Eeesh. Not counting the old version of the website. 
I'd just like to say thanks to Weebly. You've been great.

Here's something from the first month:

Shakespeare's Life and Key Inventions

Historical context: As outlined  in Harold Bloom's book "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," before Shakespeare, most of the emotions you recognise as “human” had not been developed or branded. Broadly: people were born, had lots of kids, and died. 

1564 Shakespeare born. Parents begin planning next child.
1585-92 “Lost years.” During this time he splintered his soul into a five part horcrux with Bacon, Marlow, de Vere and Elizabeth I.
1593 In his state of the art word laboratory, develops what he brands “love” and writes Romeo and Juliet as a marketing vehicle. Ben Jonson calls DiCaprio’s performance “histrionic.” Teenage girls disagree.
1590s Spurred by his success with “love," works through a series of increasingly well received projects such as “misogyny” “anti-semitism” and “xenophobia” all of which prove globally popular in following centuries.
1595 Begins work on his most ambitious project, "human nature". Ben Jonson sceptical.
1596 Drunk on his own success, and on a whim, builds theatre shaped like a big donut.
1600 "Human nature" invented by Shakespeare and unveiled in a four hour stunt nicknamed “Hamlet”. So successful it remains largely unmodified for 400 years. Ben Jonson unimpressed.
1604-10 Writes “problem plays” like Measure for Measure, fills them with problems such as wacky word puzzles, secret codes, and I-spy challenges, to give modern scholars something to do with all their time.
1611 All earlier achievements dwarfed by the stage direction “exit pursued by a bear” in The Winter’s Tale.

I've been enjoying those light boxes on the corner of Courtney Place and Taranaki Street recently. There's a new exhibition there this week.  I haven't had a proper look yet, but I know that I'll have time to get to know it since I pass by there several times a week. I think that's a real advantage that these works have over work in a gallery- because I didn't make a special trip and I know I'll return, I don't feel the need to “figure out” a response or opinion of the work first time I'm there. With the images on the street, I wend my way through a series of images over and over again, in different moods and in different light and weather, and sometimes I'll stop and look at one of them or several in more detail.  I get to like them one day and not like them the next, and then like them again, on my terms. That seems fair- after all, that's my footpath they're on.

The topic of today's thread is: 

What's happening with these  "reaction videos" online? Are our own experiences so thin, scattered and inauthentic that we must turn to videos of other people "reacting" to the new Star Wars trailer in order to vicariously enjoy their responses?  Why are we unable to feel present in and value our own experiences as they occur? What is eluding us here, what is slipping from our grasp?  Is technology to blame?

As usual, be spirited and forthright your discussion, but remember the eight "G"s:

Generosity
Genuine Curiosity
Gregariousness
Golden rule-compliant
Gentility
Graciousness
Grandmother-safe
Goes-around-comes-around

A useful mnemonic to remember these by is " God's Grandmother Gertrude Gave Gay Gandalf Great Golfing Gloves"

Comments not adhering to the eight G's will be moderated.
If your idea is unoriginal, be sure to provide proper references. YES WE DO CHECK and YES WE WILL CATCH YOU.
Comments that do not contribute to the wider human project may be removed.