Shakespeare in the Quarantine

My sister sent this little cartoon to me a few weeks ago, and I love it so much. 

We finished showing the Henry IV-V triology to the boys this past weekend (The Hollow Crown, series 1.  Go right this instant and watch it if you haven't yet.  I'll wait...) It was so much fun to not only go on the journey of Prince Hal once again, but to share it with the boys.  They've read the stories in our Usborne books, and have a lot of history under their belts, so they were able to situate the plays and follow the plot.  It just so happens that Piglet is studying this period of history in school this year anyway, so that was an added bonus (they are currently up to the Wars of the Roses).

One of the best things I ever heard said about Shakespeare was by Ewan McGregor, who spoke about preparing to play the lead in As You Like It in drama school.  He said he was intimidated by playing Shakespeare, and initially couldn't get past the idea that he had no right to be on stage doing it.

McGregor (26:11): "But then, something happened in the second or third week of rehearsal, something just went...[plock], it just tasted so good in my mouth, the words." 

Yes, exactly.  Delicious.

A little bit o' happy

I've had two videos forwarded to me in the past week that were so joyful and happy that I have to share them.  Both were a boost in days that seriously needed them.

The first is James Corden's Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney.  I'm a fan of the carpool bit myself, but this one is above and beyond.  Seriously.  Even if you don't like Corden, just watch it.  It is so much happy.



The second is a lip sync battle from the Norfolk VA Police Department, who win top prize if you ask me (I recently discovered the lip sync battle show in YouTube and it is most excellent).

The social media post to explain it goes like this:

YOUR WAIT IS OVER!!!! The Norfolk Police Department was challenged by the Corinth Police Department, Texas to a #lipsync battle and we gladly accepted. As you can see we all had a great time filming the video, which we have to point out was done in #onetake! #NorfolkPD is challenging Seattle Police Department, Norfolk Constabulary, Virginia Beach Police Department, and Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Thanks for watching!!!!

It'll be the happiest four minutes of your day, I promise.