schmevil

Two bits from the play that I'm currently grappling with, both spoken by the pseudonymous Henry V:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. ( Read more... )

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
(4.2.44-67)

Rawr! That Henry. Great motivational speaker. Massive dick. Henry V, ladies and gentlemen.

The Kenneth Branagh St. Crispian here, and here, going into the breach. Oh Branagh.

In me news...

- Went to see Des Fraises en Janvier. Very cute. Lulz factor of five. I particularly enjoy the sets at Theatre Francais de Toronto - they're always so bright, open and creatively multi-purpose.

- Going to see Evil Dead the Musical for THIRD TIME. This show is so utterly <3able. The songs are spun from the purest of comedy gold.

- And later, Kudelka's Cinderella. I saw his Nutcracker over the holidays and was sold on him. There's just something fresh and accessible about his choreography.

- The Mirvish Group has announced they're going to put on a production of Medea, starring Seanna McKenna - total must see, as far as I'm concerned.

- AND! This year's season at Stratford includes: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and The Taming of the Shrew.

me=EXPLODING WITH EXCITEMENT.

***

Addicted to Power: Dion's deadly Afghan double-deal shows he'd rather count body bags than combat Tories
The Tories and the Libs believe in war, a mutual conviction cemented last week when Liberal leader Stephane Dion agreed to their pact to extend Canada’s war commitment in Afghanistan until at least 2011.

On the other side altogether, the NDP is a pacifist party that pushes more creative options for conflict resolution than blowing the shit out of people who have different beliefs than your own.

Michael Hollet
NOW Magazine

[Disclaimer: not interested in doing a comprehensive post on the war, just looking at a couple of things that bugged me - the following does not constitute the entirety of my thoughts on yaoi the mission.]

I couldn't disagree more with the characterization of the Conservatives and Liberals as being in love with war. Power? Yes, obviously - we all know this. The Liberals are a brokerage party and Stephen Harper the supposed idealogue is, in office, compromising like his life depends on it. Or like his grasp on power depends on it, which it does. Because in case Michael Hollet failed to notice - Canada has a minority government at the moment. A minority government lead by men who utterly loathe the sight, nay the very thought of one another. The fact that the government is functional at all is thanks to political compromises made by all parties.

I'm tired of rabid idealogues who think that 'compromise' is a dirty word. Guess what assholes, compromise is what democratic politics is all about!

And honestly, I'm incredibly fucking tired of pacifists who characterize non-pacifists as 'war-loving'. It's just the most ridiculous of philosophical tomfoolery. The mission in Afghanistan is not about 'blowing the shit out of people who have different beliefs than your own'. Sorry dude, but on this I'm not going to compromise because you could not be more wrong. The mission is about several things, and none of them have anything to do with a deep-seated desire to kill, maim or blow the shit out of people.( Read more... )