Comments on: Words. Words? Words!

By: Siun

Siun — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:43:08 +0000

Reesa … wonderful post and a great trigger for some very good memories here. After becoming addicted to the research/analysis approach to lit thanks to two quite wonderful professors of 19th c. american, I took Shakespeare with a young hellion who refused to let us do any research at all and insisted we just dive intensely into the language. We fought loudly for a full semester and then I caved in and went with the flow … and it was astonishing. Turning off my “let’s analyse” brain and just reveling in Shakespeare’s words was amazing – and led to some writing I’m still proud of. And while I really love placing works in context, it’s thanks to Mike Shea (the hellion) that I stopped missing the sheer beauty of the words (words, words).

Thanks for reminding me!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:28:15 +0000

Steve: I don’ t know . . . seems like Jim Henson’s hand would have made a better president than Ronnie did.

But here’s a thought. Hinkley shot Reagan in March of 1981. The Muppet Show ended that same year.

Coincidence?

By: reesa

reesa — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:09:12 +0000

Shan @11: So lovely to have inspired such response in you! Well hmm, I’ll have to see if there’s a way to fit you in as a remote member of the Willy reading group. Plus, I somehow rather suspect this won’t be the only time I get the urge to spout off like this.

By: reesa

reesa — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:42:14 +0000

Arphie @26: Oh yes, that one is lovely. Your comment sparked a good half hour discussion here at the Dream Cafe, about that line and the one Kit quoted from As You Like It. Thank you! Kiki @31: Perhaps this will teach you to not wait so long next time that you miss the muppet horizon. I don't think "fashionably late" is this blog's style. Very interesting link you posted! I'm quite fascinated by the idea of wordless photo blogging, and photography as art in general. Are you thinking about exploring something related to this idea in your own blog?

By: skzb

skzb — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:33:28 +0000

Jason: I have no comment on the Sammy Davis Jr issue, but I must observe that, after Mr. Henson’s death, Ronald Reagan never gave another speech.

By: Kiki

Kiki — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:31:58 +0000

I’ve been waiting to comment on this splendiferously eponymous post and now I see everyone has beaten me in terms of erudition and muppet references, sigh.

However, I do have an appropos link to share that I lifted this morning from a friend’s journal: I present it here as a counterpoint (or perhaps an extension of Shakespeare’s line of thought) somewhere along the lines of “wordless, wordless, wordless…”

http://www.femmerotic.com/journal/2008/01/22/the-silence-at-the-end-of-this-post/

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:25:43 +0000

Jim Henson and Sammy Davis, jr. died on the same day–May 16, 1990. This supports my long-standing belief that Sammy Davis, jr. was a muppet all along.

When Mr. Henson died they could no longer continue the charade.

By: SpeakerToManagers

SpeakerToManagers — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:05:26 +0000

kit @ 23

I wish that Brian Henson had kept his promise and retired Kermit permanently. He can imitate his father doing Kermit, but it’s an imitation of an imitation of life, and it’s hard to watch that when you remember Jim Henson and Kermit as they were. I never met Jim Henson, but I cried more when I heard he had died than when I heard my father had died. He and his work were a part of my life for many years.

By: kit

kit — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:20:40 +0000

On Reesa's dinner break from the shop we were enjoying the exchange between Celia and Rosalind in As You Like It, which includes: O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful! and yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all hooping!

By: kit

kit — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:43:39 +0000

Arphie@26: That is also one of my favorites, I still have it memorized from my acting days.

Moments like this have so much depth in them, so much raw emotion — Macbeth wondering if there is any purpose to all of this shouting, or if it is all just ‘a tale told by an idiot’ — that it is actually somewhat infuriating to see it poorly performed. You want to shake the performer (and do worse to his director) for blundering along coldly when so much meaning is inches away beneath the surface…