I recently spent $80 on a 14-DVD set collection of A&E/BBC miniseries (it was totally worth every penny and I would have paid more for it). The DVDs included:
Pride & Prejudice (the single greatest miniseries ever created with the possible exception of Anne of Green Gables)
Victoria & Albert (which I first saw as a sophomore in college when it first came out)
Ivanhoe
Emma
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Lorna Doone
Tom Jones
Jane Eyre
Here comes the fourth review: Jane Eyre
I wasn't entirely sure how I would feel about this miniseries. I've seen other versions and it's always hard to be objective when you have something else to compare it to. This version of Jane Eyre, however, was delightful. Ciaran Hinds as Mr. Rochester was deliciously deranged and almost insanely passionate--everything a true Mr. Rochester should be. Samantha Morton did a lovely job repressing her emotions while still allowing enough of them to show that the audience felt what she felt every step of the way. Gemma Jones was also in the miniseries as it had been at least two weeks since I watched a British movie that she wasn't in and she was overdue.
My one complaint is that the relationship between Mr. Rochester and Jane could use a little more build up before it's obvious that the two of them are in love. Mr. Rochester meets Jane, she wows him with her spirit, and the next thing you know, he's sharing the most important--well, second most important--part of his past with her, with only one line about them taking many walks together to explain. Ten minutes past that, however, it's easy to forget their budding relationship was rushed.
My favorite parts included Mr. Rochester turning into a giant baby throwing a temper tantrum. You'll have to watch to see what I mean, but it's thoroughly delightful. And the ending's not bad either.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Perfect Society
The date:
The time:
The activity: Prereading questions over Lois Lowry’s The Giver
The people: A group of 4 15-year-old boys … and one English teacher nearby eavesdropping
Okay, question #1. Have you ever read another book by Lois Lowry. If so, what was it about?
Yeah, we read that one in sixth grade.
Yeah, what was that called?
Something about dogs and
Wait, was it that one about the Holocaust?
Oh yeah—it was.
You can’t remember it was about the Holocaust, but you remember there were dogs and a freaking picnic basket in the story?
Attention to detail, my friend.
Moving on. Let’s answer question two. You guys, what was the story about?
People died.
People cried.
You guys are doing it wrong. You’re supposed to put what you thought about the book, not what it was about. So put … [in a monotone voice] it was good.
Yeah, it was good, it was … extravagant.
It was inspirational.
Put stars around “inspirational”.
Yeah, so she knows it’s good.
Bunnies!! Lots of bunnies.
Penguins can fly.
Air-powered cars.
Lots of water.
With floodgates. [Defending his choice] What? We don’t want to die from the rain.
No guns. Wait, let’s have guns! … BUBBLE guns.
Law #1: Everyone must have a bubble gun on them at all times.
Lots of machines that do our work.
Robots!
Willy Wonka exists.
There’s sand everywhere!! We live on a beach.
Everyone’s rich!
(scoffing) That wouldn’t work—everyone can’t be rich!
Oh, Willy Wonka can exist but everyone can’t be rich?!?
Okay, okay, here’s what we should do: Let’s take off the beach thing. That wouldn’t work. We’d all have to drive SVUs for that to work.
Good point.
So cross off the beach thing and just leave everyone is rich. If anyone argues the point with us, we’ll just say we meant everyone’s rich with …
Love! Everyone’s rich with love.
Except us. We’re rich with money.
Just us?
Yeah. And that’s how we know it’s a perfect society. Because *we’re* the happy ones. We have money and lots of pet bunnies. What could be better?
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Another Day, Another Blogger ... named Rixie
So I was in the process of googling "rixie" to try to find the etymology of the name, and came across another blog about another Rixie. I began reading it and was horrified to discover that this Rixie was a Republican, who not only was extremely conservative, but also condemning Democrats for continuing to vote Ted Kennedy into office. She went on to say that the red Southern states were often criticized as being "clueless" or "uneducated." Her question was if the red Southern states (of which she, apparently, is a part of) are so "clueless" and "uneducated", why is it the educated and with-it (my words, not hers) blue Northern states that keep electing Ted Kennedy?
Her point, mind you, as far as I could tell, was that despite being seen as "uneducated" and "clueless" (her words, not mine), the red Southern states were actually the smarter and "with-it" states. And while I'm sure she had other points beyond that first paragraph, I did not still stick around long enough to find out what it was. (Well, I'll admit, I skimmed and read a part where she defended Rush Limbaugh's actions by saying what he did was not nearly as bad as what some Democrats had done, at which point I closed out the window completely. Without getting too political, anyone who defends Rush L. is obviously uneducated and clueless.) The point is, however, I did not stick around any longer, because while she was trying to prove that they were not "uneducated" and "clueless", she managed to spell the following words wrong: prescription, alibi (she spelled it "aliby"), and allowed (she spelled it aloud).
And that, class, is why we study homonyms. And irony.
Class dismissed.
Her point, mind you, as far as I could tell, was that despite being seen as "uneducated" and "clueless" (her words, not mine), the red Southern states were actually the smarter and "with-it" states. And while I'm sure she had other points beyond that first paragraph, I did not still stick around long enough to find out what it was. (Well, I'll admit, I skimmed and read a part where she defended Rush Limbaugh's actions by saying what he did was not nearly as bad as what some Democrats had done, at which point I closed out the window completely. Without getting too political, anyone who defends Rush L. is obviously uneducated and clueless.) The point is, however, I did not stick around any longer, because while she was trying to prove that they were not "uneducated" and "clueless", she managed to spell the following words wrong: prescription, alibi (she spelled it "aliby"), and allowed (she spelled it aloud).
And that, class, is why we study homonyms. And irony.
Class dismissed.
Monday, May 08, 2006
The Death of PurplePuppy
My sister made me a little PurplePuppy out of origami. I carried it around in my laptop so I would always have something purple and pretty to look at for inspiration. And now Darcy has eaten PurplePuppy. Well, not eaten actually. Chewed. She likes to chew, not swallow. So she chewed PurplePuppy. And now the inspiration appears to be gone.
So concludes this entry. Good-bye PurplePuppy.
So concludes this entry. Good-bye PurplePuppy.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Last night
10:00 Think to myself: I'll just stay up for another hour or so. I'm not tired at all!!
10:30 I'll get into bed and watch Arrested Development. Or maybe be a rebel and watch two.
11:00 Open book. Can't find place. Read three pages. Seems vaguely familiar.
11:03 Realize already read those three pages last night. Nothing more annoying than when you want to read and can't remember where you were, and read three pages and realize you already read it.
11:11 I'll watch more Arrested Development and knit. Yes, that's right: KNIT. I'm making a trendy, fashionable scarf. It's currently two inches long. Go me!!
11:37 Consider turning off the TV and going to bed. Have school tomorrow. Should be well-rested.
12:01 Or whatever.
12:15 Have now watched entire disc. Will either have to get out of bed to switch to the next disc or turn Arrested Development off.
12:16 Turn TV off. Still not feeling tired, so decide to read.
12:20 Finally find correct spot in book. Tell self will only read for 20 minutes.
1:01 Look at clock. Marvel at how time flies when you've got to get up in six hours and don't want to go to sleep.
1:02 Turn out light.
1:03 Yawn.
1:04 Try to play the ABC game with myself to get mind to settle down. Topic: Characters on television shows I watch.
A is for Ana Lucia
B is for Barbara Walters (she counts as a character, right? Surely that can't really be her personality!
C is for ...
1:05 Am stuck. And bored.
1:06 Abandon game.
1:07 Wonder if anyone has actually ever counted sheep.
1:08 Get up and turn heat down.
1:09 Decide while I'm up, might as well pick out clothes to wear for tomorrow.
1:32 Decide on brown cropped pants and short sleeved T-shirt if it is going to be nice; black pants, black boots, and sweater if it's going to be like I think it will be tomorrow
1:33 Check weather. Supposed to be 56 degrees and rainy. Reluctantly hang the cropped pants and short sleeved shirt back in the closet, knowing full well will pull them out again and wear them in the morning regardless of the weather.
1:36 Go back to bed.
1:38 Get out of bed to drink glass of water.
1:44 Decide must seriously concentrate on getting to sleep.
1:57 Have to pee. Bad. Damn water.
1:59 Do the math: if I fall asleep now, I can still get five hours of sleep.
2:18 Have to pee. Again. Damn water.
2:21 Figure as long as I'm up ...
2:22 Do some online research. Check all my favorite sites: tvguide.com, stephen colbert's site, jennifer crusie's site, meg cabot's site, imdb.com, sister's blog, read an article by Tom Hanks about his make-up artist, read an article about the Daytime Emmy results, veronica mars site, etc.
3:02 Have checked all the sites, and oddly, none have been updated since I last checked (about five hours previous)
3:03 Check own blog to see if it was magically updated by someone other than me.
3:04 Sadly, no.
3:05 Ponder what else I can research.
3:26 End up reading telepathic stories about identical twins. Freaky!!
3:27 Drink a mug of warm milk.
3:32 Begin to feel sleepy.
3:33 Go back to bed. If I fall asleep now, I can get three and a half hours of sleep.
3:45 If I fall asleep now, I can still get three hours of sleep.
3:54 If I fall asleep now, I can ...
still get three hours of sleep. Open eyes to look at clock. 6:54. DAMMIT!!!
10:30 I'll get into bed and watch Arrested Development. Or maybe be a rebel and watch two.
11:00 Open book. Can't find place. Read three pages. Seems vaguely familiar.
11:03 Realize already read those three pages last night. Nothing more annoying than when you want to read and can't remember where you were, and read three pages and realize you already read it.
11:11 I'll watch more Arrested Development and knit. Yes, that's right: KNIT. I'm making a trendy, fashionable scarf. It's currently two inches long. Go me!!
11:37 Consider turning off the TV and going to bed. Have school tomorrow. Should be well-rested.
12:01 Or whatever.
12:15 Have now watched entire disc. Will either have to get out of bed to switch to the next disc or turn Arrested Development off.
12:16 Turn TV off. Still not feeling tired, so decide to read.
12:20 Finally find correct spot in book. Tell self will only read for 20 minutes.
1:01 Look at clock. Marvel at how time flies when you've got to get up in six hours and don't want to go to sleep.
1:02 Turn out light.
1:03 Yawn.
1:04 Try to play the ABC game with myself to get mind to settle down. Topic: Characters on television shows I watch.
A is for Ana Lucia
B is for Barbara Walters (she counts as a character, right? Surely that can't really be her personality!
C is for ...
1:05 Am stuck. And bored.
1:06 Abandon game.
1:07 Wonder if anyone has actually ever counted sheep.
1:08 Get up and turn heat down.
1:09 Decide while I'm up, might as well pick out clothes to wear for tomorrow.
1:32 Decide on brown cropped pants and short sleeved T-shirt if it is going to be nice; black pants, black boots, and sweater if it's going to be like I think it will be tomorrow
1:33 Check weather. Supposed to be 56 degrees and rainy. Reluctantly hang the cropped pants and short sleeved shirt back in the closet, knowing full well will pull them out again and wear them in the morning regardless of the weather.
1:36 Go back to bed.
1:38 Get out of bed to drink glass of water.
1:44 Decide must seriously concentrate on getting to sleep.
1:57 Have to pee. Bad. Damn water.
1:59 Do the math: if I fall asleep now, I can still get five hours of sleep.
2:18 Have to pee. Again. Damn water.
2:21 Figure as long as I'm up ...
2:22 Do some online research. Check all my favorite sites: tvguide.com, stephen colbert's site, jennifer crusie's site, meg cabot's site, imdb.com, sister's blog, read an article by Tom Hanks about his make-up artist, read an article about the Daytime Emmy results, veronica mars site, etc.
3:02 Have checked all the sites, and oddly, none have been updated since I last checked (about five hours previous)
3:03 Check own blog to see if it was magically updated by someone other than me.
3:04 Sadly, no.
3:05 Ponder what else I can research.
3:26 End up reading telepathic stories about identical twins. Freaky!!
3:27 Drink a mug of warm milk.
3:32 Begin to feel sleepy.
3:33 Go back to bed. If I fall asleep now, I can get three and a half hours of sleep.
3:45 If I fall asleep now, I can still get three hours of sleep.
3:54 If I fall asleep now, I can ...
still get three hours of sleep. Open eyes to look at clock. 6:54. DAMMIT!!!
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