omnibus (reviews, updates, all that jazz)
Did anyone get the number of that bus???
So clearing out the think tank here are some Things:
I finally finished listening to the audio book of The Virginian, a 1902 novel of the American West by Owen Wister. (Yes, the 1960's TV series was loosely based on the book and now I want to watch a few episodes and see how it matches up.) I see from Wiki that five movies have been made over the years.This was a favorite novel of mine as a kid and it stood up pretty well in the audio format. I still find it disconcerting to hear male voices read by females and vice versa. Especially when they are trying to do Southern drawls.
In any case, classic romance, lots of detail about life at that time, memorable characters, some real drama, and evocative descriptions of the breath-taking beauty and lonely grandeur of turn of the century Wyoming. Men are Men and Women are Women in the end but the romance has some good give-and-take and Molly Wood is not a simpering flailing sensitive flower. If I had the time and energy I would like to re-write this from Molly's POV.
The main character is never actually named, except that he says a friend of his always called him 'Jeff' in reference to his Virginian roots. The main POV is that of an unnamed narrator (Wister himself I suppose) who is a newcomer to the West in the beginning. He is first assigned to the cowboy of the title as a responsibility (making sure the tenderfoot doesn't get himself killed). After some adventures that introduce characters that will reappear later as friends and enemies and both, an unlikely friendship blooms over a crazy hen named Emily.
There's quite an interesting political digression on cattle rustling and what's to be done when the law has become corrupt. And the difference between Western lynching and Southern lynching. And the inevitability of the loss of the frontier. And the primacy of land and its ownership. And what's owed to a friend. And choices, good and bad.
I cried when Pedro died.
Good book. Typical of its era. Recommended if you like old-fashioned long digressive books with loads of description but plenty of action and humor as well. The baby-switching scene is not to be missed.
And now for something completely different--writing!
Question: is it legitimate to bring in a character (Miranda Sheridan) just cause I want to? *ponders* I find myself leaning this way but wondering if it's just going to be a digression. OTOH this whole part is a bit of a digression. Did you know that David Sheridan the elder was on the run for six months after the family farm burned? Does that even seem likely? We're about to hit a gap in the story--the part that's filled in with letters. I still have to come up with a likely reason for them to be avoiding video communiques. I hope I can keep this part.
I don't want to write the history of the Earth resistance! Any of it! *whine* It's all just an excuse to get Delenn and Anna together. I'm pandering to my own fantasies.
To wax philosophical--what is fanfic but pandering anyway? I am re-writing the whole of Season 4, filling gaps with my own alternative reality and new characters cause I want to. Hmm. If I try it out and have to cut it out later it'll just add to the incredibly long time it's taking to write this thing. Hmm. /ends online musings
Fun fact: Fish sticks are now called fish fingers in my house. Also we have actually tried fish fingers and custard. Together. I have video of #1 giving it a go.
Incipient Panic: We have no costumes gotten up for the boys for Balticon. They will want them. Eek.
Worry as a Time Machine: The words 'Dad' and 'surgery' in the same sentence instantly turn you eight years old. At least they found a source of the internal bleeding and it can be fixed. Fingers will be gnawed until Friday afternoon.
Nazis elected in Greece. Doesn't that say it all?
Blind Hatred: My dad's retiree health insurance is trying to find ways to drop my drug-expensive transplant recipient mother from his policy. They are challenging them to prove she is his LS, or legal spouse. After 55 years and moving from one end of the country to another and back, they have no idea where the paperwork ended up. Dad worked for the phone company all his life. The company has been sold out and name-changed and merged from under him but it's the same damn company that has known he was married to the same person the whole of that time. Trying to reassure my mother while panic-yelling at my sister was 'fun'. We have a deadline of June 15th or they drop her. The first lot of paperwork didn't convince them; so it's up to the state of WV to come up with an official marriage certificate. I told my sister to pay whatever they asked for quick delivery or go pick it up, copy everything they send, and send everything both electronically and backed up with paper versions by certified, return receipt requested, mail.
And this is why we can't have nice things.
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/264336.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
So clearing out the think tank here are some Things:
I finally finished listening to the audio book of The Virginian, a 1902 novel of the American West by Owen Wister. (Yes, the 1960's TV series was loosely based on the book and now I want to watch a few episodes and see how it matches up.) I see from Wiki that five movies have been made over the years.This was a favorite novel of mine as a kid and it stood up pretty well in the audio format. I still find it disconcerting to hear male voices read by females and vice versa. Especially when they are trying to do Southern drawls.
In any case, classic romance, lots of detail about life at that time, memorable characters, some real drama, and evocative descriptions of the breath-taking beauty and lonely grandeur of turn of the century Wyoming. Men are Men and Women are Women in the end but the romance has some good give-and-take and Molly Wood is not a simpering flailing sensitive flower. If I had the time and energy I would like to re-write this from Molly's POV.
The main character is never actually named, except that he says a friend of his always called him 'Jeff' in reference to his Virginian roots. The main POV is that of an unnamed narrator (Wister himself I suppose) who is a newcomer to the West in the beginning. He is first assigned to the cowboy of the title as a responsibility (making sure the tenderfoot doesn't get himself killed). After some adventures that introduce characters that will reappear later as friends and enemies and both, an unlikely friendship blooms over a crazy hen named Emily.
There's quite an interesting political digression on cattle rustling and what's to be done when the law has become corrupt. And the difference between Western lynching and Southern lynching. And the inevitability of the loss of the frontier. And the primacy of land and its ownership. And what's owed to a friend. And choices, good and bad.
I cried when Pedro died.
Good book. Typical of its era. Recommended if you like old-fashioned long digressive books with loads of description but plenty of action and humor as well. The baby-switching scene is not to be missed.
And now for something completely different--writing!
Question: is it legitimate to bring in a character (Miranda Sheridan) just cause I want to? *ponders* I find myself leaning this way but wondering if it's just going to be a digression. OTOH this whole part is a bit of a digression. Did you know that David Sheridan the elder was on the run for six months after the family farm burned? Does that even seem likely? We're about to hit a gap in the story--the part that's filled in with letters. I still have to come up with a likely reason for them to be avoiding video communiques. I hope I can keep this part.
I don't want to write the history of the Earth resistance! Any of it! *whine* It's all just an excuse to get Delenn and Anna together. I'm pandering to my own fantasies.
To wax philosophical--what is fanfic but pandering anyway? I am re-writing the whole of Season 4, filling gaps with my own alternative reality and new characters cause I want to. Hmm. If I try it out and have to cut it out later it'll just add to the incredibly long time it's taking to write this thing. Hmm. /ends online musings
Fun fact: Fish sticks are now called fish fingers in my house. Also we have actually tried fish fingers and custard. Together. I have video of #1 giving it a go.
Incipient Panic: We have no costumes gotten up for the boys for Balticon. They will want them. Eek.
Worry as a Time Machine: The words 'Dad' and 'surgery' in the same sentence instantly turn you eight years old. At least they found a source of the internal bleeding and it can be fixed. Fingers will be gnawed until Friday afternoon.
Nazis elected in Greece. Doesn't that say it all?
Blind Hatred: My dad's retiree health insurance is trying to find ways to drop my drug-expensive transplant recipient mother from his policy. They are challenging them to prove she is his LS, or legal spouse. After 55 years and moving from one end of the country to another and back, they have no idea where the paperwork ended up. Dad worked for the phone company all his life. The company has been sold out and name-changed and merged from under him but it's the same damn company that has known he was married to the same person the whole of that time. Trying to reassure my mother while panic-yelling at my sister was 'fun'. We have a deadline of June 15th or they drop her. The first lot of paperwork didn't convince them; so it's up to the state of WV to come up with an official marriage certificate. I told my sister to pay whatever they asked for quick delivery or go pick it up, copy everything they send, and send everything both electronically and backed up with paper versions by certified, return receipt requested, mail.
And this is why we can't have nice things.
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/264336.html. Please comment there using OpenID.