I spent last night watching manor house, which is all about recreating an english country home in 1906 complete with upstairs downstairs tension. I swear the house they used is a dead ringer for the house in gosford park, but hasty internet research seems to indicate otherwise. Lessons learned from the 2 hours - Being a scullery maid sucks, and liveried Edwardian footmen are hot. I recommend having two, perhaps a few more if you have the means.
Speaking of superficial entertainments and guilty pleasures, I did snag a copy of radar. Briefly summarized, the articles were too short, and the focus was sort of haphazard, but I think the next issue will probably be a little more coherent. I like it best when it's dishy, so hopefully they'll being do more of that.
Thursday, April 24, 2003 ::: have some links saved up from the past couple of days:
the morning news links to a rather longish atlantic monthly article about oscar wilde. I have to say that the amount of analysis given to the wilde/lord alfred douglass relationship compared to heterosexual writers' relationships seems quite inordinate, especially since it was such a brief and dysfunctional one. But I still like to read about it anyway. more on this when I have some time to expostulate on the matter.
people it seems have been foiled in their search for radar magazine, which seems trashy but fun, despite a few pans here and there. A cursory search at the lackluster korean news stand near the kind street metro revealed nothing. I'm planning on stopping by a better-stocked news stand later this evening since I have an errand or two to run anyway.
Similarly, Ms. Lewinsky, who is the host of "Mr. Personality," was brought up in Beverly Hills wealth and privilege, but those advantages did not inhibit her from dallying with President Bill Clinton like a saucy Edwardian upstairs maid.
I actually caught this show and I have to say it was rather dull, and featured very little of the esteemed ms lewinsky. Mostly just a lot of strange, creepy guys in strange, creepy masks and a woman who didn't seem especially desirable to begin with. What's more, it doesn't look like it's going to get a Television without Pity recap either, which is a shame, a damned shame.
interesting story about a transgendered candidate for office in japan, a man in the street sort of interview. The japanese public seems pretty accepting, though I'm not entirely sure how representative the sample is.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 ::: Haven't written substantially in quite a while, despite a fair amount going on. I saw the new christopher guest movie, which wasn't quite as funny as I'd hoped, although I think a lot of the humor is subdued and subtle in nature, the sort of thing that really requires a second viewing, preferably not in a crowded and boisterous theater. Jane Lynch was great, and unfortunately there wasn't enough of jennifer coolidge's half-brained publicist. Many of the other characters were a bit more disappointing. I decided to rent Best in Show again to compare and contrast and it really is a much better movie, altough there are definitely some jokes which are just run into the ground, such as the Jerry and Cookie Fleck marriage schtick. Of course, Jennifer Coolidge as a poodle-owning trophy wife and John Michael Higgins as the flamboyant half of a gay couple were especially good in that movie. There's a new clerk at my video store who is FTM which took me a long time to realize. I hope I wasn't staring, but I also noticed that he was wearing a bright yellow shirt that I also happen to own but hardly ever wear because I can't really pull that sort of thing off.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003 ::: ack. sick. staying home and resting to get ready to face the world tomorrow.
yesterday I sent off my taxes and it really sucked since I owed lots of money to the feds and to dc. All the more so since I was sick yesterday and had to drag myself to kinkos to photocopy my returns and then trudge over to the post office which had a long line and no air conditioning and then was told by the almost inaudible clerk that I didn't want registered mail but the other kind of recordkeeping mail that I forget what it's called and if I wanted that I would have to get back in the long long line. So I just bought stamps and put a couple extra on in case the post office decided that my tax returns were too hefty for just one stamp each.
right now I'm listening to my old (london) suede album. I forgot how catchy the songs are, especially film star. love that song. I should get the album with metal mickey on it.
the latest new yorker (april 21 and 28) has an article about the bridal industry, which is pretty interesting. The gist of it is that people buy too much crap for their weddings and spend too much money, but the industry would of course like them to spend even more. Thank god gay weddings are generally done on the cheap. Oh, and the article also says that there's a big chain wedding chain store threatening to take over America which should be no great surprise to anyone.
Friday, April 11, 2003 ::: I saw Miyazaki's Spirited Away the other day and it's amazing! I'm not really an anime fan but I loved this movie, which had a sort of psychotropic fairy-tale aspect to it.
There's more neighbors on the dc metro blog map every day, including the recent addition of the cultural elite, which I guess just makes the rest of us nearby that much tonier.
Monday, April 07, 2003 ::: I did a lot this weekend - Saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last night and the show was amazing, well, except for some drunken bantering with the audience. Catherine liked them when they played in NYC. But I loved loved loved the music, especially the drums. The Ex-Models, the first opening act, were horrid, and I have to say it's so disappointing when a band with a good name makes bad music. The Kilts were good and catchy and it seems indie-rocker singers these days are all going for the Chrissie Hynde look. At the T-shirt and CD booth they were selling pins for a dollar, and I just realized now that I forgot to buy one.
I also went on a long long hike in the Shenandoah yesterday. 9 miles, and up 2500 feet to Skyline Drive and back. Right now I am very very sore.
Lastly, I just ordered and received the limited edition DVD of the Lord of the Rings and it's worth every penny. Running commentary from Peter Jackson for the whole length of the director's cut, as well as more from the cast and still more from the production and sound crew. And I haven't even looked at the third and fourth DVDs yet.
And I went to the Opera also - Don Giovanni. Despite some sound and lighting problems, the production was a good one if a bit overlong. It was also free, which is wonderful since it seems like decent opera tickets are so expensive these days.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003 ::: I now have some space to put up some of my pictures that I've taken with my digital camera - and here's the very first one, some buildings on my block.
