Author: ssw15

Last night, I saw Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” at my undergraduate alma mater – an outdoor show, wherein the student troupe of actors take advantage of the beautiful campus to act out each scene. And, yeah, the audience travels along to watch the scenes. Take your theater fun where you can get them. (sidenote – I think it was my senior year when I watched them did one of Shakespeare’s comedies in the pouring rain).

All in all, it was great, and the cast and crew did a marvelous job with “The Tempest” (which, yeah, was required reading in first year, but I loved the play for being so amazing – even if Prospero the wizard’s intentions made no sense, he was Shakespeare’s ultimate alter ego – directing everything to happen).

It has gotten really popular – a huge crowd last night (most likely made up of supportive families/roommates/significant others of the cast and crew; partly curious passersbys and silly folks like me who are suckers for Shakespeare and/or outdoor theater). I loved how they did the end – where Prospero makes his soliloquy goodbye to the audience – and they re-interpreted it as Prospero’s goodbye to Ariel, the involuntary servant (slave? Ariel the fairy could have always left, I always thought, considering those powers she/he/it had), as he set her free (they made Ariel an obvious her; was it just me, or was there some amusing chemistry between Ariel and Prospero?). They also demonstrated the innocence of Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, who finds first love hitting her in the face and takes it joyfully. Romantic comedy indeed, while it did not ignore the sentiments of the colonization problem (Caliban, Prospero’s other slave on the island, trades Prospero’s stewardship for that under the comedy relief on the drunk jester and drunk butler; his sorrows never fully realized or eased) and political deceit (two or three plans to oust or overthrow either the king of Naples or Prospero). Oh, and great music – the troupe had a nice bunch of musicians and I liked how they weaved music in a play long known for being Shakespeare’s most “musical.”

Visiting the alma mater during this time of year reminded me of the tortuous student days of yore. So many students in the library, toiling over their books. I mean, really, at this time of year, the students are practically living in the library. On an absolutely related note, wondering what others think of that whole story about the NYU student living in the library (check out the NY1 coverage of it – video and all) – I mean, it’s a shame that he couldn’t get cheap housing, but I’m surprised that this kind of thing hasn’t happened sooner.

Odd story in today’s Saturday NY Times about the creationists’ own dinosaur theme park. Now, I’m all for tolerance, free will, and freedom of thought, but a theme park to re-affirm one’s beliefs? Do people go to theme parks for “beliefs”? A discomfort over natural history museums because it doesn’t relate with one’s religious beliefs (or, one’s beliefs in science – but can one say science is a “belief”?) – well, that depends – why does one go to natural history museums then? I suppose the creationists may go ahead and open their own institutions; that’s what freedom in this country is about. But, I just wonder, that’s all; no one’s forced to go to theme parks or musuems – if one doesn’t like it, don’t go. But, don’t go and be uninformed about what you’re visiting; natural history musuems are there because they have taken a side about the so-called debate on evolution and other sciences. Well, no further judgment on my part is intended and my apologies if I’ve offended anyone.

ABC “Nightline” last night – moving stuff. Ted Koppel just reading names of the casualties of the war in Iraq. There is no judgment; he left the viewers to decide for themselves. The critics who view him as someone who’s anti-war by just reading names – I’d criticize them for not seeing the power of names for it is – respect for those whose names are read. We would read names on the anniversaries of September 11, or the names of those who have died of AIDS or names of graduates on commencement day – what is inherently wrong with reading names?

For Sunday – hopefully we’ll get more nice weather and not watch us get the rain they had in Kentucky for the derby (talk about muddy race for tv viewing)…

– NY Times Quotation of the Day – “Doesn’t the court have some business intervening at some point if it’s the Hundred Years’ War or something?” – Justice Stephen Breyer, on the open-ended detention of Americans as enemy combatants.

Yeah, so, justices of the Supreme Court, what will happen with civil justice in an era of a never-ending (open-ended?) war? See Linda Greenhouse’s article in Thursday’s NY Times or consider Dahlia Lithwick’s coverage in Slate.com (as she ponders whether we’re heading into the dangerous territory of repeating the sins of past destructions of civil justice).

– “Star Trek: Enterprise” this week – quite an episode. Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) continues full-steam ahead to remake the future; Chief Engineer Trip Tucker is trying to grapple with death and moving on with life. If this season had been more consistent and more in-depth with its storylines in the first place, this would have been a much stronger season – and this episode only reminded me of that.

– “Angel” – change, and more change. Gunn returns; Illyria loses her powers (but is still a question mark, because she still has the mentality of an annoying and arrogant ex-deity); and has Angel – again – lost his mind? Hmm.

– Fascinating NY Times’ article profiling the stories of the 9/11 Commission’s staff – which includes a former NYS deputy attorney general (who was at the attorney general’s downtown office on 9/11/01 and had previously prosecuted the 1993 World Trade Center bombers in fed court).

– The problem of parking in NYC’s Chinatown, which is right next to the NY Police Dept.’s hq – and where cops and other NYC officials have taken up the parking and other space issues – NY Times’ article makes one feel the stress of the situation.

– Finished reading “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold – Sebold is an amazingly talented writer. But, I still thought it was curious that her narrator is a murdered 14-year old girl watching over her family from heaven, as she and her family deal with life, death, and life after death (or afterlife or what have you). It was very unsettling as a story, but lovely writing. It reminded me of the unsettling feeling I had when I read Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” – which also considered life, death, and life after death. What does it mean, where are we going, and maybe all we can settle for is that we’re going at all? But, is that enough? Is that the secret of life? There was that line in the “Dawson’s Creek” series finale (yeah, I know – I’m sick enough to make a reference to that) where Dawson said that the opposite of death was birth; life was that thing in between. Is that it then – not the end or beginning – the journey itself? (which is an idea that even the series’ finale of “Star Trek: Voyager” tried to push). Hmm. Maybe I’m making too many tv references; but, one still wonders if there is such a thing as the secret of life…

TGIF tomorrow….

Sunday’s NY Times had an interesting article on “Alias” – thought it was a good read. The episode itself – well, that was just nuts. So, Secret Agent Sydney and her sister are part of the Rambaldi prophecy and crazy adventures are their family legacy – and yet… the writers may still very well not know what they’re doing. Yet it’s quite a romp anyway, since we were left reassured that Sloane is still an obsessed selfish bastard. And, that Jack Bristow still loves his daughter. Okay…

Doonesbury – wow. B.D.’s taking the whole losing-a-leg thing well, since he and his friend Ray appear to be both shocked more by the appearance of B.D.’s hair. Funny thing that I always thought that B.D. would be bald after wearing his (football/”CHiPs” highway patrol/army headgear) helmet all these years. But, Trudeau’s reassuring folks that he will go into this serious injury in his black humor style (as noted in this week’s Question of the Week on the Doonesbury site, via the Slate.com portal).

For anyone who’s wondering – Quebec’s treasured foodstuff, poutine (the french fries with cheese and gravy mixture), gets explained in the NY Times – and the current generation of Montreal chefs are trying to glamourize it, with foie gras and other calorie-filled and bad-for-your-heart but ooh-guilty-pleasure eating.

Back on April 5, 2004, I noted the fascinating influx of minorities in commercials – namely, the Verizon ads with the Elliot family – that curiously interesting family that has a white, clueless-as-can-be-Dad, busy-yet-doing-just-fine Latina Mom, and their kids – particularly that odd toddler who yaks away on the phone to Nana – and their big dog. The more I’ve seen the ads, the more I really like them – the toddler’s cute and the family’s interactions are incredibly regular life-like – and the latest Slate.com Ad Report from Seth Stevenson more or less agrees with me. Well, remember – I had the exclusive first, folks!

Anyway, according to Stevenson, there are additional families added to the Verizon line up – an African-American and a Latino family. I’ve only seen the Elliots in the NYC tv market – so perhaps the Davises and the Sandovals will be coming to a tv near you soon. Based on what I saw on Verizon’s website, the Davises are amusing – the kids’ setting up their single (widower? divorced?) Dad with potential female mates while his mom gets bemused; the Sandovals, apparently in Spanish tv (Telemundo or Univision, probably), put their dad in funny situations; but I like the Elliots’ pleasant normal charm best. And, where’s the Asian family? Asians make long distance/local calls and go on-line too, you know. Anyway, this is all a positive step – more diversity in commercials please! (more diversity in tv generally, please)…

For anyone who’s interested: the 25th Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival is this Sunday, May 2, 2004, 11:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., at Union Square in Manhattan; check out the website: http://www.capaonline.org/index.htm.

Enjoy the week…