McMurphy Gets Nurse Ratched's Goat...

       "Well, look-ie here... Lindsey Lohan, Charlie Sheen, and the Kardashian's are fighting at half-time!!! (By the way... their NOT watching football... FYI)"

       Because of McMurphy's little "attempt" to lift up the control panel, Nurse Ratched has decided to have the whole ward fogged... literally fogged with a fog machine... to settle down the quarrelsome patients until the Board can decide what has to be done with McMurphy.  Bromden about how the army used fog machines in World War II and how you would rather endure the painful sting of opening your eyes in the fog to see someone else, anyone, instead then losing yourself in the fog.  This time, Bromden wants to be lost in the fog.  During session, on a Friday, Billy Bibbit is asked by Nurse Ratched about his stutter, how it started, if he can stop it, etc.  She also has the nerve of bringing up the subject of Billy's mother and how Billy tried to propose to a girl that was lower than him who laughed at his stutter.  Cheswick tells Nurse Ratched that if Billy doesn't want to talk about it, well, he doesn't have to.  With one stare, Nurse Ratched silences Cheswick.  McMurphy brings up the subject of the World Series again.  Nurse Ratched asks McMurphy if a vote will satisfy him.  Then, a wonderful thing happens, twenty patients that didn't raise their hands before on the ward, decide to raise their hands not because they want to watch the game... but because they want to defy Nurse Ratched's authority.  Nurse Ratched tells McMurphy that there are 40 patients on this ward and that the vote is over.  McMurphy, still determined, goes over to Bromden for his vote.  Bromden wants to be left alone, but because Bromden wants to go against Nurse Ratched his hand goes up.  Nurse Ratched is pissed but doesn't show it.  She says no... the vote is over.  Mcmurphy goes to the T.V. and turns it on.  Nurse Ratched, who knows that she's been beat, turns it off, but McMurphy doesn't show that the T.V. has been turned off, so he hollers and yells and pretends that the game is going on.  All the patients, including  Bromden, go to the T.V. and join in.  Nurse Ratched knows that she has been beat, but uses her doll face to cover it up. 

I Tried... Did'nt I? At Least I Did That...

                  "Don't try this at home... unless you're crazy like Jack Nicholson..."

  In these chapters, McMurphy suggests that they need a little entertainment... and by entertainment, he means that he would like to see the World Series on the TV because he hasn't miss a World Series ever.  Even in jail, he got to watch the World Series.  The patients, however, don't want to get the death stare from "B***h Ratched"... (Who could blame them?).  And so, like cowards, the patients decide to not vote, to not raise up their hands, for the World Series during the session.  McMurphy, disappointed, ignores the patients and they return the favor. He even brings up the subject again, only to be rejected again. Then, one boring day, McMurphy tells everyone that, if he can't watch the World Series here... he will break out of this hell hole and go to a local bar to watch it.  One of the patients state that the window is hard to break and he couldn't do it.  McMurphy decides to lift up the panel and tells the patients to place bets on him.  They all discourage him and know that he can't do it.  With all his strength, McMurphy lifts up the panel with vessels popping out of his head and his hands bleeding.  Then, he gives up and is too weak to give his money back which is covered in his own blood.  Before walking away, he says "I tried... did'nt I? At least I did that...

The "Doctor's" Suggestion

           "Enough with the Ethel Merman showtunes!!! TURN THAT CRAP OFF!!! Please?"

    I'll be honest with you all... I haven't had the chance to read in my independent reading book because of my... "busy" schedule (That's my excuse!) but I've read just a tini-weeny bit that I can share.  So far in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, after the disruptive dilemma that happened in the morning... McMurphy acts like the warden clown to make the patients laugh.  He tells numerous stories that puts smiles on their faces, leaves the Doctor in stitches, and that hasn't happened in a while.  During their daily session, before Nurse Ratched could humiliate Mr. Harding again... The Doctor asked (A suggestion?!!! *gasp*) if the staff could turn off the radio because its always blaring on the ward and they would all like to go to a carnival.  All the patients, expect Nurse Ratched, are over joyed about the whole thing.  Nurse Ratched, of course, doesn't like anything FUN... 

Isn't It I-RON-IC... Don't Ya Think? A Little Too Ironic...

                                         "Shakespeare in love, blue skys above..."

    In a humorous way... Love's Labour's Lost is, well, "ironic" but is easy to figure out anyway.  I mean, how stupid is it to have a group of strapping young lords obey this oath to fast like everyday, study religiously, and avoiding women at all costs.  Unless you are a homosexual man ... (Not that there is anything wrong with that and there shouldn't be...) I'm going to guess that it would be extremely hard for any straight single man to forget about females altogether. 

"Mr. McLovin"

  

   What's "ironic" and "funny" to me, is that they are so devoted to this deal for like one day and the next day, go ga-ga for these French babes!!! Pretty hypocritical if ya ask me... Anyhoo,  that's the beauty of it... that's what Shakespeare intended to happen or else this play would have a crappy plot line.  And that's what's so funny!!!  

                                             

"The "ironic" thing about this song is that there is NOTHING "ironic" about it... that's why it's ironic!!!"

Don "Douche" Armado



                   "Swords don't kill people... swords with Shakespearean dialogue do!"


"Gosh darnitt, Moth...  am a MAN!!! I need to be loved, I need to be... DE-SI-RED!



   Act V basically sums up the whole play.  All of the King's comrades (Including the King himself... *gasp*)  brake their so called "oaths" by falling madly in love with four beautiful ladies.  They all confess their feelings (When they think no one is around to listen...) and b***h each other out for being fools... (Wow, what a bunch of a-holes... Ha! Just kidding... we can't help it :) )  Anyhoo, they plan this big ol' party at the Princesses crib... they play this little game of deceiving each other, perform a little play, and everything is fine and dandy, until a messenger, Mercedes (Or whatever that guy's name is...) delivers the word that the Princess's father has died (Crappy deal... :( )  And so, with her four gal pals... the Princess of France departs to her home land and leaves her man, the King (And his lords because their ladies left too...), melancholy and depressed in his castle of Navarre... forever.   What a sad ending.  If I could choose a character to put myself into their... whatever shoe-wear their shoes were called in the olden days, I would honestly have to say Don Armado and, on that note, his mischievous little man-servant Moth.  Sure, Don Armado is a total rich d-bag who was born with a sliver spoon in his mouth with an ego problem, but when Cupid's little butt shaft struck him in his heart, the Don whole life turned upside down.  After the day he first laid his eyes on the handsome Jacquenetta.... the Don started to warm up a little.  Maybe he was a little possessive and jealous that Jacquenetta became head over heels for that d***n jester, Costard, and put that clown in jail for that very reason. (What a d**k!!! And what a d**k move!!!)  But, hey, I would've done the same thing. (As horrible as that sounds... what? I'm the envious type!!! Very envious...) And, because love is such a powerful emotion/feeling,... it brings the best and the worst of us.  Yes, the Don deserves several slaps from a metal glove by a expert who knows how to slap people (That sounded gross didn't it?) and often.  But, I almost feel sorry for the miserable b**tard, because when you burn for someone and they don't burn for you... you just want to retreat in a dark small cave somewhere far away from the world and just want to crawl up in a small ball of self-pity and hurt and die a lonely death.  To me, Don Armado is greatly misunderstood, as all bad guys are, and deserves a little compassion.   AS for Moth, well... let's just say... you would act like a little s**t if your parents gave you a name like MOTH... feel sorry for him...enough said.... 

                   "Moth's parents obviously didn't think Moth would live that long...."               

Berowne's Take On Love

                "This song is kinda of what Berowne was trying to say... in the 80's"  

   

    Berowne, the King's closest buddy, is a truly an eccentric yet wise character who is long-winded, outspoken, and does several Irish monologues throughout this romantic comedy.  In Acts VI & V, Berowne finally announces his true feelings on this wonderful word they call...love...  

       "Berowne: Thou'st admire thy lamp post..."

       "King Ferdinand: Doe'st thy truly admire thy lamp post?"

       "Berowne: THOU'ST DOE'ST ADMIRE THY LIGHT POST!!!"

In Berowne's words... love is like oxygen and anyone who denys love or their urges/feelings, will die a lonely and painful death.  We can not escape the strong power that love holds over us.  Without love... life wouldn't have any purpose and wouldn't be worth living.  Love makes us do things that we thought that we'd a.)never do, think dirty, nasty, and b.) evil things that we'd never of thought of, and c.)have verbal diarrhea of the mouth with drunk butterflies fluttering in your abdomen ... (At least for me... they all apply to me)  And if you said "Yes" to all of the following... you are a fool in love!!!  I mean, you don't need to be a genius to know you're in love.  And yes... there are different kinds of love.  Like I love Gone with the Wind or Braveheart or some other AWESOME MOVIE... I could watch it ALL DAY or I love art, movies, and all kinds of stuff like that... is entirely different than saying "I love you" to a loved one.  Than again, saying "I love you" to your mommy dearest is definitely different than saying it to that cute dream girl of yours that works behind the counter of that at "geek shop" you go to just to see her (You're not a geek or anything) or that smokin' fine figure of a man that gave you the "kiss of life" at the beach when the tunnel of light beckoned you and you almost went into it had'nt been for that sexy god and you've been burning for ever since...(We all know you like him, admit it!!!)

"Berowne Sledge's #1 hit... (When A Noble Loves A Lady)..."

   Love finds you and you CAN'T hide.  We, as humans, can't avoid our inner desires because love is primitive in nature.  Love and Romance are amazing and are one and the same (Yes... I DO believe in true love and love at first sight and I like all that lovey dovey romance... :) ), yet... sex and passion (AMAZING things as well *wink* *wink*) shouldn't be confused with love.  A strange thing... love is. Or, from the words of Ronny Camareri to Loretta Casotrini in the classic romantic comedy Moonstruck (Love that movie and all romantic ones!!!) "Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and *die*. The storybooks are *bullshit*. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and *get* in my bed!"

"It's a good thing that I lost my hand in a bakery accident... because I would've met YOU Lorretta... (Awwwwww!!!)


 Love isn't just a walk in the park either.  It requires trust, reliability, courage, and devotion.  And love can have a way of making your life miserable, a living HELL and make you wish you were never born.  It'll make you cry rivers of tears, yell the most obscene words, hurt the ones closest to you, and, on that note, make you want to crawl in a little ball of self - pity and wish that you would just  DIE (Hey wait a minute...) And the worst part of it... it makes you want MORE and MORE and MORE!!!  But I also strongly believe that there is someone for everyone (Or as Ms. A told me, "God has this "special" book of soul mates that he writes down...  He or she, if God is a sex, will choose a mate especially for you and you will live happily ever after!!!"  When she told me that... that made my day and has stuck with me ever since :) ) and, through heartache and pain, you will find them, even if you have to wait on your dying death bed, like poor Cyrano.    Love is hard to describe and to different people... it means different things!!!  Love isn't a one-night stand, it isn't a summer fling, and it isn't something you can just buy at a store near you... it's something true, something deep and makes you feel like you can do anything, makes you feel wanted and needed, makes you appreciate the world around you, makes you appreciate YOU, makes you feel free, makes you FEEL like YOU...  So... in short... love is makes the world go round because we all need, in order to survive, is water, food, shelter, and love... true love.  All you need is love...that's all you need :) (Cheesy as it sounds, it's true!!! John Lennon was right... such a smart man...)

"LOVE, that itty-bitty little water drop that seems harmless, can also cause agony and suffering to whomever it lands on... take Finn for instance..."    



   

                            

    



The Lovely Cast Of LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST... Part Deux

                       "I'm bored... push the swing a little more, will you Berowne?"


   For my second edition, I will be explaining the rest of the cast from Acts III - IV and their particular decorum's:
Holofernes- A highly intelligent and witty school teacher for the "Academe."  He uses Latin like-synonyms in his language.  Holofernes is also a comedy relief in this story.
Armado:
[To Moth] Chirrah!
Holofernes:
Quare chirrah, not sirrah?
Armado:
Men of peace, well encount'red.
Holofernes:
Most military sir, salutation.
Moth:
[Aside to Costard] They have been at a great feast of languages,
and stol'n the scraps.
Costard:
O, they have liv'd long on the alms-basket of words.
(Act III, Scene II)
Nathaniel- A.K.A "Sir Nathaniel" is a man of god or the cloth in this play.  Like Holofernes, he is bilingual in Spainsh (Espanol) and Latin. He is also a funny man.  

Dull- Is the village constable.  Dull gives free rides to the characters and is another humorous addition to the play. 

'Tis true indeed; the collusion holds in the exchange." (Act VI, Scene III)

Don Armado- An egotistical, vain, rich-boy Don who is infatuated with the gorgeous Jacquenetta.  However, that darn Costard stands in the way...   He talks like a d- bag... "The words of Mercury are harsh after the songs of Apollo. You that way: we this way." (Act IV, Scene III)

Jacquenetta- The biggest tease and ho-fo-sho in this play who catches the affections of both Costard and Armado. 

"With that face?" (Act I, Scene II) 

 Moth- The annoying page to Don Armado.  Is mischievous and conniving. 

"A message well sympathized; a horse to be ambassador
for an ass."

"Very reverend sport, truly; and done in the testimony
of a good conscience." (Act III, Scene II)  (It happened again!!!! ARGGGGHHHHH!!! *bashes head against computer screen...*)
This my 12 vocab words that I... forgot..to,uh...doooooo....

1. recompense- to repay; remunerate; reward, as for service, aid, etc.
2. barr'd- striped;streaked.
3. beguile-  to influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
4. plodders-   to walk heavily or move laboriously; trudge.
5. sneaping-  acting in a furtive or underhand way.
6. fangled- "floopish"
7. gentility-  good breeding or refinement.
8. attainder-  the legal consequence of judgment of death or outlawry for treason or felony, involving the loss of all civil rights.
9. interim- an intervening time; interval; meantime.
10. vicegerent- an officer appointed as deputy by and to a sovereign or supreme chief.
11. cleped- "name."
12. minnow- a small, European cyprinoid fish.

"Oh please... he just wants you for your money GIRL or he wants to get in your SHIRT!"

The Lovely Cast Of LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST...

                                           "Watching all the girls go byyyyy."
    For Acts I-II of Love's Labour's Lost, I will explain what language or decorum the individuals use in this entire play:
King-  "The King of Navarre," one of the main characters of this play, is the head of the "Academe."  He is actually a really nice guy, but rules with an iron fist and orders all of his buddies to swore to fast for three days, avoid all distractions, and NEVER fall in love with the opposite sex.  Well, he breaks his own rule(s) when he is smitten by the beautiful Princess of France.  His decorum would be a royalty/ authority type.    "barren tasks, too hard to keep,/ Not to see ladies, study, fast, not sleep" (Act 1, Scene 1).  

Berowne- He's basically the King's right hand man.  Compared to his fellow lords, Berowne seems to be more "mature."  He is the most unique character in the play. He speaks in an interesting matter  

Study is like the heaven's glorious sun,
That will not be deep-searched with saucy looks;
Small have continual plodders ever won,
Save base authority from others' books.
These earthly godfathers of Heaven's lights
That give a name to every fixed star,
Have no more profit of their shining nights
Than those that walk and wot not what they are. (Act 1, Scene 1)
Princess- The lovely, charming Princess of France that makes the King fall to his knees.  There is more than meets the eye when it comes to the Princess.  Intellgent, shrewd, and cunning... the Princess is no push-over.  Although she is polite, her words can cut like a knife.   "Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,/Needs not the painted flourish of your praise" (Act 2, Scene 2). 

Rosaline- Like Berwone, Rosaline is the closest gal pal to the Princess.  She also has the same traits as Berwone: bright, witty, and blunt.  With her words, she can make anyone put their money where their mouth is. 

BEROWNE: I am a fool, and full of poverty.
ROSALINE: But that you take what doth to you belong,
It were a fault to snatch words from my tongue.
BEROWNE: O, I am yours, and all that I possess.
ROSALINE: All the fool mine?
(Act 2, Scene 4)
Costard- A.K.A "Costard the Swain," Being a jestor, Costard is the comedy relief of this play.  And, as a jestor, he is clever with his words and uses them to his advantage.  Boyet- The mastermind of Love's Labour's Lost.  He, to, is witty and knows what to say to the ladies.

The thickest and the tallest! it is so; truth is truth.
An your waist, mistress, were as slender as my wit,... (Act 3, Scene 2) 

But to speak that in words which his eye hath
disclosed.... (Act 2, Scene 4) 
(Sorry about the font... It's being stupid...)

The Morning After...

                          "I'm ECSTATIC that I'm p***ing you off, Nurse Ratched!!!"
   
    After all the patients on the ward are fast asleep, Chief Bromden is wide awake... witnessing the horrors of the night.  The black guards go to the nurse's station, take a couple of beers, and lock the door behind them... waving at the patients with evil grins on their face.  All of the sudden... (Now, before I tell you what happens next... I want to honestly say that I DON'T know if this scene was real or not... I guess that's the point and I like that...)  Anyhoo, Chief Bromden beholds the floor beneath and the ceiling above him open wide and he hears strange radio-like sounds.  Above and below him are factory men working vigorously, thousands of them, and they ALL look like living dolls.  They march in line and do what their told, like good little workers.  Then, all of the sudden... these hooks descend to the ward base and take one of the patients.  Chief Bromden is scared... well, you get it.... and goes to sleep with terrible nightmares.  The following morning, McMurphy is singing... singing!!!  It surprises everyone on the ward because they hadn't heard singing in for-eve-r.  McMurphy is having a grand old time and is brushing his teeth in the latrine... WITHOUT PERMISSION.  The black guards hear the ruckus and demand to know why McMurphy is brushing his teeth.  They say that it isn't ALLOWED to brush one's teeth because (If McMurphy starts doing it... EVERYONE will start doing it...) and so, McMurphy says that he won,t use the toothpaste... but will use baking soda from outside of the trash bin instead.   This really ticks off the black guards (One of them pulls Chief Bromden and says clean the floor, you lazy a**!) and they call the head honcho... yep, Nurse Ratched.  She is extremely p***ed off, but puts a good face on for the patients that are just waking up.    She questions McMurphy, asking WHY on earth he is in a towel and is BRUSHING HIS TEETH.  McMurphy does a little dance and says that his "work clothes" were taken from him, disappeared, vanished without a trace.  Nurse Ratched b***hes out the oldest black guard with a mop and orders him to get him a new work uniform.  McMurphy is also ordered to take off his towel and underneath... McMurphy has a pair of boxers on.  McMurphy loves the reaction that Nurse Ratched gets from this.      

Clever, Shakespeare, Clever...

                                             "Did thoust leave thy iron onst?"  
   
   Love's Labour's Lost is, in short, a comedy about four guys who aren't suppose to fall in love... but they do... with four beautiful maidens.   However, Shakespeare had an idea of what he was doing.  After all, he invented the five-act structure that is used by writers all over the world.  It starts with a little something like this:

•  A situation with tensions or implicit conflict (Exposition)
• Implicit conflict is developed (Rising Action)
• Conflict reaches height; frequently an impasse (Turning Point)
• Things begin to clear up (Falling Action)
• Problem is resolved, knots untied (Conclusion) (http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/comedy.html)

 And, to top it all off, Spakespeare's romantic comedies went this way:

1. The main action is about love.
2. The would-be lovers must overcome obstacles and misunderstandings before being united in harmonious union. The ending frequently involves a parade of couples to the altar and a festive mood or actual celebration (expressed in dance, song, feast, etc.) A Midsummer Night's Dream has four such couples (not counting Pyramus and Thisbe!); As You Like It has four; Twelfth Night has three; etc.
3. Frequently (but not always), it contains elements of the improbable, the fantastic, the supernatural, or the miraculous, e.g. unbelievable coincidences, improbable scenes of recognition/lack of recognition, willful disregard of the social order (nobles marrying commoners, beggars changed to lords), instantaneous conversions (the wicked repent), enchanted or idealized settings, supernatural beings (witches, fairies, Gods and Goddesses). The happy ending may be brought about through supernatural or divine intervention (comparable to the deus ex machina in classical comedy, where a God appears to resolve the conflict) or may merely involve improbable turns of events.
4. In the best of the mature comedies, there is frequently a philosophical aspect involving weightier issues and themes: personal identity; the importance of love in human existence; the power of language to help or hinder communication; the transforming power of poetry and art; the disjunction between appearance and reality; the power of dreams and illusions).(http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/comedy.html)

    This comedy of Shakespeare isn't that funny (I thought it was a little bit funny).  I mean, its a great play, well written and all (I love a good play or two and I'm a sap for romantic ones)... but when you talk about it being "humorous" now... it's considered dry and many don't get it.  If people were given a resource and could get past "Middle English", than the Love's Labour's Lost would be maleficent (You know, to those who try...)!  Although it may of left people in the 1500's in stitches, it makes average citizens in today's audiences silent as the grave.

                                                   "*Cricket* *Cricket*"

Eddie, The Mamma's Boy

                                "NO, Oedipus didn't fall on a pair of scissors..."

    What a tragic tale, Oedipus is... (Ha! I used an inversion!) but what a classic masterpiece by the ever-so- talented Sophocles. No, seriously, I mean... how crappy is it to find out that your real  parents (Lauis and Jocasta) stuck a pin (Eeeouch!!!) through your ankles (Oedipus in Greek means "swollen feet"...FYI...)  and left you on some dusty and humid mountain to die of exposure because of an inevitable prophesy, to be found by a shepard who just happened to be passing along, who took pity on you, gave you to another shepard who passed you onto the loving king and queen of Corinth (King Polybus and Queen Merope) who couldn't have children of their own, who love you and protect you until, one day, you go into a bar, have a couple of drinks in you, hear some a-hole talk crap about how you're parents aren't your real parents, and you say that's a lie (But in your heart you know that it's ALL true), you go to some Oracle in some mountains somewhere and they tell you the same exact thing that a-hole told you at that bar in Corinth, so, to prove them wrong and to NOT fulfill that stupid ol' prophesy, you take a little trip to Thebes (Escaping your own destiny), meet this jerk on a chariot (You're real father) who demands that you get out of his way because he’s more important that you, you go ape-sh**t and massacre everyone there, leaving the scene with the criminal record for manslaughter, go to Thebes, defeat the Sphinx's riddle, marry the widow (YOUR OWN MA!), and ... to make a long, transitional setence short... slay your father, did it with your mom, had two daughters (Your sisters that YOU MADE) with her, mother commits suicide by hanging herself, and you stab you're own EYE SOCKETS with the pins from your mommy's dress (I would do the same!!!), and finally tell Creon (You're brother-in-law/uncle) to send you far, far away.

 

 

          "So *pause* ya killed your father out rage and did "it" with your mother, eh? GET OVER 

           YOURSELF!!!     HaHaHaHaHaaaaa!!!  Just kiddin... but seriously... GROW A PAIR" 

 

   Oedipus was doomed from the first day he breathed his first gush of air.  He tried to run away from the prophesy, but in fact, fulfilled it.  It's kinda of like 12 Monkeys (Excellent movie) where Bruce Willis tries to go back in time to stop the virus only to cause it.  Life sucks, then you die... or you strike your corenas with power so that they gush gallons and gallons of blood.

                                                  "Oedipus's gots the blues"