Life away from books, TV and the internet has been busy – lots of good personal life stuff and it looks set to be like that for a while. I don’t mind because work is currently dullsville and I find myself wanting to be up and doing stuff quite a bit when I’m away from it. Also, if I have things on at the weekend I feel justified taking Fridays off to “prepare” (which actually turns out to mean “go to lunch with someone” and then ram things into an overnight bag). That’s one less work day to get through (although most of my leave has been allocated by now and all good things must come to an end).
What have I been doing? Well, recently I was a bridesmaid.I attended two hen dos for another bride, one of which was a last minute surprise. I got asked to read at that bride’s wedding (Jane Eyre – dream come true). I went to a “medieval” country fair, which wasn’t very medieval but was very cool – there was stunt guy from the Bond films involved in the jousting part, the birds of prey man had a range of entertaining stories about extremely dangerous eagles and a sheepdog herded the most adorable ducks.
I also visited some blogging friends and this weekend I’ll be seeing some more, as well as spending time with some bloggers I’ve never met before. I went to Shakespeare’s church in Stratford to see his grave, which is the one tourist attraction I think I had left in that town. And I went to the church by way of a lovely dinner and the most delicious whisky sour I have ever tasted. My one day a week swim continues well and next week I think I’ll try to put a second exercise day back in to get me through the start of the week. I do feel much better on a Friday for the exercise no matter how often I’ve stayed up just a little bit too late to be good for me. And there’s been some general hanging out shooting the work day down with friends.
“Yes, Jodie, all of this is faaascinating,” I hear you say (or is it my internal critic?). “Now please, crack on and tell us about books and TV and stuff.”
Well alright then.
TV
’Hannibal’
I started watching Hannibal despite making many, many comments about how I couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to handle it *faints*. I’ve seen two episodes - yes Amy I did watch Ep2 in the end, I just turned it over during the bit where they looked at the mushroom bodies and got all my knowledge from cleolinda’s recap instead. I find I am able to handle the program in the end because the horror isn’t, as I was saying to Amy, built out of lingering images that practically stroke the dead bodies and death hasn’t been dissected into titillating pieces by the camera shots. Instead the horror is supposed to be driven by there just being horrible deaths - the camera takes in the whole scene of death in one practical ‘it is what it is shot’- and through the repeated accidental cannibalism of those around Lecter. Even though it is horrifying whenever someone eats food Lecter has prepared I can take that horror without giving myself nightmares.
I already think I’ll want to write something about this program at the end because the colour palette fascinates me and Hugh Dancy is giving such a great performance as the fragile teacup/Will (he is so afraid of being evil and it’s lovely). I’m enjoying Mads' performance as Dr Lecter, but I think because it is so subtle and restrained its one of those performances that will need a few episodes to build before I’ll be really invested in it. I totally ship Will/Jack and I hope Laurence Fishburne is in every episode pushing Will into uncomfortable situations and shouting at people. Also Hettienne Park plays Beverly Katz and she is one of my favourite ladies on the show - I’m not even going to look at how many episodes she survives for, please let it be all of them.
Soon, according to the recaps, we start seeing a new cannibal groomed and there’s Gina Torres. She makes everything better.
’The Sarah Connor Chronicles’
I started watching ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ and three episodes in I really like this program even though it’s not the kind of show I usually watch on TV (I like action films, but not usually action TV shows). It’s already hit femslash city and I hear there’s more to come - yay. Also there’s a boy with daddy issues and you don’t need me to tell you how much I like those.
I don’t want to say too much because I think it’s really easy to spoil this shows unfolding developments (whereas Hannibal you already know = cannibal) and I think I want to write about it. If I start blabbing in informal posts it usually puts me off doing the whole essay thing. Let me conclude by saying that I just want to look at Lena Headey’s face all the time. And once this is over I’m going to be looking for high school fic featuring Cameron.
’Nikita’
I’m also watching ‘Nikita’, which yes Amy you were right, all I could think for most of the first episode was that it was so like ‘Alias’ despite the fact that Nikita’s rebellion takes place in the open. Then the ending of the first episode happened and I was like *boom* not like ‘Alias’ at all – ladies bringing down the system together. Right now I think the training school set up is my favourite part. Am I the only one who wants Jaden and Alex to be best friends? And Melinda Clarke’s addition is creepy good. She has the best voice for playing subtley threatening characters and I would have her play all in every show about secret agencies undermining the government if I could. I like the fact that her role (as a literal groomer) means they’re pulling out the element of feminine presentation that goes into female spying – you’ve got to look right to gain access and female spies are almost never asked to enter situations where they have to wear baggy jeans and a big knit cap are they?
Things you should know already
I think you should all be watching ‘Parks and Recreation’ (I’m into S3 now), ‘Scott and Bailey’ (these two programs are what I look forward to all Wednesday), ‘The Mindy Project’ and ‘Nashville’. Prepare for a super long ‘Nashville’ essay once the series finishes here (I think we have seven episodes to go in the UK).
I am mostly invested in getting more people to watch ‘Scott and Bailey’ though. If you like police drama but you want more central female characters and you hate when police officers lose their control in interview rooms try this show. This series Nicola Walker (of ‘Spooks’ fame) is a new addition to the cast and she is acting out of her skin. Everyone needs more Nicola Walker in their lives.
Things I haven’t done.
I haven't caught up on ‘Dr Who’. I will, I will - promise. I’ve just been out doing other things while so many of the episodes were on and now it feels like there’s a huge pile of episodes to climb through to get to the end. I’ll probably start catching up next week after the finale shows.
Anything else?
Oh, yes! I started watching ‘Sanditon’ which is the new series from the makers of ‘The Lizzie Bennett Diaries’. I never did finish ‘LBD’ because reports of how the Lydia storyline worked out put me off, but maybe I will go back to it if I’m get excited by ‘Sanditon’. They’ve so far managed to set up the struggling town and old residents vs. new vibe quickly and wow do I love that kind of scenario. Looking forward to meeting all the new characters and this time I’ll be going in with no idea of how the plot unfolds this time as I haven’t read Austen’s unfinished novel which means surprises!
Books
’Where’d You Go Bernadette?’ – Maria Semple
I finished ‘Where’d You Go Bernadette?’ and it was so much fun. You might have to let yourself go a little bit to enjoy it, because the characters are kind of awful sometimes but they’re that kind of balanced awful where sometimes you really like them and then you find something you’re not so keen on. Anyway, it’s a really quick read with an addictive mystery about Bernadette’s past and the format (e-mails, letters, and reports) allows the author to bring in a whole host of perspectives and voices.
’We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ – Shirley Jackson
I’m currently chatting about this with litlove (always a pleasure). Who knew modern classics could be such addictive, horrific fun to read? I absolutely tore through it and I see it becoming a re-read favourite for Halloween. I'll have more words on this later probably.
‘One Nation Under Stress: The Problem with Stress as an Idea’ by Dana Becker
I’m reading non-fic, it’s a miracle. Right now I’m half way through and so far, so interesting. The background history to how society ended up talking about stress the way it does is informative and I’m learning quite a bit about the medical industry and stress. I just feel like the book could do with spending a more focused chunk of time explaining and justifying its central concept, instead of just slotting in concluding sentences and then going off to talk about another historical aspect. Maybe that dedicated examination is coming later? Hopefully it is, because my brain needs time to settle and process in order to absorb these ideas.
Otherwise reading
I’m a couple of chapters into ‘Orleans’ by Sherri L Smith and I can already see that when I finish I’m going to want to talk about this and ‘Beasts of the Southern Wilds’ – any takers? I think I’m going to start ‘Gold Boy, Emerald Girl’ by Yiyun Li soon. And I should probably pick up a library book.
The Library
I went to the library and I got:
‘Cold Fire’ – Kate Elliott
‘Quarter’ – Jean Rhys
‘The Heart of the Matter’ – Graham Greene
‘Smiley’s People’ – John Le Carre
Since I don’t have any ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ views to share yet (probably not seeing it for two more weeks) and ‘Gatsby’ is only just out here so I haven’t had a chance to see it yet that’s it from me about media for now. If you want to see me actually reviewing, check out my thoughts on ‘Cold Earth’ by Sarah Moss at lady business. comments