"Beowulf" the Film

I have a new auto insurance company--Met Life--because Geico, whose ads on TV with that big Australian lizard are getting annoying, quoted me a new premium which was twice as much as Met Life. And to think I was with Geico since 1945. I think someone goofed, as is usual these days, but I didn't want to spend an hour on the phone before I got a humanoid to talk to me. Goofing occurs when goofies in the workplace are spending too much time socializing rather than paying attention to what they are doing...or what they must do. The cardiologist's office goofed also; we asked them to fax a prescription to Medco (our plan pharmacy) for medication requiring 2mg. Instead we got a bottle in the mail with the medication at 5mg. and Rhoda exploded into a 1000 tiny Rhodas with humongous irritation--no, not "irritation"--rather, fury. And when RH+ gets furious, and you're nearby, you better climb into the nearest foxhole. The meds cost us $55 and we cannot recover that. And so she went to the cardiology office personally to get the goofer to send the correct prescription to Medco. We're waiting.

Yesterday, I picked up the movie, "Beowulf" at Publix where there's a machine for renting a film for a dollar. Now, I taught "Beowulf" for about 30 years, and I was anxious to see how they could make a film of that epic piece of English literature. I was anxious to see how King Hrothgar and the warriors in the Mead Hall would fare against Grendel, the monster. Sure enough Grendel devoured half of them in the Mother of All Monster Dining. But then Beowulf came to the rescue and killed Grendel in a battle that would do well on TV like the new wrestling game that has two guys or more maiming each other in a cage. But then, of course, Grendel's mother emerged wrathfully and fully nude from the swamp she lived in. She was played by Angela Jolie who offered herself to Beowulf who confronted her and the rest is indeed, epic. However, the book is better then the movie which at times was completely silly--more like a cartoon than a realistic portrayal of a great hero. Oh well, I know that there are hundreds of my former students out there who will remember me when they opt to see that film, and many of them will see it because of me. It pleases me to think of it that way.