Hairy Potter and the Craft Show.

Lady Di and I did the Spoleto thing again this year. Old Crow Medicine show. A funny play by Thomas and Judy Heath. Art exhibits. Lots of food. And, oh yeah, the craft show. Whilst at the craft show, we happened on the dude at left (the picture at left, and the guy with the Tilley hat. No, that's me. The OTHER dude with the Tilley hat). The guy worked with clay, which, by his own admission, made him a potter. I asked him how long he'd sported the beard. He said twenty years or so. I told him that made him a hairy potter well before J.K. Rowling came up with the idea. He told me I'd gone to an awful lot of work for not that great a joke. He still let have a picture with him, though.

William Shakespeare, Franz Kafka, and Emilio Estevez Walk into a Bar...

Lady Di and I saw two of the plays featured at this year's Spoleto Festival: The Cripple of Inishmaan and "The Understudy". The Irish production of "The Cripple of Inishmaan" has gotten rave reviews in performances throughout the U.S. I haven't checked the reviews for "The Understudy", but I can tell you I enjoyed it immensely. Both plays focus on the absurdity and futility of life. You know: the meaning of life is that there is no meaning to life. That sort of stuff. The Understudy does it overtly, as it is centered around a play about Existentialist writer Franz_Kafka. The Cripple of Inishmaan doesn't refer to Existentialist writers, but, well, it's Irish, and absurdity is sort of in their DNA.

That got me thinking about some of my favorite existential quotes through history. Here is a sampling:

"For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?" Ecclesiastes 6:12 (NIV)

You think that Bible verse might've influenced the World's greatest playwrite?

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

William Shakespeare, "Macbeth" Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

Charlie isn't the only of Martin Sheen's kids that's into absurdity and futility: AndyMan likes to quote Emilio Estevez (who was playing the role of William Bonney in Young Guns II, and has this discussion upon being cornered by folks that meant to kill him): "You remember the stories John use to tell us about the the three chinamen playing Fantan? This guy runs up to them and says, "Hey, the world's coming to an end!" and the first one says, "Well, I best go to the mission and pray," and the second one says, "Well, hell, I'm gonna go and buy me a case of Mezcal and six whores," and the third one says "Well, I'm gonna finish the game." I shall finish the game, Doc."

Today's "Luanne" comic strip has a nice spin on team existentialism:



What's the meaning of life? Douglas Adams told us the answer in "The Life, The Universe, and Everything":



You guys do what you like. As for me? I shall finish the game.

Baffled.

I like birds. Lady Di likes birds. I've had bird feeders. Lady Di has a bird feeder. Squirrels like a lot of the same stuff birds like. Squirrels chase away the nice birds. Squirrels are the enemy. I've fought_this_battle_before. This time we've listened. Moved the bird feeder away from the trees, and bought a little metal wrap, called a baffle, to deter these tree-rats. So far, so good: the squirrels seem sufficiently baffled (and this guy gave me an evil stare). In honor of Spoleto, I've edited the photo to make it more, you know, "artsy".

Spoleto.

The Boro's only a hop, skip and a jump from Charleston, SC. Charleston is smack dab in the middle of their annual Spoleto_Festival. Spoleto's a really cool conglomeration of art shows, music and dance performances, and theater presented in a range of prices and degrees of difficulty. Check it out, if you get the chance.