watch your feet, watch your head

[radfrac_archive_full]

Two dreams in one week about disturbing a ground nest of hornets and being stung. Once at my parents' house, once here at home. Apart from the literal, what should I be worried about? Where am I in danger of kicking up trouble?

This week turned out to be a small personal arts festival, beginning with the opera dress rehearsal on Tuesday night -- my ticket bestowed by argus_in_tights. This occasional opera attendance has become a sweet tradition in my year. Idomeneo was excellent, and I will review it, only -- well -- I have to see the last act first. argus_in_tights, your gift was great, but my weariness and worry were greater, and I went home at second intermission to work on my paper. I know it's dreadful, but seemed like a compromise I could live with.

Thursday came, and it was finally October 11th, which meant Robert Bringhurst speaking on the West Coast Renaissance. It was arranged as a Lansdowne Lecture and a part of the Skelton/Malahat review retrospective. Fanboys everywhere, or at least here, rejoiced. He seemed a bit bemused that we wanted typography books signed rather than poetry. And o his voice. I have never heard such finely modulated tones (bari-, bass) sustaining such well-constructed phrases. The question period was interesting, and challenging on the subject of cultural usage, which I was glad for.

Then last night, on the spur of the moment, inlandsea and I decided to attempt (if not too artistically priced) the Art Gallery's contribution to the retrospective -- a reading by Skelton's students and contemporaries of their work and his. Brignhurst read last and best, incanting Skelton's long night poem as though the sea itself spoke, rolling and grinding the stone of each word, dragging it back and forth until its shape was perfect in the ear and the mind.

All of these rich moments, deserving of detail and attention, but I am going to market before it closes. If spoken words are round beach-stones, sometimes lately it seems like lifting granite blocks to write them down, to formulate the chronologies of things, even events I know I'll want to have a record of. I suppose it's having done all those bloody drafts of that bloody essay. I seem to remember that only five years ago this school/work proposition was much less taxing.

I feel flickering, moments of brightness and a fatigue not exactly physical or mental, though affecting both. Something like overtaxing the ligaments that join body and mind.

Anyway. Poetry later. Shallots now.

{rf}

Comments

Good as compromise gets

[argus-in-tights.livejournal.com]

Poor thing. Seems everybody was overtaxed with assignments to really sit back and enjoy the opera. Too bad The Boy didn't know until the last moment he'd have all night to enjoy it. Ah well. I do hope you enjoyed what you saw. The rest has some nice bits, but my major thing was in that first act, so you saw my best. If it's any comfort, GO says it wasn't our best effort. So very much Mozart, and not really the best of Mozart. But I get to run around half nekkid, wear a really bad-ass earring and throw stuff. What more could a fella ask for?

I always find Oberon rather homo these days. Probably because he's usually portrayed by someone large and wearing leather, fabulous and queer, or a counter-tenor. Sometimes all three. And the whole fight over the changeling boy? Make of it what you will...

Did you find the copy of Shylock at your door? Have you had a chance to dip into it? It's rather a nice read, really. P'raps it helps if you know the people who some of the characters are based upon ;)

Have fun and do catch up so we can have another brunch.

\i/

Re: Good as compromise gets

[radiantfracture]

Quel boy?

I did enjoy it. And I was pleased at the amount of noise the chorus got to make. I want to write a review so I can mention you flinging yourself onto the riser.

"So much Mozart", well, I suppose I see what you mean -- though Mozart's very accessible -- even as a not-terribly-musical person it's easy to find ways into the score. That's not something to dismiss. I might wish I'd *started* with Mozart and gone the other way.

I thought the leads were in excellent voice, except that for some reason Idomante's voice vanished entirely partway through Act 2. And trouser parts! That was a pleasure. (Hm, you can tell I didn't research in advance.) Would that originally have been a castrato part?

Thank you for the "Shylock" -- I did find it (or inlandsea did) and I did read it. It said a couple of the same things I did in my talk, which was interesting.

I think another brunch would be excellent. I have more quince.

Re: Good as compromise gets

[argus-in-tights.livejournal.com]

Yes, Idamante has had a cold all the way through, which has been annoying for her. She's usually a party girl, and has been kept in by nagging sickness. A shame, since she proved she's very funny and quick-witted, and would have been a good after show person, I think - maybe even a singer who can talk about something other than singing, who knows. Maybe next time.

Mia does rather well with the pants role think, I think. It sort of helps that she has a slightly masculine look to her face. I kept thinking how lovely it would be if they'd put just a wee fringe of beard on her.

The funniest moment in rehearsals when we were in the theatre, is when she strode manfully on stage - great strut - with her fairly ample chest thrust full out in front of her. And when we finally got in costume and someone asked her about how she kept...the girls...down, she detailed the binding process. Made me think of your story about making adjustments in the washroom at Prism ;)

I know what you mean about the accessibility of Mozart. I just find once the score gets going, there's a lot of it. With a lot of repeats. Every now and then I just hope for some diligent pruning.

Glad to hear Shylock was of some use/interest. I think it might be a better read than a play, but whaterver. It seems I'm now semi-committed to some sort of Fringe tour with Mark's follow up play. I suppose at some point soon I really need to at least start with a reading. Oh my never ending life of theatre!

\i/

Re: Good as compromise gets

[radiantfracture]

Poor peacock. You'll have to be admired again.

It's an excellent thing. Tell me again the name of the follow-up play? I know it's another of Will's fellows.

{rf}

Re: Good as compromise gets

[argus-in-tights.livejournal.com]

All the admiration wears on a fellow, you know...

The follow up is called Yorick's Last Laugh. I'm waiting until after Halloween for a skull sale - I'll need three to make the play work. At least I already have a dress. Then all I need is a rubber chicken and a coffin...maybe some other stuff...

ah school

[xcaro.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying noticing how my brain seems to be getting stimulated by being school. It's like a long unused muscle being stretched a bit every day. Words and grammar are coming back, though my hopes for continued increases to the attention span, thus far, have been dashed. I seem to only be able to read a small amount of time, 10 minutes or so, before I'm daydreaming. Especially in my HR readings, it's very relevant to work so I start thinking about work...

You know what I remember from the last time I was in university? Not caring. I mean, I don't care about my grades, so long as I get what I need graduate (B average, very do-able), but I'm more competitive about grades now than I ever used to be. If someone else gets a better grade, I'm annoyed. That never used to happen. I'm not sure why I care so much more this time around.

Re: ah school

[radiantfracture]

I am trying not to worry too much about the grades. Realistically, I need to get at least an A- in everything, and that's pushing it -- it really should be As or A+s. Which I felt fairly confident of until I sat down to the essay and found myself in a vast snarl of theory, trying to write the minor close-reading creature that he wanted.

The stimulus, though, yes, that's wonderful. I wish I had all day just to lie about and think.

{rf}