Beware the Ides of March

The Ides of March refers to the 15th of March.  Which is "today" in most parts of the world. Here in Alaska we still have a couple of hours to prepare. This was not a good day for Julius Ceaser and the warning to Beware the Ides of March was immortalized in William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar.

SCENE II. A public place.
Flourish. Enter CAESAR; ANTONY, for the course; CALPURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS BRUTUS, CICERO, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and CASCA; a great crowd following, among them a Soothsayer
CAESAR
Calpurnia!
CASCA
Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.
CAESAR
Calpurnia!
CALPURNIA
Here, my lord.
CAESAR
Stand you directly in Antonius' way,
When he doth run his course. Antonius!
ANTONY
Caesar, my lord?
CAESAR
Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say,
The barren, touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their sterile curse.
ANTONY
I shall remember:
When Caesar says 'do this,' it is perform'd.
CAESAR
Set on; and leave no ceremony out.

Flourish
Soothsayer
Caesar!
CAESAR
Ha! who calls?
CASCA
Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
CAESAR
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer

Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
What man is that?
BRUTUS
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR
Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS
Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR
What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
Soothsayer

Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.
Sennet. Exeunt all except BRUTUS and CASSIUS [from online-literature.com]

Beware the Ides of March: (Here's a link to the 1953 movie scene - unfortunately I can't find this with an embed code that would allow me to post it here.)

Fotunately, we have these playful admirers of Julius Caesar to perform this scene for us:




Here's what happens when you don't listen to soothesayers who know what they're talking about (This IS from that 1953 movie):




And for Tomás and other Spanish speaking visitors, here's Marlon Brando as Antony giving the "Friends, Roman, Countryman" speech dubbed in Spanish after Caesar's assassination.



And to push this into the absurd, here's Colosseum playing "The Ides of March" in 1969.  It seems to have echoes of Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale.



Finally, this murder happened in 44 BC. So which anniversary is it now in 2011? (I know, easy. But I have people who get here googling: "If I were born in 1910, how old would I be today?"