Pride and Prejudice v. Pride & Prejudice

Jane Austin may be rolling in her grave, but then again she may merely be “Excessively diverted”, in the latest attempt at adapting her novel. How annoyed am I at the attempt? Let me count the ways!

1. Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennett- “she smiles too much”! The girl can act; I’ve seen her do it in other movies. I know this is an adaptation, and there is no way to fully interpret Austin’s book in a 2 hour movie, but come on, facial expressions only go so far in conveying feeling.
2. Where is the dialog folks? Does anyone remember 1995’s Sense and Sensibility? Ang Lee directed and Emma Thompson adapted the book. This is proof that a Jane Austin book can be adapted and not dumbed down in the process. It can be done and done very well.
3. “Three very silly sisters”! Mary, Kitty, and Lydia are in the movie but their lines are few. Again not much dialog. Mary looks sober while Kitty and Lydia giggle and run around like idiots. It’s like the actors were paid to play the characters in Charades. “Quick act like Mary Bennet” One should look sober and slightly pissed off. “Quick act like Kitty or Lydia” One should skip, jump, and giggle while murmuring something about “Ewww officers”
4. Georgiana Darcy-what the hell were those people thinking? Georgiana is a painfully shy and quite girl. Georgiana would NOT, I REPEAT NOT, jump up from the piano forte (very unladylike), and run (again unladylike) to enthusiastically greet Elizabeth Bennet (hello, she is shy!). I mean if we are not going to follow the book in drawing character traits why not have King Kong march over and pick Elizabeth up. Or more (un)sensibly have a pop star playing an electric keyboard plugging her latest hit.

I am glad that people are still enthralled enough by Jane Austin to attempt adaptations. Maybe this movie will introduce Austin to a new generation, but I have advice for them. Read the book and see the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

Thanksgiving holidays

Well, having five days of for Thanksgiving was a mixed blessing. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning without my hubby. I was at my parents house helping with Thanksgiving preparations. It was so nice to hear his voice when he came in before dinner.

We ate without mishap, and afterwards my nephews enjoyed playing with my i-pod. As I left my old home with Mr. Darcy I felt relief. Things had not gone too badly, I reflected. Two hours later, my thoughts were much different. My Mom called with her "disaster" tone of voice. When I heard her I thought someone was dead or dying. Luckily it was not physical death, merely my youngest nephew had repeated something quite vulgar to his father and said he had heard this on my i-pod. It is very possible, we have over 4000 songs on the i-pod, but we Darcys, have never heard this song. I called my sister to apologize. I thought she would be livid, but I suppose she merely wanted to inform Mother of my vile taste in music. Typical family fun!

U2 in concert

Since the beginning of recorded history music has brought people together. Unfortunately, the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia was unable to accommodate the throng of people who gathered to see U2 last Saturday night! You see, for their residents "convenience" the Omni only offers valet parking. As you can guess, valet parking does not work well when hundreds of cars converge on a single location. So after at least 45 minutes of waiting, the Darcy's checked into this grossly overpriced establishment in downtown Atlanta.

After settling into the room we headed over to Phillips Arena. I tried to be patience as the opening band institute played. I do not have the knowledge or interest that Mr. Darcy has in music, so I tried hide my annoyance during their unending hour of performance. However, that hour, like all others, did too pass and after ministrations by the sound techs the arena went dark. The crowd including me screamed like kids when we saw the guys walk on stage.

They played their newer songs and some old favorites. Bono talked about the ONE foundation (If you are not familiar with ONE it is an organization which seeks to end poverty and hunger in the world.) which he is passionate about. Plastic bracelets of all colours may be the rage now, but in spite of my typical rebelling I am proud to wear the plain white band that says, "ONE".

I plan on wearing it as I visit my family tomorrow on Thanksgiving. Maybe they will ask what it represents and I can share this belief that we can make a difference by caring, praying, and contributing to our brothers and sisters across the world.

Mr. Phoenix and Ms. Witherspoon

June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash

Weekend Continued

More about my weekend! I had to spend the night with my parents on Friday night because I was too sleepy to drive home. I actually got sleepy during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I took my nephew home and knew there was no was I could go on for another 25 miles.

It was interesting going back and sleeping in my old room after four years of being away. And of course no Mr. Darcy with me. So while my eyes and head hurt terribly from lack of sleep it took a while for my thoughts to clear and for me to relax and doze off. When I woke up the next day my dad went and got us breakfast: assorted biscuits (not the English kind of course). Some habits that they have and that Mr. Darcy complained about were noticeable. My dad asked what kind of bisucuit I wanted and when I told him he tried to convince me to get something else.

While eating I told then of our plans for the weekend. We wanted to see the new Johnny Cash movie Man in Black. My dad shared his reasons for not wanting to see the movie. 1. He thought it would make Johnny Cash look bad. I assured him that the movie was co-produced by J. Cash's son. 2. He didn't like the main actors accents. I told him Ms. Witherspoon was from the South, but was forced to admit that Mr. Phoenix was unlucky enough to have been born in southern California. 3. He believed that Ms. Witherspoon was too attractive for the role of June Carter Cash. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I merely stated that she was known as an excellent actress and learned how to play a muscial instrument for her role.

On my way home I picked up a Chicken biscuit for Mr. Darcy. He is quite fond of them! Later in the day we headed off to Atlanta to see one of my favorite bands U2.

More on that tomorrow!

All Apologies

My apologies dear readers (all 5 of you)!

It is amazing how fast time gets away, especially when one needs to blog everyday!

I saw the new Harry Potter movie, The Goblet of Fire on Friday night with my 12 year old nephew. And I want to see it again! I'm not usually a special effects person, but I couldn't help but be impressed with the vivid way the book was brought to life. Also, the movie was filmed in the UK, some of it in Oxford, one of my favorite places in the world! Watching a scene that was shot in a room I stood, brought back many fond memories. I cried like a baby the night before I left. But again and again I make a promise to myself that I will return to that wonderful county. The land of Shakespeare, Austin, and Mr. Bean! What a place!

Problem Solved?

Hmmm, back to yesterday and my dilema of not having enough time with my husband or other people that I love. I have found one solution, but perhaps it is not the most ethical. "Mr. Darcy" had me call in sick for him. Then by the time my lunch break came around, I would have to go home and take care of him. The plan was for him to call me at work sounding very sick and pathtic. By my co-worker's reaction Mr. D deserves an Academy Award. The co-worker urged me to leave right away and not wait until lunch! However, the plan had a small kink-my dad. But it ended up turning out perfectly. I told my co-workers the truth or some of it. My Dad called and wanted to take me out to lunch (he was one of the lucky folks who have Veteran's Day off). "But my husband is sick at home and needs me," I told my co-workers, "what should I do?" They recommended I check with my hubby and go with my Dad if the hubby was ok. Yes, brilliant! That is what I did! My dad and I had a great time. It was just me and him. It was fun to talk and catch up. To relate as two humans, not to be interrogated (this typically happens when I'm with more than one family member at a time). When I got home Mr. Darcy and I hung out and watched TV! It was great to have a lazy day (Even though my lazy day consisted of half a day of payed work, 1 load of dishes, 1 load of clothes, cleaning up the kitchen, cooking a meal, and proofreading a paper.).

We are both looking foward to this weekend! We might hang out with This Girl and her Honey hubby. My vote is for going to Atlanta and seeing the new Pride and Prejudice movie! Or me and This Girl going to get some fancy tea. Oh well, I'm sure we'll have fun no matter what we do.

Until next time, this is Library Lizzy signing off!

Special Day

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we have been married that long. I'm sitting at my desk at work wishing we could spend this special day together. Instead we are both stuck at work. It's times like these that make me questions "our great" way of life. Why do we work all the time? In the end most of us will regret missing time with the people that we love. Is there anyway for the "civilized" world to reclaim our wasted time at work? If anyone has any ideas I would be happy to hear them.

So, in closing, Happy Anniversary to my "Mr. Darcy".

Favorite Websites

Hello!

I'd like to share a few of my favorite websites.

http://www.pemberley.com/

This is the site for Jane Austen fans! It is so full of great information and ideas-give it a try!

http://www.teamap.com/
Want to learn more about tea rooms in your area? Here's the place to start.

Also, please note my link to the BBC. Don't trust the news you hear on tv, compare it to alternative sources, including: http://www.npr.org/ and http://today.reuters.com/news/default.aspx

Happy Surfing!

Beginnings

Hi!

As you can see I'm starting a blog. Here I will express my thoughts and hopefully entertain or brighten your day. Realistically, I will probably blow off steam and complain a good deal. Clarity of my thoughts is another goal. I hope not to pontificate or patronize my readers (if I get any). So dear reader, (is that patronizing?)this is a beginning. Who knows how long my blogging journey will be (hmm this sounds a bit fake) but hopefully I will be all the wiser for it.