Arcadia and Vikings

kestrell and I went out today to see Bad Habit Production's performance of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia". In addition to such typical theatrical topics as sex, death, and literature, this play also concerns itself with such matters as fractals and the second law of thermodynamics. This was an excellent performance of an excellent play (one of Kes' all-time favorites), and is highly recommended. It's playing for just one more week, so hurry!

Sunday travel being uncertain, we usually leave with lots of time to spare, and end up talking about diverse subjects. I told Kes some anecdotes from _The Long Ships_ which I am in the midst of reading (full review anon). We talked about how those Vikings sure had a dry sense of humor, with lots of very straight-faced irony. And how violence was dealt with casually and also a subject for humor. And it suddenly seemed that they shared more than somewhat with the literary style of something else I've been reading to Kes lately, the stories of Damon Runyon. So naturally the next bit of story had to be about how Orm and his gang (including Bald Willie the Priest), after having ticked off Boss Sven, had to move up to the North Side, outside his territory, and set up their own liquor business thereby...

A pleasant Sunday indeed.