Felt so bad that I ended up watching the PBS “America at a Crossroads” specials that I hadn’t gotten around to from the week(s) before.
An excellent, if very depressing look at terrorism and the rise of fundamentalist Islam in the world. Sometimes it was extremely interesting (the history of the rise of Bin Laden, etc.), sometimes very depressing (the soldiers in Iraq), sometimes a little dull or on the fringe (the transvestite competition in Indonesia???) Mostly it is kind of scary that the world is so on the edge right now and sad because Islam, at one time, was the most advanced religion on the planet, saving works from the pre-Christian period like the Greek philosophers from the burnings.
I also finally got to see “Gunpowder, Treason and Plot,” a two-part BBC production from a couple of years ago. Not the greatest thing in the world. The first part is a fairly straight attempt to dramatize the events of Mary Queen of Scotts, although it lacks any real interest in the choice of actors (particularly Clemence Poesy as Mary Queen of Scots). The second part is about James I and the actual “Gunpowder Plot” mentioned in the title. In a strange decision the cast begin talking to camera and Robert Carlyle clearly thinks he’s playing Richard III. Add in Tim McInnerny (“Blackadder”) and Richard Coyle (Jeff from “Coupling”) and things seem a little more off-kilter. However, overall it was still a good performance.
I caught up with “Lost” – A mostly flashback episode that usually makes me hate the fact that I like the show. It’s so stuffed with padding that sometimes it’s not a show at all. This was a Jin and Sun centric episode and we find out, hey, Jin is the father of the child, but the child and Sun will die. So, it’s a sort of bad news or bad news type thing. Also, she’s the reason Jin went to work for her father as a thug in the first place. Not terribly interesting.
And, a woman fell out of the sky with a picture of Desmond and his girlfriend. But, having fallen out of a helicopter, we didn’t get much chance to chat. She speaks Spanish and Italian, except when she said “Desmond.” Then, the eye-patch guy comes out of the forest and, after Jin kicks his ass, he helps out. We did find out that they found the plane and no one is looking for them … whatever that means.
Mostly the weekend was just resting. I’m still a little sick from last week, though now it has gone to my stomach. Wonderful.
2 comments:
This post has inadvertently annoyed me.I taped part one of that gunpowder thingo when it was on telly,forgot to watch it,forgot to tape the next bit.Robert Carlyle -he's a clever clogs that man.The first thing I can remember seeing him play was a killer in an episode of Cracker -fantastic. that is really worth watching if you've not seen it.Just recently I bought an ex-rental copy of..what was it called....go off and find DVD...where is it...Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom and Dancing and Charm School because he is in it. Nothing startling, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as it was just so easy to watch.
I bought Gunpowder, Treason and Plot after I missed it on the BBC and it was on eBay for £4 including delivery. I really enjoyed the first part of it although it isn't historically accurate but was rather disapointed by part 2. Clémence Poésy did a marvelous job portraying Mary in part 1 and I hope she gets more English roles in future.
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