intertext

I'm spending some enjoyable time sampling the pleasures of this CD, which arrived from Amazon yesterday. It's some of Shakespeare's sonnets, read by wonderful British Actors. Some of them are put to music, too, but I haven't tried any of those yet. There are some treats: Ralph Fiennes, reading "Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame" as if in the middle of love-making, complete with orgasm and post-coital relaxation. John Gielgud, Diana Rigg, Richard Briers, Jonathan Pryce, Timothy Spall, and many many more.

For a taste (and a marvellous one - you may be hooked) try a version of Sonnet 130 read by Alan Rickman. I have to send you to a link in someone else's blog - and I'm sorry that I don't remember who or what led me there, but am grateful to aslowhite for the post. Alan Rickman reads Sonnet 130 as a seduction - you'll swoon. One of my colleagues, to whom I sent the link, pointed out that he falls victim to the common misreading of "any she belied," reading "she" as a pronoun, subject of "belied," rather than, as it should be, noun, object in the phrase "as any she." Thus he promotes the interpretation "she's hideous, but I love her anyway." I tell my students I will beat them, or throw them out the window, if any of them interpret the sonnet that way, but lots do anyway, and now they have Alan Rickman supporting them. But, oh, you'll swoon, and it's worth it.

PS: lidocafe: I have already ordered a copy for the library.

For movie fans: news of a fascinating new documentary, The Pervert's Guide to Cinema. You can read about it and listen to excerpts at Open Source

I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to, but for those with too much time on their hands you can Shake up a Sonnet by rearranging lines from all Shakespeare's sonnets.

The latest in the lolcat craze: Schrodinger's lolcat

And finally, I'm going to join the throng of people recommending this beautiful and fascinating video: