Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:45 PM

and yet so right for each other. This evening, we spent at least an hour casting Shakespeare's plays... with the Muppets. I think for now I'll spare you all the gory details (unless you ask). Suffice it to say, we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs (nearly snarfed several times), and actually gained a few insights into the characters (Shakespeare's and Muppets) in the process.

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:21 PM

So, as mentioned earlier, last night we attended the lecture at Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox by Dr. Dominica Borg. So let's see what I can synthesize from my memory and notes.

Caveat: Keep in mind that I'm a hobbyist in the field and have no academic background in any of this. If you have more information or see anything needing correction, please enlighten me. I want to learn what's correct and don't want to perpetuate mistakes.

Note (2): I'm using "Shakespearean" to refer to the period in which he and his contemporaries wrote their plays. It seems more accurate (and shorter) than Elizabethan or Jacobean, since that time in theatrical history spanned both reigns.

By the way, next Friday will be the final lecture in the series, Foods in the Renaissance by the author of the cookbook Shakespeare's Kitchen. The talk will include a tasting. Admission is free, but they require you to "buy tickets" (with a small surcharge), because they have only a limited space. Given the free food, I suspect this one may sell out. But I'd love to see you there.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:30 PM

I just heard this one on NPR:

ISLAMABAD/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. officials providing justification for anti-terrorism alerts revealed details about a Pakistani secret agent, and confirmed his name while he was working under cover in a sting operation, Pakistani sources said on Friday.
<snip>
British police said they had been forced to carry out their swoop more hastily than planned -- a day after Khan's name appeared in the New York Times as the source of information behind the U.S. alerts.
On Monday evening, after Khan's name appeared, Pakistani officials moved him to a secret location.
<snip>
Intelligence and security experts said they were surprised Washington would reveal information that could expose the name of a source during an ongoing law enforcement operation.
"If it's true that the Americans have unintentionally revealed the identity of another nation's intelligence agent, who appears to be working in the good of all of us, that is not only a fundamental intelligence flaw its also a monumental foreign relations blunder," security expert Paul Beaver, a former publisher of Jane's Defense Weekly, told Reuters.
Kevin Rosser, security expert at the London-based consultancy Control Risks Group, said such a disclosure was a risk that came with staging public alerts, but that authorities were meant to take special care not to ruin ongoing operations.

Considering prosecutors are still investigating the outing of Valerie Plame last summer, you'd think they'd be more careful!

Added later: TalkLeft provides more links on this story, from Kevin Drum, Whiskey Bar, Juan Cole and Daily Kos. As Kos writes, "We are locked in a bona fide war against a shadowy enemy. We finally infiltrate an Al Qaida cell, and our asset is burned in a matter of days either out of political expediency or sheer stupidity." Not only does this harm current intelligence gathering efforts, but it hurts recruitment of future agents. Loose lips have endangered this man's life and that of his family. Why would anyone take the risk spying for us if his "allies" are just as dangerous as enemies?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:35 AM

Well, I've finally hit the stage in Ian's illness where my throat is too sore to sleep. Fortunately, I already got seven hours of sleep before reaching that point. So here are a few things on my mind this morning:

• One more realization about last week's musings on The Lion in winter as written in Shakespeare's day. The French king would be portrayed in a much less flattering light, possibly even turning into the villain of the piece.

• I did attend last night's lecture on Original Practices in Shakespeare Performance and Study (in other words, how Shakespearean actors used the stage). I'm not entirely sure how *much* of it I can put into words in a blog post. Will need a little time to get my head together about it. [Encouragement and interest from the peanut might help in gauging how much will be too much.]

• Finally... I'm not sure whether or how much I've mentioned it here, but I've been of the general opinion that when it comes to Star Wars, the first film was best, and that (as is often said about Highlander) there should be only one. As I grew older, I became disenchanted with the additions and changes made by the later films.

And yesterday, I finally hit upon one of the reasons. Star Wars taken alone is the story of farm boy made good. By pluck and luck and being in the right place at the right time, he saves the princess. Because he can "bullseye womprats back home" he becomes an ace fighter pilot and fires the winning shot. It's Horatio Alger, for want of a better term this hour of the morning.

Add in the later films, and Luke is no longer a nobody. He may think he's a nobody, but he's secretly *somebody's* son who's been placed into hiding. He's King Arthur or Moses or Superman or any one of a number of different variations upon the Emperor of Everything. And that's a different story. There may be superficial similarities, but Luke Skywalker in Star Wars is everyman: someone the audience can relate to and reasonably aspire to be. Luke Skywalker of the later films is someone with a destiny, the chosen one. And that's a more elite position, not open to everybody.

Furthermore, the Emperor of Everything tales usually begin with some hint that the boy is special. Readers see Yocheved/Merlin/Jor-El place Moses/Arthur/Kal-El with the Pharoah's daughter/Ector/the Kents. In other stories (such as David Eddings' Belgariad) the reader at least has a sense that these folks are something more than the ordinary from the beginning, even if the exact nature is unclear. Either way, expectations are set. The original Star Wars didn't have that, making the transition from one archetype to the other more jarring.

I don't expect others to see things that way. I know I'm a minority in Star Wars fandom, but I found it a relief to finally put my finger on another part of the explanation.

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:05 PM

What he said.

On a related note, I wish studios would consider giving DVD commentary tracks on historical films to historians. I'd love to watch The Lion in winter while listening to someone explain which elements were fact, which were fiction, and which are reasonable suppositions based upon the evidence. Get David Starkey or Alison Weir for Elizabeth. I've heard commentary tracks by film historians, but not generally by academic experts in that field. Wouldn't it be fun to listen to a folklorist while watching Robin Hood? Or a Shakespeare biographer during Shakespeare in Love? And (although it's a sad statement on society's priorities) a couple hours of a professor's time are probably cheaper than getting the actors back in the theater for one more recorded go. Just thinkin...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:15 PM

in my last post. To help with my sore throat, we went out for Chinese food, so I could have "House Special Wonton Soup" (larger size, more goodies in the broth). This was my fortune cookie:

A heavy burden is lifted with a phone message or letter.

Ian wants to know what a phone letter is.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:31 PM

On Friday, Ian came down with a severe sore throat, so bad it kept him from sleeping several nights in a row. He's finally recovering from it.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with the first ticklings of a sore throat of my own. From the sounds of it, I've got what he had.

Lovely. Just what I need to top everything off.

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:44 AM

Have I mentioned recently that my husband is evil? Look at the timestamp on this post. And before you start wholly blaming me for getting addicted to the game, he's been sitting over my shoulder for the last three hours giving advice: "Talk to him on the phone, then call him back to invite him. He's bringing more friends and your fun and comfort are low? Why not buy a hot tub. Ok, if you're going to serve a meal, maybe you ought to get more chairs. Oh look, she's cleaning up for you..." Even as I was trying to quit the game, he was saying, "are you sure you don't want to just finish X?"

And now, given the lateness of the hour, my mind is doing weird things. I started thinking about the characters in The Lion in winter and sorting them: Henry and Richard are Gryffindors, Eleanor is clearly Slytherin, Geoffrey is Ravenclaw, Alais is Beauxbatons... Of course, I start to tell Ian this and he replies: "Easy. Eleanor is Slytherin. Henry is Slytherin. Phillip is Slytherin. Geoffrey is Slytherin. Alais wants to be Slytherin. Richard is Gryffindor (the whole Lionheart thing) but wants to by Slytherin. John couldn't pass the entrance exam." I love that man (though I think he's being unfair to John). But now, I really ought to get some sleep...

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:18 PM

Commenting upon this afternoon's post, somebody expressed an interest in other modern Elizabethan fantasies. As it's a bit of a hobby of mine, and as I like to make myself useful, I thought I'd compile the list of ones I've found so far. [Maybe I should make this its own separate page like my Marlowe fiction list.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:30 PM

A year and a half ago, I bought Sims Deluxe, but could never get it to run on my computer. So I never played it, although Ian did some on his machine.

Right now, with my machine in the shop (still waiting for their diagnosis), we have two computers. One is connected to the Internet, which also has my files and writing tools. Sharing hasn't always been easy. The other machine is an old laptop with a broken floppy drive (so can't transfer files) that won't connect to the web. But it does have a working CD drive, so Ian installed the Sims, and last night showed me how to play. I spent four hours on the game, stopping only when it was time to sleep.

Today I was good, and kept the machine off during business hours while I was jobhunting. But I still spent about three hours on it tonight, until Ian told me he wanted the machine (and my personal hunger bar was in the red), but I didn't really want to give it up.

Well, he wanted something to keep me busy so we wouldn't be fighting over this computer. Problem is, I intended to use my spare time for writing. I gave in and on July 31st, I signed up for COOWIPP. I even set aside all my library books to further the effort, hoping to shift to a more producer role over a consumer one. And now I've gotten caught in this briar patch... Grumble.

True funny: After initial experimentations/explorations yesterday, I created a more serious character today: Severus Snape. All his attributes (outgoing, active, playful, nice) were minimized, and I gave him the bare minimum objects necessary for survival, buying further items after studying which moods were dropping the fastest. At Ian's suggestion, when he hasn't been fulfilling his needs, I've had him spending most of his time making lawn gnomes to build up his mechanical skills. Well, as I mentioned, Ian kicked me off the machine about an hour ago so he could play his character in the neighborhood. And Severus Snape (as an NPC) wandered over to his character to be social and make friends.
So what's the first thing Snape does after being invited in? Walks over to Ian's potion lab and helps himself to whatever concoction had just been made... Heh.

A few other tidbits:

• The Krispy Kreme on Route 1 in Saugus has the *Hot* sign lit and I saw cars entering and leaving. I thought it wasn't opening until tomorrow morning, but guess they got an early start.
• I'm feeling a little bit pouty because Taco Bell replaced Dr. Pepper with Mountain Dew Baja Blast, a pale aqua soda that's supposed to taste of limes. I tried a small sip, and Ugh! It's really, really gross. Pepsi's existing lemon-lime drink, Sierra Mist is (imo) one of the poorer examples of that genre, and the product it replaced (Slice) wasn't much better. Picture a cross between regular Mountain Dew and Slice/Sierra Mist
• I know earlier this evening, when I was thinking about blogging, there were more things I wanted to write about, but now I can't remember them.

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:15 PM

An odd research thought occurred to me the other day, which I wish to record for possible future consideration and research.

Gentlemen's Blood: a history of duelling from swords at dawn to pistols at dusk spent a fair bit of time comparing the various duelling traditions of different countries.

I'd love to see a list of Olympic fencing winners by year, style and nationality, to see whether there were any correlations between Olympic victories and duelling traditions, and how that changed over time (World War I spelled the end of the culture which could support sword-based duelling).

Anyway, just an idle thought...

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:00 PM

Well, I've gotten several more job applications emailed off, so I think I can goof off for a few minutes. [I've been very, very good. Ian introduced me to the Sims last night, and I turned that computer off this morning when Ian left so I wouldn't be tempted or distracted.] At any rate, I'm still trying to catch up writing down some thoughts I had or the several days I was *sob* computerless...

Saturday night we went to see The Lion in winter, as performed by several of our friends. Despite my SCAdian suitemates, I've never actually seen the film or play before. Needless to say, I *loved* it. The wordplay and witticisms, the plots and shifting allegiences. And yet, at times my mind drifted to an odd tangent: Could this story be produced by Shakespeare (or one of his contemporaries)? And if so, how would they have to modify it to get it past the Master of Revels? The basic plot and the historical timeperiod would certainly fit within Shakespeare's repertoire. Here are a few of the things I came up with:

• It's too simple for an Elizabethan play. Only seven characters and all of them royal? No way. There would have to be a B-plot involving commoners. Maybe a storyline with some guards or servants, which would also provide a place for the troupe's clown.
• Any references to sodomy would be removed
• If the play were written/produced in Elizabeth's reign, all references to annulling marriage would be eliminated. That subplot may be acceptable when James were king.

Now, when they say too much reading can lead to ruin, they may not have had this in mind. But after so much research on Elizabethan theater traditions, I couldn't stop thinking about the play in that light. Sad, isn't it?

Of course, seeing the play also made me want to read more about the history of the period. Grabbed a quick look at the relevant pages of Schama's History of Britain for an overview. I wish an annotated copy of the script were available; from the performance, I got the impression of Geoffrey as the middle brother. Historically, Geoffrey was older than Richard and John, and it was an illegitimate son of Henry's, also named Geoffrey, who acted as chancellor. Did the playwright conflate the two? I'm sure I'm missing something -- this is a bit earlier than I've managed to read.

And speaking of reading, I think I'm going to have to return Elizabeth's London unread. Although it's exactly the kind of thing I want to read, my heart's just not in it right now. Too many other demands on my time.

Browsing a bookstore yesterday, several other books caught my eye. I just wish to make a note of them for future reference when I'm bored and looking for something to read:

• On first glance, Robin Maxwell's books on Queen Elizabeth look moderately interesting, but I simply cannot believe Elizabeth could, would or did have an illegitimate child. I'm sorry, but in those days monarchs lived under too much observation. A baby couldn't be delivered nor removed via warming-pan or other means. I suspect my inability to suspend disbelief in this area will make reading the series impossible.
• Peter Beagle (The Last Unicorn) has a new one out: Tamsin
• I noticed Dead to the world, the latest book in Charlaine Harris' Southern vampire series is finally in print
• I'm surprised with my fondness for Elizabethan fantasies that I never stumbled upon Michael Moorcock's Gloriana before. And apparently this reissue offers both his original ending and the previously published one.
• Similar comments about A Murder for her majesty, an Elizabethan-era YA mystery
• Finally, I actually noticed Beware, Princess Elizabeth on display at the library. But since it's on the school's recommended reading list, I think it best I wait until after summer to avoid depriving somebody who actually needs the book.

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:20 PM

In a similar vein to the previous post, here's something I've been meaning to post all weekend, but was blocked due to computer troubles:

Who does this government consider a terrorist? Readers may or may not recall this entry from last month, in which a federal judge ruled that domestic terrorism isn't. However, apparently SF fan sites are. That's right, the FBI has spent three years investigating the Stargate SG-1 Information Archive on behalf of the MPAA.

And this latest case goes beyond mere rhetoric: "the FBI invoked a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act to obtain financial records from his ISP." Don't worry, this isn't a mere domestic case: "[h]is online friendship with other Stargate fans across the globe was portrayed as an international conspiracy against the MPAA."

Don't you feel safer knowing the federal government is going after this kind of offense? Isn't this what we had in mind when the USA PATRIOT Act was passed?

Speaking of which, Ashcroft has been trumpeting the success of the USA PATRIOT Act, including 35 prosecutions in Iowa alone. Get a load of this Des Moines Register analysis of those cases. Green-card marriages, doctored resumes, fake IDs, baby food theft...

Another story came out this week regarding misuse of governmental power. The Census Bureau provided info on Arab Americans to the Department of Homeland Security. Ian worked for the 2000 Census, and he and everyone he worked with had to swear (or affirm) they wouldn't disclose anything they learned, under penalty of jail. And what a way to ruin American confidence in Census confidentiality. I'll bet many more people will be thinking twice about providing information next time around.

I tried to find some pithy quote about governmental abuse of power with which to title this, but in the end all I can feel is disappointment. Three more months, I hope...

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:05 AM

Well, okay, the terror alert didn't come out during the DNC. It was released one day after. As Howard Kurtz notes:

In the last 48 hours, terrorism has turned the campaign upside down.

Since Tom Ridge boosted the threat level after learning of al Qaeda plans against financial buildings in New York and Washington, all the convention talk about Kerry's health care plan and Edwards's Two Americas has been wiped out.

Convenient, that. I should also note that some pundits suspect the terror alert was also timed to distract the media from Friday's economic reports, which were, let us say, less than favorable news. Oh yeah, in addition:

Those who question whether the orange alert was hyped will find some ammunition in this New York Times piece:

"Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terror plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way."

Years old. No concrete evidence.

Is it any wonder I'm skeptical? [My first reaction upon hearing the announcement was focused on NYC was "How convenient." I wonder whether the more stringent security restrictions will remain in place during the Republican convention. Particularly since news reports noted that demonstrations were relatively light in Boston because protestors appeared to be saving themselves for NYC next month.]

Given the suspect, politically expedient, timing of recent terror alerts, I can't help thinking of Aesop's fable of the boy who cried wolf. I don't doubt that another terror attack on the U.S. will occur sometime in my life, almost certainly within the next five years. And sowing distrust in the terror alert system undermines it and will make matters that much more difficult to warn and protect the public should a real threat emerge.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:25 PM

Hello. I took my laptop to the shop yesterday for their diagnosis. [When I described the noises it was making, they suggested it could be a fan issue, which given the recent weather and the fact the computer room is un-air conditioned might make sense.] At any rate, right now we've borrowed a computer from Ian's parents, and I'm taking a few minutes to update. [It's somewhat awkward because (a) this machine doesn't have all my usual tools, and (b) Ian's got the mouse set up lefty-style.]

At any rate, there are loads of things I've been wanting to write, but most of those will have to wait for later. For now, I'm overdue in answering last week's riddles and posting a new one. On the other hand, Sunday evening may prove to be a more convenient time for riddles, so folks who can't access computers over the weekend (or merely on Shabbos) aren't left out in the cold.

But, without further ado, the answers: The first riddle is fire. As for the second riddle, the letters in the second line, which are runes in the original, read backwards to give the solution. As I said before, in a largely illiterate culture, spelling counts as a difficult clue. I also wish to add that I'm very impressed with (and pleased by) you all. Every single riddle I've posted, at least one person has guessed the correct answer. And now, this week's riddle. As promised, one of the bawdier ones:

Sometimes a lady, comely and proud,
Locks me up, boxes me tight --
Sometimes draws me out on demand
And hands me over to her pleasing prince
Who shoves his hard head in my hole,
Slides up while I slip down --
A tight squeeze. If the man who seizes me
Presses with power, something shaggy
Will fill me up, muscle me out --
A precious jewel. Say what I mean.

Addendum (added about five minutes after the initial posting): Needless to say, given the computer problems, I have gotten quite far behind in reading my LiveJournal friends and other blogs. I don't know if I can catch up -- it may be better for me to just restart with tomorrow's posts, rather than backtracking. At any rate, if there's anything in your journal or in any other blog/website you've seen in the past week which you think I ought to read, please post a response with links. Sorry about this, but technical difficulties happen.