Re producing mad, pointless, humiliating art to an almost non existent audience, I’m right there with you. I have delusions that what I am writing is subtly interwoven with humour and intelligent, philosophical, feminist themes, which makes it feel like my work is groundbreaking within it’s genre and of social value. But in the last month the veil has fallen from my eyes and I’ve seen my novel as the utterly bizarre, badly written, pointless filth that it is. I have all of two fans who enquire every few months if it’s finished yet. I had been trying to push on, so that my repeated promises that it’ll be completed in a couple of months will eventually prove true, but I’m now at the point of putting my fingers in my ears, going ‘la la la …’ because I don’t want to do it anymore. Except that writing it is critical for my mental health. So, I’m mad if I don’t write and mad if I do.
Re Shakespeare, I’m sorry to have to tell you that I’ve infected my children with my passion. The nature of our Home Ed style was that their work would focus on whatever they were interested in and we had huge swathes of time in which to delve into these interests. They took to Shakespeare astonishingly quickly. Lockdown massively encouraged this thanks to the plethora of screened stagings available, and most esp the Tabletop Shakespeare At Home productions, which were wonderful 50min versions of each and every play, cast with household objects (here is a link to a video about them https://youtu.be/FJSBZxq7B24?si=QUKtEzNnFMoGJetY). We chanced to catch a performance of Henry IV Part 2 - which I had no familiarity with at all before, and we were hooked. My middle son, then 8, was inspired to stage his own: here is his 20 min rendition of Hamlet, in 2 parts, performed with lego figures https://youtu.be/YvdqvQfv32c?feature=shared and part 2: https://youtu.be/kU0Krf9r8Ak?feature=shared. We watched 8 different Hamlets together in total, then decided to make a comparative chart of best performances of each character, soliloque, costumes, etc. After being taken, against his will, to a pantomime, he declared that he’d rather have watched his least favourite Hamlet twice over - and that is saying something because his least favourite is the Kenneth Branagh one, which is 4 hours long! Haha. Love my boys. I expect this must sound like showing off, but combining two of my favourite things - my sons and Shakespeare - is a source of joy, and given that I suck at pretty much everything else, and spoil pretty much everything I touch these days, it’s good for me to dwell on happier times. And midsummer Night’s Dream captured our imaginations to the point that we decided to learn and perform the mechanical’s performance of their play together, which was a highlight of our entire Home Ed journey (along with the snake top trumps), so thanks, Rich for reminding me of these things.
Further, to clarify, Home Ed is not the same as school at home, which everyone else was cursed with in lockdown: we’d been Home
Edding since 2014 and it is a great deal easier, and more fun, than having to enforce children to do work set remotely by school; I have the greatest empathy for everyone who everyone who had to go through that.
Re producing mad, pointless, humiliating art to an almost non existent audience, I’m right there with you. I have delusions that what I am writing is subtly interwoven with humour and intelligent, philosophical, feminist themes, which makes it feel like my work is groundbreaking within it’s genre and of social value. But in the last month the veil has fallen from my eyes and I’ve seen my novel as the utterly bizarre, badly written, pointless filth that it is. I have all of two fans who enquire every few months if it’s finished yet. I had been trying to push on, so that my repeated promises that it’ll be completed in a couple of months will eventually prove true, but I’m now at the point of putting my fingers in my ears, going ‘la la la …’ because I don’t want to do it anymore. Except that writing it is critical for my mental health. So, I’m mad if I don’t write and mad if I do.
Re Shakespeare, I’m sorry to have to tell you that I’ve infected my children with my passion. The nature of our Home Ed style was that their work would focus on whatever they were interested in and we had huge swathes of time in which to delve into these interests. They took to Shakespeare astonishingly quickly. Lockdown massively encouraged this thanks to the plethora of screened stagings available, and most esp the Tabletop Shakespeare At Home productions, which were wonderful 50min versions of each and every play, cast with household objects (here is a link to a video about them https://youtu.be/FJSBZxq7B24?si=QUKtEzNnFMoGJetY). We chanced to catch a performance of Henry IV Part 2 - which I had no familiarity with at all before, and we were hooked. My middle son, then 8, was inspired to stage his own: here is his 20 min rendition of Hamlet, in 2 parts, performed with lego figures https://youtu.be/YvdqvQfv32c?feature=shared and part 2: https://youtu.be/kU0Krf9r8Ak?feature=shared. We watched 8 different Hamlets together in total, then decided to make a comparative chart of best performances of each character, soliloque, costumes, etc. After being taken, against his will, to a pantomime, he declared that he’d rather have watched his least favourite Hamlet twice over - and that is saying something because his least favourite is the Kenneth Branagh one, which is 4 hours long! Haha. Love my boys. I expect this must sound like showing off, but combining two of my favourite things - my sons and Shakespeare - is a source of joy, and given that I suck at pretty much everything else, and spoil pretty much everything I touch these days, it’s good for me to dwell on happier times. And midsummer Night’s Dream captured our imaginations to the point that we decided to learn and perform the mechanical’s performance of their play together, which was a highlight of our entire Home Ed journey (along with the snake top trumps), so thanks, Rich for reminding me of these things.
Further, to clarify, Home Ed is not the same as school at home, which everyone else was cursed with in lockdown: we’d been Home
Edding since 2014 and it is a great deal easier, and more fun, than having to enforce children to do work set remotely by school; I have the greatest empathy for everyone who everyone who had to go through that.
Just noticed that there is a part 3 to his Hamlet, which is further 7min long! https://youtu.be/KT6RnQYlvS0?feature=shared
Of course it is. No one will remember Shakespeare after 400 years, but people will always remember Prince Andrew.
I'm the king of Who Can Applaud Last (WCAL), even at the ripe old age of 49
These images are truly amazing. That first one is pure Mads Mikkelsen, the rest like something from the more normal parts of an Aphex Twin video.
And 'Twitch of Fun' contains more relevance than you can shake a stick at.
I’d argue Ally & Herring’s Twitch of Fun surpasses Shakespeare in terms of comedy, global reach and value to the English language.
In 500 years’ time students will study it at university.
Good to see grok a.i. is getting your hands right
YES!!! Better jokes.