AMND Fun Action Movie Fact

I love the idea that Shakespeare's works can influence even the most unlikely of works. I listened to a podcast featuring Stan Lee recently, where he espoused his love for Shakespeare and expressed how the bard's language inspired him. (It's a long podcast covering all kinds of things, but if you would like to listen to it, here's a link.) The big fact this is leading to is that action movie fans might be surprised to learn that Die Hard was influence by AMND. Director John McTiernan supposedly asked his screenwriters to read the play and try and incorporate elements into the film. Might that explain the trickster nature of John McClane? The "play of masks" between McClane and Hans Gruber? The separation of various groups and then them coming together during this party? And would later Die Hard movies have benefitted from the Bard's magic touch?

To everyone attending...

• Please come prepared with a section of the play to read out (read, although if you want to memorize it, knock yourself out. *eyes Jan*). Section may be a speech, a piece of dialogue, or even an entire scene. Thus, you may do this individually, partner with someone, or form a group and assign roles.
• You may also opt to read a translation of the play, either something made by one of the Flippers or another translated piece. 
• Length of the presentation must be strictly 30 sec - 2 mins.
• Presentations will be videoed and posted on the blog, again for posterity's sake. Costumes are optional.:)

See you on Saturday!

Final Venue of the Discussion

And it's going to be at...

Image from this site, which also has a write up on Craft Coffee.

CRAFT COFFEE WORKSHOP!

Going with my first option because...

1. I find the place cozy.
2. The private room upstairs is, uh, private.
3. I don't want to sweat it out in a garden setting in the middle of a summer afternoon.

Also, though I'm no connoisseur, the coffee boys I know swear by their coffee. And the baristas are real baristas, I'm told, which means that they will tell you about the flavors and notes in your coffee. Very hipster. We can even watch them roast the beans.

Meet Elizabeth, the coffee roaster.

A few details:

• We have the room from 3 to 6 PM. (Moved it an hour back bec. I have a talk that'll finish at 1PM.) If you arrive early, you can stay at the first floor.
• Coffees range from P120-P160.
• There isn't much food, except for a few pastries. People seem to like the waffle and the banana bread best.
• The venue costs P6000, consumable. So order lots of coffee and a pastry or vice versa.
• Obviously we can't have dinner there, unless coffee is one of your basic food groups. For nearby dinner or lunch alternatives (if some of you are meeting early), there's Tomas Morato or Robinson's Magnolia. Or there's a McDonald's and KFC right across.:)

Craft's food menu, for this week.

So, see you guys at Craft Coffee on the 20th!

Address: 66 Broadway Ave., New Manila, QC. (view map)

Character Map for A Midsummer Night's Dream

To clarify the relationships: (click to make bigger)

Image source

Flippers Don't Fear Shakespeare

Original and modern text, side by side. From Act 1, Scene 1. (source)

There's No Fear, Shakespeare, but we're going to come up with our own versions, because Flippers Don't Fear Shakespeare!

Shakespeare's plots and themes are timeless, his characters compelling, and his conflicts gripping. Yet many people struggle with the language of the original, thus missing out on the tales. Here is your opportunity, then, to retell a piece of Shakespeare's AMND in your own language. We use a very loose definition of "language" here, by which we mean in any language, dialect, register, diction, bastardization you prefer.

The Task:

• choose a section of AMND (may be a short dialogue between or among characters or a speech/soliloquy)
• translate it into ANY "language" of your choice (Filipino, Bisaya, modern English, beki-speak/swardspeak, Balagtasan, usapang-kanto, if-Jersey-Shore-did-AMND, gangsta rap, if-Mike-translated-AMND-to-some-kind-of-science-speak, etc.)
• General length: half a page of the mass market paperback to as long as you like (can be the entire play, if you're inclined)

Other Guidelines:

• Where to post it: On your blog, a Facebook note, as an image and posted on the FFP FB group, on Shelfari, or it may just be submitted to the moderators via email (fantaghiro23 <at> gmail <dot> com) or PM on Facebook. All submissions will be posted on the FFP-AMND blog. Should you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate this in your email, and we'll not include your name in the blog post.
• However, all shall be revealed in the end, at least in the F2F discussion. AMND moderators will choose the best "translation" during the F2F discussion. A prize will be awarded.

Moderators also reserve the right to ask participants to read their own submissions during the F2F discussion.

Submission period: April 11 - 18

Think of this as practice for our FFP book project, since you'll be writing creatively.:) We're looking forward to reading your entries!

Shakespearean Insults by The Flippers!

Rounding up the entries to the Creative Use of a Shakespearean Insult activity last week. And here are the ones who submitted Shakespearean insults:

c/o Shani, via Facebook

c/o G Higuain, via Shelfari

c/o Joko, via Facebook

c/o Czar, via Facebook (text: What, my dear Lady Janise! Are you yet living?)

c/o Peter, via Facebook

c/o Gege, via Facebook

c/o Gege, via Facebook

c/o Gege, via Facebook

Thanks to everyone who submitted and everyone who still plans to contribute! However, only one of these entries was actually submitted within the entry period, thus making him/her the winner! Confirmation of the winning Shakespearean insult will be during the face-to-face discussion on April 20!

To make it more interesting, we'll be giving a consolation prize to the most popular entry here! Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below.:)

By the way, you can keep the insults coming, and we'll still post them. This time, not for prizes; just for fun!

Have you been reading A Midsummer NIght's Dream yet?

img src

We hope so. After all, it's only 18 more days until the discussion. Also, we hope you've been reading on account of a couple of activities we have lined up, the first of which is the creative Shakespearean insult that started yesterday and will run until Sunday. (Thanks to Shani, Joko, and G Higuain of Shelfari who've shared their Shakespearean insults so far.)

If you haven't started reading yet, here are a couple of things that might help get you started:

• A one-page synopsis of A Midsummer Night's Dream - in case you need to familiarize yourself with the story first.
• No Fear Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream - has the original text AND a modern "translation" side by side, brought to us by the wonderful folk at SparkNotes. No Fear Shakespeare is a good friend to many a high school student required to take up Shakespeare.:)
• The trailer of the 1999 movie adaptation of the play - with Rupert Everett, Christian Bale, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart, and Kevin Kline, among others. We'll be sharing the entire movie with you soon, so watch out for that. 

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy reading the book!

Activity: Creative use of a Shakespearean insult

If insulting is an art, then perhaps Shakespeare is at the pinnacle of this art. After all, it takes true craft to malign someone in beautiful language. And this is something that we, the moderators, would like the Flippers to experience: the beauty and fun of Shakespearean insults. 

The Task:

Using the Shakespearean insults from these websites,

• Pangloss Shakespeare Insult Generator
• Shakespearean Insult Generator
• William Shakespeare Insults Generator

Flippers will post a creative use of a Shakespearean insult on Facebook. Creative uses may be…

1. inserting it in a casual conversation (moderators must be tagged within the conversation stream)
2. integrating it into a meme
3. creating a poster out of it
4. anything else deemed creative and cool that we haven't thought of.

Other than the use of the insult in casual conversation (#1 above), all uses must also be posted on FFP's Facebook group, so that we can all enjoy the insulting atmosphere. Members may also cross-post in the AMND event page or leave the AMND moderators to do so.

Moderators will be posting all entries in this blog for posterity's sake.

Who can join? Members of Flips Flipping Pages, whether or not you're coming to the face-to-face AMND discussion. No limit to the submissions.

When can you post your creative use of the Shakespearean insult? April 1-7.

Reminder: This is for fun, so please do not take this as an opportunity to bombard someone with insults just because you've been wanting to. In other words, don't insult someone seriously and, if you're the recipient, don't take it seriously.

AMND moderators will be choosing the most creative use of the Shakespearean insult. The winner will be announced during the face-to-face discussion on April 20. A prize will be awarded. 

Entries submitted before April 1 or after April 7 will not be considered for the prize, but will be much appreciated nonetheless.:)

So, insult away, you dull and muddy-mettled rascals, you!

From Act 1 Scene 1

Hey all, I have just started rereading AMND for our discussion, so I'll be posting quotes as I go. Here's something from Act 1 Scene 1:

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind;
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste;
Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguil'd.

Welcome!

Hello! You have now found the blog that we, the moderators of FFP's April 2013 book discussion, have decided to put up.

And what is the book up for discussion? Obviously, A Midsummer Night's Dream by none other than our man, Will Shakespeare. (Yes, the moderators are Shakespeare fans.)

In fact, we took on this task because we wanted to infect the other members of our book club, Flips Flipping Pages, or other people who want to join this discussion with the same love and devotion to the Bard. If that doesn't happen, we'll take a laugh or two at least, during any of the play's comic scenes.

So, a few initial details. You'll find the face-to-face discussion schedule and other planned activities at the Schedule of Activities tab. Wondering where it will be and who can join? Or where you can get copies of the book? Just head on over to the FAQ.

And want to know where else the discussions are happening? You can visit the FFP thread on Shelfari or the event page on Facebook.

Why this blog then, you might wonder? Well, we, the mods, want to share a lot of things about Shakespeare and hopefully generate a lot of curiosity, interest, and discussion. And though there are more people on Facebook, it unfortunately sucks as a platform for archiving things. So, we want a more permanent repository of our material and discussion. Something that allows embedding video and links (unlike Shelfari, dear unfortunate mothership). We'll let discussions happen wherever they happen, but at least we can gather all material here. And maybe even post a reflection or two.

The rest, we'll figure out along the way. We're having a hard time trimming down what we'd like to do, actually. So, soon as we get to somewhere realistic, we'll let you know.

In the meantime, go read the book, foolish mortal!:)