Blog Assignment--Julius Caesar Acts II and III

Before I start, I would just like to say this..


DOES ANYBODY ELSE THINK MARK ANTONY IS THE COOLEST FICTIONAL CHARACTER IN ALL OF SHAKESPEARE!?!


*coughs* Well, to be honest, I didn't expect you to share my enthusiasm. But, I LOVE HIM. And because I decided to do the cartoon, hence, not very much text, I'm going to be talking a little about MARK ANTONIUS. <3>

Okay, I'm going to try a bit of html, here. It has a replay function to show how I drew it.
And, if the html doesn't work, I apologize. You'll have to trust that the horrible toga interpretation is my own.

Alrighty, a brief explanation is required.
This is my lovely drawing of Brutus and Caesar! If it's not clear what they're doing, they're sharing a friendly HUG. Or, more of a man-hug, you know, where you put one hand on your shoulder and one hand on your back. Brutus is the one with the darker hair (respectively).
Anyways. Brutus has his hand away from Caesar's back because he's holding a knife. In the play, Brutus stabs Caesar in the back, figuratively and possibly literally, depending on which version of the play you watch. In the one we saw, Brutus held Caesar, his knife raised, as Caesar said his final words:
"Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar."
And then Brutus stabs him in the back.

I added blood to the knife just to add to the fact that Brutus IS stabbing him. No question about it, and no regret (yet).

So about Antony... :)
When I saw Jonathan Goad play his character in Julius Caesar in Stratford, I was totally captivated. I know everyone was bored, and didn't understand, or whatever. I'm not saying that I DID, but Antony got me hooked. I go to see Shakespeare all the time, mostly for the reason that I can't understand it. I also watch new movies in Spanish. It's kind of nice.. Being completely oblivious.
Oh, and if you haven't caught on already, I'm also extremely weird.
But I really did love Antony. What got me was when he was being awarded something, and he knelt down in respect and all that, but when he looked up, he couldn't help but smile as he ran away to play with his friends. He seems so... harmless, you know? All brawn and no brains. And then... THEN we see that he was a madman genius after his brilliant speech.
I read that speech three times. I tell you, I'm Antony's number one fan. :)

Anyways, if anyone shares my Mark-Antonius-Fan-Girl-Love (BE NOT ASHAMED!), you should check out another one of Will's plays called 'Antony and Cleopatra'. I've been forced to read it off of the tiny screen of my ipod because I can't find a hard copy anywhere, but it's totally worth it. I don't know if this is supposed to be funny, but I laugh anyways. I laugh and I cry and I sympathize, and now I recommend. Best lines? :)

Antony: Fulvia is dead.
Man: Sir?
Antony: Fulvia is dead.
Man: Fulvia?
Antony: Dead.

Cleopatra: Oh, I wonder where my dear Antony could be! Is he sitting, or standing? Sad, or merry? Is he riding on his horse? Oh, how happy a horse to bear the weight of Antony!!

Antony: Thank you.
Caesar: Sit.
Antony: You sit.

And of course, these aren't COMPLETELY accurate, but you get the idea.

Oh, and I checked to see if Julius Caesar is still on in Stratford, and guess what?
It isn't.

Adio Reh Assius Ceh

This is my revised version. It's much shorter. I also gave a shot at Iambic Pentameter and Elizabethean Language (cough, epic fail, cough). If you can't understand a word, my previous entry has the same story outline in a modern, narrative form. It's also much longer.

Here goes..

William:
Today we have a guest who wishes to
agnize us on the power of Caesar.
Cassius--

Cassius:
Good morrow, William.

William:
--believes that we should not be loyal to
Caesar, the humble, kind leader we know
he is. Would this be correct, Cassius?

Cassius:
Indeed, William. My brothers and I
think that Caesar is not, as you so say,
‘humble’, nor ‘kind’. In fact, we believe the
opposite. Caesar says, ‘Let there be men
among me who are fat’. Caesar rejects
the crown from Mark Antonius, a dear
friend of his, but not without a look of
hunger in his eyes. Caesar is cursed with
the falling sickness, and with one ear deaf.
Caesar is weak, yet thou feed him power.
Caesar is weak, yet thou consider a
crown on his head, great power in his hands.

William:
Caesar is weak, so you say, but we do
not think the same way as you do, we know
Caesar will rule Rome well, even better
than it’s previous leaders, hence Pompey.

Cassius:
Rome cannot stay loyal to one leader!
Though if thou choose an unfit man to lead,
thy lack of loyalty is understood.

William:
What makes you think that Caesar is not fit?

Cassius:
If you have not yet been convinced by my
previous reasons, thou consider this:
Th’look of hunger in his eyes will only
worsen over time. The people who had
assisted him to his position will
be quickly forgotten. He will become
a power-hungry tyrant, surely a
man you would not choose to rule all of Rome.

William:
Although this may be true, you have no proof.

Cassius:
Cassius knows there are better men to rule.
Taking a chance on Caesar is too much
of a risk. Putting power in his hands
would be a mistake.

William:
Caesar is kind to us and he would not
do the things that you believe he will do.

Cassius:
Was Caesar kind to the poor soothsayer?
No, Caesar was not. Although he had news
that could have been helpful to him! But no,
Caesar only believeth in himself. Kind!
The thought almost wants to maketh me laugh.

William:
That’s all the time we have for today, I
thanketh you for listening. This has been
William and Cassius.
[to Cassius]
Your words have convinced me, what should we do?

I am doing the assignment Adio Reh Assius Ceh, or just "Radio Cassius".

This assignment is going to be in narrative format. I posted this early, so if the requirements wanted something other than the way this is written, please let me know and I'll rewrite it.

Alright, here goes.

Adio Reh Assius Ceh

I swallow as I look up at the radio station's huge sign, it's torches lighting up the street. I pull up my hood and shiver, even though it isn't cold. I try to think about the reason I needed to do this, how it's for the greater good.

But fourty thousand listeners?

I can't believe that I'm getting nervous about this, of all times. Not when Kurt Allius, the host, asked him to actually be on the show. Not when he mentioned it would have a special broadcast across Rome. No, I have to go and get nervous ten minutes before the broadcast.

Calm, Cassius, calm. You can do this. Breathe... inhale... exhale...

I walk through the archway and try to control my insides from exploding. I see the paintings on the wall. I count them and recognize them as I walk by. Juno. Pompey. Inhale. Exhale.

I'm getting closer to the double doors, which are very big to keep the sound trapped inside. So no-one can hear you scream. Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

I finally get to the door. Inhale, exhale. I try to distract myself by reading the signs.

Haud Traspassing.
No Sessio.
Non Disturb.
Silence.

Inhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinhaleexhale!!!

Through the door I can hear Kurt wrapping up the weather report. "Next up, we have Cassius, who claims to believe that Caesar is dangerous, talk about his political views. Stay tuned... here's Bach's latest hit!"

As the piano player begins to play 'Prelude in C', I stand frozen, wondering what I'm supposed to do. I approach the door caustiously, watching my step. I press my hand up against it, worried that I might disturb the station in any way. Right as I'm about to push open the door, Kurt whips it open.
I trip and fall directly onto the floor, and the piano player hits a B# instead of a flat. He pretends not to notice. Kurt helps me up silently, a tired look on his face, and he brings me over to the table with cones attatched to strings. He pulls out a chair for me, and I sit down, shaking.

He pulls another door shut, blocking the piano from the table that I'm sitting at.

"Okay. You know how this works?"

I shale my head. "No," I manage to spit out.

"Well, you pick up the cone like this," He demonstrates, "And talk into the small end. The string leads out to other cones around the country."

"And it works?"

"It has for many years." Kurt takes a seat and swivells around the table, picking up a headset. "This allows you to hear what the other cones are getting. So if there's a break in the string, we know, and we'll hold the interviews until after it's repaired. Keep these on the whole time." He forces a pair over my head, and I smooth out my hair, trying to make it more comfrotable. "You nervous?"

"No!" I choke. "Not at all."

"You should be. Hundred thousand people listening today."

"H-Hundred thousand?" I drop the cone I was examining. "You said fourty when we were meeting!!"

"I had a feeling you'd back out." He shrugged. "I just stretched the truth."

"By sixty thousand people!!"

"The song's almost over. You ready, Mister Anti-Caesar?" He mutters in a mocking voice.

"I know more than you do." I say defensively, feeling a slight bit of regret.

"You think you're such a big shot. You have to get instructions from a 'commoner' on how to use a cone with strings." He stretches out his chair and reaches for his cone. "And we're back! It is 8:45 AM and it looks like we're going to have a great day today. Caesar is in rule, the streets are celebrating, but... oh..." Kurt raises an eyebrow. "There's someone who doesn't think so." A pause. "Isn't that right, Cassius?"

Great. He hates me. Him and the rest of the world, by the time I'm done.

"That's right, Kurt." I say, suddenly feeling more confident now that I have an enemy; someone to debate with. "I don't think that Caesar should have control over Rome."

He spreads an amused look over his face. He stares me right in the eye, and I see a flash of anger, a flash of hate. I know he doesn't like me. If I were him, I wouldn't like me, either. A commoner. Of course he hates me. "Why?" He spits, no tone in his voice.

"When we celebrated Pompey, it was just the same. Does anybody know what actually happened to Pompey?" I pause, looking down at the cone. "Does anybody care?" I look up at Kurt, who was a curious look on his face, as if he doesnt know whether to cut my string or prompt me to say more. "Caesar killed him, that's what happened to Pompey."

"Some would say that Caesar was a greater leader than Pompey could ever be."

"That's not the point. You can't stay loyal to one leader. What does that say about Rome?"

"We aren't talking about Rome."

"Right." I cough, trying to forget about the hundred thousand people listening. And, now? My mind is completely blank. I look at Kurt. Prompt me. Prompt me.

"What makes Caesar so dangerous, as you so put it? He seems humble enough, kind, unlike the senators..."

"Humble? Kind? You saw Caesar reject the crown, I'm guessing?"

"I did."

"So perhaps you saw the hunger inside of him, reaching out for that crown, reaching out for that power?" I move the cone around in my hands, half forgetting that I'm on the radio.

"Even if I did, which I won't admit to, he rejected the crown. That's the big picture."

"For now." I pause, looking out into space. "Just wait until the stakes get higher. Until Rome declares him King. If anybody had the slightest thought that he might be power-hungry now, you wait." I shake my head, closing my eyes. "You wait."

There's more silence. Longer this time.

"The soothsayer. He came to tell him to beware March fifteenth. Did he listen?" Kurt doesn't answer. "He did not." I answer my own question, leaning back in my chair, slightly disappointed that he won't admit his own defeat. "Yet, he told Antony moments before that if he touched Calpurnia in the race, she would be able to bear children. Do you have any idea on how ridiculous that sounds? Not only the concept, but the fact he believes one set of nonsense and not another! Something that might have been able to help him! Ignoring the 'dreamers' and caring for those who bring him good news? Kind!" I finish, looking down, wondering if I've said the right things. "The thought makes me laugh." Kurt is silent. "Caesar is alright now. Humble, maybe. Kind, there's a possibility. But the more power you Romans feed him, the more chance those characteristics will disappear completely. Even evolve into their opposites. A power hungry, self-absorbed man of poor character leading Rome?"

"Surely this theory would apply to all men."

"If you saw the look in his eyes the day he rejected the crown, you would know that isn't true." I say it with confidence, as though I were actually there myself. Of course I wasn't, but that isn't going to help the debate very much.

There's a moment where we both looked at eachother and completely forget about the hundred thousand people listening. It's just me, and this radio host. I need to convince him. It's become the most important thing in the world.

Our eyes still locked, he picks up his cone. "That's all the time we have today. We'll be back with play reviews after Wagner's latest." And he stands up and walks over to the doors, holding them open for me.

I'm stuck... I can't believe I was just cut off. I try to recollect my thoughts and all of the things I said. I needed to make sure I got the right message out. As I was passing through the huge doors, Kurt's hand landed on my shoulder.

And he leans in, quietly, so the cones won't pick it up, and his voice is as shaken as I feel. He whispers:

"What do we need to do?"

FIN

I suppose some writer's notes are required..

Kurt Allius's first name is after Kurt Cobain (respectively). Allius is the most Roman-y surname I could think of.

The signs are 'No Traspassing, No Loitering, Do Not Disturb and Silence'. I used a Latin translator off of Google, but I don't know how accurate it is.

Bach and Wagner are also mentioned. I don't know what time period they're from (they're timeless to me), but they're the oldest music I listen to, so I decided to throw them in as well.

Juno is apparently a greek goddess who was really pretty, but really mean. I learned that off of the movie 'Juno' (with Ellen Page), and I threw her in as well.

INDEPENDENT reading.

Well, today in class I discovered that we were supposed to write a reading response about the book that I am currently reading (or have recently read).

GREAT.

I apoligize for the meaningless entry, and also for the fact that this will happen a lot.

So, at the moment, I'm reading 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' by Jeff Lindsay, 'Getting the Girl' by Markus Zuzak, 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God' and 'Pizzeria Kamikaze' by Etgar Keret. Usually I don't read so many books at one time, honest to blog.

So, I'm reading my very small collection of Etgar Keret; 'Kamikaze Pizzeria' and 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God'.
'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God' is a collection of short stories.. Man, they're pretty twisted, I'm telling you right now. Some of them are too symbolic and I don't get them at all, but there's about 20 stories and I only have trouble understanding 2 or 3, so it's all good.
Etgar Keret isn't actually an English writer, so all of his stories have been translated. Pizzeria Kamikaze isn't too bad, but the other one is FULL of typos. It drives me crazy, but the stories are good enough to tough it out.

My favourite short stories are 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God', 'Good Intentions', and 'Kneller's Happy Campers'.
'Kneller's Happy Campers' was made into a graphic novel (Pizzeria Kamikaze) and a movie called 'Wristcutters:A Love Story' (which is actually how I heard about it).

BLACK COMEDY! I am so happy that I can put this in concept.

S U M M A R Y

'Kneller's Happy Campers' is a story about the afterlife reserved for suicides. Mordy, the main character, kills himself via poison, only to find himself in a different world that's just like his old one--only a little bit worse. He meets Uzi (shot himself in the army) and Lihi (OD). Lihi's convinced that she's there by mistake. When Mordy finds out that his old girlfriend killed herself shortly after his suicide, they go on a road trip looking for her, and the 'people in charge' who will help Lihi get back to life. On their trip, they find Rafe Kneller, a real wack job who runs a camp for people who are happy to have a second chance. I LOVE this story.

I like their names better in the movie, though... Mordy is Zia, Uzi is Eugene, and Lihi is Mikal. They also added a few wicked twists, like... in the afterlife, nobody can smile and there's no stars. Mikal really loved her life, and she hates everything about the afterlife.

S E T T I N G

In 'Pizzeria Kamikaze' the setting is in modern time. Although it's in the afterlife, they make it out to be a rundown version of Tel Aviv, Israel. It has a pretty depressing idea, however the atmosphere is optimistic and bright. You can tell that the three friends love eachother very much.

C H A R A C T E R T R A I T S

The protagonist is Mordy (hereby reffered to as Zia). The story revolves around his life (after death) and his adventures with his three best friends. Two character traits he has are reserved and compassionate.

Zia hardly tells anybody what he's feeling (he does tell us as the narrator), and when he does, he says it sarcastically so people don't actually know what he's feeling.

A part in the story that shows this?

S e t t i n g T h e S c e n e
Zia and Eugene are sitting up in their apartment, looking out the window. Zia has just found out that Desiree had killed herself, meaning she was somewhere in this crazy afterlife. He's trying to convince Eugene to come with him.

"Give me one good reason to go, and I will. It's not like I'm out to be a jerk, or anything."
"How about I love her?"
"No you don't; you just fill your head with words."
"No, really?"

Mordy and Desiree before they killed themselves

Zia is also really compassionate. Near the end of the book, he walks with Mikal (Lihi) on the beach, and they have a really deep conversation about life, and the people who never appreaciated it. They talked about why they killed themselves and what they were going to do about it, and for the first time in the book, we see a little bit of Zia's love (friendship) for Mikal. You can tell that they're truly best friends, and it's one of the best parts of the book.

Zia and Mikal on the beach.

I won't say anymore without spoiling it, but the movie is GREAT, despite it's emolicious title, and the books are EVEN BETTER.

This is one you haven't seen before. :D
Indie movies are always great too; the best actors are yet to be 'discovered'.

My verdict for this book is FABULOUS. I love the unique plot, the lovable characters, and the pictures. To show they're dead, it's in black and white, and all of Zia's dreams are in metallic silver. I reccomend this for anybody with an open mind.

So, that's what I'm reading at the moment! :D

First Post...

Reading. Reading, reading, reading.
Alright, be fair, I don't know what the expectations are for the first blog post are. Is this supposed to be gramatically correct (on the account of 'Reading, reading, reading' isn't technically a sentence)? Or is the blog allowing us to use a more... casual method of constructing sentences? Ah, well. In the honest attempt to be hip and cool, I appreaciate this. *thumbs up*

So! About reading.

Well, I definately like reading.. I mean, as my dad always said, 'if you can read, you can do anything'. He got me reading the Lord of the Ring trilogy in the first grade; ever since then I've been a slight social outcast, but that's a different story. I'm anti-mainstream so I tend to stay away from extremely popular books, although I did really enjoy 'The Other Boleyn Girl' (I got it for Christmas the year it came out--before I found out Jim Sturgess was in it, I swear!!) by Phillipa Gregory, I think it is.
My sister bought Twilight when it first came out, and she was really excited about it, saying it was such a great book and all.
Now, I couldn't really bash the book if I hadn't read it, so I gave it a shot, but never made it through. I mean, the two characters are complete Mary-Sues (fanfiction slang for 'perfect, flawless boring characters'), and Bella's such a teenage girl it makes me sick. Honestly? Edward this, Edward that. She's just as bad as Mary Maloney. :l
I'll get off Twilight, now. I know I'm not exactly making friends.

My favourite books are 'I Am the Messenger', 'Catcher in the Rye', 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God', 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter', 'Shout!' 'In His Own Write' and 'Scar Tissue'. They don't really have any relation at all; I'm not hooked on one genre or anything. There's also a lot of great books that didn't make it simply because I never finished them for some reason... A lot of Jane Austen, a lot of Beatle Biographies.

My favourite authours are Markus Zuzak, Etgar Keret, Anthony Keidis, John Lennon, Phillip Norman, and Jane Austen.

My favourite types of books are definately biographies. I love a good biography; I love really getting to know someone I idolize. I melt over autobiographies especially, because those are the ones that get up close and personal. I don't really like the concept (especially if it was by a famous persons spouse--honestly?) because they're technically selling their story, but I do really enjoy them. My favourites are 'Scar Tissue' (by Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), 'John' by Cynthia Powell (John Lennon's first wife), 'Wonderful Tonight' by Pattie Boyd (Wife of Eric Clapton and George Harrison), 'I Me Mine' by George Harrison (of the Beatles), 'Love is a Mix Tape' (I actually don't know who wrote this one, but they inspired me to spend twenty dollars on blank tapes without realizing my tape player can't record--thanks, thanks a lot) and of course,
THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY!
By John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard Starkey.

This is my FAVOURITE book right now. It's pretty thick and its really big.. Doesnt fit on my shelf.. And it came with 6 DVD's and 6 CD's. It ROCKS! The CD's are filled with unreleased tracks, demos and outtakes... Even some Brian Epstein (Their manager) clips (he died in '68). The DVD's are loaded with interviews from the 60's--2000's. The three surviving Beatles (this was before George Harrison's death) had 'jam sessions' and 'coffee talks', which is just too wicked. They're such cute old men. :]
It's the only Beatle biography that I actually own. I have tons of John Lennon biographies because he was the most interesting (I hate to say), and I've read tons of Beatle bio's, but this is the only one I have in my possesion. And I L-O-V-E it!

Anyways...
I love to read, but I don't love reading something and then picking it apart (Reading Comprehension). I don't know why, but I just can't concentrate when I know that I'm going to have to examine every seperate piece of it, trying to make sense of something. I hate pulling apart a good story, it just breaks my heart. I'm not looking forward to the test next year, but hey, who is? :) :P

Well, I must bring this journal entry to an end, on the account of I've been putting off my math homework all night.

Farewell, my friends,
Thus is the end!
Adew, Adew, Adew!

-A MidSummers Nights Dream :)