Absurdities

Ok, I realize it is like 2:30 in the morning and I need to go to bed as I am suffering from a rather nasty cold, but something has come to my attention which I must express my confusion about. Has anyone been tuned in to the hoopla surrounding the "anti-religious" sentiments of the Golden Compass books and movie which seems to have been building for some time now? It is interesting because I have heard nothing but good things about these books, though have not read them, and had always vaguely planned to see the movie after learning that His Shexiness Daniel Craig played a role. But on Facebook lately, TONS of people have been joining "Boycott the Golden Compass" groups--which I see as an overreaction at best and uncomfortably Naziesque close-mindedness at worst. Which prompted me to rather passive aggressively join a "Support the Golden Compass" group, although I have not actually read the books. Can anyone tell me what all the fuss is about? Is this an instance where my genuine lack of religious convictions has rendered me completely incapable of comprehending just WHAT these people's problem is??? Regardless, I think I have some additions to the reading list for Christmas break....

Oh yeah, and I may be attending the Second Annual St Andrews Miltonathon next week, in which all interested parties gather from 9 am till whenever it's finished to read "Paradise Lost" aloud. Jealous?

Sherlock Holmes? Och, Aye!

After spending a gorgeous couple of days in Edinburgh absorbing the cultural atmosphere, one cannot help but notice and be gratified by the respect and attention with which they treat writers of the Scottish persuasion. There's a glorious Writers' Museum that honors Scott, Stevenson, and Burns, a Scottish Storytelling Centre, and a Poetry Library in addition to the lovely National Library of Scotland. A veritable English major's paradise. Now, some of you who know me also know about my interest in (cough*obsessionwith*cough) all things Sherlock Holmes. Ok, so I've pretty much wanted to have his fictional babies since I was about ten. Whatever. I also am enormously proud of my adopted country, Scotland. Which is why this article is so interesting (though is is from a couple of years ago). I most heartily concur.

Another New Favourite

Should I be reading Anne Finch's poetry for class tomorrow? Undoubtedly. Instead I came across something a bit more modern by the fabulous Dorothy Parker:

Theory

Into love and out again,
Thus I went and thus I go.
Spare your voice, and hold your pen:
Well and bitterly I know
All the songs were ever sung,
All the words were ever said;
Could it be, when I was young,
Someone dropped me on my head?

From the Absolute Worst to the Absolute Best, Tudor-Style

Elizabeth: The Golden Age is the greatest movie evah!!!!!! Really, it is so, so stunning, loads and loads better than the first one even (and the first one was pretty damn good). Everything about it was completely gorgeous, from the costumes to the scenery to the musical score to Sir Walter "Sex Bomb" Raleigh as played by Clive Owen...not a joke, this definitely makes at least my top five favorite films of all time. It was even better because I spent all day analyzing Elizabeth and Mary Stuart's poetry, so it was kind of like the cherry and whipped cream on top of the academic sundae. Also it was just immensely satisfying, after a day of trying to pretend to be somewhat unbiased when it comes the whole Elizabeth/Mary relationship, to watch Elizabeth open up a giant can of whup-ass on Mary and icky Philip of Spain in glorious technicolor. To paraphrase the lady herself in the first Elizabeth movie, there is ONE mistress in this house and NO master, baby.