Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:50 PM

And this about wraps up my weekly Anglo-Saxon riddles. After six posts and ten riddles all told, this will be the final post in the series. For those coming to this afresh, here are all the riddles posted to date (the answers to each are contained in the subsequent post):

And here are the answers to last week's riddles: First, a key:

The key itself may dangle on a belt beneath the Anglo-Saxon tunic; its lascivious twin is also hung boldly beneath and below. The small miracle may open love's lock as it slips snugly into the "hole it has long come to fill." The pun on "long" (a habitual action, an attained length) is playfully present in the Old English. This is certainly the earliest English example of the sexual lock-and-key symbolism noted by Freud in his chapter on the dreamwork (6.E) in The Interpretation of Dreams.

The second riddle I posted describes a butter churn:

The male servant thrusts his plunger into the female churn -- together they make the baby, butter. The riddle opens with a burst of machismo, slightly surreal in its ravishing treatment of the passive woman in the corner. The man has the action -- he steps, lifts, thrusts (his "something" is mock modesty), and works his will. Yet the paradox of sexuality is -- as man pumps, his power wanes. The dichotomy between active and passive, male and female, man and churn, disappears in a moment of lyric frenzy -- "Both swayed and shook." The young man returns in line 7, not to power but to his place as object in a female fantasy. The narrative voice swings over: the man is a servant, sometimes useful, too often tired before the work's end. The lady's power is in the making: she bears the butter. The cost of love is dearer than our hero dreams.

Boy, those explanations were far more academic than I expected. As I've said earlier, all the riddles and answers come from A Feast of creatures: Anglo-Saxon riddle songs translated, with introduction, notes and commentary, by Craig Williamson. The book has a total of 91 riddles, although many are incomplete or have no definitive answer. Nonetheless, I do recommend it if you've liked what I've posted so far.

I also want to take this moment to express my appreciation for all the people who posted your guesses to these riddles. I'm incredibly pleased that at least one person correctly guessed every answer.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:00 AM

I just noticed that if you Google on Boston Shakespeare, Bard in Boston is the first hit. [Interesting. Googling on Shakespeare Boston, and it's the second hit, just behind Commonwealth Shakespeare.] Nice to feel like I'm making a difference in the Boston cultural scene, no matter how small.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:54 AM

My Marlowe in Modern Fiction list had long since plateaued. I hadn't found any new works in a long while nor had I received any new submissions. I thought it was nearly complete, save for newer works that might come out in the future.

Through my local library network, I have access to a nifty service called NoveList, which is supposed to provide similarity searching for novels (I liked X, find me other books of that type). And in the process of looking at Elizabethan historical fiction, I found two more Marlowes!!!

1. A Plague of angels by P. F. Chisholm, 1998: the fourth book in a mystery series featuring Sir Robert Carey
2. The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert

That brings the number of published Marlowe fiction works (including short stories, plays and films) in the last 30 years to 38, plus one as-yet unpublished novel. [And I've read or seen 19 of them.] I want to rush out and request them from the library right now, but I'm trying to pace myself. I'll have several hours on airplanes middle of next month (I'll be visiting family in Florida for the High Holidays), and I'm trying to save reading material for then.

Posted by Lis Riba at 2:00 PM

I remember an old post by Neil Gaiman about suspension of disbelief in which he wrote:

There's an otherwise marvellous novel in which a time traveller arrives in 18th century London and asks for a specific street, and is told "it's a few blocks over that way" which tells us that the writer is American, and, for those people who know and live in London (a city in which the concept of a city block has yet to arrive in the 21st century) it can throw you out of the story.

I know how he feels.

I just finished reading another YA book set in Elizabethan England (A Murder for her majesty) which makes frequent reference to tea. ["I do hope you'll come to take tea with me again some evening." While buying holiday gifts, [s]he wandered through the stalls, pausing briefly at ... tea dealer's, but ... she didn't know what sort of tea he liked. and so on.]

Tea wasn't introduced to England until the 1650s, and it didn't gain popularity there until the late 17th Century!

This history lesson has been provided by the letter T and the numbers 4 and 2.

[Aside from that, the book was decent; I thought the church services described seemed a little too Catholic for Elizabethan England, but I haven't really studied enough church history to say for certain.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:12 AM

Flipping thru the Fall Movie coming attractions in Preview Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, I came across a title I hadn't heard of that seems just my area of interest: Stage Beauty, a story about the transition to female actors during the Restoration (1660s). However, the official synopsis seems to have things a little bit backwards:

Charles II is keen to spice up the theatre and see his persuasive young mistress Nell Gwyn take some applause. So he changes the law, banning cross-dressing male actors...

The story appears to involve a male actor of female roles teaching a young woman how to be an actress. Keep in mind there weren't any actors in England for nearly thirty years during the interregnum, and the historical inaccuracies seem even more glaring. Still, the sets and costumes look gorgeous, and Rupert Everett as Charles II sounds like excellent casting...

[Interesting, looking at the cast & characters page, the male lead (Edward "Ned" Kynaston) was a real actor of the period mentioned in Pepys' diaries. And they also acknowledge "the producers have used some creative licence with Charles II (it is not entirely clear, for example, whether women were effectively outlawed from appearing on stage, nor is it known whether Charles II was responsible for repealing this law), it is certain that he did rule that men could not appear as women on stage: the introduction of this law is one of the events chronicled in Stage Beauty." I'm liking this more and more.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:55 AM

I have a lot of short entries that I intended to post, and begun writing but never finished. So just to clean out my BlogScratch file (yes, I do refer to my draft entries as BS), here are a few tidbits I once thought worth sharing. Please note, these have been written over the last several weeks, so my mood may appear rather schizophrenic:

From the New Globe Theatre in London:

What are the differences between the Globe in Shakespeare's day and the present Globe?
Mostly the differences are caused by reasons of safety. There are four entrances instead of two, there are exit signs and fire sprinklers; otherwise it is as much like Shakespeare's Globe as possible.

Although logically I can understand these consessions, the purist in me is a little annoyed by the changes to the layout (I'm fine with the sprinklers). But after I've reading further in British theater history, I wonder how much of that is necessary.

See, during a performance of Henry VIII in 1613, a special effect ignited the ceiling and burned down the Globe Theatre. Witnesses reported that "it was a great marvaile and fair grace of God, that the people had so little harm, having but two narrow doors to get out" (John Chamberlain) and "nothing did perish but wood and straw, and a few forsaken cloaks; only one man had his breeches set on fire, that would perhaps have broiled him, if he had not by the benefit of a provident wit put it out with bottle ale." (Sir Henry Wotton).

We're probably better for not relying on providence, but I think the old theater may have been safer than we moderns give it credit.

Back to the future

Though we still haven't gotten a bookcase to fit the space after fiction A - P, I decided to use one of the other bookcases to unpack my science fiction magazines.

Approximately 13 feet of shelving. Just a shade too much to migrate to one of the 2-foot-wide bookcases, whenever those arrive.

At any rate, I've got a complete set of Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine from the first issue in the late 1970s through the late 1980s (my father cancelled his subscription while I was in college). I've also got a good quantity of Analogs from the same period, along with a few other magazines from the early 1970s (IF, F&SF). I'd been having fun just picking up issues at random. Good stories and nostalgia fix -- what could be better?

Rereading them, I recognize many names that have gone on to greater fame. I found Esther Friesner's first published story, and that of Peter David. I recognize names from other contexts, such as a letter to the editor from someone I now know through his journalism. I also see names that I wish had gone on to greater glory -- I have the complete oeuvre of Tom Rainbow, and every time i read of it, wish he'd lived to write much much more. I see short versions of works that went on to later fame as novels: "The Postman" (I still prefer the novella to the expanded book, and can articulate why, if anybody's interested) and "Ender's Game." I have many of the original Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories.

So much of my tastes and personality were shaped by these magazines. Martin Gardner puzzles, Feghoots, Ann Atomic... [After I showed Ian just a handful, he started trying to write his own shaggy dog story. Is it any wonder I'm such an incorrigible punster (do not incorrige) with such prolonged early exposure to the genre?]

BTW, does anybody besides me remember Tom Rainbow, author of six IASFM Viewpoint columns and one story in Analog? I just came across his obit, and Worldcon will be the 20th anniversary of his death.

So, I finished reading Something Rotten last night Wednesday night -- completed the final paragraph just as the Brookline Booksmith host was introducing Jasper Fforde. Didn't stay for the autographing, not even for the library book, because the lines were just too darned long. Oh well.

Several quick observations for the book.

I've been reading some more historical juvies set in the Tudor reigns. [Carolyn Meyer's Mary, Bloody Mary and Beware, Princess Elizabeth] Amusing and annoying to see a recent book perpetuate historical interpretation that I know from further reading has been discredited. [The notion that Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife, attentively nursed him through his illnesses was a Victorian invention.]

Book to read eventually: Monarchy and matrimony: the courtships of Elizabeth I, which looks at the notion that Elizabeth never intended to marry, and always had in mind the notion of the Virgin Queen. Instead of looking at her relationships with her later celibacy in mind, the author takes each of them as they came in her life and looks at it without foreknowledge, to see how seriously she really was considering marriage. Based on the cover blurb, it looks like she might've been more open to marriage than many histories write her. [One of my frustrations with Beware, Princess Elizabeth is the portrayal of Elizabeth's early adamance that she will never marry, something I don't quite buy, despite her early relationship traumas.]

Of course, after reading Meyer's books, I now want to delve back into rereading nonfiction: Six wives, The Children of Henry VIII, Elizabeth... And I just found another historical fiction to read at some point: The Queen's fool (as opposed to Jane Yolen's The Queen's own fool, which is a different book.]

I thought I'd taken this quiz ages ago, but don't see it in the archives:

Cor blimey, I taste like Tea. I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. (If you were not Tea you would be Vanilla.) What Flavour Are You?

Closing quote by way of Jay Leno:

"[Vice President Dick] Cheney [...] warned Americans about a group that is trying to impose their radical extremism on everyone else. He said, 'They have no tolerance for democracy and they have no tolerance for people with a different religious faith.' And then he said, 'I'm sorry, that's our platform.'"

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:56 AM

I've been feeling very pessimistic and down lately, regarding jobs and finances and life in general and outlook for the future. I wrote up a long self-pitying maudlin entry, but I'm not sure whether to post it. It's pretty sad, and there isn't much I can see getting out of it beyond expressions of sympathy, but that's how I'm doing at the moment.

[By the way, I am aware that comment links are down. I've left a message with YACCS to see what's going on. In the meantime, you can comment in the LiveJournal feed, and I will transfer those back here when comments are working. You don't need to have an LJ account, just add your name to the post and I'll make sure it gets transferred over. Also, a request: please do not comment on LJ posts more than about a week old -- the syndicated feed does expire (see July's posts? no? they used to exist!) and I'd hate to lose any comments.]

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:10 PM

Just about two weeks away, and I'm wondering who's coming into town for the event, so I can make sure to see folks. Any of you going to be staying a few extra days before or after so we have more time to socialize/for me to show you around the city?

Also, it looks like our hotel plans fell thru; anybody got spare space for two? If not, we can make this a commuter-con, but since I'm an early-to-bed-early-to-rise type and Ian's more of a night-owl, we prefer to stay on the premises for conventions to avoid disagreements and resentment. Anybody got some spare bed or floor space?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:50 AM

Now, this is the kind of horoscope I like:

You haven't been singing and dancing and laughing and playing enough lately. You haven't been telling yourself jokes as you drop off to sleep or leaping off the couch during the exciting parts of your favorite TV shows or going ten miles out of your way to track down the exotic sensation you're in the mood for. Either get more serious about having fun, Cancerian, or I swear I'll show up in your dreams in the form of a giant crab running amok in a place where you take everything too seriously.

I have been having fun, just my own style of fun. Friday, I was out of the house (and away from phones) all day out in Lenox doing Shakespeare-like things. Ian's sister and niece are in town, so we've been spending time with them, playing games, going shopping... Leila treated me to some foot-care pampering products that I'd been eyeing for a while, and ooh did those feel good.

Yesterday, I stopped at the library to return some books and check others out. Looking through the catalog, I realized that the library network had exactly one copy available of two new books I'd been wanting to read. Both books were at the Newton Auburndale branch. It was 4:30pm in Cambridge, the branch closed at 6pm, rush hour was about to start... I got both books (plus three others from Cambridge) and was back in Harvard Square to hang out by 5:30 while Ian was working an evening shift (even found a free parking space!). Okay, maybe that's not the zaniest thing one could do, but I think I may see if Jasper Fforde will autograph the library copy of Something Rotten when I hear him speak tonight -- library patrons need an author's love, too. [I also looked up the three books coming out in September that I most want; they're already listed in the catalog, with 15-35 holds already on each.]

So I'm not living the wildest life, but I'm having my kind of fun on my present budget. And of course, Worldcon is only two weeks away. [Anybody still looking to share a room for the con?]

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:45 PM

So we went out to Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox Friday night. [Ian's account]

Saw Comedy of Errors for the first time. Very funny, as those familiar with the play will know. They did some interesting casting. Each pair (master/servant and twins) consisted of one white actor and one actor of color. Made it trivially easy to tell who was whom. Their comic delivery was superb as well. They eked out every last laugh out of Shakespeare's lines. I mean, "words are but wind" is funny. "Words are butt-wind" is hysterical! And the "she is like a globe" routine? We were laughing so hard we could barely breathe. [However their timing remained excellent and we didn't miss a joke.]

Staging was surrealistic. Reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, though I couldn't quite explain why. But I'm not entirely sure I liked that. The plot is so absurd already that it went from complementary at the start to excessive by the end. I'm really curious what the critics will say in their reviews.

I actually hadn't realized beforehand that this was opening night. I saw a table by the entrance labelled "Press" with a list of names and a stack of press kits. Ever since the DNC Press Director saw my I'm blogging this t-shirt and offered me anything, I've been tempted to try to use my blog to pull (what I know is nonexistent) rank. I haven't -- I've been good -- But I really wanted to ask for an extra press kit.

Before the play, we attended the last and most popular of their Humanities lectures. What can I say, but free food brings 'em in every time. Ian and I bought Shakespeare's Kitchen back in January at Arisia. Before the lecture, I brought my book for her autograph. She greeted me by asking whether I was a "foodie" or Shakespearean. I described myself as interested in Elizabethan history in general, so she signed it to "a true Renaissance woman." She then showed me a list of food-related Shakespeare quotes she compiled for inscriptions. When I saw "This night he makes a supper, and a great one" from Henry VIII, I asked her to write that for Ian, which she did. [And he generally does.]

The talk itself was entertaining, but I didn't really learn as much as I'd hoped. Francine Segan spoke more of the whys and hows of her research than historical discoveries. Perhaps at this point, I've done too much reading in the subject to really appreciate introductory lectures -- an idea I find rather disappointing because I thought I only had glimpses of superficial trivia. I guess I know more than I thought.

According to Ms. Segan, the New York Public Library Rare Books Room has a cookbook from the 1600s; in the introduction, she credits Robert May's Accomplisht Cook. It includes lost delicacies like fart pie and has an entire chapter of jokes called "Mirths for the table." Something else she said reminded me of medieval feast pranks, and her description of the ornate marzipan and sugar sculptures reminded me of my friend Jehanna's running commentary on her cooking school classes. [Sugar plates for the really well-to-do showoffs!?]

After the lecture, everybody trooped back to the theater lobby to sample several dishes from her cookbook: salad with capers and figs, sandwich cookies with a sweet spinach filling, and candied anise seeds. Meanwhile, the souvenir store opened and she autographed more copies of Shakespeare's Kitchen for people. For what it's worth, her other books might also interest some of you. Movie Menus (site) are meals designed to accompany movies of various genres, and her latest, Philosopher's Kitchen with ancient Greek recipes has gotten a lot of press recently both because it's new and to tie into the Olympics.

I have no clue what the Fall Festival entails, but aside from their programs for children, the only other Shakespeare on the Shakespeare & Co. schedule this year is a "workshop" production of Othello. They're giving four performances, and to explore the issue of race the two lead actors will alternate between Iago and Othello. Even though I've only seen two plays, I've become very impressed with Jonathan Epstein, and I'd love to see his Othello. Unfortunately, the production conflicts with Worldcon which has a prior claim on my time. Still, I've been really impressed by Shakespeare & Company this summer. I only regret I never discovered them until this year and that they're so far away.

By the way, after I composed this entry, the Sunday Boston Globe had an article about the company and their financial situation. They're in no danger of closure, but I think it may be a bit longer before their reconstruction of the Rose Theatre comes to fruition. Pity.

Posted by Lis Riba at 4:55 PM

Possibly a new feature. I've had a few questions I've been meaning to blog, and I'd like to hear others' answers.

If you could go back in time to see an original performance of one of Shakespeare's plays, which would you choose and why?

• A comedy, history or tragedy?
• An old favorite or one of the lost plays, like Cardenio?
• Would you want to see it in the indoor theater which allowed for greater effects or the open air theaters like the Rose and Globe?
  • If you chose the latter, would you stand among the groundlings or pay extra for a balcony seat?
• Is there a particular actor or scene or effect (exit, pursued by a bear) you want to see in the original?

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:00 AM

Well, not the last, but the last ones I'm going to post for a while. This feature has been fun, but my interest has been waning, and judging by the number of responses, so have yours. So first last week's answers, and then the last of the bawdy double-entendres.

Last week's answers: an onion and bellows.

New riddles:

A small miracle hangs near a man's thigh,
Full under folds. It is stiff, strong,
Bold, brassy, and pierced in front.
When a young lord lifts his tunic
Over his knees, he wants to greet
With the hard head of this hanging creature
The hole it has long come to fill.

and

The young man came over to the corner
Where he knew she stood. He stepped up,
Eager and agile, lifted his tunic
With hard hands, thrust through her girdle
Something stiff, worked on the standing
One his will. Both swayed and shook.
The young man hurried, was sometimes useful,
Served well, but always tired
Sooner than she, weary of the work.
Under her girdle began to grow
A hero's reward for laying on dough.

Answers to these next week, though I welcome all and sundry to take a guess and post it in the comments.