July 30th, 2018 → 6:51 am
My third novel is at last complete. It is even more controversial than my last one, but it was important for me to see it through. I leave it as a legacy for my son, whose own remarkable life was the novel’s inspiration.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life
July 25th, 2018 → 5:21 am
This is the second half of the description of England in Richard II, and it is rank with anti-Semitism, disappointment, and contempt. England is great and blessed, feared and exalted, but also, in hock, prejudiced, and shameful. We all have two sides. Good and bad, ying and yang. England does too. Heck, Shakespeare himself did. We all do. It behooves us to face this truth sometimes, and not be selective about it.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Politics/Politicians
July 23rd, 2018 → 6:19 am
I just finished watching Season 2 of The Crown. It ends with this famous quote describing England. And most commentators that use the quote today end it there. But the passage itself in Richard II does not end there. It continues along a darker vein. Presenting only the first half of this description is selective, inappropriate even, as it presents only a shining image of England. But – like most things in life – there is another side. I’ll quote that other side in my next post…
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Politics/Politicians
July 7th, 2018 → 7:39 am
The first reviews are in of Tom Hanks as Falstaff, and apparently they are glowing! Of particular note are his insults, including “bull’s pizzle” said with a mouthful of spit and invective. Sure wish I could see this up on the stage for myself.
“bull’s pizzle,” by the way, is a 16th century flogging instrument made from a bull’s penis
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
July 1st, 2018 → 7:15 am
“Ware pencils, ho!” – Love’s Labour’s Lost
I just spent the past two hours struggling with but one paragraph of my current novel. Damn the intro to chapter 7, curse the writing life, bugger this voracious hunger to write, write, write. To all my fellow authors out there: Never Give Up!!
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
May 26th, 2018 → 5:15 am
Benedict Cumberbatch is my new hero, for saying he will boycott any project that does not pay female co-stars the same as their male co-stars. He is urging other actors to do the same. And if that isn’t enough, apparently he is a “fervent feminist.” I don’t think I’ve had this big a crush on an actor since Michael J. Fox and Back to the Future!
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
April 22nd, 2018 → 6:44 am
It’s Shakespeare’s birthday sometime this week (we don’t actually know the exact day), and in the interest of saluting the bard, I’m quoting some of his pithiest advice. There are some really good nuggets in there. Hard to pick a favorite, but… today maybe it’s… ‘Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.’
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Other
February 18th, 2018 → 6:27 am
“A sentence is but a cheveril glove to a good wit.” – Twelfth Night
I’m busy waking early every morning, editing draft 5 of my latest novel. I just reworked the opening scene to one of the middle chapters. It feels good, I think things flows better now. But crafting the perfect sentence is hard! I can agonize over it for hours! Writing is most definitely an art. As difficult and messy as I imagine working cheveril was for Shakespeare’s father. But when done right, a sentence’s beauty can take your breath away.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art
November 3rd, 2017 → 5:07 am
Glendower: “I can call spirits from the vasty deep.”
Hotspur: “Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?”
– King Henry IV, Part I
I wake most mornings and try to write – some days, the words flow, other days, they do not. Imagination and creativity are mysterious spirits. I only wish I could see to the bottom of their vasty deep; I bet it is a riot down there.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art & Self/My Life
September 30th, 2017 → 5:41 am
“Leave thy lascivious wassails.” – Antony and Cleopatra
wassail – to drink copious amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way; to carouse (n. a carousal)
Personally, I could go for a lascivious wassail right about now.
Filed under: Blog & Literature/Theatre/Art