Bardolatry

.....The other day in the Theatre Workshop class held in our clubhouse, I acted the graveyard scene from "Hamlet" and took all four parts from memory: Hamlet, Horatio, Gravedigger and Yorick.  Hamlet is walking with Horatio, his best--and probably only--friend through a graveyard on his way to Elsinore after returning from England where he had been sent by his uncle, Claudius. A gravedigger is singing while digging a grave for Ophelia, Hamlet's sweetheart, who has committed suicide in his absence--without his knowledge. Hamlet hears him and says, "Horatio, has this fellow no feeling for his business that he sings at gravemaking?" Horatio replies, "Perhaps custom has made it a property of easiness to him." The scene continues with repartee between Hamlet and the gravedigger until he is shown the scull of Yorick, the King's jester--a sort of Jay Leno in calico.  It is then that Hamlet begins his famous monologue "Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio".  It is hard to believe that there is someone who has never heard those opening lines somewhere in time.

.....I first heard of Shakespeare when I was in the sixth grade and I was made to learn a speech from "Macbeth."  It occurs while Macbeth was on his way to assassinate King Duncan who is staying as a guest, and who is currently asleep in the dark of the night.  Macbeth is not too happy about doing this job, but has been urged by Lady Macbeth to be a man and do it.  His manhood being tested, he is on his way below the staircase leading to Duncan's quarters when a visionary dagger appears before his eyes and he cries out, "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?  Come! Let me clutch thee!  (He reaches for it, but cannot "clutch" it).  I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." He goes on, "Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger of the mind--a false creation proceeding from the heat oppressed brain?"  Well, when I began reading this speech, it didn't touch me to the quick until I read it aloud and it jumped out at me; it came to life like Venus before Adonis.  I suddenly understood that Shakespeare's great poetry was not meant to be read silently--but aloud, and that reading it aloud leads to understanding.  I kept reading that soliloquy aloud even under the covers in my bed--such great joy it gave to me.

.....This speech piqued my interest and I went to the school library and took out the book on Macbeth.  When one gets to the scene where the three witches are boiling their broth awaiting the man whom they are enticing by incantation to do the evil deed of murder, one must certainly read it aloud in order to hear Shakespeare's music--try it and see: 

"Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog; Adders fork and blind-worms sting; Lizard's leg and howlet's wing; For a charm of powerful trouble; Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."  (I'll say this--if this witch takes a job as a chef here in a South Florida restaurant, I would be hesitant to go there.) Now, when I read this aloud--in the sixth grade-- I was hooked on Shakespeare.  And I can't understand why everyone else is not.  (I'm not finished with y'all).

Beyond the Age of Consent & Into the Future on the Good Ship Enterprise.

.....Now that I am a number of years past the age of consent, I never thought at that time what might be in store for me a few years later—like now.  At one time, I used to be 6’4”, 195lbs of pure muscle, and now I’m down to 5’7” and the same number of pounds.  How did that happen?  Ain’t life grand.  But that is not the end of this mystery novel.  I once jogged all day and took only one aspirin in the morning.  Now, I have upwards of 30 pills in my pill box with no clue as to what each one is supposed to do for me.  Fortunately, Rhoda is the one with the clue, and each Saturday—I believe it’s Saturday—she fills a weekly pill box with the pills prescribed for each day of the week.  They are all very pretty with different shapes and colors.  With all that medication, I am fortunate that most are obtained from the Veterans Administration.

…..And then there are the body parts.  All my extremities were once operating efficiently and athletically.  Now, I only have two of them left in operating condition.  The other two act in conjunction and with the aid of a cane.  Although it might appear distinguished to onlookers, I get the feeling that I look like Charlie Chaplin.  In the event that we go on a bus trip with the Boomers Club, or the New Generation, or the City of Hope, or Cancer Research here in Huntington Lakes  to a casino in Ft. Lauderdale then I have to take a scooter which is loaded onto the bus in the luggage compartment.  The scooter is a helpful aid; it has, I believe, 8 Cylinders, a GPS and some Harley-Davidson stickers that Bobby sent to me from his store in Virginia, and people are deceived into thinking that this is a Harley-Davidson Scooter.  What fools we mortals be!

War Games

.....While being bored, I remembered that on Nov.18—coming shortly—I joined the US Navy in 1942.  That was 68 years ago.  So that fact is sort of freaking me out. There are children today, who could care less about it, whose living grandfathers served in WWII .  In 1980 there were veterans still living who served in WWI.  Now, this is getting interesting. In 1930, when I was six years old, there were veterans still living who served in the Civil War! That is, considering my math is correct; if they were 18 in 1865, then in 1900 they were 53 and in 1930 they were 83. They lived when Lincoln was President!  Just think about it; I knew grandfathers who voted for Abraham Lincoln!! (A Republican). And the topper is that in 1845 there were veterans living who served with George Washington in the Revolutionary War!  So, now maybe, since I'm sending you this piece of useless information, you might believe that I am losing my mind???  Well, I'm really sorry that I never thought of asking one of the vets who voted for Abe for an autograph.  Actually at six years old, I never heard of autographs; but I could have shook hands with one of them, so that I could now look at and show off the hand that shook the hand of someone who voted for Abraham Lincoln! Also, I could have asked a vet how Lincoln was doing in the polls; probably lousy because half the country was in rebellion.  You couldn't call the rebels the Tea Party; more like the Hemlock or Cyanide Party.  Well, they lost. Too bad.

.....Nevertheless, in despite of my musings, one could draw a few parallels between Lincoln's day and our day.  The southern pols claimed that most Americans did not want abolition; that it was unconstitutional; that if they got into power they would repeal any abolitionist legislation.  Well, the northern guys claimed that all Americans should be free; that slavery was unconstitutional; that most Americans wanted abolition; and that they had the votes in Congress.  So the southern pols decided to elect their own president and establish their own country. Very clever.  So, since each party wanted their own way they decided that the best way to solve the impasse was to go to war.  And so they did; and so this solution produced 1,100,000 casualties and almost 62,000 deaths.  Consequently, America, land of the brave and the free, went on solving problems with World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Kuwaiti War, the Iraqi War, and the Afghanistan War--not to mention all the other battles by which we attempted to end disagreements.   Actually, many millions of lives could be saved if only the warring parties would have their National Basketball Teams play a seven game series, and the nation (or political party) whose team first won four games would then have their own way, and too bad for the losers.  (Under those circumstances we would have a good chance of having our own way)