Standard time

And by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd...
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2

I woke up at my usual time yesterday and today. The problem is, it was 3:20 instead of 4:20. The sleep-challenged don't buy that spiel about how "falling back" gives you an extra hour of sleep. Maybe for teenagers and others easily fooled by alarm clocks. Now the trick for us habitual early risers is staying awake past 8 pm on dark cold nights. Otherwise you're up like clockwork in the wee hours, which makes for a very long day and causes you to want wine and dinner at 4 in the afternoon. Anyway! You can see how old and grouchy I'm getting.

Three hours of Hamlet on DVD sounds more like a cure for insomnia than a way to stay awake, but this 2009 production by the Royal Shakespeare Company is excellent and dashes right along. Staging a historical play in a contemporary setting is usually just a distraction and often a flop (in my opinion) but some of the touches in this production are just right. King Claudius in a business suit could be a corporate power player, and Hamlet, dressed in T-shirt and jeans like Jimmy Dean, is the waffler and rebel. Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame) is the cast stand-out as Claudius. If you like this sort of thing now and then, you can't do better than watching the Royal Shakespeare Company.