Wednesday, August 01, 2007

The Girl Who Has Nothing To Say

I've been at a work conference since Sunday, and haven't been home a single night this week to really blog, so here's a quick catch-up:

1. My delicious RRHB downloaded (shhh) the current episodes of Rescue Me that have aired in the States on FX but won't show in Canada until September. I do not feel remotely guilty about this for many reasons, the first of which being the evil company that ruined my life actually airs the show so bully on them. But most importantly, it's an amazing show, one of my favourites, that gets me thinking about all kinds of issues and shocks me at every turn, and I simply could not wait. It's beyond frustrating to try and avoid the spoilers, which is almost impossible if you move in the same virtual circles that I do, and try to be patient for months before the show airs here when he can click two or three buttons and we have the entire season almost at our disposal.

2. Men who walk around in my neighbourhood without shirts to show off their impressive physiques are somewhat like overly made-up ladies who wear white thongs under their white pants: they're simply giving me too much information.

3. People who ride mopeds in the bike lane are annoying. Truly.

4. I'm in the middle of reading a book about email. It was given to us at work to help improve our email correspondence. Apparently, we get too much of it and it annoys some people. Okay, I'll admit it, yes, I mocked the book when I saw it sitting on my little assigned seat. But I'm prepared to eat crow. Because it's actually a really solid little book full of amazing tips and fascinating bits of advice. Oh, and now that they say that "Dear Comrade" has gone completely out of style, I'm on a mission to bring it back. Perhaps I'll start each post with Dear Comrades...today I?

5. Dear Comrades: I certainly wish that I hadn't shown up at the office on Sunday a full four hours before I was supposed to, regardless of how much work I managed to get done before our conference actually began.

6. I've been catching all kinds of sh*t for defending the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice. Apparently, being the last person on earth never to have seen the truly superior (or so I'm told) BBC version has opened me up for a world of ridicule my esteemed pop-culture brain just isn't used to. What say all of you? How wrong am I to enjoy the latest version? Or do I hardly expect any of you to own to it?

8 comments:

metro mama said...

I LOVE Rescue Me. Thanks for the reminder (I'll be downloading too).

I liked the recent P&P (tho' the BBC version is superior, of course);)

Maylin said...

The Keira Knightley version of P & P has its good points - Judi Dench and Tom Hollander are great in their roles - and I loved the dancing scenes. But the very last scene of the movie was dreadful and completely un-Austen-like and so was the romantic encounters in the fog. However, while I won't mock you at all, you really DO need to see the BBC version if only because Colin Firth really IS the best Darcy and Jennifer Ehle has a maturity about her (plus more facial expressions than Keira) that suits Elizabeth far more. Actually one of the recent P & P versions that I really enjoyed and stayed true to the spirit of Austen was Bride and Prejudice - the Bollywood version.

Melwyk said...

I agree with maylin - Judi Dench and Tom Hollander can do no wrong. They are lovely. The evil KK is my nemesis, though; I really can't stand her acting. So I disliked the new P&P overall. Plus you really can't beat Colin Firth as Darcy, mmmm.

Gallis said...

The bbc version is truly superior and essentially launched Colin Firth's major movie career. His portrayal of Darcy is the one to beat.

That being said and Kiery's poutiness aside, I enjoyed that version very much. The BBC one covers all the bases because it's a miniseries. The movie, however, made exactly the right plot sacrifices but still maintained the essential story. But Kiera, frankly, is just too pretty for the part of Elizabeth Bennet although it's one of the few films I've seen her in where I thought her acting was up to snuff.

Alice said...

The thing I liked best about the Keira Knightly version was that Rosamund Pike's Jane was prettier than her Elizabeth. That's something that's always annoyed me about past adaptations - Jane is the pretty one. It says it all over the book!!

I HATED that they kept having her run into people in her nightgown. Weren't these quite conservative times? Would she really be having all these chats in her nightie?

The BBC version is better - but it's also six hours long. You can't really compare them directly. There were absolutely some moments I loved in the new version - when Elizabeth and Darcy meet outside his house and the awkward silence just goes on and on to the point of being uncomfortable and then keeps going on and on was really well done.

Francesca Thomas said...

I don't think I have actually read the book (at least not all the way through - if I did, I cant remember) LOL I do remember seeing the BBC miniseries and thinking Colin Firth was a cute man (this has to have way back when I was a teenager) so we're talking 20 years ago at least. Is that about right? I know I saw it, but it was quite a while ago.

Anonymous said...

No way! HC gave you an RH book?? Hilarious! What is the world coming to?

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen the KK version, so can't really comment on it, other than to say that KK does get on my nerves. Though I did like her in 'Bend it with Beckham'.

The BBC version is divine. All of the people in that version were simply perfect for their parts. And Colin Firth. Yummmmm.

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