Via the Shakespeare Geek, we find a website that uses a Markov chain to generate an alternate version of Hamlet. Check it out!

From what I can tell, the site works from a table of which words follow other words in the play, and how often. It then constructs a chain by looking at the last word (or few words) that were entered, and choosing a random word of those that actually follow that word (or few words) in the play.

For example, one place in the play has “Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio.” Another part of the play has “I knew your father.” The Markov chain might generate “Alas! poor Yorick. I knew…” and then, only looking at the last two words “I knew” might follow up with “your father.” The final result would be “Alas! poor Yorick. I knew your father.”

This is a favorite example provided by the author, but there are a lot of funny possibilities. You can keep refreshing the page to get a new randomly-generated Hamlet.

Thanks, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead:
Ere I could accuse me of the courtier, cousin, and with a look so piteous in purport
As I perceived it, if I gall him slightly,
Whips out his rapier, cries, ‘A rat, a touch,
The queen desires you to remain
Here is your only jig-maker. What it should be old as I will be laid to us, till I know not–lost all my best obey you, and, at a shot
So art thou to me all the battlements their ordnance fire: proclaim no shame
When Roscius was an actor in Rome,–
As of a dear father murder’d,
With mirth in funeral and with a crafty madness, like the herald Mercury
New-lighted on a roar? Not one now o’er
The triumph of his own scandal.

Enjoy!

I’ve been watching reruns of The West Wing on Bravo. Lately, they’ve been showing episodes from the last two seasons. I am a huge fan of the show, but only have the first four seasons (the Sorkin years) on DVD, so this is a big treat for me. In some cases, I’m seeing episodes that I probably haven’t seen since they first ran.

The show is about the fictional Jed Bartlet presidency. The last two seasons focus largely on the primaries and general election to appoint Bartlet’s successor as president. After a tough primary battle, the candidates are the newcomer, charismatic Democrat Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits), and the veteran, moderate Republican Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda). It’s a race that uncannily mirrors the current presidential contest. Watching the fictional campaigns and their behind-the-scenes strategizing was enough fun the first time around, but watching them during this election season really makes you feel like you’re sitting on the front lines.

These shows were made years ago, so they can’t really be about Obama and McCain. Or can they? My cousin, Boywonderesq, pointed me towards a New York Times article that outlines how the current Democratic nominee was, to no small degree, the model for his fictional counterpart. The article describes other similarities between the two campaigns that nobody could have predicted.

As might be expected, there are considerable differences between the two scenarios as well. First of all, Obama is way ahead in the polls, and has been for some time. The Matt Santos campaign was well behind for most of the campaign. Also, Vinick is forced to compromise on some of his issues, but refuses to pander on issues where he feels strongly. John McCain’s Straight Talk Express has been off the rails for over a year now.

I’ve always liked and respected Senator McCain. He was a national hero. He was a bipartisan leader. And, yes, he was a maverick. More than anything else, watching these reruns of The West Wing gave me a glimpse into something I feel cheated out of: the chance to see that McCain, my McCain, run for president. Instead, the desire to win and the stress of the campaign trail has made him seem like little more than a snarling, pandering, rambling shell of his former self.

Senator McCain was on Saturday Night Live last night. He was relaxed, amiable, and even funny. One thing seemed clear to me: he knows it’s over, and that he’s lost. There was the old John McCain, ready to reach across the aisle one last time and have a good laugh at his own expense.

I doubt Obama will follow the example of Matt Santos and offer McCain Secretary of State. But I must admit that episode seemed a little less silly than it did when it first aired.

I’m always curious to see what search terms bring people to this site. Here is a list of all of the search terms that brought people here yesterday:

how shakespeare demonstrated “religion” in his plays
presidents with the letter y in their name
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saddam hussein vs. iago
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what play of shakespeare hads the word shyster in it?
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The word “shyster” does not appear in Shakespeare. There is a character named Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and a popular anti-lawyer quote in Henry VI, Part Two.

Several United States presidents have had the letter Y in their names. First name: Ulysses S. Grant, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter; Last name: John Tyler, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy; First and Last Name: Zachary Taylor; Commonly Used Middle Name: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison.

As for the Ophelia thing, do your own homework.

I don’t really know why, but this is something I wish I could do.

I did a little research and discovered that her name is Amy Walker. Nice work, Amy Walker!

Well, I am pleased to report that the Cymbeline project turned out very well.

For their video project, the 8th grade class I was working with decided to create a modern-day talk show (instead of a reality show) with characters from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline as guests. The show includes scenes from the original play, an alternate ending, and a commercial for a Cymbeline video game… all written, performed, and produced by the students!

They presented their video at an in-school film festival, and represented their school at a citywide film festival hosted by my organization. And now, through the magic of the Internet, I share the video with you:

If you want to share this video with others, you can link directly to this post or embed the video from its TeacherTube page (where you can also watch the video if you have trouble loading it in here). We will also be featuring the video on the school’s home page.

UPDATE: The kids put the video on YouTube. It’s a much higher quality than what I was able to post to TeacherTube, so if you want to embed the video on your site, you should use that one.

Weezer’s new video for “Pork and Beans” is on YouTube, and in more ways than one.

Bonus points for the first one to spot Charlie the Unicorn.

UPDATE: Charlie spotted by Benjamin Baxter.

One of my favorite pieces of trivia is that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day. What’s truly remarkable about this is that it happened on July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the famous signing of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams’s last words are reported to be “Thomas Jefferson survives” - he did not know that his long-time friend and rival had died a few hours earlier. For us, then, knowing that Jefferson died first is an essential part of the story of these great founding fathers.

But what of the founding fathers of Western literature? Recently, we celebrated April 23 as Shakespeare’s birthday, but we also know it as his death day. Shakespeare died in Stratford on April 23, 1616. We do not know the time of his death, or his last words.

Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, might likewise be considered one of the founding fathers of Western literature. Cervantes died in Madrid on April 23, 1616. We do not know the time of his death, or his last words.

And yet, it is possible to say, with some degree of certainty, which of the two authors perished first. And that, dear readers, is today’s Conundrum.

Who died first: Shakespeare or Cervantes? How do you know?

Feel free to speculate as to last words too, if that sort of thing amuses you.

UPDATE: Question answered by Neel Mehta. See comments for answer.