Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in Macbeth

Yes, #ShakespeareWeek continues with another fabulous YouTube find, the 1978 Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Macbeth starring Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench. Yes, Shakespeare royalty. You can see it here. The production is stripped down, minimalist and intimate, with semi-modern dress. McKellen was 39, when he played Macbeth, Judi Dench, 44. McKellen, at 5'11" is nearly a foot taller than Dench, and that physical disparity makes her seem almost fragile at times. But watching her face as she gives voice to her ambition--bemoaning that Macbeth is so full of the milk of human kindness--and the way she seduces her husband into regicide, you have no doubt that this is one DANGEROUS lady.  It's a terrific production.

YouTube finds: Helen Mirren's version of The Tempest

I've been wanting to see this forever but somehow never did. But now that it's #ShakespeareWeek, I went looking for Shakespeare on YouTube to see what sort of Shakespeare goodness I could find. Imagine my delight when I discovered the full movie is up. Directed by Julie Taymor, who conceived he fabulous stage version of The Lion King, the movie is a visual treat and stars Helen Mirren in the role of Prospera. Shakespeare productions are always fiddling around with the sex of their protagonists, much in the way the playwright himself played with it, but here the sex-change works beautifully in a way that female Hamlets never have for me. If you love the play--and I do, I've seen around seven productions of it--check it out here.

Surprising Shakespeare Brand Name

so it's #ShakespeareWeek and I was Googling around looking for Shakespeare silliness and I discovered that there's a Shakespeare brand of fishing equipment. I know Shakespeare isn't the first name that comes to my mind when I think "fishing" so I went looking for something he might have said about the sport. (Was fishing a sport back then? Or was it just another way to catch dinner?) Turns out there is a famous quote from Hamlet:

“A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm”

Celebrate Shakespeare Week

By reading three strange tales (and a bonus "Drabble") inspired by the Bard. Shakespeare Noir.

Shakespeare Week

It's #ShakespeareWeek and Goodreads is celebrating in a creative way. They've asked various authors to imagine a deleted scene from a play. They start off with Christopher Moore's deleted scene from Julius Caesar and it's just as hilarious as you would expect. Read it here and get in on all the fun.

Youtube finds: Night Heat

I love Youtube. Every once in a while when I'm looking for something to watch while I'm eating lunch or dinner, I'll head over there and see what I can find. Rummaging around on Youtube is like going through the stuff in your parents' attic; you never know what you're going to find. I can't remember what I was looking for when I stumbled across episodes of Night Heat.

Night Heat was a Canadian cop show that originally aired between 1985 and 1989. In the LA market, it played late night, and from the first episode I watched, I was hooked. It was a contemporary of Miami Vice (1994-1990) but the two shows could not have been more different in look and feel. Where Miami Vice was all neon noir and hip sountracks and pastel clothes, Night Heat was gritty and down to earth, the cases more personal, more intimate.

Interview with Gerard Brennan

 Gerard Brennan's latest novel is Undercover, a Belfast cop thriller. His short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies; including three volumes of The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime and Belfast Noir. He co-edited Requiems for the Departed, a collection of crime fiction based on Irish myths which won the 2011 Spinetingler Award for best anthology. His novella, The Point, was published by Pulp Press in October 2011 and won the 2012 Spinetingler Award for best novella. His novels, Wee Rockets and Fireproof, were published as ebooks by Blasted Heath in 2012. He graduated from the MA in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2012 and is currently working on a PhD.

What was the first short story you ever published (and when)? Were you paid for it?

I wrote a story called ‘Pool Sharks’ after I spent a weekend in Wexford. We were lucky enough to score a lock-in at the local pub and things got a bit messy. I became obsessed by the fact that we could have gotten away with murder that night. Then the hamster wheel started spinning and the story was born. This was back in 2007, when I’d started to get serious about writing. The story got accepted into a horror/crime anthology titled ‘Badass Horror’. And yes, I got paid! I still get paid for it from time to time, in fact. The publisher, Tim Lieder, is passionate about compensating his writers. Fair play to him.

Did you find it hard to transition from short stories to longer works?

Not really. I just needed to catch an idea that wanted to be a novel. Then I sat down and put the hours in.