This day, April 23, 2014, marks 150 years since the birth of William Shakespeare, the English playwright whose works are considered a masterpiece in the canon of English writings.
Throughout my years in school, I spent time with various Shakespearean play texts, and I enjoyed reading the stories of times gone by, learning about the cultural context, and having fun with the language. I like the elegant nature of the language, especially all those "But soft" phrases. And I still have fun when it comes to Shakespearean insult generators, because those insults are much more sophisticated than the string of profanity and other blandities uttered by most people in this present era. (Try it for yourself. Just google "Shakespearean insult generator". And yes, I just wrote "blandities", making up the word to suit my purposes here, just as William himself would make up words to fit his purposes in writing.)
It all started for me in 5th grade, when we as a class read Romeo and Juliet as we finished up the year. I remember that the last official day of school in District 97 during my years there was one-hour long, and I spent that last hour of 5th grade, my last as a student at Washington Irving Elementary School, reading the entirety of Act 5 of the woeful tale of two lovers.
Just before, or around this time, VeggieTales's version of Hamlet came out, "Omelet", which seemed to capture some elements of the original story in a clever way for the message it was trying to get across about sharing.
Then, starting in 7th grade, I read one play every school year until my freshman year of college, with the exception of my junior year of high school. My 7th grade language arts teacher, Mr. Gates, was a big fan of Shakespeare, and we read The Tempest. A memorable collection of lines was recited dramatically at the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, speaking of not fearing the isles with its noises and its delights and dream.
In 8th grade, in language arts class, the class divided into small groups, with each student having chose one of two plays to read. I chose A Midsummer Night's Dream, which had some good humor, like the part when the man turns into a donkey. The other choice was Julius Caesar, a video version of which I watched later so I could have the experience of it, with all its ancient Roman pageantry.
During 8th grade, we also went to Navy Pier's Chicago Shakespeare Theater, a fabulous institution we have in town, for A Comedy of Errors, which is certainly a humorous story of twin brothers stumbling over each other. There was also the twist of its backdrop being a staging by a theater company during the Great Depression, with its more simplistic props and costumes. I saw the same play staging again just last summer outdoors on a stifling August day in the grassy area by the Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of the theater company's tour of staging the play at various city parks in Chicago.
I re-visited Romeo and Juliet freshman year of high school. My teacher, Ms. Kinnan, had us memorize the opening lines, and on the day we had our quiz on them, as my fellow classmates were reciting them to make sure they had them down, she remarked how wonderful it was to have a room full of students reciting Shakespeare, which was an overall part of our "frolicking in the garden of language". Two memorable scenes I remember from that time where the monolgue on Queen Mab, and the line about drawing Dun from the mire, which I guess was some kind of game. (Ms. Kinnan also pointed out the masterpiece of a metaphor: Juliet in that night was like a jewel in an Ethiopian's ear.)
We did a pretty good study of Macbeth during my sophomore year in Ms. Kaufman's class. Beforehand, we went to a theater in Lakeview to see a production of it, which was a pretty good outing. During our time with it, we acted out the scenes in class, which climaxed in a dramatic "duel", during which two students had the idea to be stunt doubles while two others read the dialogue. After our study of it, I remember writing a fantastic essay, which was a pretend report of my investigations into the events that occurred. (One part I found interesting was the litany of items put into the witches' cauldron, including the newt's eye and especially the bat's wool.)
Despite the hiatus my junior year, I made a point to listen to The Merchant of Venice on tape as a summer read, as I was supposed to have read that in an earlier school year. It's interesting to note that despite its sobering aspects, like taking the pound of flesh, it is considered a comedy because the ending is good for its protagonist.
Senior year of high school, we did King Lear. We watched pieces of a video version in class, with some props that my teacher, Mr. Heidkamp, described as very bare bones, especially the scene with the map at the beginning, which is rolled out in front of the king.
We did a quick run through Antony and Cleopatra my freshman year of college in the Christ College freshman program. It was mentioned that the play has complex staging with all its scenes, especially in the battling toward the end. We also had a very memorable plenary lecture, in which English professor and Assistant Provost Renu Juneja gave a talk in which she tried to convince us that Marc Antony and Cleopatra were not conceited, but instead were passionate lovers. When some students tried to suggest otherwise, she got kind of incensed while openly expressed her disagreement.
So yes, it has been a marvelous run enjoying some Shakespeare works all these years, full of variety, disorder, and other charms. Here's to the master playwright who made it all possible.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Impactful Weather
On Saturday, April 5, I made the trek to Fermilab in Batavia for the Annual Fermilab/WGN Severe Weather/Tornado Seminar. This event is always a great opportunity for people from the general public to come out and attend presentations given by meteorology professionals, especially the renowned Tom Skilling, who MCs the event. He has such a bright, bubbly persona, and showed forth such enthusiasm in his remarks before and after each presentation.
At the beginning, Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) gave a few remarks about severe weather preparedness. This is certainly an important topic featured in the discussion, helping people be ready to respond to such situations in their own communities.
One big focus within the seminar was on computer modelling, which has played a substantial role in helping to understand what's happening in the atmosphere, and especially in forecasting the weather. Dr. Donna Cox of the University of Illinois, who has worked to develop graphical displays for computer models, spoke about the supercomputer at the U of I.
Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, and good friend of Tom Skilling, also spoke about computer models in his presentation. He then went on to talk about climate change, which led into his analysis of some severe weather events and their impact on communities, including a derecho event in late June 2012 that affected the Washington, DC, area.
He also talked about the Weather Ready Nation initiative and its program to recognize ambassadors, individuals or organizations that help promote severe weather preparedness. During his presentation, Dr. Uccellini recognized both Fermilab and Tom Skilling for their efforts in promoting preparedness by hosting this seminar for years. This was one of those rare moments--as Dr. Uccellini puts it--when Tom Skilling went speechless. (Dr. Uccellini has also said that computer modelling is one of the most significant scientific advances, up there with the polio vaccine, because of its role in weather forecasting and helping protect life and property.)
Climate change was a big focus in the presentation given by Dr. Donald Wuebbles. He focused on how climate change is really happening and affecting severe weather events, delving into the latest research that's showing trends.
Tom Skilling also gave a presentation, talking about the extreme weather the Chicagoland area has experienced recently, and what' behind it all. He used to be a climate change (or global warming) skeptic, but did an about-face after, as he puts it, he saw the drastic changes in ice coverage in the higher latitudes, in the Arctic and Antarctica. Like last year, climate change had a big part in the presentations given at the seminar.
After a break, the focus turned more specifically to severe weather. Russell Schneider, director of the Storm Prediction Center, talked about the role SPC plays in helping to forecast severe weather situations.
Then, there were two presentations on the November 17, 2013, severe weather outbreak in Illinois, which included a tornado that devastated the town of Washington, IL, both given by employees at the NWS Chicago Forecast Office. Matt Friedlin, a forecaster there, talked about the meteorological set-up for the event, which included some very unusual circumstances for November. Ed Fenelon talked about the social response and impact of the event.
Brian Smith, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS Omaha Forecast Office in Valley, NE, talked about tornadoes, going through various misconceptions about them.
The presentations were chock-full of good information, delving deeply in to the science behind something that has real impacts on people.
It was a good opportunity to be there for the presentations. But an especially good moment for me came toward the end of the seminar, when Dr. Uccellini stepped out into the cafeteria area for a snack, where I was, and I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly, before Russ Schneider, and another, came out to get him, and I spoke with Russ briefly, too. The opportunity to interact with important people in the meteorology community is definitely a highlight of this event.
At the beginning, Governor Pat Quinn (D-IL) gave a few remarks about severe weather preparedness. This is certainly an important topic featured in the discussion, helping people be ready to respond to such situations in their own communities.
One big focus within the seminar was on computer modelling, which has played a substantial role in helping to understand what's happening in the atmosphere, and especially in forecasting the weather. Dr. Donna Cox of the University of Illinois, who has worked to develop graphical displays for computer models, spoke about the supercomputer at the U of I.
Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, and good friend of Tom Skilling, also spoke about computer models in his presentation. He then went on to talk about climate change, which led into his analysis of some severe weather events and their impact on communities, including a derecho event in late June 2012 that affected the Washington, DC, area.
He also talked about the Weather Ready Nation initiative and its program to recognize ambassadors, individuals or organizations that help promote severe weather preparedness. During his presentation, Dr. Uccellini recognized both Fermilab and Tom Skilling for their efforts in promoting preparedness by hosting this seminar for years. This was one of those rare moments--as Dr. Uccellini puts it--when Tom Skilling went speechless. (Dr. Uccellini has also said that computer modelling is one of the most significant scientific advances, up there with the polio vaccine, because of its role in weather forecasting and helping protect life and property.)
Climate change was a big focus in the presentation given by Dr. Donald Wuebbles. He focused on how climate change is really happening and affecting severe weather events, delving into the latest research that's showing trends.
Tom Skilling also gave a presentation, talking about the extreme weather the Chicagoland area has experienced recently, and what' behind it all. He used to be a climate change (or global warming) skeptic, but did an about-face after, as he puts it, he saw the drastic changes in ice coverage in the higher latitudes, in the Arctic and Antarctica. Like last year, climate change had a big part in the presentations given at the seminar.
After a break, the focus turned more specifically to severe weather. Russell Schneider, director of the Storm Prediction Center, talked about the role SPC plays in helping to forecast severe weather situations.
Then, there were two presentations on the November 17, 2013, severe weather outbreak in Illinois, which included a tornado that devastated the town of Washington, IL, both given by employees at the NWS Chicago Forecast Office. Matt Friedlin, a forecaster there, talked about the meteorological set-up for the event, which included some very unusual circumstances for November. Ed Fenelon talked about the social response and impact of the event.
Brian Smith, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS Omaha Forecast Office in Valley, NE, talked about tornadoes, going through various misconceptions about them.
The presentations were chock-full of good information, delving deeply in to the science behind something that has real impacts on people.
It was a good opportunity to be there for the presentations. But an especially good moment for me came toward the end of the seminar, when Dr. Uccellini stepped out into the cafeteria area for a snack, where I was, and I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly, before Russ Schneider, and another, came out to get him, and I spoke with Russ briefly, too. The opportunity to interact with important people in the meteorology community is definitely a highlight of this event.
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