going to have Sisko abandon his son and unborn child. Upset by this decision he’s quoted as saying, “ The Producers told me, ‘Look we thought you’d be thrilled…The difference, of course, is you have Sisko with another child on the way. You still have Sisko with a young man [Jake Sisko] trying to find his way…That wasn’t fair.” [Shortened for Spoilers].

This view on “Parenting While Black” is unique in sci-fi fantasy television. More often than not in these shows, black parents die off or abandon their children early on in their lives, leaving them unhappy, lonely and hungry for revenge. Brooks’ efforts helped Lofton’s character largely avoid the fate of others like  Robin Wood and Kendra Young (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Charles Gunn (Angel), Bonnie Bennett (The Vampire Diaries), and Walt Lloyd (Lost).

Even with an intergalactic war raging around them later in the series, Sisko is always there for Jake. They’re often shown having dinner together and Sisko is always eager to read over and help edit Jake’s stories and articles. He supports Jake’s decision to become a writer instead of going to the Starfleet Academy, even though that’s perhaps what he would have preferred. Episodes like “The Visitor” (guest starring Tony Todd as an older Jake Sisko) and “In the Cards” (where Jake tries to acquire a 1950s baseball card to cheer Sisko up during a stressful week) highlight the strength of the bond and loving relationship between father and son.

With a highly educated and vocal African American actor in the lead it’s no wonder you get get seven seasons of a series that takes his cultural experience to heart; Sisko is specifically written to acknowledge the implications that the color of his skin bring.

Not only are there references to Sisko’s New Orleans heritage, soul food, his love of baseball (particularly players Willie Mayes and Jackie Robinson) and bits of African art we see decorating his quarters, but we see him enter a relationship with an African-American woman, Kasidy Yates, enabling them–and the viewers–to discuss the cultural history of racism, of which Sisko is still acutely aware. In one episode his crew becomes infatuated with visiting “Vic’s,” a holosuite program set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino and lounge,  and Kasidy asks him why he doesn’t want to join his team’s Rat Pack cosplay.

Sisko: You want to know … you really want to know what my problem is? I’ll tell you: Las Vegas 1962, that’s my problem. In 1962, black people weren’t very welcome there. Oh sure, they could be performers or janitors, but customers? Never.
Kasidy: Maybe that’s the way it was in the real Vegas, but that is not the way it is at Vic’s. I have never felt uncomfortable there, and neither has Jake.
Sisko: But don’t you see? That’s the lie. In 1962, the civil rights movement was still in its infancy. It wasn’t an easy time for our people, and I’m not going to pretend that it was.
Kasidy: Baby–I know that Vic’s isn’t a totally accurate representation of the way things were, but… it isn’t meant to be. It shows us the way things could’ve been – the way they should’ve been.
Sisko: We cannot ignore the truth about the past.
Kasidy: Going to Vic’s isn’t going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is reminds us that we are no longer bound by any limitations–except the ones we impose on ourselves.

It’s a small scene in a 45-minute episode, but the fact that it’s acknowledged is important and more than you get from most genre shows. Sisko is initially displeased with his crew’s little Mad Men fantasy, and he’s allowed to express it, no matter how uncomfortable it might be for the viewer.

During season five, Brooks also tackled nostalgic racism from behind the camera, as director of the episode “Far Beyond The Stars,” which spends an entire 45 minutes dealing with race relations in mid 20th-century America. “Stars” reimagines Sisko as a science fiction writer named Benny Russell working for a racist and sexist New York magazine in the 1950s where racism is present, but more deceptive and innocent, casually rolling off the tongues of people Benny considers friends and colleagues. The magazine refuses to publish his stories about the character Benjamin Sisko, a black starship captain.

When Benny’s editor finally does agree to publish his stories he insists that the stories must be revealed to be the dreams (not the reality) of a poor Black man in their present time–because everyone knows the idea of a black sci-fi hero is that unrealistic. With that, the episode also reminds the viewer that despite the inclusive attitude the Trek franchise has embraced, science-fiction is still very much a white man’s world. For every Octavia Butler there are five Joss Whedons. More pointedly, for every one Captain Sisko, there’s a Captain Picard, Captain Kirk, Han Solo, John Carter, and … well, you get the picture. With Sisko in the lead, DS9 is self-aware and capable of criticising the flaws of its own genre, and that’s something to appreciate.

I’m struck by how much more I understand this show at the age of 24, compared to when I rewatched it at 17, and before that when I originally watched from 1993 to 1999. I was only 11 when the finale aired (and grounded for a good deal of the season, but that’s another issue entirely) and while I vaguely understood the significance of Sisko, I admit to taking his presence–the presence of a starring Black man–on my screen as normal. I like to think that Brooks would have appreciated that, knowing that part of his reasoning for accepting the role of Sisko was his belief that “brown children must be able to participate in contemporary mythology.”

In some ways the 1990s were better landscape for a kid of color to get into science fiction and fantasy. Not only did I have Sisko, there was Carl Lumbly as  M.A.N.T.I.S; Wesley Snipes was Blade; Spawn aired on HBO and was made into a film; Cleopatra 2525 starring Gina Torres debuted in 2000; my favorite book series, Animorphs, starred Black and Latino teens; and Will Smith was king of the summer sci-fi box office.

When one looks at the scope of white genre heroes this isn’t a large number in comparison but, because Sisko was always there, I didn’t feel as if I was lacking for anything. It never occurred to me that the physical and cultural representation I was seeing was unique not only within the Trek franchise, but on television in general. Because, let’s be real: It’s already been 12 years since DS9 ended, and sometimes it’s nice to watch Avery Brooks as Sisko and remember that, yes, we can do that, too.

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…

From Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7, 139-142)

Stitching characters to a storyline is one of the most important parts of theater. They have to be believable, fallible, even unpredictable at times. A good cast of characters should resemble a grab bag of personalities with more than enough back story to provide momentum towards the story’s climax. It’s all about the audience identifying with certain characters in personal ways. If the audience can hear their own voices echo a character’s sentiment then you’ve got them!

If all this world’s a stage, then Shakespeare was right: we’re all playing lots of different roles. Spouse, parent, child, confidante, hero, employee, owner, stranger, friend, nobody, somebody, anybody, and more are all roles that we try to fit into in this life.

For all of the roles that God created for us to explore though, the role of main character is pretty much a one-man show. Christ is the main man in God’s story and we’re all supporting cast entering the story blind to who’s at center stage in this life. Not only is Jesus the main character but He’s also the director, writer, stage designer, and sitting front row as the guest of honor.

The part where things get scary is when I try to be the main character. Even in my own life I don’t get to be the main character. That’s a big struggle for me. Even when I want to be the main character, and that’s pretty often, I don’t get to be. At least, not for long. Do I really struggle with this at times? You better believe it! Do I succeed in becoming the most important part of my life? Not without some serious aftermath. You can’t upstage the Writer of the script without some huge consequences.

If there’s anything that theater has taught me about my faith, it’s these two things:

I’m not the main character. Only Christ can play that part.

I have a role to play in this story and it’s up to me to play it the best it ever could be.

All the world’s a stage… and who’s at the center is the most important.

Who’s at the center of your heart’s stage?

Custom, Gaskets by Ontario Gasket Inc.

Sonnet XL

The rubber’s fed on a machine,
it’s heated up to fit the mold,
then pressed until the foam is very lean,
and punched, or cut – it’s all controlled.
They’re fitted on a metal head,
to seal up gas or lubricants,
resistant seals are used widespread;
so many shapes with usefulness.
Gaskets aren’t clearly visible.
They are there, sealing and forming.
They’re optimal, reliable,
elastic and high performing.
Harsh and varied technologies
use them without apologies.

*****************************

Written for:

Machine Dreams

Also Posted on:

The Think Tank Thursday # 96 News

The challenge for this week, by chazinator, was to write a poem that references in some way the technological or machine spirit of our time.

This week, I was fortunate enough to attend the Space Craft Technology Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I went on a Press pass because I have a column on Nanotechnology now (see the right side of my page, there’s a link.) My column is writing poetry. Ontario Gasket, Inc. had an interesting display of their gaskets. Since this gasket topic does not fit the nanotechnology column, I am posting on my blog.

I decided to write a sonnet about this. Why? Well, I figured everyone else would be writing about some kind of technological system, or maybe something philosophical about the impact of technology on mankind and society and all that. I was certain (still haven’t looked) that no one would take one specialized vital part and write about it.

In case you wonder how vital gaskets, o-rings and other seals are in machines, look up Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and learn that it was a Viton ® O-ring that failed and caused the explosion.

Image credit: Bat-Ami Gordin  © 2012 all rights reserved, credit if you use it, please.

via I Love Charts

Galactic bubble with an embryonic star least 8 times the mass of the Sun nestled in its shell. This star could one day be one of the brightest in the galaxy.

Sonnet XXXIX

Calculating the probabilities
that our world is constructed uniquely ―
intoxicating possibilities
that others will cross our way obliquely.
Let’s ponder how life might exist elsewhere,
it’s sensible! Where are the right pools
for life to begin, so temperate and fair?
Astrobiologists do not have those rules
to explain the riddles of creation,
or the imprint of initial cosmos.
Astronauts query, in the space station:
they study the origins of homos.
The knowledge they uncover is sublime,
to feed dreams we will share for all of time.

************************

Photo credit:  European Space Agency

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Fks524_34

Tricky Photo Courtesy of: http://www.alwaysontherun.net/tricky1.htm

Copied & Pasted from AllSaintsShop youtube channel…

“From his early collaborations with ‘Blue Lines’ era Massive Attack through his own highly influential recordings such as Maxinquaye, Tricky is a man who has done more to expand the definition and artistic aspirations of Hip Hop than almost any of his peers.

The otherworldly sprechgesang delivery stands in stark contrast to the braggadocio style of most other rap artists.

AllSaints Basement Sessions and GQ talk to the Bristolian icon about coming up with The Wild Bunch, becoming so famous so quickly, the artistic process and his exciting upcoming collaboration with Massive Attack.“
  Enjoy, AllSaints
AllSaints.com/Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xARDTgvdbQ&feature=relmfu

]]> http://blog.24-7pressrelease.com/2012/03/05/today-in-history-march-5-2012/ Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:02:57 +0000 Press Release Distribution 24-7 http://blog.24-7pressrelease.com/2012/03/05/today-in-history-march-5-2012/ 1750 – The first Shakespearean play in America was presented at the Nassau Street Theatre in New York City. The play enjoyed by the audience was the famous “King Richard III”. 1821 – James Monroe became the first President of the United States to be inaugurated on March 5th. The reason? The usual inauguration date of March 4th fell on a Sunday that year and a President cannot be inaugurated on the Sabbath. It’s still the law, even though the Inauguration Day was officially set back to January 20th.

1864 – For the first time, Oxford met Cambridge in track and field competition in England.

1872 – George Westinghouse of “You can be sure if it’s Westinghouse” fame patented the air brake on this day. They were, and remain, especially important to trains, big trucks, buses and amusement park rides.

1922 – Annie Oakley broke all existing records for women’s trap shooting. She smashed 98 out of 100 clay targets thrown at 16 yards while at a match at the Pinehurst Gun Club in North Carolina. She hit the first fifty, missed the 51st, then the 67th.

1923 – Old-age pension laws were enacted in the states of Montana and Nevada.

1925 – Lace up those bowling shoes, keglers, grab that 16-pounds of rubber or hi-tech plastic and let it rip down the lane, as we bring you bowling news. Frank Caruana of Buffalo, New York, became the first bowler to roll two perfect games in a row and an amazing 29 strikes in succession! He rolled five strikes in a row in a third game in sanctioned play, as well.

1936 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s “Mutiny On The Bounty” (produced by Irving Thalberg and Albert Lewin) was voted Outstanding Production, as they used to say. The 8th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles. Director/producer/writer/actor Frank Capra hosted the big giveaway honoring the films of 1935, which saw Victor McLaglen take the Best Actor prize for “The Informer” (John Ford won for directing this one). Best Actress was Bette Davis in “Dangerous”. In case you are wondering, they didn’t start handing out those Supporting Actor/Actress awards until 1937. The Best Music/Song award winners were Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) for the song “Lullaby of Broadway” from “Gold Diggers of 1935″. An Oscar for Short Subject/Cartoon was awarded to some guy named Walt Disney for his ’toon, “Three Orphan Kittens”.

1946 – Winston Churchill delivered his famous Iron Curtain Speech at Fulton, MO, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

1960 – Elvis Presley returned to civilian life after a two-year hitch in the U.S. Army. Not since General Douglas MacArthur returned from battle has a soldier received such publicity. Elvis said he probably would not be growing his famous and long sideburns back, though he did relent in later years.

1963 – Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hankshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash at Camden, TN, near Nashville. The famous country music stars were returning from a benefit performance. Cline, the ‘Queen of Country Music’ was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. Jessica Lange played Patsy in the 1985 biographical film, “Sweet Dreams”, named after one of Cline’s hugely popular songs. Willie Nelson wrote her biggest hit, “Crazy”, which become a number one country hit and a top 10 pop song in November, 1961.

1969 – The rock magazine, “Creem”, was published for the first time this day.

1973 – Roberta Flack, riding at #1 on the pop music charts with, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, could hardly wait to rip into the fancy frame containing her brand new gold record. She flew to the stereo machine and set the needle down on the shiny surface, only to hear “Come Softly to Me”. She was so impressed by this unexpected turn of the table that she wound up humming the old Fleetwoods song for three days.

1984 – The Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League signed quarterback, Steve Young, from Brigham Young University, to a “substantial” contract on this day. The football all-American inked a pact that would earn him $40 million dollars over a 43-year period, in one of the most complicated contracts ever — lasting until 2027. The USFL folded not long after he signed the lucrative deal. Young became the back-up quarterback for football legend, Joe Montana, in San Francisco. In 1994, when Montana moved to the Kansas City Chiefs, Steve Young took over the reins to lead the 49ers.

1985 – Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became the first National Hockey League player to score 50 goals in eight consecutive seasons. Two players have scored 50 goals in six seasons: Wayne ‘The Great One’ Gretzky of Los Angeles and Guy Lafleur of Montreal.

1993 – Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was banned for life from racing by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) after he failed a dope test. He also had been forced out of the 1988 Seoul Olympics after failing a drug test.

Bibliography:

First four photos- [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2070013/Lenny-Henry-The-Comedy-Of-Errors-triumphs-Shakespeares-toughest-roles.html]- Photos featured on an online newspaper, ‘MailOnline‘. Article written by Quentin Letts (5th December, 2011). Photos taken by Nigel Norrington.

Next two photos- [http://www.ncm.com/photos-comedyoferrors]- Photos featured on National CineMedia LLC.‘s website. Photos taken by Johan Persson.

Last photo- Featured on Flickr.com (February 11, 2012), called “Lenny Henry and cast receiving applause, The Comedy of Errors, National Theatre, London“- Source: [http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6859174245_e284772815_z.jpg or http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjohnbeckett/6859174245/]

Cast & Creative Team

All the trousers worn throughout the week,
a time when all the clothing is reborn,
cycled through the wash and wear to seek,
yet, when the day is come, some never worn.

Moved from wash and rinse to spin and dry,
the change in quarter marks an upward trend
past the crush of linen’s static cry,
to push the laundered load towards its end.

Then what remains, the slight adorning change
of coins and such, and shirts to rearrange.

While most odes are lyrical and even sung, singing this is not recommended.  It also lacks the iambic pentameter typical of a sonnet, but each is 14 lines, uses the average 10 syllables, and has the rhyming ends of the abab/cdcd/efef/gg structure.

As a whole, Ode to Alex  describes the transition of communication.  Sonnet I introduces the impracticality of a cup and string, offers the alternate use of a carrier pigeon, and notes excitement in the successful invention of the telephone.  Sonnet II details the limits of corded phones, the user “stuck” within the confines of the cord length, and the progression to the use of cell phones.  Sonnet III questions whether our reliance on cordless technology actually binds us even more, culminating in an implanted chip through which one may simply “think” in order to place a call.

The Bard may cringe and so may you, but any resemblances to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.  No animals were harmed, though if you choose to read it aloud to your own pet, then I abdicate all responsibility for any future damages, real or imagined.

Ode to Alex

I

Were it not for days of an old tin cup

Where sound waves carry ‘long a waxen string

‘Twould have been easier to simply up,

Visit a chambermate lest wait ‘til spring

Our kinship doth cross yon channel wide

Force creative hands to send word ahead

When caller seeks to span cosmic divide

Carrier pigeon bears message instead

Until old Alex’s Watson made haste

To confirm words on history’s parchment

Enthralling those technologically chaste

Whose tongues held so long did cause to ferment

Gossipy prattle on town’s party line

Privy by phone booth—latent counsel enshrine

II

O! tether, my cord, shall I gain no retreat

Synthetic appendage to mine ear wouldst

Enjoin discourse fruitful, ever discreet

To my lover that whilst cherished, but thou shouldst

Await time’s glorious release of that

Spiral creature held hostage by Mother

Paths worn ‘til planks concave womb give rise to the matte

Exposed ‘neath urethane polish whilst other

Less stringent encumbrances bind, as words

Floating wafts of scintillating suggestion

Alight yon cell towers heaven – to birds

Ask only one rhetorical question

If mine eyes blinded by thou pimped cover

Whither doth burst sexts from my lover?

III

And so my dear Alex, O! Alex my love

Be thou blessed among nation’s inventors

To whom yelling string-ed messages shoved

Through wires, bound tidings of those relenters

Willing to part with wires and fences

Set free from the shackles that Mother prepared

Saving only for Job’s recompenses

Of iPhone and iPad ‘twill boast, “none compared,”

I pose one new query to all app makers

While physical entanglements no longer

Do tether, but Amish and Quakers

‘Tisnt invisible cord ever stronger?

Whilst touch screen doth blind us, prophesy may tell

Think and it shall be: connection without cell