Ring out the old - especially this blooming snow

There has been snow on the ground here since Thursday 17th December. It is snowing now which means the best laid schemes of mice and me gang aft aglay and I can't go down to parents house. Bah and also Pah  and La for good measure. So that's that and in for the day with laptop and telly.

I just watched the new BBC Turn of the Screw. I still prefer the menace of the black and white film version I saw when I was at University. This was OK, but the ghosts were too tangible and of course they showed the sex that was smouldering under the surface in the original but never actualy stated. They set it in the early 20s which were less repressed of course, but this is such a Victorian story I felt they did a disservice to the psychology which is always a key part of good ghost stories.

For me, the truest character to the original was Mrs Grose and her denial of anything happening. That was good. The little girl playing Flora was creepy. She was a little girl but looked to be in her twenties. Gave me the shivers more than Quint. He was more immoral than evil in my view. All he wanted was sex, so was less  menacing and more lusty. The evil of the character was established by Carla the servant's tales to Ann, so to that degree the governess got what she expected. She had seen the figure on the tower before then and the face at the window. The rest of her visions were fed by her own repressions. See, that's why the 20s was a strange choice for me. He should have served in the War seeing as much was made of the lack of manservants at Bly in 1921 so how was Quint exempt. Also, having lived through the War herself, Ann would have been more independent surely and not relying on a governess's post. Anyway, not too bad though the psychiatrist was a wimp.

I also finally saw all of The Pianist. What I can't understand is how such a horrible person as Roman Polanski can make such good films. Of course, the subject matter has been tackled before, but there were scenes in this film that just cut to the heart of the matter and said 'look at this; this is how it happened.' I had to take it in small doses as a result. Adrian Brody was astonishing. My favourite scene was when the Nazi found him and he played the piano for the first time in 5 years. Chopin of course. To me that encapsulated what that war meant: a Jew, playing Chopin for a Nazi and creating beauty in spite of the horror surrounding them.

The end of the noughties eh? So the New Year's Honours List is out. Nothing particularly remarkable in the list, mostly obscure sporting figures who had their 5 minutes in the spotlight this year. e.g. Jenson Button, Beth Tweddle, Ross Brawn.

More interestingly, arise Sir Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He boldly went and got himself a Knighthood.



My David Boreanaz Calendar 2010 is ready for the midnight opening ceremony which will usher in, not only a new decade, but a new chapter in my life, one I am looking forward to enjoying when this bloody snow eventually disappears.

I looked back over the year and it has not been a good one, not only in the world and personally, but for some people on my f-list who have had to deal with a lot of trauma in 2009. Still, we are all here, the majority of us, and we have survived.

Happy 2010!

It's got to be better than this

Ring out the old - especially this blooming snow

There has been snow on the ground here since Thursday 17th December. It is snowing now which means the best laid schemes of mice and me gang aft aglay and I can't go down to parents house. Bah and also Pah  and La for good measure. So that's that and in for the day with laptop and telly.

I just watched the new BBC Turn of the Screw. I still prefer the menace of the black and white film version I saw when I was at University. This was OK, but the ghosts were too tangible and of course they showed the sex that was smouldering under the surface in the original but never actualy stated. They set it in the early 20s which were less repressed of course, but this is such a Victorian story I felt they did a disservice to the psychology which is always a key part of good ghost stories.

For me, the truest character to the original was Mrs Grose and her denial of anything happening. That was good. The little girl playing Flora was creepy. She was a little girl but looked to be in her twenties. Gave me the shivers more than Quint. He was more immoral than evil in my view. All he wanted was sex, so was less  menacing and more lusty. The evil of the character was established by Carla the servant's tales to Ann, so to that degree the governess got what she expected. She had seen the figure on the tower before then and the face at the window. The rest of her visions were fed by her own repressions. See, that's why the 20s was a strange choice for me. He should have served in the War seeing as much was made of the lack of manservants at Bly in 1921 so how was Quint exempt. Also, having lived through the War herself, Ann would have been more independent surely and not relying on a governess's post. Anyway, not too bad though the psychiatrist was a wimp.

I also finally saw all of The Pianist. What I can't understand is how such a horrible person as Roman Polanski can make such good films. Of course, the subject matter has been tackled before, but there were scenes in this film that just cut to the heart of the matter and said 'look at this; this is how it happened.' I had to take it in small doses as a result. Adrian Brody was astonishing. My favourite scene was when the Nazi found him and he played the piano for the first time in 5 years. Chopin of course. To me that encapsulated what that war meant: a Jew, playing Chopin for a Nazi and creating beauty in spite of the horror surrounding them.

The end of the noughties eh? So the New Year's Honours List is out. Nothing particularly remarkable in the list, mostly obscure sporting figures who had their 5 minutes in the spotlight this year. e.g. Jenson Button, Beth Tweddle, Ross Brawn.

More interestingly, arise Sir Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He boldly went and got himself a Knighthood.



My David Boreanaz Calendar 2010 is ready for the midnight opening ceremony which will usher in, not only a new decade, but a new chapter in my life, one I am looking forward to enjoying when this bloody snow eventually disappears.

I looked back over the year and it has not been a good one, not only in the world and personally, but for some people on my f-list who have had to deal with a lot of trauma in 2009. Still, we are all here, the majority of us, and we have survived.

Happy 2010!

It's got to be better than this

OoOoOoooOOoooo....

Seen on killerweasel 's journal. Click the tank to feed my fishies <)))><

 

OoOoOoooOOoooo....

Seen on killerweasel 's journal. Click the tank to feed my fishies <)))><