Feb. 6th, 2008

philosophercat: (Themistocles)
I remember listening to Auden read this poem for the Norton Anthology of English Literature. The sound of it is part of its music, but also the imagery is very powerfully loaded. It is possible that its Classics frame also appeals to me :P

The Shield of Achilles
By W.H. Auden

         She looked over his shoulder
            For vines and olive trees,
         Marble well-governed cities
            And ships upon untamed seas,
         But there on the shining metal
            His hands had put instead
         An artificial wilderness
            And a sky like lead.

A plain without a feature, bare and brown,
   No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood,
Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down,
   Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood
   An unintelligible multitude,
A million eyes, a million boots in line,
Without expression, waiting for a sign.

Out of the air a voice without a face
   Proved by statistics that some cause was just
In tones as dry and level as the place:
   No one was cheered and nothing was discussed;
   Column by column in a cloud of dust
They marched away enduring a belief
Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.

         She looked over his shoulder
            For ritual pieties,
         White flower-garlanded heifers,
            Libation and sacrifice,
         But there on the shining metal
            Where the altar should have been,
         She saw by his flickering forge-light
            Quite another scene.

Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot
   Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)
And sentries sweated for the day was hot:
   A crowd of ordinary decent folk
   Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke
As three pale figures were led forth and bound
To three posts driven upright in the ground.

The mass and majesty of this world, all
   That carries weight and always weighs the same
Lay in the hands of others; they were small
   And could not hope for help and no help came:
   What their foes like to do was done, their shame
Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride
And died as men before their bodies died.

         She looked over his shoulder
            For athletes at their games,
         Men and women in a dance
            Moving their sweet limbs
         Quick, quick, to music,
            But there on the shining shield
         His hands had set no dancing-floor
            But a weed-choked field.

A ragged urchin, aimless and alone,
   Loitered about that vacancy; a bird
Flew up to safety from his well-aimed stone:
   That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,
   Were axioms to him, who'd never heard
Of any world where promises were kept,
Or one could weep because another wept.

         The thin-lipped armorer,
            Hephaestos, hobbled away,
         Thetis of the shining breasts
            Cried out in dismay
         At what the god had wrought
            To please her son, the strong
         Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles
            Who would not live long.
philosophercat: (Jazzcat)
Now, the weather report for today says the high today will be 0 celcius, the low will be -4 (32-24 F). I see this girl standing in the aisle of the bus. And I think to myself: did she read the weather report? If so, did she actually say to herself: self, today it will be 0 to -4. I shall wear a mini skirt, no nylons, and some high heel sandals. And a parka? If that little vignette wasn't obvious enough furya, she stood the entire time even though she was next to an empty seat. She stood, stradling the aisle, swaying and stumbling with every jolt of the bus. She even tugged and 'arranged' her skirt once. I don't think I need to say this, but I will anyway: she had an audience of at least 6 teenage boys.

Aren't we supposed to have some sort of 'wrath of god'- like ice storm of doom today? I don't know- that's what I heard. It was definitely unpleasant: ice, rain, freezing rain, hail, snow, lizards, flying monkeys, lightning and ... probably  damaging winds. I even wore my magic toque- green with sparkles.

I begin my Lentan fast-thingie today. I'm not really going to be hardcore about this. See, aside from the religious significance of the fast, there's also the practicality of eating frugally during the lean times of Winter. I am broke, I think living on what I can afford until I can get work in the spring would be wise.

-Sophie
philosophercat: (merhercule!)
On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them.



ETA: My favorite reaction was from a female cop who witnessed the whole thing from behind her NYPD recruitment booth:

Me: Do you know what that was?
Cop: I have no idea! That is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life, AND I’M A COP!
Me: Ha. Yeah, it was weird.
Cop: You wanna sign up to be in the NYPD?
Me: No thanks.
philosophercat: (grin)
More from Improve Everywhere (I love these people!). This is their infamous No Pants project. Basically, ten people went onto one car of a subway in New York, the men took off their pants and threw them at the sole woman in the group (who put the pants in a duffle bag). The men entered another subway car one by one, "Agent Cassis" - the woman with the duffle bag, gets on and mayhem ensues. But first! It so happened that a gay couple were present and took issue with all of the pant-less men. They are GL1 and GL2 (gay lover 1 and 2). Enjoy! This is their transcript, copied verbatim from their hidden camera:

Man: (laughing) Is there a man with out pants convention today or something?
Todd: I don’t think so.
Man: You guys aren’t going to a convention?
Todd: I’m not. I don’t know those guys.
Man: (exiting the train) Take it easy.
Todd: You too. It’s cold out.
Man: (laughing) Yeah! For you!!

(The train has stopped at 33rd St. Agent Cassis enters with a large duffel bag full of pants.)

Cassis: Pants! Pants! One dollar!
Robertson: Perfect!
Cassis: Got to have exact change!

(Everyone on the train is watching, laughing, and enjoying themselves… except GL1 and GL2.)

Stranger on train: You guys are great!
Todd: (from the other side of the train, shouting) How much for the pants?
Cassis: One dollar. Exact change.
Schnetuer: (grabbing pants) I stepped on the right train… I’ll tell ya!
Todd: For real. Bring the pants down here!
Willner: I’ll take some pants over here, please.
Todd: It’s cold out!
GL1: (to everyone) Watch your wallet! … This is so fucking stupid.
Todd: (to GL1) Yeah really! A dollar?
GL1: You gotta get a life.
Todd: What do you mean?
GL1: You heard me. What word doesn’t make sense?
Todd: I heard every word. I don’t understand what you mean by it.
GL1: Get a life!!
Todd: I understand, but why get a life?
GL1: Please. Look at yourself.

(agent Todd is holding the pair of pants he just bought in his hand.)

Jesse: (to Todd) Hey, mine don’t fit, can I try your pair?
Todd: Sure. (they exchange pants)
GL1: (to Jesse) You got the wrong pair of pants, buddy! Get a life!
Todd: (to Jesse) I don’t know if this pair will fit. (to GL1) Why do you keep saying get a life?
GL1: What word don’t you understand?
Todd: I understand every word, but I… I mean, it seems like you’re being rude, but I don’t understand why.
GL1: The last thing I want to see is you putting your fucking pants on in the train.
Todd: Hey!
Cassis: I’m just trying to make an honest buck here. People want pants, I’m going to sell them to ‘em.
GL1: At my expense!
Todd: At my expense. I’m the one that just paid a dollar for them.
GL1: I paid $1.50 to get into the subway.
GL2: It is really retarded, what you’re doing.
GL1: I mean, it’s stupid.
GL2: It’s stupid.
GL1: Maybe in the 60’s or 70’s it would have been funny, but today…. it’s embarrassing.
Todd: Because I woke up this morning and forgot to wear pants?
GL2: And you all did. You all didn’t wear them.
Todd: I don’t know those guys. You’ll have to ask them.

(A woman, henceforth W2, speaks up)

W2: These people [GL1 and GL2] need to lighten up!
GL1: Watch your wallet! It’s so stupid.
GL2: It’s asinine.
GL1: It’s annoying. You want to relax on the train and then this happens…
Todd: I’m sorry.
GL2: …and the cops will come out…
GL1: The cops will know about this.
Todd: What did I do wrong?
GL2: It’s a public place. It’s a quality of life issue.
GL1: It’s a public nuisance!

(another woman, henceforth W1, speaks up. She speaks loudly and confidently)

W1: (to GL1 and GL2) I don’t think this qualifies as a public nuisance. I think this qualifies as a “happening” or a piece of performance art, i.e. from the 60’s. That’s exactly what this is, and you just have to accept it and move on.
GL2: Well then bring it to the theatre, not in the public place.
W1: No. That’s the beauty of it! It happens in public spaces like this. This is why we have “happenings”…
GL1: (interrupting) Honey, you’re forgetting that this is not the opera house! This is the subway!
W1: It doesn’t take place in the opera house, honey. It can happen here, in a public space.
W2: (to GL1) You’re forgetting what happened on September 11th! Lighten up!
GL1: Get a life!
W1: I think I have a life.
GL1: Yeah?
W1: Yeah. I think so!
GL1: You’re full of shit.
W2: And you’re full of anger and bitterness!
GL1: (to all of us) I hope you all get colds!
Lovejoy: We don’t need to create a public nuisance. We have one right here (points to GL1).
GL1: Thank you.
Lovejoy: You’re welcome.
Todd: (To Cassis) Do you have any pants that are a little bit bigger? (Todd lifts up coat to expose his crotch that won’t zip up. This is intentionally done right in front of GL1).
Cassis: I’m out.
Schnetuer: You know, they might fit me.
Todd: Ok.
GL1: Take ‘em off. Maybe they’ll shrink some more!

(agent Todd takes off his pants directly in front of GL1. He and Schneuter exchange pants.)

Schnetuer: What’s your name, dude?
Todd: Charlie.
Schnetuer: I’m Andy.
Todd: Nice to meet you, Andy.
Schnetuer: You too.
GL1: This is art on the subway!?

(from the back of the train, a man with a mustache, henceforth MM, speaks to Agent Todd)

MM: I wouldn’t trade pants with nobody.
Todd: I wouldn’t either… but she was selling them…
MM: I shower every day… I’m clean…
Todd: (pointing to Schneuter) Well, he seems like a nice guy. That’s true though. You never know.
GL1: (pointing to W1) Someone needs to buy this girl a movie ticket! She doesn’t know what art is!

(agent Todd hands W1 an Improv Everywhere business card)

W1: Oh! Is this your theatre group?
Todd: What? No. That’s my personal card.
W1: Hey! Do you guys ever need a designer!?
Todd: A designer? ummm… I’m a lawyer.
W1: Oh. Well, I’ll email you my resume.
Todd: Ok.

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Sophie

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