Manda Mia - Anglophile

New Austen Adaptations on PBS in November

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:11:15 +0100

How about this for some awesome news: new feature-length productions of Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Persuasion are being prepared for a "Jane Austen Festival" on Masterpiece Theatre this November. As if that weren't enough, there will also be a new miniseries of Sense and Sensibility shown at the same time!

I'm most excited about Northanger Abbey. The only previous version of it is pretty darn bad, not even the presence of faves Peter Firth (with seriously scary hair) and Robert Hardy could make it more palatable.

Expect a Masterpiece

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:02:00 +0100

With TiVo, like so many things in my life, the tendancy is to spend more time on the hunt - searching for new shows and fine-tuning Wish Lists - than actually viewing what's been recorded. I finally got around to watching the latest Masterpiece Theatre Jane Eyre today. I'm sure I've seen at least 2-3 movie versions of Jane Eyre in my time but this was the first that I would consider romantic, the first to make me feel anything other than oh god, why did she pick him?. I don't know how accurate this adaptation was, but I'll find out soon: I just put a hold on the Bronte book at the library. :-) As an added bonus, after watching this, I shouldn't be confusing Toby Stephens (Mr. Rochester) with Dobby (i.e. Toby Jones) anymore! LOL.

A look at the Masterpiece Theatre schedule shows that Dracula with Marc Warren (Hustle, Doctor Who) is on tomorrow. I'm not sure I'll be able to get past the odd casting on that one. Then a replay of Prime Suspect 6 (PS7 was the best thing on TV last year - period), a best-of special, a replay of Kidnapped (not the best but at least Paul McGann gets a small role), and then... Wind in the Willows! Lots of good people in that one: Bob Hoskins, Matt Lucus, Mark Gatiss, etc. And I still have last week's episode, Billie Piper in The Ruby in the Smoke, left to watch. I am loving this season of MT. :-)

Essence of Ribena

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:48:08 +0100

"The mid-1990's vampire TV show Forever Knight used undiluted Ribena as prop blood, as it seemed to be of similar consistency." -Wikipedia

Heheh.. I'll see the show in a new light now!

I've heard Ribena mentioned in numerous TV shows, but this is the first time I'd bothered to look up just what it was. Mmm... blackcurrant!

I believe my first introduction to the flavor was many years ago when I was given some wine gums from the Toronto production of Phantom of the Opera (shaped like a mask, natch!) and one of the varieties was blackcurrant. Later I found some blackcurrant fruit roll-up type things at a truck stop in Australia. And of course there's blackcurrant tea which, at its best, is wonderfully soothing (stay away from Stash's Wild Blackcurrant tea, though - it's really nasty!) Next on my list is blackcurrant jam - I saw an 'out of stock' sticker for it on my last trip to Walmart, so apparently it's in high demand. I don't suppose one could find Ribena anywhere in these parts, but I'll surely keep an eye out for it!

Song Stuck in My Head

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:45:48 +0100

"This Charming Man" by The Smiths

I received greatest hits CDs for both The Smiths and Morrissey for Christmas, and this song has quickly become a favorite. I've pretty much been listening to it nonstop for 96 hours now. :-)

Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate...

Bonus Doctor Who Commentaries

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:18:26 +0100

While searching for The Girl in the Fireplace reviews (to reassure myself that I'm not the only one who thinks it's the best DW episode ever), I came across mention that the BBC website has exclusive commentaries for every episode in the series. They're different than those on the DVDs! Glad I hadn't sent any of the discs back yet. :-)

I'll leave the computer downloading those while I commence with my annual Australia Day Film Fest. The usual movie marathon will be rather undersized this year - perhaps just Breaker Morant.

Oh, and cable is back. :-) It was off 8 days in total. Unbelievable.

Doctor Who and the Chainsaw

nospam@example.com (Manda) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 11:23:32 +0100

Hey, remember that episode of Doctor Who where there was a guy with a chainsaw chopping off some legs? You don't? Well, obviously you haven't see the Netflix version of disc 1 of the new season 2 set. A glitch in manufacturing resulted in the disc being half DW, half Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning. Netflix's copies are specially branded "for rental only," so those who actually shelled out money for the set needn't worry. BBC America is aware of the problem and are supposedly taking steps to get it corrected. The TVShowsOnDVD article goes on to say that disc 1 has been removed from Netflix's site, but it still shows as "short wait" in my queue.

All things considered, I'm glad I started with the bonus disc (since I've already seen the episodes on SciFi) instead of disc 1. They could have sent it to me yesterday, but because of the wait, I ended up with MI-5 season 4 (which I haven't seen, save episode #1) instead.