In my latest Loonie Politics column I ask for discretion and charity while insisting that the character of those who would rule over us is a matter of key public importance.
“The Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival is a secondary school competition... More than 120,000 students have taken part in the event since it was established 30 years ago. For the past decade it has been awarded about NZ$30,000 annually from Creative New Zealand. But this year, the organization has withdrawn its contribution. A board member from the country’s arts body said: ‘I question whether a singular focus on an Elizabethan playwright is most relevant for a decolonizing Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand) in the 2020s and beyond.’ Another member said the funding was withdrawn because the festival represented a ‘canon of imperialism.’... Nicola Hyland, a senior lecturer in theatre at Wellington’s Victoria University, said... ‘It would be a massive, awesome act of decolonization if we discovered our own stories first and discovered Shakespeare afterwards,’... But the head of Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand... Dawn Sanders... said: ‘Just like the MeToo movement, Measure for Measure explored misogyny, Taming of the Shrew explores the way women are controlled and Othello looked at cheating and manipulation.’ The festival allowed students to interpret the plays in many ways, she added, with pupils free to introduce elements from their own cultures, from Maori and Pacific Islander to Asian. ‘Not many scenes are done in doublet and hose anymore,’ she said.”
Daily Telegraph story in National Post October 15, 2022 [think they’ll do one about the “Musket Wars” and the Moriori genocide?]
“I never had the same determination about baseball, and maybe that was my undoing. No matter how badly I wanted to get a base hit, I knew the other guy was trying to stop me. And I might be overmatched. In front of an audience, no one can stop me but myself.”
Bob Uecker and Mickey Herskowitz Catcher in the Wry
“Two weeks ago in the run-up to Halloween, I visited Salem, Massachusetts... I was bowled over by what I found in the Witch City: bigger crowds, longer lines and a wider and welcome array of merchandise geared toward many different religious traditions and ethnic identities. Amid the curious crowds in black capes and conical hats, bags overflowing with DIY spell kits and candles to enhance prosperity, I overheard the same question: Is magic really real? For me, the answer is yes. I am one of a million-plus Americans who – whether proudly, secretly or dabbling through the power of consumerism – practice some form of witchcraft. Witchcraft, which includes Wicca, paganism, folk magic and other New Age traditions, is one of the fastest-growing spiritual paths in America. In 1990, Trinity College in Connecticut estimated there were 8,000 adherents of Wicca. In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau figure was 342,000.... The precise number of witches in America is difficult to determine because many practitioners are solitary and, either by choice or circumstance, do not openly identify as such.”
Antonio Pagliarulo, author of the forthcoming “The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery, and Magic of the Quiet Curse”, in an NBC “Think” “Culture & Lifestyle” piece 30/10/22
“Vivienne Westwood, influential fashion maverick, dies at 81/ Vivienne Westwood, an influential fashion maverick who played a key role in the punk movement, died Thursday at 81.”
Subject line/headline and text of email teaser from “NBC News Top Stories” December 29, 2022 [oh, that’s original a fashion maverick, whatever will they think of next, to shock the bourgeoisie?]
“Oh, pshaw! When ya’ can’t have what you choose, ya’ just choose what you have.”
The title character, regarding the food at Col. Cyrus Jones’ eating palace, in Owen Wister The Virginian
In my latest Loonie Politics column I berate Canadian “conservative” politicians for being as clueless about how to avoid wedge issues as they are spineless about how to approach them.
In my latest National Post column I goggle at the sense of entitlement of our Governor General and leftist politicians.