29 May
Ahhhh...the long weekend, at last.
Yesterday was a funny day at work, getting things done, but with no great urgency, partially because The Raccoon has been sick for a week, so even though she was there, she was a little loopy, and I decided to recut some checks on which mistakes were made, in some cases over a month ago, that I had just let pile up, and that took most of the day.
I kind of had a headache, as I didn't have tons of sleep the night before and I was still annoyed that it wasn't the weekend yet, but at one point The Evil Overlord said, apropos of the horrible new way to enter PO invoices (invoices that were ordered through purchase orders, i.e. lab stuff):
"Would you say that the PO invoices are more than 50% of the total of all of your invoices?"
"No, I'd say that they're about 50%, but not more."
"And how many of those have multiple line items?"
(This because rather than entering a total amount, we have to go over it line by line, making certain that the prices match up and put in how many we received of each item, etc.)
"Probably about half of them have four or more line items."
"Would you like to go back to the way you used to do it?"
"O yes pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase I'll love you forever!!!!!"
"Well, I'll think about it."
And magically I was happy as the day is long and my headache was completely gone! Man, if this works out, I'll never call her The Evil Overlord again!
I left work around 7p, earlier than usual, but at that point everyone else had been gone for hours (and when I say everyone else, I mean Admin, not the lab, say, where they do the real work!), and it was still light out and simply beautiful--87° but no humidity and a light breeze.
The most perfect start of the holiday weekend imaginable.
I walked up to Lincoln Square to see Notting Hill, but the show sold out literally one second before I got to the cashier, so I decided to see A Midsummer Night's Dream instead.
The thing with Midsummer is that if you are connected with the theatre at all you have seen it 100 times. Everybody does it, it's a relatively simple Shakespeare, always a crowd pleaser, fun to do in an outdoor setting (any sort of Shakespeare in the Park thing, besides the Public's, will always include it on the bill) lots of meaty roles for all ages, etc.
I have not only seen Midsummer more than any other Shakespeare play, I have seen it more than any other play at all, including an astonishing version staring Alex Jennings (one of my favourite English actors) as Theaseus/Oberon and Barry Lynch as Philostrate/Puck several years ago at the RSC that was incredible sexual--the idea being that fairies are elementals and sex is an element.
So the movie was following a whole lot of great productions, and you know what? It aquitted itself nicely!
There is a difference between a good actor and a good Shakespearian actor--a good Shakespearian actor sounds like he is talking, not like he is "speaking Shakespeare", and though not everyone in the movie was a good Shakespearian actor, more were than were not.
David Strathairn, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci (though I wasn't entirely crazy about his interp--it was too close to Barry Lynch's without being as effortless), Anna Friel, Christian Bale, John Sessions (who shone even though Philostrate's long monologue was cut) and Dominic West are good Shakespearian actors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart, and Sophie Marceau are not, though Michelle was good anyway, as she looked so perfect for the role, it just seemed as though the language didn't quite fit in her mouth.
All of the mechanicals were wonderful, of course. I have never seen a bad bunch of mechanicals and usually the fairies and the Athenians have to scramble to keep up, but this was an especially tight group, with Kevin Kline as a heartbreaking Bottom, and my adored Roger Rees as Peter Quince.
It really was the Bottom story as never before. A man who dreams of loving and being loved by a queen, but ends up back in his life at the end.
One interesting thing was the fact that there were people in the audience who clearly didn't know the story! I find that astonishing myself, but it was gratifying to hear surprised laughter when Titania says "What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?"
This is the kind of movie that makes Shakespeare accessible without dumbing it down for the masses--it makes people realize that Shakespeare is neither boring nor hard to grasp when done well. Nothing ruins Shakespeare faster or more thoroughly than studying it in high school.
For a dissenting view that actually starts at the same place, that we know Midsummer better than our own elbows, see Columbine's entry for today!
Today's horoscope:
Excitement needs are accentuated today. Do something physically active if possible, that provides a sense of aliveness and vitality.
One year ago today:
"Coming up, more information on the shooting death of Phil Hartman" and I just froze.
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Last Updated Sat 30 May 13:40:09 1999