Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I got tired of coloring my hair. It was a big PIA. But I have to admit, it was fun being a blonde for a while when in my 60s.
Click on thumbnail. I was 69 yrs old in this pic, almost 70.
(I was a natural brunette when young.)

Our son, born in 1961, is getting lots of gray hair. It's a shock to see my son with gray hair.

Don't feel bad Jim, he's probably got a few facelifts under his belt by now too.

It's kinda stupid what I said about the grey hair, because my dad started to get grey in his late 20s.

Oh, I don't, Jackie. Marg doesn't mind it, so no one else gets a vote.
;-)

Fantastic attitude. I'm pretty much the same, the only one whose opinion counts is Anthony's....and considering I rarely look in the mirror, even my opinion doesn't matter much, lol

Joy wrote: But I have to admit, it was fun being a blonde for a while when in my 60s.
You're still a blonde to me, Joy.

Jackie wrote: "You're still a blonde to me, Joy."

Thanks, Jackie. But wait, you know what they say about blondes... the blonde jokes. LOL

Forget the blonde jokes, there's only one thing to remember: Blondes have more fun! lol

Jackie wrote: "Forget the blonde jokes, there's only one thing to remember: Blondes have more fun! lol"

LOL! Jackie, you are a card! That was so funny!
Good one!

PS-Quotes about blondes:

"I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb. I also know I'm not blonde." -Dolly Parton

"What good are vitamins? Eat four lobsters, eat a pound of caviar--live! If you are in love with a beautiful blonde with an empty face and no brain at all, don't be afraid, marry her--live!" -Artur Rubinstein

Are you watching "Great Expectations" on Masterpiece theater? I have seen it before this but it is good enough to capture my attention once again. A bit spookey.

Yes, it's a brand new version. It aired in the UK at the end of last year for the first time.
Gillian Anderson is much better than I thought she'd be.

Nina wrote: "Are you watching "Great Expectations" on Masterpiece theater? I have seen it before this but it is good enough to capture my attention once again. A bit spookey."

Haven't see that 2011 version, Nina, but I've seen several versions and don't know if I want to see another. Netflix lists it as part of its future DVDs which can be put on a "saved" queue.


Today I streamed an old 1951 movie which turned out to be very entertaining. The plot centers around mistaken identity when no one realizes David Niven is a really a rich millionaire. Niven is so amusing. He was quite a comedian, in a distinguished sort of way.
"Happy Go Lovely" 1951
Cast: David Niven, Vera-Ellen, Cesar Romero


It's off to a slow start but once it gets going, it's fun. Vera-Ellen does some great dancing too, as the star of a musical.

Last night I watched The Decoy Bride, mostly because David Tennant is in it.

It was OK, typical for a romance type movie. Predictable and completely far fetched. I liked it anyway because Tennant was in it, but Kelly Macdonald really shined in the title role.

Jackie wrote: "Last night I watched The Decoy Bride, mostly because David Tennant is in it.

It was OK, typical for a romance type movie. Predictable and completely far fetched..."

Sounds like I might like it, Jackie.
"The Decoy Bride" (2011)

I've put it on my "saved" queue at Netflix.
Genres: Comedies, British Movies, British Comedies
This movie is: Sentimental
Availability: DVD availability date unknown
IMDb description:
=====================================================
"When the world's media descend on the remote Scottish island where a Hollywood actress is attempting to get married, a local girl is hired as a decoy bride to put the paparazzi off the scent."
======================================================

We watched the new Bones last night. Yuck. The show has been on too long.

Jim wrote: "We watched the new Bones last night. Yuck. The show has been on too long."

I agree, Jim. Once they put B&B together romantically, it ruined the show for me. Never have I seen any two people with less sexual chemistry. I dropped it last season since they don't have the courtesy to end on their own.

Last night I watched The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep, she was fantastic in it, the story was decent. I can finally agree with a Best Actress winner.


I also watched The Darkest Hour, a scifi alien invasion movie. Action right in the beginning, and the effects for how the aliens attack were awesome at first but too repetitive. I wouldn't recommend it. I'd recommend watching a trailer for the effects and then you've seen the best part of the movie.


Tonight I'm going to watch We Bought A Zoo, because with a title like that, how I could I resist?

I have "The Iron Lady" on my Netflix queue.
Can't wait to see it. I love Meryl Streep.

Jackie, I've added "We Bought a Zoo" (2011) to my Netflix queue. Thanks. Sounds good:

"In this adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir about buying and saving a run-down zoo, the locale shifts from Britain to southern California. However, the wacky spirit of the original is retained, complete with escaped tigers and a zoo crew of misfits."
Cast: Cameron Crowe, Matt Damon

The book: We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee

Last night I made a lucky choice at Netflix and streamed "First a Girl" (1935). 5 stars!


"Turned down at her first audition, shop clerk Elizabeth (Jessie Matthews) thinks her dream of being a music hall singer is over. But when her friend and female impersonator Victor (Sonnie Hale) is unable to perform his musical number, Elizabeth steps into the spotlight. Soon success traps her in a real-life role as a woman playing a man playing a woman -- until a handsome suitor comes along. The film was later adapted as Victor/Victoria."
Genres: Musicals, British Movies

Joy, I'm sure you'll enjoy Streep's performance in The Iron Lady.
I had no idea Victor/Victoria was a remake. I liked that movie.

We Bought A Zoo was really good! Surprisingly good. I would definitely recommend it.

The real zoo and Mee family are located in southwest UK.
Here's more about the real Dartmoor Zoo:

Thanks for the link, Jackie. I see that the zoo is in England.

I recently enjoyed the following romantic old movie:
"The Passionate Friends" (1949). It was adapted from a 1913 novel by H.G. Wells: Passionate Friends. I gave it 4 Netflix stars out of 5.
Cast: Ann Todd, Claude Rains, Trevor Howard

IMDb description
"The Passionate Friends were in love when young, but separated, and she married an older man. Then Mary Justin meets Steven Stratton again and they have one last fling together in the Alps."
FROM:
[IMDb lists the movie as "One Woman's Story"; "The Passionate Friends" was the original title.]

Netflix description:
"While staying in the Swiss Alps, Mary finds herself torn between the convenience and financial comfort of her marriage to Claude, who is much older, and the passion of her old flame, Steven."
FROM:

The following dialogue from the film was impressive. Mary's husband (powerfully played by Claude Rains) says to Mary:
"You gave me love and kindness and loyalty but it was the love you'd give a dog and the kindness you'd give a beggar, and the loyalty of a bad servant."

More at my review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

We watched "War Horse" last night - well, Marg & Karen did. I watched part of it, skipped most of the middle & watched the end. They loved it. Marg saw it with Erin at the movie theater on Xmas day. I'm glad I skipped it then, though. Too cute & forced for me.

I heard it was a great movie but I'm not sure if I want to see War Horse or not. I get really stressed out when animals are in danger, I know it's a movie but I can't help how I feel. When I was a kid, I went to see a Lassie movie, and her person was in a war, I think WWII, and she followed, and it stressed me out so bad, I had to leave the theater.

I have "War Horse" on my Netflix queue. I'm the same as Jackie when it comes to seeing animals in danger. Very stressful for me.

Beautiful pics, Jim. Everything looks so neat when no one is living in the rooms. Real living is messy. :)

I just watched The Mystery of Edwin Drood, yet another depressing masterpiece by Dickens.

I also watched Columbiana. Action revenge movie. Meh.

Jackie wrote: "I just watched The Mystery of Edwin Drood, yet another depressing masterpiece by Dickens. ..."

That's one I haven't seen. Not sure I want to. :)

April 15, 2012 at 9pm
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood"
One 120-minute episode
An adaptation and completion of Charles Dickens' last novel left unfinished at his death, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood is a psychological thriller about a provincial choirmaster's obsession with 17-year-old Rosa Bud. Cast includes Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters) and Julia MacKenzie (Miss Marple).
FROM:

Netflix description:
"Centering on a provincial choirmaster's fixation with a 17-year-old girl, this chilling adaptation of Charles Dickens's unfinished final novel spins a disturbing tale of obsession, addiction and the darkness that lurks in men."



The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

I haven't seen the Edwin Drood adaptation (though I saw it advertised). For what it's worth, though, my thought is that, given the fact that Dickens left this novel unfinished, it obviously doesn't tell the whole story that he had in mind; so it seems rather useless to adapt it and present as if it were a complete work. (It's sort of like serving a salad with half the ingredients missing!) That may account for the depressing quality; in his completed works, Dickens may depict a good deal of "the darkness that lurks in men," but he brings in a resolution that lets in light at the end. Here, the end is missing.

I'm pretty much done with Dickens. I recently saw the Old Curiosity Shop, which I had planned on reading. After I saw it, I'm glad I didn't waste my time reading about a lowlife gambler and took it off my TBR list.
I really haven't liked any of his work, not just Edwin Drood.

I always felt that Dickens was paid by the word & wrote like it.

Paying writers by the word was actually a fairly common practice in 19th-century periodicals, and that tended to encourage a prolix style on the part of quite a few writers of that day (it isn't just Dickens, though he happens to be a writer modern readers are more apt to be exposed to than some of his contemporaries). Even apart from that, though, the literary style of the time tended to be verbose, flowery and complex by our lights; at the time, that was what the reading public and the critics generally wanted, and what came naturally to writers schooled in the educational system of that time. It doesn't always appeal to modern readers used to a much simpler, more direct sort of diction.

Reading a lot of this sort of thing as a kid (nobody told me back then that I wasn't supposed to like it, so I didn't know :-) ) gave me more of a personal tolerance for it, that's stayed with me. (Whether that's a blessing or a curse could be debated! :-) ) I've actually liked the Dickens books I've read so far (though I haven't read The Old Curiosity Shop nor seen the adaptation); but I can see why a lot of other readers wouldn't.

The recent PBS version of Great Expectations was good, maybe because I read the book and knew where it was going.

Gee, Jackie, I was confused for a moment. I had "The Old Curiosity Shop" [ ] confused with "The Shop Around the Corner" which I loved.
"The Shop Around the Corner" (1940):


Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan

The modern version was:
"You've Got Mail" (1998)

Werner, I know what you mean about developing "a personal tolerance" for the prolix style of the old writers. When I was a teen-ager, I read and loved Vanity Fair (first published 1848) by William Makepeace Thackeray. I remember it as the story of unrequited love, the love of William Dobbin for Amelia. I know there's more to the story than that, but that's what impressed me. It impressed me so much that it's all that I remember! LOL

I'm not sure I'd have patience to read the book again. Maybe Thackeray wasn't as prolix as some other authors. I can't say.

I also remember reading William James' writings too. My point is that, back then, we accepted the long-winded style of writing. However times and writing styles have changed and now some of us haven't the patience to plow through the dense material we once did.

Werner wrote: "Paying writers by the word was actually a fairly common practice in 19th-century periodicals, and that tended to encourage a prolix style on the part of quite a few writers of that day (it isn't ju..."
"Our Mutual Friend," is quite good Dickens. Try it.

Joy, thanks for the links; Barb and I both really like You've Got Mail!", but I had no idea that it was a remake of an older film!

Thackeray's diction is that of the 19th century, but within that general umbrella, I'd say he's less prolix than some. (That's based on having read Vanity Fair twice, as a kid and as a middle-aged adult.) He was what I'd call a proto-Realist rather than a Romantic like Dickens, which makes a difference; so he doesn't have the typical Romantic extravagance in his use of language, among other differences.

Nina, I'd echo your recommendation of Our Mutual Friend (with the above caveats :-) ). There was also a really good PBS miniseries adaptation of that novel several years ago, which I got to watch and just loved!

Werner, I think you and Barb would enjoy "The Shop Around the Corner", especially if you like Jimmy Stewart. It's a charming movie.

I've never heard the word proto-Realist. I was unable to find anything about it online. Could you please direct me to a web page which might explain it?

I found a web site with quotes from _Vanity Fair_. Maybe I can refresh my memory about Thackeray's writing style by reading some of them:

(This page has links to various quotes from the book. They look very interesting because their divided into themes.)

Thanks for the recommendation, Joy! (We do like Jimmy Stewart.)

I'm not sure there IS any website anywhere that uses the term "proto-Realist," and can't recall whether I ever heard or read anybody else using it. :-) Realism is the literary movement that makes its goal the portrayal of real life as it actually is. In the U.S., it rose to dominate the literary world (at least, in the area of fiction) in what we call the Realist period, basically between the Civil War and the first World War, though in England it became dominant somewhat later. But before Realism became a recognized literary trend, there were writers who I would say approached fiction in much the same way the Realists later would. (Thackeray is one, Austen is another.) So I call them proto-Realists as a kind of handy designation. (Bear with me; I got used to teaching literature as a homeschooling parent, so I guess the lecture mode comes naturally. :-) )

What about"The Big Year?" I recommended it to my son and daughter in law and they loved it. Try it and see what you think.

Werner, I enjoy your "lecture mode", as you call it. :) Your writing is clear and easy to comprehend. On top of that you're knowledgeable. A great combination!

Exactly what does "proto" mean in "proto-Realist"? I just looked up "proto"; the Cambridge Dictionary online says: "first, especially from which other similar things develop; original".

How do you explain proto-realism? Is it the start of the genre of realism? If so, wasn't realism evident before the Civil War? Wiki explains it at:

(in the section called "Realism in the arts")
I guess I should be satisfied with that. :) The more you look into it, the more complicated it gets. LOL

BTW, I have found, over and over again, that Cambridge Dictionary usually gives clearer definitions than other online dictionaries. I usually go to for my definitions. From there I go to the many dictionaries it links you to. I always check out Cambridge (which is usually among the hits of onelook.com) if I have time. I recommend Onelook.com.

Along the lines of "realism", there's a genre called "magical realism" which I'm trying to understand. Wiki says:
===================================================
"Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of thought. It is a film, literary and visual art genre."
FROM:
====================================================
A book in the genre Magical Realism is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. I enjoyed that book but I didn't like his One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Sorry to go off on tangents, but that's the way I think. LOL

Nina wrote: "What about"The Big Year?" I recommended it to my son and daughter in law and they loved it. Try it and see what you think."

Nina, I've got that on my Netflix queue. I'll try to remember to comment after I see it.

Joy, thanks for the kind words, and for the links! The definition you found for "proto" as a prefix is a good one. When I use it in "proto-Realist," I mean writers who foreshadowed Realism, who basically were Realists but just aren't usually called that, because when they wrote the Realist movement still didn't exist yet as something anybody had noticed and named, nor as something writers consciously saw themselves as part of; all of that developed later, as there started to be more people writing in that vein. So yes, there were evidences of what we (now) call Realism before the Civil War; as one of your Wiki articles (actually, one that was linked to it) pointed out, the movement started in France after the 1848 revolution. They just didn't dominate the literary landscape then like they would later. (Part of the complication that arises in talking about broad artistic movements like Realism, Romanticism, Neoclassicism, etc. is that they aren't cut and dried organizations. Nobody ever said, "Okay, I'm going to officially start The Realist Movement and take out articles of incorporation; now, membership cards will be formally issued to all applicants!" What you have instead are wide, gradually-emerging cultural trends, which different writers embrace and take part in, sometimes to different degrees, and which pundits and critics notice and try to put a name to. That makes for some blurriness around the edges. :-) )

The Wiki definition of "magical realism" is a good one; but the point is probably worth noting that the "realism" part of the term is pretty much a misnomer. It isn't a special sub-type of Realism, because magic (at least, as far as we know!) isn't part of the real world at all; the minute you introduce magic into a novel or story, you've departed from the goal of photographically reproducing reality as it is. (William Dean Howells, the guru of Realist literary criticism in its heyday, would NOT approve. :-) ) Personally, I haven't read much in the magical realism line, but I'd say the Ballad series novels of Sharyn McCrumb would qualify. They're basically very realistic, even gritty, depictions of life and social problems in modern Appalachia --but one character has the Sight, and ghosts sometimes interact with the living.

Back in February of 2010, we had some discussion, on the movies thread that was active then, of the differences between the older Hitchcock movie version of Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn and the more recent miniseries starring Jane Seymour. The question arose as to which one is more faithful to the novel, and I said then that I'd have to read the book so that we could find out. I'm slow about getting around to these things; but though I'm not done with the book, I'm close enough to it to report back an answer to that question. :-)

The answer is: (drum roll)... although it departs from the book in several significant ways, the newer miniseries version is much closer in basic plot to Du Maurier's original than the Hitchcock version is. The fundamental difference in the latter is probably because of a certain provision in the Hays Code, which governed movie content back in the earlier era; but I won't explain that any further because it would be a spoiler. :-)

Werner wrote: "... When I use it in "proto-Realist," I mean writers who foreshadowed Realism... ...wide, gradually-emerging cultural trends, which different writers embrace and take part in, sometimes to different degrees, and which pundits and critics notice and try to put a name to. That makes for some blurriness around the edges. :-) )..."

Werner, thanks for explaining. Yes, "blurriness around the edges" certainly describes those literary genres well.

I also see your point about "Magical Realism" not being "a special sub-type of Realism". It's a genre all by itself, I guess.

Werner wrote: "Back in February of 2010, we had some discussion, on the movies thread that was active then, of the differences between the older Hitchcock movie version of Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn and the more recent miniseries starring Jane Seymour. ..."

Werner, in the book, was the squire involved with the gang of smugglers? How was he presented in the Jane Seymour movie version in 1983? In the 1939 movie version the squire definitely was involved with the gang.

I read the book, but I can't remember the details.

I was hoping I could watch the 1983 version of "Jamaica Inn" with Jane Seymour but it's not available at our library or at Netflix. So I'll have to be happy with having seen the 1939 version with Maureen O'Hara and Charles Laughton (directed by Hitchcock).
1983 -
1939 -

No, Joy, in the book Squire Bassat is most definitely NOT involved with the gang! (That's the "fundamental difference" I mentioned.) In fact, he's a basically decent guy who wants to root out smugglers and wreckers from his county, and that's the same way he's presented in the Jane Seymour version. The secret leader of the gang is someone else entirely.

I'd refer you to the place where I got my copy of the miniseries, but unfortunately it was a flea market purchase. :-( If you're ever in the Bluefields, you can come over and watch it here; we'll pop some popcorn for you! :-)

Thanks for the invite, Werner. It would be fun to meet you and Barb. And to see the film, of course. Popcorn wouldn't be bad either. lol

BTW, now I understand why you had said a while ago that the IMDb description of the 1983 movie, "Jamaica Inn" with Jane Seymour, makes "a gargantuan error" when it says: "The respected squire of a quiet Cornish village is in reality the leader of a gang of murderous pirates..."

Also, BTW, below are links to the hits I got when I searched our group-posts for our former conversation on this topic:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/commen...
http://www.goodreads.com/group/commen...

If the links work, it shows what a great job of programming the software engineers of the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ website did. I can't fathom how such miracles can be accomplished. It must take a good deal of concentration. I think some people are able to concentrate harder than others.

Which brings me to Einstein who made amazing discoveries in physics with his "thought experiments". Imagine concentrating that hard! I can't even understand his relativity theories when they're explained to me in the audio-book I've been I've been listening to. The book is: Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. It's amazing how Einstein was ignored for so long even though he had "developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics" (quote from Wiki).

Ooops, I went off on another tangent again. LOL

Don't worry about your tangents, Joy! You introduce us to a lot of fascinating things that way.

Joy, I don't think audio is a good way to try and wrap our heads around Einstein's theories, it's too difficult. I read an excellent book on Einsteins theories and it explained them very simply, in ways anyone could understand. It's a short book and full of mind-bendy things, I love things like that. The book is called Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified. I might still have it. I could look if you want.