Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Hamlet's A GIRL?!?

Call this week's 'Stuff' column the oddball version -- because there's been plenty of it this past week. For us, it was crowned by our long-awaited trip to the Colorado Shakespeare Festival to see Hamlet. This play is one of my very favorites, for its brooding uncertainties, ghost appearances and wonderful sword fights...not to mention I played Ophelia in a college version. (I wasn't that good -- but it was lots of fun. To make things even more interesting, the person playing Hamlet back then was an old boyfriend. Weird.) 
     We settled in, hoping for greatness. Instead, we got slumber party hijinks; actors who didn't seem to believe their own protestations of love and revenge -- let alone persuade us; a so-called love story that seemed to be more on the level of grabbing and punching; and to top things off, the final 'ferocious' sword fight was two girls poking rapiers at each other. ("Bitch-slapping," one of my students called it later. She was right.) 
    Some good stuff did appear, in the ghost form of Hamlet's father, who did a very credible version of a Walking Dead zombie. Horatio was the only sane person on stage --and a good down-to-earth foil to all the insanity going on around him. 
     In true Boulder fashion, most of the people around us gave the female actress -- who really wasn't that bad most of the time, except for, I'd guess, some weird directing -- a standing ovation. We just sat there. 
     It may have been innovative, but it wasn't effective. Taming of the Shrew, which we saw a few weeks before, was better.

I'm afraid what they're going to do to Julius Caesar, coming up in a week or two.



It's okay to be a Redskins fan. The Supreme Court ruled that 'upsetting' trademarks are allowed under free speech -- even if they're rude or vulgar. (Surprise, surprise...but this issue has been argued in court for years.)

30 storage bed options. Who couldn't use a little more storage!  (From Emily Henderson)

Alternative lighting -- especially when the power goes out. During the Zombie Apocalypse...or whenever your dad shows up as a ghost, a la Hamlet.  (From Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth)

30 things on earth that can't be easily explained. Like the Sumerian Kings' List -- which mentions a worldwide flood. Okay...maybe the ICA stones were faked.  (From Right Brain News)

IKEA shopping secrets -- from an employee.  (Thanks, Domino)

Left-handers may be more likely to be geniuses -- or mentally impaired. Take your pick. As an active left-hander who, like many of my kind, has learned how to do stuff right-handed, as well, I can assure you that this whole connection with math is NOT there. At least in my case. (Okay, yes for writing patterns and designing.)

Three CNN staffers resign after their story on a Trump ally being connected with a Russian investment bank isn't fact-checked properly.  Oops. CNN apologized to the man in question (Anthony Scaramucci). One 'source close to CNN' said the story was "a massive, massive f--up, and people will be disciplined."

Political putdowns -- from the Brits. And you thought Americans were rude!

Seven huge scandals uncovered by people...who never really got credit for it.  (From Cracked)

Ten favorite frugal living sites... including one of my personal favorites, the Prudent Homemaker.  (From A Cultivated Nest)

A fitness model -- killed by a can of whipped cream.  I am not making this up. And no, it's not because she ate it -- and the sugar trauma did her in.  (From TMZ)

Thirty unusual uses for aluminum foil.  (From Instructables)

Ever wanted a hand-painted mural...but couldn't afford it? These options from Audrey Stern might be just what you need, at a reasonable price...

Or paint your own, using stencils derived from antique ones used by Rufus Porter. If you're curious about Porter, a brilliant 19th century painter, inventor and inveterate genius at tinkering,  go here.

This 1828 Porter mural is from the Rufus Porter museum in Bridgport, Maine. Go here for more.

"I resemble that remark!"  Porter, thanks to Wikipedia

Another wall mural by Porter (Wikipedia)

Want a rainbow for your wall? Hot-glue crayons to the top of a canvas, wave a hot hairdryer over them...and watch what happens.  (From WeDoLogos via Pinterest)

I wonder if this would work on fabric?

The women (and three-legged pit bull) who survived a moose attack.  Seriously, moose are some of the scariest creatures out there when they're protecting babies.

Ten accidental discoveries which produced great wealth.  (From Business Pundit)

The squirrel who saved his adopted family during a burglary. Ah, but now he's back in the wild. Says his former owner, "If I had to guess, he found a girlfriend and they're off doing the squirrel thing." And...

The family who argued that their pet rooster was a 'therapy animal.' See -- we only bring you the good stuff on this weekly post.


Have a great week.