Rocco Maiolo's Ramblings and Musings

Larry Sirranni, aka, Super Mario Yesterday I was at a retirement party for a man who is wholly human, doubtlessly flawed and yet -- dare I use the word? --great in what he has accomplished in his vocation as an educator. The point of this blog is not to honour the man, Larry Sirianni , although he is quite worthy of being honoured (as was he in the many speeches given on June 4 at the Thundering Waters Golf Course in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada). The point of this blog is to look at the concept of greatness. What makes Larry great -- what makes anyone great -- is that in his vocation he did not settle for the ordinary. He approached every minute, every day, every student, every colleague with the conviction that everyone, himself included, could be better after the encounter. As I watched Larry being so rightly honoured I found myself having many divergent thoughts. Is it then what a person does that makes him great? Does the greatness ( largeness , scope) lie in the magnit...

I and my grade 10's are watching Pacino's Merchant of Venice . Wow, what a tough film to do well (as a comedy?!). The court scene is so riveting/emotional and then you have to follow that up with this light comic banter about the rings. But the bard knew what he was up to, I guess. Jessica is conspicuously silent during Act 5. I'd love to know how Shakespeare would have directed his actor to play the Jessica character during Act 5... A Stratford production I saw once had Antonio and Jessica left alone on opposite sides of the stage with their letters. They look up from their reading, glare at each other and exit. .. In the Pacino version... I forget... but I'm watching it now... Okay, here it comes: very brief few seconds with Jessica and Lancelot looking at each other uncomfortably/almost guiltily. And -- tellingly -- the last 2 scenes are (1) Shylock being literally shut out of his synagogue and (2) Jessica fingering her turquoise which, rumour had it, she had traded ...