As You Like It Sheds Light on Sarah Palin

We went to see As You Like It this afternoon. Basically, I wanted to hear Philip Munger's songs. You can listen here. And you really should have this playing while you read the rest of this.

Sitting through a Shakespeare play, even a relatively light one like this, I was reminded of why we still put on his plays 400 years after he wrote them. If only more Americans would know the characters of Shakespeare the way they know the Desperate Housewives, perhaps this election season would be less contentious. While I would particularly like the people flocking to cheer our governor to have been schooled in Shakespeare, it would also be good for those who are Obama supporters, so that their expectations for his possible Presidency will be realistic.

In any case, I was struck by this early conversation between Oliver - hero Orlando's older brother who has kept Orlando from gaining his inheritance - and a wrestler Orlando has challenged.

As You Like it By William Shakespeare, George Lyman Kittredge:

Oliver: "... I tell thee, Charles, it is the stubbornest young fellow of France; full of ambition, an envious emulator of every man's good parts, a secret and villainous contriver against me his natural brother: therefore use thy discretion; I had as lief thou didst break his neck as his finger. And thou wert best look to't; for if thou dost him any slight disgrace, or if he do not mightily grace himself on thee, he will practise against thee by poison, entrap thee by some treacherous device, and never leave thee till he hath ta 'en thy life by some indirect means or other; for, I assure thee, and almost with tears I speak it, there is not one so young and so villainous this day living."

The wrestler Charles agrees to take care of Orlando should he show up for the match.

Oliver: Farewell good Charles. [Exit CHARLES] Now will I stir this gamester: I hope I shall see an end of him; for my soul, yet I know not why, hates nothing more than he. Yet he's gentle; never school'd, and yet learned; full of noble device of all sorts; enchantingly beloved; and indeed so much in the heart of the world, and especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am altogether misprised. But it shall not be so long; this wrestler shall clear all; nothing remains but that I kindle the boy thither; which now I'll go about. [Exit]"

I dare say we know of those who knowingly lie about their rivals in hopes that their 'wrestler' friends will dispatch them. And, sad to say, were the wrestler to know the truth, I suspect he'd dispatch him anyway.

Oliver lies to Charles, totally misrepresents Orlando's character, knowingly. Why? Because Orlando's goodness blocks Oliver's ambitions. Of course, we know no one like this. No one who speaks untruths about rivals who block their path to power.

But in As You Like It, this sort of jealousy of another who makes oneself look bad in comparison comes up again. Soon after the scene above, Duke Frederick, who, has housed Rosalind after he expelled her father years ago, has decided Rosalind too must go.

[Enter Duke FREDERICK with Lords]
Duke F: Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste, And get you from our Court.
Ros: Me? uncle?
Duke F: You, cousin:
Within these ten days if that thou be'st found
So near our public Court as twenty miles,
Thou diest for it.

Rosalind, appealing to logic and reason, asks what she has done to cause this.

Ros: I do beseech your Grace,
Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me;
If with myself I hold intelligence,
Or have acquaintance with mine own desires;
If that I do not dream, or be not frantic, --
As I do trust I am not, -- then, dear uncle,
Never so much as in a thought unborn,
Did I offend your Highness.

The Duke then basically says, I don't have to answer your questions, I'll just start another line of attack. Oh, my, this starts sounding so familiar. You are a traitor he tells her. Your words are pretty, but no one can trust your words.

Duke F: Thus do all traitors:
If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itself;
Let it suffice thee, that I trust thee not.

Rosalind, still using reason, responds:

Ros: Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor
Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.

Duke F: Thou art thy father's daughter there's enough.

Does this not sound terribly familiar? How is it that Obama is a Muslim if not because "he art his father's son"? How do Reverend Wright's words make Obama a traitor?

Ros: So was I when your Highness took his dukedom:
So was I when your Highness banish d him:
Treason is not inherited my lord;
Or if we did derive it from our friends,
What's that to me? my father was no traitor.
Then, good my liege, mistake me not so much
To think my poverty is treacherous.

Oh dear, poverty is very near community organizing. Now Duke Frederick's daughter, Celia, pleads on behalf of her dearest friend.

Cel: Dear sovereign hear me speak.

Duke F: Ay Celia; we stay'd her for your sake,
Else had she with her father ranged along.

Basically, we kept this traitor because of you, her father tells her. But she disputes this lie.

Cel: I did not then entreat to have her stay;
It was your pleasure and your own remorse;
I was too young that time to value her;
But now I know her: if she be a traitor,
Why, so am I; we still have slept together;
Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together;
And, wheresoe'er we went like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupled and inseparable.

Every lie the Duke constructs is torn down, and finally, he tells her the truth. It is similar to Oliver's truth about Orlando: Stupid Celia, Rosalind is so good, she makes you look terrible in comparison. That's why she must go.

Duke F: She is too subtle for thee; and her smoothness,
Her very silence, and her patience,
Speak to the people, and they pity her.
Thou art a fool: she robs thee of thy name;
And thou wilt show more bright and seem more virtuous
When she is gone. Then open not thy lips:
Firm and irrevocable is my doom
Which I have pass'd upon her: she is banish'd.

Fortunately, Palin and her right wing spewers of hate (I got another email pointing me to another racist anti-Obama YouTube video today) cannot decree McCain's election as easily as the Duke can banish Rosalind. They can only hope that they can con enough Americans to feel the same fears about Obama, that they willingly buy into their lies and vote for McCain.

A lot of Kings, Dukes, Emperors, etc. (no Presidents in those days) are murdered in Shakespeare's plays and Sarah Palin's speeches have been getting people to say those sorts of things out loud. If Obama were harmed by anyone, this country's future would be grimmer than grim. The only people who would 'win' are those who would rather be dead than see a Black man President.

So, go see or read Shakespeare. Yes, it takes a bit to get used to the old words. If you don't read an annotated version, you won't recognize all the references that Shakespeare's contemporary audience would have understood. But he is much more understandable than Jon Stewart will be in 400 years, and has lots to teach us about human beings.

Well, maybe someone more familiar than I with the characters in Desperate Housewives or some other relevant TV show can figure out which characters would help get the undecideds to understand what is going on.



The pictures: The poster. (You can buy tickets before the performance in the Theater and Arts Building at UAA. Free parking on Fridays nights and weekends. There's a discount for 15 or more people. How about a bloggers' night at the theater to hear Phil's music?)

Some of the cast after the performance.

Walking home.

Art in Motion - West High Dance Performance

This is a follow up of yesterday's post about interesting stuff going out of sight that having kids helps you to find. In the evening we went to West High's Dance Department's show. Wow! This was good stuff - original choreography, interesting music, great lighting, and some fine dancing. I've seen little kids from Barbara's School of Dance to the Martha Graham Dance Troupe at West High. This was closer to the Martha Graham in quality and interest.




I didn't get going with the video until the first three pieces were over, but here's a hint.

The video does give you a good sense of the variety and quality of what we saw last night. Lori Bradford, I'm told, is the Dance teacher who is basically responsible and she's listed as the director for the show. Leslie Kimiko Ward choreographed several of the pieces and danced solo in Spectrum. Michael Alfaro is listed as a guest artist in Moving Statues, and if he's the dancer I caught in that one, you can see why I highlight him. There were lots and lots of talented students and it was good to see that they had various shapes. They were all good dancers. It reminds me of some of the great things going on in the Anchorage School District.

The program says you can buy a DVD of the performance if you email creativemotionproductions@gmail.com.


[Video has been closed to public access at request of Lori Bradford. Recognizable faces on photos have been blurred also.]



In the hallway after the performance.

Breaking Bad Habits Through TaeKwonDo Kickathon

Today was one of those days that reminded me

• how much I'm missing because my kids are grown up and gone
• how much is happening, but invisible
  
  
  
  
  

I got invited to see some friends at their TaeKwonDo Kickathon. If you drive, even walk or bike, by this mall, you'd have no idea of the excitement going on inside. In other cultures much of what is going on is much more out in the open and the whole community is at least aware if not involved. But here, lots of things are going on, well hidden from the rest of the world.




Malls like this aren't built for bikers. The positive spin would be this is a "natural and recyclable" bike rack. There are a lot of these in Anchorage, but not enough near destinations if more people start biking.




But what could be more fun for kids that breaking things and making noise. I have to say they were also very quiet and attentive when they were supposed to be, but they were also given time to break boards and make noise. All in the framework of breaking boards as an inspiration to break bad habits. (The only actual bad habit I heard about that someone was breaking was biting fingernails.)

So, here's the video.



Here's S taking his kindling home.

Fall or Winter or Fall?

First it snowed. Then the cottonwood lost its leaves. This was yesterday.


The Steller Jay came by to see what he could scavange. The snow's all melted and there are a lot more leaves on the deck. (I raked them later.)



Today in the front, there are mostly mountain ash leaves on the ground. Some birch.

This evening we walked around Goose Lake.

Celebrate Trash

OK, I have no problem with putting up signs so people can find their events, but when it's over, take them down please. There's another one across the intersection too.

Yom Kippur Begins This Evening [Whoops, this never went up]

From Judaism 101:

Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or attend synagogue services on this day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri. The holiday is instituted at Leviticus 23:26 et seq.

The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. In Days of Awe, I mentioned the "books" in which G-d inscribes all of our names. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.

As I noted in Days of Awe, Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Talmud also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur

A good meal with family and friends before beginning services and fasting is customary.

Computer Art and Design

I've mentioned obliquely that I'm taking a class at UAA this semester. It's a computer art class taught by Mariano Gonzales. Actually, I've taken this class ten or 11 years ago, but the technology was somewhat different then. The shock then after the first day was that, "Oh dear, all the other students are artists." But I managed to survive.

So far, we're slowly playing (literally, we are supposed to be playing and experimenting) with basic tools in Photoshop and Painter. So, midterm time is next week and Prof. G talked about the exam on Monday. We will have a set of steps in which we will do certain things and play with certain tools. Prof. G gave us a demonstration, though he didn't precisely tell us the steps - he'll do that today. Basically, he started with one square. Duplicated the square and made it a different color. Then through grouping and copying and pasting, developed a checker board. Then distorted it, used the perspective tool. Added a sky. Then used the oval tool to make an egg, and then on and on. Here are some pictures of the transformation.









I didn't have much time Monday after this demonstration, because I was going to the funeral. But I did start my own version of what I thought were the steps. I, of course, have to be different so I made ovals instead of squares. Then stacked them up. I realized as I was shutting down the computer that I should have made two different colored ovals. Oh well, we'll get the precise steps today and see what students did with this in the past today.

Obama Wins Debate in First Five Minutes

The debate isn't even ten minutes old, but for me Obama won this debate when he said his choice for Treasury Secretary is Warren Buffet. He did say there were other qualified people, but that Buffet was one of his advisers and a great choice.

The economy is the biggest problem as we go into the election. I can't think of anyone who is more respected in this country in the area of business and investing than Warren Buffet.

OK, I know there's still about 75 minutes left in this debate.

Morris Ellis - Farewell after 100 Years

I had a post at the beginning of the year on famous people born in 1908. I could only confirm one who was still alive - Claude Levy Strauss. But there was a man here in Anchorage who was born September 9, 1908 who was at least famous in his family - with his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren.

Morris Ellis died Saturday October 4, 2008. Yesterday was his funeral. I'd only met him once or twice, but his son and daughter-in-law are people I feel very close to. At the funeral I learned about this family patriarch from his sons, and grandchildren.

1908. Four years after the Wright Brothers flew their plane at Kitty Hawk. Mr. Ellis worked for the US Post Office after leaving school in the 8th grade. Here's a picture of him with his Post Office delivery truck.



Later, he joined the navy and worked in Algeria - at a Naval Postal facility - during WW I. He moved his family from New York to Los Angeles after enjoying the weather in Algeria.

Eventually he came to Alaska about ten years ago with his wife at the invitation of his children and grandchildren.

A life ends. A rich, long life. Celebrated by a large and loving family.

Democrats Have Developed Anti-Swift Boat Attack Weapons System

Sarah Palin and others have been talking about Obama's supposed close friendship with Bill Ayers, who back in the 60's was a member of the Weather Underground involved in anti-war bombings.

She doesn't mention that Ayers was never convicted of anything and is now a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois - Chicago. The Washington Post Fact Checker looks at the whole story if you want more on this. As many have pointed out, Obama was eight years old when Ayers was in the Underground.

This sort of sniping from the Republicans - piecing together the flimsiest facts and blowing them up into a completely new and blatantly false, out of context, accusation - has a long history in US presidential campaigns, from Willie Horton, to Swift Boat, and to stuff like this.

What's new, is that the Democrats seem to have been ready for this and in response have released a very slick - music, shots, story - video about McCain's involvement in the Keating Five affair.




We'll see how the facts of this video play out, but the narrator was a banking regulator who was intimately involved in the trying to regulate Lincoln Savings. He's now a professor at the University of Kansas and the author of at least two books on this subject. Here are book reviews the University of Missouri Kansas City Law School Web Page on Black cites:

His book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One (University of Texas Press 2005) has been called “a classic” by George Akerlof, the Nobel Laureate (Economics, 2001).

More directly related is this:

Robert Kuttner, in his Business Week column, proclaimed:


Black's book is partly the definitive history of the savings-and-loan industry scandals of the early 1980s. More important, it is a general theory of how dishonest CEOs, crony directors, and corrupt middlemen can systematically defeat market discipline and conceal deliberate fraud for a long time -- enough to create massive damage.

Just compare the Palin speech and accusations to the Obama campaign produced video with Professor William Black. You can't help but believe that Black knows a lot more about Keating and McCain than Palin knows about Ayers and Obama. And that Black's motivation seems a lot less self serving than does Palin's.

The real story in my mind, though, is the Obama campaign seems to have developed an anti-swiftboat weapon. Do they have others ready and waiting in case the McCain campaign decides to keep fabricating more stories about Obama?