Assorted Ramblings...

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:55:16 GMT

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14:34 Rehearsals for Xmas Concert all day tomorrow and Tues am. Have set cover work for tomorrow, basically quizzes of all sorts. #
14:34 I hope cover staff know the answers! #

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GIP

caz963@livejournal.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:37:10 GMT

We've gone a bit Doctor Who mad here the past few weeks, because both Watch and BBC 3 have been showing different seasons each weeknight, one a 6pm and one at 7, so it's been a veritable fest of awesome hair and geeky glasses.

But this icon says it all about the one thing I'm not looking forward to this Christmas *sob*

On a brighter note though, if you haven't already seen this post, then I suggest a visit may well brighten your day, as I think there's something there for everyone!

My other selections -

and

*g*

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:55:20 GMT

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18:24 Finished marking loads of homework and one classfull of French tests. Made room for much more of the same next week :( #
20:53 What's happened to "The Now Show" podcasts?? I'm crap at remembering to listen to stuff on iPlayer :( #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:55:11 GMT

gatsbyfan posted a fabulous video of Bohemian Rhapsody a la muppets the other day, and it reminded me of something.

Much as I love the song, I can't hear it nowadays without recalling the stupendous version which was released by Bad News in the 90s.

For anyone who's in doubt, it's a spoof by the guys from The Comic Strip, Peter Richardson, Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall and Nigel Planer - and yes, it is Bryan May totally cocking things up on the guitar! I've just listened to it for the first time in ages, and seriously, I've got tears rolling down my face and Mr Caz has just handed me my asthma inhaler.

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:55:25 GMT

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20:34 Where'd the weekend go? I haven't done half the things I wanted to - kids are ill which doesn't help :( #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:55:14 GMT

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23:25 I love Harry Connick Jr, and I love this song, But er... together, they don't work for me... #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:55:18 GMT

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20:42 My cat is trying to sit on the keyboard. #
20:47 Not being able to sit ON the keyboard, she is now sitting as close as possible giving me the evil eye as only a cat can. #

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The Waters of Mars

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:49:44 GMT

Well, I've been looking forward to this one for a while, and I wasn't disappointed. It did seem to be "two episodes in one"; although I'm not complaining one bit.

First of all, we had a classic Who setting - weird happenings on a space station populated by humans (but on a different planet)in the near future. I thought the idea of using water as the "baddie" was inspired - and again, one of those things that good sci-fi does best, taking something commonplace and turning it into a threat. So I liked the premise and the set up - and the whole thing was overshadowed by a sense of foreboding. Once he realised "when" he was, the Doctor couldn't jump in and save the day - the sense of frustrated resignation Tennant conveyed was palpable.

If there was a weakness in the episode (and I'm sure there will be some who are only too ready to point them out!) it was that we never really got to the bottom of the "water" story. We assume that the aliens want to get to Earth because of the water, but that's never really tied up - or maybe I missed something. An occupational hazard when you're watching with kids, because there are invariably questions - "Mummy, why did they do that?" etc. But I can live with that because the rest of the story was so awesome.

Lindsay Duncan was fabulous. A no-nonsense military type, yet a romantic at heart - she was more than a match for the Doctor. I loved the scene where she tells the Doctor about her encounter with the dalek; there was a real sense of a strong bond there.

But the real meat, for me, was reserved for the last 15 minutes or so. The Doctor walks away because he has to, listening as he goes to the inhabitants of the station dying one by one (gut-wrenching). And then, after the escape shuttle has blown up, he decides he's had enough, goes back and appears like some sort of avenging angel - and saves those who are left anyway.

That scene at the end - gah! The Doctor at his most arrogant and dangerous - the only rules from now on are HIS rules, and tough if you don't like 'em. Adelaide's comment that he needs someone harks back to Donna's "you need someone to stop you" way back in The Runaway Bride. And yes, clearly he does need someone to do just that - to pull him back from the brink when - as here - he goes too far. And then we see the Ood - oh, they're just piling on the foreshadowing now, and I love it!

Like many, I'm going to be incredibly sorry to see David Tennant leave the show - he's made the role his own and will be sorely missed. But on the other hand, I'm sure his exit will be spectacular, and I'm really looking forward to the Christmas specials. I think I shall have to ban visitors from the house and gag the kids.

caz963@livejournal.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:55:10 GMT

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20:06 I've not been following X-Factor this year - but it does seem that Louis always gets the really crappy acts! #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:24:07 GMT

Merlin was pretty good tonight - full of difficult choices for our eponymous hero and a chance for Colin Morgan and Bradley James to show off a bit of acting chops.

Is the point of this season to make us think that Uther is a complete arsehole? He was always high-handed and pig-headed, but this season, he's nasty and I'm rapidly getting to the stage where I don't give a toss what happens to him. One of the best things to come out of the first season, especially in the later episodes, was the father/son interaction between him and Arthur, and you could actually see that theirs was a strong, if sometimes turbulent relationship. There was a lot in there about Arthur never thinking that he was quite good enough and always having to prove himself. I suppose there comes a time when a son has to step out from behind his father's shadow, but I'm fast losing patience with Uther as a character. I'm not an expert on Arthurian legend, so I'm not familiar with how he appears there, and let's face it, the creators of Merlin aren't exactly staying completely faithful to the legends anyway - but ... what a wanker.

Also - wft with Morgana? I think the writers have run out of things for her to do - she's been woefully underused this season, other than in that episode where she ran away to the Druids. Again, I get that the creators of a show like this aren't going to want to rush their hand because they've got a successful show and want to ensure that it runs for a few more seasons. But again, there's a well-known legend underlying all this, and at some point, they're going to have to let 'their' characters follow those paths.

Very naive of me, I know, but there's a lot to be said and done and I'm starting to wonder when they're going to get on with it!

caz963@livejournal.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:55:19 GMT

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04:29 Anyone know a cure for snoring that doesn't involve pillows or a blunt object? #
21:22 Came to bed an hour ago because I couldn't keep my eyes open and now I can't sleep. Bugger. #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:55:17 GMT

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07:29 Still feel like crap, so no school for me today. Have spent over an hour writing cover lessons and am now going back to bed :( #

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cough, sniffle

caz963@livejournal.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:27:08 GMT

I'm not going into work today. I've been sitting at the laptop for the last hour and a bit writing cover lessons but they are at last done and emailed in and I can go back to bed. Well, I can, once I've managed to get through on the phone to let them know I'm not coming in. I've been trying to leave a message since before 6 - what is it with the bloody phone system?

Also - X is ill as well, so we're both off. Not surprising, I suppose, that we'd get the same germs!

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:55:19 GMT

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08:18 Thought I might be lucky and avoid the lurgy. No such luck :-( I feel like crap and am in wheezing mode again. #

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shakes fist at BBC!!

caz963@livejournal.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:33:59 GMT

Why the hell can't TV channels just leave their bloody programme schedules ALONE?? Merlin was on so early tonight, I missed it. Most weeks it's been on after 6pm, but tonight it was on at 5.40. Which I found out at 6.20.

Wankers.

caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:55:22 GMT

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14:30 “f*n” | Learning is delightful and delicious ... - shar.es/axEzm #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:55:15 GMT

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16:22 Mmmmm... baking Halloween cookies and Pumpkin Pie. #
20:59 This trend among the talent shows to string out the results really pisses me off. Why do they do it? #
21:03 Waayhaaaay! Victoria Wood is on my TV :) #
21:11 Hubby has just reminded me that watching Victoria Wood is not good for my health. *asthmatic wheeze*! #

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Heh.

caz963@livejournal.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:50:43 GMT

At the end of this episode of Merlin -

Arthur - "What are you doing?"
Merlin - "I thought you were going for a hug".

Me - "Boy, did you get that wrong."

:-)

caz963@livejournal.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:55:12 GMT

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15:31 Been wandering around the British Museum. The Egyptian and Middle Eastern sculpture never loses the "wow" factor #
15:34 Also a wow factor - 12 quid to get into the Montezuma exhib. As in "wow - HOW MUCH??!" #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:55:20 GMT

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09:16 Watched "Up" last night. Glad it was on DVD and not at the cinema - I was snivelling after the first five minutes! #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:55:21 GMT

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09:50 It's been so long, I think I've forgotten how to tweet! #

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caz963@livejournal.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:59:52 GMT

Scaling the Heights. Not. | Learning is delightful and delicious ...

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A little bit of schadenfreude

caz963@livejournal.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:11:13 GMT

Anyone who's ever beta-read a story of mine, or to whom I've ever spoken at length about writing fic will know that one of my greatest concerns is that of avoiding repetition, especially when writing smut. After all, there are only a limited number of euphemisms for certain acts and certain parts of the body - and I'm well aware that it's all too easy to be walking on the wrong side of that fine line between smut that's hot and smut that's (unintentionally) funny.

Imagine my smugness when I discovered the other day that even published authors are prone to slipping on the metaphorical banana skin and getting it completely wrong.

I came across these excerpts from a Harlequin (that's Mills & Boon to those of us on this side of the pond) title, courtesy of a blog I sometimes read. In it, the very alpha-male hero is in the process of seducing the feisty, flame-haired heroine and things are really hotting up.

Down ever down, he moved, across the white hollow of her stomach to the glistening silken Titian curls hiding her amber treasure box, which he opened with wonder

Amber TREASURE BOX??

What the hell's she got down there - a pile of rocks?!

And then later...

His erection teased her at the entrance to her Nirvana

*snort*

There's got to be a Kurt Cobain joke in there somewhere.

I'm amazed ANYONE could write something like that without either hanging their head in shame, or laughing it off, but to see something like that in an actual, published book... well, I'm stunned that whoever was editing or proof read it let it pass. Unless, of course, they'd fallen out with the author and wanted to make them look like an idiot.

Please, please, if I EVER write anything that naff, promise you'll hit me over the head with a blunt object.

As long as it's not an Amber Treasure Box.

Recent telly

caz963@livejournal.com — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:26:02 GMT

Anyone who's ever read any meme I've done about "my favourite book(s)" will know that Jane Austen's Emma almost always tops my list. I like Pride and Prejudice very much, too, but Emma usually pips it to the post.

So when I saw that the Beeb was making another TV version, I wasn't sure whether to jump for joy or groan and shake my head. There were two pretty good versions made not so long ago - the Kate Beckinsale/Andrew Davies adapation for ITV, and the movie that starred Gwynneth Paltrow, which, unusually for a movie adaptation, was very well done.

Then I realised that "not so long ago" was, in fact, 1996.

So maybe it's time for another one. Not that I'm complaning, but there are so many fabulous books out there that never get a look in. My other favourite author, Anthony Trollope is sadly neglected, given that he wrote 47 full-length novels to Austen's 6. An honourable mention has to go here to the fantastic version of The Way We Live Now that starred David Suchet, and also He Knew He Was Right, which I suppose is now most notable for the appearance of one Mr D Tennant as the oily local vicar!

(But apart from Alan Plater's dramatisation of the first two Barchester novels back in 1982, which starred a young Alan Rickman as Obadiah Slope, that's it for "recent" adaptations of Trollope!)

But I digress. I was a bit worried about this new adaptation of Emma - having been so disappointed in the Jane Eyre a couple of years back, which I remember seemed to contain very little of Bronte's original text. Even the presence of the magnificently brooding Toby Stephens couldn't rescue that one, I'm afraid.

So, I've watched the 2 episodes of Emma that have aired so far and I'm... not disappointed, but not wildly enthusiastic either. I think it's that I'm finding Romola Garai rather annoying. I can't put my finger on it really, there's just something not quite right about her. Sure, she looks the part, but she's not... I don't know, sophisticated enough? I know that Emma is only 21 in the story, but I get the impression Garai is being directed to act younger and a bit less sure of herself - which doesn't sit right for me. Surely the point is that Emma is usually TOO sure of herself, and that's how the majority of the misunderstandings in the book originate.

I was also unsure about the casting of Johnny-Lee Miller as Mr Knightly. I wonder if TPTB weare worried about the fact that Knightly is 37 and Emma is 21 (their ages are specifically stated in the book, and such large gaps were nothing usual at the time Austen was writing) and so are trying to make him appear younger, too? I have to admit that I do like the extra note of humour and mischieviousness they've injected into his character, without taking away the fact that he's a gentleman who will always do the right thing. It remains to be seen whether he can inject sufficient gravitas into the scenes where he has to tear Emma off a strip.

As is usual with these big Beeb costume dramas, the supporting cast is excellent. Tamsin Grieg as Miss Bates, Michael Gambon as Mr Woodhouse... the actor playing Mr Elton was good, too; cringemakingly obsequious and slimy as the role demands.

So I'll keep watching. It's still a nice way to spend my last hour of freedom on a Sunday night (!) and the locations and scenery are - again, as is usual with these things - stunning.

I have yet to see this week's FlashForward - I had stuff to get ready for tomorrow so I've recorded it. It's early days with that show - it's not completely grabbed me yet I admit, although the premise is interesting. (And there are very pretty men to look at!) I've resisted reading spoilers (or the book!) so I have no idea where it's going, although I'm already curious about how the premise can be sustained.

I'm still enjoying Fringe a lot, too. We're only up to episode 2 here and sure, there were some very predictable things going on in the season opener (like shapeshifter!Charlie), but there were some good changes, too - like the fact that Peter appears to be a bit of a driving force behind Fringe Division now, having a hand in deciding which cases they should investigate. And of course, Walter continues to be delightfully batty.

Merlin is... well, also delightfully batty in its own way. The writers are clearly aware of all the slash and are playing up to it - as well as making the most of what is clearly a good relationship between Colin Morgan and Bradley James. I like what they're doing with the whole Arthur and Gwen thing - although I'm not sure they haven't jumped the gun a bit there. I mean, last season, there was pretty much nothing and in only the second epidode this season, there's full on snogging and a realisation that there can be nothing between them because she's only a servant. Add to that, Lancelot turning up this week, and all the angst that accompanied that, and I'm inclined to cry "enough already!" And I have to say, it doesn't paint Gwen in an exactly sympathetic light, does it? I mean, one week she's sucking-face with the once-and-future-king, and two weeks later she's lusting after Lancelot. Not that I'm blaming her for either - they're both really cute! - it's just a bit too much too soon, in my book. I think they need to put that on the back-burner now and concentrate on what's going on with Morgana, which is far more interesting. Oh, and the Uther/Arthur, father/son thing which was working so well at the end of last season.

I've only managed to watch the season premiere of Dollhouse. I still like it, but IMHO the same thing that was wrong with it before is still wrong with it - too much Eliza Dushku. I don't hate her or anything like that, I'm just... meh... about her. Let's hope the focus shifts again, to encompass the other "dolls". The best bits in the opener had to be the scenes between Topher and Saunders - his telling her that he'd purposely engineered her to dislike him and to disagree with him was really quite something, and both actors were awesome. Oh, and Jamie Bamber. *drool*.

I'm amazed that I've managed to watch all of about 6 hours of telly in the last 3 weeks!

Proving once again...

caz963@livejournal.com — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:33:14 GMT

... that there really IS a Sorkin quote for every occasion. And I really can't believe, in light of today's events, that none of my like-minded flist has done this yet.

"We think if we hit the ground hard enough, we can make it to the center of the planet and find water?"

"Yeah."

"That's not a theory of physics pretty much disproved by Wile E. Coyote?"

Assorted Ramblings...

GIP

The Waters of Mars

*cough*, *sniffle*

*shakes fist at BBC!!*

Heh.

A little bit of schadenfreude

Recent telly

Proving once again...

cough, sniffle

shakes fist at BBC!!