A Day In The Life

Politics: Egytian women protesting in Cairo. Make sure to watch the video that comes with the article as well, because we hear various women speak on the situation, which I think has been missing in a lot of reporting. Also, it's a somewhat depressing comment on short attention spans that everyone was following the spring uprising but what's going on now hardly warrents a remark on lj, and I'm not excluding myself here.
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Yesterday I reflected that it's incredible it was ten years already that The Fellowship of the Ring was released in cinemas world wide. While despite (or because of?) its popularity Jackson's film versions of Tolkien's saga always had their detractors as well, and you can argue about individual choices he made, what to emphasize and what to cut etc., there's no denying that it was an epic fannish event. Now we get the first trailer of The Hobbit, here, and I am absolutely thrilled. My favourite moment is the use of the dwarves' song in Bilbo's home, because that captures so well the description of how in the book hearing them sing awakened something in Bilbo that made him go from being overwhelmed and irritated by his uninvited guests to, well, see and hear for yourself. BAGGINS!

And now for the tv meme most recently spotted at local_max's!

Which TV shows did you start watching in 2011?

Sanctuary. As in, I marathoned the first three seasons when they became available on dvd. Do not spoil me for s4 in the comments. I also started Camelot but stopped early on because it was not for me. Game of Thrones, which was okay, aka the flaws of same were already in the source and ditto for the qualities, though it should get some kind of dubious award for its use of sexposition (most awkward example: Littlefinger explaining his motivation while two whores "train"). The Borgias which I loved, loved, loved.


Which TV shows did you let go of in 2011?

Dexter. Alas.


Which TV shows did you mean to get into but didn't in 2011? Why?

Lost Girls (recced to me but there's lack of time), Homeland (actually, I was never planning to get into it before Christmas for lack of time, but after, I will. abigail_n has really made me curious).



Which TV shows do you intend on checking out in 2012?

Homeland for sure. Possibly one of the two fairy tale shows. Not the one which I gather via fannish osmosis is inadvertendly hilarious for using really bad German when named after our two linguistic professors of the 19th century who other than for fairy tales are famous for their dictionary of the German language. (Jakob Grimm had quite the acerbic temper, I'll have you know. He was the Holmes to his brother's Watson, but as opposed to Wilhelm didn't have much of a sense of humour. I'm not sure he would have been amused. He also was an Übergeek; this is the guy who travelled to Paris just so he could read the Manessehandschrift, aka medieval German songs at the French National Library, and didn't do anything else there.)


Which TV show impressed you least in 2011?

Alas. Dexter.


Which TV show do you think you might let go of in 2012 unless things significantly improve?

Thankfully, my other shows while not perfect are doing pretty well.


Which TV show impressed you the most in 2011? Why?

Being Human, season 3. Most dramatic unjumping the shark and growing the beard since Angel season 4 lured me back from almost giving up after s3. Everything that had made me so angry and dissappointed about s2 was dealt with. The season had a clear narrative arc. And compared with some tv that came later - looks as DW season 6 - the way it uncompromisingly delivered on what was set up is even more impressive. Coming close behind: The Borgias, for being atmospheric, creating a great, rich ensemble of characters who were all interesting, and for its gorgeous cinematography.


Which TV shows do you think you'll never let go of no matter how crappy they get? Why?

See, I don't do that. If it gets to the point where I get more misery than enjoyment out of a fannish source, I let go. It's just not worth it, staying around, feeling miserable, spreading misery, not for me and not for the people still enjoying the fannish source, and I never got the point of hate communities, either.


Shows I watched and loved that aren't mentioned on this list because I started them in another year

The Good Wife: not perfect, but overall still so good I enjoy returning week after week. Merlin which is the type of show that while I objectively see the flaws of just taps into my emotions in a way that makes me love it, so seeing it step up its game and deliver some genuine game changers (and not as cliffhangers but early and mid season) is all the more pleasurable. (Also the acting and the cinematography this year were so very, very good it's irritating beyond belief it'll never be seen award material in said categories.) Fringe which so far has made up for what I found problematic in s3 and is very, very enjoyable to watch; Doctor Who which for all its flaws and the fact I have an emotional disconnect currently does deliver the occasional pearl beyond price (aka The Doctor's Wife and The God Complex) and besides is the kind of show which has cycles where you can't love every season or era in the same way, and that's no problem, because the very premise is constant reinvention. And of course I throw in the occasional rewatch of my old loves, B5, DS9, etc. I've been meaning to get on a BTVS and AtS rewatch as well.

More halfamoon goodness:

BTVS:

Diamond Mind: brief but wonderful Anya vid.

Multifandom:

There's also the annual love thread for disliked female characters. Some personal favourites to share the love for:


Guinevere from Merlin. As the poster said, every time someone hates on Gwen, a fairy dies. Trufax.

Amy Gardner from West Wing.

Gwen Cooper from Torchwood.


Ana-Lucia Cortez from Lost. As londonkds once said, if Ana-Lucia had been Luis Cortez with the exact same storyline, fandom would have been all over him.

Lily Evans Potter.

Doctor Who:

Article about the portrayal of historical characters on Doctor Who. IMO the author is way too kind to both Victory of the Daleks the episode and Jolly Old Churchill, but that's a pet peeve of mine, and the article is still interesting to read. Am utterly unsurprised that Mark Gattis wanted "the Churchill from the war posters", btw. Oh, and this reminds me, what's this I hear about the writer of the worst of the three Sherlock episodes, aka the middle one, having received a DW episode assignment in season 6? Ah well. I suppose something has to balance the high expectations for the Neil Gaiman episode.

Finally, one of the most touching image of this last week:



The protester went to the feet of the soldier and asked him to help protect them from Mubarak’s thugs and the soldier is crying because he said that he can’t because he was not given the orders to.

fannish5: Name five historical characters whose lives you'd like to see adapted into movies or TV series.

1.) Hatshepsut, pharao of Egypt, one of the few female ones. (Yes, there were more than two.) (Though not many.) Now I'm admittedly biased in favour of Pauline Gedge's novel about her, so my ideal would be for that novel to be the basis of a film or miniseries, but I'd be fine with an original script as well, as long as it's good.

2.) The Dumas Family, consisting of Marie-Cesette Dumas (slave in Saint-Domingue, aka Haiti; had four children by a white French aristocrat, one of which he took with him to France; the other were sold to cover for debts, and Marie-Cesette died of dystentry) , Thomas-Alexandre, who upon reaching adulthood fell out with his white father, enlisted under his mother's name in the revolutionary army, served in an all-black unit in same, reached the rank of general, fell out with Napoleon and died when his son the author was only three years old; Alexandre père, entertaining novelist extraordinaire (aka he of the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte-Christo), Alexandre fils (that's the one who wrote the Lady of the Camellias, which La Traviata is based on). A century of history via a family epic that could put Roots to shame; I'm surprised has filmed it yet (the whole family saga, I mean, not just Alexandre père's life).

3.) Frederick II (the emperor, not the king of Prussia with the same name who lived centuries later). Stupor Mundi, his contemporaries called him, the amazement of the world; Frederick was a religious sceptic, spoke seven languages, conducted the only crusade without bloodshed, entirely via negotiations, while he himself was excommunicated, and succeeded to the intense annoyance of the pope who had excommunicated him; had a great scientific mind, a terrible temper, was probably the first ruler to declare rape of prostitutes a crime (when it would take most societies a few centuries more to acknowledge there was such a thing) and unquestionably a tyrant in the modern sense of the word (ask anyone who rebelled), and co-founded poetry in the Italian, instead of Latin, language. Also he's one of those once and future rulers whom legend has returning in the hour of greatest need, etc., although the legend in question was transferred to his grandfather later. In short, someone with a gift for renaissance people in a medieval context should make the biopic or miniseries already!

4) Theophanu, a Byzantine princess who was nearly sent back to Constantinople because she was the niece, not the daughter of the Byzantine emperor and the German emperor who had wanted her for his son felt cheated. Lucky for the empire, he reconsidered, because Theophanu after her husband's early death became one hell of a regent, kept the various German princes in line (not an easy thing to do), introduced the fork to Europe and shocked everyone by bathing regularly. Despite an uneasy relatonship with her mother-in-law Adelheid these two women basically ruled the largest realm on the continent and disillusioned any ambitious wannabe who thought women couldn't and that there was time for a new dynasty.

5) Samuel Ibn Naghrela: also known as Samuel Ha-Nagid. Jewish scholar, poet and statesman, originally from Cordoba, eventually ending up as vizier and top general of Granada, the second most powerful man of that Muslim kingdom, a job he held until his death and passed on to his son (who lived a shorter and much more tragic life). Samuel's life is a fascinating part of Jewish-Muslim-Spanish history, and made for a cinematic treatment.


On a related note, about contemporary RPF and politics this time, after reading this review of Fair Game, about Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, I definitely want to watch it. I remember reading that Op-Ed article in the NY Times, and the explosion that followed. Down to an interview with Cheney a year ago in which he's still sulking Bush didn't pardon Libby.

Lastly, skywaterblue, this one's for you. Sean Lennon, after being adorable at age 5, seems to be still incredibly sweet at age 35. Last month he said about older brother Julian that "Julian is the reason I started playing music actually" and "the truth is Julian was like my hero. He is still is". Today there's an article in which he praises and defends his mother and which contains a wonderful Yoko anecdote involving Lady Gaga as told by Sean's girlfriend: 'Gaga was killing it as always and everyone was standing on their feet and screaming. And Yoko was looking at this and she was like, “Hmm…” She was not to be outdone! So she climbed all over the piano – and she’s 77! And Gaga climbed up after her. They both started rolling around and singing upside down on top of the piano. It was amazing.' Just to round off the collection of adorable quotes, in that same article Sean says about Paul McCartney: 'I’m just so excited when I’m around him. It’s like when you see a white buffalo and you just hold your breath – you’re just hoping that it’s not going to end. Becaus it’s the closest I can come to hanging out with my dad. Every second I’ve ever spent with Paul has been really meaningful to me. He was my dad’s best mate for a long time. And my dad didn’t have many friends, you know?’

Awwwwwwwwwww.