fajrdrako | Meeting Lyn's brother...

Lyn has been my good friend since the 1970s, but I have never met her brother Michael or his wife Heli. They have lived in Calgary for a very long time, and have never come to Ottawa - until this week.

Lyn wanted her local friends to meet them, so she rented the party room at her condo building and invited us all over. We made it a pot-luck supper, and had a wonderful time. It was a bit like a Who Cares revisited.... A Who Cares was a kind of party we used to have every second Saturday night in roving locations, in which anyone associated with local fandom was welcome to turn up, and bring their friends.

Those days of easy socializing are behind us, but we had a wonderful time. There was a vast amount of food, and Beulah brought some delicious carrot cake.

I liked Michael and Heli, too. I expected Michael to resemble Lyn's father, whom I'd met, but he didn't. Nor did he resemble Lyn. He was just... himself, I guess, which is fair enough.

Afterwards, Beulah drove me home and we dropped in on

maaseru to share some of the leftover carrot cake with her and

maaboroshi. (Amazing, that there should be leftover cake, with that crowd!) We chanced on the beginning of the Kenneth Branagh As You Like It which instantly charmed us (and hooked us) with its multicultural melange of nineteenth-century Americans in Japan, Tudor England dialogue, ninjas, and Star Wars ambience. (And, muttered

maaboroshi and I to each other, all this and femslash too. Gotta love Branagh.)

I didn't see more than the first third of it; dying to see the rest.

maaseru said that As You Like It was the first live play she saw, and that marked the moment when she fell in love with Shakespeare and with theatre. And she hasn't seen that particular play since, not even in movie form.

I don't think I've ever seen it at all - I've just read it.

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From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

I have yet to see a Freudish production of Hamlet that actually worked. I remember watching the Mel Gibson version and wanting to hang Franco Zeffirelli by his toenails because of it. Which is saying a fair amount because I adore his version of Romeo and Juliet.

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Well - Zeffielli is Zeffirelli, and he likes excess. There were things I liked about that movie - the very ending, for example, where the camera pulls up, framing Hamlet and Horatio with the floor. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either, and I'd rather expected to. I really have seen far worse versions - either through being over the top, or being bland.

I might have liked it more had it not been Mel Gibson, whom I liked when he was young, but not in the last couple of decades. Can people lose talent the way they lose their looks? - yes, sadly, of course they can, and we've seen it before, and in many fields.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

I used to like Mel Gibson when he was doing comedy (I still like the movie Maverick very much, for instance), but he's gotten to be such an obnoxious jerk that I can't separate Mel the idiot from Mel the actor anymore. And I still haven't forgiven him for Braveheart, either.

But you're definitely right about Zeffirelli and excess (which really worked for his R&J, IMHO). And the movie does have its moments -- Helena Bonham Carter's Ophelia being chief among them.

One completely off-the-wall observation. Some of the best discussions I've had over the years about the plays of a man who lived 400 years ago have been on the Internet. I bet he would have appreciated that...

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

gotten to be such an obnoxious jerk that I can't separate Mel the idiot from Mel the actor anymore

No. At some point the one colours the other. And I think it isn't just subjective - I think his ego has got in the way of his work.

Yes, the excess worked for Romeo and Juliet, because Zerrirelli got it right. I liked his movie about St. Francis, too. (Title momentarily escaping me. I think of it as "The Towers of San Gimignano", but that isn't it.)

I think Shakespeare would have loved all the online attention!

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

I haven't seen anything Zefferelli's done except his Shakespeare (I do admit to getting a kick out of his Taming of the Shrew, but that's not because of the fact that it was Shakespeare [g]).

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Is that the version of The Taming of the Shrew that had Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the lead roles? I don't remember much about it, but I know I liked it. I've seen a number of productions of "Shrew" (live) and have liked them all.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Is that the version of The Taming of the Shrew that had Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the lead roles?

Yes, which is why it was so amusing, to me, at any rate. I saw a traditional production once at the Barbican in London, and walked out at the end wanting to choke Petruchio on his own rhetoric. It wasn't the actor's fault, just that unless they make a farce out of it, this 21st century woman can't deal with that quantity of sexism in only three hours [wry g].

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Hee. Yes, The Taming of the Shrew isn't likely to have a lot of modern sympathy, though I perversely quite enjoy it - depending on the production. Some work better than others. I once saw a short version in which Kate and Petrucchio were in a boxing ring, fighting each other and hurling insults. Now I like back, it was like a precursor of Battlestar Galactica's episode with Starbuck and Lee fighting it out in the ring.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

I've never watched the new version of Battlestar Galactica, and I barely remember watching the old one (although I had a terrible crush as a teenager on the old Starbuck [g]).

But there's only so much sexism I can tolerate, which is one reason I like and sympathize with Beatrice so much -- "If I were a man, I would eat his heart in the marketplace!"

I always feel so sorry for most of Shakespeare's women...

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

The joy of the new Battlestar Galactica is in its excellent writing. I have the impression (based on almost nothing) that the original show was much more about Starbuck and Apollo than the new show is about the characters of the same names. They are fairly central but the story is about Galactica and what happens to the people on it. As a society, and we focus on various individuals - some of them Cylons. Which is particularly interesting.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Yes, it was based on Starbuck and Apollo. And the writing was pretty much abysmal, from what little I remember. I wonder what possessed them to bring back such a lousy little show and then give it a new life like that?

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

My guess is that someone got An Idea. I heard that Richard Hatch had been pushing for a remake for years - possibly because it was the best role he he ever had. (Or so I assume. I've never looked him up.)

And Ron Moore got more ideas, and saw potential in the premise that no one else did.

I don't know, but I suspect that the pivotal point, in terms of ideas, was giving the Cylons human form. Without that, it was just another version of the Terminator story, with Lost in Space thrown in.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Judging from his IMDB entry (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368745/), yeah, Battlestar Galactica was probably his best gig. Doesn't say much for him as an actor [g].

Humanoid Cylons. What is the universe coming to?

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Thanks for the link - yes, small roles on a number of TV shows, but not much. And truth to tell, he isn't very impressive in the current Battlestar Galactica - he isn't awful but he isn't one of the compelling characters, which may be why they've pretty much written him out of the story.

Humanoid Cylons: maybe the precursors of Cylonic Humans? I don't know where they're going with this theme but it's intriguing.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

I thought in the new version (mind you, I'm just going on what people have said about the show here in LJ and elsewhere, not from any personal viewing of same) that all the roles had been recast, and that either Starbuck or Apollo is played by a woman. Is that not correct?

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

all the roles had been recast, and that either Starbuck or Apollo is played by a woman. Is that not correct?

Yes. Starbuck is a woman, played by Katee Sackhoff. Apollo is a man, played by Jamie Bamber. I love them both, all the more so in that neither is in a standard heroic mold. Starbuck is very butch. And crazy.

Richard Hatch (who I believe used to be Apollo?) plays a dissident politician/insurgent named Tom Zarek. I'm not sure what to make of his character - as with many of the people in the show, he's interestingly ambiguous. He's opportunistic and not very sympathetic, but not exactly evil either.

I can't think when we last saw him in the storyline. He isn't one of the regulars, and the political angle on the show isn't the most interesting theme. Especially since I strongly dislike the President, who is supposed to be attractive and sympathetic, but who has religious delusions and tried to win an election illegally, by forging ballots.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Apollo is a man, played by Jamie Bamber.

Jamie Bamber? Really? The same Jamie Bamber who was in Horatio Hornblower? [reconsiders concept of watching Battlestar Galactica after all]

Richard Hatch (who I believe used to be Apollo?)

Yes he was. The guy who used to play Starbuck later went on to be part of The A-Team. Can't remember his name, but he had a great grin [g].

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Jamie Bamber? Really?

Oh, yes. Would I like to to about Jamie Bamber? I assure you, I would not.

The same Jamie Bamber who was in Horatio Hornblower?

Oh, yes, the very one. Very beautiful and very buff as Lee Adama. Wait a minute, I can give you visual proof. Have a look at:

And here (http://www.universalhd.com/Battlestar_Galactica/battlestar_657x381.jpg) is a picture of him with Starbuck.

The guy who used to play Starbuck later went on to be part of The A-Team.

Interesting! I didn't know that. (Not having ever seen A-Team, either, though I have a friend who was at one time into A-Team slash.)

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Ye godlings. Archie Kennedy grew up! And started working out [g].

Between that picture and the various photos of John Barrowman you've thrown my way, I must say you have very good taste in men...

A-Team slash

Okay. From the sublime to the -- may I have some brain cleaner, please? I don't even want to know which two characters that friend was writing about. Urk.

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Archie Kennedy grew up! And started working out [g].

He did, and he did.

Between that picture and the various photos of John Barrowman you've thrown my way, I must say you have very good taste in men...

Only the best. (g)

I don't even want to know which two characters that friend was writing about. Urk.

She was reading, not writing. And I don't know who she was reading about - I never even asked, because I don't know any of the characters in the show. She was somewhat embarrassed, but enjoying herself.

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Why am I not surprised? [g].

As for reading A-Team slash, I guess it's better than writing it, but it still makes me long for some good brain disinfectant...

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

it still makes me long for some good brain disinfectant...

I think my friend who was reading it felt the same way, but enjoyed herself in any case. Since I've never seen the show, I don't even know what's so embarrassing about it!

From:

mmegaera.livejournal.com

Perhaps a picture would help: http://www.filmsandtv.com/id/00033.jpg

Then again, maybe it wouldn't be enough [g].

From:

fajrdrako.livejournal.com

Looks like an interesting team!

This same friend of mine was also into wrestling slash - have you come across that? - so quite possibly the big black guy was one of the slash contenders.