I Heart Jane (Austen)

On a bit of a Jane Austen kick, reading/listening to the novels then watching various filmed versions. I still think the '95 Pride and Prejudice mini-series with Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle is the #1 version of P&P, and I don't think I'm alone. For Mansfield Park, the Francis O'Connor/Jonny Lee Miller ('99) version is my favorite, even if some of the women's costuming is a bit weird. For Emma...so much to choose from. I like Jeremy Northam's Mr. Knightley in the '96 (Gwyneth Paltrow) version, but I like Kate Beckinsale's Emma in the other '96 version (BBC TV) better than Paltrow's. Both fine actresses, just different interpretations, plus, again, some odd costuming, and hair, in the Paltrow film. I watched the newest Emma ('20) a few days ago, and while Bill Nighy is his usual delightful self as Emma's father, the whole production, despite some lovely costuming, just felt like it was trying too hard to be quirky and spunky and clever. Overall it feels like a bunch of scenes jammed together with a big budget: glorious visuals but not so much heart.

Today I finished a mini-series version of Emma that I'd missed somehow. The 2006 version with Jonny Lee Miller is a gem. Normally a parade of janky costuming is a big turnoff for me, but everything else about this version is so good that some strange gowns with 20th century detailing and sloppy sashes, and unfortunate female hair (side parts? On women in the early 1800s?! Ugh.) are forgivable. Being a long-form version, the writers have time to cherry pick more of Austen's dialog and craft it into some skillful character development and backstory that is usually missing in film versions of this novel. The women's makeup, unlike the hair, is perfect and natural looking. The women look real, not like painted dolls. It also helps that they tried to light every scene with at least the appearance of natural or period lighting sources. This means that night scenes seem even more atmospheric and intimate, unlike previous versions which are usually over-lit. I know that shooting digital makes this easier, which makes me wonder that costume dramas don't try to do more of this. If you want to see a classic film that excels at this, on actual film, check out Barry Lyndon some time. Gorgeous.

4th Turning or Just the Rise of the Angry Toddler?

Rant time!

I recently finished a book called "Outlaw Ocean", which dealt with the crazy crap that goes on at sea outside of the 200 mile limit of any sovereign nation. It's not pretty. In one chapter, the government of a SE Asian country finally cracks down on a business that supplies what amounts to slaves to a fishing fleet, while styling itself a "staffing agency". The secretary, who works the front desk of the office in the city where the work force is press-ganged, is arrested and goes to jail, while the actual owners and operators of the company sit comfy in Hong Kong or elsewhere. It solves nothing and puts that woman in a prison camp indefinitely.

The point of the above illustration is that I think it applies to the riots, raids, and vandalism going on in the western world right now. The people on the front lines of this fomentation, the ones currently in the news and on a variety of "wanted" posters, are being used by agitators who are happy to stand back and let the unwashed suffer the consequences of their long-form divisive agendas. We have whole segments of society ripe to be manipulated like this. People with dubious education, stunted maturity, and demostrable lack of impulse control. These are not the kinds of people who should be driving cultural change like angry toddlers who throw all their toys out the window because mummy and daddy expected them to eat their dinner before having dessert.

Complacency of the voting population, plus Marxist dogma fed to functionally illiterate students at all levels of education, has contributed to this mess, I believe. If you don’t believe the current output of any college-level humanities department are rife with ignorant drones, just look at the idiocy aimed by them at, say, rural (agricultural) communities and non-city dwelling people in general. “People in rural areas are evil and make bad life choices!” they scream. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion, but where do you think your food comes from, hot shot? Where is your electricity coming from? Your water? Is there a magical, high-volume spring at the center of every urban area? Does the city have a giant rain catchment system that feeds your millions of little apartments? How will Los Angeles, say, fare if those “stupid rural areas” decide they’re tired of sending most of their water to the filthy city instead watering their crops?

I’m rambling. Done for now.

Weed Whackin'

As my health has gradually improved through better diet (basically eliminating things that don't like me), better sleep, and better pain management (avoid NSAIDs, switch to CBD products and mineral supplementation), I've found I actually have the energy to, you know, get things done. "Things" includes massive amounts of catch-up yard work. The biggest project is attacking the blackberries that have rolled over us like a kudzu-esque tsunami.

Halfway there...for this chunk, anyway.

One of the few bonuses to this whole "stop the world" response to the COVID-19 outbreak is that my spouse is working only a few days a week outside the home. This means he's here to help with the jungle reclamation project: yay! One day we excavated the deck house, covered in roses and clematis which were getting right through the shingles. Ugh. Then it was time to go after ye blackberries. It's been a few weeks, but we're making headway. Soon a big chunk of the pasture will be reclaimed and the raspberries freed from persecution. Onward!

It's going to be a bumpy ride...

Just like the sourdough starter in my fridge, it's time to revive this blog. A lot has happened in my life in the past year, reflecting the "lot of things" going on in the world right now. Just as in the greater world, my life consists of overt activity with deep, crazy stuff going on above our view and below the surface.

Buckle in.*

* Yes, I know she said "night", not "ride". I reserve the right to mangle quotes as fits the situation.