I think you’ll agree that the only sensible response to today’s Burton/Depp Charlie is to rent the 1972 original. No one comes in, and no one goes out.

SciFi’s running a marathon of Ron Moore’s Galactica and I’m finally able to take the time to watch. It is, as has been widely reported, pretty darn good. I have noted with amusement some clearly deliberate nods to Bungie’s beloved Marathon – as a small flight of ships drops out of jumpspace into a swarm of Cylon ships, a voice shrieks, “They’re everywhere!”

It’s a definite bonus to be able to see a bunch of this highly serialized show at once, too. The first one and a half were fairly dense even for me, but once I sorted out who was who and what was what and so forth, I started to really enjoy it.

It’s intermission at the kabuki show. We just saw ‘Tied to a Pole,’ in which two rascally servants contrive ingenious ways to drink the master’s sake while tied to a pole or with their hands behind their back.

The use of bondage as a theme in a play which the program notes decribed both as stemming from an older theatrical tradition than kabuki per se and as having premiered in 1914 1916 was striking, to me.

The play provided a kind of acrobatic astonishment, as the actors traded off performing dances of increasing apparent complexity and difficulty as they mimed drinking sake while tied up.

I was also struck by the use of physical bondage as a comedic device which literally makes visible the feudal bonds of master and servant. By employing a visible metaphor for the relationship, the play provides an entertaining model for its’ intended audience. It shows how to resppnd with astonishing grace to the demands of heirarchy while simultaneously accomplishing the personal and pleasurable goal of getting drunk on the master’s sake.

Finally, at one point, I was surprised when the characters employed ‘rock, scissors, paper’ to settle a difference of opinion. Where did the game originate? How long has it been around?

Alright, one more thing before I crack the snoozer book. We’re going to one of the kabuki shows this weekend at the Paramount, and I can’t wait. I think I may have attended a kabuki performance around 1978 in Japan, but I do not have a clear recollection of it, and it may simply be a false memory. So far I have avoided my customary research binge, and thus retain nearly perfect ignorance about the form, save the most general facts: relatively old theatrical tradition, only male performers, etc.

I’m uncertain if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a rare thing, and that piques my interest. Should I retain this relative degree of ignorance, I hope I shall be able to use it to really look at the performance and form hypotheses that I can later analyze against all that tasty knowledge I’m now consciously avoiding.

I suppose it’s possible that this may also lead to an opera visit, as Viv has previously expressed interest in the form, while I have seen enough to know I don’t care for it.