Blue Magnolia

Went to see a rather good production of 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Playhouse last night and was reminded of this poem by Carol Ann Duffy, from 'The Bees':

Mrs Schofield's GCSE

You must prepare your bosom for his knife,
said Portia to Antonio in which
of Shakespeare's Comedies? Who killed his wife,
insane with jealousy? And which Scots witch
knew Something wicked this way comes? Who said
Is this a dagger which I see? Which Tragedy?
Whose blade was drawn which led to Tybalt's death?
To whom did dying Caesar say Et tu? And why?
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark - do you
know what this means? Explain how poetry
pursues the human like the smitten moon
above the weeping, laughing earth; how we
make prayers of it. Nothing will come of nothing:
speak again. Said by which King? You may begin.

Maybe it was being accompanied by a bored teen that did it - Tom's attitude being that he'd now 'done' R&J and thus didn't, ever, have to think of it again, let alone contemplate possibly, ever, actually enjoying it - but it made me think how it's actually quite nice to just go and see a bit of the old Shakespeare as a 40-something with no agenda or exam to pass or person to impress or point to make or whatever. I didn't expect a lot but enjoyed it a great deal.


I was also thinking, before I got into all that, that I'd maybe 'do a middleman' today, and link to a bit of music that's been amusing me. Normally I can't be bothered, but here's a concept that requires a bit of illustration, I think. Perhaps we should call it 'twee-goth' or, maybe, 'doom-indie' - I'm not sure of the particular specific micro-genre in this case. Anyway, as the aforementioned teen might say, "I'm afraid that's inappropriate" but I think I like it. I can see it now, the 'That's Inappropriate Halloween Special', this year starring the post-Danzig Misfits (all traces of acual Satanism removed), with special guests Jeffrey Lewis (but only the songs about zombies and aliens) and this lot with their cute jangly songs about graveyards and suicide. I'll make a few calls and book the venue...