Friday, August 30, 2013

Twelfth Night-Act 3, 1/2 Sn. 4

Mavolio comes before Olivia, smiling grotesquely and wearing yellow stockings cross-gartered. She thinks he has gone mad or is crazy with midsummer madness, and she delivers him to Sir Toby to treat. Sir Toby decides to put Mavolio in a dark room, bound, as befits a madman. He then reads Sir Andrew's challenge and decides he will deliver the challenge by word of mouth to scare Cesario with fiery descriptions of Sir Andrew's power.

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Bell   

Ivanhoe Ch. 8

The tournament started. The challengers came out in formation, and exhibited such good horsemanship that they were loudly applauded. Then five knights came out and each touched the shield of the challenger that each wished to fight with. There was a system used to say whether or not they wished to fight with sharp weapons; if they used the non-sharp end of the lance, they did not want to fight with sharp weapons, if they used the sharp end, they did want sharp ones. All the knights used the non-sharp ends, and they were all defeated. Then several more waves of knights came, but all were defeated. Then there was a long pause, broken only by the heralds, who were trying to rouse the knights to fight. But none would. Then a knight rode into the lists, and he had written his name as the Disinherited Knight. He touched the shield of Sir Brian de Bois-Guilibert, one of the challengers, with the sharp end of his lance until it rang. Sir Brian, rather astonished by this rudeness, came out and did battle with him. The Disinherited Knight won, because the girths of Sir Brian's saddle burst, and he did battle with the four other knights and won them all. That's all for now!
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Bell

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Brendan Voyage-Ch. 5 1/2

They had set out, and now have to arrange their stuff so that five men can fit in Brendan. Boots and Rolf were on each side of the foremast, and the other three were in the center shelter. There was just too much stuff in the center for three men to have space to lay down in. George had an idea: Throw out some of the buoyancy foam, and put the extra stuff there. They did so, and then tackled the cabin mess. It was 6 x 6 feet, and somehow they had to fit three men, the radio, the cameras, and the navigation equipment. They put the radio on a makeshift shelf, and heaped the kit bags to make a partition across one-third of the shelter. It was Tim's privilege as the skipper to occupy this space, but it was very small, so small that you had to lay on your side to fit. George and Peter had the rest of the space, but if George turned over in his sleeping bag, he was sure to kick Peter, and when Peter got up, it was almost impossible to avoid stepping on George. They also found out that only Tim could really cook well, so he did all the cooking. They landed on the Aran Islands, and they had a dinner of lobster, donated by some fishermen. They had covered 100 miles in 36 hours.

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Bell

Friday, August 23, 2013

Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sns. 1-3

Scene 1 
Viola/Cesario goes to bring Olivia another suit from the Duke, and runs into Sir Toby, the Fool, and Sir Andrew on the way. She give the suit to Olivia's private ear, and is told that Olivia loves her, not the Duke. 
Scene 2
Sir Andrew wants to leave, convinced that Olivia will never love him, but Sir Toby convinces him that he can gain her love by dueling Cesario. So Sir Andrew goes off to write a challenge. In the meantime, Maria comes to tell them that Mavolio is about to incur wrath when he appears before Olivia. 
Scene 3
Antonio tells Sebastian that he can't come into the town because of a incident in his past. So Sebastian arranges to meet him at a tavern called the Elephant.

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Bell

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ivanhoe Ch. 7

Flashback: The Palmer recieved  a horse and armor from Issac the Jew, and wants to fight in the upcoming tournament.
Prince John had set up a tournament, and nothing could keep the people from coming. Prince John had a glittering retinue, and the Prior was in much defiance of the clothing rules of his order. They rode up and down the lists, where people were fighting for seats. Issac was trying to secure a place for his daughter, Rebecca, and himself, in the lower balcony. He pushed without hesitation, because he was lending money to several people and they would protect him. Prince John saw this, and he ordered the Saxons in the balcony above to make room for him. But Athelstane, who was sometimes called the Unready, was sitting there with Cedric. He did not respond quickly, and so Prince John became impatient. He ordered Issac up there, and asked if anyone dared oppose him. Cedric would have, but Wamba saved the day. He answered the Prince's challenge, and said he would. He then drew out a piece of brawn, and brandished his wooden sword. The Jew missed his footing, and fell down the steps. The spectators found this very amusing. Then Prince John reminded the Prior that they had not chosen the Queen of Love and Beauty, and he said he liked Rebecca. But too many of his followers opposed a Jewess being in any high place, and so he had to give in. They decided to let the winner chose the queen, to inspire the ladies with love for the knights who could give them high honors.

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Bell

Monday, August 19, 2013

Brendan Voyage: Ch. 4: Departure

It was the 16th of May, Saint Brendan's day, the day that they were supposed to depart. But a full-blown gale was raging, and they weren't going anywhere. The whole boat was a jumble of supplies, food, and other things. They had not stowed  it away yet. Each member of the crew was colour-coded, so that clothing would not get jumbled. Tim had yellow, Rolf Hansen had blue, Peter Mullet had red, George had orange, and as befitted the Irish member of the crew, Arthur Magan had chosen green. There were five crew members in all. Arthur was nicknamed Boots, because when he had showed up at the boatyard he had on size 12 boots. He was very brief, and did not volunteer information unless asked. Peter was Brendan's photographer. He had heard about Brendan, and had arrived at the boatyard with a large suitcase. He opened it, and it was divided in the middle by a partition. On on side were his cameras, and on the other was a carpentry kit. In his red sailing suit, he looked more like a cardinal than the London sparrow he was. May 17th dawned bright and clear, and Tim Severin asked Tom Leahy when it would be a good time to cast off on, and Tom said to wait until the tide was going out. All that morning, people gathered. At last, it was time to cast off. No one had time to be worried, there was too much to do. The anchor caught on the rocks, but with the help of a fishing boat it came off. The wind died down as if on cue, so they rowed out of the harbor. They were off! 

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Bell 

Friday, August 16, 2013

Twelfth Night, Act 2 sns. 4-5

Scene 4
Viola/Cesario is called into the Duke's presence to listen to a song with him. She expresses her love for him in a story about her fake sister. He gets lost, however, in wanting Olivia.

Scene 5
Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew forged a letter to look like Olivia wrote it. They laid it in the path where Mavolio was very likely to see it, and hid to watch and wait. Not long after, Mavolio comes along and picks up the letter. It tells him that Lady Olivia loves him, and that to show he loves her, he needs to go around with yellow stockings, cross-gartered, and smiling. In a speech, he praises his stars and Jove for this, and thinks the letter is real. 

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Bell

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Ivanhoe, Ch. 6

The Palmer went on his way to bed, and was asked to give news of the Holy Land in the kitchen, but he refused this offer. The steward was not pleased, so he gave the Palmer the room next to Issac the Jew's. Gurth the swineherd slept in the next room. The Palmer was going there, and on the way was asked to come and see Lady Rowena. He did so, and after that went to bed. He awoke in the early morning, and went into Issac's room. He touched him with his staff, and when Issac awoke, the Palmer told him that the Templar was going to have his Moslem servants take Issac to the castle of Reginald de Front de Boeuf or Philip de Malvoisin, both of whom were very mean to Jews. Issac gathered his few things, and the Palmer went to call Gurth to open the gate. Gurth would not, until the Palmer whispered something in his ear. Then he started up as if electrified, and opened it. He got the Palmer a mule, and gave Issac his. Then the Palmer and Issac set out to go to Sheffield, so Issac could get protection. They arrived at Sheffield safely. Issac wanted to repay the Palmer for his help, and gave him a note that told a kinsman of his to give the Palmer a horse and armor. Issac had guessed that the Palmer was a knight because of his speech, and he had seen his knight's chain under his clothing.

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Bell

Monday, August 12, 2013

Brendan Voyage: The last part of Ch. 3

Tim Severin found John O'Connell,  and they started piecing the oxhides together. It was tiring work, and if it wasn't right, they had to start the whole line of stitches over again. Strength didn't matter here, but having a knack for it did. More people came to help them, and the best was a mere slip of a girl with less arm strength than anyone else, but with a knack for it. She made a neat line of stitches that left the oxhides as though welded together. They learned the backstitch first, then moved on to the two-handed stitch. The stitchers had to work in pairs, one below and one on top. This was difficult work, and even with all the helpers, they were not going to finish in time. So he asked the leather instructor for a college in London to send some students over to Ireland. The instructor was not sure about that until he heard that John O'Connell was helping. So the students came, and stayed two days longer than expected because they were having so much fun helping. Brendan was finished in plenty of time, and there were spare oxhides left over for repairs, if needed. They had doubled the leather on places that were likely to be stretched, and there were four thicknesses in places that might be scraped against rocks.
Brendan was ready to be launched, but they needed to test it first.
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Bell 

Friday, August 9, 2013

Twelfth Night, Act 2, sns. 1-3

Sn. 1:
Sebastian, Viola's brother, is rescued by Antonio the sailor. He is very grateful, and hopes that his sister is saved. He and Antonio go to the Duke, though Antonio risks his life to do so.
Sn. 2:
Mavolio "returns" a ring that was supposed to have been given to Olivia by the Duke to Viola. Viola realizes that Olivia loves her, thinking she is a man, and she can't do anything about it.
Sn. 3:
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are having a party at Olivia's house, and Maria comes in to quiet them. Mavolio comes and tells them to be quiet, or be thrown out of the house. Maria plans revenge on Mavolio.

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Bell

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Notes on Ivanhoe

  • Notes: The Palmer and the Pilgrim are two names for the same person, but he is called both. 
  • The Prior is supposed to be a religious person, living simply and devoting his life to helping people, but you see he is very rich. You can't blame Robin Hood for robbing them!
  • Jews were despised and hated back then, as they were not too long ago. They were not Muslims, Christians, or heathen. They were unsaved, in between people who had a lot of money and so were misused to get money. People would borrow from them, and then refuse to pay it back. 
That's all!
Bell 

Ivanhoe Ch. 5

The Jew entered the hall with many deep bows of humility. His garment was a was an outer robe of dingy stuff over a dark purple tunic. Cedric nodded coldly to the the Jew, in return for his bows. The Jew went down the benches asking with his eyes for a place at the table. Cedric might have insisted that his servants give the Jew a place and treat him with more courtesy, had he not been engaged in a conversation with Prior Aymer about hounds, which he would not have interrupted for more important matters than a Jew going to bed supperless.  But for the Pilgrim, poor Isaac would have had no supper that night. The Pilgrim got up from his seat be the fire, and gave it to the Jew, saying that his clothes were dry and the Jew's wet.  He drew near to the high table, were Cedric was pledging his guests in a cup of wine. The Prior asked Cedric why he never used the Norman language, but always the Saxon? and Cedric replied that he could hunt and live quite well without it. He did not have to urge on his hounds with fancy terms, or name each call on his horn with some outlandish name. Then he pledged those who bore the Cross and fought in its name. This turned the conversation to the knights in Palestine, and the Templar started to say that the English knights were second only to--and here the Palmer broke in and said that they were second to NONE. He gave as evidence that a a tournament in Palestine, King Richard and 5 of his knights had challenged all comers. They had each run three courses and thrown to the ground the other knights. He gave a list of them:
King Richard(Cedric said he forgave him his descent from Duke William), the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Multon(A Saxon! exclaimed Cedric), Sir Foulk Doilly("Saxon by his mother, at least!"), Sir Edwin Turneham("Pure Saxon, by the soul of Hengist!"), and here the Palmer pretended not be able to recall the name of the sixth knight, but remembered that the knight was young and rather unknown. But the Templar said it was the Knight of Ivanhoe, Cedric's son. He had bested  the Templar, but the Templar said he would best the boy next time.
The Palmer said that Ivanhoe would win, and so he gave as a pledge a portion of the original cross against the Templar's golden chain. With much reverence, the Prior gave the box with the piece of cross in it to one of his brothers, and put the gold chain, with many greedy looks, in a pouch in his sleeve lined with perfumed velvet.  Then the company went to bed.

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Bell