I love Jane

Last night I watched yet another movie adaptation of a Jane Austen novel.... Sense & Sensibility. I have decided a Jane Austen round-up is in order.

The top 3:


1. The A&E Pride & Prejudice. Raise your hand if you have not seen this classic. Now hang your head in shame for all that wasted enjoyment. It, I dare to say, will always be my favorite. Two reasons: Colin. Firth. I kid, I kid. But he is a pretty awesome Darcy, people. And Jennifer Ehrle IS Elizabeth Bennet. Also, this is a 9 hour extravaganza, yet it flies by in normal movie time. It is wonderful.

2. Emma Thompson's Sense & Sensibility. Oh Emma... you wrote the screenplay, you starred, your teeth are delightfully crooked.... you are my hero. And you fall in love with Hugh Grant. Who plays the awkwardly handsome romantic hero better than Hugh? The painful silences in this film are exquisite. The sets and costumes are lush. The crying scene at the end is hysterical. ....sigh....

3. Persuasion. God, I just love this novel. Maybe because the story hits a little closer to home: the heroine a little past the blush of youth, and just as she becomes convinced that love has come into her life and passed her by.......BAM! Happy ending! Ciaran Hinds.... wonderful. I love that both of the romantic leads in this are a little older and guarded, a little worn around the edges, but absolutely incandescent with love by the end.

The second tier:


How often does one find a movie list with a second tier of this caliber? Blame it on the incredible material!

1. First up on the "second tier": a more recent adaptation of P&P. I swore I would not like this. How could Kiera Knightly and Matthew McFayden possibly replace my beloved Colin and Jennifer? They couldn't, but the movie is pretty great anyway, putting a less refined polish on the crew and charming me all the while. The parents are played by Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn and this film really gives you a sense that though Mrs. Bennet is a silly silly woman, there is a lot to love about her. The ending is Hollywood insanity, but the next to last scene, when the lovers are united....is breathtaking. Also, watch the director commentary, if that sort of stuff makes your skirt fly up, like it does mine.

2. Gweneyth Paltrow's Emma. What a great film. Emma is the Austen heroine with whom I am least enamoured, but Gweneyth makes her so darn charming... and when Jeremy Northam sets her straight.....ooooooo it's good.

3. I just caught this BBC Sense & Sensibility and was super impressed with it. I think the two primary sisters are really lovely, especially the eldest. Also the Lucy Steele and her sister are perfectly, sweetly, vile.

Two to note:


I am tired of talking. But these are good and you should see them too. If you know of others I need to see, let me know!

Please Comment: Which Jane Austen character do you most identify with?

John Adams.... not the composer

You may or may not know I am a bit of a sap about American history. Though thoroughly jaded about the current state of American politics, I am completely, romantically enthralled with the passion and pluck of our fore-fathers, and a simple reading of the Gettysburg Address (yes I know, 100 years later) can bring me to tears. More on this around July 4th, I expect.

Anyway, why did it take me so long to discover the very excellent John Adams (HBO Miniseries)? Can those guys at HBO do no wrong?

The series, of which I have only seen three parts thus far, spans a great deal of time, from colonial strife to the Continental Congress, to the forming of the new country, the Revolution, and the early days of Presidency, focusing on that unsung hero, John Adams, portrayed brilliantly by Paul Giamatti. One of the most lovely aspects of the series is the relationship of Adams and his wife Abigail, again, played with subtlety and sensitivity by Laura Linney. Adams is a wildly intelligent, incredibly flawed man, and I for one am entranced by his every blunder, his constant internal conflicts, and his passion for this new world order. See it!

A Dirty Job

I recently joined Audible.com, which is a great service for downloading audible books and magazines, and much lower prices than Itunes. Actually it pre-dates Itunes....When I lived in NYC what seems 100 years ago, my boyfriend at the time discovered this service and I remember him gushing on about it, listening to novels on his morning commute, etc. As I knew I would be doing a bit of long distance driving this summer, and a basic trip to the grocery store here involves a 20 minute drive with no radio service, I decided to give it a go.

My first pick: A Dirty Job: A Novel by Christopher Moore.

Here's the blip from Amazon:

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.

It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

I picked this because I had read Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, book which is irreverent and ridiculous but somehow really touching and inspirational all at once.

Actually, "irreverent and ridiculous but somehow touching and inspirational" might be a catch-phrase for Moore's work in general. The stories never fail to surprise, and while the characters sometimes seem a bit caricature-like, they are at the same time warm and funny and I often find myself tearing up a bit... and then laughing out loud.

While this audible book does not top the inimitable Jim Dale reading any of the Harry Potter series (really, what could?), it was a great listen. Now what to pick next....????

Summer Deliciousness

What is better in the summer than a garden-fresh tomato?
And what does better with that garden-fresh tomato than some creamy homemade ranch dressing?

Not much.


This recipe and photo is blatantly pulled from The Pioneer Woman, who pretty much inspires most of my kitchen activity. PDF here.

Pioneer Woman’s Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 to 2 cloves garlic
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (use less table salt)
1 cup mayonnaise (Hellman’s or Best Foods preferred)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk, to taste
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 to 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill, more if desired

Optional ingredients:
white vinegar
worcestershire sauce
cayenne pepper
paprika
fresh oregano
black pepper
tabasco

Directions: With a fork, make a paste with garlic and salt. Mix all other ingredients, adding optional ingredients as you wish, tasting frequently and adjusting seasonings as needed. Chill for a couple of hours before serving, thin with milk or buttermilk if desired.

Enjoy!

Plans for the Blog

so I have been giving a bit of thought to having an organized plan for posting.... can't promise that this will actually result in more regular posts, but it is worth a go, no?

Some ideas:

Monday - personal updates
Tuesday - movie roundup
Wednesday - comedy
Thursday - "things i love thursday"
Friday - food or fashion
Saturday - books and blogs on the brain
Sunday - feeling crafty

other ideas??

Back in the saddle

Hi all. I find myself back in Central City, Colorado for the summer, working for the 3rd year on directing staff at the Opera Festival here. Working here (or at any summer festival, I imagine) is a strange blend of hair-pulling stress and mind-numbing boredom, all set with a backdrop of the lovely Rocky Mountains.

The stress: 3 mainstage shows rehearsing and performing in rep, 2 of which have cover casts that get their own performance (one of which I am in charge of); 1 chamber opera (I am directing); and an entire repertoire of scenes (I am directing 4 of them).... and one of my main jobs is scheduling all of this without sending anyone into overtime or the hospital for mental and physical exhaustion. Also, when my mainstage show is in full swing, my own schedule is pretty relentless.

The boredom: the mountains are lovely, yes, but we are 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store. Also, as an AD, usually when I have time off it is because everyone else is involved with a rehearsal or performance for another show, leaving me at loose ends... no one to put to work in a rehearsal OR socialize with!

So what is a girl to do? A lot of planning, a lot of reading, a lot of dvd-watching.

Any good summer reading suggestions??? or movies I MUST see?

Summer movie madness

Last night a pal and I went to see this:



It was charming and visually stunning and forced me to unexpectedly hold in sobs (both happy and sad) for almost the entire 90 minutes. Survey says: go see it.

Shining Happy People

This is freaking awesome....
"The Shining" reimagined as a romantic comedy.

Misery

I think somewhere along the line I might have picked this up as my manual for life. ....euffff....


(ps. does anyone else kinda wanna punch this gal in the face?)