Well, yesterday was the last part of Emma, and (not being a football fan) I also finished rewatching Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time--actually, I've been keeping track, and this is approx. the 6th time I've seen Fellowship and Two Towers, and the 4th time I've seen Return. I'm still impressed by how good they are! I keep noticing things I didn't notice before, and certain scenes are almost just as amazing as when I first saw them--Emiko and I ran out of Kleenex more than once. :P
This version of Emma is definitely one of my top favourite Jane Austen movies, and it wins the award, imo, for best Regency costumes ever! Most of the dresses are pretty, colourful, creative, and relatively modest; and all the costumes in general look pretty realistic...I mean, they actually look wearable! Episode 2 inspired me to make a Regency blouse, not finished yet but I'll post pics when it is. :) And forget Darcy; MR KNIGHTLEY IS THE BEST!!! I think I like this version of him just as much as Northam's version, and that's saying a lot, lol. This Emma Woodhouse is also the best version I've seen, actually a little bit likeable; I love the scene where she echoes "Badly done!"--that was brilliant on the part of the scriptwriters. Overall, the most enjoyable adaptation of Emma yet. Most of the cast is excellent, and I love the use of flashbacks, narration, and Emma's imagination. I wouldn't call myself a Jane Austen purist, but I still think this series kept to the spirit of the book well, and most of the stuff the scriptwriters added was in good taste and in keeping with the original story and portrayals.
Now if they would only do some Bronte adaptations that kept to the spirit of the books. *sigh* Maybe someday!
What did you think of "Emma"?
Also, thanks to those of you who've tagged or awarded me! I'll be posting those soon, as well as some photos......
Fanny left the room with a very sorrowful heart; she could not feel the difference to be so small, she could not think of living with her aunt with anything like satisfaction. As soon as she met with Edmund she told him her distress.
"Cousin," said she, "something is going to happen which I do not like at all; and though you have often persuaded me into being reconciled to things that I disliked at first, you will not be able to do it now. I am going to live entirely with my aunt Norris."
"Indeed!"
"Yes; my aunt Bertram has just told me so. It is quite settled. I am to leave Mansfield Park, and go to the White House, I suppose, as soon as she is removed there."
;)
Been re-reading Mansfield Park...I also want to re-read S&S and Emma (which was my favourite). I'm not much of a fan of Austen's writing style, but I've been appreciating it more this time around. What's your favourite Jane Austen story, and why?
BTW, thanks to everyone for voting on the poll--and if you haven't voted yet, I'd appreciate it if you did! =)
Every Sabbath morning in the summer time I thrust back the curtain, to watch the sunrise stealing down a steeple, which stands opposite my chamber-window. First, the weathercock begins to flash; then, a fainter lustre gives the spire an airy aspect; next it encroaches on the tower, and causes the index of the dial to glisten like gold, as it points to the gilded figure of the hour. Now, the loftiest window gleams, and now the lower. The carved framework of the portal is marked strongly out. At length, the morning glory, in its descent from heaven, comes down the stone steps, one by one; and there stands the steeple, glowing with fresh radiance, while the shades of twilight still hide themselves among the nooks of the adjacent buildings. Methinks, though the same sun brightens it every fair morning, yet the steeple has a peculiar robe of brightness for the Sabbath.
By dwelling near a church, a person soon contracts an attachment for the edifice. We naturally personify it, and conceive its massive walls and its dim emptiness to be instinct with a calm, and meditative, and somewhat melancholy spirit. But the steeple stands foremost, in our thoughts, as well as locally. It impresses us as a giant, with a mind comprehensive and discriminating enough to care for the great and small concerns of all the town. Hourly, while it speaks a moral to the few that think, it reminds thousands of busy individuals of their separate and most secret affairs. It is the steeple, too, that flings abroad the hurried and irregular accents of general alarm; neither have gladness and festivity found a better utterance, than by its tongue; and when the dead are slowly passing to their home, the steeple has a melancholy voice to bid them welcome. Yet, in spite of this connection with human interests, what a moral loneliness, on week-days, broods round about its stately height! It has no kindred with the houses above which it towers; it looks down into the narrow thoroughfare, the lonelier, because the crowd are elbowing their passage at its base. A glance at the body of the church deepens this impression. Within, by the light of distant windows, amid refracted shadows, we discern the vacant pews and empty galleries, the silent organ, the voiceless pulpit, and the clock, which tells to solitude how time is passing. Time,--where man lives not,--what is it but eternity? And in the church, we might suppose, are garnered up, throughout the week, all thoughts and feelings that have reference to eternity, until the holy day comes round again, to let them forth. Might not, then, its more appropriate site be in the outskirts of the town, with space for old trees to wave around it, and throw their solemn shadows over a quiet green? We will say more of this, hereafter.
I'd like to know which of the costumes (dresses) below you like best. :) So, click on each number to see them, and then vote on the poll that's on the sidebar! >>>--------------------->
#1 #2 #3 (second photo down) #4 (largest photo, on the left) #5 (not the best pics, but recognisable) #6 #7 (any of the 3) #8 (very last one, "White Gown with Sequins")
Edition: I started with Aladdin Classics, then switched over to B&N classics, because I found a volume of five H. G. Wells stories at the thrift store. Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
[As always, if there are any typos, let me know!]
The story: After England is attacked by cylinders (spaceships) from Mars, the narrator finds himself caught up in a terrible struggle for survival and safety from the invaders. Though the Martians themselves are weaker on Earth than on Mars, their advanced machinery and technology are helping them rapidly destroy the country. Can anything stop their seemingly certain domination of the earth?
The Lemonade Stand Award is awarded for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude.There are just a few rules for accepting this wonderful award:- Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.- Nominate 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.- Link the nominees within your post.- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.
Anyone can take this award if they want! :)
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THE BOILED GOOSE MEME Ask and I'll pick three of your fandoms. You must then update your journal/blog and answer the following questions: 01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
My 3: Sherlock Holmes, Dickens, and violin playing...
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered; full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass...a new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand--I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going...because they were holding on to something."- Samwise, from The Two Towers
busy
