The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion
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Croissants, Coffee & Tea -- Part the Eighth
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MadgeUK
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Apr 23, 2013 11:05AM
Yes, but we haven't heard from her since the city close-down and shoot-out etc. That must have been pretty hairy:(
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Outside of the college and the gas station, there was no further violence.
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He did finish the run Emily and actually qualified to run Boston again next year. He's already saying that he will because he feels that if he doesn't he lets the bombers win.
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She's up in post # 741-742. Madison had chosen not to run the ..."
Loved the Madison comment! Here's a family update on us. We are all well. It was a very emotional week for us with hubby crossing the finish line about 10 min before bomb went off, and me not going to the marathon (I always go and would have been in the bomb area). We spent the week fielding numerous calls, emails, etc. from family and friends. Hubby was interviewed for local Mass paper on his experience.
Typically in April we go to our lake house in Tenn. Our backyard there is Lake Douglas with a background of the Smoky Mountains. It's fishing season - one of hubby's great passions. So we packed the car up (including Madison) and drove 15 hours between Fri an Saturday. Spent Sun trying to rest and get the house open. Spent yesterday getting a new fridge delivered (old one died while we were in Mass), and received our first house guests. There will be three different groups of guests and little or no time between them. Then we will have 2 days to close up house, and drive back to Mass.
Just got the PC up and running late last evening. Now I'm playing reading catch up for two reading groups. Miss Madison is loving all the birds, bunnies, etc. Caught her today in my favorite reading chair, belly up sunbathing. She also enjoys launching herself from the second floor loft onto my jukebox (yes, it's a real one from the late 1940's that my dad restored). Every time she does it, I cringe and she gets told she's naughty.
Miss Madison is an excellent traveler who rides in the car with her carrier open. She will take herself into the back of the car (she's usually in the front seat) to have a snack or a drink or use her litter box. She really is amazing. When we stop at a hotel for the night, she spends most of it pacing the hotel room and guarding us. Of course, she has to pat my face or hands every 15 min or so to ensure that I'm still ok. Not conducive to sleep, but so very sweet.
Thanks to all of you for your concern about us, your friendship, not to mention the great discussions we have.
Good to hear from you that all is well Deborah and to hear about dear Madison and her travels. Does she go in the garden nowadays or is she still an indoor cat? Lucy is really enjoying her new garden and as today was our first warm day this year, has been alternately rolling about on the new mown grass and chasing a ball. I was enjoying lazing on my garden chair and playing the jazz which I have downloaded onto my new tablet:)
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I so love Jazz. Wish I was there in the garden with you. Mine should be almost at it's peak, and I've never seen it :(. The lady who is caring for it while I'm here is supposed to send pictures. I just think it would be lovely to spend an afternoon listening to jazz in your garden, and having a cuppa with great conversation with you!
That would be fun indeed! (Where did Madison get the fleas from if she was in a playpen?)
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Rats? I thought cat fleas only lived on cats?
I think it was so nice of them to share the fleas. They must have seen how clean Madison was. I don't think there are special dog fleas and cat fleas, skunk fleas and rat fleas. Fleas is fleas.
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I don't think there are special dog fleas and cat fleas, skunk fleas and rat fleas. Fleas is fleas."
Yes fleas is fleas. Luckily, I treated her quickly, and then we set off flea bombs in the house as we left it so that it would have literally months to dissipate before we had to be back in it. Because we're right on a lake and the humidity is high in Tenn to begin with, fleas duplicate very very quickly.
They should make those carriers with finer mesh, or you can reinforce yours with fiberglass screening from the hardware store.
Wikipedia's sexism towards female novelists?http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/opi...
A warning that women need to watch out for themselves and make certain they are contributing "equally" with men to Wikipedia?
Who is the higher authority at W to whom complaints may be sent?
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Oh my! Thank goodness we don't have those - might get a fox I suppose or even a badger.
Deborah wrote: "Geez, in this day and age you would think that would no longer be a problem. I hate it that the fight to be included is never over."The Movement was mainly for the educated middle and upper class. There are large parts of this country still unenlightened, both male and female.
MadgeUK wrote: "Oh my! Thank goodness we don't have those - might get a fox I suppose or even a badger."Squirrels?
Yes but they are no threat - except to bird tables:) I don;t have them in my area, the odd fox maybe.
Your birds have their own tables (and chairs)?
Yes, I have 3 bird tables in the garden (no chairs):).
There is a wooden garden seat upon which they perch and poo:)
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Meanwhile, this is what is happening to the UK's Welfare State under the Tory Coalition:-http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/201...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...
Saw the new Great Gatsby movie today. The critics I have read are probably mostly correct in their criticisms and commentaries, but we still enjoyed it very much and are glad we went.
Lily wrote: "Saw the new Great Gatsby movie today. The critics I have read are probably mostly correct in their criticisms and commentaries, but we still enjoyed it very much and are glad we went."I was thinking about it till I read there was hip-hop music in the sound track. I might get nauseous.
I've found what I thought was an alternative to the dubious credentials of Wikipedia editors: newworldencyclopedia.org"The New World Encyclopedia is a wiki-based encyclopedia which contains carefully selected articles that are rewritten and supervised by a team of editors with academic and literary qualifications. New World Encyclopedia has the same ease of use as Wikipedia, but differs based on an editorial policy that includes a more rigorous article selection process, editorial review process, and its wholesome values orientation."
Then I saw that the founder was Sun Myung Moon. However, I'm willing to try it for a while because of its editorial policy. I'd like some of you to try it too, and offer your opinions.
I've just put the bookmark under the Wiki one, and article comparisons should be interesting. Some editors at Wiki gave it some good reviews, while also joking about its lack of pornographic subjects. I think I would not use it for religious lookups, :-)but it's probably no worse than having to rely on the Mormons for genealogical searches.If you can afford the online Encyc Brit, just ignore this post.
Rochelle, the hip hop music is used rather sparsely. I barely noticed it and when I did it was fitting on the context of the scene.The song most frequently played in the movie is Lana Del Ray's 'Young and Beautiful' and it is very fitting - the lyrics are those of a love song but she performs it in such a sad, haunting way. It absolutely works as background for scenes with Gatsby and Daisy.
Correction: Lana Del Rey. My iPhone thinks it knows best grrrr.
I don't see hip-hop so-called music as fitting a 1920's context, and I'm not familiar with the other one, but I know it's not from the '20's. What would be more apt than the revolutionary jazz of that period? I'll skip this one and re-view the PBS version from 2000 with Toby Stephens and Mira Sorvino. Luhrmann has missed the point. Fitzgerald was not celebrating easy money and conspicuous consumption, he was criticizing it, even as he was a part of it.
You're drawing conclusions without having seen the film. Lurhmann in no way glorifies conspicuous consumption. The hip hop (which by the way is grandchild to jazz if you study the history) accentuates the over-the-top party scenes where Nick first meets Gatsby. The whole thing is nicely portrayed as a sort of circus without purpose or value. This is fitting since he is only throwing the parties hoping Daisy will attend. The lie that is the "American Dream" of becoming wealthy is shown to be just that - a lie. Wealth doesn't bring Gatsby happiness or get him the girl. The movie did a good job portraying the emptiness and selfishly destructive behavior of the Buchanan's with their old money. She is merely the beautiful dream with the voice full of money and proves an unworthy object for Gatsby's fantasies.
We know all this from the novel of course, but my point is that the film does an excellent job of exploring the themes of the novel. It makes no matter to me if the music is not of the period because it does the job it's supposed to. I've seen period movies where the music was quite jarring and just didnt work - It may have been from the appropriate era but it wasn't used properly with respect to mood and atmosphere.
I've seen the other versions and for me this is by far the best - I ached for Gatsby because his yearning was so palpable and it was so obvious that Daisy was in no way the perfect woman he'd imagined.
Not saying its a perfect film (I really didn't care for the frame scenes with Nick in an institution) but it does a good job bringing the book to life. I appreciate that because I've never gotten much of an emotional charge from the novel. I usually find myself appreciating the prose without connecting to the characters.
To each his own but I find it a bit silly to write off the film without viewing it, just because the music isn't to your liking.
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Hope things soon improve Deborah and that Madison is doing her very best to comfort you meanwhile.
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Hey Madge - I finally have everything planned for my England trip. A couple of days at Wimbledon.
A day in Cambridge - doing a tour of the University.
A day in York - I'm not sure why I selected York. It might have been my love of All Creatures Great and Small, but probably because since I was heading north to Cambridge, it was more of a straight shot up to York then my other choice (Cornwall).
Going to visit Jane Austen's house one day. Jane is my favorite author by far, by far, by far.
And doing a couple of walks from a Walking Dickensian London book that I got from the library. One of them will be in Bloomsbury so I can say 'hello' to Virginia Woolf.
Plus, visiting BBC, 221B Baker Street, the British Museum, and Shakespeare's Globe.
There is so much that I couldn't get in, but that just means that I will have to plan future trips to my favorite country in the world! And next time I go, I have to head to Scotland as well. Ever since I became addicted to Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series and the Isabel Dalhousie series, I just have to visit Edinburgh.
Jennifer wrote: "You're drawing conclusions without having seen the film. Lurhmann in no way glorifies conspicuous consumption. The hip hop (which by the way is grandchild to jazz if you study the history) accentua..."Hi Jennifer - I agree.
While it is nice when a film follows a beloved novel in every way, I also like to see producers/directors/actors take a story in another unique direction. A different way of looking at it; i.e., their own perception of the story or modernizing it in some way.
I haven't seen the latest Gatsby yet (I tend to wait until films are on DVD lately), but I haven seen wonderful adaptations in a variety of directions of my favorite author's work: Miss Jane Austen. In fact, while the P&P with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is my favorite, I love some of the ways producers have taken her works. For example, Clueless (Emma). And loved Lost in Austen.
To me, it is all good.
Lynn, have you seen Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood adaptation? I am really not at all familiar with Bollywood movies, but I enjoyed it.
Denise wrote: "Lynn, have you seen Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood adaptation? I am really not at all familiar with Bollywood movies, but I enjoyed it."Denise - I only saw part of it - caught it about 1/2 way through. But I enjoyed the part that I watched. One of these days, I'll have to see the first half, and then I can comment on the film as a whole.
I'm not that familiar with Bollywood films either except for watching bits and pieces of films. I think I read somewhere that Bollywood films are more popular than Hollywood films!
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A couple of days at Wimbledon.
A day in Cambridge - doing a tour of the University.
A day in York - I'm not sure why I selecte..."
I'm jealous. Just an FYI 221b baker is not as great as you might expect so if you keep your expectations on the lower side it will be more fun.
Deborah wrote: "Just an FYI 221b baker is not as great as you might expect so if you keep your expectations on the lower side it will be more fun..."Good advice. We had a really fun conversation with one of the locals while there.
Lynn: You have made some good choices and York is a very beautiful and interesting city in a beautiful county. I will send you my telephone number by PM so that you can make contact - perhaps we can meet in London for tea:)
Deborah wrote: "I'm jealous. Just an FYI 221b baker is not as great as you might expect so if you keep your expectations on the lower side it will be more fun. "
I've heard that from others as well. I just want to be able to say, hey, I've been there. One of the London walks that I mapped out goes near there so it won't be out of my way.
MadgeUK wrote: "Lynn: You have made some good choices and York is a very beautiful and interesting city in a beautiful county. I will send you my telephone number by PM so that you can make contact - perhaps we ..."I PM'd you back...looking forward to meeting you in person!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...More on women overlooked, this time from National Geographic, on science.
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"
I've heard that from others as we..."
I felt the same way and was very glad I went.
Lynn: I was thinking about you and Cornwall and detective novels today and wondered if you had come across W J Burley's Wycliffe novels, which are set in Cornwall? http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&k...
There has also been an excellent ITV series filmed in Cornwall which contains some wonderful scenery:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wycliffe...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...
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The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910
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