Julius Caesar

This past summer I got to spend a glorious week in the NYC metro area. I partied the weekend away and saw two Free Shakespeare Shows.

I saw Julius Caesar performed Gorilla Style by the Gorilla Repertory Theatre. It was performed WAY uptown near the Cloisters. It took about an hour on metro just to get up there, but it was worth it. This Gorilla style was performed in a beautiful setting in a park. There were many different playing areas, but the three most powerful were: the cliff walk way - used in a vital into scene where the conversation began  before the audience could see the actors, so it truly felt like we were eves dropping on a scene; the stair - two stories high at least, was used to make powerful statements about power and its inequities; and the tunnel - again, another long walk way that really made it seem that we were eves dropping.

The cast of mostly men were powerful and moving, and didn't allow this sometimes slow moving play to drag.

I was worried about not sitting in a seat to experience theatre, but because each scene took place in a different location, I wasn't on the ground too much, and there were lots of leaning places.

I hope that next summer, I'll be able to catch another show by them.

Marvel and Me...

The internet is abuzz right now with the Disney buy out of Marvel Comics. And I'd like to comment on why I'm a Marvel guy...

Let's start out with guiding you to my close friend's blog about why he's DC (Unsuper) which is the reason I've decided to comment.

Now let me preface by saying I love Superman and Batman (and am in love with Robin) and Wonder Woman, but I have an affinity towards the Marvel Characters. Ever since I was younger my Sunday mornings (when I would worm my way out of church) would be filled with the fantasy world of Fantastic Four and Spider Man (reruns of the 60's shows) (Sometimes Iron Man and more sporadically Spider Man Team Ups). I'd get up extra early to enjoy these old cartoons and little did I know they were in comic books! The plots would intrigue me and the characters would keep me coming back for more.

I cast away my Marvel friends for Power Rangers as I went through Middle School (yeah, I had few friends). But then in high school, something happened: I realized I was gay. And as I was struggling with my duel identities and both internal and external homophobia, so were Peter Parker and the mutants of X-Men.

Daily, Peter struggled to keep his life as Spider Man a secret and "in the closet." It was hard. It was dangerous. He was doing great things as someone he wasn't. (This argument can be played between Clark Kent and Super Man, but I always felt he was more well adjusted and comfortable in his tights than Spidey will ever be - this insecurity between CK and Supes would be played out more in WB/CW's Smallville.) I struggled for 2 years with my sexual identity and here was Peter struggling with his secret identity too!

The X-Men on the other hand represented the fear and hatred of the "other" and I would rush home from high school to watch re-runs of this fabulous series. The mutants were going through what I feared: scorn because of how I was made, verses understanding of who I was.

Then for a few years I left comics and American superheroes for Anime (particularly Sailor Moon). But just a few years ago I decided to turn my attention back to superheroes in tights, and FINALLY buy a comic book to experience the magic that way (I couldn't find the old series on television). I did my research and decided Ultimate Marvel would be the best place to start because it was the shortest run and I wouldn't have to deal with decades of back stories.

I've fallen away from Comics for a while (though I LOVE going to comic-con). And will probably pick back up soon (although it won't take long to catch up with Ultimate Marvel because it's such a few lines).

But, I am Marvel, because Marvel was about real people doing extraordinary things because the things were forced upon them. DC takes the extra-ordinary things and gives it to extra-ordinary people (Batman withstanding). Marvel reflects the "everyday-ness" of being a superhero and how it affects all aspects of ones life.


(Now give me more of this and I'd switch over... lol)

Date-ability

So yesterday I blogged about Date-ability and thought  I should expound upon it.

Date-ability is an arbitrary list of must's and mustn't's a person (guy in my case) must meet in order from him/her to be considered for dating and other...

Now let me preface... my "other" category has far less must's and mustn't's on it. One must is "hot" and "sexy," we can save the rest of that list for another blog "f*ability?"

Now to move on to dating:

Must have attended college or currently attending college. The more graduate and post graduate degrees the better (like I said in the other blog a PhD can turn a 5 into a 7!).

Next: He must have a full time job. (At least now that I have one - the must before used to be a full time student at least). In these economic times it's a challenge, but it's still a must. Also, this job should require an aforementioned college degree (and not some fast food job) (see previous post for more info of my accepting my classist view of dating).

Next: He must like technology. I'm not saying he has to be a computer wiz, but he should have a computer, know what twitter is, use his cell phone for more than talking... etc. And at that he must watch TV (this is a big part of my life... and I'm not afraid to admit it).

Next: He must enjoy dancing. (Now he doesn't have to be good at it, but just enjoy going to a club). Music is a big part of my life and it doesn't have to be a part of his, but he must appreciate my connection to music.

That's it for now. (btw if you meet these requirements, drop me an e-mail: because I am single... and with a list of these must's I think I'll be single for a while).

Does college play a role in date-ability?

So I came across this article on my friends facebook Marriage eludes high-achieving black women. The title gives you a great synopsis of the article: Educated Black women are staying single longer (or forever) and/or not birthing children because of the lack of educated Black men (not that Black women only marry Black men, but the argument is that this is one factor in the article - "black women... comprise 71 percent of black graduate students" Brian Alexander finds in a census study).

I completely understand the idea of marrying in your same educational level. When I really started dating, I've got to say, when I found out a guy didn't finish/attend college, the date was over for me. (One time the date ended when he told me he didn't have a driver's license - it would have been fine not to have a car, but no license!). 

I do tend to find the more educated to be more attractive (someone can be bumped up from a 5 to a 7 just by studying for his PhD!).

I know an advanced degree doesn't mean intelligence. And when I discovered one of the reasons for my "elitism" I was shocked with myself! It's class-ism! In today's society people of our age (mid 20's +) go/went to college - it was a given. But I went to a tier two school because my parents had money (well the availability to borrow the money). But if my parents hadn't had the money... state school here I come. But if I were from a lower economic status, I might not have been able to go anywhere... work force here I come!

So I was appalled with myself when I put two and two together. And although I'm conscious of this fact and try not to let advanced degree play into the factor of date-ability, it does.

I don't know the solution to this problem (neither the struggle of the educated Black woman to find love nor my perplexing classist view of higher learning), but I do know that this is something I struggle with and can empathize with the Black women in the study.

Much Ado About Nothing

So I saw a bunch of plays in my quest to see all of Shakespeare, before I started the blog, so I'll back track and review them.

On August 28, 2009 I saw Much Ado About Nothing at Olney Theatre. This was another free performance (a preview). It was supposed to be outside, but Hurricane Daniel pushed it inside, I assume this space was once a barn.

The show was standard good. Nothing to write home about.

Much Ado is about the misunderstanding and eves droppings that occur around two sets of lovers: Claudio/Hero, Benedict/Beatrice; with a minor plot involving Jon the Bastard (the Prince's brother); and random guards-men.

Much Ado in general, although a good plot, lacks a certain something that I like about Shakespearean comedies (It has all the grace and charm of Midsummer but lacks fairies). I'm not sure what it's missing, but hopefully by the time I've seen all of Shakespeare, I'll have a more defined view of it.

As for the performance itself, like I said, it was generally good, with no one thing standing out as great/amazing. There was a surprise of double casting the Prince and the Bastard. It took a few moments before I realized he wasn't the same person (and I'm highly familiar with the play). But after it was understood, the transitions between characters were clear.

All-in-all I'm happy this was a free event.