4th Nor Cal Rabble Burns Night Supper (photos & videos)

[Pour1Malt]

sorry... one more thing... you say the images are from the poem- that is only slightly true...

taking literary illusions and poetic phrases and turning them into literal cartoon images.. is less than honest representation...

an example:

The Star Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key

Oh! say can you see, (hold up image of eyes)
by the dawn's early light, (hold up a lighter)
What so proudly we hailed (hold up image of taxi)
at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad (hold up image of big woman)
stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, (hold up image of boxers)
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? (throw streamer)
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, (pop a popper)
Gave proof through the night(hold up image of starry sky)
that our flag was still there;
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave (hold up image of people waving)
O'er the land(hold up image of dirt)
of the free
and the home of the brave?(hold up image of Native American Brave)

[Arlen]

if a group of us in the UK got together on the 4th of July and had a 'usa independence ' party where we wore silly hats and did comic readings of your constitution or bill of rights or whatever documents are important symbols to the struggle of your people... and held up pictures of pigs vomiting and big arses during it... and lost our place and every laughed at how stupid it all was... I'm glad to know you would find it funny... but I doubt many people in the usa would think it was funny at all...

since this is 'Black History Month' in the usa- perhaps you should do a comic reading of 'I have a Dream' in Blackface...

then maybe you will understand what you just did to the Address Tae a Haggis.

Robertson, I was referring to your statements above. Implying that what they did is similar to offending someone by blacking it up or by making fun of the U.S. Constitution: In short, being racist or xenophobic. If that was not your intent, fair enough, but that's how I read it.
What they did doesn't seem very similar to me at all.
And, lets be fair, the poem does talk about pig vomit and buttocks. And the cards explained in a humorous fashion what the words meant.

I think on this point we may have to simply agree to disagree. You have every right to feel like they were laughing at the works of Burns. I don't believe they were.

Perhaps it's time to just let it be.

[Pour1Malt]

aye- I guess I best leave it as you say Arlen

the old phrase comes to mind...

"Never Teach a Pig To Sing,

it is a waste of time

and annoys the pig"

(hold up cartoons of a pig, music notes, a clock, and a pig)

[Pour1Malt]

oh.. and just in case- NO- I am not referring to you, Arlen

[Panache]

The playwright William Shakespeare wrote some absolutely amazing works during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Now the language and meter he used in those plays can be difficult to a modern audience to understand. Yet his plays have been constantly performed in a varied manner since his death. With each generation and performance the actors and theater staff had to decide how to approach this text and make it live and breathe. Picture for a moment the the stereotype of the stuffy, black clad, skull bearing, snobbish Shakespearean actor sneering down at the masses that don't understand the Bard's works. Is this fellow truly serving the text by holding it in his iron-gripped reverence?

There is a lot of poignant incredible stuff in Shakespeare's work. However there is also quite a lot of bawdiness too. I used to go to the Shakespeare Santa Cruz productions every Summer and I loved how each cast and production would bring their own take to the work. Some I liked, some I didn't. But I appreciated that each one tried to make that story and those words live.


Now the question at hand is whether or not we approach this particular work as iconic where there are set traditional parameters required of it within the context of a Burns Night Supper celebration. Or is each group free to approach that work in their own way? Are Burns Night Suppers about Robert Burns or are they a Scottish Heritage celebration? When we look at Burns himself, do we do so as a Scottish Icon, or as a patriotic (though certainly flawed) poet and song writer?


Last year I wrote a script for Jake and I to bring a translation of this poem to our event. This year my lovely wife and good friend Jake did something different. Personally, I like mine better (but then again I wrote it ). Now all three of us know this poem and we completely understand and appreciate it. None of us meant this as an insult to any Scot and none of us meant disrespect to the memory of Robert Burns.

You know I remember Raphael posted a rap version of Burn's haggis poem last year. I absolutely loved that this group took these words and made them live for themselves and a new generation. I don't know what the Nor Cal rabble will do next year for our Burns Night Supper. It might be a well done though "straight" recitation. Maybe not. I can promise you that it won't be boring. And it will be done with respect for the Plowman Poet and the joy that exists in his works.

Cheers

Jamie

[Monkey@Arms]

Arlen- please watch it again- can you honestly say they are laughing WITH Burns and not AT him? I cannot... maybe if he took the silly hat off... maybe if he didn't pretend to lose his place and then laughed... maybe if he even tried to say the poem with some degree of respect... maybe if he didn't keep turning around away from the audience to giggle like a buffoon... maybe if the images were not done comically... maybe if the images were not paraded around behind him- distracting from the poem...maybe maybe maybe... it would be what you are trying to say it was... but it wasn't...

this appears to be a very clear attempt to take the piss out of Burns, the Scots language, haggis (which is much more than just a food item- as you I both know), and Scottish patriotism...

oh.. and you lost me on one thing... no one said it was racist or mentioned Nazis but you.... I'm not quite sure where you are going with that one...

Since we are getting a bit personal here, I shall weigh in. I am sorry anyone took offense, it was not intended.

The general goal was simply to provide a light-hearted translation of some of the more arcane language used in the Address. I have the Address well memorized, but Star and I both work full time in our respective professions and live in different cites, and so did not have a chance to rehearse our joint presentation. I had to look backwards towards her to know when it was time to give the next verse, which did actually cause me to lose my place, at which point I had to ad-lib briefly. Any "mockery" on my part was self-mockery, and not directed to Burns.

I am guilty of having introduced the fez one beery night to the Nor Cal Rabble, because it went with my monkey side, and I am afraid it just caught on, because that's just the way we roll. We enjoy each other company, we like to have fun, we like kilts, and we like good food and drink (I for one eat haggis every chance I get), and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

I can't speak for Robert Burns, as he is long dead, but I suspect the man who collected "The Merry Muses of Caledonia" would not share your moral outrage.

Best regards,

Jake

[Mrs. Farlander]

If I was singing the Star Spangled Banner for a bunch of non-English speakers I would be glad to have the images you mention illustrated. What's the point if the audience don't understand?

I'd probably also have to mention that the tune came from an English drinking song called To Anacreon In Heaven.


The Star Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key

Oh! say can you see, (hold up image of eyes)
by the dawn's early light, (hold up a lighter)
What so proudly we hailed (hold up image of taxi)
at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad (hold up image of big woman)
stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, (hold up image of boxers)
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? (throw streamer)
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, (pop a popper)
Gave proof through the night(hold up image of starry sky)
that our flag was still there;
Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave (hold up image of people waving)
O'er the land(hold up image of dirt)
of the free
and the home of the brave?(hold up image of Native American Brave)[/QUOTE]

[Panache]

Elise,

Actually Robertson's visual plays on words wouldn't clarify the song like Star's did to explain the meaning of Burns' language. The hurdies, the pig, the nit, the sned limbs, "kites bent like drums", and such are actually in Burns' poem.

I also have to think that there might be a difference in tone between our national anthem and Burns' poem about a haggis.

Cheers

Jamie

[Monkey@Arms]

For purposes of balance, I will point out that not all Scots feel that the haggis must be placed on a pedestal. From the Scotsman newspaper:

http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/haggi...dia.cfm?part=9

Best regards,

Jake

[macwilkin]

For purposes of balance, I will point out that not all Scots feel that the haggis must be placed on a pedestal. From the Scotsman newspaper:

http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/haggi...dia.cfm?part=9

Best regards,

Jake

Or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3V7lfhRQKw

I'd be curious to people's reactions to this Scottish group's parody of the Address. And btw, I am not condoning or condemning it, just offering food for thought.

Let me just say that in a way, I am glad that there is such a debate going on in this thread, because it proves that Burns is not some dead poet that people have forgotten, but someone whose writings still move, inspire and in some instances, inflame to this very day.

T.