![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aunt_zeldaI expected to be posting a 'What aunt_zelda Thinks' about Hamlet 2 and a second review of The Dark Knight tonight ... but events out of my control prevented me from seeing either. So I went to the beach and read aloud to one of my relations from Storm Front, the first book in the Dresden Files. (Yeah, that's right, guys, I've finally started reading them. And DAYUM are they funny! Yeah, Harry's additude towards females is a little ... uh, well, more on that later.) Tomorrow is my Doctor Who S3 marathon, but as my best friend, the user formally known as 'aimisan' and I can't meet up until late, it's definately gonna be an all-nighter. As in, I may not be coherent for much of Tuesday, so please excuse my abscense.
In other news, I bought and read V for Vendetta and ... wow. So glad I bought it, and WOW that was good but ... why is it that lesbians tend to always get the short end of the stick in graphic novels? I mean, my graphic-novel reading has been limited, but considering that Sandman, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta ALL feature lesbians getting killed in sidestories, I'm starting to get a little annoyed. Hows about we see a lesbian kickin' some arse? (Speaking of that, are there any Batman graphic novels featuring questionable *ahem* interactions between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn?)
Anyhoodle, V for Vendetta. Today I watched the movie. Very interesting. Quite good, I thought. I mean, lots of bits of it were different, but lots of it I liked. Gordon (I think that was his name, the guy Evey stayed with) I liked much better in the movie, and not just because he was gay, but because he was a better character. Making Evey older was interesting too, seeing as she was 16 at the beginning of the book, and in the movie she was older and not attempting to engage in prostitution. Natalie Portman was surprisingly ... good ... as Evey, but seeing as the only other role I've seen her in is as Padme, I'm probably not the best judge of such things. And OMG AGENT SMITH! ELROND IN A DRESS! AS V! *passes out* The fights were great. YAY for the knives, and huzzah for the flashbacks ... but I didn't get the feeling that future-'evil'-England was awful enough to warrant all those explosions. The book got that across more, but perhaps because they cut out the character of Almond's wife, the movie lost something. I dunno, I understand why they changed things, but still, the movie lost something of what the book had. The atmosphere wasn't as menecing, nor did they put as much emphasis on the supression and opression and racism as they could and should have.
Still, both were great, in their own ways, and now I'm just trying to figure out which graphic novel to buy next.
Btw, last Friday night, I went to see The Merchant of Venice. It was FANTASTIC. Great preformance, great costuming (it was set in New York City area, in the 1950s ... when Shylock said "I am a Jew!" he held up his arm and the whole audience winced as one) and I love how they did the ending: Jessica looking put-out at the news of her father, and ending up alone on the stage and singing a Jewish (prayer? Hymn? My knowledge of Jewish-ness consists of a lot of books about the Holocaust that I read when I was in grade school, and the fact that I went to my camp friend's Bat Mitzvah a lifetime ago. Good LORD I have never seen so much money in the hands of a teenager. If I hadn't past my thirteenth birthday by then, I'd have converted on the spot.) It was chilling in a heart-warming kind of way. They got a standing ovation, too. And I sat next to the woman who played Paulina last week. She was so cool. (The Moroccan prince was kinda ... scary. He laughed hysterically a whole lot, and bugged out his eyes, and clapped his hands, and his servant - who had sunglasses and a fez - summersaulted a lot. They wavered between racist and campy and funny, and yet we still felt sad for him when Portia said 'may all of his color choose me so.' It was a good balance. Tricky, but very good.)
Something that I thought was interesting, however, was the way they handled the whole Antonio/Bassanio relationship. I mean, my slasher-sense went off the moment I read the synopsis in my Shakespeare book, but some people *cough* Jeremy Irons *cough* don't play the relationship like that. The actors I saw did. Bassanio touched Antonio's knee a lot when begging him for money, and after Antonio said he was going to get money for his 'friend' (heh, 'friend' yeah ...) Bassanio grabbed Antonio's head with both hands and made as if to KISS HIM (and not on the lips, either, I mean full-frontal, fangirl-squee-inducing, Torchwood-worthy KISS) except Bassanio hesitated, then slumped a bit and didn't. I was very proud of myself. I did not squee. I merely muttered, during the scene-change that followed, "Ah ... so that's how they're playing it."
Later on, during the courtroom-scene, Antonio seems resigned to his death. He practically welcomes it, only wishing that he can see Bassanio before he gets cut up by Shylock. (Hrrrrm ...) Also, the character of Antonio is depressed even BEFORE his ships are lost and he's gonna have a pound of his flesh cut off, when Bassanio has 'left' him and is preparing to galivant off in pursuit of a WOMAN. (Girls, really now, HOW DID I MISS THIS BEFORE?!)
Really, Shakespeare was more of a PC guy than most people give him credit for, In a time when Jews were depicted as the Devil-incarnate (characters in Merchant call Shylock as much) Shakespeare made him a rather sympathetic character. He's easily the most believably human character in the play: one minute he's distraught about his daughter's elopement, the next he's screaming that he wishes she were dead instead of off with a Christian, wasting the money she stole from her own father, then next he's snarling for revenge against Antonio, directing all of his hate at a semi-innocent bystander. Shakespeare transformed the tale of a husband bludgeoning his wife into submission into a tale of mutual respect and love in a 'mad marriage.' He treats women as capable of handling themselves, abet through trickery and usually in the guise of men, and usually acheiving their heart's desires (ok, mostly men, but still, from Lady Macbeth to Helena from All's Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare nailed women.) AND he wrote Othello which ... yeah, I don't know much about Othello, it might be considered racist in this day and age, but considering he depicted a weathly white lady marrying a 'Moor' of her own free will and being true to him, I suspect it was kinda odd back in Shakespeare's day.
Besides, all that HoYay? I have a sneaking suspicion that Shakespeare knew exactly what he was writing when he wrote this:
ANTONIO: Commend me to your honorable wife:
Tell her the process of Antonio's end,
Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death;
And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.
BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world
Are not with me esteemed above thy life;
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you. (IV,i)
See, Bassanio LOOOOOOOVES Portia, and she LOOOOOOOVES him back, and it's definately twu luv (as is Jessica and Lorenzo, despite the whole abandoning-your-family-and-culture-for-a-GUY) but Bassanio and Antonio had something going on in the past, (I suspect Bassanio eventually broke it off, becaues Antonio is sulking and Bassanio is trying to move on) but faced with loosing Antonio for good, Bassanio basically says 'screw life, the world, AND my hot, rich wife, I MUST SAVE MY EX-BOYFRIEND!' except he says it in iambic pentameter.
Closing Ceremonies:
So, the drummers are back, and this time it's with a vengance! They're in shinier Star Trek outfits, complete with gold bike helmets, and look as though, once done with this feat of syncronized precussion, they're prepared to leap out and compete in the last leg of a triatholon, or perhaps bike to London.
Ooooooo, more Christmas lights! And ... the skintight greeen outfits from the opening ceremonies! Yay! I love those!
The music, however, puts me more in mind of vaguely sinister children's choirs than anything else.
Ooooo ... flower! And Dr. Suess rip-offs! And flying drums! And rolling geometric circle-thingies! (I want one of those things to rdie to school, I don't CARE if I can't ride bikes, I'd LEARN to, to have one of those things!)
Pogo-sticks ... no, pogo-FEET! Kick. Ass.
Awwwwwwww, I love watching all the athletes racing in, cameras and all, brandishing and wearing flags ... made me grin. They all look so HAPPY. I particularly liked the people who leapt about and danced. I mean, hey, that's what I'd do, if I were there. I also liked the people who were carrying other people on their shoulders. That takes a lot of stammina, but, then again, stamina is what these people are all about.
Ack ... seeing the repeat of Johnson doing her gold-metal winning balance beam act STILL made me squeak in terror, just like when I saw it the first time.
Gah, I love the U.K.'s national anthem. I particularly love the bit about 'outwit their knavish tricks' (which, yeah, they didn't sing at the closing ceremony, but still) because it was a semi-central gag in a book I read a long, long time ago.
Ooooo ... I LOVED the whole thing with the London bus and the handing off of the soccer/football. Very cool/sweet. There'd better be some mention of Doctor Who in the opening and/or closing ceremonies of the next summer Olympics.
W00t! Led Zepplin FTW!
Ah, umbrellas ... so it really does rain a lot there in England, eh?When can I move there?! Oooooo, flashing lights reflected on the umbrellas! That is so -
OMG DAVID BECKHAM! *squees*
HOLY SH ... those preformers are doing this as their FIRST TIME IN THE STATIUM?! *jaw is on floor*
*wibbles* I got kinda teary-eyed when the torch went out. I always do.
Whoa ... now the tower-thingy is ... undulating. With men in gold jumpsuits. It looks more like an unleaning Tower of Pisa to me.
Then the men do amazing things, and I start to bawl again. Seroiulsy, if you didn't see what those men in silver-and-red jumpsuits DID, you had better fucking go on youtube and SEE. I might myself, if I weren't so emotionally drained FROM A FRACKIN' TOWER-DANCE!
Eventually the tower looks more like a lava-lamp that got atatcked with streamers from a party, but then the streamer-things go up into the air, and I'm STILL CRYING. Then the fireworks go off and I'm STILL crying.
Ok, I know it's immature, but I love the commercial of the sumo wrestlers forming the shape of an airplane and taking off into the air. It's so SILLY.
On the subject of silly comercials, I like the one with Olympics montages set to 'The More We Get Together.' Dunno why, just strikes me as funny.
Yaaaaaay for singing and dancing in circles, ala Bat Mitzvas and Jewish weddings! And the colors and the singing and the spinning and the FIREWORKDS and the LIGHTS and the ...
I have no more words. It was amazing, and beautiful, and kick ass, and fantastic, and even more adjectives that have not been invented yet. No one will ever be able to top that, except, perhaps, the future Chinese people. The fireworks ALONE floored me. I mean, they shot up NUMBERS, how the hell do you manage THAT?
Well, that was fun. I'm tired, but happy, and kinda annoyed that I missed so many events. Maybe I'll watch some stuff on youtube later, but for me, it was never about the sports. Unless it's ice skating or competetive ballroom, nothing really gets me going. Except soccer. That I like, but don't watch nearly enough as I should.
So, England, four years from now ... you're gonna have your work cut out for you.
Please please PLEASE weasle in a mention of Doctor Who. PLEASE. Maybe a TARDIS, or a Dalek, or the actor who plays the current Doctor at that time. That's all I ask.
And please don't do any formation drumming. The Chinese have proven that they can easily kick ANYONE'S ass at formation ANYTHING, there's just no point in trying.
In other news, I bought and read V for Vendetta and ... wow. So glad I bought it, and WOW that was good but ... why is it that lesbians tend to always get the short end of the stick in graphic novels? I mean, my graphic-novel reading has been limited, but considering that Sandman, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta ALL feature lesbians getting killed in sidestories, I'm starting to get a little annoyed. Hows about we see a lesbian kickin' some arse? (Speaking of that, are there any Batman graphic novels featuring questionable *ahem* interactions between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn?)
Anyhoodle, V for Vendetta. Today I watched the movie. Very interesting. Quite good, I thought. I mean, lots of bits of it were different, but lots of it I liked. Gordon (I think that was his name, the guy Evey stayed with) I liked much better in the movie, and not just because he was gay, but because he was a better character. Making Evey older was interesting too, seeing as she was 16 at the beginning of the book, and in the movie she was older and not attempting to engage in prostitution. Natalie Portman was surprisingly ... good ... as Evey, but seeing as the only other role I've seen her in is as Padme, I'm probably not the best judge of such things. And OMG AGENT SMITH! ELROND IN A DRESS! AS V! *passes out* The fights were great. YAY for the knives, and huzzah for the flashbacks ... but I didn't get the feeling that future-'evil'-England was awful enough to warrant all those explosions. The book got that across more, but perhaps because they cut out the character of Almond's wife, the movie lost something. I dunno, I understand why they changed things, but still, the movie lost something of what the book had. The atmosphere wasn't as menecing, nor did they put as much emphasis on the supression and opression and racism as they could and should have.
Still, both were great, in their own ways, and now I'm just trying to figure out which graphic novel to buy next.
Btw, last Friday night, I went to see The Merchant of Venice. It was FANTASTIC. Great preformance, great costuming (it was set in New York City area, in the 1950s ... when Shylock said "I am a Jew!" he held up his arm and the whole audience winced as one) and I love how they did the ending: Jessica looking put-out at the news of her father, and ending up alone on the stage and singing a Jewish (prayer? Hymn? My knowledge of Jewish-ness consists of a lot of books about the Holocaust that I read when I was in grade school, and the fact that I went to my camp friend's Bat Mitzvah a lifetime ago. Good LORD I have never seen so much money in the hands of a teenager. If I hadn't past my thirteenth birthday by then, I'd have converted on the spot.) It was chilling in a heart-warming kind of way. They got a standing ovation, too. And I sat next to the woman who played Paulina last week. She was so cool. (The Moroccan prince was kinda ... scary. He laughed hysterically a whole lot, and bugged out his eyes, and clapped his hands, and his servant - who had sunglasses and a fez - summersaulted a lot. They wavered between racist and campy and funny, and yet we still felt sad for him when Portia said 'may all of his color choose me so.' It was a good balance. Tricky, but very good.)
Something that I thought was interesting, however, was the way they handled the whole Antonio/Bassanio relationship. I mean, my slasher-sense went off the moment I read the synopsis in my Shakespeare book, but some people *cough* Jeremy Irons *cough* don't play the relationship like that. The actors I saw did. Bassanio touched Antonio's knee a lot when begging him for money, and after Antonio said he was going to get money for his 'friend' (heh, 'friend' yeah ...) Bassanio grabbed Antonio's head with both hands and made as if to KISS HIM (and not on the lips, either, I mean full-frontal, fangirl-squee-inducing, Torchwood-worthy KISS) except Bassanio hesitated, then slumped a bit and didn't. I was very proud of myself. I did not squee. I merely muttered, during the scene-change that followed, "Ah ... so that's how they're playing it."
Later on, during the courtroom-scene, Antonio seems resigned to his death. He practically welcomes it, only wishing that he can see Bassanio before he gets cut up by Shylock. (Hrrrrm ...) Also, the character of Antonio is depressed even BEFORE his ships are lost and he's gonna have a pound of his flesh cut off, when Bassanio has 'left' him and is preparing to galivant off in pursuit of a WOMAN. (Girls, really now, HOW DID I MISS THIS BEFORE?!)
Really, Shakespeare was more of a PC guy than most people give him credit for, In a time when Jews were depicted as the Devil-incarnate (characters in Merchant call Shylock as much) Shakespeare made him a rather sympathetic character. He's easily the most believably human character in the play: one minute he's distraught about his daughter's elopement, the next he's screaming that he wishes she were dead instead of off with a Christian, wasting the money she stole from her own father, then next he's snarling for revenge against Antonio, directing all of his hate at a semi-innocent bystander. Shakespeare transformed the tale of a husband bludgeoning his wife into submission into a tale of mutual respect and love in a 'mad marriage.' He treats women as capable of handling themselves, abet through trickery and usually in the guise of men, and usually acheiving their heart's desires (ok, mostly men, but still, from Lady Macbeth to Helena from All's Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare nailed women.) AND he wrote Othello which ... yeah, I don't know much about Othello, it might be considered racist in this day and age, but considering he depicted a weathly white lady marrying a 'Moor' of her own free will and being true to him, I suspect it was kinda odd back in Shakespeare's day.
Besides, all that HoYay? I have a sneaking suspicion that Shakespeare knew exactly what he was writing when he wrote this:
ANTONIO: Commend me to your honorable wife:
Tell her the process of Antonio's end,
Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death;
And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.
BASSANIO: But life itself, my wife, and all the world
Are not with me esteemed above thy life;
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you. (IV,i)
See, Bassanio LOOOOOOOVES Portia, and she LOOOOOOOVES him back, and it's definately twu luv (as is Jessica and Lorenzo, despite the whole abandoning-your-family-and-culture-for-a-GUY) but Bassanio and Antonio had something going on in the past, (I suspect Bassanio eventually broke it off, becaues Antonio is sulking and Bassanio is trying to move on) but faced with loosing Antonio for good, Bassanio basically says 'screw life, the world, AND my hot, rich wife, I MUST SAVE MY EX-BOYFRIEND!' except he says it in iambic pentameter.
Closing Ceremonies:
So, the drummers are back, and this time it's with a vengance! They're in shinier Star Trek outfits, complete with gold bike helmets, and look as though, once done with this feat of syncronized precussion, they're prepared to leap out and compete in the last leg of a triatholon, or perhaps bike to London.
Ooooooo, more Christmas lights! And ... the skintight greeen outfits from the opening ceremonies! Yay! I love those!
The music, however, puts me more in mind of vaguely sinister children's choirs than anything else.
Ooooo ... flower! And Dr. Suess rip-offs! And flying drums! And rolling geometric circle-thingies! (I want one of those things to rdie to school, I don't CARE if I can't ride bikes, I'd LEARN to, to have one of those things!)
Pogo-sticks ... no, pogo-FEET! Kick. Ass.
Awwwwwwww, I love watching all the athletes racing in, cameras and all, brandishing and wearing flags ... made me grin. They all look so HAPPY. I particularly liked the people who leapt about and danced. I mean, hey, that's what I'd do, if I were there. I also liked the people who were carrying other people on their shoulders. That takes a lot of stammina, but, then again, stamina is what these people are all about.
Ack ... seeing the repeat of Johnson doing her gold-metal winning balance beam act STILL made me squeak in terror, just like when I saw it the first time.
Gah, I love the U.K.'s national anthem. I particularly love the bit about 'outwit their knavish tricks' (which, yeah, they didn't sing at the closing ceremony, but still) because it was a semi-central gag in a book I read a long, long time ago.
Ooooo ... I LOVED the whole thing with the London bus and the handing off of the soccer/football. Very cool/sweet. There'd better be some mention of Doctor Who in the opening and/or closing ceremonies of the next summer Olympics.
W00t! Led Zepplin FTW!
Ah, umbrellas ... so it really does rain a lot there in England, eh?
OMG DAVID BECKHAM! *squees*
HOLY SH ... those preformers are doing this as their FIRST TIME IN THE STATIUM?! *jaw is on floor*
*wibbles* I got kinda teary-eyed when the torch went out. I always do.
Whoa ... now the tower-thingy is ... undulating. With men in gold jumpsuits. It looks more like an unleaning Tower of Pisa to me.
Then the men do amazing things, and I start to bawl again. Seroiulsy, if you didn't see what those men in silver-and-red jumpsuits DID, you had better fucking go on youtube and SEE. I might myself, if I weren't so emotionally drained FROM A FRACKIN' TOWER-DANCE!
Eventually the tower looks more like a lava-lamp that got atatcked with streamers from a party, but then the streamer-things go up into the air, and I'm STILL CRYING. Then the fireworks go off and I'm STILL crying.
Ok, I know it's immature, but I love the commercial of the sumo wrestlers forming the shape of an airplane and taking off into the air. It's so SILLY.
On the subject of silly comercials, I like the one with Olympics montages set to 'The More We Get Together.' Dunno why, just strikes me as funny.
Yaaaaaay for singing and dancing in circles, ala Bat Mitzvas and Jewish weddings! And the colors and the singing and the spinning and the FIREWORKDS and the LIGHTS and the ...
I have no more words. It was amazing, and beautiful, and kick ass, and fantastic, and even more adjectives that have not been invented yet. No one will ever be able to top that, except, perhaps, the future Chinese people. The fireworks ALONE floored me. I mean, they shot up NUMBERS, how the hell do you manage THAT?
Well, that was fun. I'm tired, but happy, and kinda annoyed that I missed so many events. Maybe I'll watch some stuff on youtube later, but for me, it was never about the sports. Unless it's ice skating or competetive ballroom, nothing really gets me going. Except soccer. That I like, but don't watch nearly enough as I should.
So, England, four years from now ... you're gonna have your work cut out for you.
Please please PLEASE weasle in a mention of Doctor Who. PLEASE. Maybe a TARDIS, or a Dalek, or the actor who plays the current Doctor at that time. That's all I ask.
And please don't do any formation drumming. The Chinese have proven that they can easily kick ANYONE'S ass at formation ANYTHING, there's just no point in trying.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-25 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-25 06:25 pm (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2008-08-25 08:44 pm (UTC)I would like to say that, yes the lesbians die in V, but Valerie's story is so beautiful and sad and moving in ways I did not expect it to be. (I have had few positive experiences w/lesbians IRL, but the ones on LJ ROCK!) !!
Also read more on Sandman the collection A Game of You introduces a Lesbian couple Hazel and Foxglove who are main characters who enter into the dreaming to save their friend. (this volume also features the transexual Wanda)
Hazel and Foxglove have a few cameo appearances later in the series and in the Spin off story Death: The High Cost of Living and feature hugely in the sequel Death The Time of your Life.(in fact it is really more about them than Death)
Just so you know there are some lesbians who live in comics :)
Re: Yay!
Date: 2008-08-25 09:05 pm (UTC)Oh, Valerie's story was beautiful in the perfect tragic way, but still, recurring theme of lesbians dying makes me a little mad. Like the fact that there seems to be a bit too much of people murdering other people and chopping them up and feeding them to scary dogs in graphic novels. I mean, what's UP with these writers?!
Just so you know there are some lesbians who live in comics :)
Thank you for that! *huggles you* ... I might hold off on Batman until I'm done with Sandman ...