ealgylden: (Red Joan (alethia))
(Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning)
(Part II. Joan on Film: The Middle Age)
(Part III. Joan on Film: Latter Days)


And to finish, a few of Joan's appearances in TV shows.

Forever Knight, "For I Have Sinned" (1992), Christina Cox: 'If there is a god, must it be sane?' )


The Simpsons, "Tales from the Public Domain" (2002), Lisa Simpson: 'It's easier to chew than that Bambi videotape.' )


Joan of Arcadia, "Pilot," "Saint Joan," and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (2003-2005), no actress: 'Are you ready, girl warrior?' )


The end. Back to real life tomorrow! Um, yay?
ealgylden: (Maxine of Arc (castalia))
(Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning)
(Part II. Joan on Film: The Middle Age)


Next, a quartet of films from the '80s-'90s. Or three films and a miniseries, actually. No matter. On to Joan at the end of the twentieth century!


Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Jane Wiedlin: 'Noah's wife?' )


Jeanne la Pucelle: Les batailles and Jeanne la Pucelle: Les prisons (1994), Sandrine Bonnaire: 'Quelque folle... ou quelque sorciere...' )


The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), Milla Jovovich: 'She's nuts!' )


Joan of Arc (1999), Leelee Sobieski: 'Come out, that I might send you to hell!' )


And finally, Joan on TV.
ealgylden: (Helmeted Joan (aithine))
(Part I. Joan on Film: In the Beginning)


And so on to the difficult middle years, with a pair of Joans more pawn than rebel.

Joan of Arc (1948), Ingrid Bergman: 'Death by fire is a horrible thing.' )


Saint Joan (1957), Jean Seberg: 'A dead saint is always safer for the Church than a living one.' )


Next- Ending the century with Wiedlin, Bonnaire, Jovovich and Sobieski.
ealgylden: (Gerry as Joan (aithine))
Hi there! Still not dead. All last week I kept meaning to write an update post, but I kept putting it off until by now it hardly matters. Still, if you could send a healthy thought or two into the ethers for my dad, that'd be keen. Thankee!

Aaanyway... A while ago, I had a wee idea. "Self," I said to myself, "May 30th is coming up, and as everyone knows, May 30th is the Feast of St. Joan of Arc. You have a nice collection of movies and TV shows about Joan. Why don't you do a post and blather a little about them?" And so I did. Except... I kinda got carried away (shocking, I know), and ended up with many, many pages of blather about the aforementioned movies and TV shows, most which is probably pretty boring. Not that that'll prevent me from posting, of course. Heh. I have all those words from all those posts I haven't been making recently lying around in my brain gathering dust, so I might as well use them for something. But honestly, I really won’t be insulted if you scroll on by. This blather doesn't include every movie about Joan, or even all of the ones that can be considered important, since, among others, I don't yet own a copy of Robert Bresson's Procès de Jeanne d'Arc. It hasn't been commercially available for a while, and bootleg copies only show up on eBay when I'm broke. This blather doesn't even include every Joan show I do have in my collection, since I never had a chance to rewatch my tapes of Witchblade. But it's a pretty healthy selection nonetheless, including portrayals good and not-so-good. Like Hamlet, Joan of Arc is an difficult, strenuous part for any actor. She's a tremendously complex figure, so susceptible to contradictory interpretations, so charged with fascinating possibilities. She contains multitudes. Playing her must be a daunting proposition, but an irresistible one.

And so, on with the blather. I'll begin at the beginning, with the silents, then on to the mid-century portrayals, then the Joans of the '90s, and finally, television. And for each film, I've included a link with at least a small picture of the actress in costume, so you can get a glimpse of the changing face of the role.

Joan the Woman (1916), Geraldine Farrar: 'No sword once drawn for France - shall be thrown Down!' )



La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), Maria Falconetti: 'Si j'y suis, que Dieu m'y tienne... si je n'y suis pas, que Dieu m'y mette!' )



La Vie merveilleuse de Jeanne d'Arc (1928), Simone Gènevoix: 'Donnez-moi des hommes d'armes et je leverai le siege d'Orleans, puis vous menerai sacrer a Reims.' )


Next up, Bergman and Seberg.
ealgylden: (Nick/Greg (carolinecrane))
on the WaT finale- what. the. fuck?!


(and hi!, such a lousy week, I'll play catch-up tomorrow, hope everyone's okay or better, hugs to [livejournal.com profile] aithine who also had a lousy week, and good night all! Oh, and I love Nick Stokes so, so much. The end. Heh.)
ealgylden: (Tenacious D (afrai))
It's a long shot, I know, but... Does anyone have an mp3 of "William Shatner" by The Scofflaws that she or he can zap me? I have it on cassette, but that doesn't help me any, alas. Please and thank you!


On a totally different note- So ABC picked up the new Night Stalker series, eh? It's a strange world where Stuart Townsend ends up playing Darren McGavin and no mistake. I've barely glanced at the new pickups yet, but I did notice that Alan Tudyk's and Sean Maher's shows didn't make the cut. Boo. Tim Minear's new one is on FOX, right? He must like the half-season-with-lots-of-extras DVD set format. That's fine, so do I. CBS announces JoA's fate tomorrow, as far as I know, so yay, more hours to stress about that. I need a more relaxing hobby.


Okay, my headache and I are going back to bed. No NCIS finale until next week, but George Eads is on Craig Ferguson tonight, and I'll never make it that far without a nap. This day and I are not friends.


ETA- Australia has chili-chocolate Tim Tams?! Oh keen. I wonder if I could justify a trip to Australia on cookie-buying grounds... okay, now I'm off to sleep.
ealgylden: (Red Joan (alethia))
I had no idea it was Friday the 13th until I started reading my flist. I had only the vaguest idea it was Friday, actually. Been that kind of week. But the costume exhibit was fabulous! Small, only 32 costumes, but you could get pretty close to them and really see the details. Such gorgeous work. Sadly, there was no catalogue available, and of course no photography allowed, and I stupidly (stupidly!) forgot to bring a pencil to take notes. Ah well. I'm jotting down a sketchy outline of what was there in another post anyway, mostly for my own lousy memory's sake. The exhibit runs for another two weeks, so I'm really hoping to swing one more trip. With a pencil this time.

Other than that, the high point of my week was hitting a sale at the Body Shop, where I stocked up on honey shampoo and olive oil shower gel. With my yogurt lotion and fennel toothpaste, I smell like Greek food. Heh. All I need is a garlic scrub or something to be complete. Well, maybe not.

I also popped into Best Buy to get a look at the JoA set, and it's so wee! I didn't realize it was a super-slim set. Very cute, and handy as well, considering that space is at a premium among my DVDs at the moment. Here's another positive review of the set, from someone who hadn't expected to like the show. I always enjoy those. Spoilery only if you consider the sort of episode synopses they put on the backs of DVD cases spoilery.


I had to cock a brow at this quote from Tim Goodman's column this week:

Come May, TV fans don't like kisses. They don't like subtlety. They like cliff-hangers -- nay, they demand cliff-hangers.

But mostly they want to be stunned into disbelief. They want to eagerly await September's return of the story line. Never mind the idea of diminishing returns and predictability -- you can't kill someone every season! -- the audience demands action.


Or, you know, not. To be honest, I find the season-ending reliance on cliffhangers and body counts to be highly annoying. If your show has been doing its work all season, you don't need to bribe or trick me into tuning in next season. Honest. And killing characters I care about? Not really a point-winner with me. Yeah, I watch a lot of cop shows and things of that ilk, and those folks are in the line of fire, but if you're trying to sell me on your show's realism, most RL cops don't have to deal with 1 in 5 odds that they're going to be killed off as a shocking plot twist. At this late date, it's no longer shocking and it's scarcely believable. Cut it out.

And while I'm talking to TV shows, hey Without a Trace- what the hell? No, seriously, what the hell? Can a TV show become senile at such a young age? Dementia would explain a lot, and if that's the case I would have sympathy for your plight. Otherwise... what the hell? For two weeks in a row you had a glimpse of promise again, and then you remembered that It's All About Jack. Does it have to be? 'Cause really, Jack pretty much sucks. And I've gotta say- It's All About Jack equals Joan's Watching PBS.


Nicked from [livejournal.com profile] lizbetann, a very cute quiz with very cute pictures that never seem to want to load for me:

Indus Script
Indus, (Pakistan 2500 B.C.E.)
You are INDUS. One of the most famous undeciphered
scripts, however, modern scholars have no text
any longer than 17 symbols. You might be
concealing a dark, mysterious heritage -- or
you could have been used to mark whose beer was
whose.


Which Indecipherable Script Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
ealgylden: (Rebecca (icepixie))
Nicked from someone on friendsfriends, I forget who. Someone who watches Brit TV, though, judging from some of the shows.

Cult television meme )


My tea is gone, and so am I.
ealgylden: (Joan and Grace (megl42))
From Digitally Obsessed's review of the Joan of Arcadia DVDs:

"... as of this writing, the show is on the bubble for renewal for a third year, but this first season is certainly worth your attention. Plus, it will make justifying all that time spent in front of the television a lot easier come Judgment Day ('No, seriously, God, I was watching it to learn about you! And because you let them cancel Firefly.')."

Hee! Aw, I don't want to wait until June. *pout*


It was 82 degrees here today. 82! It is too early for that! I say no! I didn't accomplish a thing except some good lying around and complaining about the heat, but I don't feel bad since that's apparently all that most people did today. But I'm finally about halfway through answering comments from the last month or so (though not emails), and that's something! It's not much of something, but it's a start. And I watched TV, of course. Eeeeee, NCIS! I love you so, my crackhead fanficcy darling! And eh, House, you were okay. All is not forgiven, though, so don't you get too comfy. (Eeee, NCIS! Tony! Gibbs! Kate! Spoilery things that I'm too lazy to cut and so won't say! Love love love! Want DVDs now! And also want the season finale not to break my heart!)


Right, must go shower so as to get out of the house early early early tomorrow. Yay, costume exhibit! At last!
ealgylden: (Rebecca (icepixie))
... Kathleen Turner's on. And she looks really good. I admit, I've always thought she was sexy. Sexy enough that she was able to cast a veil of attractiveness over Michael Douglas, which is saying something. But it's been a few years since I've really seen her in anything, so it was great to have her turn up to flirt and tease Jon with that voice of hers. Maturity has fulfilled the promise that was always there, as far back as Romancing the Stone- she's become a real dame**, and that makes me happy. Now if only the movies would do right by her, not to mention Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston, Diane Keaton and the other talented actresses of their generation, by offering (regularly, not just a handful every few years) a wider, more interesting range of roles for women between the age of ingenue and crone. I know, I know, it's crazy talk like that that leads to communism. Ah well. Older actresses turn to directing, to the theater, to a variety of other creative outlets, and I'm glad about that for their sakes, but the screen is a little less silver without them. I've missed you, Kathleen. You're a right dame, and you can purr on my television anytime.

And now Mark Harmon's on Craig Ferguson. There are attractive middle-aged people all over my tv tonight. I like this trend. *g* And he's hugging Craig and giggling! Awww. Not even dorky jarhead hair can make Mark Harmon unattractive. I'm insanely hyped for tomorrow's NCIS (well, today's by the time I post this). Not even Death is dumb enough to take Gibbs on. Woo hoo! Or so I hope (my poor Tony!).



**the Rosalind Russell kind of dame, not the Judi Dench kind. Though Judi Dench is pretty much the Rosalind Russell kind herself, come to think of it.



On a totally different note: Hey, didn't I see this on The Simpsons? Don't get me wrong, there are many, many things about it that I find tremendously cool, but sometimes I can't help but think, is it possible that Japan is the strangest country on Earth?
ealgylden: (Gerry as Joan (aithine))
...or as I like to call it, "Joan builds a nice big army which the computer promptly slaughters while cackling evilly. Every time." That game and I are not as one.

Anyway, for weeks now, my mom and I have been planning to head down to Syracuse to catch an exhibit at the Everson. Specifically, Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen. Sounds pretty snazzy, no? It was a bonus that the timing worked out so well for Mother's Day (conventional family wisdom holds that going out on the day itself isn't worth the pain, so why not be flexible?). So the idea was to see some fabulous costumes, spend much too much money at Wegmans (far superior to Whole Foods, the late Bread and Circus or other examples of the breed, IMO), hit all the rest of the usual stores, eat sushi or Thai food or something else we can't get up here, and just generally have a play day. And at any time in plotting this little excursion, did either of us think to check what hours the museum was open? No, we did not. As you've probably guessed by now, they're not open on Mondays. Curses! Luckily we noticed that before driving two hours to wind up at a locked door, but still! The plan! The play day! I was all geared up! Dang it. Looks like we're going on Wednesday instead, even though Wednesday's weather is supposed to be lousy and it's really not as convenient. Still. We're not missing this exhibit.

On the other hand, because I was still home when the mail came today, I got the flyer/coupon for "Spanish Cheese month at Wegmans!" before we went there, for once, so that's nice. Mmmmm, Gotes Catalanes are back at last. Gotes Catalanes are little balls of soft, mild white cheese marinated in olive oil and flavored with garlic and parsley, and they're demonically good. Expensive, but so worth it. The only problem is that the flyer doesn't make clear whether they're just featured the week of the 22nd-28th, or if that's the only time they're available. Not that it matters- after a year of craving and reminiscing, driving two hours just to buy cheese is nothing.


As much as I love this song, and I really do, I'm starting to think that leaving it on repeat for hours at a time all weekend may have been a bit much. For some odd reason, it's stuck in my head. I wonder why that is. (What I should do, actually, is figure out Yousendit, so you guys can all be earwormed too... I mean, so I can share. Yeah, that's the ticket. *g*)
ealgylden: (Sepia Joan (megl42))
Not even a slightly productive day, but a good one nonetheless. I lolled around all morning watching Miracles, then went out to poke around in the garden and enjoy the weather. It's been such a chilly, wet spring so far that everything's a few weeks behind, but the rhubarb is finally coming up, and of course there's mint all over everything. Long, long ago, we planted some spearmint, and then less long ago some apple mint, in what we thought were manageable amounts, and every year since then we've gotten mint swarming all over everything like kudzu. Mint's one of those plants you need a whip and a chair to control. Good thing it's so useful. So hopefully the weather will hold long enough to get in there and till. Darn garden won't get planted until July, at this rate.

That was my non-productive morning. My non-productive afternoon involved more lolling, this time to read Sappho. I'm looking for text for a Xena icon, and somehow Sappho seemed appropriate. Heh. It's been ages since I've read her, and this translation, Anne Carson's If Not, Winter, is new to me, so it was an afternoon well-lolled. I don't read a word of Greek (it's a good day when I can recognize half the alphabet), so there's none of that occasional "that's not how I'd translate it" twitching that I sometimes hit with, say, Latin or OE (not to say I'd be right, of course, but try telling my brain that). And Carson's translation is really beautiful. I don't know how much is the translation and how much is the original, but some of the fragments sound to me like medieval Chinese poetry. Bits like, "Eros shook my/ mind like a mountain wind falling on oak trees." Lovely. Anyway, I found a few phrases that might work, but the problem then becomes, as pretty as they are in English, they look prettier in Greek. sigh. And to be honest, I'm not even sure if the icon needs text at all. It has possibilities, but it's so pretty as-is. Wanna see? The base is from [livejournal.com profile] nixxie_:

Ecstatic Xena


Without going back to check ('cause I'm lazy and it's late), it looks like a shot from "Fallen Angel," an episode about which I've always been conflicted. I don't much like the Eli/monotheism arc, though I like Eli himself. I found the whole angels/ demons/ Heaven/ Hell/ Michael/ Lucifer/ Apostle Eve/ pure-and-redeemed Callisto mess irritating more often than I found it satisfying (especially P-and-R Callisto, but that's a rant for another night). Still, corny flying effects aside, "Fallen Angel" looks gorgeous, and it has some very good elements. The concepts bug me, yeah, but a lot of stuff, like the Xena/Gabrielle scenes (particularly their shell-shocked reactions at the end), Joxer wanting to take them home to bury with Xena's family, Eli in torment, and especially the costumes, worked really well for me. I love the costumes. All those beautiful Greek Orthodox angels? Oooh. Right out of a mosaic.

Anyway, yeah, the icon text issue is a puzzler. Darn icons. How you torment me, and I can't even create you! *shakes fist at sky*

And it doesn't really fit this base, but as far as icon text goes, I may have squeaked aloud when I saw that Carson had translated Fragment 190 as "manyskilled" (yay, a kenning! Heh). How perfect! "I have many skills," is probably my favorite recurring line on the show. A more appropriate base and that fragment, translated or not, would be a very keen icon indeed. Er, that's not a hint, honest. Just sharing my enthusiasm. *g*


Speaking of enthusiasm, the first, superior season of Joan of Arcadia comes out on DVD this Tuesday. Yay! But alas, my "yay!" must be tempered- on a micro-level because I have to wait until June for my copy (birthday present. Awesome birthday present, though, so yay!), and on a macro-level because, apparently, there have been some changes made for the release. Why am I not surprised? There are indeed music changes. Argh. This was my biggest fear for the set, honestly, because so often the music is integral to the episodes and to their meanings and subtexts. I'm dreading hearing what they've done. I'm really glad I haven't gotten rid of my taped copies, not-great quality though they might be. Also, apparently the theme and credits are only attached to the first episode of each disc, which is strange and annoying (and cheaper, I suppose, but still!). Widescreen, commentaries and deleted scenes are very snazzy, but the music thing... It's going to be a stressful few weeks until I hear the damage done, I think. Anyway, here's a positive review of the set with details on the extras.

On a totally different note... I forget what blog I nicked this from (alas), but I loved this cartoon take on the whole ridiculous evolution vs. creationism rigmarole: "Science vs. Norse Mythology." I mean really, why should Christian fundies have all the fun? I particularly like this bit of the artist's statement: "I would like to issue an official apology to any believers in the Norse faith. I certainly have no wish to get on the wrong side of any Vikings, who historically have not expressed their grievances through letters-to-the-editor. As my friend John Patton pointed out to me, it's a little foolhardy of me to insult the religion of a seafaring warrior people when I live right on the water." Hee! Oh, and that reminds me- at long last, the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths is coming back into print this summer. Finally! Huzzah! It's been unavailable for ages, and for a while there, used copies were running into the $100-200 range. I've only read it once, long ago, before our local library's copy Vanished Mysteriously (dum dum dum), but I vaguely remember loving the illustrations so much that the "and then there was Ragnarok and everybody died and then somehow the Norse people reappeared only now they were Christians and they were really much happier that way" ending didn't bother me (much). But Little Sister and I were raised on a much-beloved copy of the Book of Greek Myths, and in many, many cases my mental images of the various gods and heroes are still the D'Aulaires' version. Man, we loved that book. Wasn't as good as Dad's bedtime stories about the Blue Boat People, a mishmash of the adventures of Odysseus, Theseus, Jason and company, and whatever other hero-types felt like coming along, but it was close.

Let's see, did I have any other links lying in wait around here? Um... you've seen the Legend of Zorro trailer, right? I'm really looking forward to this (still, yet, even with all the delays). And naturally it opens the week before Serenity. I need to move back someplace where the nearest theater isn't an hour away. But not tonight. Heh.

Meme spam

May. 5th, 2005 01:26 am
ealgylden: (Huzzah (melime))
So yeah, not dead yet. I was sick all last week, though not so much so as to feel justified in pulling the full Camille. Still, even your basic lying-around-with-no-energy-feeling-sorry-for-yourself sickness tends to exacerbate my natural tendencies toward being... reactive. High-strung. Occasionally whiny and/or bitchy ("occasionally?!" I hear Little Sister scoff a state away). Since I try to keep that part of my personality offline as much as possible, and rather than starting fights and clobbering innocent people with the Frying Pan of Death over things like differing views of a character, or enthusiasm (or lack thereof) for a particular pairing, I mostly took the week off. And wallowed in badfic. Specifically, Paris/Chakotay badfic. It's not like my brain was working so well anyway, so why not go all out? Deliberately seeking out this sort of thing is not so fun when it's a pairing I actually care about; the pain gets too distracting. But remove that element of, you know, real emotional investment, and it's like any trashy romance novel, only more so. Whee! But then every so often I'd trip over a story that wasn't bad, exactly, and it was quite disorienting. I kept wondering things like "why is no one crying yet?" or "why isn't Chakotay calling on his spirit guide every five minutes?" "Where's Tom's endless litany of tragedies?" "Why isn't Tom saying 'Gods!' constantly?" (and what the hell is up with that anyway?!) "Where's the big wedding scene with lyrics by Diane Warren and Indian customs by Pottery Barn?" It's unsettling to crave a Twinkie and find only madeleines on the plate, though in this case, it didn't happen often. And sure, it seems counterintuitive to complain about good stories, but hey, I was sick and I wanted my fun trashy, darn it! Tragically, I forgot that badfic is more addictive than heroin, and I don't have a stash of mediocre stories to help wean me off. Poor brain, I treat you so cruelly.

Did I have a point when I started? Um... was sick, wanted to start fights, didn't, read schlock instead... huh. Guess not. I did watch a lot of television while languishing, though, which will probably mean blather. And comments and email, of course, as always, still, yet. I'm the worst correspondent ever, honestly. Years, decades of extremely belated cards and letters under my belt, and these days I have all sorts of new formats and technologies in which to slack. Which is pretty much my history in general, actually. Time keeps marching on, bringing with it new toys to make me distracted and lazy. Stellar.

Anyway. I can never resist an icon meme, so I nicked one from [livejournal.com profile] derryderrydown. Chop, chop )
ealgylden: (Serenity (wesleysgirl))
I'm sick and I'm mopey, so I've been letting everything slide (like I ever need an excuse), but I think I'd lose my geek card if I didn't flail around Kermit-style about the Serenity trailer. So, um, flail flail flail! Heh. Okay, yeah, it really is very shiny. Possibly too shiny and dust-free, but I've seen a lot of movie trailers over the years, so it's not like I don't know how deceptive they can be (and usually are). It seems silly to me to get riled up over a trailer before you've seen the actual film. Then again, it seems silly to me to cut for spoilers from a trailer, so I'm obviously not a hardliner. I don't have the willpower. Anyway, my beloved show is back (sorta), I'm thrilled, they're all so damned wonderful, and I'm still scared absolutely blind that this movie's going to break my heart.

Simon sure is pretty, though. As is everyone else. And River is just... I've missed the show so badly, and while a movie's not the same, at least it's something. I can't wait until my head's not wrapped in cotton and I can treat this moment like a moment.

I also finally finished Finding Serenity, which is nice. I kept putting it down and wandering off. So distractible these days. It was a mixed bag which, overall, tended toward the positive. The wacky fun essays were generally more satisfying for me than the serious ones, and the ones on gender all managed to tick me off for one reason or another. There were quite a few times throughout that I wished I were reading LJ posts instead of a book, which was a strange feeling. But then I don't read that much in the way of fannish analysis in book form, and I'd forgotten that, oh yeah, books don't let you comment back. Unless you want to talk to them, of course, but then your cats look at you funny. Or so I've heard.

One of the things I was surprised at was that both times it was mentioned (both times I saw, anyway- there was one essay I only skimmed), the authors took the interaction between Inara and the Councilor in "War Stories" at face value. Huh. Seriously? Small spoiler for that scene, logically )

Right, so back to moping, not sleeping, feeling sorry for myself and obsessing about Bellisario's vague, hinty NCIS finale semi-spoilers. I was sort of relying on that show to balance CSI, but now... we'll see, I guess. Off to bed I go, to wake up healthy and lively and rich. Can't hurt to dream, right?

Squeee, Serenity! Flail flail flail!
ealgylden: (Gerry as Joan (aithine))
That dead celebrity soul mate thing is addictive, but I'm so bad at committing. How do I choose between my dream guys, Genghis Khan and Leonardo da Vinci? Holy wacky juxtapositions, Batman! On the distaff side, I get to choose between Mata Hari, Lucrezia Borgia and... Joan of Arc. Hee! Without even cheating! I had to chuckle at, "The celebrity I resemble most... Keira Knightley." Riiight. Oh, even better! "In my home you will find... Farm equipment; butter; a poster of Creed before they broke up (why, Scott Stapp, why???!?)." Bwahahahahaha! Oh dear, oh dear.

"What your date might be like... Joan enjoys describing her visions, praying, and instigating uprisings; it's not unusual for a typical date with her to contain elements of all three activities. In addition, you might find yourself riding on horseback across France and/or attacking English tourists. Joan is slow to anger but single-minded about her interests, so give her plenty of room to make her own decisions. You should also be warned that things often don't end well with religious martyrs. Know your rights and be sure to let people know where you're going." Sounds great! As memes go, this is quite gigglesome.


I was also pretty amused by part of today's Writer's Almanac. It was the last sentence that got me:

"It's the birthday of poet Edwin Markham, born in Oregon City, Oregon (1852). He was famous for his poem 'The Man With a Hoe,' based on a painting by Millet. It was about the brutality of harsh work, and includes the lines:

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back, the burden of the world.


It was a big hit when it came out in 1899."


And my "I love the mail!" giddiness from earlier in the week (eeee, Miracles!) hadn't even worn off yet before it was refreshed today, when my shiny new copy of "Bye Bly/ Ned Zed" arrived. At last, I have all of the Columbia House videos of Brisco County. Huzzah! Watch, any day now, they'll announce DVDs. Heh. And yes, I know that the whole series is downloadable these days, but heck, most of the time I'm lucky to get into my email. You kids today, with your torrents and your high-speed connections and your "rock" music and your Beatle boots... Ahem. Yay, Brisco County! Eet... ees... mine!
ealgylden: (Knight Zoe (fileg))
I'm spamming mostly to see if I can, since LJ's being a dork, or possibly it's TSCITW, or my lousy connection, or the weather, or... hell if I know. Hopefully it'll be more cooperative tomorrow, since I have comments and email and whatall, but heck, by now you guys know what a slacker I am about that. So, tomorrow. And I was going to spaz about tonight's JoA, but I don't have the energy anymore. Perhaps it's the "my show was disappointing for much of the season but I still love it and I don't know its fate and that was the ending we got" blues (diddy wah doo). I need to rewatch it, plus the pilot and this season's premiere, I think. I will say this- I hate cliffhanger finales. On any show. But especially on shows which have not yet been renewed. That's dirty pool, Ms. Hall.

Anyway. I quite liked this quiz result. Don't know how accurate it is, but she's always been one of my favorites, and whether or not she fits me, she certainly fits my type. Nicked from [livejournal.com profile] devinharris, which goddess am I? )
ealgylden: (True Love (carolinecrane))
Well, that's interesting. Question for [livejournal.com profile] marycrawford or [livejournal.com profile] elke_tanzer or any other Hercules folks out there, since my own knowledge is primarily Xena-based. Has there been a rerelease of Hercules Season 1? Or will there be, more accurately, since the release date is apparently next Tuesday. Deep Discount is listing it at $11.99, and that's... cheap. Really cheap. Too cheap? Is there a catch, like it's really "$11.99 and your immortal soul" or "$11.99 but we're making the discs out of cheese now" or something? Oh wait, Amazon has it too, for $14.99. Gosh. What goes on here?

I'm also intrigued by the forthcoming Xena 10th Anniversary set. Oooh, mysterious! Will it be something remastered, re-extraed and repriced? Will it be a "Best of"? Will it be some sort of arc plot theme set, like the X-Files mythology ones will be? You know what would be a super-fabulous release, Anchor Bay? The lost Alexander episode. I would have to devise a whole new coolness scale to measure that. The sheer possibilities...


And FSM posted the last part of their Top 40 Most In-Demand Composers in Hollywood yesterday, "the least surprising, most predictable part of the list, the names that have pretty much stayed the same for the last three years." Heh. Pretty much, yeah. In fact, the only changes from last year are that Horner and Shore have flipped places, and that Harry Gregson-Williams jumped the pack to grab the #10 spot. Seriously, what the heck? I like Gregson-Williams well enough, but that surprised me. How did he pull assignments like Kingdom of Heaven, Domino, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? It isn't a bad thing, but... Media Ventures, dude. I'm starting to wonder if there's something to all those "Media Ventures is backed by the Mafia/ the Illuminati/ Satan/ Bill Gates" snarks. I don't really have a strong opinion as to who I'd rather see as #10, I suppose. If I were the Film Score Fairy, I'd wave my wand and ping Bruce Broughton, or maybe Gabriel Yared, but that would raise eyebrows, too ("Dear Warner Bros.: While I know Troy was not really considered a success for you, please consider releasing Gabriel Yared's score for it, as it is widely considered one of the most desirable and accomplished unreleased scores in recent years. And I want it a lot. Thank you."). And it's rather sad to look at the complete list and not see Jerry Goldsmith or Michael Kamen anymore. sniff.

Anyway, if you're curious but too lazy to click (heh), the top ten:

10. Harry Gregson-Williams
9. Alan Silvestri
8. Randy Newman
7. James Newton Howard (I'm currently obsessed with his Atlantis score. Again.)
6. James Horner
5. Howard Shore
4. Hans Zimmer
3. Thomas Newman
2. Danny Elfman
1. John Williams (surprise!)

And the quote that most caught my eye: "The much desired ten-disc set of Shore's Rings music is unlikely to arrive this year...". On the one hand, darn. On the other, whew, I still have time to scrimp and save! Because that's going to be one pricey set. I shudder to think. Now how about an update on Doug Adams's book, guys?


Argh, how is it Friday again? Wasn't it just Friday, like, three days ago? I'm so tired.
ealgylden: (Miracles (castalia))
They're here, they're here, they're here! Miracles DVDs for me, woo! Miracles DVDs for me, yay! Isabella's staring at me like I've started mutating ("Why are you dancing, freakish human, instead of feeding me?"), but I'm sure that's just because the poor kitty doesn't watch much TV. She does watch hockey with me, though. When we have hockey. Which is never again. Wow, way to wreck a good mood, cat.

Miracles DVDs! In my hands! With Alva, Paul and Evie staring out at me from their creepy disembodied heads! The text in the background does help class that up a bit, but still, not the most attractive packaging I've ever seen. Wait, why am I complaining? I have Miracles DVDs! I believe the phrase would be, "squeeeeeee!!!" They're so pretty! Shiny and new and full of extras for the gobbling! All these scenes I haven't seen in too long, all the gorgeously tortured Alva/Paul-ness, "Paul Is Dead," the fantabulous guest stars, the credits and theme music that I love so much, "Paul Is Dead," the X-Files-meets-Angel-meets-Brimstone-and-then-some vibe, "Paul Is Dead"... Joy is mine!

Aren't you glad to have the technology at hand to hear all about what the mail brings to people you've never even met? Heh. Anyway, watch Miracles! Buy it, rent it or beat up old ladies and steal their copies (but don't tell them I told you to do that). It's a smart, stylish, creepy, slashy, twisty, angsty, hopeful, pretty, fabulous show with a tragically tiny fandom. There are only thirteen episodes (sob!) so it's not a huge investment of time, unless it eats your brain, which, I should warn you, happens. A lot. But you'll be happier with a Miracles-eaten brain, anyway, so why resist? You know you want to. All the cool kids are doing it. Just try it.
ealgylden: (Wordhord Onleac (aithine))
Er, on his show, not on him. It's not that late yet. But I missed this interview the first time around, and I'm not going to miss it again. Of course, now that I've said that...


When Little Sister and I were kids, we spent a lot of time digging up our land looking for dinosaur fossils. We found bones from all sorts of wildlife, old logging paraphernalia, rusted-out farm equipment and lots of broken glass, but while northern New York has lots of very interesting rocks, small fossils from the watery past and things dropped by glaciers, it doesn't have a lot of dinosaurs. At least not in our backyard. Still, it kept us out of trouble, more or less. Anyway, that was the first thing I thought of when I read this article about three kids discovering the thousand-year-old remains of a (probable) Fremont Indian man when they were digging around to build themselves a fort. Gosh. I can't imagine how we would have reacted if we'd dug up a person. The occasional deer skull was plenty of excitement. But these kids seem to have handled it well, and the remains will most likely be returned to the site for reburial, which is a nice change from years past. I got a kick out of this bit particularly:

The boys said their discovery will give them a new interest in archaeology.

"Maybe we'll say we're going to dig a fort, but we'll be looking for something," Alex said.

"We're going to dig for gold tomorrow," Scott replied.

"OK," Alex said.


Good luck, boys. I don't know about finding buried treasure in Utah, but keep an eye out for dinosaurs.


I was flipping through a new Scholar's Bookshelf catalogue, desperately hoping nothing would be interesting and/or on sale, when my eye was caught by The Service of Ladies, by one Ulrich von Liechtenstein. "Self," I said to myself, "why is this ringing a bell? You know you haven't read it. In fact, I don't think you've ever read anything about 'a knight-errant of the thirteenth century and his "journey of Venus" in honor of his lady.' What goes on here?" And then it hit me. Ulrich von Liechtenstein! "He's blond, he's pissed, he'll see you in the lists, Liechtenstein! He's quick, he's funny, he makes me lots of money, Liechtenstein!" Ha! Why my dear little Knight's Tale, you're just full of surprises. I don't think I'll be getting the book, though. How could I read it without getting the giggles? At least with Chaucer I can chalk it up to, you know, it being Chaucer.


Speaking of not spending money, I was skimming through the June comic pre-orders (Age of Bronze is back! Yay! With both the paperback of Sacrifice and issue 20, no less! Why wasn't Troy even a smidge as good as this? Sheesh), and I noticed that Image is once again offering... Battle Pope. Now that's timing.


Disappointing information from Diamond re: the Serenity AFs. All those pictures I've posted recently of Mal and Jayne with their faces that just aren't quite right? Those are apparently the final sculpts. Oh dear. It's always possible that they'll look better in person than in photos, but... what a pity. It was also said that they have scans of other cast members, raising the possibility that there might be further series of figures. On the one hand, yay! Gimme! On the other hand, if this first series was actually based off scans rather than vague descriptions of Nathan and Adam from someone who once saw ten minutes of one of their lousy movies, seriously, Diamond, what happened? Can you imagine how goofy Simon or Wash or Kaylee could end up looking?

Then again, if they did make a Wash figure, he'd need accessories, right? And what would be better than a wee plastic dinosaur? Which brings me full circle, just in time for pretty, goofy Gerard on my TV. Nicely timed, that. Almost makes up for Miracles not having arrived yet, not that I'm obsessed or anything. Pshaw, that'd be silly. Heh. Yeah, I can't even convince myself of that one.
ealgylden: (Blue Joan (aithine))
I bet everyone's really, really tired of seeing "Pope!" all over their flist again, right? Heh, I sympathize. And yet I post! I can't help myself. It's like some demented Borscht Belt comedy record. "When You're Online the Whole World Is Catholic." I'd be lying if I said I were pleased that Ratzinger got the nod, but I'd be lying even more if I said I were surprised. I had my money split between him and the Italians. Still, if I were the Holy Spirit, I would have wafted in some other direction. So, missed opportunity there.

Anyway! I have nothing really to say about Ratzinger himself, because my general feelings have been nicely covered by all of the many posts saying, "Ack!" (I summarize, of course). But I can't resist commenting on one aspect of these Vatican shenanigans: his chosen papal name, Benedict. Interesting! Now, as a monastic scholar, particularly one who has primarily focused on the 8th-10th centuries, naturally the Benedicts I know best are not popes, but rather the great monastic architects, Benedict of Nursia and Benedict of Aniane. I love Benedict of Nursia. A whole lot. No, more than that. He probably wouldn't like me as much, all things considered, but if I took that sort of thing personally from historical personages, I'd have gone into a different field (plus, I'd be nuts). Benedict of Aniane, a more Type A personality, can be tougher to like, but we've spent a heck of a lot of hours together over the years, and we've been in a good place since about, oh, 1998. So while most of my Benedictine brainpower has been thus directed, I have bumped up several of the Popes Benedict in my researches over the years (I seem to run into Benedicts and Johns most often, esp. John XIII and Benedict VII), so eventually I started jotting down factoids on index cards. You know, for kicks. Heh. They strike me as rather a mixed bag. As is often the case, the bad ones are more fun- there were several antipopes named Benedict, one of the Ottonian-era Benedicts was murdered (strangled! oooh...), and one (Benedict IX) was the sort of pope who goes around gambling, drinking and fornicating, and selling his office to the highest bidder so he'll have more time for gambling, drinking and fornicating. Perhaps not the best candidate for the job. Then again his daddy got it for him when he was just a pup, sort of the eleventh-century version of a Camaro for graduation, so what can you do?

A Benedict (XIII? XIV? I can't read my own writing) made life rather tougher for missionaries by inveighing against describing non-Christian practices and beliefs with Christian terminology. That must have gone over well with the Jesuits. And it was a Benedict-to-be, Jacques Fournier, Bishop of Pamiers and dedicated hunter of witches and heretics, who wiped out the last of the Cathars. Well, he was a Cistercian. They're high-strung. I kid, I like the Cistercians (very high-strung). He was also an exceptionally boring theologian who held long debates on mysticism and doctrine with Meister Eckhart, among others, not that I still hold a grudge or anything.

Okay, I'm looking for a Pope Benedict who's even a smidge as likeable as the Abbots Benedict, and... oh! Forgot Benedict VII! Tenth century, was a strong supporter of monasticism and had a relatively peaceful tenure. Which makes him sound really dull compared to the heretic-hunter and the murder victim and the papacy-selling slut, but that's showbiz. Anyway, thumbs up for Benedict VII. He was a good egg, mostly.

As for the most recent Pope Benedict, the one that Ratzinger is presumably trying to recall, well, hm. He was a pacifist and neutral power during WWI, which was more or less interpreted by the nations as, "I'm secretly on the other guy's side and I'm not going to admit it, but you definitely shouldn't trust me." Even so, he tried negotiating peace several times, until the Vatican was told to stay out of it. He's generally considered a moderate, though I rather think he benefits through juxtaposition with hardliner jerk Pius X. He ended the institutional persecution of reformers and modernists that Pius X had favored, but he didn't undo anything that had already been done, and he was no modernist himself. Still. He wasn't John XXIII or anything, but if Ratzinger's planning to model his own papacy on Benedict XV, he's going to have to loosen up a bit.

And how did Benedict XV end up on my mental radar in the first place, despite being a modern pope and therefore far less interesting to me? Well, he presided over the canonization of Joan of Arc. That'd do it.


And so to bed, in the hopes that tomorrow I will wake up to a world which has brought me my Miracles DVDs and freed my poor mailman from the Curse of the Puppy-Dog Eyes. I have to admit, I'm amused that we got Miracles and a new pope on the same day. Slightly different views of the Church, methinks.