On Madness

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Act 5, Scene 1

HAMLET
How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the
card, or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord,
Horatio, these three years I have taken a note of
it; the age is grown so picked that the toe of the
peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he
gaffs his kibe. How long hast thou been a
grave-maker?

First Clown
Of all the days i' the year, I came to't that day
that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.

HAMLET
How long is that since?

First Clown
Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that: it
was the very day that young Hamlet was born; he that
is mad, and sent into England.

HAMLET
Ay, marry, why was he sent into England?
First Clown
Why, because he was mad: he shall recover his wits
there; or, if he do not, it's no great matter there.

HAMLET
Why?

First Clown
'Twill, a not be seen in him there; there the men
are as mad as he.

HAMLET
How came he mad?

First Clown
Very strangely, they say.

HAMLET
How strangely?

First Clown
Faith, e'en with losing his wits.

HAMLET
Upon what ground?

First Clown
Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton here, man
and boy, thirty years.

HAMLET
How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he rot?

First Clown
I' faith, if he be not rotten before he die--as we
have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce
hold the laying in--he will last you some eight year
or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year.

HAMLET
Why he more than another?

First Clown
Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, that
he will keep out water a great while; and your water
is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body.
Here's a skull now; this skull has lain in the earth
three and twenty years.

HAMLET
Whose was it?

Hamlet and Horatio are wandering in a churchyard where they meet some clowns digging graves. The clown Hamlet speaks to in this section does not know he is speaking to the Prince of Denmark. The bold six word sentence below explains so much about why Hamlet is considered mad.

Hamlet is considered mad because he has faith, even though he is losing his wits. Faith is the most threatening thing to those with illegitimate power. Faith gives Hamlet the ability to speak truth to power, no matter how offensive it is. 


Check out HAMLET_HULK talk to TEAPARTYHULK and SARAHPALINHULK on Twitter today. What shall become of it all?


Warm Regards,


Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey 
Established 1782

Gracias a la Vida

Hamlet Hulk on Twitter and Facebook

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Published Again - Nov. 7, 2010

Read the letter at the DailyRecord.com.

Man wants to stay and fight for New Jersey

Letters to the Editor
Daily Record - November 7, 2010

An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to "get out of New Jersey" the other day. That phrase comes up a lot and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?

I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don't know anything else.

I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating; but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state. How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonement is not a solution.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: "A man who hasn't found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live."

If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I'm crazy. But so was King.

Erik B. Anderson

Nuh Badda Badda Mi

a yuh fadda fault! nuh badda mi!



mi tink shi dun

Fallacy of the Day

The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern:

Person A has position X.
Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
Person B attacks position Y.
Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.

This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position simply does not constitute an attack on the position itself. One might as well expect an attack on a poor drawing of a person to hurt the person.

More at the Nizkor Project

What Doesn't Belong to Me - Sinead O'Connor Live

Gas Explosion in Manchester

A close friend of mine lost her house in this.

Congressman Garrett is "More Appropriate Than Thou"

Update: Garrett debate canceled amid security concerns

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY OCTOBER 28, 2010, 2:16 PM 

BY HERB JACKSON - THE BERGEN RECORD - STAFF WRITER

A scheduled debate today featuring Rep. Scott Garrett was abruptly cancelled by a Warren County radio station last night because of what the news director said were "security concerns."

Joyce Estey, news director for WRNJ, would not provide details about what happened, but she said station management decided to cancel the debate.

A spokesman for Garrett, R-Wantage, would not respond to a call and email for comment, but his office has had run-ins in the past with Mark Quick, an independent candidate in the race who was scheduled to participate.

Quick, a mason and landscaper from Frelinghuysen Township in Warren County, has been a vocal critic of Garrett. He has complained he cannot grow his business because competitors can hire illegal aliens with impunity.

Read more about what not to say when running for Congress (ex. "I'm the biggest...threat he's ever faced.")

this is a cover song I plan on doing at the next open mic

I'm working on 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago next. I'd like to see Sinead try that one.

Song of the Day - 11-3-2010 - Sign of the Southern Cross