Goodbye Boehner

September 29th, 2015 → 6:29 am

    “What must the king do now?  Must he submit?
    The king shall do it.  Must he be deposed?
    The king shall be contented.  Must he lose
    The name of king?  a God’s name, let it go.” – Richard II

And so he did.  He let it go.  Now we all wait and watch the rest of this soap opera unfold…

Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians

Empire

September 25th, 2015 → 5:52 am

    “The Devil Quotes Scripture” – The Merchant of Venice
    “Out, Damned Spot” – Macbeth
    “Unto the Breach” – Henry V
    “Die But Once” – Julius Caesar
    “Poor Yorick” – Hamlet

Has anyone else noticed the huge number of references to Shakespeare in the TV series Empire?  From the pilot episode where one of the son’s asks his dad, Hey, are you King Lear’ing us?, to practically every title of every episode so far (see episode list above)?  I love it!  I’ve just started watching the show and it is quite good – very engaging.  It’s like Glee, but for the mafia crowd.

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art

The People’s Pope

September 22nd, 2015 → 5:30 am

    “There is no ancient gentlemen but gardeners, ditchers, and gravemakers –
    They hold up Adam’s profession.” – Hamlet

Welcome Pope Francis to the U.S.!  He truly seems to be a pope for the people and it heartens me to watch his travels. (Sorry for the expected traffic jams New York.)

Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians

Donald Trump II

September 16th, 2015 → 6:21 am

    “Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
    That he is grown so great?” – Julius Caesar

More articles about the continuing rise of Trump (and the continuing slide of so many of the other candidates).  I have long known that I just do not get public opinion; I am very much not someone who has their pulse on the American electorate.  But though I know I am not well attuned to popular opinion, I continue to be astounded by it.  This Donald Trump thing is fascinating.

Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians

Religion

September 14th, 2015 → 6:05 am

    “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
    Rough-hew them how we will.” – Hamlet

Is there though?  It’s Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur and that time of year when even relatively secular Jews like myself celebrate things.  And of course, I am introducing my son to it all as well – he was quite cute wishing everyone a happy new year after Sunday school this week.  But why do I do it if I don’t even know if I believe?  For the honey and apples?  😉

Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life

Julius Caesar

September 9th, 2015 → 5:12 am

I’ll be leading an online discussion of Julius Caesar in about a week – feel free to join the conversation if you can:  https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/303-shakespeare-fans. In the meantime, a favorite quote from the play:

“Et tu, Brute?” – Julius Caesar

This quote runs through my mind rather more often than it probably should, as I am, and always have been, innately distrustful of people.

Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life

Migrants

September 4th, 2015 → 6:08 am

“The indifferent children of the earth.” – Hamlet

Who are the “indifferent” children in this quote, the migrants seeking refuge on Europe’s shores?  Or the Europeans that are hesitant to take them in?  Maybe it is both – as we are all children of the earth.

Filed under: Blog & Other