Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:09 PM

Guess where we are!

Rather than spending a traditional Independence Day in the Cradle of Liberty, walking the Freedom Trail or listening live to the Boston Pops, we've decided to hop a flight down to Florida: the political home of Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and Bush v. Gore... The state whose tourist slogan genuinely was "The Rules Are Different Here."

But it's been a while since I saw my family, and when the opportunity arose, conspired with one relative to drop a bombshell on the rest.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much blogging I'll have time for -- reading or writing -- while on this vacation. If you see (or create) anything you think I should see, please drop me a link.

Thanks.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:50 PM

Okay, while driving home from work tonight, I saw an SUV with vanity plates:

I don't know anything about the driver, but I just can't imagine why one would advertise one's diagnosis in such a manner.

I mean, doesn't that just seem like asking for trouble?

As Ian quipped:

"I'm pulling you over for reckless driving."

   "What did I do?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure you did something."

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:44 PM

Just picked up a buncha books from the library. Here's my latest haul of reading material:

• Ben Jonson: a life by David Riggs
• The Big over easy: a nursery crime by Jasper Fforde
• The Know-it-all: one man's humble quest to become the smartest person in the world by A.J. Jacobs
• Route 66 A.D.: on the trail of ancient Roman tourists by Tony Perrottet
• Shakespeare's face: a biography of the man and his portrait by Stephanie Nolen

Walking out of the library with a foot-tall stack of books, I did wish that my idea of light reading was, you know, light.

I also still have Ready, steady, go!: the smashing rise and giddy fall of Swinging London checked out and as-yet unfinished.

Of course, I don't know how many of these (if any) I'll find time for this weekend. I really should be writing, as several people are complaining that I'm too cruel for leaving them hanging. [See Monday's post for clarification and a link.]

This latest scene is turning into a bit of a slog. I know basically what needs to happen, but getting in the characters' voices and flowing more-or-less naturally is proving a bit of a challenge.

Posted by Lis Riba at 8:42 PM

So, Harry Potter is in the news again after a recent J.K. Rowling interview.

Specifically, people are speculating about deaths at the end of Book Seven, based upon these comments:

Rowling: The final chapter is hidden away, although it has now changed very sightly. One character got a reprieve, but I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die ...

Q: Two much loved ones?

Rowling: Well, you know. A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil. They don't target the extras do they? They go for the main characters, or I do.

Please note -- she's talking about two additional deaths to the ones in her original draft, not only two deaths all told.

That's a revelation I find utterly unsurprising; as she says, there's a war going on. People die.

Needless to say, LJ is full of polls and speculation, fans hoping she won't kill off their favorites or rooting for the offing of particularly loathed characters.

[USA Today asked the webmasters of The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet their estimation of the odds. Their answers were fairly close.
Also, the online betting site WagerWeb has given their own odds. Though again, they seem to assume only two deaths. I'd have to look more closely at their rules, but if they're accepting inclusive bets (meaning that these two characters die, but aren't the only deaths), I would take +1400 odds (bet $100 to win $1400 profit) that both Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew will snuff it.]

As far as Harry's fate, here's what Rowling says:

I've never been tempted to kill him off before the end of book 7. I have always planned seven books and that is where I want to go, where I want to finish on seven books. But I can completely understand the mentality of an author who thinks well I am going to kill them off because that means there can be no non-author written sequels as they call them, so it will end with me and after I am dead and gone, they would be able to bring back the character and right a load of ... I am not going to commit myself. I don't want the hate mail, apart from anything else.

The best responses I've seen to date come from professional writers, Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries, Avalon High) and Michael Burstein.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:35 PM

By the way, since last night's post, I've worked out that the table of contents in my new Complete Works of Shakespeare follows the order of the First Folio (with Pericles and the poems tacked on at the end). I'm still not quite sure what the big deal is about this being "The Alexander Text" but it seems decent.

One other observation from last night. Ian and I grabbed dinner at the mall food court, first time in ages we've been to one. Just about every eatery (I can't quite dignify these places with the term "restaurant") accepted credit and debit cards for payment. In fact, the one exception we saw had a big "Cash only" sign.

Talk about moving to a cashless economy!

It's been barely two years since McDonald's started accepting plastic (mid-2004), and now it's totally de rigueur.

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot about this in my YCBA posts.

I know many of you enjoy the idea (and image) of Liberty/Justice Is My Femslash (icon near-right)

Have you ever seen Peace Embracing Plenty by Rubens? (image far-right)

Definite femslash icon potential!

Finally, speaking of icons and the YCBA, the Flower portrait was a 19th century fraud. Restorers discovered that it had been painted over a Madonna & Child, and decided to expose portions of the earlier image in the "background."

This naturally inspired Ian with the obvious slogan:

And that is artfully all.

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:20 PM

Oh dear! Impending deadline for the First Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans. I want to contribute, but I haven't a thing to write (nor much time to write it in)...

Two books which caught my eye while looking for other things:

• Wonder women: feminisms and superheroes by Lillian S. Robinson, 2004
• Black superheroes, Milestone comics, and their fans by Jeffrey A. Brown, 2001

I'll definitely have to track them down and check 'em out.

Also, the May/Jun 2006 issue of the Women's Review of Books features a really good article on yaoi.

I write a fair bit about slash fiction. Yaoi is Japanese manga about gay-male themes, by and for women. This passage sounds startlingly familiar to comments I've made in various places:

Why would women read romances about "gay" guys? Well, why do straight guys like images of lesbians? Generally, the thought is that two pretty people are better than one. But perhaps more telling, as with romance novels, in boys' love manga, women are the ones creating the male images. Ironically, a romance between two men can bypass misogyny and female stereotypes; removing the femme avatar can open up a freedom of sexual exploration and imagination for female artists that they don't find in heterosexual erotica. For example, rough play in het relationships is almost always abusive toward women, but with two guys, readers can pick and choose whom they want to identify with.

The article points out that much the same is true about slash fiction:

Slash fiction is an underground, and in many cases, female, usurpation of pop spectacle. Every shagging of Harry Potter is also a shagging of the mass media's claim to trademark and copyright exclusivity. These writings, no matter how bad, have a gleeful energy, with even the most protected franchised characters sprouting erections and mating indiscriminately. And there's also a kind of exhilarated relief in seeing them skewer American "look, don't touch" buddy flicks. C'mon, could all those pajama-wearing guys have spent years aboard the Starship Enterprise and never bonked each other, even out of boredom? Witty, sexy slash fiction breaks the stereotype that women prefer romance to smut and expands the genre of porn by including female storytelling, parody, and cultural critique.

And it seems pretty clear that just as real lesbians differ from the porn-lesbians portrayed for the pleasure of heterosexual (and bi) men, the same is holding true for yaoi:

Gay male filmmakers and boys' love manga publishers both insist that their audiences are separate. The writers of Queer as Folk did not write for a straight female crowd (in their statements, you can detect an almost Jonathan Frazen-like fear of a feminine, Oprah-watching audience); while yaoi publishers say that their conventions and book signings are attended almost exclusively by women. There is crossover, but it's happening outside the purview of marketers.

I've stated before, I'd love to see somebody compare (1) "lesbian"-porn by&for men to (2) lesbian-porn by&for women to (3) gay-porn by&for men to (4) slash/yaoi by&for women. I suspect you'll see as much or more in common between the faux-lesbian and slash/yaoi (1&4)than you will between those with superficially the same subjects (1&2 or 3&4). I can't speak to the lesbian porn, but I've read numerous threads on how unrealistic slash sex can be compared to actual intimacies among men. [Unfortunately, I don't have the links handy, but let me know if you're interested and I'll try to track them down.]

Well, whaddaya know. I may have something to contribute after all...

PS: For another recent article on the phenomenon, The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, in their January/February 2006 issue, had an article specifically on Harry Potter slash. However, neither this nor the article mentioned above appear to be freely to be available online.

Posted by Lis Riba at 10:42 PM

Stopped at a local bookstore to pick up Elizabeth Bear's latest: The Chains that you refuse and Blood and iron. [I hadn't realized Blood & iron was trade paperback-sized; I thought it was a mass-market paperback.] Bear, you'll be pleased to know that the gal behind the register seemed pretty intrigued by the back cover copy to Blood & iron. I gave it my best pitch...

Also had an interesting conversation with the clerk about Shakespeare.

Borders had a Complete Works on clearance ("The Alexander Text"?) in a relatively compact edition (8.5 x 5.5 x 2.5). I like having a Complete Works handy whenever I see the plays, so I can look things up during intermission or afterwards. However, my copy is starting to look its age, and I don't want to risk damaging it (further). Thus this copy seemed ideal.
It's a bit odd -- I don't quite comprehend the order of the plays. The table of contents doesn't seem to be alphabetical, chronological, thematic (comedies/tragedies/histories) or any other discernable order.

At any rate, we spent a few glorious minutes chatting about Shakespeare. She loves As You Like It, though she's never seen it staged -- only read it. [This struck me as somewhat odd, because I don't think of AYLI as a terribly readable play (much of the humor is in delivery) nor one that's often read.] But I was able to inform her that somebody was staging it this summer in Worcester (Redfeather Theatre Company I see now), told her that if she likes Shakespeare, she simply must keep an eye out for Actors' Shakespeare Project come the fall, and gave her the URL for Bard in Boston. Always fun chatting with another fan. :)

Afterwards I realized I should've mentioned the forthcoming Branagh film, but hopefully that'll be a big enough deal that she can't miss it.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:35 PM

(1) The Yale Center for British Art is right around the corner from the Yale Repertory Theatre.

With the only North American venue for the Shakespeare exhibit on your doorstep, you'd think they'd schedule some Shakespeare (or other Elizabethan plays) to capitalize on it.

But no.

I did go looking at New Haven theater websites. Not a bit of Shakespeare on the calendar outside the museum's own events. I would've been willing to make a longer trip -- catch dinner and a show, maybe even make a weekend out of it -- but none of the neighboring companies appeared prepared to capitalize on it.

(2) I don't know if museums take suggestions, but two related ideas occurred to me that I think would make a great little exhibit.

I'd love to see a collection pairing historic maps of London with paintings of London from that period. Give people a feel for the geography and how the city grew and changed.

Alternately, instead of a London city focus, something similar along the Thames. Slightly wider scope, allows for more of the grander landscapes, but still helps give a context of time and place to the works.

(3) Although I still regret never getting a direct answer from Dr Tarnya Cooper, I understand a little better why she said the Grafton portrait isn't Shakespeare -- and thus why it probably isn't Marlowe either.

To refresh from November 2005:

The Corpus Christi portrait: a 21-year-old in 1585	The Grafton portrait: a 24-year-old in 1588
click for enlarged view

The initial news stories said the Shakespeare identification was rejected because of the "affordability" of the outfit. But, to my eyes, it looks similar enough to the Corpus Christi portrait, and thus more within range of some young hotshot associated with a theater company. Especially since theatrical costumes already circumvented the sumptuary laws, and would have finer garments in stock.

The distinction, which the mainstream media also missed, is it's not the cut but the color!

Sumptuary laws placed restrictions on wearing red.

Maybe a kid (or Kit) would be able to borrow something to wear for a special occasion.

But it would take a hell of a lot of chutzpah -- on the part of both subject and painter -- for an undeserving lad to be immortalized wearing that shade.

I still like the idea; the Grafton fits my conception of what Marlowe in London should look like. But I'm willing and able to consign such notions to fantasy; fiction and not fact. One of my personal peeves in Marlowe fiction are authors who describe him at 29 as identical to the Corpus Christi portrait of a 21-year-old. It's an all-too-common occurence. The Grafton is older and thinner, someone who's seen a few more hard times, yet still has that edge... But again, I can differentiate the figments of my own imagination from truth.

Anyway, that should conclude what I have to write about my YCBA experience.

Questions? Comments?

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:15 PM

Just splitting this off to a separate post to reduce clutter.

After the museum and gift store closed, we wandered around the corner to the Atticus Bookstore and Cafe to browse. Didn't buy anything, but (as usual) I walked away with a small list of titles to seek out later:

• Impossible Journeys by Mathew Lyons
• The age of homespun: objects and stories in the creation of an American myth by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
• Divided by a common language: a guide to British and American English by Christopher Davies
• One-letter words: a dictionary by Craig Conley
• Clever maids: the secret history of the Grimm fairy tales by Valerie Paradiz
• Stolen words: forays into the origins and ravages of plagiarism by Thomas Mallon

Oh, and I was quite amused by this cover (right) to A Woman's Breast Self-Exam Journal by Susan Mendelsohn. Heh.

We'd thought about visiting the Yale Beinecke Library while in New Haven, but we found enough in the museum to occupy our entire day. Maybe another trip.

Everyone who's ever driven Route 84 just south of the Massachusetts border has probably seen the large sign advertising "FOOD and BOOKS."

Well, Ian and I finally decided to stop. We weren't actually hungry for food, but still had an appetite for books.

For the record, the establishment is called "The Traveler Restaurant" and you get there from Exit 74 on I-84.

The room is lined in shelves of used books, many of them library discards. [There was also a basement of books which was closed while we were there.]

Their deal is three free books with a meal -- and the food smelled magnificent, even if we were still too stuffed from lunch... Sounds like a great bargain, especially for people eating alone. Place your order, find a book while waiting for your food, read while you eat and then take it with you to finish.

The man behind the counter was willing to sell us books at fifty cents apiece, though, which was good because I found an as-yet-unread title from my Marlowe book list (Stephanie Cowell's Nicholas Cooke, actor, soldier, physician, priest). And Ian found another half-dozen for himself.

All in all, an excellent day (the only downside was the menstrual cramps that began in the late afternoon), and just how I wanted to celebrate my birthday.

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:10 PM

So Saturday morning, Ian and I hit the road to New Haven to see the "Searching for Shakespeare" exhibit at the Yale Center for British Art.

We left extra early to catch the museum's general tour (at 11am) and exhibit tour at noon, both of which provide good overviews of their subjects. The general tour, in particular, pointed out numerous details I wouldn't've caught on my own.

As I already mentioned, the Corpus Christi portrait (purportedly of Marlowe) is not on display. And looking through the exhibit catalog afterwards, I noticed many other prominent works which other archives were willing to loan Britain's National Portrait Gallery, but not Yale. So no handwritten leaf from Sir Thomas More. No costume sketch from Titus.

But you do get the drawing of the Swan Theatre stage, Francis Meres' Palladis Tamia open to the page listing Shakespeare's plays, a handwritten costume inventory from one of the theatres, parish registers, Shakespeare's coat of arms, his will, and more pamphlets and first printings than you can shake a stick at. Three-dimensionally, they had some period clothes and shoes, pins and buttons and a bannister found at the Rose Theatre site (though not my ring), a bear skull from the baiting pits, memorial rings, a scale model of the Globe Theatre, and I forget what else...

If you've done any reading in Shakespeare biogrpahy or Elizabethan theatre, you will recognize many of these artifacts from book illustrations. Yet their physical presence definitely adds something. Often book reproductions are divorced from their context or reduced in scale.

As The New York Times states:

Facts about Shakespeare's life are in scant supply, and it's probably safe to say that virtually every single bit of primary documentation about it is in this show. There may not be much, but it's a banquet.

[Hm. That quote got me thinking of items not on display or in the catalog. Neither Greene's Groatsworth of Wit -- first somewhat-coded reference to Shakespeare in London, albeit an unflattering one -- nor Passionate Pilgrim -- an unauthorized publication of several sonnets from 1599. While they're probably about as rare as any other Shakespeariana from the London book trade. I'm also surprised they didn't get some of the hazelnut shells from the Rose dig, since I was led to believe those were common as dirt.]

Of course, the focus of the exhibit are the six putative portraits of Shakespeare, brought together for the first (and only?) time, alongside reproductions of Droeshout's engraving (from the First Folio) and the effigy from Shakespeare's tomb.

Again, you've probably seen most of these reproduced in books, which may diminish their impact somewhat.
Still, it's marvelous standing up-close to such significant works, where you can walk from one to another and (for example) compare eye-color or other features.

Those aren't the only portraits on display, however. To provide context, they've gathered paintings of other notables, including monarchs (Elizabeth, James and a period rendition of Richard II), nobles (Essex, Southhampton, DeVere) and Shakespeare's colleages. No Marlowe, but Ben Jonson did make the trip across the Atlantic, along with Richard Burbage and Nathan Field. And Ian was particularly taken by the portrait of John Fletcher.

If you've got extra time, they've even provided a bookshelf in an adjoining room with biographies and other texts to provide additional depth to what you're seeing.

This is the only American venue for this exhibit, so it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! In fact, I hope to go back once more before it closes, just to really cement the memories in my brain.

Following the second tour, we decided to grab something to eat before examining the exhibits in more detail. After a short walk around the area, we came across Istanbul Café, where we had an utterly exquisite lunch.

We then returned to the museum to look at the other temporary exhibit and the permanent works.

The museum's other current temporary exhibit is Britannia & Muscovy: English Silver at the Court of the Tsars.

England apparently had a marvelous silversmithing tradition. Unfortunately, during the English Civil War, most British silver was melted down, leaving few examples for historians and art-lovers to appreciate.

However, ever since the founding of the Muscovy company in Elizabeth's reign, diplomatic voyages to Russia were often gilded with presents of silverwork, which thus avoided destruction.

This exhibit shows some of these pieces of ornamental silver.

Wow!

Context is provided by relevant documents (maps, formal diplomatic letters from Elizabeth, James and Charles) and other Russian artefacts of the period. They also have two displays of ornate firearms, embellished with inlaid mother-of-pearl and precious metals. [Ian found these particularly fascinating, just from a mechanical perspective.]

After the exhibit closes in New Haven, it will travel to London's Gilbert Collection at Somerset House. New Haven and London are the only venues for this exhibition.

Last, but certainly not least, the permanent collection.

The museum's foci include William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, George Stubbs, Joseph Wright of Derby, J. M. W. Turner, and William Blake (though most of his works are too fragile for everyday display).

I am such a tremendous geek. When I walked into the room of Tudor portraits, my eye immediately lit on one of Sir Robert Dudley. It took me a moment to find the identification, and I first thought it was Thomas Seymour -- something I consider a reasonable mistake, since Liz did have her "type".
Likewise, in another hall I accidentally mistook this for Charles I. It was a Van Dyck painting, so again I consider it understandable.

I don't know much about art (despite a survey course in college), but I know what I like. The docent took great pains to explain all the in-jokes in Hogarth's "Beggar's Opera" and details of craft in other works. Philippe Mercier painted a series devoted to the five senses, and be sure to take a close look at how he represents "Touch". And I think The Blacksmith's Shop by Joseph Wright of Derby has been frequently cribbed for fantasy book covers.

The building's architecture is neat, too. I usually don't care much for the naturalistic poured concrete look of the early 1970s (not sure whether this qualifies as Brutalism), but the interiors are magnificent. Wood paneling, removable walls to allow reconfiguring of the space, filtered skylights and windows maximize sun and natural light without fading... The rooms simulate classic British halls, with works often displayed above one another, instead of putting everything in a row.

To close our trip, we spent some time in the museum shop, where I treated myself to several books: the two titles associated with the exhibit (the exhibit catalog and Shakespeare and His Contempories by Charles Nicholl), along with Shakespeare's songbook, which Ian and I had been discussing in the car on the drive down. [I described the book's concept here]

Ian bought a couple postcard-sized prints of several works he particularly liked, and a boxed set of table skittles, which he proceeded to play around with all Sunday.

The Yale Center for British Arts is located in New Haven, CT. [Hours and directions.] It's about a two to 2.5 hour drive (each way) from Boston with under $5 in tolls (we got on and off the Pike at 128, so if you go all the way into the city, it may cost a little more). Admission to the museum is FREE and we actually found plenty of free onstreet parking (the spots are metered on weekdays).

Searching for Shakespeare, now through September 17
Britannia & Muscovy: English Silver at the Court of the Tsars, now through September 10

October 5, they'll be opening an exhibit on Art & Music in Britain: 1730-1900

I will definitely be back!

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:15 PM

Continuing from yesterday's remark that:

One thing I will say for JKR, she's really inspired a flourishing of amateur lit crit. The books are superficially simple and written on a children's level, but people can find a lot to read into them. I hope English teachers are making use of this!

I will just add that there are zillions of essays on whether Snape is good or evil, supported by textual evidence from the previous six books. As Ian put it, any kid who can do that can do the same for Heathcliff or other more literary characters.

Anyway, Ian asked this morning whether I thought the Harry Potter series would last, or if it would just be a fad.

The Potter series is certainly very tied into a time period. [I actually remember feeling rather upset when JKR first mentioned Dudley's PlayStation, because until then the series had a more timeless quality and that cemented it to the decade.] Then again, the Narnia books are also quite fixed to their historical setting, with the evacuation from the Blitz, and that hasn't proved an obstacle to new readers. Likewise, works by Dickens and Twain are firmly ensconced in their times, and they've also managed to become enduring classics.

Ian also mentioned the strong moral underpinning to many of these classics. Here, Rowling doesn't hold up quite so well (though we'll have to wait for Book Seven to see how much is intended and how much accidental). While the series certainly tells a great story of Good versus Evil, she often displays some disturbing situational ethics. Actions that the authorial voice condemns among Slytherins are praised when characters she likes commit them.

I think the real key to Potter's lasting success, though, will lie with the readers.

The majority of the fanbase (or at least the most vocal and active portion) appears to consist of adult females. So when (if) these women have children, do you doubt they'll eventually read Potter to their kids as a bedtime story?

Of course, today's children are Rowling's actual target audience, and the same thing applies. Unless they're totally ashamed of their childhood infatuations, don't you think they'll be reading the series to their kids?

Ian and I can both recall books we had growing up chosen by our parents from among their favorites, and I haven't seen convincing reason why the Harry Potter series won't go the same way.

What do you think?

Posted by Lis Riba at 6:15 PM

Over the weekend, I got a bit further in my Percy Weasley fanfic, "A Marked Man."

Still not finished, but I've written nearly 2800 words, and already have a rough outline for the next scene.

However since RL events may not leave me much time to write over the next week or so, I'll post another installment for those of you complaining I'm cruel for leaving you hanging where I did.

It's still unbetaed, but the story's moving along. About half-way finished.

And I do intend to complete this no later than the first week in August.

As usual, comments gratefully accepted!

PS: Somebody asked me the other day why Percy Weasley?

I think he's an underappeciated character, often unfairly maligned. [JKR really has a yen for writing an unreliable narrator.] Speaking as another office-worker doing the daily 9-to-5 grind, I can identify and sympathize with him.

Here are links to some old essays describing him in detail (the starred ones are my favorites):

 •Percy as Pimpernel?
 •Idol Reflection: Excuse Me, I'm Head Boy*
 •Icarus: Percy In a Post-HBP World*
And two from Red Hen on dynamics in the Weasley family and Percy and Molly.

[One thing I will say for JKR, she's really inspired a flourishing of amateur lit crit. The books are superficially simple and written on a children's level, but people can find a lot to read into them. I hope English teachers are making use of this!]

Posted by Lis Riba at 2:00 PM

To the person I saw in the YCBA gift shop looking at The Shakespeare Stealer:

Here's the list of YA fiction about Elizabethan theater that I mentioned.

Posted by Lis Riba at 9:35 AM

I'll write it all up in detail later, but I simply must note that (a) the YCBA is a fabulous museum, one I'm astonished I hadn't discovered earlier and that I expect to return to many times in the future, and (b) much to my dismay, the Corpus Christi portrait did not did not cross the Atlantic with the rest of the exhibit.