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Friday night ramble
Ho hum. I am home, sneezing, snuffling and coughing, while Greg is at the neighbours'. They rang up this morning and said they were having people over and to come; Greg, thinking it was a World Cup cricket party (the final's actually tomorrow), accepted without consulting me. I'm rather glad I'm full of cold because I suspect it's her trying to sell the magic plant sugar stuff she's always trying to talk us into buying. It's not Amway, it's some other crowd whose name I can't remember, and even though I'm probably missing out on yummy Indian nibbles, she'd be telling me that her sugar powders and pills would cure my cold or stop me getting one in the first place. [googles] Oh yes, it's Mannatech and the stuff is "glyconutrients".
Anyway. I know I've been quiet lately, but then LJ has been for me too. I've realised that almost all my old B7 friends have either disappeared or moved on to other things in the last few years which has put a crimp in my fannish life. I do enjoy a lot of other series but I just don't feel like writing for them, or even reading much (with the exception of Sherlock for which the fanfiction I've come across so far is of enormously high quality).
So, what am I watching?
West Wing - we came late to this as we often do, and I'm enjoying it a lot despite my abysmal grasp of just how American politics works (Greg is a great resource). My favourite characters are C J, Toby, Donna, Josh, and Jed Bartlet.
NCIS - another one we came late to. I don't watch all the eps; I avoid the ones about serial killers and women-haters (usually the same thing) and terrorists--yeah I have a thing about mass murderers) and I can't look at Ducky's autopsy scenes. I listen to them though because I love his rambles. Favourite characters are Abbye, McGee and Ziva (despite her disturbing past) and even Tony's not as infuriating as he was though I still wouldn't want to know the sleaze.
The Big Bang Theory - one of my favourites. Inspired comedy and a highlight of my viewing week.
Community - we just started watching this one. It's early days yet and I don't like the lead much but the others mostly make up for it. Favourites are Abed, Troy, and surprisingly, Britta who turned out to be not the blonde airhead she looks.
Miranda - quirky and very funny and wonderful, and the series is too. I wouldn't have taken so long to get to this if I'd realised it was Miranda Hart who was Teal in Hyperdrive. I normally don't like characters addressing the audience, but she does it brilliantly. [loves] Only House of Cards managed to do as well though in a different way. We are watching this too quickly. Soon we'll have eaten it all.
I need to get back to some series I've neglected lately too, but probably on my own: Eureka, Leverage, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives.
This week we really enjoyed Space Race, a BBC doco-drama about Sergei Korolev and Wernher von Braun from wartime to Apollo 11. A lot of this, especially the Russian side, was new to me; Korolev's identity and a lot of the incidents were secret for many years. But really, Robert Lindsay who did the narrative should have found out how to say Korolev's name (~ Korolyof). The actors managed it but Lindsay persisted in saying Koriolov, and they called his wife Nina instead of Xenia. Maybe Lindsay couldn't say Xenia (Ksenia)? They also used that old trope of having the Germans and Russians speak accented English--along with random stretches of German and Russian with subtitles. Private Schulz did it better with the Berliner Schulz having a Cockney accent. I must watch that again sometime.
Oh and there was surprise Stephen Greif in a small role as the American Colonel Toftoy. I almost didn't recognise him with the American accent. :-D
OK, I think that's enough rambling. Have a good weekend, everyone!
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I'm sorry I've drifted away from B7... I keep on telling myself it's a temporary drift... it's not as if I love it any less, it's just that other things keep on taking my attention. 8-(
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I think a lot of people have. There are a couple of new people including a Vila fan I'm writing a story for, but I rarely even write for
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Which reminds me, I really must fix the bugs which are holding up the launch of the finish-a-thon. Tomorrow!
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You have a Miranda icon! I must get one.
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These days my main passion is morris, but I still keep in touch with a lot of the old B7 people. I made a lot of good friends tehre.
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I met a lot of my friends through your site and the mailing lists you put me on to. :-)
Have you danced the Dark Morris? I read somewhere that some dancers did it for Pratchett and he said it was amazingly eerie and disturbing.
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Will tell you about dark morris some day when elbow isn't hurting...
(I have a certificate signed by Pterry)
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I never really liked it, even with David McCallum, who I've always loved
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I'm absolutely convinced there are a lot of other shows out there that I'd love if I just started watching - Big Bang Theory certainly sounds like one of them. But somehow (and I'm not sure how to explain this even to myself) there's a part of me that's reluctant to have too many interests at once... Perhaps it's to do with the fact that I find it difficult to hold back once I do get into something; it's all or nothing, and it feels like there's a limited amount of me to go around... Or something. I'm not sure. Anyway, at the moment I don't even have a tv-set, so I rarely get into things accidentally, instead choosing what to watch on the computer.
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I think you'd enjoy The Big Bang Theory. The main character, Sheldon, is definitely Aspie, and though we feared at first that the show was just laughing at geeks, it turned out not to be so. It's funny, affectionate, resonates with us and our interests, and we've come to love the characters, especially Sheldon.
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I’m always up for a good discussion! :-D (Though it’ll probably have to be slow-paced – I usually need some time to mull over my replies...!) On a related note, I’ve been meaning to ask you... If any of my little b7 fictions should ever reach a readable state (and I remain absurdly hopeful) would you be interested in acting as a beta reader? (for both language and content?)
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We've had excellent discussions in the past; I don't mind it they're slow and considered!
Of course I'll beta! Someone else (who usually writes manga fic) just asked me to beta ab Avon story, so yay, more B7 fic!
I know where I'm going with your story BTW; I just haven't done much writing with this cold (I'm a lot better but still feeling yuck) and... a new cat and the girls' reaction to him. I'll probably post about him today; I'll have to take some photos.
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Yay, story! I hope you don't feel stressed about it though, I'm happy to have something to wait for! :-)
Oh! Looking forward to pictures!
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I think most days it doesn't. :)
But, yeah, TWW is terrific, whether you know much about American politics or not.
And I have friends who keep trying to get me to watch Community. I didn't really see the appeal, until they showed me the one where everyone was playing Dungeons & Dragons, which was the most accurate depiction of tabletop gaming I've ever seen on TV, as well as being hilarious. If more of it is like that, I might have to go back and start watching it from the beginning.
Space Race sounds fascinating, fun with accents aside.. I'd never heard of it.
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We found Space Race by accident when Greg recorded the final ep. I refused to watch it till we'd seen the other three (and we really needed to) so we hired it from our version of your Netflix. It's well worth seeing if you can get hold of it, and I know it's available for download.
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1. Garrow, though highly principled, brave and basically a Good Egg, can also be vain, arrogant and pig-headed
2. Silvester, his fictional and actual opponent, the then foremost prosecutor at the Old Bailey, goes out of his way to sound totally cynical and say appalling things (though he hasn't yet done what his real-life model did and referred to the prisoners' list as "the bill of fare"); he also loves provoking Garrow, yet he clearly has an unwilling admiration for him and occasionally changes sides.
3. Garrow's relationship with John Southouse, the attorney who trained him, is complicated, as is Southouse; he's middle-aged among young men, can't as a solicitor appear in court himself though he knows more than most barristers, he's a widower who would seek solace in drink if Garrow didn't stop him and though he genuinely proud of Garrow as a pupil he also gets exasperated by him.
4. Garrow was of genuine historical importance; before the reforms he instigated, the defence counsel couldn't address the jury, or indeed do much else to defend their man. He initiated the whole adversarial style of representation we know now and while it too has its drawbacks, it gives the accused a far better chance than any other. He also exposed the evils of thief-takers. Garrow started out as a reforming firebrand with an irregular love life (Sarah is real too); later in his career, where they haven't yet got, he became politically far more conservative and effectively sided with government on most things, though he always maintained certain stances like his hatred of slave-owners, whom he wouldn't act for whatever the fee, and his championship of animal welfare causes. I'm hoping they go far enough to show this change and make some guess at why it happened. I think it's possible he was hoping to work from within the system, though in that case he gave up too much, or that like many of his time he got scared to the right by the French Revolution. I'm interested in that. But essentially a lot of the appeal is Garrow's cross-questioning of witnesses, which is lifted from life and is absolutely fizzing and forensic, wonderful to listen to.
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Haha, and I discovered Stephen Greif in one old VHS episode of The Saint (pssst, I watched at work wheny my boss was on holidays) with Ian Ogilvy. Haha, he played a villain.
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It's nice to hear what you've been watching. I haven't had time to watch anything lately. I keep meaning to watch TWW but know when I start I'll get sucked in and will end up owning all the DVDs.
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Thanks for the recs! I should have added White Collar (and Mad Men) to that list because it's one of the ones I watch but it's in hiatus now so I didn't think of it. That would be a great crossover! I'm not sure why but three eps of Sherlock have inspired the most wonderful fan fic. I hope we get more soon; maybe after the Hobbit filming. I should make a Sherlock and John icon.
Speaking of which, you have seen Martin Freeman as Vila in Blake's Junction 7, right? I can give you YouTube links if not.
And, um (looks at your icon), I'm picking up a black teenaged cat tomorrow, but he's a boy. :-D I'll post about him once he's here and settled in a bit.
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Some of the Sherlock fan fiction is pretty amazing isn't it, I am thoroughly enjoying my sojourn in the fandom I have to admit.
Also enjoy the Big Bang Theory. As to my TV watching, well I'm not until Doctor Who arrives or Fringe season 3 and Being human series 3, well apart forum the occasional Top Gear of course. :-)
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I don't think you've seen Blake's 7, but Martin Freeman is perfect for my favourite character, Vila (see icon), who has that same harassed and lovable look. OK, it's about rebels who oppose the Federation, the Supreme Commander of which is Servalan who swishes about in evening dresses. Rebel leader Blake left the show after two seasons; this is set after that but has a weird mix of characters who weren't in the crew at the same time. Oh well. Anyway it's set in a motorway junction on Earth for some reason and rocks.
Vila: sweet, lovable rogue, very much an overgrown boy
Avon: cynical and brilliant
Jenna and Dayna: tough women (all the women are tough
Gan: Big and loyal; hardly ever got lines
Servalan (Mckenzie Crook!): supreme commander after them
Travis: her sidekick and human Doberman
I think that should give you enough. but really, the humour's very much in knowing the original. It's only about 15 minutes in all.
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SZeZPWZuoA)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAvDfSd2B0w)
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McKenzie Crook makes a magnificent Servie. Yes, it was the same crowd who did the Adam Ant one.
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Awwww I saw a lovely black cat on the way to work and was petting it until some kids on scooters on the way to school rushed past and scared it off. I'm looking forward to seeing adorable kitty pictures.
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We loved West Wing for the first few seasons. CJ was a terrific character.
Hope you have a good weekend, too. :o)
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