I love that my kids are in high school now and I still get to tell Shakespeare geeklet stories.
For some reason the story has come up of when my middle daughter, who is starting her freshman year at private school, went through the interview / application process. In particular her older sister likes to remind her that when asked what grade she would give the school, she gave a realistic 8 out of 10.
“Obviously,” says my oldest, who is a junior at this school, “You tell them 10 out of 10. That’s what they want to hear.”
“Who are you, King Richard III?” my son asks.
That one gives me pause. “Love the reference,” I tell him, “But do you want to explain what that has to do with Richard III?”
“Because you just tell them what they want to hear, so you get what you want. Like the evil daughters.”
I’m a little late to the story about the National Archives’ discovery of legal documents related to Shakespeare’s father. (I have an excuse, I was right in the middle of several towns being evacuated for a gas explosion catastrophe. But! Everybody’s safe and sound in my world, so we’re very lucky to be back to our normal life sooner than a lot of people).
Are the original documents being published somewhere? Not that many of us can read secretary hand, but still. It’d be fun to try and decode the clues. (UPDATE – Looks like they’ll be available as part of Shakespeare Documented!)
Let me see if I can pull some bullet points from the article:
The documents Parry found include multiple writs against John Shakespeare, and record his debts to the Crown, including one for £132 – around £20,000 today.
That’s a pretty big number. I always thought that we’d been talking about petty amounts, like creditors chasing down somebody who stopped paying his credit cards.
A lot of people grumbled but settled [with “professional informers”]. For some reason in two cases John Shakespeare did not, and ended up targeted by the Exchequer collection system, which damaged his local credit.
I hate that “for some reason” is still in there. That’s kind of a big point. Seems like a downward spiral of getting yourself into debt in a way that doesn’t allow you to ever get out of it. But we still don’t know why he was targeted in the first place.
William grew to adulthood in a household where his father had fallen in social and economic rank, which sociologists and psychologists tell us leads to anger. They call it ‘downranking’.
Kind of puts Shakespeare’s desire for a coat of arms into a new perspective, doesn’t it?
What does everybody think? I know that there’s always a loony or two running around with a fancy new theory that will shed some light on Shakespeare’s life, and they always have a book to promote. But I’ve seen some respectable sources reporting on this, and it looks like these discovered documents could be the real thing? Has anybody explored in more depth?
We can say we knew him when. Author David Blixt has been around and commenting on Shakespeare Geek almost since its inception (I found this post from April 2008 to give you an idea). That’s a review of The Master of Verona, book one of his Star-Cross’d series.
And now he’s giving away 10 copies of the audiobook version to Shakespeare Geek readers!
Cangrande della Scala is everything a man should be. Daring. Ambitious. Charming. Brilliant. Ruthless. To the poet Dante – indeed, to the world – Cangrande is the ideal Renaissance prince.
Until Dante’s son discovers a secret that could be Cangrande’s undoing.
Suddenly thrust into the schemes and betrayals surrounding Verona’s prince, Pietro Alighieri must navigate a rivalry that severs a friendship, divides a city, and sparks a feud that will produce Shakespeare’s famous star–crossed lovers, Romeo & Juliet!
Based on the plays of William Shakespeare and the poetry of Dante, THE MASTER OF VERONA is a sweeping novel of Renaissance Italy. Filled with swashbuckling adventure, unrequited love, and brutal treachery, this epic journey recalls the best of Bernard Cornwell, Sharon Kay Penman, and Dorothy Dunnett.
We’re going simple with this one – just comment below if you want one! First come first served. Make sure you give the site a valid email address so we can email you back!
BONUS! If audiobooks aren’t your thing, the Kindle edition will be available for FREE on September 26th!
Yesterday I told you about the joys of the Shakespeare beer known as ShakesBeer and how I came to discover it. I’ve already discussed their New England IPA known as “Act One”.
Today let’s talk about their “Imperial IPA”, The Tempest. It would have been awesome if they’d kept the “Act” thing going but there’s an obvious hard limit there so I can see why they couldn’t do that.
I love the branding on this one. It’s no secret that The Tempest is my favorite play, and I’m happy to see its image on the shelf. If I could get my hands on the cans themselves (without the contents) I’d add them to my collection of Shakespeare stuff. I suppose I could just wash out an empty but I’d feel like I’m back in college building a tower of empties if I did that.
This one is noticeably darker than the Act One, but I suppose maybe not so noticeably because my wife claimed she could not see the difference until I put the two side by side.
A juicy New England Style IPA featuring six different hop varieties and a more robust 7.7% ABV.
I could definitely see and taste a big difference. The flavor is much stronger and richer here, and that 7.7% ABV is nothing to slouch at. Let’s put it this way, I had the Act One at a leisurely pace on a Sunday afternoon while I watched football. I had The Tempest after dinner on a weekday when I had to go pick up my kid from dance in an hour. Totally felt it, could not have had two.
I think both of these are going to make nice fall selections. As I’ve gotten older I still enjoy a beer, but I’m not the type to just keep pounding them back. So flavor is a big deal, but so is not getting buzzed – I’m getting too old for that nonsense, the kids need homework help. For both of these I’m happy to have one, maybe two, depending, and that’s just right for me.
It looks like they have a third option, A Midsummer Night’s Ale, but since it’s listed as a summer brew I’m going to assume that I missed the seasonal window and will have to wait until next year.
Hey ShakesBeer people, are you out there? I think we’d all like to see “A Winter’s Ale” as your next offering!
The other day I told the story of multiple coworkers telling me about ShakesBeer, a Shakespeare Beer brewer that’s just near enough to me to be a temptation but far enough away that I thought it was, literally, out of my reach. One coworker offered to get me some the next time he was able, but he doesn’t fully appreciate how much I love Shakespeare and beer. Despite my local liquor store not being listed on the company website directory, I called them anyway, and they had it!
Let’s talk about Act One first. Yes those are nachos and cheese and crackers in the background, I did my taste test during the Patriots game. From the site:
A mild New England Style IPA with a hazy finish, a balanced level of bitterness and pronounced citrus aroma. Easy drinking with a manageable 5.5% ABV.
The color’s not my usual style (though I realize it’s typical for this style). I tend to lean more toward the darker reds and browns.
I’m not usually an IPA drinker. Though I’ll have them on occasion when I’m out because I’m far more interested in always trying something new than I am in having a “favorite” beer. Still, though, I’m surprised they called this one “mild” as I found it had a very strong flavor. I tend to put these in the category of “I didn’t not like it.” If I was out at a bar would I order another one? Sure. If I ever see it on a menu I’m ordering it, but I’ll admit that’s also motivated by a desire to support companies like this that do Shakespeare branded things.
The 5.5 ABV (alcohol by volume) I guess is average for IPA? I’d never really paid much attention to it as a beer drinker but it’s apparently the thing to do now. All the beer drinkers at work compare notes and rate their favorites based on ABV (as in, “I’m not going to have 3 or 4 over 7’s and get wasted” or “Going to the extreme craft fest this weekend, nothing but 8 and over!”)
Definitely happy to have found it. Will drink again. If I have guests over who are up for a taste test, I’ll share.
Next post we’ll look at The Tempest, their “Imperial IPA”.
I love that my kids are in high school now and I still get to tell Shakespeare geeklet stories.
