Anybody want to play Sonnet Challenge?

I misunderstood this site when AbbyWilde first pointed it out to me via Twitter.  Sonnet Challenge is not one man making videos of himself doing all the sonnets (something that Madeline did a couple years back). 

No, this guy wants other people to send him video of themselves doing a sonnet.    That's much more interesting.

Surely we've got some geeks in the audience who want a quick 15 seconds of Shakespeare fame? There is of course Will Sutton's project over at Sonnet.ILoveShakespeare.com but that's just audio.  Who's got the guts to jump in front of the camera?

Captain Picard Now Officially A Knight

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37466438/ns/today-entertainment/

I was going to call this old news, since the announcement of Patrick Stewart's knighthood went out some time ago (and many of us Shakespeare geeks have been referring to him as Sir Patrick since then).  Apparently it's now official, ceremony complete - the article even has a picture.

No word on whether Queen Elizabeth asked him WTF was up with the shrug.

Interviewing the Experts

You may have skipped over this article titled, like so many others, 20 Things You Never Knew About Shakespeare because we've seen it all so many times before.  Well, go click on this one because it's quite different.  This one is actually an interview with Stanley Wells and Jonathan Bate, among others, and covers such topics as:

• What did Shakespeare spend his money on?
• Did he keep a pet?
• Was he a fan of lighting and sound effects?
• What is his most overrated play?

Of course it's all conjecture, but at least it's conjecture from the experts who have at least a reasonable argument to back up their points.  The first question, about Shakespeare's sexuality, is likely to drive most of us a little batty ("Whatever he was, at parties he would certainly have gone home with the best-looking person in the room"), but other answers are more factual and less frustrating.

I have to admit, they cover topics I'd never thought of.  Or, rather, thought I'd known the obvious answer to.  Was Will a good drinking buddy, or more shy and standoff-ish? Did Will Kemp really leave their group because of creative differences?  How often (and when and why) did he get back to Stratford?