h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I - and many others in the US - now know a lot more about the UK's Brexit options, thanks to John Oliver. (I suspect we may know more than some UK voters, but that may just be cynicism on my part.) I've just caught up on Oliver's civics lesson from last night. It featured cheese, and sheep, and a pig, and a border-crossing dog from NI, not to mention a snotty Persian cat with an EU passport.

But the piece de resistance was the surprise personal appearance of Lord Buckethead, who, according to John Oliver, has some good ideas. So many, in fact, that Oliver thinks His Lordship should be the negotiator for the UK in the upcoming Brexit talks.

I wanted to make sure y'all could see this, so instead of Oliver's Youtube channel, I'm linking to 'The Guardian':

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jun/12/john-oliver-theresa-may-lord-buckethead-brexit

I think you'll find Oliver's lecture enlightening - I always learn a lot from him.

********

And now, for something completely different (maybe):

You may not know this - or you may not have known this before Twitter exploded last night - but in New York City, they do Shakespeare plays in Central Park in the summer. It's free, and usually a fun way to educate the public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVt_f7S6Xlg

This is not normally controversial, although actors dislike the ambience. I believe it's the mosquitoes that get their nanny. In fact, Shakespeare in the Park is the subject of Paul Rudnick's hilarious play, 'I Hate Hamlet'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qmf-SwA60o&t=35s

Now, all of this sounds like banal information. Just one of those things people do in the summertime. But you need this information, because, children, the Republicans have found out. Fox News has found out. And they're outraged at the performance of these lefty plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMO-BIl9W2E

Okay, Caesar's wearing a rather long red tie. Calpurnia (Mrs Caesar) has a Slovenian accent. Those pink kittycat hats show up. The would-be emperor of Rome is stabbed to death with letter openers. He defends himself athletically.

Have these people never heard of 'modern dress' Shakespeare? Of course they haven't. They don't watch trash like this. An airline and a bank have stopped sponsoring the theatre group.

I have sought in vain for a scene from this production. Nothing doing. But to give you an idea of what modern-dress Shakespeare can do, here are some clips from last year's 'Twefth Night'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZMOmvFZtk

Twitter quotes on the fracas:

'Tell Bank Of America to stop funding play that assasinates[sic] our American President!'

'First #becket, now #JuliusCaesar in this week's Trump-news. And they say studying humanities don't[sic] prepare you for the Real World.'

'Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park (liked it, didn't *love* it due to excessive presentism, def go see it anyway!)' (Posted on 2 June)

From The Guardian: 'Forget Julius Caesar – Trump is more like Richard III...'

'Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth.' (Whose side is that on?)

'The reason Shakespeare is timeless is that the same themes keep happening over and over in history.'

'The play's the thing Wherein we'll catch hell because the King's minions are sub-literate Luddites.'

And one more, from an embarrassment of riches:

'Donald Trump is nothing like Julius Caesar you monsters. Caesar was one of the most competent men ever to live.'

O-kay. So that's your Monday update. Please don't do anything earth-shaking before tomorrow morning, world.

And...no.

They couldn't do it. Stop doing weird things until tomorrow, I mean.

The Democrats in the US Congress have just proposed some new legislation, called the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act.

Figure out the acronym:

http://twitter.com/search?q=%22COVFEFE%20Act%22&src=tren&lang=en

Twitter reaction:

http://twitter.com/ajplus/status/874359757401800708

I concur.

With apologies for the annoyance of triple-posting myself, here's a newspaper article answering the question whether anyone ever performed a modern-dress version of 'Julius Caesar' with Obama references?

Yes, of course they did. And Delta Airlines was a sponsor of the theatre, if not the play (which their PR department disputes).

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Delta-Sponsored-2012-Guthrie-Theater-Season-Which-Featured-Obama-Inspired-Julius-Caesar-20170612

Amazing - thanks Dmitri

I watched that John Oliver show yesterday. His delivery's a bit brash for my liking (not unlike a 1980s Ben Elton), but I applaud the material - the build-up to Buckethead's appearance was brilliant.

And that Shakespeare thing amazes me too. I suspect that this controversy is taking us back to the original way these plays were performed and received. If Bill's looking down on this, he'll be enjoying it immensely.

Oh, and I don't know if you caught this story from the UK election fallout.

As the Tories are in a bit of a mess, and having to do dodgy power-sharing deals with political wings of extreme loyalist paramilitary movements, it's a big risk that they won't be able to convene Parliament as soon as usual (it's scheduled for next Monday). This will have annoyed The Queen, who has already had to cancel an important event to be available for Monday. But instead of blaming the mess they got themselves into, the Conservatives have found another scapegoat for the delay - and this time it's a real goat - the goat whose skin is used to make vellum parchment - the medium upon which parliamentary laws and statutes are written. Apparently it takes the ink three days to dry out, and frankly, they can't have Her Majesty smudging it when she reads it out in the chamber.

Scrivens! Here's a Time article to explain:

http://time.com/4814539/british-queen-speech-goatskin-delay/

I like that! I suspect HM is not very amused by it all.

Icy, it's interesting what you say about Oliver, because he owes his success here to his general inability to impress British audiences. Or at least, that's what he says, more or less constantly.

A funny Oliver story: John Oliver originally had a job on 'The Daily Show', a comedy mock-newscast that often sends its comics into the field to harass people in surreal ways. One day, Oliver 'covered' a Republican political convention. When the security guards went in hot pursuit of him, he was hidden by a friendly bunch of military veterans. One of them was a very attractive woman...a former medic in Iraq. They married and have a son.

Oliver is a resident alien, so he gets to joke about 'green cards' a lot. And worrying about immigration policies.