3 comments about The Seven Against Thebes (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. After the banishment of Oedipus, his twin sons Eteocles and Polyneices were elected co-kings of Thebes. They agreed to reign for alternate years, but Eteocles, would not relinquish the throne at the end of the first year, accusing his brother of having an evil disposition and banishing him from the city. Eventually Polyneices would return with six other champions to lay siege to the city. "The Seven Against Thebes" expedition ends with both Eteocles and Polyneices dead, killed by each other, before the walls of Thebes. After that, the defenders crushed the besiegers and the seven proud generals were all killed, except for Adrastus, who managed to escape thanks to his divine horse, Arion. However, the defenders of Cadmeia, the acropolis of Thebes, had so many losses that from then on any victory which looked more like a defeat as called a Cadmeian victory.

   The Aeschylus tragedy "Seven Against Thebes" is the only surviving play of a connected trilogy dealing with the sins of Laius (father of Oedipus) and the curse subsequently brought down upon his descendants. Aeschylus focuses on a prophecy that had been made regarding the sons of Oedipus: "They shall divide their inheritance with the sword in such a manner as to obtain equal shares." The play begins with Eteocles in command of the city and Polyneices arriving with his army of Argive soldiers. It begins with Eteocles making a call to arms and is followed by a description of the oath taken by the seven generals of the attacking armies. When the brothers kill each other during the battle by the walls of Thebes it becomes clear their "equal shares" refers to their common graves. The tragedy ends with a brief appearance by Antigone, who declares her intention to bury her brother Polyneices in defiance of the command of Creon, who now becomes king of Thebes.

   This tragedy comes after the events related by Sophocles in "Oedipus at Colonus," but obviously before what happens in his "Antigone." What is interesting here is the psychological portrait that Aeschylus presents of the two brothers, even though only one of them appears in the play (the idea of having to different settings was apparently too much of a radical idea for drama at that time). Such insights are nominally something we would expect from Sophocles, but this is Aeschylus who is developing the split between the brothers in terms of oppositional pairs of characteristics. Clearly the idea is that one cannot exist (live) without the other, which makes their dying together justified by logic as well as the curse on the House of Oedipus.

   It is difficult to judge this play and appreciate it as the climax to this particular trilogy without knowing much more about the preceding plays dealing with the two earlier generations of the house of Cadmus. What is clear is that Eteocles does not deserve much sympathy from the audience given that he has a greater culpability in his demise than either his father or his sister, at least in terms of what we know from the plays of Sophocles, which is the flaw in this assessment.




2. This excellent edition of Seven Against Thebes is part of Oxford University Press' ongoing series Greek Tragedy in New Translations, the idea behind which is that these plays should be translated into English not just by Greek scholars, but also by poets, to preserve as much of the real communicative power and drama as possible.

   This edition is ideal for reluctant students assigned to read Seven Against Thebes, and may even succeed in sparking their interest in the subject. The language is true to the play and stays vivid even through a few static moments.

   As with all the plays in this series, the introduction provides information not only about how the translation was accomplished, but also about how the play would have been performed, and perceived, by the ancient Greeks, what's missing from the play (namely, the first two plays of a trilogy), and notes about how the play fits into the scheme of Greek tragedy.

   Other plays in the series, such as Oedipus the King, are also highly recommended.

   This review applies only to the Hecht/Bacon translation published by Oxford University Press in their Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, and not to the Dover Thrift edition.




3. This is the third play in a trilogy, the other two being lost. The play results in an end to the curse on the Oedipus family. However, it is different from the approach later used by Sophocles. Here, there is no redemption from within. The curse ends only when the family becomes extinct. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, who were to share power in Thebes, have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape." Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. One really sees the pains of conflict and war in this play.

No comments about Friedrich Durrenmatt: Selected Writings, Volume 2, Fictions.

No comments about Fall of the Big Top: The Vanishing American Circus.

4 comments about Herakleitos and Diogenes.

1. It's a collection of quotes with some very terse history. Personally, this book is of no use to me, but if you like quote lists, then you'll love it.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The fragments of Heraclitus (or, Herakleitos) and Diogenes are a collection of the remains of their now-lost works, joined to various sayings attributed to them by other ancient philosophers both in their own day and later. This is basically a collection of translated aphorisms - 124 of which belong to Heraclitus, and 124 of which belong to Diogenes. Each philosopher's fragments are given a brief introduction - although, for reasons unstated by the author, the introduction to Diogenes is almost 3 times as long as that for Heraclitus - and, in a few places, some explanatory notes are given for the translation. I was disappointed that the translator, Guy Davenport, gave no information whatsoever about the manuscripts that he used for the translations here, or any information about the history of the texts that he used for the translation. Although I do not know Greek, it would have been nice to at least have some of this sort of background material.
   
   Neither set of fragments has any systematic organization; there is no narrative to follow. However, within the writings of Heraclitus one is given a sense of the permeability of all existence, and that the world we know is not a stable place. He has a tremendous sense of the instability of life, and he expresses this with some very poetic images: "One cannot step twice into the same river, for the water into which you first stepped as moved on" (# 21); "There is a new sun for every day" (# 36). Some of the aphorisms are much food for thought; others are more humorous: "Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine reveals it" (# 53). All of them are worth reading, and if one chooses to make connections between them - if fire is the destruction of all things and pride is like fire, is he trying to say that pride will destroy us? - then one can come up with some interesting insights.
   
   The fragments of Diogenes are of a very different flavor than Heraclitus's musings. Diogenes, as one reviewer put it below (quite brilliantly, I might add), really can be considered history's first punk. He was certainly an iconoclast, and he seems to have reveled in it. However, he also came up with some genuinely fascinating ideas that we still repeat today - "I am a citizen of the world" (# 7) and "Practice makes perfect" (# 119). He also stated, hundreds of years before St. Paul, that "Love of money is the marketplace of every evil" (# 78). Predictably, some of his musings are humorous - "Go into any whorehouse and learn the worthlessness of the expensive" (# 36) - but some are also quite quarrelsome; Diogenes seems to have had a considerable dislike for Plato, in particular.
   
   Readings this book might take you a full hour. However, there are considerations in these pages worth mulling over for years, and perhaps even a lifetime. This, of course, is exactly what philosophy is supposed to be.



3. Sharp and concise are how these translations come across. Compared with recent translations like Brooks Haxton's (Heraclitus) and Luis Navia's (Diogenes the Cynic), Davenport's work will stand the test of time. Highly recommended.
   
   Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
   
   The Cloud Reckoner



4. Before grunge, before punk, before monks renouncing this "evil world" for the purity of the desert, there was Diogenes. If Plato codified and, to some extent, "created" Western philosophy, then Diogenes lit a stink bomb at Plato's Academy and sent all the earnest young students scrambling for fresh air: what they didn't realize was that Diogenes WAS that fresh air. Listen to his dismissal of the great man of the West: "Plato winces when I track dust across his rugs: he knows that I'm walking on his vanity." And how about his summary of the state of Greek culture in the mid-fourth century B.C.E.: "Men nowhere, but real boys at Sparta." Nor did his satiric bite exempt his own condition: "When I die, throw me to the wolves. I'm used to it." How many of Plato's dialogues deliver a message as direct as this one?: "I threw away my cup when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough." In pithy saying after saying, Diogenes makes it clear that he has "broken through" to the freedom of being owned neither by his possessions nor by society's limitations, all of which is in some sly way conveyed by his opening [in Davenport's translation] salvo: "I have come to debase the coinage." And, oh yes, this translation includes all the meaningful fragments of Herakleitos as well. But once you have read Diogenes, Herakleitos will seem like the stodgiest old coot you've ever heard of, except maybe for Plato. [Updated versions of these translations are also available in Davenport's 7 GREEKS, which also includes the "complete" works of Sappho, Archilochos, Alkman, Anakreon and Herondas.]

5 comments about Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons.

1. The most fully illustrated book on every Looney Tunes cartoon to date.Every single Warner Bros. cartoon from 1930 to 1989.
   
   Highly recommended!



2. Here is an illustated guide to the Warner Bros. cartoons commonly known as LOONEY TUNES AND MERRIE MELODIES. Every cartoon was either a Looney Tune or Merrie Melodie. These include both the short subjects and feature films. One of WB's biggest cartoon stars,Bugs Bunny appeared in tens of cartoons in a 25 year period,1940 to 1964. Bugs' first official appearance was in 1940's A WILD HARE. A few earlier cartoons such as PRESTO CHANGE-O,HARE-UM SCARE-UM and ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA(featuring Elmer Fudd) featured a similar-looking prototype. WB's other big stars include Daffy Duck who debuted in or around 1938. The star's name appeared in some titles of his cartoons such as DAFFY DUCK & EGGHEAD,DAFFY DUCK IN HOLLYWOOD and DAFFY DUCK AND THE DINOSAUR. Same thing with Bugs Bunny(BUGS BUNNY AND THE THREE BEARS,BASEBALL BUGS,BUGS BUNNY RIDES AGAIN and BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID). Also Elmer Fudd(ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA,ELMER'S PET RABBIT and GOODNIGHT ELMER). Other big stars are Sylvester,a mean-spirited cat always wanting to kill sweet little canary Tweety. Later stars include Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote,Speedy Gonzales and Foghorn Leghorn(Foghorn first appeared in the 40's). There's also Porky Pig who first appeared in the 1935 Merrie Melodie I HAVEN'T GOT A HAT. Porky starred in many black and white Looney Tunes since that cartoon. This book lists synopses for every cartoon produced by WB. It also gives release dates and production credits with directors. I like the awesome concept of the variously colored rings bordering the beginning and end title cards. Over the years,they changed colors. The sizes changed also as did the studio logo(the original light blue changed to red). Some cartoons made between 1937 and 1940 featured multi-colored rings. WB still produces short subject cartoons occasionally but does more feature films today. This book went to press before the 1996 release of SPACE JAM,a semi-animated film starring basketball great Michael Jordan and featuring WB's cartoon stars. I dedicate the book to the memories of longtime director Chuck Jones,actor-director tex Avery(Jones and Avery later went to MGM),Mel Blanc(voice of Bugs Bunny) and actress Bea Benaderet who later appeared on TV's The Beverly Hillbillies and starred on Petticoat Junction.



3. This book is a great resource to read about these classic Warner Brothers cartoons. It would have been nice if the book had included more groupings by characters in the index. The book is 390 pages long, so it seems that they could have included a few extra pages to list all of the appearances of Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam.



4. I have had a quest to see(and act out)all of the cartoons of Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester. But some episodes appeared on cable networks more than others, and others I saw, but missed the episode name. So I purchased this book to find out which cartoons I've actually seen. It describes the episodes with details such as the ACME products in each episode, the methods the villain uses, and other interesting facts. Buy it if you wish to see all the Warner Bros. cartoons of all or one of the characters!



5. It's easy to sit back and watch the re-runs of Warner Brothers cartoons and just let them wash over us, but that would ignore all of the work that went into them. We would not get an appreciation of the sheer number of cartoons produced. Luckily Beck and Friedwald were obsessed enough to pull them all together in one volume. Going on a year by year basis, from Bosko cartoons of 1930 to the last gasps of 1969 (and the reawakening in the 80's) the authors provide a landmark reference showing the premiere date, the credits given in the openings, and a thorough synopsis of the action. But of course any reference like this would be an oddity if it was just a listing. But we are provided with two ways to find information - a title index showing the entry (all purpose for grabbing when watching that cartoon), and an index based upon appearances of 15 of the most popular characters. Want to find out when did Marvin the Martian appear? It's here. (1948 - Haredeveil Hare). Wonder how many cartoons starred Daffy Duck - count 'em up. (a whole lot) Just sitting back and reading synopses shows the breadth of jokes and settings that the artists were able to take advantage of. You can also see the repetition that occured when the writers fell into a rut. Just a great book to have on the shelf to pull down when you want and a great guilty pleasure!

3 comments about Electrify Your Strings BK/CD Violin Instruction.

1. This book is "out of the box" excellent! I am not a pro, I do not own a Viper. I have a normal violin with an acoustic sound pickup. I learned classical violin through high school, now as a much older adult I am picking back up the instrument, and playing from books of music, especially old time fiddling. But I needed this book to break me out of the read and play the notes only mode! I am enjoying more improv. and have even taken on the task of learning music theory so I can better understand keys and chords. I am trying to beef up the old time fiddler tunes once in a while too!
   
   The practice exercises in this book are exactly what I needed, it helps me limber up the fingers and bow, and teaches the scales in a new way for me, one that leads to understanding of the chords and how to play them. He introduces a fingering scheme that is atypical to me, and helps tremendeously in understanding the improvisation techniques. The practice exercises he provides can be used for all keys and chords.
   
   The CD that comes with the book blew my mind, his playing ability is fantastic, the sounds coming from the violin are unique and powerful, but the amazing thing is I can play some of his stuff already and once in awhile even sound like Mark Wood (OK, I at least hit the right notes). I think the vast majority of the book contains practice techniques, and then illustrations of them in some songs, but if you follow the practice plan the skills start to develop quickly. Great book to break out of the boring old stuff!
   
   Now I want an electric 5 string violin!! I highly recommend this book if you want to learn some things out of the box of traditional methods.



2. My Viper is the most amazing axe I've ever experienced. When I first heard Voodoo Violince so long ago, I never dreamed that someday I would hold the ULTIMATE INSTRUMENT in my hands. Let alone that I would get to share the stage with Mark Wood himself. And to top it all off, now I get to study every jaw-dropping technique and blistering lick whenever I want with the Electrify Your Strings book. I'm a pro violinist and have been improvising for well over ten years now, but Mark's method is taking me to a whole new level. I cannot get enough! With all due respect to my classical training, I wish I could put a copy into the hands of every kid who's slaving over his music stand regurgitating the same tired old scales and etudes and begging for sweet, sweet death. God bless Mark Wood and everyone in the Wood Violins Family! Rock On!!!



3. This was emailed directly to Mark Wood from a new Viper owner named Amy, who purchased "Electrify Your Strings" to help her get started!
   
   "Got my Viper strapped on and was working on Exercise 3 (arpeggios) of Mark's method book and I had to write and tell you how much I LOVE it. I read all the text first, then came upstairs to my private room to practice the notes. This is exactly what I've been needing! I have a bunch of method books by various people trying to teach improvisation (or jazz and blues styles) but I lost interest immediately after trying them the first times. So I basically gave up entirely and went back to notes (it's been a year now). Which I hate, because being a read-notes-only type totally cripples me in the rock and blues world. This book of his speaks to me in a way I understand, somehow. I can't really explain it. I've already learned enough in the first three exercises to try out some new things tomorrow night at band rehearsal. It hasn't even been an hour! With his explanation of the octave hand position with root notes and pentatonics, this alone gives me tons of ammunition with which to fire a little something away on my own in any song we rehearse. None of the other books explained that to me. So in short, after just a couple of Mark's pages, I'M FINALLY GETTING THIS!!! Something has clicked in my mind (and therefore my hands!). A totally awesome, inspiring beginning for me.
   
   Please tell Mark how pleased I am. I wish you could see how excited I am, here with my beloved Viper strapped on, tapping away hurriedly on the keyboard so I can get back to practicing with this book.
   
   My Viper goes with me to work every day and I show all of my clients. Everybody's jaws just drop open when they see it. "THAT'S a violin?!" they all gasp. It's so cool. I feel like a rock star!
   
   Peace & Love and all nice things to you!
   
   Amy"

No comments about Being an Actor.

1 comments about Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States.

1. Anthony Slide writes a fascinating history of the film preservation movement in the United States. After covering the dangers of nitrate film and the wholesale junking of film prints during the silent era, he documents the beginning of the archive movement in the 1930s and 1940s. You would think that the book would be filled with stories of heroic efforts to save films, but there are just as many stories of incompetent and egotistical administrators who did more damage than good. The American Film Institute did a good job for a few years helping archives to preserve and restore films, but it quickly became a political organization and mostly claimed credit for projects that it had nothing to do with. The book goes into detail into the "colorization" controversy, a process which thankfully has pretty much disappeared since this book was published in 1992. There is also a section on how Scandinavian archives have done a much better job of preserving their countries' film heritage. If you are a serious lover of silent films or the golden age of sound films, you will definitely want to read this book!

No comments about Night of January 16th: A Comedy-Drama in Three Acts (McKay's Play Series).

5 comments about Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women.

1. A delightful book covering some of the most unique and entertaining acts presented over the years in Side Shows,Circuses,Stages,and famous Rooms in Europe and America.Although I remember going to Carnivals,Side Shows and the Circus since I was a kid in the late 40's and after.I also remember many great Magic and Illusion Shows over the years ,brought right into our home via Television.I always had a preference for the side act,oddities,daredevils,illusionists,etc., over the animal acts.Yes,I can still see the Monkey Woman,the King and Queen of the Midgets at home in their Castle in Montreal. Then there was the World's Smallest Horse,The Alligator Boy ,whose body was covered in scales,the man without arms who drew portraits with chalk using his feet, A Flea Circus where real fleas did all kinds of things,even pulling a tiny carriage, and on and on.
   What surprised me most about this book is that many,even most of the people and acts covered were new to me.I guess this sort of stuff was more popular in the 18th,19th and early 20th Centuries and more so in Europe than America.I really haven't seen much in recent years. I guess Political Correctness and activist groups have had a major impact on these acts and people. The media is forever doing a story about mistreatment of animals in the Circus etc. Maybe the diversions this kind of entertainment gave us did us more good than realized.I know as kids we waited with anticipation for the Circus to come to town and particularly the Side Shows that accompanied them. I can tell you one thing,there was no need to drug up the kids on Ridlin,then,like you see today.
   For my money,I would far prefer to watch an act like La Roche climbing the spiral tower while inside a sphere;than any Olympic event.To me ,shaving one hundredth of a second off some record I've seen hundreds of times is pure boredom.It seems that the most excitement is created with announcers debating calls by referees ,judges or as a last resort;who has failed a steroid test or broke some rule.
   So, if you ever saw a good Side Show, saw some great feat of magic or illusion;this book will give you some wonderful memories of how entertaining this all was.It is jam packed with photographs and wonderful illustrations ;both in color and B&W. You may have to make a bit of an effort to find this book.It is out of print, but thanks to finding books on the Net now,It is available at a wide range of prices and some even signed by the author.It is a "must have" for anyone who loved this form of entertainment that may become a thing of the past.All we can hope for is a revival.



2. "Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women" is a tour of peculiar performance through the ages by modern master and scholar of the magic arts Ricky Jay. Each of the book's 17 chapters is dedicated to a different type of performer that awed audiences with his or her unusual skill or expert illusion. These are not all practitioners of misdirection or deception. Many are people who possessed very real unusual mental or physical talents. And some were not even human. There are scholarly pigs and horses, slight-of-hand artists, hypnotists, faith healers, poison resistors, and mind readers. Also featured are painters who happened to be limb-less, a blind and dumb musical prodigy, daredevil divers, mnemonic sensations, sword swallowers, musical farters, a man who could grow 6 inches at will, and more.
   
   The book does not attempt to be comprehensive on its subjects. Ricky Jay limits himself to "pioneers or refiners of peculiar performance". The truly extraordinary and inventive, not their many imitators. So many famous and impressive performers are not included. Ricky Jay's writing is precise, fluid, and conveys his admiration and awe at these human oddities and pioneering showmen. Jay's occasional references to his own experiences when they are relevant add interest. There are black-and-white reproductions of posters, playbills, and other illustration throughout. In the center of the book are 16 pages of full-color poster reproductions. "Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women" is an education in eccentric performance and the unusual, determined individuals who have created it. And it's great fun.



3. In Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, Ricky Jay takes on the history of oddball performers: men who claimed to cram their entire bodies into quart jars, armless ladies who could paint miniatures holding a brush between their teeth, gentlemen whose specialty was to enter large ovens accompanied by raw meat and exit (unharmed) with fully-cooked steaks, as well as mind readers of all sorts and species (human, pig, and horse).

   Organized into chapters by skill by oddball skill, Jay is sometimes able to document such performers back into the 1700s by tracking newspaper reports, handbills, etc., many of which are reproduced in color plates and black-and-white photographs.

   Ricky Jay occupies an engaging hole in intellectual space between enthusiast and academic. He is comprehensive in the extreme, but his writing style is anecdotal and he does not go for any elaborate sociological explanation of why such performers exist or what they `mean' to society. He just wants you to have fun, and perhaps to freak you out just a wee bit.

   The book is also very nicely designed; its large wide pages lie flat and there are loads of remarkable illustrations. Definitely worth a look!




4. As a magician and card wielder Ricky Jay is fascinating to watch as well as listen to. As a writer Mr. Jay also brings his own fascination at the work of others to play and writes a truly well-written, very interesting and enlightening book about the arcane world of many sometimes downright odd entertainers.

   Thorough in his presentation of details Mr. Jay's book is well-researched and his appreciation and awe for these unique people makes us quite enthralled as we read page after page about performers such as Le Petomaine, with his unusual ability to produce sounds of musical quality from a most unusual source on his body.

   Ricky Jay, besides being fascinating to watch, is also fascinating to read.




5. This wonderful book profiles some of the most unusual entertainers of all times: calculating pigs and acrobatic horses, stone eaters, poison resisters, daredevils, and mind readers. The contents of this meticulously researched and lovingly presented book often boggle the mind, inducing, at times, a wonderment that is nearly stupefying. Profusely illustrated with contemporary broadsides, lithographs, and photographs, the book is also enlivened by JayÕs seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of each performerÕs antecedents, biography, and critical reception. Engrossing from start to finish, but particularly notable for JayÕs account of the controversial career and bizarre death of mind reader Washington Irving Bishop, whose story beggars imagination. Also not to be missed is the final chapter on Joseph Pujol, whose career as Le PŽtomane was based on his ability to create music and sound effects with the least reputable of bodily orifices. A treasure