Argonautika, links, winter break
Dec. 17th, 2007 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirHaste Street, on the Feast of St. John of Cantius
Yesterday, I went to see the matinee performance of Mary Zimmermann's Argonautika at the Berkeley Repertory Theater (trailer). Those of you who follow theater may remember Zimmermann's production of Metamorphoses, which I really wanted to go see in high school but could never obtain affordable tickets for. Berkeley Rep though sells half-price tickets to anyone under 30, so I got a front-row orchestra side seat for only $23. Granted, I was all the way at the end of the row and had to crane my neck, but I still had a pretty good view.
I've read many theater reviews about Zimmermann's innovative staging in Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, so I went in with high expectations, and the play still blew me away. Argonautika is based on the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The set was simple but cleverly designed to serve a versatile range of settings, everything from the interior of a castle to the banks by a spring to the deck of a ship. The script was brilliant, weaving in background narration fluidly into the dialogue and action, and containing both witty modern asides as well as dramatic epic speeches. And all the actors were extremely talented: many played multiple roles but still made each character unique, and they not only had to climb up poles and ropes and do acrobatic stunts, but also sing and move in slow motion and mime complicated scenes...I found myself with tears at my eyes when big dumb Hercules sat by the spring and bawled like a baby for the death of his friend Hylas (Iolaus in other spelling) and felt a pang of sympathy for Medea, caught up in helpless, almost hysterical, giggling after Eros' arrow causes her to fall in love with Jason. It was just a spectacular play, in every detail, and I'm very glad that I gave into the whim to buy the ticket and go.
I also noticed that the program contained two articles on the play written by one Lila N., who went to my high school. (I checked on Facebook afterwards, and sure enough, she's in the Bay Area.) Small world after all, isn't it?
In other news, I originally planned to finish writing Christmas cards this weekend so I could send them out tomorrow and have a chance of getting them to at least the U.S. recipients on time, but no such luck. I've been sleeping and eating and procrastinating on my take-home exam all weekend. -_- Anyway, I'm going to try writing drabbles like I did last year, but I hope you won't be terribly disappointed if the drabbles are for long-abandoned fandoms since I've been experiencing a lack of inspiration. >_>
Some links of interest:
1.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaebi_lit has been blogging diligently for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. One of the latest issues she's brought to my attention was the case of a ten-year old girl who was gang-raped in Australia, where the judge ruled, "The girl involved was not forced and she probably agreed to have sex with all of you." jaebi_lit posts links here, here and here. The entire case sickens me because it has so much bigotry--not only sexism but racism as well--and it really horrifies me that not only the judge but the prosecutor also believed that the girl was responsible for what happened to her. She was ten years old.
2. In a similar vein,autophanous linked to this article in the Times: American Beauty. Filled with one infuriating sentence after another.
Some commenters are claiming that the article is meant to be ironic. The thought of any male saying this sort of thing seriously makes me ready to lose all faith in humanity, so I would prefer to think that the author wasn't writing sincerely. But you know, whatever the intentions were, I don't find it funny at all, just disgusting.
3. Courtesy of Lifehacker, free online money management software: Mint. Read their FAQ on privacy and security if you're nervous. I signed up a few days ago and have found it to be incredibly useful. It automatically categorizes all your transactions (pretty accurately for the most part) and then generates graphs of your spending trends as well as a monthly budget.
4. Also courtesy of Lifehacker: Keyboard Shortcut Guide.
I finished Wintersmith (the third Tiffany Aching book by Terry Pratchett), The Pinhoe Egg (latest Chrestomanci book), and The Big Over Easy this weekend, at the expense of finishing my take-home exam. Oh well, I still have two more days. >_>
I'm flying home to New York on Wednesday and will be around for two and a half weeks. Friends in the area, will a meetup be possible? Let me know! (serendip, you're in Argentina, right? And starlighter, will you have gone home by then?) Also, I'm thinking of making a quick trip up to Cambridge/Boston to see lawnmower_elf and kendo people for the first weekend in January just before I head back to Berkeley. (unrequitedangst, will you be around and have time for a cup of tea?)
I really miss New York. I don't feel homesick anymore, and I've gotten to enjoy my life in Berkeley, but I still miss New York. I miss my parents, I miss my friends, I miss the subway, I miss Manhattan, I miss Flushing, I even miss that diner whereldmoonflower and I have our annual brunch/lunch get-togethers. ::sighs::
That being said, I do enjoy having more independence here. Now that I know how to get about on my own, I'm coming to enjoy afternoon trips to San Francisco and walks around Berkeley. I like visiting bookstores on a whim and making impulse purchases (today, a copy of Busman's Honeymoon from Moe's for only $1.25); I like going to the public library and coming back with a huge stack of books. I like going to the opera withjaebi_lit and seeing plays and concerts. I like having something to do every weekend, even if it's nothing more than Christmas shopping on Powell Street.
But all that being said, no place is really like New York. I mean, I don't need to spend the rest of my life there--actually, it's pretty highly unlikely that I will--but a part of me really wants to, at least once grad school is over.
Yours &c.
Yesterday, I went to see the matinee performance of Mary Zimmermann's Argonautika at the Berkeley Repertory Theater (trailer). Those of you who follow theater may remember Zimmermann's production of Metamorphoses, which I really wanted to go see in high school but could never obtain affordable tickets for. Berkeley Rep though sells half-price tickets to anyone under 30, so I got a front-row orchestra side seat for only $23. Granted, I was all the way at the end of the row and had to crane my neck, but I still had a pretty good view.
I've read many theater reviews about Zimmermann's innovative staging in Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, so I went in with high expectations, and the play still blew me away. Argonautika is based on the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The set was simple but cleverly designed to serve a versatile range of settings, everything from the interior of a castle to the banks by a spring to the deck of a ship. The script was brilliant, weaving in background narration fluidly into the dialogue and action, and containing both witty modern asides as well as dramatic epic speeches. And all the actors were extremely talented: many played multiple roles but still made each character unique, and they not only had to climb up poles and ropes and do acrobatic stunts, but also sing and move in slow motion and mime complicated scenes...I found myself with tears at my eyes when big dumb Hercules sat by the spring and bawled like a baby for the death of his friend Hylas (Iolaus in other spelling) and felt a pang of sympathy for Medea, caught up in helpless, almost hysterical, giggling after Eros' arrow causes her to fall in love with Jason. It was just a spectacular play, in every detail, and I'm very glad that I gave into the whim to buy the ticket and go.
I also noticed that the program contained two articles on the play written by one Lila N., who went to my high school. (I checked on Facebook afterwards, and sure enough, she's in the Bay Area.) Small world after all, isn't it?
In other news, I originally planned to finish writing Christmas cards this weekend so I could send them out tomorrow and have a chance of getting them to at least the U.S. recipients on time, but no such luck. I've been sleeping and eating and procrastinating on my take-home exam all weekend. -_- Anyway, I'm going to try writing drabbles like I did last year, but I hope you won't be terribly disappointed if the drabbles are for long-abandoned fandoms since I've been experiencing a lack of inspiration. >_>
Some links of interest:
1.
jaebi_lit has been blogging diligently for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. One of the latest issues she's brought to my attention was the case of a ten-year old girl who was gang-raped in Australia, where the judge ruled, "The girl involved was not forced and she probably agreed to have sex with all of you." jaebi_lit posts links here, here and here. The entire case sickens me because it has so much bigotry--not only sexism but racism as well--and it really horrifies me that not only the judge but the prosecutor also believed that the girl was responsible for what happened to her. She was ten years old.2. In a similar vein,
autophanous linked to this article in the Times: American Beauty. Filled with one infuriating sentence after another.Some commenters are claiming that the article is meant to be ironic. The thought of any male saying this sort of thing seriously makes me ready to lose all faith in humanity, so I would prefer to think that the author wasn't writing sincerely. But you know, whatever the intentions were, I don't find it funny at all, just disgusting.
3. Courtesy of Lifehacker, free online money management software: Mint. Read their FAQ on privacy and security if you're nervous. I signed up a few days ago and have found it to be incredibly useful. It automatically categorizes all your transactions (pretty accurately for the most part) and then generates graphs of your spending trends as well as a monthly budget.
4. Also courtesy of Lifehacker: Keyboard Shortcut Guide.
I finished Wintersmith (the third Tiffany Aching book by Terry Pratchett), The Pinhoe Egg (latest Chrestomanci book), and The Big Over Easy this weekend, at the expense of finishing my take-home exam. Oh well, I still have two more days. >_>
I'm flying home to New York on Wednesday and will be around for two and a half weeks. Friends in the area, will a meetup be possible? Let me know! (
serendip, you're in Argentina, right? And starlighter, will you have gone home by then?) Also, I'm thinking of making a quick trip up to Cambridge/Boston to see lawnmower_elf and kendo people for the first weekend in January just before I head back to Berkeley. (unrequitedangst, will you be around and have time for a cup of tea?)I really miss New York. I don't feel homesick anymore, and I've gotten to enjoy my life in Berkeley, but I still miss New York. I miss my parents, I miss my friends, I miss the subway, I miss Manhattan, I miss Flushing, I even miss that diner where
ldmoonflower and I have our annual brunch/lunch get-togethers. ::sighs::That being said, I do enjoy having more independence here. Now that I know how to get about on my own, I'm coming to enjoy afternoon trips to San Francisco and walks around Berkeley. I like visiting bookstores on a whim and making impulse purchases (today, a copy of Busman's Honeymoon from Moe's for only $1.25); I like going to the public library and coming back with a huge stack of books. I like going to the opera with
jaebi_lit and seeing plays and concerts. I like having something to do every weekend, even if it's nothing more than Christmas shopping on Powell Street.But all that being said, no place is really like New York. I mean, I don't need to spend the rest of my life there--actually, it's pretty highly unlikely that I will--but a part of me really wants to, at least once grad school is over.
Yours &c.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 09:20 am (UTC)Oh, did you get my rec list? Did you like Fforde?!
On a related book club note, is Whom the Gods Love usually filed under fiction or mystery? I haven't been able to get a copy of that or the Chesterton book (the only Chesterton books I've seen at bookstores are The Man Who Was Thursday or w/e it's called, in multiple editions).
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 09:22 am (UTC)p.p.s. When does Moe's close? D'you have time to stop by before/after dinner tomorrow? I want to pick up some books to read over the holiday.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 08:14 pm (UTC)According to the web site, Moe's is open until 11 PM, so yes, let's do stop by today. XD
Whom the Gods Love should be under mystery (at least that's where I've always seen it), and I think I've seen it at Moe's actually, so you might be able to find it there. Hm, the Chesterton, on the other hand, might be found under fiction/literature instead of mystery...in any case, you can read it at Project Gutenberg, worse comes to worst.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 09:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 08:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 10:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 08:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 04:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 08:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 08:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-17 11:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 12:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-12-18 01:02 am (UTC)That was horrible.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 06:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 10:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 07:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 01:59 am (UTC)It's getting more attention in QLD, than Australia in general but it was big enough to generate quotes from the PM.
The attention was significantly delayed though , and there isn't as much attention on the follow up - although I know that they found a history of inappropriately lenient sex crime sentencing with that judge,
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 03:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 03:29 pm (UTC)