mstrust says "On With The Show!"

My categories for 2015! Why the photos? Just because I love the clothes and hairstyles.

The Flavor of the Month category is something I stole from someone (sorry, I don't remember where I saw it). Each month I'll concentrate on a particular author and read as many books from them as I can.
I'll be going for 10 books in each category. I hope you'll drop by.

Love the classic Hollywood ladies!

Thanks, and so do I! It may not seem like it, but I picked each person to match the category. Like Liz Taylor represents the "Everything Else" category because she had everything, especially jewels. Lana Turner heads "Books I need to read" because she was in so many book adaptions.

Very fun! You have a very ambitious reading program. I'll be following along.

BTW, I'm new to the challenge so I've set a lower bar. ;-)

I love these pictures, especially the autumn/halloween picture - those eyebrows. I also have an everything else category as I don't won't to feel trapped by narrow categories and who knows what the year will bring. Good luck

Great actresses! Good way to head your categories. Is this a subconscious way to read more female authors?

lovely photos to go along with intriguing categories. Good Luck!

I've just filled in my flavor of the month category with the authors I'll be concentrating on. Check it out.

>14 Poquette: Thanks, and welcome to the challenge! You'll find all kinds of challenges on LT that fit your level of time and ambition. There was no way I was doing 15 categories this year.

>15 katrinasreads: Thanks! Isn't that the best pic? I was searching for one of her with an axe from "Straight-Jacket" and came across that "normal" one.
I have to have a grab bag category and it usually fills up quickly every year. Some books defy labels.

>16 mamzel: Hi! I would guess that I read about as many female authors as male without even thinking about it. I just love the fashions and I'm so bad at styling hair, especially my own, that I have hairstyle envy.

>17 majkia: Thanks and thanks! Coming up with categories is fun, while settling on a theme is difficult.

I'll have to remember to join you for your Brookmyre month in April! Great category pictures. Looking forward to seeing how the categories fill up!

Please do! And I'll be watching your challenges too!

Great categories, I'm looking forward to following along again next year. You've got one of my Dad's WW 2 pinup girls - Betty Grable. The other one for him was Rita Hayworth.

Glad you found me! I love Rita Hayworth and almost made her my pic for the "mystery,noir" category because of "Gilda", but Bacall won out because she's so linked with that type of movie.

Btw, is the first pic, the one of Monroe/Russell, not coming up for anyone?

>22 mstrust: I get it (using Explorer).

>22 mstrust: The first pic did not come up on my smart phone but in Explorer it came up fine.

Good luck, BTW, with your challenge!

>23 mamzel: >24 Poquette: Ok, I'm glad it's working. Just checking because It doesn't always come up for me.
>24 Poquette: Thanks!

Love your photos! Also, really love your flavor of the month idea. I'm going to have to see if I can incorporate that into my challenge somehow as well. Though with Dickens it's hard to get past one book in the month, at least not if I want to read anything else. :)

Love the lovely ladies - using Bacall for noir is fabulous! How to Marry a Millionaire is one of my favorite films!

>26 LittleTaiko: Thanks, and I agree about Dickens. I'll probably have to make him my daytime read because his book have to be held in the lap. Imagine holding one of his chunks up in bed as you start to fall asleep- thunk!

>27 -Eva-: I love that one too, though it's hard to choose which is my favorite between "Millionaire", "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Seven Year Itch" which has so many great, small parts. One of my favorites is the German psychiatrist who tells Tom Ewell that he isn't ready to terrorize a young lady.

Those are all great, I think, but I have a weakness for Ms. Bacall that'll put "hers" on top of my list. :)

Her hairstyle has always been one of my favorites, and when you think of great noir films, she springs to mind immediately.

I love the photos! :) Audrey's my favorite, but I love the Joan Crawford/Halloween combo. :D

Thanks, Sara! I thought Joan was the perfect lady to represent October. In that pic, I picture her saying, "You will never leave."

Btw, I changed the pic on my first category as it kept giving me a broken symbol. Fingers crossed this one works out.

Swing those hips!

Yes, they never get tired!

Love your "flavor of the month" category. I'm going to make a note of that for the future.

Good idea, huh? I really wish I could remember who I stole it from!

What a fun theme. Joan Crawford is perfect for October.
>28 mstrust: for me, the e-reader was invented for large books like those by Dickens. You don't have to carry them around or worry about them falling on your face when you fall asleep while reading in bed.

Good to see you here, Violet!
I can see saving your chunksters on an e-reader, especially if you travel a lot. But there's something about holding an old Dickens book. I have a few paperbacks, but I also have some old heavy ones, like Martin Chuzzlewit, I'll have to save for reading at the dining room table. It was published in 1947, is illustrated and must weigh 8 pounds. I also have a small, beautiful white leather-bound illustrated copy of The Old Curiosity Shop that is undated.
My Dickens reading has been neglected so I'm looking forward to getting acquainted.

dropping in to follow along.
I love the style of this era. I was clearly born too late, what with the bust & hips and, you know, a waist...

I hear ya, sister. And though I have no desire to wear a girdle, the structured clothes of those years were just prettier and better quality.

LOL - Great thread topper! I recognize some but not all of your classic hollywood ladies pictures. I have to ask: Who is representing your Autumn/Halloween category?

Thanks, Lori! That Autumn pic is Joan Crawford. From the top, it's Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, Audrey Hepburn, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable with Bacall & Monroe, Nancy Kwan, Brigitte Bardot, Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor.

Love the photos too. Joan could look so evil!

Without even trying! I think it's mostly that we know what she was like in private, but also that even when she was older, she refused her age and kept playing parts for much younger women because her name was a draw. Like in "Berserk" where she played opposite Ty Hardin, who was a good 30 years younger than her. And she had those huge eyebrows and lips drawn on, so that I couldn't concentrate on the plot, because every time Hardin acted like the jealous lover I said, " Is that man blind?"

Happy New Year everybody! Have a great time tonight!

You're so right - I don't think it's just that we know about Mommy Dearest. She played evil roles, like in The Women. I think a lot of it was the eyebrows and the cool way she always insinuated "I'm beautiful and I know it. You can't resist me" even when she was 30 years older than her leading man.

Yes, it's disturbing to see a movie where the lead, male or female, is playing romantic opposite someone so much younger, especially if there is no discussion of it between the characters. It makes it seem like everyone involved thought that the audience wouldn't notice. But Crawford was perfect in her part in "The Women", which was such a great movie. And "Mildred Pierce".

That's a delicious new year pic!

Wouldn't you like to sidle up and sample it all? I hope everyone has a great start to the New Year.

My first read of the year is in my Non-Fiction category.



1. The Angry Island: Hunting the English by A.A. Gill. Writer and critic Gill was born in Scotland and considers himself wholly Scottish despite having lived in England almost his entire life. It gives him a viewpoint of being an outsider who sees both the good and the bad in the English character, with much of his time spent on the flaws.
Gill writes about city people moving to the Cotswolds to lead what they think will be romantic lives, the deeper meaning of queues, the many reasons the English will say "sorry", the anger that political correctness has caused, and most of all, the need to see themselves as fair and funny. His essay on English humor, in which he theorizes that the basis is anger, is hilarious, as he visits tiny stand-up clubs and sits through painfully unfunny comedy acts.

All I want to do during a stand-up act is heckle. I don't want to shout obscenities, or offer wit. I just want to ask what they think they're really doing. What is it all about? Is it about being ugly and unappreciated? Is it a sort of endurance thing, like climbing a cliff? Because it's obviously got nothing to do with the audience or the money or the approbation. It's like watching someone have a cathartic moment of self-loathing, auto-humiliation. I never do heckle, of course, but I'm always on the side of the heckler. Whatever they shout, I think: they're actually paramedics trying to talk someone down.

Gill tends to be angry himself, which is part of the fun. This was a good one to start the year off. 4.5

And here's the pic of Gill on the book jacket:

Hubba-hubba

Sounds like a great book to kick off your 2015 reading with!

It was, and I'm glad I have A.A. Gill Is Away waiting on the shelf.

The Angry Island sounds like an interesting book! As something of an Anglophile I'm sure I would enjoy a book such as this to give us Americans a different take on the disparities among the various parties to the UK.

The Angry Island sounds like an interesting book! As a fellow-anglophile I am sure I would enjoy this insider slant on the various issues at hand.

He does a good job at addressing various stereotypes and aspects of the English personality, and it usually turns out (in his mind) that the root cause is repressed anger. But his writing is so blunt and filled with dark humor that I enjoy, that even read the essay on sports.

>49 mstrust: The book sounds interesting, but my absolute favorite thing is that author photo! I do not want to run into that guy in a dark alley.

The photo does give him a Vinnie Jones-ish look, doesn't it? There might be something wrong with me looking at it and thinking "big guy, sculpted cheekbones, chiseled jaw, menacing glare, Reservoir Dogs suit- he's got it all."

>56 mstrust: Hahaha yeah...I mean, I can see the attraction, but on the other hand, RUN AWAY!

>56 mstrust: AND brains - that's what makes him really dangerous...

>57 christina_reads: & >58 Helenliz: He looks like he'd kiss you and then push you in front of a train! Ha!
From his steady years of employment, I'm going to guess that he's a very nice man who shows no signs of instability at all. But in my head he'll remain very dangerous.



2. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Flavor of the Month. The epic story of the Manette family and Charles Darnay, former aristocrat, as they struggle to survive the French Revolution.
Dickens has the great ability to create interesting characters of small but pivotal viewpoints, such as messenger Jerry Cruncher, who takes the reader into the courtroom to watch Darnay's initial trial as a layman. Or the change that occurs in Mr. Lorry, who had spent his entire life distancing himself from people by labeling himself a businessman until meeting the Manettes. Here's the description of the firm Lorry has spent his life working for:

Cramped in all kinds of dim cupboards and hutches at Tellson's, the oldest of men carried on the business gravely. When they took a young man into Tellson's London house, they hid him somewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mold upon him. Then only was he to be seen, spectacularly poring over large books, and casting his breeches and gaiters into the general weight of the establishment.

Aside from A Christmas Carol and bits of Oliver Twist in high school, I believe this is the only Dickens I've read, but as he's my "Flavor of the Month", there will be more and I'm looking forward to it. I have to lodge a complaint against "The World's Popular Classics, Books Inc.", as the edition I read was missing about a dozen pages. Not all at once, but sometimes I'd turn a page and be faced with two unprinted pages. Not cool. 4 stars


I enjoy the hairstyle he adopted in later years. It's actually amazing how many photos of Dickens exist.

>59 mstrust: He looks like he'd kiss you and then push you in front of a train!.
This and the author pic itself have me chuckling at my computer. I'm also trying to imagine the many author photographs he rejected for the book jacket

I like to think there's another pic from the same shoot where he is holding his fingers like a gun, a la James Bond.

I refuse to believe that Dickens would have ever employed finger guns. I do believe that he had a subscription to the mustache wax of the month club.

Oh, we were talking about Gill and his pic in >49 mstrust:. But I agree that Dickens looks well-groomed in this pic and his hair seems to have been sculpted into a unique arrangement. There are lots of pictures of him where his hair looks like he just tumbled out of bed. He must have become more dapper in his later years.

I'm glad you all were not horning in on my imaginary Victorian gentleman caller.

>64 RidgewayGirl: I would say he's all yours, but I believe his sister-in-law will fight you for him ;)

Hee, Downton Abbey starts tonight! Sharpen those knives!

Love A Tale of Two Cities - one of my all time favorites!

Have Downton Abbey set to record - so happy it's back.

"auto-humiliation" That's a good phrase!

>66 LittleTaiko: I can understand why it's a favorite- there are so many characters that I'd like to follow off and see more from.

>67 cammykitty: Isn't it? And taken in context with the awful comedian he'd just sat through in a tiny club, you really understand his frustration.

O.K., are you ready for a Downton Abbey discussion? *SPOILERS*

1. I think this was Cora's episode and it was great to have her running things. She made decisions about Thomas, handled Baxter's situation and invited the party guests she wanted. And she's the only one who figured out the Dowager Countess' manipulating.

2. Wasn't Thomas at his slimiest? It seemed like he had spent the long break to build up his evilness. Open his closet door and you'll find a homemade chart with names and arrows that plot out all the troubles he's got planned ahead. It must be difficult to keep all that drama in one head.
And yet, he became a hero! Well done, Thomas, you've bought yourself many years of skulking around and eavesdropping. Enjoy!

3. Speaking of shit-stirring, if Thomas has the servant sector covered, Violet is his aristocratic equal. She's really gone out of her way to keep Isobel in her place. And didn't Isobel look thrilled when she thought Violet was insinuating that Lord Merton was interested in sex? But Isobel did get the best put-down of the episode when she insulted everyone at Downton Abbey at once by remarking about the unwanted school teacher: "Well, I think it's nice to see an intelligent face here."

4. So now we know Baxter's secret. Will she do it again?

5. Oh, Edith. *sigh* Are we going back to the awkward years? Trying to burn the house down, then walking up to the fireman to discuss your personal situation with the entire household standing around? And could you be any more obvious about the child being yours? That woman raising the girl must be the dumbest inhabitant of the village.

6. I think Cora had the prettiest clothes this episode. That beautiful beige Chinese patterned dress, then the sparkly green number for the party, then the harlequin styled embroidered robe as she talked to Baxter. It was like a fashion show.

7. Richard E. Grant will be on next week!

Yay, "Downton Abbey" discussion! :) Here are my thoughts, copying >68 mstrust:

1. Poor Edith and Poor Molesley. Those two characters are the saddest of all sad sacks. I go back and forth between feeling sorry for them and wishing they would stop cluttering up my TV screen with their misery.

2. I hate the uppity schoolteacher. I guess she's supposed to be a breath of fresh air because she's Independent and Speaks Her Mind? But the character really grates on me. I just want Tom to find a nice girl!

3. Evil Thomas is back! I have to say, he is one of my favorite characters...he may be evil, but at least he's interesting! I like that he does terrible things (bullying Baxter) but also has a nicer side (helping Jimmy even though there's nothing in it for him).

4. Lady Mary and Tony Gillingham: will they or won't they? I can't decide whether I want them to or not, though I do like Tony. I think they'll go on their scandalous mini-vacation, but she will ultimately reject his proposal.

5. The mystery of Bates and the dead valet continues! I just hope we don't have to sit through any more of those dreary jail scenes.

6. Very excited to see Anna Chancellor as the footman-chasing Lady Anstruther, but I wish she'd had more to do.

1. I know, it's kind of exhausting to see the same person always getting the anvil dropped on their head. But we at least see that Moseley has a bit of sense in him because he sees Thomas is cornering Baxter and he gives her good advice. Edith is another story.

2. I don't like the teacher either. I agree with you on what she's meant to represent- someone who isn't cowed by the Granthams. I also think it's meant to show that Tom likes rebellious women, like Sybil. But she is grating. Maybe the next disaster will be the school burning down and she'll have to move.

3. I love Evil Thomas too! About Jimmy, I was wondering if Thomas wasn't going to pull something Thomas-like, as in blackmail, but the fire came along and he had to save Edith (*humph*) and then Robert saw Jimmy and the Lady and ruined Thomas' plan.

4. I like Tony too, but I think it's strange to have an English aristo named "Tony". But Mary seems game.

5. Yes, if Bates did it, I want him to get away with it.

6. I knew that I knew the actress but I couldn't put a name to the face! And she spent an hour or two rolling around with Jimmy, so she was probably pleased with the work.

Okay, I'm here! Whew.

Love the Joan Crawford picture for Hallowe'en. It's a completely awesome pairing.

Thanks, Clio, and I'm so glad you found me!

3. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. American Authors. Former private eye Nick Charles and his wife Nora are spending the holidays in New York, when the daughter of a former client re-acquaints herself and then sticks to the Charles' like glue. She pulls them into her family drama, which includes a missing, crazy father, a mother who beats her and a brother who is a snoop. Then her father's devoted secretary is found murdered and Nick becomes an unofficial and unwilling detective again.

First published in 1933, this still has witty banter, speakeasys, an annoying mother and daughter team you wish would get shot, surprisingly modern aspects of the case and a really good mystery. It's been too long since my last Hammett. And that's him on the book cover. 4.5 stars


And here's Myrna Loy and William Powell in the film version. I haven't seen it yet, but isn't her dress gorgeous?

>73 mstrust: I love the movie! You are in for a treat. :)

I'm looking forward to it-no one could see "Life With Father" and not like Powell.

>65 mstrust: RidgewayGirl: I would say he's all yours, but I believe his sister-in-law will fight you for him ;) Is it bad that I'm laughing ?

Have you seen Santa Conquers the Martians?

Yes, Dash was a handsome man. If you haven't read it yet, Lillian Hellman has a wonderful essay that is sort of a tribute to him after his death, but it never comes out and says it is about him. It sounds like it's about a turtle.

& you've got to see the movie version of The Thin Man. Jimmy Stewart plays the fiance, and his response to the will-sit-down-and-discuss-this-till-someone-slips is hysterical and very typical of Jimmy. He says it's because he was always forgetting his lines. I think it was planned, cuz it makes him look bats.

>78 cammykitty: Eeee! Jimmy Stewart! He's such a cutie. I'd forgotten he was in that movie!

>76 electrice: Don't feel bad-our Victorian gentleman (allegedly) got himself into a strange predicament. I just finished watching "The Invisible Woman" starring Ralph Fiennes. It's about Dickens' affair with a much younger actress. It's a good, very quiet and gentle film. Aside from a train wreck.

>77 AuntieClio: I remember seeing some of it years ago when they'd play it on the local LA station. Are you going to tell me Hammett wrote it?

>78 cammykitty: He sure did have the 30's well-groomed man look to a T. Any tribute that could be for a man and/or a turtle must be a monument to vagueness, ha!
I'm not remembering a fiancee in the book, so things must have been changed for the movie. But Stewart is always a welcome addition.

>79 rabbitprincess: Seems like everyone has seen it but me! Did you ever see the Rankin and Bass stop motion movie "Mad Monster Party"? One of the main characters is a bumbling, clueless Jimmy Stewart imitation who is allergic to everything offered to him. But he gets the girl in the end.

>80 mstrust: ha no! I just watched it and it made think of you.

>80 mstrust: Oh good, I'm adding The Invisible Woman to the TBW :)

>81 AuntieClio: That's cool-I do enjoy a weird, badly acted movie. That's why we need Elvira back on the air; she ran really horrible ones.

>82 electrice: I hope you like it. Fiennes directed it too.



4. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger. Food, Travel. When his child asks him to decipher an ingredients list, Ettlinger realizes that he has no idea what those ingredients are and what they are doing in our food. It begins a journey around the country to see how corn syrup is made, where baking soda comes from and how one ingredient can be manipulated into many different forms.

This is important information about all the additives that goes into our food, including ones that sound worse than they are. Ettlinger uses the Twinkie as a base point because it's iconic, just about everyone has eaten one, and it's full of confusing ingredients. But the book is dull. I give the author credit for sticking to the point, but the pages are full of chemical names, scientific names and the factory processes that take place, which gets to feel like walking through mud. Ettlinger tries to put some life into it, but it's not enough. The good news is that the information is something that I want to know. I've already referred back to it once, as my MIL wondered what a certain ingredient was and I happened to be reading this, so went right to what I needed to know. So for that, I'll be keeping this book for future reference. 3 stars

Cake Porn

I would eat...all of those.

Like you could get a piece of the chocolate one away from me. I'm not tempted by red velvet at all because I don't like cream cheese frosting, but Mike likes it. You do know that the white cake not only has no calories, but the strawberries actually make it minus calories. Like exercising.

I will eat all the cream cheese frosting. All of it.

>85 mstrust: Yes, absolutely true. Also, chocolate is medicine so the calories in that doesn't count.

>86 RidgewayGirl: Not if I get there first.

>86 RidgewayGirl: Good, then I'll scrap it all on to your plate.
>87 PawsforThought: uh-oh, follow RidgewayGirl.
Yes, that's true, and the more chocolate, the better you feel.

Here's one I might try to preserve rather than eat. Or I might just take a picture before devouring.

What's a Twinkie actually like - for those of us who've never had one. They don;t have the most appetising name. And I can agree, a list of ingredients can really put you off a food item - I make a point of not looking at the list on a few favourites I;d rather not have spoilt!

That's a Twinkie on the book cover; it's a very simple vanilla sponge cake with a sweet, creamy filling. Or rather, a creme filling, as the author points out that there's no cream in it.

>83 mstrust: I think I'm in the minority. Those cakes are too beautiful to eat. (And some ingredients kind of make reluctant to eat them.)

>88 mstrust: That is so beautiful, too! That must've taken forever to make. :)

Negative calories!!! I'll take a piece of the white cake, please.

>91 saraslibrary: I can see being reluctant to eat a cake due to the time it took and its beauty. I guess the choice is to eat it or shellac it. Not a difficult decision if much of it is made of fondant, which I really don't want to eat. It's illegal to not eat a cake covered in frosting, though, so you're hands are tied there.

>92 DeltaQueen50: Take two. That way you'll burn more calories.

Couple things- first, it's Elvis' birthday! Yea! Another reason for cake!



And second is my complaining about the rental property behind us. I've hated the majority of the people who have lived there. The last tenants moved out a few weeks ago, and I saw a man there yesterday afternoon cleaning up the backyard. So he must have been the one who drained their pool into our backyard last night.
A little after 10pm, Mike comes upstairs and says our yard is completely flooded, and yep, we've got muddy paw prints all over the house and big part of our yard has about 4 inches of water. We get a ladder and their yard is flooded and a hose is still running from the pool into the yard. We call the police because there's no one at the house, and Mike and the officer spend the next hour and a half going between our house and theirs trying to cut the water off and calling their landscaper, who had left a card on the property. He told the officer he was coming but never showed up. Until 7:30 this morning. With a jackhammer.

Don't you just wish sometimes you could put your neighbours in time out? Bad neighbours, bad!

Chiming in a little late about Downton Abbey - I was totally impressed at Lord Branson leaping into action, grabbing pails of sand and manning the water hose while shouting helpful and necessary orders over his shoulder.
I had to chuckle at how upright and formal Mary was when invited to share a week with Lord Gillingham. for heaven's sake - they aren't even holding hands yet and he wants to hook up with her??

>93 mstrust: What kind of landscaping does one do with a jackhammer?!?!

>96 casvelyn: Urban landscaping?

>94 paruline: I've been telling Mike for a few years that our next house will be next to a cemetery. I only want to hear my own racket!

>95 mamzel: Branson and Lord Grantham, yes, manly men! And Thomas too, who gets extra points for seeing Edith surrounded by fire and not just shrugging and walking away.
Re: Mary & Gillingham- I know, how'd he get so forward? But I guess he can read his audience because there was a time when Mary would have been shocked, and now she just stands there asking how they would get away with it, ha!

>96 casvelyn: They've spent the day with a jackhammer and a couple of guys with sledgehammers, breaking up the entire backyard, which is 90% concrete and a pool. It's a crew of about 8 guys and looks like they are either going to remove the pool entirely or expand it. Either way, I expect many days of noise.

>97 electrice: And annoying landscaping.

Happy birthday, Elvis! Just watched the opening scene from "Blackpool", which features "Viva Las Vegas". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TWvHlYShB8

I hope the noise goes away soon!

>88 mstrust:- that is an amazing cake! Avoiding the DA comments as I'm typically a week behind. Can't wait to catch up this weekend!

>99 rabbitprincess: That show looks really cool- David Morrisey and David Tennant in one place. How have I never heard about it?

>100 LittleTaiko: Isn't it? It's nice to know that someone can whip up a library cake when you need one. And you'll have to give us your thoughts on DA when you catch up.

In the meantime, you ladies help yourself to a slice.

>68 mstrust: - I'm also late on the Downton Abbey front. The woman raising Edith's daughter must be incredibly stupid. Your husband shows up one day with a random child for you to raise. Then Lady Edith frequently visits and plays with the child. Of course she's visiting because she's in love with him.

>101 mstrust: - Blackpool - or as it was called in the US: Viva Blackpool- was shown only once on BBC America. They really should re-run it now that David Tennant and David Morrisey are more well known over here. I have never been able to post a link to a You Tube video here at LT so I will just recommend heading over there to watch Blackpool-These Boots Were Made For Walking. Best lip-syncing video EVER!!

Ooh, I've been trying to get hold of Blackpool for a long time - why it hasn't occurred to me to check Youtube, nobody knows!

>102 VioletBramble: That woman must not have learned math in school, because she can't put two and two together.
I definitely will check out more clips from "Blackpool". The Governor looks so very young and clean.

>103 -Eva-: Youtube is so great for British shows. Somebody nice puts up the "George Gently" series as soon as available while Netflix still doesn't offer it more than a year later.

Something I never expected to see: Morrisey and Tennant do a bit of a tango together.

>104 mstrust: OMG, David Morrisey looks so young in the above pic. David Tennant on the other hand, always looks young to me. I am a British panel show junky and Youtube is an excellent source for 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie To You, Buzzcocks, and IQ.

I've seen clips from IQ, but the rest I'll have to check out. I've been able to watch "Horrible Histories" and a few "Supersizers Go..." that didn't air on BBCAmerica. And speaking of Sue Perkins, she is one of the hosts for my latest must-see, "The British Baking Championship" (probably have the name wrong) that airs around 3am on PBS in my area. The judges are Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry.

Oh I have heard lots of references to "The British Baking Championship"! I will have to check PBS and see if it's available around here.

It's called The Great British Bake Off and it's excellent! There are a bunch of episodes on YouTube. Oh, and it's QI (=Quite Interesting) rather than IQ, just in case someone wants to watch it - also available on YouTube.

Blackpool is available on Region 2 DVD, but not Region 1 -- the music rights are a nightmare to negotiate because they use so many popular songs. (Ashes to Ashes, the sequel show to Life on Mars, has the same problem.) Thank goodness for Youtube. My favourite Blackpool scene is "You Can Get It If You Really Want". I scream like a Beatles fan every time. :D

>102 VioletBramble: I totally agree that Blackpool should be rebroadcast here now that DM and DT are much better known on this side of the pond! Actually, TVOntario (the Ontario public television network) aired it a couple of years ago for some reason. And like a fool I did not tape it :(

>107 DeltaQueen50: I really like it because I get to see what goes into some British desserts that I've only heard about, and, unlike so many American competition shows, the contestants don't become suicidal if they are criticized. I'm so very very sick of seeing adults behave like children.

>108 -Eva-: O.k., thanks, I had a feeling I was getting the title wrong!

>109 rabbitprincess: I watched the clip to "These Boots Are Made For Walking" that VioletBramble suggested and it's fun to see them dance together. But in the one to the Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now", you can hear Morrisey singing along, and he's really bad. Really bad. I'll bet he kept asking them to turn his mic down.

Yeah, I have to say the lip-synching works better than the singing along. Less audibly distracting.

But oh, how fun that show would have been to make!

It would have been, especially if they had always wanted to be rock stars. It's an unusual show and I'll make time to see a whole episode.

And, the cast for the second season of "Fargo" has been announced. Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson!) and Ted Danson.

"La Dolce Vita" star Anita Ekberg has died. She was very glamorous and, during the fifties, had a pretty sweet life.

Downton Abbey discussion/notes/complaints:

1. Is Jimmy really gone for good? He's the only one who liked Thomas somewhat, and the only person Thomas liked. Note how Bates, Moseley and Carson all call Thomas on his devious behavior this episode.

2. Mary telling Edith she behaved like an idiot. At the breakfast table, surrounded by their family. And Edith just sits there and says nothing. But notice that nobody else jumped to her defense either.

3. And Edith- last week you're trying to burn the house down, this week you're destroying a marriage. Why wouldn't that man tell his dumb wife what's up rather than having her be so angry at him?

4. We know how Edith's father sees her when he tells Cora, "Let's hope they don't get sick of her." Too late!

5. Like how Mary cheerfully twists the knife in Blake when she asks him to be happy for her and Tony.

6. Poor Moseley tries so hard to make a good reason for Baxter's past.

7. That Miss Bunting never stops giving her bossy opinion. She knows Tom for all of two weeks and she's telling him he doesn't belong at DA. Just teach Daisy to add and be on your way.

8. Doesn't Mr Carson sound like a husband telling his wife that he hates it when they fight?

9. Richard E. Grant is reunited with his Margaurite! They played husband and wife many years ago in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" miniseries.



10. And finally, Mr Bates seems to be back in the frying pan.

Do you get the impression that Lord Grantham is becoming an old curmudgeon? Although he has a point with his opinion of Miss Bunting.

Grantham doesn't do well with changes, does he? Not liking that his way of life is disappearing is understandable, but such a fuss over getting a radio? And since only Tom and Rose like the Bunting woman, she'll never leave.

Finally watched this last episode last night.

One thing that struck me about Edith and her things is the other children in the family. Most children I know would not appreciate the 'foundling' getting more attention than them. They stood like little soldiers until Edith planted her butt in the chair. She never acknowledges them. I wonder if they will take it out on the baby when she gets bigger.

And I thought it was a terrible imposition that Mary put on Anna. If she was afraid of being recognized she could have just waited until they got to their destination where no one would know who she was. That was really crossing a line!

Okay chiming in a little late here - but my husband and I have slowly become British TV show watchers. We've been HUGE fans of QI and Downton Abbey - and have started watching the Great British Bakeoff (we are in season 3 now), which is incredibly good. If you like the panel shows, I'd recommend Would I Lie to You - I absolutely love David Mitchell's rants and Lee Mack is hysterical, so this one is always worth watching. We also have enjoyed Big Fat Quiz of the Year (accessible on YouTube).

If we're extolling the virtues of British TV, I have to point you in the direction of Only Connect. If I get one right in a show I think I'm doing quite well. It can be entirely eccentric and utterly obscure. >:-)

Don't forget Mock the Week. The host, Dara O'Brien might be Irish, but he's hilariously funny.

>117 mamzel: I saw her ignoring the other children too, and thought it was callous, like she couldn't even see them. I guess it's her aristocratic privelige to not look at peasants.
And I just felt that Mary sending Anna was less about being recognized and more about being embarrassed. Let the maid do the cringing task, that's Mary's opinion . I don't know if it's actually happening, but Mary's voice seems to get flintier as she's gotten older. Or maybe I like her less.

>118 skrouhan: Oooh, I didn't know this was the third season. Must run to Youtube and see if the others have been put up! Is that the Mitchell from "Peep Show"?

>119 Helenliz: I'll look for that one. I'm loving all these shows I've never heard of!

>120 RidgewayGirl: That's another on the list. My favorites have been "Supersizers Go...", "Come Dine With Me", "You Are What You Eat" (but I think McKeith lost something when she started doing anything to be on tv), 'Little Britian", and many of the old cop/detective classic like "The Professionals" (my favorite), Morse and Lovejoy.

And prepare yourself, because tomorrow is the birthday of my favorite actor, who is English, and I'm telling myself not to go insane with the pic posting.

Oooh, British TV! My drug of choice. Alright, *cracks knuckles* where shall I start?

Agreeing with many of the shows mentioned already (Love Downton Abbey, QI, Morse, Mock the Week (Dara O'Briain is a comedy genius - check out his stand up routines!)...
I liked Supersizers Go... but I've been spoilt by the Swedish version which I think is superior, and Would I Lie to You but I can't stand Lee Mack. I prefer Never Mind the Buzzcocks (but it can be hit-or-miss with the guests), 8 Out of 10 Cats and University Challenge for my non-QI-quiz-fix. Haven't seen Only Connect yet but Victoria Coren Mitchell is always great so I have no doubt.

Drama
Call the Midwife and The Bletchley Circle are terrific historical dramas (I was really sad when I heard TBC had been cancelled). The new Upstairs & Downstairs was good too, as was The Hour. Black Mirror is good, but not for the faint of heart.
I've put Lark Rise to Candleford and Land Girls on my list but haven't seen them yet.

Crime
Love pretty much all the crime shows (Midsomer Murders, Inspector Lewis, Inspector Lynley, Endeavor, Poirot, Marple, A Touch of Frost). Foyle's War is history AND crime. Jonathan Creek. Spooks was great in the first few seasons but a bit shaker in later ones (I'm on series 7 so can't speak for that last few).
I've been intrigued by Broadchurch but haven't had time to watch it just yet. Same goes for Whitechapel, The Fall, Luther, Peaky Blinders and Ripper Street.

Comedy
Twenty Twelve (with Hugh Bonneville from Downton) is hilarious and embarrassing (in the The Office type way). I loved both Black Books and Coupling when they were on (ages and ages ago).

And then there are the absolute classics of Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster, Doctor Who...

>88 mstrust: Some things are just too beautiful to devour.

>122 PawsforThought: Yeah, but Spooks series 7 to 9 has Richard Armitage! And Ripper Street is also great, the rogue American surgeon is a real scoundrel in the Han Solo mould.

>124 MissWatson: Well, I've been looking forward to making his acquaintance! And Ruth will be back too, I believe. I like her.
Glad to hear Ripper Street is good. I've been looking forward to seeing Matthew Macfadyen again.

>122 PawsforThought: A Swedish version of Supersizers?! Please tell me it's sub-titled.
I used to watch "Call the Midwife" but stopped last season. With nearly every pregnant woman having an issue or problem birth, it just seemed to be on a loop. "Midsomer Murders" is really good, so was "Twenty Twelve" and "Black Books" and I loved "Blackadder" and Fry and Laurie (Fry's getting married about now, isn't he?). But you've given me a list of others to look for. Thanks!

>123 thornton37814: It get it, but unless it's made of concrete and glue, I'd still want to eat the back.

>124 MissWatson: I've only seen one episode of "Spooks", which is the one John Castle guest starred on. But I've like Peter Firth for years, since he played Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey.

>125 PawsforThought: Ripper Street is very good. I don't know if BBCAmerica changes their programming nationwide, but they'll play a show for two months, you get into it, then it's gone.

Happy Birthday to John Castle!
Who is John Castle, you might ask? I'm sure you've seen him.

In "Blow-Up". Or "The Lion in Winter". Or "I, Claudius". Or as crazy agent "Shotgun Tommy" in "The Professionals".
Ok, he has 50 years of credits, so I need to stop.

>122 PawsforThought: Yeah, it's called Historieätarna (The History Eaters). They've done two series (6 episodes/time periods in each) and are hoping to do a third in a couple of years. They're doing the TV Christmas calendar this coming Christmas. I'm really exited. Both series seem to be up on YouTube, but sadly, not subtitled. If you want to watch it anyway, this is a playlist of both series, including the Christmas special and the best of episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdRtyCqsVI&list=PLDvfAPsUoOShzeyiIE5KDL2ve0... (And just in case someone's a bit prudish, there's a naked bum on display in every episode (during the changing of clothes) - it's a running gag)

If you like Peter Firth you should definitely watch more Spooks - he's in ever episode! (The only cast member who is, I think.)

Thanks for the info and I'll definitely watch them. I wish I could understand more Swedish, but after dating a Swedish man for nearly a year (sooo long ago), I've lost the little ability to read Swedish that I had. I can still say "Merry Christmas" and "I love you" and that's about it. A shame, especially since the only uploads of the complete episodes of "George Gently" season 6 have Swedish sub-titles, ha! Thanks for the link.

>128 mstrust: Let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like to know what they're saying and I'll be happy to translate. If I had the time and know-how I'd put subtitles on them but alas!
Just let me know which episode and what time.

Thank you for your very generous offer! I'll let you know if I'm stumped by anything.

>130 mstrust: Eh, it'll give me a reason to re-watch the episodes (again). More than happy to do it.

>122 PawsforThought: I thought of the Bletchley Circle series while I was watching The Imitation Game (nominated for best film but which I fear won't win).

>131 PawsforThought: Well I'm sure at some point I'll have to take you up on that, so thanks!

>132 mamzel: I'm going to see that one soon. My mom saw it and liked it. If you want to read about Turing, there's the play Breaking the Code, which deals more with his personal life and how he was treated by the government.

5. The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. Flavor of the Month. Young Drood and younger Rosa were promised to each other by their now-deceased fathers. Neither looks to the other as the spouse they would have chosen, yet their wedding date is drawing near quickly. Drood has an uncle who is maybe too involved in his life, while Rosa has the headmistress of her school, and watching them both are the local clergymen. Their small community is thrown into an uproar when orphans, a nearly grown brother and sister from Ceylon, are delivered as wards. The brother instantly shows his feelings for Rosa and his violence towards Edwin, who soon after disappears.

Peopled with so many interesting, but lesser characters, I can't say why this book of just over 250 pages has taken me over a week to finish. It has it's problems. The back cover of my edition calls it "not one of the writer's greatest works", mainly as Dickens didn't get to complete it. The mystery doesn't take place until over 100 pages in, and one of the main characters has an unfortunate nickname, turning some of the lines unintentionally funny. But Dickens has such a way of weaving these well-defined characters, giving them bits of humor, bits of anger and remorse that they are far more real than most written in his time. 3.5 stars

Monsieur and I saw the play in New York based on this book. The audience voted on the ending, went out for intermission, and then returned for the end. That's the only thing I can recall about it.

I'd say that's pretty cool to get the audience that involved, but since you remember nothing else about it, maybe it didn't work. I can see reading this book and thinking it would make a great movie, and I pretty much knew the plot from a very good "Masterpiece Theatre" from a year or two ago.

6. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. World Authors.Mma Ramotswe uses her inheritance to open the first female detective agency in Botswana. She takes cases that range from a missing husband, a cheating one, insurance fraud and a missing little boy.

Finally I've gotten to this one. It's impossible not to like level-headed Precious, who observes all yet treats people gently. 4 stars

And I have to say how thrilled I am to have a ticket to see Marky Ramone this Tuesday. He'll be appearing at a nightclub to be interviewed and sign his new book Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone .

Love the cake porn. I love cream cheese frosting but not red velvet cake. Swap out the red velvet for carrot cake and I am in heaven!

Hum... charming neighbors you have.

On the British TV front, we have been chuckling over a number of Catherine Tate Show episodes that are available on YouTube. Here is a David Tennant guest appearance you might all enjoy: Comic Relief - Catherine Tate & David Tennant

That was delicious! Catherine's speech can be hard for my American ear to follow, however. I use to love Comic Relief when we had it here. I can remember crying-laughing with the combination of Robin Williams, Whoopie Goldberg, and Billie Crystal.

>138 lkernagh: I'd forgotten about Catherine Tate, which was a hilarious show. I was confused when she showed up on "The Office", because after her initial story line, she seemed like she was being wasted.
Thanks for the clip, it's pretty sweet!

>139 mamzel: She's very hard to understand when she speaks so quickly!

Here's one from a Comic Relief in the 80's. It's Rowan Atkinson's "Fatal Beatings" skit and my friends and I listened to it until we had every line memorized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBc3TsHiunU

I've just watched last night's DA episode, so here goes:

1. Matthew is just a distant memory to Mary. When she tells Tony that she's been tarnished and doesn't intend to be again, does it mean that she's told him about the Turk from the first episode? And then later, when she's not so keen on Tony, it seems like her attitude is "got what I wanted". Side note- I'd thought Mary's hair was bobbed.

2. Mary forces Anna to take her used birth control. Eeww, you're gross, Mary.

3. Robert knows his daughters. He makes another crack about Edith annoying that family, then later, when speaking of the war, he says, "I don't remember Mary doing much." That's because she didn't, Robert.

4. Mrs. Hughes seemed like a Christie detective as she spoke to Mary about Bates.

5. And that's a very tenuous thread the policeman is following. Nearly nothing to go on, but he's all over it.

6. Isn't Bricker laying it on thick with Cora? Why doesn't he just go ahead and lick her face? Then Robert makes Bricker look even better once he's figured out that Bricker isn't trying to court the dog.

7. Edith looks so stunned when Drewer (?) tells her to stay away. The idiot had no clue?

8. Spratt is a creepy thing, isn't he? You could see he nearly wanted to smile as he told Granny about Mary in Liverpool. At that point, she should have said, "Well, if that shocks you, you should have seen me in Russia!"

>141 mstrust: I'm so tired of the Edith storyline this season. I can't wait for her big secret to come out so that we don't have to deal with the dull farmer and his surly wife anymore! Also really want Miss Bunting gone…although it seems like Tom is getting more and more interested in her. :( Is it weird that I kind of want Tom and Mary to get together eventually?

On a side note, I've been watching "Galavant" (Sundays on ABC) and was tickled to see two familiar actors -- both Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham) and Sophie McShera (Daisy) have appeared on the show!

>141 mstrust: I love your summary of DA. Like >142 christina_reads: I'm tired of the Edith storyline. Why didn't the farmer tell her to tone down her enthusiasm or at least pay some attention to the other children. Miss Bunting annoys too: didn't she learn any manners, tact? And the Bates story is going on too long. He's too controlling to be innocent. I wouldn't be surprised if his wife's murder crops up again.

>142 christina_reads: >143 VivienneR: I think it's just tiring having to feel sorry for Edith all the time. They gave her a boyfriend last season and began dressing her in vibrant colors that looked so good on her, and seemed like they were allowing her to have some life instead of being in Mary's shadow. Then they kicked her into the mud puddle and she's pathetic again.

>142 christina_reads: I was wondering about Mary and Tom too, when they were talking after dinner and they're so comfortable together. But he was married to her sister, so that would be gross. Right?
I watched about 5 minutes of Galavant and didn't recognize anyone. Guess I should have stuck with it.

>143 VivienneR: I agree that the Bates murder line is going on too long. And it just prolongs Anna's suffering. That Bunting woman should be greeted with a footman's boot at the door.



7. Stacked: A 32DDD Reports From the Front by Susan Seligson. Non-Fiction. Beginning with her own life experiences, Seligson explores the attitude of Americans towards breasts, especially large breasts. She talks to women about their happiness, or hatred, towards their size and the different kinds of male attention they've received, she witnesses an augmentation performed by a reality tv doctor, attends an adult expo in Vegas to meet the very largest stars, interviews various doctors in the "enhancement " field and ones who perform reductions to cure the opposite problem.

It's pretty amazing how many people are making a living dealing with breasts, but I believe Seligson found every angle that most of us had never thought about. The number of charlatans promoting weird and useless regimes is interesting, as is her Vegas trip where she spent days waiting for a performer called "Maxi Mounds" to show up. The downside to the book is that the author can't stop talking about how much attention her figure gets her, and it eventually sounds like bragging. 3 stars


And since I'm going to Marky Ramone's book signing tonight, you didn't think I'd pass up a chance to post a Ramones song, did you? One of my current favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb9sdg14avw

>144 mstrust: I mean, yeah, it would be a bit weird if Tom and Mary got together, since he was married to her sister…but it's not as though they're actually related…so I think I would be OK with it. They just seem to have a good rapport!

As for "Galavant," the DA guest stars don't appear until later episodes. But Hugh Bonneville does play a pirate! It was very weird to see him in such a different costume!

>141 mstrust: 2. Yeah! Anna really told her off, didn't she? (sarcasm)
6. He was so obvious and obsequious that it was downright tedious!
I loved the reveal of Lady Crawley's Russian history!! And it came out in public!

>145 christina_reads: Imagine Mary and Tom having a baby and telling the older kids, "This is your sibling and cousin", ha! It was surprising to see Mary speak to an eligible young man without doing that snotty flirting that she does.
And Bonneville would be adorable as a pirate.

>146 mamzel: I couldn't help picturing Grant as The Scarlet Pimpernel trying to win back Margaurite, so it was sweet that he's infatuated, but a little subtlety would be in order with a married woman.
The news of Granny's past gives Isobel some ammunition in their quarrels.

Went to Marky Ramones book signing last night and it was great. It was held at a nightclub rather than the bookstore (independent Changing Hands) and featured nearly an hour of Marky onstage being interview by a reporter from our local paper, who actually knew the career of The Ramones very well. The room was completely full, holding about 250. He took questions from the audience, then came down to sign the books and everything else people brought. I wanted to slap myself for not bringing my album covers, but you never no when it's a "only what we're selling today" situation. Marky was really nice and the fans were brought up one at a time, which was great because the people behind weren't breathing down your neck. He had a quick discussion with me about how everything the Ramones recorded has now been released and there won't be any demos or "lost" recording being released years later. I have a few pics and I'll put one up in a day or two.

And I had to post thing vid because it's great and weird and embarrassing all at once. It's the staff of a Scottish bookstore rapping about "Reader's Delight".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2caiU5Bu-k

>148 mstrust: commentary on the video:
They used the same damned special effects lens the entire video and, did he just say signed first edition Jack Kerouac? I'm on my way!

>149 AuntieClio: My favorite line was, "I've got more stock than an OXO cube." That bookstore looks so great.



8. Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life As A Ramone by Marky Ramone. Music and Stuff. The life of the Ramones' second, and fourth, drummer. He tells of his childhood in Brooklyn and his beginnings as a professionals drummer playing in various local bands and having some international success with Dust and the early punk/jazz band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Then came the years with the Ramones, dealing with John's anger, Dee Dee's drugs and Joey's OCD. He remembers the making of each album, including the controversial End of the Century produced by Phil Spector.
This autobiography is great for the Ramones fan because it answers so many questions: how controlling was Johnny (very), how wild was Dee Dee, did Johnny really marry Joey's girlfriend, what was the backstory for so many of their songs and how did they go about replacing members who left. But this is also a great book for anyone interested in the NYC music scene in the 70's/80's, as he was there when punk began. The reader who only knows "I Wanna Be Sedated" might not be interested enough to get through the nearly 400 pages, as he doesn't join the band until more than a hundred pages in, but the fan will be rewarded with Marky's explanations for so many mysteries about the band. 5 stars

9. One-Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson. Food. With most cookbooks, I'll spot three or four recipes that sound good enough to actually try. This one is page after page of easy-to-make meals that sound really good and exotic, yet call for ingredients I can get at any Sprout's or Asian market. There are so many cuisines represented: Turkish eggplant with walnut sauce, Quinoa Tabbouleh, Provencal vegetables and rice, Cuban black beans, Texas too-hot chili, vegetables with Thia peanut sauce... I think I'll start with the wild rice salad. I only wish there were photos. 4 stars

I little DA talk-

1. Why this sudden and drastic change in Rose? She was a rebellious party girl and now she's dishing up soup to the less fortunate.

2. Isobel receives a very nice proposal and now she's playing hard to get. Humph. He's adorable.

3. Love the fashion show, especially the Cleopatra ensemble.

4. Even Granny's insulting Edith over the breakfast table now. It's Cora's turn next week.

5. O.k., let's just admit that Mary is trouble looking for a place to happen. She's making people unhappy wherever she goes and doesn't have enough of a conscience to care.

6. The scene with Bricker literally panting over Cora was kinda ridiculous. But-

7. The policeman is the most ridiculous character and story line so far.

8. Someone needs to explain Barrow's problem to me. I saw the needle, the spoon, and thought it must be heroin. But what was with the magazine and whatever page Baxter was reading?

Hugh Bonneville is hosting or narrating a new Shakespeare series that starts Friday! Yea!

>152 mstrust: He is? I must check out that series.

Oh, and Baxter's problem will be explained.

>153 PawsforThought: It seems strange that suddenly Thomas is a drug addict or whatever, without any preamble. Same with Rose. First she's shallow and sorta ditzy, now she's selflessly thrown herself into helping immigrants. How about some reflection, some reason that the viewer can see?

>153 PawsforThought: I meant Thomas, not Baxter. But that will be explained too.

And I didn't react much to Rose's change. Just figured she'd grown up a bit. It's been a couple of years.

>151 mstrust: - WANT! ... and then, darn it all, I thought my local library had a copy I could skim but apparently it is his One-Dish Vegan book. Double darn. Definitely going to hunt the vegetarian book down.

>152 mstrust: - I also thought Barrow had become a heroin addict when I saw the syringe and spoon. After the magazine ad shot -- which I did not get a good enough look at to tell it's contents -- I think he might have started a de-gaying treatment/program. One that looks suspiciously like heroin use.
I can't stand Mary. She is so hateful. Esp towards Edith. She continues to get away with appalling behavior season after season. I can't wait for karma to come around and slap her in the face.
I'm also thrilled that Robert has figured out that Bricker isn't flirting with Isis.

>155 PawsforThought: Your profile doesn't say where you're located, but are you in the U.K. and therefore ahead of the American viewers? If that's the case, I will not ask for information even though I'd love to know.

>156 lkernagh: I would have no happiness if I had to give up cheese and milk. I hope you locate it- good luck!

>157 VioletBramble: Oh, de-gaying is a good guess. I saw him grab the big spoon, so I thought it must be heroin, especially as they went a little overboard giving him dark circles.
One of the things that is irking me about Mary is how she put on the tight-lipped smile right after she's said something rude.

>158 mstrust: I'm in Sweden and we get the new episodes a couple of weeks after the UK (thank goodness for public service!). But I watched them all in one go during the first week of January.

That's right, I forgot that you're now my Swedish translator. How lucky are you to get it that early. It makes me think that for some reason we're the last to get D.A.
I've watched some of the Swedish "History Eaters" and you weren't kidding about the naked bum- literally two minutes into the episode!

>160 mstrust: Get used to seeing that arse! He keeps flashing it (to the embarrassment of the woman in charge of clothing). He's pretty used to that - when they were co-hosting the Swedish try outs for the Eurovision, his brother-in-law (who will make an appearance in the History Eaters) wore Native American-inspired chaps and nothing underneath (in the back, he was covered in the front). On live TV.

The early airings here are to do with the BBC and SVT (Swedish public service) being pretty tight. There have been times when shows have aired just days later in Sweden.

>161 PawsforThought: He must be from a family of extroverts ; )
So America is one of the last to get D.A. aired. Strange that if it airs on BBC in the U.K. that it isn't airing on BBC America over here.

My Amazon purchases are trickling in. Received so far: Community Season 1, Man of La Mancha dvd, Among the Gently Mad, Neither Here Nor There and The Ramonetures cd. Still waiting on an A.A. Gill book of essays.
Oh, and the chocolate festival is this weekend!

Enjoy Man of La Mancha! That's my favorite musical of all!
"To dream the impossible dream..."

>162 mstrust: I think it's more a matter of hanging out with a particular group of people that draws it out. Henrik Schyffert (the brother-in-law) is one of the best known comedians in the country and showing his naked behind really isn't that surprising. A comedy show he wrote and starred in ages ago (an absolute classic) had him, among many other weird things, dressing up as a pear (!) and singing "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" in a Korean accent. Yeah...

>152 mstrust: Oh man, I'm late to the "Downton Abbey" discussion! I too am curious about Barrow's problem. I remember that earlier in the season, he made a phone call regarding something called "Choose Your Own Path," and then the flyer from the last ep had the same phrase. So yeah, I wonder if it might be a "de-gaying" treatment of some kind. I kind of love that Baxter is being so nice to him right now. I still find him one of the most interesting characters on the show. Meanwhile, I'm so sick of Miss Bunting -- she was SO RUDE at the dinner table! Political disagreements are one thing, but this time she was super insulting to Lord Grantham in his own home! Tom, what are you thinking?!

>163 mamzel: It is a great musical and Peter O'Toole did a wonderful job. But I'll admit that I wanted it because John Castle is in it!

Another excuse to put up a pic of him.

>164 PawsforThought: O.k., that sounds hilarious! I'll look for it on Youtube. Wonder if I type in "schyffert dressed as pear" it will come up.

>165 christina_reads: I too thought Baxter showed real kindness by not discussing what she'd seen and trying to help. If it were the other way around, Thomas would have announced it to Lord Grantham in a second.
I don't know how I forgot to mention Bunting's latest excursion to D.A. She's an oaf. Why do Rose and Tom keep thinking it's o.k. to invite her? And even more baffling, why does she keep accepting the invitation to be fed and entertained by people she considers horrible? Because she has no integrity.

>166 mstrust: Basically Bunting is THE WORST. Even Edith's moping is preferable (barely)!

>164 PawsforThought: It was bizarre. The whole show was. And brilliant - it's a cult classic now. It you search for Nile City (the name of the show) and "sjungande" it will be one of the top results.
The show was about a struggling radio station and the fire station on the floor beneath it. And full of madness.

>167 christina_reads: Yes, at least Edith has the civility to stop talking and sit there looking stunned when she's snubbed.

>168 PawsforThought: Thanks, now I'll look for it.



10. Diary of a Mad Diva by Joan Rivers. Everything Else. Rivers' last book, a fictitious diary full of her thoughts on pretty much everything, from current celebrities, immigrants, models, New York, Hollywood, t.v., her daughter and grandson and herself, with many entries about her death. Lots of swearing, slurs and such. Here's a clean paragraph (one of the few), about the Progressive insurance commercials:

I hate Flo. I hope she gets run over by a car...driven by an uninsured driver. And while she lies there waiting for an ambulance (that god willing, is stuck in traffic), I hope the Aflac duck walks by and poops on her, just as the Geico gecko comes over and starts nibbling on her exposed, pulsating flesh.

3 stars

I think I'll be happy without all that invective ranting. I think I'll pass on this one.

It was funny alright, just not as funny as her appearances. All the stuff she would have been bleeped for on t.v. is here. She actually got my 6'4" 300 lb. Mike to sit down and watch an hour of discussing dresses, and now he says things like ,"She usually looks good, it's just those earrings,". Which is a little disturbing. But seeing the big picture, she was healthy and energetic and I really doubt she thought this would be her last book.

>169 mstrust: I've flipped through that one once at work. Pretty funny stuff. I really should sit down and read it all. Thanks for reminding me about it! :)

>172 saraslibrary: You're welcome! I get that all the time on LT, where someone reviews and I think, "oh yeah, I own that and should pull it out from the pile."

>173 mstrust: You're right. That's a great way to get already-owned books read up, seeing them on other people's threads. :)

>174 saraslibrary: LT is quite handy for discovering and reminding. Disminding: when you're reading a favorable book review with the smug knowledge that you already own the book, you just need to find it and read it.

When went to the yearly chocolate festival last night in Glendale and it was the best ever. The city had moved it up on the calendar by two weeks to coincide with the Super Bowl that is also in Glendale this week. But we've had rain for the last two days, it's an outdoor event, but we went went over anyway because it's chocolate. The crowds, which are normally shoulder to shoulder, were less than half, so there was room to walk. There were lots of new chocolate vendors with new products and fewer homemade jewelry and potpourri stands. Here's the damage: shared a Belgian waffle on a stick, a cup of excellent hot chocolate and a tray of fresh powdered sugar mini donuts. Brought home two giant chocolate chip cookies, a giant rice krispy treat, a bag of homemade Rocky Road marshmallows, an Oreo cheesecake in an ice cream cone and a huge bag of kettle korn.


11. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. Flavor of the Month. The story of Penelope, the unhappy wife of Odysseus, who was abandoned for twenty years while her husband went to fight for her beautiful cousin in Troy. Penelope tells how Odysseus won her, and her great Spartan dowry, then took her far away to live in his kingdom with his cold mother and pushy nursemaid. Though she loved her husband, she was always aware that he had first competed for the hand of beautiful Helen, a girl who prided herself on the number of men who died because of her beauty. When Odysseus leaves Penelope to fight over Helen, she is left with twelve handmaids who become precious to her, and over one hundred suitors who take over the palace as they try to force Penelope to choose a new husband.
Told by Penelope from the afterlife, with songs and stories from the maids, this is a very different, feminist look at Homer's The Odyssey, from the view of the ones left behind. 4 stars

It's Franz Shubert's birthday, so let's class this place up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mLh-du29Oc

mmmmm.... chocolate.

Wow to the chocolate festival, just Wow ...

>162 mstrust:
We would have gotten it at the same time had PBS not picked up the rights before BBC America. It's the same with Sherlock - we get that one months late too! I mean, I love PBS, but in these particular cases, they are my nemesis!

>176 lkernagh: "Mmmmm" is right. I often think that a city could raise some quick revenue by holding a chocolate festival. No matter what the economy is like, people will turn out for chocolate.

>177 DeltaQueen50: It's fun! Now I just need to find a cheese festival... I just thought of something- people could have a chocolate festival at home. Call everyone you know and tell them to make something and bring it over, then you'll have all kinds of things to try. In my house, this is known as "the kitchen counter".

>178 -Eva-: I do think it's strange that PBS makes us wait for months for a show while "The Graham Norton Show" will play an episode just a week after its original UK airing. Someone at PBS is a sadist.

And here's something I haven't seen in the 15 years I've lived here in Phoenix- we are covered in fog. Thick gray fog, like I haven't seen since I was in California. I'm sure the Super Bowl people will be cussing.

Ha! That reminded me of this:



It's called Caesar Crossing the Rubicon.

Awww, dogs are the most patient creatures. I hope he was given the sausage.

That reminds me of a Doberman we had when I was young. He was in the kitchen dancing and snapping at air so we called him into the living room where he lay down with a heavy sigh. When my mom went into the kitchen to cook dinner she found the steak hanging over the edge of the counter with teeth marks in it.

Oh, torture! Ha!

D.A. talk, and this was a good episode:

1. Old Man Fight! Bonneville and Grant rolling around on the floor-dreams come true! This made me so happy.

2. Tom dumps Bunting! They really gave the viewers what they wanted. Bunting says, "I loved you." and Tom replies with, "I'm glad we met." Hee hee!

3. Daisy should have her head pushed in a bowl of scalding water for trying to keep Bunting from going.

4. Now to the other household idiot, Edith. Does she not understand, even though told repeatedly, that the Drew family is sick to death of her? The man says stay away and she says "I'll be there tomorrow." If she'd had an ounce of self-control she wouldn't have been so intrusive and everyone would have been happy with the attention. Now Auntie's planning on kidnapping the child? Oh, brother...

5. The Doctor has Granny's plan figured out too, just as Mary did.

6. Yep, it looks like Thomas was doing drugs to change himself. As smart as he is, he must be very desperate.

7. Granny had the best line of the show, again, when she says to Isobel: "Ellen Terry had nothing on you when it comes to stringing out a moment."

>183 mstrust: Not looking until tomorrow!

>183 mstrust: Heehee, love your recap this week! I literally cheered aloud when I realized Bunting was GONE!!! :) And it looks like something is finally going to be done about the Edith situation…not that I think the kid should be shipped off to Paris, but I doubt that's actually going to happen. It's just nice to know that the mopey status quo will soon shift! Now I hope they start moving forward on the Bates murder mystery -- yet another tiresome story arc that's lasted WAY too long. But somehow, despite my complaining, this show remains completely addictive!!!

>184 mamzel: Ok, see you then!

>185 christina_reads: I've learned to be wary when it looks like something I've waited for is going to happen at D.A., so even when Tom was dumping her I thought he'd change his mind. But he didn't!
Sending the child to France would only make Edith look more insane as she'd be constantly jumping on a boat. On the bright side, maybe she'll drown. Awww, that's mean!
I agree about the Bates' murder story. Too thin, too drawn out...yet I'm hooked on it all.

Here are a couple of pics from the Marky Ramone book signing:

3. I can kind of understand Daisy's motive. Bunting was the first person who told her she could be more than a scullery maid. I wouldn't want that kind of support to leave either.

1. I couldn't believe Cora's mealy attempts to get him to leave. She is an American, after all, and should have more guts than that!

4. Edith, Edith, Edith. You really must find something to occupy your otherwise wasted life!

7. Would this show last without Maggie Smith? It is hard to imagine...

I was waiting for more shock, anger, something from Cora too. When she told her husband that "Mr. Bricker was just leaving," it seemed so trite. And when they were rolling all over the floor I flashed on that episode of "Sex and the City" when the two guys are fighting over Carrie and she standing there screaming, "You're middle-aged!" at them.

I can see Daisy wanting Bunting to stay, that's understandable. But she would have known that between her wishes and Lord Grantham's, she would lose. Poor Daisy!

12. Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes. American Authors. Reverend O' Malley arrives in Harlem, quickly builds his own congregation, and soon organizes a Back-To-Africa campaign. For $1000 a family from Harlem will be transported to Africa and given land to start a new life, but at the final rally, when the Reverend and his staff have collected $87,000 in cash from the congregation, a delivery truck breaks in and robs the event. Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones, ace detectives from the local precinct are put on the case. They need to find the cash, bust the con man Reverend and trace a bale of cotton floating around Harlem. Though their lieutenant knows they're the best men for the job, Jones and Ed have been in trouble before because they tend to be violent.

Published in 1965, the story is pulpy, with lots of anti-White sentiments and two protagonists who belt around anyone who annoys them. A very good vintage crime story. 4 stars

>187 mstrust: Yay! Great pictures!

Thanks! I was so excited to meet him that I forgot to look up at the camera! Instead, I immediately started talking. Of course.

Here's an interesting article about the controversy concerning the soon-to-be published new Harper Lee novel (never thought I'd write those words):
http://bookriot.com/2015/02/04/uncollected-thoughts-new-harper-lee-novel/

I, for one, wish people wouldn't try to make a mountain out of a molehill and just accept things as they are. When I heard the news I imagined that the lawyer was going through her things (not bizarre considering her age) and maybe discovered a forgotten safe deposit box. No big conspiracy. I look forward to reading it and I hope the proceeds will make Ms. Lee's final days as comfortable as possible.

I'm looking forward to reading it too. But I would prefer to know that Lee was totally on board. This isn't the first I've heard about her finances being controlled by someone else. She's very elderly and is suffering from memory loss and is partially blind and deaf. She sued a man in 2013 for tricking her into signing over her royalties back in 2007.
On the one hand, Lee wrote it and thought it was good enough to save. On the other hand, why now? And does the lawyer who dug through her stuff get a cut of the sales?

I have very mixed feelings about the To Kill A Mockingbird sequel. The best thing going for it is that it was written by the original author, but on the other hand, sometimes it's wiser just to leave perfection alone.

I get that, Judy. After all this time, and with Lee having famously replied that she said all she had to say in Mockingbird, her reputation has stood on that one book.
I really have no fear that this new book will be anything but great so much as I wonder if she has actually changed her mind and wants it published.

I would feel better about the whole thing if there was some kind of statement directly from the author about this. I know I won't be able to resist reading it, but I would feel better if I knew the author stood 100 percent behind this publication. The timing seems a little off to me.

>183 mstrust: Because I was in hospital I missed your Downton Abbey recap this week - until today when I managed to get to all the threads I'd missed. You manage to hit the nail on the head every week!

The Old Man Fight was wonderful! What is it that makes us so happy to see this? Cora and that "travelling salesman" flirting was hard to watch though.

So glad to see the Bunting woman go. If other story lines are an indication, she'll be back.

Edith is beyond words.

Will they ever get over the Bates story? Looks like it will drag out for a few more seasons. He's as guilty as sin anyway.

Granny is my favourite character, followed by snooty Lady Mary, just because she is so snooty.

However, I'm finding it harder to explain why I continue to watch the series.

>198 DeltaQueen50: Yes, I would feel better if I heard it from her too, but the publisher has already headed that off by saying Lee likely won't do any publicity for the book. Which seems like another red flag. It's understandable, given her age and health, that she wouldn't tour, but have someone go to her home and and do an interview. That's all it would take.

>199 VivienneR: I'm glad you're feeling well enough to come visit!
I'm so hoping the Bunting woman is gone forever. Howabout another outbreak of influenza?
Ha! You're the first I've heard to call Bates guilty! Well, I think lots of us may think he's guilty but don't want him to feel badly about it...

Harper Lee has made a statement regarding her new book:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/books/harper-lee-says-shes-excited-for-new-nov...

edited to add: I really hate it when people call old people "feisty." It's demeaning. If you wouldn't use the term to refer to a white guy in a suit, don't use it.

Thanks for that link, Alison.
Hmmm. A statement released by the lawyer. Hmmm.