Many thanks! And some other stuff...
Jan. 8th, 2006 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annapurna_2Thank you guys so much for the lovely birthday wishes! It's much appreciated and makes me feel quite special. Big hugs to all. :-)
I had a great day but saved the real celebrating for this weekend. I was treated to a scrumptious birthday dinner and a murder mystery play, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Also hit a couple of art sales and snagged some oil paintings for my bedroom to go with my new decor, which is still very much a work in progress.
I was looking for a Georgia O'Keefe-type floral painting, much like I have in my living room, but opted instead for a couple of abstracts with a lovely color palette. I've never favored abstracts in the past, but I've found that changing in the last couple of years, though I'm still pretty picky. I normally lean more toward impressionism.
Now I just have to find the right frames since they didn't have anything that worked with these.
There are still so many![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
seasonal_spuffy stories and icons I haven't read/seen, it's not even funny. So I'm giving up on catching up in one fell swoop. Instead, I'll try to do it a little at a time. Don't be surprised if you eventually hear from me, say...oh, sometime next century? I figure better late than never.
Despite the busy weekend, I managed to get a little more written on Chapter 11 of "Marking Time." Plus, another scene from a chapter further down the road. Hope to get a bit more done tonight in between another try at de-cluttering and watching Masterpiece Theatre's "Henry VIII" offering.
I'm really looking forward to Henry, though with mixed feelings. It feels like so many of their recent programs don't hold a candle to the good old days when MT was hosted by Alistair Cooke (may he rest in peace, poor man) and was in its prime. As good as the recent "The Virgin Queen" was, for me it fell far short of the delicious "Elizabeth R." Largely because TVQ condensed the story down into a four-hour movie while E presented a far more layered and nuanced saga over the course of several hours. Plus, I just love productions that make me feel like I'm watching a stage play, rather than a film. (i.e. "I, Claudius", etc.)
And let's face it. Glenda Jackson still owns that role and probably always will. Heh.
Anyway, since I also loved "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," I may not help but draw comparisons there, too. But I'm going to try very, very hard to judge (and enjoy) this new production on its own merits.
I'll let you know. ;-)
So is anyone else planning to watch?
ETA: Turns out I was wrong. I checked the PBS site for more info on this production and it isn’t new. Seems it’s aired previously. Odd that I missed it, but I’m glad I’m catching it this time around. “Henry VIII” -- and particularly Ray Winstone in the title role – is totally kicking ass. :-)
I had a great day but saved the real celebrating for this weekend. I was treated to a scrumptious birthday dinner and a murder mystery play, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Also hit a couple of art sales and snagged some oil paintings for my bedroom to go with my new decor, which is still very much a work in progress.
I was looking for a Georgia O'Keefe-type floral painting, much like I have in my living room, but opted instead for a couple of abstracts with a lovely color palette. I've never favored abstracts in the past, but I've found that changing in the last couple of years, though I'm still pretty picky. I normally lean more toward impressionism.
Now I just have to find the right frames since they didn't have anything that worked with these.
There are still so many
seasonal_spuffy stories and icons I haven't read/seen, it's not even funny. So I'm giving up on catching up in one fell swoop. Instead, I'll try to do it a little at a time. Don't be surprised if you eventually hear from me, say...oh, sometime next century? I figure better late than never.Despite the busy weekend, I managed to get a little more written on Chapter 11 of "Marking Time." Plus, another scene from a chapter further down the road. Hope to get a bit more done tonight in between another try at de-cluttering and watching Masterpiece Theatre's "Henry VIII" offering.
I'm really looking forward to Henry, though with mixed feelings. It feels like so many of their recent programs don't hold a candle to the good old days when MT was hosted by Alistair Cooke (may he rest in peace, poor man) and was in its prime. As good as the recent "The Virgin Queen" was, for me it fell far short of the delicious "Elizabeth R." Largely because TVQ condensed the story down into a four-hour movie while E presented a far more layered and nuanced saga over the course of several hours. Plus, I just love productions that make me feel like I'm watching a stage play, rather than a film. (i.e. "I, Claudius", etc.)
And let's face it. Glenda Jackson still owns that role and probably always will. Heh.
Anyway, since I also loved "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," I may not help but draw comparisons there, too. But I'm going to try very, very hard to judge (and enjoy) this new production on its own merits.
I'll let you know. ;-)
So is anyone else planning to watch?
ETA: Turns out I was wrong. I checked the PBS site for more info on this production and it isn’t new. Seems it’s aired previously. Odd that I missed it, but I’m glad I’m catching it this time around. “Henry VIII” -- and particularly Ray Winstone in the title role – is totally kicking ass. :-)
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Date: 2006-01-15 05:28 pm (UTC)That's right! I'd forgotten all those nick names - all so colorful and descriptive too... Yes. Spike would have appreciated them. As a matter of fact, I can see the young boy William thrilling to JFC's books in Victorian England. Perhaps Spike's penchant for nicknames can be traced in part back to Cooper's early influence!
I also loved the American answer to Upstairs, Downstairs, which was a very short-lived series called Beacon Hill. Wish they'd had VCRs then to record it, but no such luck. I think I must have been one of five people who saw it.
So, that must have been you, me, and three others then *g*. Amazing how so many crap series have been successful when most of the truly substanative, quality ones are shot down.
Possibly the best thing I've ever seen on TV is Dennis Potter's Pennies From Heaven.
Wow. I'll have to look for that. I've only seen the Steve Martin version from back in the 80s, I think.
As much as I adore Bernadette Peters the movie boar only the most superficial reselemblance to the original BBC series. To be fair, it may had some merit as a light, entertaining film with an element of pathos thrown in but it's hard for me to judge. I only saw it on TV long ago and I don't believe I lasted through the half way point, let alone the end. I know that I said I could enjoy a quality production of something that already existed as a definitive creation in an earlier incarnation. But the movie was so light, and fast and...two dimensional that it just pained me to watch it. I haven't seen the movie version of Singing Detective starring Robert Downey Jr, who I like very much and have much respect for as an actor, but I suspect I'd feel the same way. (You didn't mention if you'd ever seen or heard of that one.)