Proving that (a) "I aten't dead" yet and (b) that I am reading Blogs still, I'm linking to the latest contest by Nancy at Journey Woman - High Culture Meets Popular Culture.
Here's what Nancy says:
Here is your mission, if you want to play:
Submit your comments here with examples of TV shows, popular songs, or movies that used references or quotes from famous poets or authors in a way that may have caught people by surprise. Caught by surprise? I mean, don't include the movie Sense and Sensibility, where half of it was quotes from poetry because two of the characters sat around and read each other poetry throughout. Don't include Shakespeare in Love or Hamlet, where of course there will be a lot of, um, Shakespeare.
Give me movies like Porky's II, or songs like Dire Straits "Romeo and Juliet." Better yet, give me quotes from The Simpsons. Any extra explanation you can include, similar to mine above about Porky's II, will gain you extra points.
You also get extra points for posting about this contest on your blog.
Deadline: October 12
Prizes: Good. I'll randomly draw 4 winners and I'll send them gift cards worth real money ($10 to 25).
Enjoyment factor: 10
Oh, and I'll create a post of all the submissions. Please include links to videos, or pictures, if you can, because that will make the post more fun.
My own response (this will surprise no one who knows me) was as follows:
"Doctor Who": Season 1 - we had a meeting with Charles Dickens (doing his "A Christmas Carol" one-man show) in "The Unquiet Dead"; Season 3 - we had a meeting with Shakespeare (lots of quotations in "The Shakespeare Code", plus references to Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle", Harry Potter and the "Back to the Future" fims - talk about giving me a Nerdgasm !), poetry quotations from T S Eliot in "The Lazarus Experiment", and part of Laurence Binyon's "For The Fallen" at the end of "The Family of Blood". In addition there were the episodes with historical themes (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Tooth and Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Idiot's Lantern, Evolution of the Daleks/Daleks in Manhattan, and Human Nature/Family of Blood).
And that doesn't include the many, many meetings with literary and/or historical characters that were scattered throughout the Classic Who series.
Plus which, David Tennant's going to be playing in "Hamlet" and "Love's Labour's Lost" next summer/autumn - that's bound to get at least a few non-Shakespeare fans into the theatre !
And yes, I AM going to see David in "Hamlet" - my family have agreed to fund a trip to Stratford as my 40th birthday present next year - and a friend who's an RSC member is hoping to get us both a ticket once the online booking opens this week - so hopefully I'll get the date I want (September 5) which is a matinee performance with a full-cast "talkback" session afterwards. And did I mention Patrick Stewart of Star Trek: The Next Generation and X-Men fame is also in "Hamlet"? That makes it major Nerdgasm territory for me !!
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Patrick Stewart AND David Tennant?? LUCKY YOU!
I know !! That's why I was even more determined to go - I mean, I ADORE DAvid Tennant, but I used to be pretty fond of Patrick Stewart (and still am to a much lesser extent) back in the days of ST:TNG, so it's a double reason to want to go !
And I couldn't afford to go myself, hence the birthday present idea...
Oooooooohhhhhhhh....howling with envy. I am soooooo...happy for you.
Years ago (early 70s)when my husband was just a lad, he went to Europe with a high school group. One of the places they visited was Stratford upon Avon and they saw a play. Some multiple decades later, he found the program from that performance and whooped when he saw that the role of Caius Cassius was played by a fellow named Patrick Stewart. Corin Redgrave was Octavius and Tim Piggot-Smith had two roles: one of Brutus's solidiers and Metellus Cimber.
I could probably IMDB the whole cast list now and find more of our favorites.
My husband was 17 years old at the time and recalls his most vivid memory of the production was when one of the conspirators dropped their dagger accidentally during someone's speech.
Michele, you will need to give us a full report.
Oh don't worry Camille, I won't be able to shut up about it once I've been !!
This will only be my second live Shakespeare performance - and funnily enough I was only a year younger than your hubby when I saw the RSC the first time (though that was in Bath, not Stratford)... And though it's now over 20 years ago, I can still clearly visualise some of the scenes from Richard II (though I've no idea who was performing !)
It was just a fluke that he found the program from the performance. I tend to keep programs for a while then they get swept away. As Star Trek:TNG fans it was a hoot to see Stewart's name in the program and the other actors we have enjoyed over the years. A small bit player in the RSC today is the star of tomorrow.
A small bit player in the RSC today is the star of tomorrow.
*cough* David Tennant *cough*
Michele,
When will you know if you get the date you want to see Hamlet?
Fingers crossed for you,
Lynn (riversprite)
I heard yesterday that I got September 5th ! Squee !!!!