Friday, June 18, 2004
The page 3 girls and Sylvia, the goat.
There is a newspaper/tabloid in the UK known as The Sun. It is pretty awful, as well as very anti-European. What The Sun is notorious for is its page 3, which, since the beginning of time, has always featured a nude picture. These girls, typically 18-19, have always been known as the Page 3 girls. The share about the same status as Playboy models do in the US.
I was walking through Trafalgar Square yesterday, when I saw there were two page 3 girls(purely by guess, since they were both, um, well-developed, wearing tight shirts with "The Sun" on them, and short short short short shorts... plus some guy pointed at one and said he'd seen her on page 3 before).
Anyway, they were handing out English flags because England was going to play the Swiss tonight, and being photographed by a guy from The Sun with various people. To cut a long story short, I got someone to take a picture of me with them, so I'll post that when I get back to Beverley.
Later yesterday, I saw The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, a play starring Jonathan Pryce. Pryce is a well known actor, and has been in everything from Brazil to Ronin, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In the play he is Martin, a just-turned 50 architect who has reached the pinnacle of success in his career. He also has a loving wife and an adored sun. That day, he tells his best friend a horrible truth: that he is also in love, and having an affair with a goat named Sylvia. All hell breaks loose when the friend tells Martin's wife.
The absurdist play darts back and forth between comedy and tragedy. It is soon obvious that Martin is truly in love with this goat (but also his wife). As time goes by, you begin to empathize with Martin, especially when Stevie, his wife, refuses to understand how he could fall in love with a goat. After a long period of argument and breaking furniture, she looks him in the eye and says: "You have brought me down, and I will bring you down with me," and storms out. What she does to bring him down ends the play in despair, and you feel sadness that comes from a direction you'd never expect.
Tonight I'm seeing Oleanna, a play starring Aaron Eckhart(The Core) and Julia Stiles(10 Things I hate about you).
I was walking through Trafalgar Square yesterday, when I saw there were two page 3 girls(purely by guess, since they were both, um, well-developed, wearing tight shirts with "The Sun" on them, and short short short short shorts... plus some guy pointed at one and said he'd seen her on page 3 before).
Anyway, they were handing out English flags because England was going to play the Swiss tonight, and being photographed by a guy from The Sun with various people. To cut a long story short, I got someone to take a picture of me with them, so I'll post that when I get back to Beverley.
Later yesterday, I saw The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, a play starring Jonathan Pryce. Pryce is a well known actor, and has been in everything from Brazil to Ronin, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In the play he is Martin, a just-turned 50 architect who has reached the pinnacle of success in his career. He also has a loving wife and an adored sun. That day, he tells his best friend a horrible truth: that he is also in love, and having an affair with a goat named Sylvia. All hell breaks loose when the friend tells Martin's wife.
The absurdist play darts back and forth between comedy and tragedy. It is soon obvious that Martin is truly in love with this goat (but also his wife). As time goes by, you begin to empathize with Martin, especially when Stevie, his wife, refuses to understand how he could fall in love with a goat. After a long period of argument and breaking furniture, she looks him in the eye and says: "You have brought me down, and I will bring you down with me," and storms out. What she does to bring him down ends the play in despair, and you feel sadness that comes from a direction you'd never expect.
Tonight I'm seeing Oleanna, a play starring Aaron Eckhart(The Core) and Julia Stiles(10 Things I hate about you).
