I am not ashamed. Or should I say ABshamed! ...That was bad.

Guess what everyone!

Shirtless Shakespeare is an awesome thing that happened.  Thank you, electricalice.tumblr.com and amarguerite.tumblr.com for allowing us to live in a world where these exist.

Pretty sure my shame gland is broken, and that is why I am sharing this.  In other news, Thursday is my graduation ceremony, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to post something or not.  I certainly hope so!  But we'll see how busy it gets.   In other words, yes, there is a strong chance that this is what I am leaving you with for a whole week.

I will endeavor to be more scholarly next time maybe.

Shakespeare and Brooklyn Nine-Nine

'Sup!

So, it makes me overly happy when there's a reference to Shakespeare in a current show I like - and it's something that happens a lot more than people realize, I think.  Mostly because not everyone is going to recognize everything that is a nod to the Bard of Avon, seeing that not everyone studies his plays.

How did this weird train of thought come about?  Well, I was watching Madam Secretary the other night with my parents and Tea Leoni said, "The play's the thing," and I went, "Oh snap!" Then my mother looked at me like I was a crazy person.

But that's a line from Hamlet, guys!  "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Hamlet wants to be sure the ghost didn't lie to him, so our favorite Dane stages a play about the exact thing his ghost dad said Claudius did to see if he can get a reaction from Claudius.  Guess what: he totally get a reaction!*

Anyway, the saying was used in the show to invoke the idea of setting a trap for someone. Thrilling, huh?

Thus inspired, I decided to take one of my favorite shows and chronicle the Shakespeare references.  I am currently very into Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Fox; it's on its second season, and already there are three whole Shakespeare references.

Let's list them!

Captain Holt: How did you get everyone to help you?
Jake Peralta: I appealed to their sense of teamwork and camaraderie with a rousing speech that would put Shakespeare to shame.
(Flashback to speech. Jake talking in a bad Scottish accent) For too long, we've been put down, ridiculed, made to wear ties! But no more! For today, we defeat him!
Captain Holt: And that worked?
Jake Peralta: No.






Jake Peralta: I guess that's your new best friend now, Santiago.  Emphasis on "iago," backstabber.
Amy Santiago: I'm surprised you've read Othello.
Jake Peralta: What the hell's Othello? I'm calling you the parrot from Aladdin.

(Charles Boyle comes in for a Halloween costume contest dressed as Hamlet to get people's opinions)
Charles Boyle: To be or not to be-
Rosa Diaz: Not to be.
Charles Boyle: Thank you (leaves and changes)





Stay tuned!  I bet there will be more at this rate!  Is there a show you love that might reference the bard?  Also, are there any in B99 that I've missed?  If you too are a Shakespeare buff and somehow also love Brooklyn Nine-Nine, then you are required by law to tell me so that we can be friends.

Fun picture from the show.  Maybe you should watch it on account of how awesome it is.

*That's up to interpretation.  Like everything else in the written world.

You have to call me 'Master' now, right?

Hey everyone!  I must apologize to my MILLIONS of followers for the lack of updates this past week.  I was on vacation!  I was in Hot-lanta and hear you me, it was a blast.

In even more awesomer news (what?) I defended my thesis today!  Yes, you heard right.  This humble blog is totes legit now as it is now officially written by a MASTER OF ARTS.  You may applaud for as long as you like.

What was my capstone about?  I'm so glad you asked! It's titled,

 The Body-Politic in Pieces:

Reflections of the English Succession Crisis through Disjointed Body Parts 

in Titus Andronicus, Othello, and King Lear

The basic idea is that Elizabeth’s death, the uncertainty around her succession, and the fears surrounding James’ ability to rule England inform Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Othello and King Lear. Shakespeare comments on this political climate through the specific examples of body parts betraying themselves – depicting the state of chaos in his tragedies as a corporeal disquiet.

Suuper impressive, right? Yeah, maybe.  I've been awake since 6:00 am with nerves, and then I used up all of my smarts in one intense half hour.  What a rush!

Anyway, fun highlight from Hot-lanta, I found this great magazine with a big article on the front called "The Body-Politic" and got really excited.  Turns out the article is about strippers, so.... that happened.  

But on page four, there was another article about the Ferguson riots and the title was, "More than Sound and Fury," which, as we've discussed here, is a Shakespeare reference from Macbeth!  How thrilling, to find a body-politic reference AND a Shakespeare reference in the same paper.  Boom, my thesis is confirmed.

Okay, okay, they are completely uncorrelated, of course, but how about shut up I am a MASTER so let's not talk about that.

Let Shakespeare Write Your Greeting Card

Greeting and good morrow!

So I have been thinking about the holidays, because IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, and I have come to the conclusion that if we, as a culture, have agreed that there is no better way to show your affections to your loved ones in cards than with words written by other people, then those words should be Shakespeare's, by golly!

Jokes aside, in case you don't know this about me, I just love receiving and sending greeting cards - especially long-distance ones.  I think that in a time of increased casual communication, the extra effort goes a long way.

So I've picked out a few of my favorite cards that feature the Bard.  You can buy them, be inspired by them, or just smile and move along.  The choice is yours!

Personal fav: Holiday Hooch!

Anniversary or Valentine's

Friend's Birthday

Thank You Card

Hope you liked these.  There will probably be more in the future.  And yes, today's post was short.  But I am hella sick, and all I wanna do is dance sleep.

I'm Bardcore

Hello y'all, and happy Thursday,

Remember how I showed you a bunch of Shakespeare t-shirts that were awesome?  Of course you do, they were the best shirts you've ever seen.

Well now I've gone and found another one.  And between you and me, it won't be long before I buy this one too.  I need it.  Hella badly.

Is that the best or is that the best?  You too can get one here!

That's my only plug for today.  I promise there is no money to be had in pushing these things.  Like, none at all.  Negative moneys, even.  I am just trying to fill the streets with more people in Shakespeare swag, for my own purposes.  

Just buy it, okay! It's good for you.

Sidebar: Ever since my last t-shirt post, my boyfriend has been saying "come hither my nither" to me constantly.  So there's that.

Star Wars and Shakespeare

Tidings unto you dudes,

Late post is late.  But still Monday, so woo!  I am here to tell you that there is this thing out there called William Shakespeare's Star Wars.

Oh yes.

Ever wonder what it would have been like if William Shakespeare wrote the original Star Wars trilogy? Do you find yourself drifting off during the original, imagining a better way?  Is your life a bit like this:

"Hey baby, whatcha thinkin' about?"
"Just what it would be like if Willie Shakespeare had written 'A New Hope.'"
"...Again? Do you ever have any other thoughts, or...?"

Well wonder no more! Ian Doescher has written the entire original trilogy as if it were written 400 years ago by William Shakespeare himself.   Experience the glory below:

I marvel at the way people chose to spend their time.  Here is an excerpt:

I know what you're thinking: "shut up and take my money already."  Okay, well you can buy it here.  This is the book you're looking for.

So long for now, dear readers.  With thou mayeth the force be!

Shakespeare and Pop Culture

Okay so,

I am a day late (!!!!), which is not really like me.  But in my defense, I audibly gasped and nearly dropped my plate of dinner last night when I realized I hadn't actually posted this yet.  Thank GOODNESS there was no one there to rush over and say, "OH MY HEAVENS, WHAT'S WRONG?!" Because "I forgot to post in my Shakespeare blog today" would have been met with... sarcasm. Yeah, let's go with sarcasm.

So my profoundest of apologies, dearest readers, as I know you await these posts with avid anticipation.

Let's continue, shall we?

This is another tumblr post, where I share gems of funny Shakespeare conversations I've found on tumblr.  I  get so excited when I see Shakespeare referenced in pop culture today, especially with regard to new memes or sayings that are popular.

And as a pretext, I want to say that I know that humor is much like a frog: you can dissect it, but it will die in the process.  With that in mind, I don't want to belabor where these references come from, but I do want to provide some context for two hella important reasons:

1. Maybe not everyone spends as much time on the internet as me and doesn't get them.
2. In 3 years, there's a strong chance that I won't even remember what these jokes were referrencing.
3. In scholarly work (such as this blog), it's important to provide context and clarity.
4. For your very own pop culture edification?

That looks like four reasons.  Turns out I can't count.

Anyway, if you get them, cool.  Ignore the little explanation link.  If not, then you're welcome maybe?

Okay, I'm going to stop pre-apologizing/excusing what I do on this blog and just get on with it.

Yeah.

From Pitbull and Ke$ha's song, "It's going down"

"I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now" meme.

"You had one job" meme.

TV show "30 Rock" episode and ongoing joke.

"Bitch I might be" meme.

Hope you enjoyed!  I just love it when the youths talk about Shakespeare!

To Be or Not To Be - That is the Adventure!

Howdy, good brethren!

Today I cannot help myself and so I am endorsing a most delightful book.  It's a choose-your-own-path Hamlet adventure story, and it's by the infallible Ryan North.  I was lucky enough to catch this project back during its Kick-Starter phase, and so I threw all my moneys at it.  It was the most successful Kick-Starter campaign ever at the time, raising over 2,000% of its goal!  Now, it's a full-fledged book and it is SO enjoyable I almost can't even.

You can play as Hamlet, Ophelia, or King Hamlet; but wait, there's more!  Each ending comes with artwork from one of 65 artists. You can follow Yorick skull markers to stick closely to Shakespeare's plot, or explore alternative possibilities. And trust me, there are some crazy fun off-script endings.  But no matter which way you chose, every path is full of Ryan's casual, hilarious prose, and rife with jokes and cultural references.

I'm going to give you a little sample here, where North whips out some Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Because I care about you all, and I want this for you. I CANNOT sell this enough.

Aside from this, it's full of lines such as, "Anyway: this ghost. You can see through it, but only a little? It’s weird. And I’ll tell you what the frig else: this ghost does look like your dad." Buy it immediately!  If you're interested, that is.  This is a no-pressure environment. I want you to feel safe here.

Later taters!
(That's a direct quote from King John, and you can't prove me wrong because there's no way you've read it... no one has.)

Shakespeare's Ladies Coulda Used a Sassy Gay Friend

Good dawning, sweet reader!

As you may or may not have noticed, I've reverted to Monday-Thursday updating.  Things are a little hectic right now and I need a teeny bit of a buffer.  So there.  I'm sure I'll go back to MWF as soon as things slow down in my work, personal and scholarly life.  But until then, I must regrettably offer you less Shakespeare than you have become accustomed to of late.  My deepest and most sincerest apologies.

Enough of that, let's go back to Shakespeare!

In case no one has shared this with you before, let me be the first.  The Second City Network on YouTube came out with a series of Sassy Gay Friend videos for a multitude of famous women, including a number of Shakespeare's heroines.  "This could have been prevented if she had a sassy gay friend."  Do enjoy.

Juliet, of Romeo & Juliet

Ophelia of Hamlet

Desdemona of Othello

Lady Macbeth from Macbeth

Honestly, it starts getting weird when they suddenly got sponsored by Mio, but I still dig it.  Hope you did too! 

Until next time, dudes.

That's Shakespeare? Who Knew...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Let's talk about Shakespeare some more. (que sorpresa!)  More accurately, let's talk about all the things in this world that are references to Shakespeare that maybe you didn't know about!  Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night; fretting over whether or not people are fully comprehending all the of references that are out there.  They are like movie Easter Eggs, but in our society!

So let's start with 3 things that come from Shakespeare that you (possibly) didn't know:

The Sound and the Fury

Do you remember that book you had to read in high school/college by William Faulkner?  Well, he got the title from the play, Macbeth.  It's one of the most devastatingly beautiful and existential soliloquies there is, in my humble opinion.  Macbeth has just learned that his wife has killed herself, and he says,

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth Act V, scene V, 19–28 

Sometimes when I read it, I think it's the most loving thing he could have said - such sadness at the state of the world, the emptiness of it all.  Anyway, Faulkner took it and ran with it.  And I don't know if you noticed, but his book has that same eerie tone, of a life devoid of meaning and purpose.

"What Dreams May Come" 

This was a lovely Robin William movie based off a novel of the same name by Richard Matheson.  After dying in a car crash a man searches the afterlife for his wife.  The title is derived from Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" speech on death and what comes after.  Below is the segment:

To die, to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, (hey, that part's my blog name!)

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes Calamity of so long life:

Hamlet, Act III, Scene i, 1757-62

Sting's Album, "Nothing Like the Sun"

Sting is actually quite the Shakespeare fan, and the inspiration came to him when a drunk man said to him "How beautiful is the moon?" and he replied, "Nothing like the sun."  It comes from my favorite sonnet, number 130.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
     As any she belied with false compare.

Beautiful, right?  See, what he's doing here is taking a popular genre of poetry in his day (a blason) that enlisted the practice of praising a woman by singling out different parts of her body and pairing them with metaphors for compare.  e.g. your eyes are like two stars, your hair is like rows of golden wheat, etc.  But he's turning it on its head and saying pah! I am better than all the poets and all the writers in all the world.

Perhaps I'm paraphrasing.

Anywhoo, stay tuned for more things you didn't know were originally Shakespeare's.  Thanks, public domain!

Shake & Tumble

Greeting, travelers!

No time for a real post today... but I hope some of these gems from tumblr will make up for it.  I swear, tumblr is the weirdest, bestest place.

Nazi Shakespeare: Fun For All Ages

Guten tag!

I hope this lovely late October day is treating you well.  Let's talk about Nazis.  Every good blog has to come around to the subject eventually, right?  Something to do with Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies I guess.

So let's talk about that awkward time when Hitler designed a production of a Shakespeare play.

Yeah. THAT happened.

But let me first say that one of the cornerstones of my deep-seeded love of Shakespeare is that he is universal.  He has been translated into every major language and has interpretations across the spectrum - anything from Mozart wanting to write an opera based on The Tempest, to a plethora of Bollywood movies, to Japanese director, Yukio Ninagawa's stunning rendition of Titus Andronicus below:

Manaka Hitomi as Lavinia, with string in lieu blood.

I just really wanted to share that.

Anyway, the point is that I love Shakespeare's malleability.  And while I'd love to think that the Bard would cringe at the thought of Nazi propaganda, we cannot pretend that Jews, or other minorities, weren't scorned in his day.

But let's talk about all of it anyway!

In one of Hitler’s sketchbooks from 1926, there is a design for the staging of Julius Caesar. It

Nuremburg Rally

portrays the Forum with the same sort of “severe deco” neoclassical architecture which would later characterize the Nazi rallies at Nuremberg.  The really interesting part for me is that Shakespeare, and even Elizabethan England, were considered exceptions to those in the Nazi party who wanted to ban all foreign influences - in fact, he was a major German icon.  They just spun the plays to their liking - which is what all the people do all the time with all the things.

Julius Caesar's Forum

 And sidebar: the Merchant of Venice was not received all that well; even though Shylock (the villain) is a Jew, the play was considered too ambiguous for Nazi taste.  So Hmm Hmm!

As for this Julius Caesar sketch, it's not much of a secret that Adolf Hitler admired the Romans.  After all, he wanted Germany to become the Third Reich, and he considered Rome the first.  I'm sure the grandiosity of it all called to him.  It has called to me on my trips to Rome too.  So yeah, Hitler saw greatness in putting on a performance of Julius Caesar. I get it.

Oh Gawd, Khaki you've gone and compared yourself to Hitler in your blog!  What are you doing that for?!

Remember, boys and girls: Adolf wasn't a monster, he was a person...  And isn't that scarier?


For more on this super interesting subject, check out The Nazi Appropriation of Shakespeare: Cultural Politics in the Third Reich by Rodney Symington.

Next Time Think it Through, Romeo

I've shared this delightful image before, on my Facebook, but I think it will find itself more at home on this blog.

Ha! Literary put-down! Buuurn.

The great thing about Romeo and Juliet is that our culture is saturated with it - and I am all for that.  But if you ask me (and no one did), calling someone your Romeo is a bit like calling them your wishy-washy, whiny lover.  As they say, he is one that loves not wisely, but too well.  Wait, that's Othello.  Whatevs, my point still stands.

But Khaki!!  Star-crossed lovers!  That's so romantic!  Absolutely it is.  Just remember that star-crossed means thwarted by the stars, rather than destined to be together because of them. You will spend your entire relationship dodging pianos that are falling from the sky, and trying not to get hit by city buses in crosswalks.  Probably.  Point is, doom will follow you. DOOM, people!

Ah, but the course of true love never did run smooth.  Wait, that's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I'm not saying it doesn't have it's upside.  Who wouldn't want to hear their lover say things like, "I would not wish any companion in the world but you.” Man... that's hella romantic.  Wait, that's from The Tempest.  Wow, all these love quotes from better love stories!  It's like Khaki is trying to push other plays on the romantically-inclined or something!  Well, except Othello... that was... well, let's just not talk about that right now.

So, in summation: I'd take white-bread romance over a guy who murdered my cousin any day. Maybe that's boring, but I just so happen to be close to my cousins.  And I don't see how I could ever invite my boyfriend to the family picnic after that.

Alas, Poor Yorick! This shirt is the best, Horatio.

Happy Friday, dudes.

Look what I got!  By far the best shirt I own.  It's about to be out of print, so if you want one, better jump on it!  She also has other great shirts for sale that are very funny in nature, albeit non-Shakespearean.  But if you are into Shakespeare shirts like me, you can also check out some of the other awesome designs below.

Come Hither!

 Fierce!

Homeboy

Dramatically Correct

The Origin of Ye, as in Ye Olde

Good day, dudes!

Today I'm going to write about something that I found super cool about the Early Modern English alphabet (if you must fall asleep, please do try not to snore).  Welcome to a segment I am self-awaredly calling:

Actually...

So let's begin!

I'm sure you're all familiar with the way our society uses the article "ye" instead of "the" anachronistically nowadays to try and make things seems older than they are (as in Ye Olde English Pubbe).  Which is cool, whatever.  But these people pronounce it the way it's spelled: Ye.

Okay here it comes:

Actually... people never said "ye" for "the."  

Whaaat?  I know.

In Early Modern English, "the" could be written as  "þe" with the Old English letter thorn, "þ," pronounced "th."  During the Tudor period (them sexy, fancy people we learned about from Showtime), the shorthand for "þe" was   - a combination of the þ and the e.  Similar to the way we use "&" for "and."

But what does this mean?!

Well, it means that since "þ" and "y" look practically identical in medieval English, the two have more recently been mistaken for each other. But despite the way it looked, it was never pronounced with a "Y" sound.  Never. Ever... Ever ever ever.

So basically, people have been saying it incorrectly while trying to be kitschy for a whole dang century.  But it's okay, because you know better now, and you are properly equipped with the facts so as to scorn and mock all of your friends when they say it wrong.

You're welcome.

Now please.... someone come along and tell me how I used kitchsy wrong.

Welcome to Shuffling this Mortal Coil!

This is the very first post in my new Shakespeare blog.  Let's get introduced!

Hello,

My name is Khaki and I am a graduate student working on a Masters in English with a focus on everyone's favorite bard.  Why? Mostly because I just plain wanted to.  Isn't that a great reason?  I do it for love of the craft - which is almost as good as getting paid!  Which I don't.  Not for this. Definitely not for this.

"But Khaki, what does 'Shuffling this Mortal Coil' even mean?"  I'll tell you, dear reader.

In Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to be" monologue, there is a segment that goes,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 

Must give us pause.

(III.i.74-6)

He's talking about dying, and the fear of not knowing what come after we kick it.  Shuffling off your mortal coil means shedding this husk of of chaos we call a body - e.g. to die.  Serious stuff, folks.  But someone misquoted it to me once and said "shuffling this mortal coil," which would pretty much mean to dance. I laughed and laughed... aaand I was the only one.

Anyway, this expensive hobby has been a joy for me, and I have come across so many great Shakespeare related things on these here internets; now I have a place to share them!

So I hope you enjoy.  And if you don't, well that's okay; I'll just have to enjoy it enough for the both of us.

So for now,

"Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me" (Hamlet I.v.91)

Khaki

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