Rhyme and Reason: Part Two

Here is the second portion of my take on Samuel Beckett: Reason.

Clemens takes off his pack, reaches inside, and extracts two apples. He tosses them to his entangled friends, who snatch them up greedily and begin to devour them.

Edward: I say…what is that?

Clemens looks offstage, where a light appears to be glowing. It grows steadily brighter and brighter until an odd looking man with a lantern in hand steps away from the curtain on a balcony overlooking the stage, apparently at the edge of the pit looking in on the travelers.

Joseph: Hullo there! It seems you’re in a bit of a fix down there! I could lend a hand if you’d like!

Edward stares in amazement. The other two are facing the opposite direction and have not noticed the new arrival.

Edward: Why would we need help?

Joseph: (baffled) Are you daft man? You’re in a pit!

Edward: No I’m not! I’m in a pool!

Edward proceeds to make swimming motions and move around the pit, making fish faces and bubbling noises as he goes.

Clemens: (annoyed) Now what are you doing?

Edward: I’m swimming! How else am I to move about in a pool?

Clemens: This isn’t a pool. It’s impossible for this to be a pool. We’d have drowned by now if this were a pool. You can’t stay this long underwater without drowning.

Edward: Yes you can! I haven’t drowned yet, and I’m in a pool. I must be in a pool then, since I’m not drowning. There’s a man here, by the way. He said he wanted to smell our pits.

Edward begins swimming in circles around Victor.

Victor: That’s not possible. The old grocer told me that nobody passes by here except every full moon.

Clemens: It’s a full moon right now.

Victor: No it isn’t. There’s nobody here.

Edward: Then who is that?

Victor turns and is shocked to see someone there.

Joseph: Hello there.

Victor: Hello. You don’t exist.

Joseph: (startled) I don’t?

Victor: Nope. It’s not a full moon.

Joseph: (pointing up) Yes it is. See for yourself.

Victor: Hello full moon. You don’t exist.

Joseph: How can you say that moon isn’t full?

Victor: Because there’s nobody here.

Joseph: Ah.

Edward begins to blow raspberries in Clemens’ ear, which grabs Joseph’s attention.

Joseph: (calling to Clemens) You there! You look like a man of sense. Come, I have a ladder here. I can get you and your friends out.

Edward: (shouting) Aren’t you going to answer the nice man!?

Clemens: Are you going to stop eating your own refuse?

Edward: (surprised) No!…err…what are you talking about!?

Clemens: (startled and disgusted) Nothing…

Edward: I do that a lot.

Clemens: I noticed.

Edward: You should talk to the nice man.

Clemens: There is no nice man.

Edward (jumping up and down and pointing): Yes there is! Look at him! Right there! He’s the newest person here; I think he has something smart to say!

Clemens: I won’t believe it until I see it.

Edward: (vehemently) Then look at him!

Clemens: (puzzled) Why?

Victor: I’m hungry.

Edward: Me too.

Victor: Everyone must be hungry.

Joseph: I’m not.

Victor: You don’t exist.

Joseph: Why is that?

Victor: You don’t exist.

Joseph: Can you give any evidence to support that argument?

Victor: Sure I can. You don’t exist.

Joseph: (impatient) I don’t have a lot of time. There is a storm on its way and we all need to head to shelter before it hits.

Victor: Nonsense! You don’t exist. Therefore, nothing you say is true. We don’t believe you.

Joseph lowers the ladder into the pit.

Edward: Ooh! I can use this to fight the lions!

Lightning flashes and thunder rumbles from offstage. Joseph jumps at the sound.

Joseph: (panicking) Time’s up! Keep the ladder, but I’ve got to get to safety. I hope to see you back in town.

Joseph turns and exits in a hurry.

Edward: What a funny man.

Victor: Indeed. It’s a pity he wasn’t real.

Edward: (nodding fervently) Agreed.

Clemens rises and opens his pack. He begins shuffling through it, trying to find something. Edward sees him and creeps over, ladder in hand. He checks over his shoulder repeatedly for lions. It begins to rain heavily.

Edward: What are you doing?

Clemens: Looking something to get us out of this pit.

Edward: You mean tent. Why do you think the way out will be in your pack?

Clemens: (trembling with anger) Because my pack has never failed me and no…I mean pit! This bloody pit we’re in! It’s already starting to fill with water. Look over there!

Edward: (pleased) Excellent! Now I won’t drown!

Edward scurries over to center stage and plunges his face into the floor.

Victor: (looking up at the sky) Please help us! Send someone! Anyone! Help!

Clemens: (pausing in the search of his pack) Your God won’t save you!

Victor: (casting a glance at Clemens) Your pack won’t save you!

Victor and Clemens: (together) We’ll see about that!

Victor resumes praying and Clemens searches more violently. He pulls out a frying pan, a magazine, and a rubber duck and throws them behind him. The duck hits Edward on the head, but he does not notice as he is too busy flailing. The water level continues to rise. Clemens cries out in frustration and Victor sobs in despair.

Victor and Clemens: (together) If only someone had passed by who could help us!

Edward: (pulling his head up) If only that nice man had brought a ladder with him!

The curtain falls as Victor prays, Clemens pulls more strange items out of his pack, and Edward flails while the water level rises higher and higher.

Thoughts?

Rock of Ages

Music has taken an interesting turn this last century, if you really think about it.  It has gone from a codified, organized, highly refined art to a street-wise, anybody-can-do-it part of pop culture. The question I pose to you is this: Has it done music any good?

The Pros

These days, music is for everyone. It takes no ear training to appreciate, most anyone can add to it in some way, and there is a sound for everyone. Don’t like punk? Try some Rage Against The Machine. Sick of all the over-political maniacs? Perhaps the Beatles are more your style. Too mainstream? I suppose there’s always rap.

What I’m getting at is that music is far more diverse than ever before, and everyone can listen to it and/or play it.  I’ve lost count of how many garage bands/singer-songwriters/rappers/techno producers I know personally.  I’m part of that crowd, as a matter of fact.

There are no more rules, and so creativity is free to roam.  New, wonderful ideas have sprung up out of nowhere, doing things nobody ever thought possible before. These guys are a perfect example. They’ve fused elements from a number of different styles to make something new and exciting. What sort of crazy ideas will we see in the future? Nobody really knows.

The Cons

Of course, the flip side of this coin is that there’s a lot of really, REALLY bad music floating around.  Half the stuff on the radio seems to be over-produced white noise, providing no true musicality and nothing but a marketable hook.  Some of it sells just because of the dance and holds no real musical value. So much of today’s music is about the money, or appealing to the widest audience, that it seems to have lost it’s soul. It’s no longer music, but just a few catchy hooks intertwined with teeny bopper ads and a lot of hot air.

Not to mention, all sorts of new “rules” have cropped up to replace the old ones, ranging from reasonable to just plain ridiculous. The ridiculously shattered and over-genrefied (is that even a word?) dance music scene is evidence of that, with very strict guidelines as to what is “okay” and what is “not”, right down to the specific beats per minute.  Personally, I’m sick of it all.  Perhaps the old addage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies here.  If anyone got the rules right, it would have to be this guy. Precise, meticulous…and brilliant. Ain’t no way fiddy can compare wit dat yo.

Conclusion?

So is music better off now? Or would it be better if pop had never risen to power? What do you think?

Personally, while I find the marketing, the lack of artistry, the tasteless white noise, and the pointless genre wars sickening beyond comprehension, there’s very little in this world that can re-create the energy of a live performance.

But don’t ask me. Leave some comments, share some opinions, and let’s settle this age old question once and for all.

Reason and Rhyme: Part One

The following is part one of a one-act play I wrote as a response to Waiting for Godot, and existentialism in general. I hope you get something out of it. There’s more to life than nothing. Then again, I suppose anything is better than nihilism

Reason

Winter. Night. A full moon. A pit.

The curtain opens on three characters, Edward, Clemens, and Victor. Clemens is dressed in winter traveling clothes and has a large pack on his back. Edward and Victor are dressed in rags. Edward and Clemens are standing center stage. Victor is off to the side, laying sprawled on the ground.

Edward: Where are we?

Clemens: In a pit.

Edward: I said where are we?!

Clemens: Shall I tell you again?

Edward: Oh, don’t bother, I’ll just forget again.

Clemens: (rolling his eyes) what a surprise.

Edward: …I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyways…where we are, who we are, where we were going before we got wherever it is we are now that we’ve stopped going wherever it is we were going.

Clemens: We were going to the market, and we fell in this pit here, because you refused to follow the road. “A shortcut! A shortcut I’ve found! No need for roads now eh?!”

Edward: (ignoring him) It is odd we should be in a pit…I say, where is Victor?

Clemens: On the ground there, out cold.

Edward: (not hearing him) Oh there he is! He’s over there on the ground…out cold. (he takes a few steps as if to help him, then suddenly shrinks back) Dear me! Is he alright?! Perhaps we should call for help.

Clemens: He’s fine, I just checked his pulse. A bump on the head is all.

Edward: (excited) Help! Help!

Clemens: (exasperated) Is that really necessary?

Edward: (hysterically) Help! Help! For the love of all that is holy, someone answer me!

Clemens: (furious) Will you stop that! Honestly!

Edward begins casting himself across the stage, shouting at the wings, the backdrop, and the sky.

Edward: (looking out over the audience) There must be no one for miles!

Clemens places his head in his hands, clearly frustrated. Edward returns to his hysterics, eventually finding himself next to the fallen Victor. He stoops down.

Clemens: (at his wit’s end) He’s fine alright! We don’t need any help at the moment.

Edward: (in Victor’s ear) Help!

Victor: (with a start) What do you want, you filthy excuse for a maggot!?

Edward: (grabbing Victor’s ear) Help! Help! Our friend has been hurt! Please, you must help!

Edward is shoved aside.

Victor: (holding his ear) Hey! I need this! God gave us ears to hear, how else are we to know truth when we hear it? Otherwise, God wouldn’t have given them to us!

Edward: Well I suppose if you used them more often I’d be more likely to believe you.

Clemens: (rolling his eyes) Since you’re so attentive…

Clemens wanders over to the left side of the stage and sits cross legged, trying to ignore his companions. He pulls an apple out of his pack and begins to munch on it thoughtfully.

Victor: (getting up) Where are we?

Clemens: In a pit.

Edward: In a lion’s den.

Victor: Truly? I like lions. I saw a lion at the zoo once, it tried to bite me. Cute little thing…

Edward: Not if it were to eat you.

Victor: Again, true. There aren’t any here, are there?

Clemens: (surprised) Of course not!

Edward: I would imagine so. After all, it is a lions den.

Victor: I shan’t like it if they bite my ears off. I shall need them for when I am given truths.

Edward: Indeed.

Victor: (panicking) Oh what shall we do Edward?! What shall we do?!

Clemens: (sarcastically) Nothing, like you always do. Certainly don’t listen to me. I haven’t the slightest idea what I’m talking about. Never do.

Clemens finishes his apple, and casts the core behind him. Edward and Victor both spot it, and make to pick it up. Edward attempts to shove Victor aside. A short scuffle ensues, eventually resulting in Edward and Victor exchanging a few blows. They soon forget about the apple core, and begin attempting to wrestle one another to the ground. Clemens gets up, walks over to the core, picks it up, examines it, and places it in his pack, returning to his seat on the left side of the stage. Edward and Victor eventually collapse in an exasperated heap, panting and wheezing, and feebly attempting to get at each other, to no avail.

Clemens: (annoyed) Why do I bother with you two? No matter how hard I try, I can’t get either of you to listen to a thing I say. A college professor, who has traveled the world, and received the Nobel, and you can’t even give him pause enough to hear him out! All my life I’ve done nothing if not tried to help you out of your miserable, impoverished, hopeless state, to no avail. Still…there is always hope.

To Be Continued…

I’ll post the rest later, but chew on this for a bit. Think it over. There’s more to it than meets the eye.

Like Transformers