When I was explaining the plot of The Tempest to Jake I mentioned that it was kind of like Lost.
Now I realize it is a LOT like lost.
Why didn't I ever notice this before? Someone else must have commented on it by now. The parallels between The Tempest and Lost are enough to make me think that it is more than coincidence. Sure, Lost covers the actions of a lot more of the survivors than the Tempest does, but it's got seven years to tell its story. Also, Lost sticks with the point of view of the victims; Prospero is an unseen force in the background.
The ship breaks in two at the beginning, but the passengers are miraculously saved. Those from one section of the ship land on a different part of the island from the others; and each party thinks the other did not survive.
Caliban is Ben Linus
Ariel is the smoke monster
Prospero is the mysterious Jacob.
The King of Naples and the Prince of Naples are Jack's Father and Jack. (okay, that one may be a stretch...)
Of course, this doesn't account for Miranda. Unless somehow Danielle is Miranda in some weird sort of way. but I don't think so.
I never read any of the discussion groups talking about Lost, but certainly this must have come up before. I can't be the first person to notice this. And it can't just be coincidence.
Can it?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
16. Ashland
Ashland is where the adventure really began on this trip -- our first foray into unexplored territory. We awoke early in Vacaville and drove north on I-5, intending to get to Ashland as early as possible to maximize our time there. We got to Ashland before 3 p.m. Our motel was run-down and it was far from the town, and we had some trouble finding it, but at least it was cheap.
Downtown Ashland is everything that you want it to be; lots of little restaurants with creekside dining, little bookstores and used clothing shops, lots of brick.
The Shakespeare Festival consists of three theatres, showing twelve plays in repertory. Each season they show three Shakespeare plays, all at the Elizabethan Theatre. We were there to see The Tempest (which I had read but never seen). We rested at the motel until 5pm, then we went into town to pick up our tickets and get dinner. The play began at 8:30. I discovered that there is something called a "preface" which is presented at 6:30. Its purpose is to give you enough background on the story that it will be easy to follow, even if you are not up on your
Elizabethan English. Unfortunately, I also discovered that you had to buy a separate ticket for that, and they were sold out, so we had to do without the preface. We had a creekside dinner at a place called Louie's, where one finds the best burgers in Ashland. I had the delicious Oregonzola Burger.
There is a green outside of the three theatres, and at 7pm they put on a free "Green Show", which was half an hour of modern dance set to medieval music. There were 8 dancers and they were quite good. They did a lot of cool athletic things; not quite at the level of Cirque to Soleil,
but really beautiful to watch.
The Elizabethan Theatre is a beautiful open-air space with large comfortable seats, and a great faux wood-and-wattle stage, which looks a lot like the stage at the Globe in London. The set for the Tempest was extremely simple -- just 8 tree trunks.
The play was wonderfully done. They made two small changes -- Ariel was played as female, and so was Antonio (changed to Antonia). I think both changes are improvements. I always imagined Ariel as female anyway. In making Antonia female they added a layer to the relationship with Sebastian, with the added implication that they are lovers as well as conspirators.
The Tempest is different from just about any other story I've seen. In most drama, the protagonist has an external conflict he or she must overcome. The Tempest is unique in that Prospero is in complete control of the situation from the opening to the final curtain. Yes, there
is a conspiracy to kill him, but the conspirators are so comically inept that the audience is never worried for a moment that Prospero is in any danger. Propero is an all-powerful magician, with magical sprites who serve him willingly and a monster who serves him unwillingly, and he has every one of his enemies in his grasp. So where does the dramatic tension come in?
The brilliance of the play is that even when the good guy holds all the cards through the whole show, the drama is still there. If you were in Prospero's position -- in complete control of enemies who deserve death -- what would you do? Would you choose Justice or Mercy?
If you ever get a chance to see a performance of The Tempest, don't pass it up!
Downtown Ashland is everything that you want it to be; lots of little restaurants with creekside dining, little bookstores and used clothing shops, lots of brick.
The Shakespeare Festival consists of three theatres, showing twelve plays in repertory. Each season they show three Shakespeare plays, all at the Elizabethan Theatre. We were there to see The Tempest (which I had read but never seen). We rested at the motel until 5pm, then we went into town to pick up our tickets and get dinner. The play began at 8:30. I discovered that there is something called a "preface" which is presented at 6:30. Its purpose is to give you enough background on the story that it will be easy to follow, even if you are not up on your
Elizabethan English. Unfortunately, I also discovered that you had to buy a separate ticket for that, and they were sold out, so we had to do without the preface. We had a creekside dinner at a place called Louie's, where one finds the best burgers in Ashland. I had the delicious Oregonzola Burger.
There is a green outside of the three theatres, and at 7pm they put on a free "Green Show", which was half an hour of modern dance set to medieval music. There were 8 dancers and they were quite good. They did a lot of cool athletic things; not quite at the level of Cirque to Soleil,
but really beautiful to watch.
The Elizabethan Theatre is a beautiful open-air space with large comfortable seats, and a great faux wood-and-wattle stage, which looks a lot like the stage at the Globe in London. The set for the Tempest was extremely simple -- just 8 tree trunks.
The play was wonderfully done. They made two small changes -- Ariel was played as female, and so was Antonio (changed to Antonia). I think both changes are improvements. I always imagined Ariel as female anyway. In making Antonia female they added a layer to the relationship with Sebastian, with the added implication that they are lovers as well as conspirators.
The Tempest is different from just about any other story I've seen. In most drama, the protagonist has an external conflict he or she must overcome. The Tempest is unique in that Prospero is in complete control of the situation from the opening to the final curtain. Yes, there
is a conspiracy to kill him, but the conspirators are so comically inept that the audience is never worried for a moment that Prospero is in any danger. Propero is an all-powerful magician, with magical sprites who serve him willingly and a monster who serves him unwillingly, and he has every one of his enemies in his grasp. So where does the dramatic tension come in?
The brilliance of the play is that even when the good guy holds all the cards through the whole show, the drama is still there. If you were in Prospero's position -- in complete control of enemies who deserve death -- what would you do? Would you choose Justice or Mercy?
If you ever get a chance to see a performance of The Tempest, don't pass it up!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
15. Not Doing Boomer Any Good at All
It is around 3pm on Sunday. We are in Ashland, Oregon. When I picked up Boomer Bear, I figured we would stop on our way north and get a picture of him in front of the Rose Bowl, and drop by Stanford during our week in Los Altos to get a pic of him in front of Stanford stadium. I have managed to do neither of these things, so Boomer right now is no better off than when he was stuck in the ammo box in Rancho Bernardo. We will be traveling near WSU tomorrow, so maybe I can get at least one Pac-10 pic. But with my track record I shouldn't make any promises.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
14. On New Jobs and Old Friends
Our week in Northern California is coming to a close. We could not have asked for a better week. It was great to meet all my new coworkers -- now I'll have faces to bring to mind when I hear their voices on the phone! I really like the company, the job, and the people. It is a great relief to be in tune with my job again.
More heartening still has been the time I've gotten to spend with old friends here. I blogged earlier about the tragedy of having completely lost contact with people who were important to me, but this week has reminded me how blessed I still am, with many good friends. Yeah, I lost touch with Bob. But during our week here I've gotten to spend time with Michael and Linda and Kelsey and Christopher and Greg and Elizabeth and Paige and Emily and Tucker and Helen and Caitlin and Rachel and Scott and Debbie and Matthew and Annie and Marius and Abigail and Emily and Thomas and Kipp and Dave and Angelika and Zoë. And more visits with old friends still lie ahead on our trip. I don't put enough effort into nurturing all my friendships, but few of us can manage that these days. Life sweeps us along a little to quickly. It's good to know that in spite of that, many friendships endure.
For all the great times I'm having with old friends, I'm also missing my new friends. I'll be glad to see you all again when I get back to Tucson!
More heartening still has been the time I've gotten to spend with old friends here. I blogged earlier about the tragedy of having completely lost contact with people who were important to me, but this week has reminded me how blessed I still am, with many good friends. Yeah, I lost touch with Bob. But during our week here I've gotten to spend time with Michael and Linda and Kelsey and Christopher and Greg and Elizabeth and Paige and Emily and Tucker and Helen and Caitlin and Rachel and Scott and Debbie and Matthew and Annie and Marius and Abigail and Emily and Thomas and Kipp and Dave and Angelika and Zoë. And more visits with old friends still lie ahead on our trip. I don't put enough effort into nurturing all my friendships, but few of us can manage that these days. Life sweeps us along a little to quickly. It's good to know that in spite of that, many friendships endure.
For all the great times I'm having with old friends, I'm also missing my new friends. I'll be glad to see you all again when I get back to Tucson!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
13. The Legend of Boomer Bear
Once upon a time there was a travel bug named Boomer Bear. He began his life on July 15th 2006, in Oklahoma. All Travel Bugs must have a goal, and Boomer's is to see as many college football stadiums as possible.
On August 1st last year, a father and son from Tucson, travelling across the nation, picked Boomer up from a travel bug hotel in Oklahoma, and took him on his first set of adventures. Boomer saw the Kansas City Chiefs practice at UWRF, then went on to see Notre Dame stadium, Knute Rockne's grave, and the college football hall of fame.
One short week later, Boomer was dropped off in a geocache outside of Nashville, TN, hoping no doubt for a rabid southern football fan to take him from stadium to stadium throughout the 2006 college football season.
But it was not to be.
Boomer waited in the Nashville cache until the first of October, when he was retrieved by a man who took him all the way to San Diego, but did not show him any football. The bear lay forgotten through the whole season. In February, he was placed in a very challenging multi-cache in the hills north of San Diego.
This was a very difficult cache, and not many cachers found it. Months went by. Finally, the bear heard the lid of the ammo can pried open, and he saw the sunlight stream in. Alas, the geocacher looked at the bear, but chose a different treasure. The lid closed again. Boomer wondered if he was doomed to spend another football season just waiting.
Meanwhile, Boomer's fate became known to the father and son who had taken him on his first adventures. Unwilling to let Boomer hibernate away another season, they set out from Tucson on July 7, 2007 to rescue him. Despite the complexity of the multi-cache's puzzles, despite the record-breaking heat wave, they persevered, found the cache, and retrieved from California the bear they had left in Tennessee.
This is a true story.
To be continued...
On August 1st last year, a father and son from Tucson, travelling across the nation, picked Boomer up from a travel bug hotel in Oklahoma, and took him on his first set of adventures. Boomer saw the Kansas City Chiefs practice at UWRF, then went on to see Notre Dame stadium, Knute Rockne's grave, and the college football hall of fame.
One short week later, Boomer was dropped off in a geocache outside of Nashville, TN, hoping no doubt for a rabid southern football fan to take him from stadium to stadium throughout the 2006 college football season.
But it was not to be.
Boomer waited in the Nashville cache until the first of October, when he was retrieved by a man who took him all the way to San Diego, but did not show him any football. The bear lay forgotten through the whole season. In February, he was placed in a very challenging multi-cache in the hills north of San Diego.
This was a very difficult cache, and not many cachers found it. Months went by. Finally, the bear heard the lid of the ammo can pried open, and he saw the sunlight stream in. Alas, the geocacher looked at the bear, but chose a different treasure. The lid closed again. Boomer wondered if he was doomed to spend another football season just waiting.
Meanwhile, Boomer's fate became known to the father and son who had taken him on his first adventures. Unwilling to let Boomer hibernate away another season, they set out from Tucson on July 7, 2007 to rescue him. Despite the complexity of the multi-cache's puzzles, despite the record-breaking heat wave, they persevered, found the cache, and retrieved from California the bear they had left in Tennessee.
This is a true story.
To be continued...
Friday, July 6, 2007
12. A Journey of 5,986 Miles Begins
We left Tucson today, though I think the real adventure begins in a week when we leave Silicon Valley. I am feeling pretty good. In these posts so far, I've been musing on the melancholy aspects of Road Tripping; it's been a relatively melancholy period in my life. But like all of life, road trips are complicated beings, and there are plenty of great motivations for, and great things about, running down the road. I will have a lot more to say about the positive stuff in upcoming posts.
I am at my folks house in SoCal at the end of the first day, though my folks are away for the weekend. Jake and I hit the road at 7 am, grabbed a latté and a scone, and hit the road. I-10 to I-8 to I-15, stop for some geocaching, I-15 to CA-210, and here we are. In time to have dinner with my brother.
I am at my folks house in SoCal at the end of the first day, though my folks are away for the weekend. Jake and I hit the road at 7 am, grabbed a latté and a scone, and hit the road. I-10 to I-8 to I-15, stop for some geocaching, I-15 to CA-210, and here we are. In time to have dinner with my brother.
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