We watched Othello, Moor of Venice today. Lawrence Fishburn plays Othello and Kenneth Branagh plays Iago, the villain. Then we read the preface to Othello from the Complete Works in one volume from a dusty old book left at 510 Jefferson Street by Jill Woodburn. The film was mentioned by Jon Smith, the Hanover College professor of Shakespeare.
We loved it. Rozz was struck by the dramatic qualities of Larry Fishburn in an action-adventure movie we saw recently and so I decided to get the movie.
The performances of Fishburn and Branagh knocked my socks off. I think Fishburn surely must be one of the most powerful and underrated actors in movies today.
I've been aware of Branagh's talent for a good while. (He, of course, proved he was a fool by letting his bride Emma Thompson go, but you can't win 'em all and what do I know?) Now I want to see Branagh's Hamlet, which Jon also uses in his HC course.
I recently revisited an American classic of the fifties, The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever, by reading it aloud to Rosie. It has humor, an upbeat look at life, and beautiful prose-poetry about seaside New England. We both liked it and tonight we started The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Rosie fell asleep on the first chapter, which describes the Dust Bowl in almost King James language, with the cadences of the Creation stories in Genesis. My hypnotic voice and her weariness did her in.
Today got a phone call from my M.D. (medical daughter). She's like the Wyoming Gov -- Work! Work! Work! Also got a call from Warnie. He and I, we house-hubbies, will make one of our field trips to a greasy spoon about next week, I hope.
Fixed the toilet yesterday. Couldn't thread a nut on a bolt and found out it was threaded in reverse (counterclockwise to tighten). Took a trip back to Lowe's to find it out in a chance meeting with a competent and very amiable plumber there in the store. Came back home and promptly assembled the mechanism and soon we were flush in proper plumbing. Look what I did, Daddy!
Donated the twelve CDs of Mozart symphonies to the library. Those were the ones Shane sold me many years ago. Made copies for myself, so it's not the kind of giving that hurts. But I do love that library and am willing to make sacrifices for it.
Love to all and to all a good night.
4 comments:
I think Jon Smith was one of my teachers when I was at Hanover 15-plus years ago (wow, that makes me feel old). I think we studied Wordsworth and some of his Romantic contemporaries.
So you are still a bedtime story reader. I think I snored softly through a few of them myself and those were the good times I remember. Maybe a book on CD would be the thing to put me to sleep on my oh so many sleepless nights now. I'll have to try that. Peace to you and Rosalie.
Fifteen years? Is this the little girl I carried? Oh-oh, watch it, JT. No lumps in the throat tonight.
Oooh... Mozart! Thank You!!!
sincerely yours,
Y.P. Library
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