Tonys, Insane Grammar, and Miss Piggy's Soul Laid Bare

Terry Teachout, psyching me up for the Tonys:

From the Broadway run of "August: Osage County" and the Off Broadway transfer of "Adding Machine" to the regional-theater Tony awarded to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, this was the season when East Coast playgoers found out for themselves that theater in Chicago is as good as it gets. Now comes yet another Windy City stunner to hammer home the point. The Court Theatre's small-scale production of "Carousel," co-produced with New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre, has moved from Chicago to its second home in Connecticut. If you were impressed by Lincoln Center Theater's handsome hit version of "South Pacific," prepare to be floored: This "Carousel," staged by Charles Newell, the Court's artistic director, is the best Rodgers and Hammerstein revival I've ever seen.

Earlier, he wrote:

The truth, of course, is that the real artistic action is to be found Off Broadway and in America's regional theaters. One of the finest of the latter, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, is receiving this year's Regional Theatre Tony Award, the sole occasion on which the Tony nominators deign to acknowledge what everybody who cares about theater already knows, which is that Broadway today is less a center of serious artistic endeavor than a theme park for well-heeled tourists. You won't hear anyone saying that on June 15 -- not into a microphone, anyway.

Amen. And woo-hoo!

I'm embarassed to admit how long it took me to wrap my feeble brain around this. It did eventually make sense: ""Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo."

One reason I don't buy from Amazon (though I do patronize their partners for used books) is that I don't want to end up with a monopoly. Another (from David Unowsky):

Once, I gave this advice when speaking to a group of self-published authors. One of the authors said she didn’t know any booksellers to talk to. “What should I do?” she asked. I suggested that when she goes to a bookstore, she could strike up a conversation with one of the booksellers there and ask them for their opinion about her book idea. She then said that she never goes to a bookstore. “I do all my book shopping on Amazon.com,” she replied. In that case, I suggested that she should place her book for sale with Amazon and have her reading there. “But how would a reading on Amazon work?” she asked. “Doh!” said I.

Muse gagged over this news, and while I see no need for a remake, I actually think that if it must be done, Knightley is a good choice.

Short Stack is addictive. I really liked this recent one: Five Novels That Take on Real-Life Historical Puzzles

I should really read something by Penelope Fitzgerald before I'm the last person who hasn't.

Who would have thought Michel Houellebecq's life could contain more controversy? Sarkozy must be grateful.

Taking a childhood icon or toy and enacting something sexual is a cliche of adult play, but somehow this video works brilliantly. The footage is so well chosen and edited that I'm tempted to make a crazy statement like that it rises to the level of double explication (of the famous Miss Piggy character and of the singer Peaches, who I've never had a use for before). Warning: lyrics are not worksafe.