Shakespeare, Rex Harrison, and a bit of a ramble

Megan (of Stitch by Stitch over there on the blogroll) and I have embarked on a noble quest - to read all of the Shakespeare we hadn't yet encountered. We tallied up, and with the exception of The Tempest, which I had both seen and studied, we were precisely equal. Considering that we grew up on opposite sides of the country, and had rather different educational experiences pre-college, I think this says something about which plays are performed the most often! We are omitting the Histories (so many Henrys!) because this is our game and our rules. So far we have read The Tempest and Merry Wives of Windsor. Next is Titus Andronicus. Eeew.  We read the plays aloud, which is the only way, and look up obscure words as we go. It really is quite educational, not to mention a good way to spend an afternoon, or three. For now our readings have replaced The Great Tradition as my "academic" pastime, because I am going to wait for Maddie (from Modern Misfit over there) before I proceed with blogging TGT. Part of the fun (most of it, really) is the dynamic back and forth of discussion, so I am officially putting us on hiatus.

On a completely unrelated note - you should all go watch The Honey Pot (1967) just to witness Rex Harrison ballet dance around his room. Also, Maggie Smith has always been amazing. The movie is very "60's" in pacing and dialogue, but the cast is great and Venice, well, even when it is just a set it is worth visiting.

We finally watched The King's Speech last night, and it was everything we'd hoped. I had read Logue's biography, written by one of his grandsons, and was pleased to see that so much of the movie agreed with that account of things. They changed the timeline a bit and removed a lot of detail, but given the complexity of the real events, I think they did a splendid job. The cinematography was so striking and calm, it helped to convey the gravity of the situation, as well as the unique personalities involved. *sigh* So good.

I am reading an account of Germany post-WWII, which has been really good so far, but I found a sentence fragment, just hangin' out in the middle of a page. Does no one edit these things? One book I read by a very prestigious historian of flight and air warfare was so full of errors (of grammar and spelling) that I had to stop after a few chapters. I really hate when a book on an interesting subject, by a well-informed author is poorly edited. Much like Orlando Bloom, it ruins everything.