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A problem with tautology.
Mar. 22nd, 2004 09:17 pmOne thing that was never satisfactorily taught when I was younger was the fact that comedies by Shakespeare are supposed to be, like, funny. I mention this because the joint school cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream came up this morning to perform a couple of snippets. The first was the bit where Helena discovers that inexplicably, both Lysander and Demetrius have fallen madly in love with her, and the second was the bit where Bottom is "translated." Venkat was playing Bottom and got most of the school laughing, especially when Titania awoke from her fairy bower. I have no idea who was playing her, but she was very good.
Becca was in the soundbox, because yes, they have music. For some reason they're setting the play in the Sixties. I was dubious but it actually worked quite well. The actual performances are at the end of this week (same time as the Drama Festival - whoever's responsible for that delicious timetable clash deserves to be taken out the back and shot) which I find it hard to get my head round as it doesn't seem so long since Cabaret. I met Patrick at Cabaret... hmm. November. I suppose it was fairly long ago, but still.
I very nearly decided not to come into school for English this morning, and I can't decide whether or not that would have been a good idea, as we watched a film version of Brave New World. The story was absolutely mangled, but the film was so, so bad, on so many levels, that it made the magical transformation into good and left me wanting to know what happened next. Despite the fact I have read the book. The story was completely mangled, as I said. O brave new world that has such things in it!
Talking of the Drama Festival (when am I not, lately?) it is getting to make-or-break time. I was more or less horrified to discover that a large proportion of the class appear to be unaware that that Drama Festival is this Friday. For the record, it's this Friday and we have so much left to do. I'm beginning to feel this was more trouble than it was worth. Some of them are such brats. There's one girl who doesn't have a speaking part but strolls around the place trying to make it look as if the play would fall apart without her. She drives me mad trying to get my bell off me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am now bells-and-whistles. It is my job to blow and ring the things. Which sounds incredibly debauched but really isn't. I just follow along in the script.
And then, there's the girl who's like me. More and more I feel the other brats bully her; maybe because she's weird (because she is, and this is no bad thing) and maybe because she's quiet and doesn't fight back, but whatever the reason I don't like it. I do wonder why I am defending this girl (telling them all to shut the fuck up when they star,t making sure the sixth form brats don't even get a look in, although not always successfully) - maybe it's because she reminds me so much of me - but I think I ought to be. I guess it can all be reduced to the fact I'm defending her when previously no-one was. And that has to count for something.
Rehearsal at lunchtime, of course. I'm more and more worried about the time - we're going to go massively over and I keep feeling I ought to attack the script with a red pen pronto - but there's so little you can do at this stage. There was another rehearsal after lunch, but that was a complete disaster. I'd just had a terrible Chemistry test on alkenes and epoxyethane (no, I don't know anything!) and then half the form didn't turn up (it's on Friday!) and those that did behaved atrociously, and to make matters even worse Becca was called off to do the follow-spotlighing or whatever you call it, for a different form. So I had to try and make them behave and have I ever mentioned how much I hate kids? I hate kids. They are teh suck. And they were especially today. So I escaped early.
Got home, after battling with the train system - only Merseyrail could spend millions of pounds installing electronic destination boards on each of it stations, and then setting them wrongly so each train arrives two minutes later than it should - and remembered, finally, to call Kate (the girl I tutor) and tell her not to come tomorrow night because of my parents' evening. She was amicable, and it appeared that her mother had recommended me to another friend of theirs for tution. I was impressed, and pretty soon got another phone call. I have another pupil. At this rate I'm going to make more money tutoring than I do waitressing. Which is, I suppose, exactly how it should be, as I am a far better tutor than waitress.
Busy day tomorrow. Basketball. Urgh, etc, and parents' evening in the... evening. I'm having a problem with tautology today. Was asked in the Chem test "What is meant by the term 'addition?'" I wrote, "Addition is when things are added across a bond to produce a product." Not a good day, all told.
Becca was in the soundbox, because yes, they have music. For some reason they're setting the play in the Sixties. I was dubious but it actually worked quite well. The actual performances are at the end of this week (same time as the Drama Festival - whoever's responsible for that delicious timetable clash deserves to be taken out the back and shot) which I find it hard to get my head round as it doesn't seem so long since Cabaret. I met Patrick at Cabaret... hmm. November. I suppose it was fairly long ago, but still.
I very nearly decided not to come into school for English this morning, and I can't decide whether or not that would have been a good idea, as we watched a film version of Brave New World. The story was absolutely mangled, but the film was so, so bad, on so many levels, that it made the magical transformation into good and left me wanting to know what happened next. Despite the fact I have read the book. The story was completely mangled, as I said. O brave new world that has such things in it!
Talking of the Drama Festival (when am I not, lately?) it is getting to make-or-break time. I was more or less horrified to discover that a large proportion of the class appear to be unaware that that Drama Festival is this Friday. For the record, it's this Friday and we have so much left to do. I'm beginning to feel this was more trouble than it was worth. Some of them are such brats. There's one girl who doesn't have a speaking part but strolls around the place trying to make it look as if the play would fall apart without her. She drives me mad trying to get my bell off me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am now bells-and-whistles. It is my job to blow and ring the things. Which sounds incredibly debauched but really isn't. I just follow along in the script.
And then, there's the girl who's like me. More and more I feel the other brats bully her; maybe because she's weird (because she is, and this is no bad thing) and maybe because she's quiet and doesn't fight back, but whatever the reason I don't like it. I do wonder why I am defending this girl (telling them all to shut the fuck up when they star,t making sure the sixth form brats don't even get a look in, although not always successfully) - maybe it's because she reminds me so much of me - but I think I ought to be. I guess it can all be reduced to the fact I'm defending her when previously no-one was. And that has to count for something.
Rehearsal at lunchtime, of course. I'm more and more worried about the time - we're going to go massively over and I keep feeling I ought to attack the script with a red pen pronto - but there's so little you can do at this stage. There was another rehearsal after lunch, but that was a complete disaster. I'd just had a terrible Chemistry test on alkenes and epoxyethane (no, I don't know anything!) and then half the form didn't turn up (it's on Friday!) and those that did behaved atrociously, and to make matters even worse Becca was called off to do the follow-spotlighing or whatever you call it, for a different form. So I had to try and make them behave and have I ever mentioned how much I hate kids? I hate kids. They are teh suck. And they were especially today. So I escaped early.
Got home, after battling with the train system - only Merseyrail could spend millions of pounds installing electronic destination boards on each of it stations, and then setting them wrongly so each train arrives two minutes later than it should - and remembered, finally, to call Kate (the girl I tutor) and tell her not to come tomorrow night because of my parents' evening. She was amicable, and it appeared that her mother had recommended me to another friend of theirs for tution. I was impressed, and pretty soon got another phone call. I have another pupil. At this rate I'm going to make more money tutoring than I do waitressing. Which is, I suppose, exactly how it should be, as I am a far better tutor than waitress.
Busy day tomorrow. Basketball. Urgh, etc, and parents' evening in the... evening. I'm having a problem with tautology today. Was asked in the Chem test "What is meant by the term 'addition?'" I wrote, "Addition is when things are added across a bond to produce a product." Not a good day, all told.
