To the brotherhood!

Magnet #1258 - Degas signature

This Degas signature is the first in a set of about 33 artists signature magnets. I know. Wait til you see tomorrow's 63 magnets set.

Anyway, I picked this for today because I finally finished watching the BBC's Desperate Romantics, all about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of Millais, Hunt and Rossetti, and a few others, artists who banded together back in 1840s England. I could bore you with all the details of what they painted, and what they stood for, but that would defeat the purpose of watching this six-part miniseries.

The six-part miniseries that I thought DCSis had watched and liked, and therefore I felt like I had to sit through all six hours. Only to find out she barely made it through the first episode. Sigh. By the time I realized I didn't want to watch the rest of it...I was about five hours in. Goodness.

I definitely had to watch it, because I thought it'd be like the other BBC miniseries, The Impressionists, explaining the stories behind their famous works of art. Instead, I got Entourage, for artists...which is how they billed it. I don't mind Entourage at all, but honestly, I couldn't get into the backstabiness of these artists - true or not.

The best part of the movie was the one painting backstory that I really loved, that of Millais' Ophelia. In a magnificently cast role, the woman who posed for Ophelia, basically their Yoko (or Sloan) inadvertently causing strife between the boys, was superb and eerily a carbon copy for the real painting. If the series is to be believed, then while she was posing in a cold bathtub of water, she nearly drowned because of hypothermia and passing out in the water. Crazy.

The saddest part of the movie? Is watching how hard (or not hard) this band of brothers worked to make themselves known to the art world.

And in the end? Not a one was included in my magnet set of 35 artists.

"The course of true love...

Magnet #1249 - Course of true love

...never did run smooth."

- Lysander, A Midsummer Night's Dream

I'd been holding this magnet that I think I picked up at BEA for ages, figuring I'd use it for the Much Ado magnet post...but then they had that gorgeous David Tennant/Catherine Tate magnet.

So instead, I'll use it for the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Winter's Tale that I saw over the weekend. The RSC is visiting this summer, and have taken over the Park Avenue Armory - and when I mean, taken over, I mean, they up and built a whole darn theatre inside the giant hall.

Built to mirror their home theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Armory theatre is seriously three to four stories, with a stalls level, mezzanine and balcony. It's amazing. Mind you, it's hard for the oldies to get up and down off the barstool like seating in the mezz, but it's really very clever. And I've never seen such a nicer crew of ushers, even as some of the oldies were crotchety to them.

The Winter's Tale production itself was both simple and complicated, with moments of craziness that freaked me out a bit, intertwined with some chuckleworthy moments.

But as with most productions, I like to go into the theatre knowing as little about the production, the story or anything. That includes the reviews. In fact, after I finish writing this magnetpost, I'll go check out the NYTimes review.

This ignorance can sometimes be a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because I go in with a clean slate, not knowing if I'll like it, not predisposed to someone else's opinion running around in my head. A curse, because if I've never read the play or seen the movie, then I have absolutely no idea what the story is about.

I won't lie - I've never read the play, all I know is that it's the title for one of my fave Dawson's Creek eps ever. (Points if you know what episode that is.) But, as I watched this story of one man's jealousy destroying his family and kingdom, I realized it was not for me.

No matter how well acted or produced, or how terrific the production is...or even if they had a bear (yes, a bear), I just did not like the story at all. No surprise there, I think I may just be destined to not like Shakespearean tragedies. Maybe wanting happy endings makes me a simpleton, but I can live with that.

Nonetheless, if you get a chance to see the RSC this summer at the Armory - do it. So. Very. Cool.

eta:
Yep. Simpleton, it is.

#Muchado

Magnet #1210 - Much Ado About Nothing

Confession time. I follow a lot of folks on Twitter surrounding the David Tennant/Catherine Tate production of Much Ado About Nothing. A couple of the actors, a couple of the bloggers, a couple of the fansite folks, etc.

But that's not my confession.

My confession is that, despite following all those Twitterfeeds, I seriously had an OMG moment in London that #muchado was really for Much Ado.

Now, in my defense, I must have known at some point. But for some reason, in my head, #muchado had become a word, pronounced like the Spanish muchacha or muchacho.

It was one of those OMG moments of extreme stupidity, that has perhaps replaced all the other moments of extreme stupidity. And, I keep repeating it with a giggle now, Mooochadoh.

Which is why I can't really judge the two little teenyboppers who sat next to me at #Muchado. The ones who asked us was the play done, and where we were going at the interval.

No, really. They couldn't tell that the play had been left mid-story at the...interval?

But anyway, yay for David Tennant still reeling the young ones into Shakespeare.

And yay for not being ill for today's performance!!! Thank you SO much, David Tennant!

Ya'll have no idea how happy I was not to see the little sheet, or the hear the announcement saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the role of Benedick will be played by [insert understudy here]." I would have seriously gone down to the box office, and left a really not-nice note demanding a public apology from the man himself if I'd flown all the way over from the US twice and not seen him perform.

And, it was a great performance, too. There's a reason they're getting accolades, and it's not just cuz they're Doctor Who alum. They have fantastic chemistry (right up to the kissing, anyway, but I have trouble seeing David kiss anyone - weird, I know), and David and Catherine really made this Shakespeare dramedy fun to watch. They were surrounded by an excellent cast, which made it so much better.

The show was funny in the appropriate parts, a bit teary in others - in fact, a lot more teary than I expected. And, with it being set in 80s Malta, that just added a bit more fun to it. It's always fantastic seeing how different companies stage Shakespeare, the decisions they make with setting and costumes, the line deliveries, the add-ons, etc. I love it.

Mind you, no matter who is playing her, no matter what the production, I still regard Hero as the worst, most niminy-piminy heroine ever in the history of heroines, for taking Claudio back after the way he devastated her at the altar. I hate her for it.

I mean, really, you can totally tell a man wrote that story!

*eta:
I forgot! At the interval (actually, after a quick trip to the loo, where all the older ladies were wittering on about how versatile David was), I ran downstairs and found that they were selling magnets. (I dunno why I didn't check earlier, most of the Broadway shows have them, why wouldn't someone be savvy enough to make magnets for me.)

So I bought five. For my sisters and friends. And me. I mean, damn, it's a helluva magnet!

"Good fortune come to thee."

Magnet #1145 - Good Fortune

I picked up this magnet in DC at the Folger Shakespeare Library, during their really interesting Henry VIII exhibit last year.

It's such a cool place to go, if you're at all interested in the Bard - I admit, I rushed through it, having packed it in with a visit to the Capitol and the Supreme Court. Yes. All three in one day.

Still, even rushed, I totally loved seeing all the Henry VIII artifacts - my favorite was young Henry’s copy of Cicero, inscribed: “Thys Boke Is Myne Prynce Henry.”

Anyway, I was going save this magnet for when we see David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing in London in June. It's kinda funny, but when I bought the magnet just before New Year's, I figured I would eventually do an amusing (and probably slightly whiny) post about how the last year's been hard, but maybe soon fortune would smile.

But, I'm using it for today, because we're going into 2.5 months into The New Normal and we're still in this ridiculous healthcare holding pattern of let's solicit yet another opinion from yet another doctor, so they can take two weeks to decide what to do, and possibly send him for more tests so that we can figure out more levels and whatnot before they decide what to do. This morning, we're going for yet another follow-up with yet another specialist, so we need all the good fortune karma we can get at this point.

Hopefully, we find out what our next steps are in about six hours.

Wish us luck!

Thou crusty batch of nature

Magnet #810 - Shakespeare's Troilus & Cressida

I haven't read Shakespeare's Troilus & Cressida, but I am really, really enjoying this Shakespearean insult. I like the idea of yelling it out loud, while like shaking my fist in the air.

I know, I know, you think I'm angry at something again.

And while I am, I'm conceding that there are bigger problems in this world right now. Like for example, Tar Balls on Louisiana's coastline. As each day goes by, and the more pictures I see online, I find myself conflicted about the oil spill and how we've offended Mother Nature with our need for black gold.

On the one hand, we need the oil. The human race has no choice but to mine what we can from the only Earth we have - because clearly (unless they're really building ships in the mountains of China or some such thing), we're not going anywhere. We have to do it.

Other energy alternatives are great, too, but I'm totally fine with drilling. It's not fair to rely on other regions to supply the oil, and then not allow it off our own shores. Mind you, don't get confused, I'm not joining the Drill, Baby, Drill coalition. Politics aside, that's just how I feel.

On the other hand, this oil spill is clearly a wake-up call to regulate and monitor our offshore drilling better. We shouldn't have needed 5,000 barrels a day pouring into the Gulf of Mexico to push folks into thinking about that.

And still on the other hand, if you've ever seen a map of just how much offshore drilling is taking place just in the GOM (never mind the North Sea, Africa, etc.), you'd understand that it's a miracle that this kind of disaster doesn't happen more often. As it is, it's been 40 years since this kind of drilling incident has occurred in the U.S.

On the other, other hand, there's sad little wildlife involved, and I find myself wondering if I've bought enough Dawn dishwashing detergent to help them out any. There's whole families and businesses and industries that will suffer tremendously in the aftermath of this catastrophe, and I find myself wondering if all of that drilling is worth the such a high cost.

I don't know. This is a magnetblog, not HuffPo. Clearly, I've run out of hands to solve this riddle.

And, of course, we don't yet know half the lessons we'll learn from this last month.

In the meantime, I'm just anxiously following all the industry Twitterfeeds for the latest news, while steadfastly eschewing Sunday morning television, where I've learned that all they do is talk, talk, talk and place blame...but never really solve anything.

And perhaps from time to time, I'll quietly...

*shakes fists* Thou crusty batch of nature!!!


eta:
Interesting. So I found this Foreign Policy article on the five biggest oil spills worldwide. When all is said and done, Deepwater Horizon's spill might be only in the top 15 in the world. Whoa.

The glass of fashion*

Magnet #756 - John Everett Millais' Ophelia

I know. I can't help it. She kinda looks how I feel right now, a little bedraggled and run over.

Part has to do with this crazy rain today. The other part, well, whatever, it's a magnetblog, dudes.

So, I bought this magnet at the Yale Center for British Art - such a great museum, for the art, for the architecture. Still, I squealed a little dance of joy because this was my best find of the day. I was so happy to find this as a magnet, because I saw this painting at the Tate in London, and they didn't have the magnet for it!

I absolutely love this painting of poor drowned Ophelia, Hamlet's sister. I'll concede it's a more than a little dark, and I know when I saw it in person, it irked crap out of me, because I was in London and not able to see David Tennant's Hamlet and I was still ticked over that and will likely not get over it for a while, but whatever, because you know he's totally coming to Broadway at some point in his life, and it'll probably be in a play that I'll never want to go see, but will go see more than a couple times, and probably stalk the theatre door, just because he'll finally be on my home turf. Anyway, moving on.

I'll leave the background learning up to you and the Tate description, mostly because I'm refusing to use the word Pre-Raphaelite in a magnetpost and not really know (or honestly care) what it means. Of course, now I know having read that description what it means, but I'm still not using it.

The very word just seems too, too lofty here on joy magnetism. So, lay on, Macjoy.

What? Oh, like I wasn't going to pun it. Or include David Tennant in reference to this particular magnet. Hahaha. Nope. I'm not bitter at all.


*Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1, 150–154

eta:
Why? Why do I always think that Ophelia is Hamlet's sister? Kudos to Jenny for pointing it out. But I shan't fix it above. Because I'm kinda wondering what my mental block is about it!

eta2:
She's Laertes' sister. And yet, in my head, Ophelia/Hamlet, sibyay. You'd think I didn't go see Hamlet.

I did, though. I have the notice about David Tennant's absence to prove it. Grrr.

The undead, really won't die!

Magnet #560 - Shakespeare's Macbeth

Oh, Shakespeare, how little did you know that your work would be used for a superUOA in 2009? An Unpopular Opinion Ahead so unpopular, it could get me staked, even.

I loved The Lost Boys in the 80s. I loved the silly Dark Shadows remake in the 90s. And, like everyone else, I loved/watched/own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I even watched Moonlight and Blood Ties. I dabbled in reading Laurell K. Hamilton back in the day.

Now? I am so over this vampire thing already. There's such a thing as striking while an iron is hot, but seriously? Seriously. There's the:

• True Blood books
• True Blood TV series
• True Blood beverages
• True Blood advertising, social media activity and cons

• Twilight books
• Twilight movies
• Twilight advertising, social media activity and cons

• Being Human TV series
• Being Human advertising

• Vampire Diaries re-released books (which predate those Twilight books)
• Vampire Diaries TV series (written by Kevin Williamson so it'll end up a vampy version of Dawson's Creek and scares me a bit)
• Vampire Diaries advertising blitz (Even though I actually kinda love the promo shots, and I'm not sure how I'll like Ian Sommerhalder as the bad vamp and Paul Wesley as the good vamp, and there's a part of me that thinks like how DC ended up as Pacey's Pond? Vampire Diaries is gonna be Boone's Journal, or some such thing.)

And, I totally know there's more out there. But, my fingers got tired.

But all of that? That's just on TV. Not counting movies. Not even counting every single vampire romance/sci-fi/fantasy book series, webseries, comics and manga series out there. 67,000 search results under books alone on Amazon!

What. The. Hell.

Literally.

I swear, no offense to anyone who is in love with the glittery Edward, or dug (yuk-yuk) the Bill/Sookie cemeterysex, or who's reading the latest vampire romance..but everywhere I turn these days, there's another bloodsucking image, and complete vampire market saturation.

So, yeah. Over. It. Someone get a vampire slayer in here stat.

No, wait. They already did that.

Meek bears, the lot

Magnet #468 - Meek Bears, Shakespeare

So, yeah, I thought I could make it happy month of magnets...

Sorry. Needed something quick because people are a little crazy-making. (It's true, they are.)

And, this was in my handy-dandy photobucket cache of magnet images. (Really, who actually has a cache of images of their own magnets. C'mon.)

And bonus, I'm a little of this mind right now.

From Timon's yelly speech at his not-so-friendly-after-all friends in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens:

Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher‐friends, time's flies,
Cap‐and‐knee slaves, vapours, and minute‐jacks!

Me want cookie! Meeeee want coooookie!

Magnet #324 - Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

Ha. I'm getting more mileage out of these Shakespeare insults than I'd ever imagined. I was gonna use this for a whole McDonald's post, but I figure eventually I'll find a McD's magnet.

What do you do after having a crap crappity week that wasn't necessarily a comedy of errors? You go for the comfort food. Which is what I've done this weekend. In less than 30 minutes, I managed to fill my little reusable shopping bag with goodies of the baked variety.

I ended up at Buttercup Bakery, for these two cupcakes. And then Levain Bakery and Jacques Torres' new Upper West Side location for these cookies.

In the end, the only thing I've eaten is the Chocolate Chip Walnut, which was insanely fabulous. Seriously. So big, you need two glasses of milk to finish it off. And, warmed in the oven to melty chocolate goodness, it was amazing. All other cookies pale in comparison. I may never buy cookies from anywhere else again. In fact, I kinda wish I could take everything else back, and buy another chocolate chip walnut. Good. Gravy.

Mmmmm, cookies. No, it doesn't make the crap crappity stuff go away, but it sure does make it easier to get through.

eta:
What fun! Mentalfloss did a blogpost with 20 stories about the Muppets, with Cookie Monster as the number 1 story. That's happy-making. How funny is it that Cookie Monster started out a General Foods concept, then an IBM corporate training vid.

Home again, home again

Magnet #303 - Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

Well, this Shakespearean insult was what I was gonna use if Hamlet was bad earlier this week.

But, now, I'm using it as today's magnet, because it's very much how I feel after a day of traveling.

So, even though I've bought more than a dozen magnets this trip, this is me right now, as dull as night.

Oh, incidentally, how funny that I came home to the RSC's PR letter apologizing for David Tennant dropping out of the London run. Not anything different from the email, on message, properly apologetic - even though, honestly, it's not like it's their fault David's back went wonky. (Personally, I blame Georgia Moffat. Just because I can.)

But, I say, RSC, since you have my address, I'll be waiting for my signed program. IJS.

So yeah, no, there's no Doctor in the house

Magnet #300 - Shakespeare's Henry VI

What, you thought I'd do another breakdown of today's day? Eh, I might edit this post later tonight, but we all know that big ticket item today is tonight's performance of David Tennant's Hamlet.

No. Wait. I mean, it was the big ticket. Now, I'm going to see Edward Bennett's Hamlet. I'm sure it'll be fine, I keep telling myself. One thing I'm glad for is that at least I'm seeing it a week into his run - they've had time to tuck into their new roles and what not. Plus, there's the whole Q&A session after the show. I'm looking forward to hearing someone ask Patrick Stewart how he was able to cram both Macbeth and Hamlet into one year. (I'm sure the answer will be properly self-deprecating, but come on, folks, it's Patrick Stewart - who else could make it so.)

Sigh. Anyway.

I do think it's a bit ironical that I haven't any Shakespearean insults from Hamlet. Thwarted again. Hah. I was gonna use another one - "As dull as night" from Merchant of Venice, but who knows, maybe Edward will convince me to actually like Hamlet.

I do hope David Tennant's recuperating well, really, I do. Or, as one of my friends said last night, maybe he'll be over at the BBC during our tour this morning.

What? Maybe they don't have direct deposit!

Oh! Speaking of celeb sightings. Last night, in the tube, I saw a business suit-wearing guy go by me who was a carbon copy of Prince William. I don't suppose Prince William's doing a stint as a businessman right now, is he?

Yep. In my version of the story, he totally is. Cuz that was totally him. No, really. I swear.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

Magnet #293 - David Tennant's Hamlet

Alas, 'twas not to be.

Surely by now, wherever you are across the globe, you've heard my whimpering over the news that David Tennant's in hospital, going in for back surgery today. I wish him all the glitter in the world, and hope they give him the good drugs upon his recovery. Truly, I do.

If we've learned anything about him in the last few years, we know he's probably in lots of pain superupset with himself that he's having to miss half of the RSC's Hamlet run in London. And, he's probably superduperupset over disappointing all the superduperupset ticketholders and travellers from afar.

It's kinda crazy because the hubbub is all about him missing performances and "gutting" all those ticketholders. Where are the fangurls worried about the man himself? The guy's going into surgery, for goodness sake! He can't help it!

Jeepers.

As for me, I'll admit that my ticket for next Thursday's performance was a big part of my reason for going to London again. Otherwise, I probably would have held off on another visit until say, the 2012 Olympics. But, it's London, so this trip is still gonna be superduperawesome without David Tennant signing this magnet. And look, I don't have to fight any crowds or wait huddled in the cold!

Of course, I was sort of counting on he and Patrick Stewart to make me love Hamlet, instead of hating it. But, no matter. It's the RSC - the production will still blow me away. And judging by the reviews so far, Edward Bennett has acquitted himself pretty well, so I'm still very much looking forward to seeing the show anyway.

In the meantime, best wishes for a speedy recovery, David.

Mondays suck

Magnet #199 - Taming of the Shrew

Let's hope today's magnet won't be a portent of well, today.

Just a little reminder to keep myself in check, is all.

As I would have liked it

Magnet #58 - Shakespeare's As You Like It

So, apparently David Tennant has the power to sell out Hamlet in Stratford-Upon-Avon for his entire run - from July through November. Impressive.

There I go again, thinking people wouldn't be interested in whatever interests me. I dunno why I thought it'd be easy to get tickets - I guess that makes me the fool in this play.

I picked up this packet of Shakespearean insults in Stratford a couple of years ago. Apparently, no insults in Hamlet were good enough to include in this set.

Oh, well, I do have this manga Hamlet excerpt to look at. (Yeah, you read right, Shakespeare's been manga'd.)

He's either rolling in his grave...or he's waiting for the anime feature film.