martes, 31 de enero de 2017

RED ROSES AND ICE CRYSTALS

In her essay on Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Hill informs us that the fairy tale was initially conceived as a short, ballad-style poem about a young woman and her lover, a poor boy who was abducted by the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen was then more of a sexual predator. The story evolved into the tale we know today, of two children separated when the boy, Kai, gets a piece of an evil mirror lodged in his eye and heart that turns him into a cruel boy who mocks the things he used to love and follows the Snow Queen to her ice palace.

The tale uses opposing imagery- the natural, warm beauty of the roses versus the stark symmetry of mirrors and ice/snowflakes. The mirror in this tale is unusual in that, while mirrors usually tell the truth (such as the mirror in "Snow White" that is bold enough to bluntly tell the Queen when there is someone more beautiful than she), this mirror is deceptive- it distorts reality, causing beautiful things to seem ugly. (In fact, I sometimes thought of this mirror when I was in my first trimester-when foods I usually loved became disgusting to me and activities I enjoyed lost interest for me because of the constant nausea -I felt like I could relate to Kai).

Mirrors usually represent vanity in stories. The theme of vanity is also developed in "Snow Queen" by the reference to Gerda's red shoes. When she goes to search for Kai, she intentionally puts on her new red shoes that Kai has never seen before, but when she goes to the river she is willing to sacrifice her prized possessions to gain information about his whereabouts (but the shoes are returned to her because the river does not know where he is). Interestingly, this tale was written just four months before Andersen wrote the infamous tale "The Red Shoes" in which the desire for the colored footwear is completely and repeatedly seen as selfish.



Far left; white fur cape by J. Mendel, second to the left; not in the book, second to the right; Alexander McQueen Fall 2008 dress inspired by snowflakes, far right; Tom Ford Spring 2014 dress that imitates shards of a broken mirror

Hill interprets the red shoes as objects of pride, even for Gerda - saying that by wearing them she was initially hoping to impress Kai, but the difference between Gerda and Karen from "The Red Shoes" was that Gerda was willing to give up her shoes. This may be, especially given Andersen's feelings about red sheos, but I didn't necessarily read it that way in "The Snow Queen." It's natural for a child to be excited to show her friend a new toy or possession, without necessarily trying to impress or show off to your friend. If Gerda had taken a beautiful red rose and tucked it behind her ear with the intention of showing Kai, would that be interpreted as vanity? The rose would still be beautiful and displayed on Gerda, but fairy tale characters who request roses rather than clothes and jewelry are held up as the example of being non-materialistic, like Belle in "Beauty and the Beast." Yet roses are a symbol of her friendship with Kai -when staying with the old woman, it was seeing an image of a rose that reminded Gerda of her quest to find Kai. Could the wearing of the red shoes even have been Gerda's attempt to remind Kai of their beloved roses, since a real rose wouldn't survive a long journey? The colorful roses of Kai and Gerda's childhood playdates are a stark contrast to the colorless white of the Snow Queen's palace.

Red Morocco leather shoes, from 1800-1810


Although, it was more of a natural assumption at the time to associate red shoes with luxury, since red dye was more difficult to produce, and therefore more expensive, so red was a color only the wealthier could afford. But it seems that illustrators to tend to intentionally bring out the contrast in warm colours associated with Gerda, her friendship with Kai, and her journey to find him, as opposed to the cold realm of the Snow Queen. See Arthur Rackham's illustration of Kai and Gerda in their garden, and Edmund Dulac's image of Gerda at the old woman's house:



Compared with the Snow Queen/her palace by the same illustrators:



Although, I may be too quick to defend the wearing of red, just based on our own modern culture, where bright colours are just as easily accessed as neutrals. If anything, we tend to associate good things with characters who wear bright colours, aligning them with bright, joyful personalities. What do you see as the significance of Gerda's red shoes?



TJUGOFEM

TJUGOFEM

En originell svensk dikt av Sandra Dermark
pâ hennes födelsedag
den 31 januari 2017

Âterigen den 31 januari, en vändpunkt i mitt liv, ska vara positiv...
den här gângen är det frâga om fem plus tjugu somrar, redan vuxen, dock ung ändâ.
Än hâlls jag dock i ett järngrepp av min själ, av att vissa ordmeningar jag vill inte ruva pâ, dock som väcks sâ fort jag hör eller läser dem... hur ska jag förklara?
En översättare med ordskräck, onomatofobi, det är verkligen till en viss grad ironi;
poppar piller, lotusfrukter, Lethevatten, i ett dristigt försök av bli fri
ifrân kallsvett, blekhet, det är irrationellt, passionellt, kan ej alls kontrolleras;
en fysisk reaktion utan nâgon pardon av ett ords mening aktiveras.
Likgiltig och blek och kall som is, känns som att vara levande död inom kort.
Friheten heter fluoxetin, alprazolam, den har mânga namn men alltid kan den sudda bort
dessa järnfjättrar av tvâng och smärta, kulor i mitt huvud och i mitt hjärta,
denna likgiltighet värre än att somna in och aldrig vakna mer...
vem är den jag ser i spegeln; blek som ett lik, med trassligt hâr?
värför har kinderna sâ fâ fräknar och huvudet bultar som ett glödande järn.
Nu hâller kedjorna pâ att lösas upp âterigen...
tja, jag är tjugofem nu, hjärtligt gratulerad, och min ungdom den tänker jag fira
med en dans pâ röda skor över stjärnhimlen ikväll, som lär driva oron till reträtt!

lunes, 30 de enero de 2017

KÉTKEDÉSVÁR: THE MAGYAR OTHELLO

The alternate universe centers around the relationship between three characters (later, four) who are enmeshed in a sinister intrigue... The title is Hungarian for Doubting Castle, by the way, and refers to the main setting, that fortress/outpost community that gradually turns to more and more of a point of no return...
Viscountess Clarissa von Liebenstein and Freiherr Rainer von Waldheim, both only children and betrothed since childhood since the late Freiherr von Waldheim saved the Count von Liebenstein's life on the battlefiend in exchange for his own, reunite after a decade separated (since he was taken to Vienna for officer's education and she stayed at home in the provinces) at a society ball, now a marriageable maiden and a dashing lieutenant, both of them blond and fair-skinned. However, things clearly take a turn for the more exciting when Rainer's tall, dark, and brooding commanding officer, Colonel Karl Harschanji, né Harsányi Károly, takes Clarissa out to dance and --in the shocking first scene-- unties her corset on the ballroom balcony when she falls unconscious. The reserved raven-haired officer soon discovers in the girl he saves the first Austrian society lady who sees who he is instead of what he is, as the trio and some friends in white uniforms head for the distant fortress of Kétkedésvár, their assignment.
As Clarissa discovers for whom her feelings are awakening, Rainer expresses her wish to be happy, and a shotgun wedding is even celebrated in a village church en route (complete with white lies that the heiress married her intended beloved). Károly is, in the meantime, increasingly vulnerable; forced to serve the empire that left him a homeless orphan (when a childless high-ranking Austrian officer adopted the estate-born boy whose mum was shot right before his eyes) by wearing its uniform and finally finding love in the form of one of its socialites. A frequent victim of ugrophobia who ironically wears the Habsburg uniform, he initially speaks German with a Magyar accent, then he drops the act and speaks Hungarian when his sanity completely slips. (Kétkedésvár is a bilingual project, in which at least both languages and some French are spoken).
Then there's István, the discarded right-hand man who wants to get rid of both Rainer and Clarissa and keep Károly all to himself but also finish with the colonel who (ironically) saved his life during the revolution... and Ilona, the tomboyish orphan daughter of the regiment who serves as the dark-haired foil to the Habsburg blonde. Ilona falls for Rainer, giving us a love square of dark boy*blonde girl and blond boy*dark girl that is completely predictable, even more after the handkerchief trick... the idea of rolling Emilia, Bianca, and Roderigo into one character plus the twist reveal that her mum was a French noblewoman as revealed from the locket she had worn all along;
The story has pretty flashbacks of for instance Rainer's and Károly's discrimination and friendlessness as cadets at the Theresian military academy (the former due to social awkwardness, the latter due to ethnic identity), two backstories one decade apart that mirror one another pretty closely. Or the Count's unfortunate riding accident and ensuing coma, (that leads to him being wheelchair-bound due to spinal injury later on) while his wife and only daughter wake constantly and concernedly by his side.
But it's the very starting point with toddler lordling Károly getting orphaned and seeing his estate claimed by whitecoats, whose commanding officer mentions a childless wife and is stirred by the adorable dark-featured little boy's expression of shock. Maids, mum, nanny dying left and right and Károly standing there frozen as the enemy splutters tapestry walls and marble floors with the blood of loved ones... then the commanding officer suddenly addressing Karcsi in German and the ensuing headshake, in spite of the CO's friendliness. The latter switches to Hungarian and Karcsi replies in wonder with an AWWWW. Violence, the language barrier, an orphan adopted by the enemy leader who ordered the death of his loving mother. Then a montage of Karcsi vs. Peers at military school, all the other cadets shunning Karcsi as he goes through adolescence, followed by the Gott erhalte at the graduation, with all cadets-turned-lieutenants in their late teens --then age cut to another graduation set to Gott erhalte, with Rainer in Karcsi's place and 20/30-sth Károly, now a colonel and commandant of Kétkedésvár, among the commanding officers overseeing the new batch of freshly-baked lieutenants. The male blond corner of our love square now hears Clarissa's voice in his mind's ears: "I look forwards to seeing your face again." Followed by his own whisper "So do I."
There are lots of heartwarming moments until the Othello intrigue process kicks in and all the backstory is more or less set in stone. From that moment it's a thriller about slipping sanity and a romantic love-square drama, as the threat of a war on Prussia looms from outside but not even the walls of a star fortress are safe enough for our leading cast.
István's motivation? Right, he's a gay yandere who hateloves his CO whom he belittles for being a traitor to the Magyar cause AND idealizes for all of that coolness and the fact that he's made it this far. A yandere who suddenly realizes his kismesis has found himself a female love interest and a kindred spirit in a freshly-baked lieutenant for an aide-de-camp.
The ending? Right, it felt especially exciting, with Rainer and Ilona now the commandant and commandant's wife, watching István's execution by firing squad, and the dying traitor cursing both the new commandant and the Habsburg empire. Then there's this really heartwarming moment of Ilona kissing Rainer farewell before the war on Prussia calls him... he dies on the war front, his chest riddled, surely shot through the heart and having punctured both lungs... Ilona returns to Austria to give the whole story to the young Austrians' parents, while she is with Rainer's children... it ends with her having twins, a blond and a dark one, of unknown gender. All that set to a rending, heartwarming rendition of the opening theme.

Kétkedésvár is firmly steeped in nineteenth-century fictional traditions as well as Othello; first we find an idealized Arcadian hinterland (the von Liebenstein and von Waldheim shires, Károly's native estate) in stark contrast to decadent high society in the capital. A trope which was already as old as time, but that endured and even thrived with the Victorian shift to bourgeois ruling classes and industralism.
We find anti-war/pacifist statements and wartime orphans given as exhibit A of the consequences of armed conflict. However, unlike innocent Victorian waifs, those in this case have suffered serious trauma, deconstructing the trope.
We find the waif, speaking of orphans, who turns out to have been a noble child born in exile and raised by commoners, a trope as old as time but re-popularized by Dickens among other feuilleton authors.
We find a young heroine torn between her heart and her head, between her childhood friend and the tall, dark stranger; and her choice shaping the whole plotline of the novel and the character arcs of all three.
We find the fatal first glass that sets the ball rolling in temperance narratives, when a promising young man, being thirsty with exertion, is tempted by elusive so-called friends into tasting an intoxicating drink that fills him with elation and has him ask for more. The warmth and the elation once he has downed the above-mentioned strong drink are highlighted, and then, once the ball has been set rolling, the narrative chronicles his downfall and redemption.
We find the looming threat of war, returning to war, and the departure for the frontline looming like storm clouds in the horizon. Furthermore find the idealistic young officer lying upon the battlefield with a bullet through the heart.
Intrigue looms large within the walls of Kétkedésvár and leading characters are poisoned, drugged, their perceptions of reality warped, in one way or another. No matter if the cause is pálinka or paranoia, the ensuing loss of identity remains the same. Self-confidence and identity issues are put to the test. At the heart of the story is the problem of free will being a two-edged weapon.
"Steep on the right the path ascends,
wide on the left the path descends...
...and everyone is free to choose whither they will go, in spite of the constraints placed by the establishment. Yet the left-hand path is the more enticing one. The glory of Kétkedésvár lies in acknowledging the fact that anyone can waver and that there cannot be a good story without the initial descent or downfall; as demonstrated when realizing that "Untergang/untergehen" in German and "leszállni" in Hungarian serve as arc words, as a lexical leitmotif. Like the path to the left, a lot of other things are mentioned to descend: whether a high officer's glory and self-confidence, a drink of liquor down a lieutenant's throat, the evening twilight with its encroaching darkness, or the sun and the moon behind the horizon. Everyone in the leading cast within the walls is affected by despair; even --in the climax the surgeon who tries to dissuade Ilona from giving blood to a hypovolemic, comatose Rainer on what appears to be a combination of healthcare and jingoist issues. Her reply to the explanation that Magyar blood will kill the dying young Austrian? "Who dares wins!", she says, stripping her sleeves. And her defense of self-confidence (contrasted with Clarissa's simultaneous bedtime wavering) culminates with the placement of the IV, one of the needles of its extremes plunged into Rainer's left arm and the other into Ilona's right. A spoonful of cordial poured through parted lips every now and then, and the transfusion winds up being unexpectedly successful; her blood having become her lover's and coursed into his heart. Furthermore, the cordial (to quench a greater thirst than the one it all began with!) and the near-death have awakened Rainer's hazy, suppressed memories of the fateful evening when the brawl took place, thus tying up the loose ends even more. In that case, we may say that the love square with two parallel couples is carried on further with (at least pre-epilogue): dark boy*blonde girl, both deceased; and blond boy*dark girl, both alive. Károly kills Clarissa while Ilona saves Rainer's life. This parallel is definitely the jewel in the crown of the plot, showing that human passion is capable of both the greatest acts of cruelty and those of kindness.


domingo, 22 de enero de 2017

EL FINAL DE LA HOJARASCA

Here are my English and Spanish versions of an assignment I had to do for a course on García Márquez:

La hojarasca, The Leaf Storm, ends with the foreshadowing of the whistle of a ghost train and the disappearance of Macondo into that corner for heaping up "villages that no longer do a service to the nation." But it also ends, on a more personal note, with the funeral train of the late French doctor leaving the colonel's mansion, right before their confrontation with the local community. 
The last words are said by the grandchild: "Now they (the villagers) will sense the smell. Now all the curlews will begin to sing." These seabirds, that stand for tradition and the voice of the people, are clearly a leitmotif in the story, as much as the railway train and the leaf storm that represent the fruit company and the hinterland's connection to a globalised outside world, the impact that the arrival of the fruit company in general, illustrated in the particular case of the grass-eating and cohabitating European physician, has on traditional Macondo society. 
The railway is a powerful symbol of modernity and progress. In Clarín's story "Adiós, Cordera", the appearance of railroads and trains in a rural landscape (in that case, in northern Spain) also symbolizes the connection of the hinterland/backwater with a nineteenth-century globalized world and its market economy (market agriculture, market industry...), bringing in the outside world with all of its progress and all of its threats to traditional life. The final ghost train stands obviously for the decadence and return to isolation of Macondo as a discarded cog in the works of globalisation. Back to the childlike wonder even adults had at the start of 100 Years of Solitude, seeing a magnet and a block of ice brought by Romany peddlers from the outside world as magical objects. Back from railroads to curlews once more. 
The epigraph being Creon's decree (that anyone who buries the corpse of the traitor, exposed according to the law to scavengers and the elements, will be disgraced and executed in public) really foreshadows the fact that La hojarasca is basically going to be a retelling of Antigone in a (fictional) tropical rural village during wartime. 
The decrees of the social establishment (leave the traitor exposed as a mark of shame, execution awaits whoever buries or even mourned him) against those of the heart (every dead body deserves the same dignity; after all, we are all equal in death). That is not only a classical but even a UNIVERSAL theme; it's for instance at the heart of Hamlet (regarding revenge) or Romeo and Juliet (regarding young love). 
But the interesting thing is that Gabo didn't know he was unwittingly rewriting Antigone until one of his friends pointed it out. It's because this theme and this dilemma, like those of Shakespeare, are universal. The open ending is clearly enticing; how will the community and the family react during the funeral? Every reader is free to imagine their own ending. 
Would the villagers lunge at the colonel's family like an angry mob, and would he have to speak for the cause he defends? I imagine that ending. Furthermore, I'm sure the mob will learn their lesson and finally respect the colonel. The curlews will be hushed by the commanding voice they had hitherto overlooked until this moment, and sing in chorus with the old veteran.


La hojarasca concluye con la predicción del silbido de un tren fantasma y de la relegación de Macondo al rincón donde se almacenan "los pueblos que han dejado de prestar servicio a la nación". Pero también concluye, de forma más personal, con el cortejo fúnebre del difunto doctor francés dejando la mansión del coronel justo antes de su enfrentamiento con la gente del pueblo. 
El nieto dice las últimas palabras de la novela: "Ahora (los macondenses) sentirán el olor. Ahora todos los alcaravanes se pondrán a cantar". Estas aves marinas, también llamadas zarapitos, representan la tradición y la voz del pueblo en el relato y son, por ende, un Leitmotif, tanto como los trenes y la hojarasca (tormenta de hojas) que representan a la compañía bananera y la conexión entre el ambiente de periferia o hinterland de Macondo y un mundo exterior globalizado; el impacto general de la compañía frutera en la sociedad rural tradicional se ilustra con el caso particular de la llegada de cierto médico europeo amancebado y comedor de hierba. 
La ferrovía es un símbolo muy potente de la modernidad y del progreso: en "¡Adiós, Cordera!", de Clarín, la aparición del tren en un ambiente rural tradicional (del norte de España, en este caso) también representa la conexión de una sociedad periférica/de hinterland con el mundo exterior globalizado y su economía de mercado (agricultura de mercado, industria de mercado...), trayendo al terruño el mundo exterior con todo su progreso y todas sus amenazas a lo tradicional. 
El tren fantasma final representa, por ende, la decadencia y el retorno al aislamiento de Macondo como un engranaje desechado por la maquinaria de la globalización, de la economía internacional. Un retorno al asombro infantil que mostraban incluso los adultos al principio de Cien años de soledad, al ver un imán y un bloque de hielo que los gitanos nómadas han traído del mundo exterior como objetos mágicos. De vuelta de la ferrovía a los alcaravanes. 
El que el epitafio sea el decreto de Creonte (quien se atreva a sepultar o incluso a llorar al traidor, expuesto en público a los carroñeros y a los elementos, pagará con la pena de muerte), realmente predice que La hojarasca va a ser una reescritura de Antígona en un ambiente rural tropical (ficticio) en tiempos de guerra/posguerra. 
Los decretos de las autoridades sociales (dejar al traidor expuesto en público como marca de vergüenza, la ejecución espera a quien le entierre e incluso a quien le llore) en conflicto con los decretos del corazón (todos los cuerpos inertes merecen ser tratados con dignidad; al fin y al cabo, la muerte nos hace a todos iguales): he aquí un tema no sólo clásico, sino UNIVERSAL: también está en el fondo de Hamlet (a propósito de la venganza) o de Romeo y Julieta (a propósito del amor adolescente). 
Pero lo interesante es que Gabo no se dio cuenta de que había reescrito Antígona sin proponerse la idea hasta que uno de sus amigos hizo hincapié en ello. Es porque el tema y el dilema, como los de Shakespeare, son universales. El final abierto es realmente incitante: ¿cómo reaccionarán el pueblo y la familia durante el funeral? Cada lector/a es libre de imaginar su propio final. ¿Atacarán los macondenses a la familia del coronel en turba furiosa, y tendrá él que defender su causa ante el pueblo? Tal es el final que yo imagino. Y encima, estoy segura de que la turba habrá aprendido la lección y respetará al coronel. Los alcaravanes callarán ante la voz de mando que habían despreciado hasta la fecha, para cantar a coro con el anciano militar.



jueves, 19 de enero de 2017

BHH ON OMKARA - THE BOLLYWOOD OTHELLO



Yes, there is such a thing as a Bollywood Othello, set in our days' Uttar Pradesh. In which the title character is a half-caste regional leader (Omkara Shukla, played by Ajay Devgan) and his right-hand man Cassio is an Anglophone college boy (Keshav, played by Vivek Oberoi) whose cultural level sets him apart from most of the people in the hinterland setting. Desdemona is local lawyer's only daughter Dolly Mishra, also university-educated and Anglophone, and thus kindred spirits with Keshav. And Iago... Iago is Ishwar "Limp" Tyagi, played by Saif Ali Khan: Omi's right-hand man since they've had their posts and now left in the shade of this college boy with little to no experience in regional government.
SPOILER ALERT: Ishwar gets killed by his wife, instead of vice versa, in the ending!!
The story follows the plot of Othello rather close up and putting a deconstructive spin on it, as most Bollywood films do to their source texts, expanding the runtime to three hours (both Shakespeare's and Verdi's are two-hour shows) and adding all of those elaborate musical numbers. Definitely a fresh new spin on the old story...

miércoles, 18 de enero de 2017

ON CHARLES LAMB'S OTHELLO

  • Only five of the Shakespearean leading characters appear in the Lamb story: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Cassio. Bianca is fully missing, not even mentioned; while Roderigo is only mentioned in passing, not by name but as a "fellow Iago had set on," his motivation of unrequited love as lowed out as his name.
  • Othello was the first tragedy Charles Lamb adapted as a Tale. The second was the Scottish Play, after which he decided to retell in short prose all the other Shakespearean tragedies... minus the Roman tragedies and Titus Andronicus.
  • Charles wrote to Wordsworth that "we believe Othello is the best among the Shakespearean Tales I have written." Not only the first, but also the author's fave retelling! No surprise that it has endured to the present day!
  • The Lamb version lows out, at the end, that Othello's successor is Cassio, aside from giving a more righteous ending in which Iago is tortured with undescriptible pain, then executed in some unspecified way.
  • In the Lamb version, the attempt to murder Cassio happens off-story: the lieutenant is brought wounded and bleeding (no mention of his new disability) into his commanding officer's bedchamber and Iago's attack upon him is told as a rather succinct flashback.
  • Charles omits Othello's final suicidal speech and the fact that he understands his transgressions and cannot forgive himself for what he has done. It's the narrator who points out the faults in the general.

TYWIN OF THE LANNISTERS

So the Kuvira filk will have to wait a little longer because of this bunny I had this morning in bed... thinking of that song, of Tywin's rise to power, and of the similarities between both cases. Also... when was the last time I did a Westeros filk? Et voilà!! This is the Tywin Lannister success story retold to the same tune...


TYRION:
How does an awkward orphan,
son of a womanizing drunkard,
dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot of the far Westerlands by Seven Gods, impoverished, in squalor,
grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

OBERYN:
The young loner, always so ashamed of his father,
got a lot farther by working a lot harder,
by being a lot smarter,
by being a self-starter...
by thirteen, he was cupbearer to the royal courtiers!

STEFFON:
And every day, while watching the ships sailing away across the water
from the ramparts of the Rock, he'd struggled and kept his guard up!
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of;
our stripling was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter!

AERYS:
Then a heart attack came, his dad got this chest pain
while climbing up a staircase; the maester's skill was in vain...
At the funeral, he got that flash of passion in his brain,
and he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain!

TYRION:
Well, the word got around, they said: "He's with insanity frought!";
took up a collection just to send him to the royal court!
AERYS:
"Get your education, don't forget from whence you came,
and the world's gonna know your name!
What's your name?"

YOUNG TYWIN:
Tywin of the Lannisters...
My name is Tywin of the Lannisters...
and there are many things I haven't done,
but just you wait, just you wait!

JOANNA:
When he was ten, his mother closed her eyes forever, bedridden...
Two years later, see Tywin out of fear and shame hidden
away, of mistresses so sick, the scent thick...
EVERYONE, IN CHORUS:
And Tywin got better, but his father went quick...

AERYS:
Weary of his birthplace and Lannisters' social suicide,
left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside...
A voice saying:
EVERYONE, IN CHORUS:
"Tywin, you've gotta fend for yourself!"
AERYS:
Started retreating and reading every treatise on the shelf...

OBERYN:
There would have been left nothing to do for someone less astute;
he would have been dead or destitute, or made a fine male prostitute!
Started rising, visualizing his new future as a lord,
paying back all gathered debts for all the things he can't afford!
TYRION:
Scamming (scamming) for every book he can get his hands on!
Planning (planning) for the future, see him now as he stands on
the bow of a ship, (oooh) headed across the land...
In King's Landing, you can be a new man!

EVERYONE:
In King's Landing, you can be a new man!
YOUNG TYWIN:
Just you wait...
EVERYONE:
In King's Landing, you can be a new man!
YOUNG TYWIN:
Just you wait...
In King's Landing, you can be a new man!
In King's Landing, in King's Landing...
YOUNG TYWIN:
Just you wait...

EVERYONE, IN CHORUS:
Oh, Tywin of the Lannisters...
we're waiting in the wings for you...
You could never back down,
you never learned to take your
ti-i-i-i-ime!
Oh, Tywin of the Lannisters...
When Westeros sings for you,
will they know what you overcame?
Will they know that you changed the game?
The world will never be the same, oh-oh...

TYRION:
The ship is in the harbour now, see if you can spot him!
(YOUNG TYWIN: Just you wait...)
OBERYN: 
Another parvenu coming up from the bottom...
(YOUNG TYWIN: Just you wait...)
His enemies destroyed his rep, and Westeros forgot him...

STEFFON, BARRISTAN, AERYS:
We fought with him!
EDDARD:
Me? I died for him!
AERYS:
Me? I trusted him!
JOANNA, CERSEI, SHAE:
Me? I loved him!
OBERYN:
Me? I poisoned him!
TYRION:
And me? I'm the bloody fool that shot him!

EVERYONE:
There's a million things I haven't done,
but just you wait, just you wait...

YOUNG AERYS:
What's your name?

EVERYONE IN CHORUS:
Tywin of the Lannisters!!

THE ART PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY AND SHAKESPEARE?

We already know that the Art Professor at the University, only known for his profession/office and his equation of the not beautiful with the not useful, is a secondary character, nay, a bit character created by Oscar Wilde for satirizing the ivory tower intelligentsia's/academia's aesthetic views, as well as a fantasy counterpart inspired by Wilde's mentor Walter Pater.
So where does the Bard of Avon fit in?
 gli sterili commenti [···] del professore d’arte [···], che già Wilde aveva modellato sui dialoghi clowneschi dei cortigiani di Shakespeare.18  
(Here, Annotation 18 is inserted)

I read this excerpt by Luca Federico and went... well, short of words. 
Federico explains below, in Annotation 18: 
18 Pensiamo, per esempio, alle battute di Osric nella seconda scena del quinto atto di Hamlet. 

What is interesting is Osric's pompous and artificial mannerisms, which the Bard satirizes in a similar way. The adjective "flowery" is used in study guides left and right to describe Osric's style of conversation.
Just have a look here in this link: http://nfs.sparknotes.com/hamlet/page_312.html

lunes, 16 de enero de 2017

MADE DRUNK; THE VOICE SHALL BE HEARD NO MORE (REVELATION)

(4)   The inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of adulteries;
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of fornication.

REV 17:2... (4)   The inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of adulteries;
"Wine of her fornication": The harlot's influence will extend beyond the world's rulers to the rest of mankind (compare verse 15; 13:8, 13:14). The imagery does not describe actual wine and sexual sin, but pictures the world's people being swept up into the intoxication and sin of a false system of religion.
The same way a drunken person naturally has no earthly idea what he is doing, this apostate group is so carried away with the world that they, too, do not realize the terribleness of what they are doing.  

"the inhabitants of the earth," who are represented as having been "made drunk with the wine of fornication."

 Here were allurements suited to sensual and worldly minds. Prosperity, pomp, and splendour, feed the pride and lusts of the human heart...
... and seduced others to join abominations.

That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank ... wine; Therefore the nations are deranged (Jer. Jer. 51:7). It was her who first made them drunk, but in their consistent rejection and their drunken stupor they returned for more which allowed her to continue serving up.

made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of fornication” 
“They have been made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” The wine refers to the demonic doctrines, ideologies and concepts produced by this religious/political alliance.
In our day the worship of the queen of heaven is still present (a new face for an old concept) namely, one-world order through social reform and the mysticism of the New Age movement. This has to do with becoming like gods through New Age mysticism. So all racial distinctions, religious distinctions, and social distinctions must be removed. Everyone must learn to get along. Social reform and unification will be promoted as the greatest need.

“Drunkenness” in any form is an escape mechanism and the result of negative volition, indifference, apathy, and rejection. Because of the great negative volition that will exist at the time of the Tribulation, the world will be ripe for the wine of the harlot’s system. Lutzer and DeVries give us an excellent overview of the nature of this intoxicating wine.
“Having a golden cup” refers to an enticing manner of alluring men and nations. She invites men to drink of her deadly and stupefying wine by offering it in a golden cup, while arrayed in all her splendor.

those that dwell on the earth have lost their senses through pernicious and inebriating influence.  

and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine
of her fornication;
that is, the
earthly minded men, mere carnal persons, have been drawn into idolatrous practices by the allurements of the Catholic Church, such as [···] pleasures, [···] whereby they have been intoxicated as men with wine, and have been filled with a blind zeal for that church, and the false doctrines and worship of it, and with madness and fury against the true professors of religion.

Were made drunken (emethusthhsan). First aorist passive indicative of methusko, old verb (from methu), as in Luke 12:45 , here only in the Apocalypse. Cf. Isaiah 51:7 and pepotiken in Revelation 14:8 . See Revelation 18:3

Were drunken with the wine of fornication. The nations have received spirit and partaken of sins.

Have been made drunk with the wine of fornication - No wine can more thoroughly intoxicate those who drink it, than false zeal does the followers. 


On Rev 18:22 on the death of profane entertainment: to be posted aside
22. pipers--flute players. "Musicians," painters and sculptors, have desecrated their art to lend fascination to the sensuous worship of corrupt Christendom.
(1) No more music and entertainers (vs. 22a). The commercial and business world often seeks escape in the jive and jazz, the rock and roll of its music world in the various places of night entertainment. Consider the hotels, motels, bars, lounges, and other establishments where music is provided for the commercial world and its participants.
 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all;
There shall be no more mirth or joy; but heavy and lamentable things,
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers and
trumpeters
Which were for mirth, delight, and pleasure:
shall be heard no more at all in thee:
the words seem to be taken from ( Isaiah 24:8 ) ( Ezekiel 26:13 ) and may not only regard the loss of every thing that was delightful and pleasant to the ear in private houses, at festivals, and nuptials, and the like, but the ceasing of church music; there will be no more bells, nor organs, or any other instruments of music; no more chanters, and sub-chanters, choristers, singing men and boys:
And the voice of harpers. It is this third angel who declares the silence and desolation now.
And the voice of harpers - Players on stringed instruments. And musicians - Skilful singers in particular.And pipers - Who played on flutes, chiefly on mournful, whereas trumpeters played on joyful, occasions. Shall be heard no more; and no artificer - Arts of every kind, particularly music, sculpture, painting, and statuary, were there carried to their greatest height. (Not only) the arts that adorn life will cease forever.
The voice of harpers - Music was the entertainment of the rich and great;  
The voice (pone). Cf. Ezekiel 26:13 . Or "sound" as in 1 Corinthians 14:8 with salpigx (trumpet). For this song of judgment see Jeremiah 25:10 . Of harpers (kitharoidon). Old word (from kithara, harp, and oido, singer) as in Revelation 14:2 . Of minstrels (mousikon). Old word (from mousa, music), here only in N.T., one playing on musical instruments. Of flute-players (auleton). Old word (from auleo, to play on a flute, Matthew 11:17 , aulo, flute, 1 Corinthians 14:7 ), in N.T. only here and Matthew 9:23 . Of trumpeters (salpiston). Late form for the earlier salpigkth (from salpizw), here only in N.T. Shall be heard no more at all (ou me akousthe).
Isaiah 24:8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth
Or of drums, and such like musical instruments, used at junketings and jovial feasts. So
the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more therein, ( Revelation 18:22 ) : the noise of them that rejoice endeth;
the tumultuous noise of revelling persons at feasts and banquets, at marriages, and such like seasons; and so it is said, that 
the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all therein, or the joy expressed on such occasions by their friends and companions, ( Revelation 18:23 ) : the joy of the harp ceaseth;
an instrument of music used on joyful occasions; the voice of harpers is particularly mentioned in ( Revelation 18:22 ) .
.(2.) Music: The mirth of tabrets ceases, and the joy of the harp, which used to be at their feasts, ch. 5:12 All joy is darkened; there is not a pleasant look to be seen, nor has any one power to force a smile; all the mirth of the land is gone (v. 11); and, if it was that mirth which Solomon calls madness, there is no great loss of it.

Isaiah 24:8
8 The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent. 
24:8Tabrets - Which they used in their feasts. The noise - The word properly signifies a confused clamour, such as drunken men make.


 Verb used by John in REV 17 for the inhabitants of the earth:
εμεθυσθησαν (emethystesan)  verb - aorist passive indicative - third person
methuo  meth-oo'-o:  to drink to intoxication, i.e. get drunk -- drink well, make (be) drunk(-en).
The word used in REV is emethysthēsan

ἐμεθύσθησανhave been made drunk

Thrice he gave it to him, and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was, and how it would work within his brain.
And as he spoke he fell back in a drunken sleep.

DEN NYA STAFFANSVISAN

DEN NYA STAFFANSVISAN

Sandra Dermark
(avsedd för min försvenskning av Othello, som dryckesvisa i stridsscenen)

Staffan var en stalledräng;
han vaktar sina fålar fem.

Den förste är som snö helt vit;
dess ryttare bär hatt och plit.

Den andre är som blod helt röd;
dess ryttare bär ond bråd död.

Den tredje är helt svart som kol;
den bär en våg med bruten skål.

Den fjärde fålen är giftgrön;
dess ryttare är underskön.

Den femte fålen är apelgrå;
den rider Staffan själv uppå.


ENGLISH VERSION (by the same author)

Stephen was a stablehand,
to guard five foals given command.

The first foal is, like new snow, white;
hat and sword on the rider's right.

The second foal's like fresh blood, red;
and in its wake heap violent dead.

The third foal is as black as slate;
it brings scales with a broken plate.

The fourth foal is a poison green;
its rider beautiful is seen.

The fifth foal is as grey as ash;
'tis on it Stephe himself will dash.

sábado, 14 de enero de 2017

DEINO (MAT4YO) - TRADUCCIÓN

DEINO
RELATO PREHISTÓRICO DE
UN JOVEN DINOSAURIO INVIDENTE
BUSCANDO SENTIDO A SU VIDA
Por Mat4Yo
Traducido por Sandra Dermark 16/05/2017

Hasta que esté fosilizado,
con este flequillo a todos lados,
incompetente es mi vista;
¡no lo digas a mi oculista!
Y no cuestiones más mi puntería,
pues me agarro a porfía
con las más duras de las muelas:
¡tú no harás que me duela!

Estoy negro y azul
de cardenales que ves tú;
el daño que causo
marcan los clavos de mi cruz...
Te voy a devorar,
serás presa de este dragón,
pensando, tras un placaje,
que mi especie es de otro color...

Me han criado
bien airado;
¡esta es la guarida
del tirano!
Así que emigrad
o preparaos a enfrentaros
a un sino
criminal desangrado...

Soy un peso ligero,
lucho por aislar-
-me, aún no una hidra;
me toca esperar...
Mas con 3 en una cita a ciegas puedo quedar,
Y ellas NO escatiman con nitrato más...

Ominoso omnívoro,
motivos misteriosos...
soy del Cretácico
sin duda el más loco...
Sé que cuando sea mayor
podré volar,
y estoy contando los días
así: "eins,
zwei,
drei!"
Deino...

Deino... Deino... Deino...
Deino... Deino... Deino...
Sí... Deino... Sí...

Sí, mi nivel se alzará,
ascenderá,
tal vez un par de ojos pueda lograr...
pero ahora soy Deino...

Deino... Deino... Deino...
Deino... Deino... Deino...
Sí... Deino...

Gritando estaré...

Siempre inanición,
y preguntan siempre si estoy tan solo...
Nunca siquiera he visto el sol salir...
Si mía es la noche, blanco y negro no es todo...

A vuestros ojos, soy un
artefacto no más...
Como a un estigma mi
astigmatismo lográis categorizar...
Tal vez, para ver la luz,
me enfrente a mi verdadero ser...
Para cogerle apetito a la vida,
siempre he de morder...

Veis a un bebé patoso
que con rocas se tropieza...
Veo al dragón aún cría
al que le falta destreza...
No soy el pseudo-legendario
que mis padres creen que sea...
Mi flequillo es de alf-Alfa,
mas le falta transparencia...

¡Vapulearé a las hadas! 
¡Límites romperé!
¡Para enorgulleceros, 
más potencia entrenaré!
¡Veis tanto de mi interior 
como yo de vuestro exterior!
Así que no importa cómo me pronuncien:
siempre seré Deino...

Deino... Deino... Deino...
Deino... Deino... Deino...
Sí... Deino... Sí...

Sí, mi nivel se alzará,
ascenderá,
tal vez un par de ojos pueda lograr...
pero ahora soy Deino...

Deino... Deino... Deino...

¡No puedo ver con el flequillo!

Sí,
llama a los de Yu-Gi-Oh...
Que sepan que el Dragón Negro de Ojos Tapados
quiere batirse en duelo, ¿o no?

De hostil a brutal, durante esta vida en guerra,
escaparé de mi condena atado a la tierra
y me volveré inmune a ella...

Deino... Deino... Deino...
Deino... Deino... Deino...
Deino... Deino... Deino...
Sí... 

miércoles, 11 de enero de 2017

ALBRECHT VON WALLENSTEIN

One thing about bunnies is the fact that they tend to spawn at an alarming rate.
This idea rose at about the same time as the Lützen filk of yesterday. I murmured it in bed this morning before rising up and telling myself: hey, this one's worth a shot!
So it's the opening number of the same musical, basically. Got a Kuvira version in the works as well, let's see when it sees the light!

For now, enjoy this 30YW version, dear readers!!! Larvae of all stages, adolescents of every gender, Miss Dermark's Filk Lyrics Factory proudly presents the prequel to Lützen (The World Turned Upside-Down):


ALBRECHT VON WALLENSTEIN

NARRATOR I (TILLY):
How does an awkward orphan,
son of gentry Bohemian Protestants,
dropped out of college,
in a forgotten spot of the Austrian provinces, impoverished, in squalor,
grow up to be a warlord and a scholar?

NARRATOR II (GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS):
The drop-out loner without mother or father
got a lot farther by working a lot harder,
by being a lot smarter,
by being a self-starter;
at sixteen,
they placed him as valet to a certain margrave...

NARRATOR III (PAPPENHEIM):
And every day, while servants tended to their tasks and guarded
the grand baroque estate, he struggled and kept his guard up...
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of...
Our stripling was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter!

Then, up to a ledge he came in a downpour of rain,
his footing slipped, slipped; and slipping down he came...
landed down on his two feet, a sudden jolt struck his brain,
and he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain...

NARRATOR I (TILLY):
Well, then word got around, they said "This kid is insane, at best!"
Took up a collection just to send him on a Grand Tour quest...
"Get your education,
don't forget from whence you came!
And the world is gonna know your name!
What's your name?"

YOUNG WALLENSTEIN:
Albrecht von Wallenstein...
My name is Albrecht von Wallenstein,
and there's a million things I haven't done,
but just you wait, just you wait...

NARRATOR IV (ISABELLA):
When he was ten, both his parents suddenly, tragedy, were bed-ridden...
Two years later, see Albrecht detached and from his guardians hidden...
half-sitting before a desk to read, the air real cold...
And Albrecht thought his college years would be worth gold...

NARRATOR III (PAPPENHEIM):
Moved into Altdorf, but there he committed social suicide...
Left him with nothing but ruined pride,
something new inside, a voice saying...
"ALBRECHT, YOU'VE GOTTA FEND FOR YOURSELF!!"
He started retreating and reading every treatise on the shelf...

There would have been nothing left to do for someone less astute;
he would have been dead or destitute, or even a male prostitute!
Started working, exerting himself for this margrave "as reward,"
pouring Cogniac and kirsch and all the things he can't afford...

Scamming (scamming...) for every book he can get his hands on
Planning (planning...) for the future; see him now as he stands on (planning...)
his own two feet, (oooooh...) headed from land to land... 
At the Court, you can be a new man! 

ALL NARRATORS: At the Court, you can be a new man! 
YOUNG WALLENSTEIN:
Just you wait...
ALL NARRATORS:
At the Court, you can be a new man! 
YOUNG WALLENSTEIN:
Just you wait...

ALL NARRATORS:
At the Court, you can be a new man! 
At the Court, at the Court...
YOUNG WALLENSTEIN:
Just you wait...

ALL NARRATORS:
Oh, Albrecht von Wallenstein...
Albrecht von Wallenstein...
We're waiting in the wings for you...
Waiting in the wings for you...
You could never back down...
you never learned to take your...
TI-I-I-IME!

Oh, Albrecht von Wallenstein...
Albrecht von Wallenstein...
When Romanticism sings for you,
will they know what you overcame,
will they know you rewrote the game?
The world will never be the same, o-oh...

NARRATOR I (TILLY):
The boy is at the Hofburg now, see if you can spot him!
(YOUNG WALLENSTEIN: Just you wait...)
NARRATOR V (KAISER FERDINAND II):
Another parvenu coming up from the bottom...
(YOUNG WALLENSTEIN: Just you wait...)
NARRATOR III (PAPPENHEIM):
His enemies destroyed his rep, Enlightenment forgot him...

TERZKY/ISOLANI/TILLY:
We fought with him!
PAPPENHEIM:
Me? I died for him!
FERDINAND II:
Me? I trusted him!
ISABELLA/PAPPENHEIM:
Me? I loved him!
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS:
Me? I defeated him!
LESLIE:
And me!? I'm the bloody fool that stabbed him!

EVERYONE:
There's a million things I haven't done,
but just you wait...
just you wait...

40-STH TILLY:
What's your name?
EVERYONE:
Albrecht von Wallenstein!!!