February 25, 2005
Out! Out! Dammed Sock!
The Derb brings us the latest sign of the death of Western Civilization:
WHAT THEY TEACH IN SCHOOLS NOWADAYSI had to read this one twice to make sure I'd got it right:
"Dear John---They are teaching Macbeth, at least in the 11th grade at our
son's school (private, Christian). But they do so using sock puppets. Our
son had to make Siward and Malcolm last night."I thought you might like to file this under your 'American Education Today'
miscellany. Good luck filling the holes in Nellie's and Danny's education;
my wife and I have to do our share."Macbeth with sock puppets! "Before my body I throw my warlike shield!"
[Flip finger across palm]....Why does this make me think of that Monty Python sketch: "Wuthering Heights
in semaphore"?
Actually, what it reminded me of was a short parody of the porter scene that I wrote my senior year in high school. It was entitled "The Drunk of Dunsinane". In my version (which, looking back to 1983, seems eerily prescient of a certain political couple who rose to national prominence nine years later), Macbeth is trying to slip back into the castle after an evening out catting around. After going through a kind of Pat and Mike routine with the drunk porter, he eventually wins entry. However, just as he thinks he is safe, he is confronted by an enraged Lady M awaiting him on the stairs. The story ends with Macbeth trying in vain to explain the lipstick smears and other signs of unauthorized revelry as Lady M reaches for her dagger.
If you'd shot The Drunk on high 8, you'd have cut into some of the Scotland, PA buzz. 'Cause that was one funny take on the Bard.
Posted by: tee bee at February 25, 2005 12:13 PMActually, my immediate Monty Python recollection was the game show where you had to summarize Proust in 15 seconds or less.
Pronounced to rhyme with "joust," of course.
Posted by: utron at February 25, 2005 12:27 PM
