Happy Valentine’s Day to you all. In lieu of a love letter, I have put together a round-up for you š.
- A compilation of Richard working his eyebrows… He does it so well. Posted by captain-flint
- An excerpt from a review of the Doctor Who Gallifrey franchise, focussing on Richard as Rassilon. Sounds as if I have to listen to that, next… Posted by astrovian
- Must-see this week and on this day: Riepu10’s Valentine cards. She makes these *every year*, and they are always fun. Have a look and leave her some love in returnĀ
- SPOILER alert: Richard being the baddie inĀ Spacesweepers,Ā giffed by astrovian
- And for those who think that Sullivan is Valentine-worthy, here’s riepu10’s take on him
- An oldie from years ago, but this Valentine’s edit by applefia2036 still looks great
– as does the chap in it - Hm, discuss this opinion by gwen-ever…
- Lovely Valentine’s edit by angelpretend
- I had to giggle a bit about this Valentine post by throntoncrusadepost
- Loved the superblue Lucas eyes in this manip by scmethinginlatin
- In truth, I might even flash more than an ankle, let-djaqsayfuck
I’ve stopped here because I was more interested in making this gif for you:
Honi soit qui mal y pense… (Sullivan gif “stolen” from Riepu10)
But in general news – I still have not watchedĀ Spacesweepers although I broached the subject with Mr Guylty. He wasn’t outright hostile – probably thanks to me emphasising that RA not only plays a baddie but also has a really ugly beard. *muhahaha* In response, Mr Guylty yesterday decorated a German cake speciality called “Amerikaner” (literally: Americans; it’s a small, round mini cake, covered in lemon icing, which is available in any bakery in Germany; quite popular with children). He iced RA’s face onto the cake, including weird beard, and wrote “I ā¤ļø Sonja” on it…
With the weather cold and windy, we have stayed in for most of last week. I did some crafty stuff, which means I got stuck into the latest David Hewson audio book, performed by RA. I am equally repelled as I am fascinated by the story. (The older I get, the harder I find the whole Nazi stuff to stomach. Admittedly, the Nazis do not deserve anything other than the same nastyĀ schnell, schnell, Schweinehund pastiche they receive. Giving them any kind of depth, would possibly mean we’d develop empathy or even sympathy. But yeah, suffice to say that I find it difficult to reconcile my identity as a German with that image.) It also doesn’t help that I generally am developing a true hatred of how Hewson writes women in his stories. While men are the protagonists in this particular story, there are a number of female secondary characters, the main of which certainly does not come across as a loveable character. Well, maybe that is the ambiguous depth I was missing in the Nazis? It feels like a bit of a theme in Hewson’s work, and it puts me off. Just *my* personal opinion, so don’t let that taint *your* enjoyment of Hewson. I have another 4 hours to go on the book, which means that at least I have the soft tones of RA to enjoy.
So there, have a nice Valentine Sunday, all!
Sonja ā¤ļø
Guylty Pleasure 
Thanks for the roundup. I love the eyebrow gif gallery so much that I immediately shared it in twitter. Truly doing the lordās work. š
Re flashing Guy… š¤ (absolutely that and the some).
Iām likewise unbothered by VD, but I wouldnāt say no to an Amerikaner and now I really want a pastry and itās Sunday during a pandemic in Germany, so Iām SOL. #sigh
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That eyebrow action gallery was totally for you!
Since the Amerikaner were made by Little Miss Guylty yesterday, it is today my turn to make QuarkbƤllchen. Itās Fasching, after all… I have never attempted deep-frying before… Mr Guylty has already (helpfully) suggested that I keep a wet towel nearby in case the oil goes up in flame š„š¬
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Thank you. You have my deep and abiding appreciation. The š¤Ø are proper sexy.
My mom makes the QuarkbƤllchen regularly and never had any issues. However, putting a metal lid on it is the recommended way to kill a grease fire. That or baking soda (not flour or baking powderāsomething to do with the chemical composition iirc). Just watch it closely. Good luck!
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Great pointer with the metal lid. Will definitely keep one handy.
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that’s an important tip. If you pour water on a oil fire you’ll just spread it.
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Honestly, I didnāt like the book. For many reasons, including those you have mentioned š¤ I understand your feelings re Nazis, feel the same re Stalin and all who served him. Anyway itās not the day to take about it.
I wish we could see that Amerikaner cake of yours. š
ā¤ļøš¤
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Glad I am not the only one who is not a fan of Hewson. As for Nazis and Stalinists – itās a tricky subject indeed. For another day.
Unfotunately no photos were taken of the Amerikaner – or the delicious mini donuts I made today…
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I have had so many positive encounters with Hewson on a personal level, and I enjoy his photography, but after one attempt at a Nic Costa (got 30 pp in) I gave up (and I’m not that into middle-brow Shakespeare adaptations, which is no doubt also Geschmackssache). I admire his productivity, even if I haven’t been able to actually read his stuff.
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Have finally finished the book and have to admit it wasn’t exactly boring (although I saw the twist from miles away). But it’s not good enough to make me forgive Hewson his treatment of women. (Have never had any encounters with him at all, except for two occasions when I communicated with him online and he snapped at me in a manner that I found rather surprising for a seasoned writer. I’ve learned my lesson and am staying away from that old and nasty man.)
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Wow, that’s disturbing. I had several exchanges with him during the kerfuffle over a fan insisting he tell them the sales numbers for Hamlet and found him very professional. I’ve also had a few other positive exchanges with him. It’s also true that that is now seven years ago. Maybe he’s changed.
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Oh, I remember that, and I can imagine that he reacted very positively to encouragement and confirmation from you. My confrontation with him was when I dared to voice mild criticism, so a happy, friendly reply was not to be expected. However, I would’ve expected him to either just ignore me or to at least be respectful. Instead he snapped – which has unfortunately changed my opinion of him forever.
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Ungh. Even if you were critical of his workāas long as you werenāt rude, he should do better. Heās an author. Once he puts his words out there, they will be critiqued. And even if a fan was rude, it doesnāt reflect well on a grown ass man to get snappy. Rise above it, man, rise above it. Just MHO.
I listened to Hamlet ages ago, but it was my first audiobook and I donāt remember much. Took me forever to get through. It was before I had learned how to make them work for me (no idle hands), so I cannot fairly judge it. I would never touch any fictional Holocaust anything. Way too uncomfortable.
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Yeah, I was surprised he felt the need to defend his position so strongly. I mean – I am just an anonymous voice, so why should he give a f*ck? Anyway, the whole thing was quite insignificant. So much so that I can’t even remember what it was about š. But it just goes to show that it isn’t necessarily the facts that prevail in our memory, but the feeling that is connected to them. And in my memory I was being scolded and patronised like a little school girl – which I don’t accept from anyone.
Ugh, Hamlet. I never even finished that audio book, even with RA narrating it. It was just so dull… And I *love* Hamlet on stage. But after that retelling had been hyped so much, I just didn’t feel it lived up to my expectations. No loss.
Oh, and I am totally the same re. no idle hands…
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Thatās absolutely true. The emotional impact stays long after the facts become irrelevant.
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Reminds me of that old adage “You don’t get a second chance at making a first impression”… Or good old Mr Darcy’s “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.” – eek, I guess that could be labelled pride or conceit, then…
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oh, and: in general this new book is the kind of historical novel I avoid like the plague. I know way too much about the Holocaust and literary representations of same and it’s inevitable that the author kills the verisimilitude potential of the book for me sometime in the first 30 pp.
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I know what you mean, and I generally am not particularly keen on books about the Holocaust, especially when fictionalised. Partly that is also due to my own emotional problems with the topic. Speaking very generally here, I find that most fictionalised Holocaust literature is way too simplistic. I enjoy the age-old “good vs evil” trope as much as everyone, and I don’t mind corny over-simplification a la Robin Hood/Guy of Gisborne. But when it is meant in earnest, it needs solid, historically accurate, credible support – AND spotless, sophisticated prose on top. To me, Garden of Angels felt more like a geography lesson than an examination of the Nazi occupation of Venice… So yeah, you probably took the right decision in staying away from it…
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I think he’s personally really in love with Venice (or at least his photographs suggest that). It’s just that that’s not a reason to write a novel, esp if you don’t have a compelling story.
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Oh yes, he is. That comes across in his book. Expressed disrespectfully, one might say that it is one big w*nk.
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LMAO
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š¤ š
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Thank you for the early Monday morning giggle at those gifs – meerkats are funny little things and you’ve matched that one perfectly with the Sullivan one š
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When I saw that gif I immediately thought of meerkets…
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Well that Doctor Who from Big Finish does sound intriguing, based on the reviews! I’ll pass on the Hewson, though.
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Finished the Hewson and found it entertaining (even though not particularly original – saw the twist coming from early on), but the way he writes women does not change through the book…
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Glad you enjoyed it well enough. I bought the Doctor Who, but havenāt started listening yet. Have to at least read the synopsis from the earlier parts of this series.
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Good point. I probably will ask my resident Doctor Who expert (Little Miss Guylty) to give me a short summary of what I need to know…
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I listened to the first few lines and realized I had no idea who the characters were! (My son and I watched some of the David Tennant Doctor Who episodes so I understand the basic world, but specifics of this? No.)
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Oh-oh – that sounds like me… I better get a whole crash course before I listen…
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What a loving gesture from the family Guylty. The cake sounds so sweet. I hope you had a lovely VD.
Thanks for a great lovey-dovey round-up,
1) Solid Gold Eyebrow Action!
3) Riepu10’s valentines are fab.
4) Armitage’s nerdy stance for Sullivan in the first gif – he is such an amazing actor.
9) OMG! I’ve pictured RA in many roles but never, ever, like this Cupid or Harpo Marx!
I don’t enjoy Hewson’s work, it seems lifeless to me, particularly the Shakespeare adaptions. Taking out the poetry instead of the plot is like removing a Vermeer and keeping the frame. The Garden of Angels is now on the back burner in favour of C.J. Tudor’s Burning Girls.
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4. You mean it’s an intentional pose, based on the plot and character? (I haven’t seen the movie yet.) Not thinking of that possibility, I took one glance and thought, “Costume designer, how did you manage to make that body look bad???”
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Yes, he carried himself in that controlled way and his walk was distinctive too, slow and deliberate – very sexy (one of the few attractive things about Sullivan).
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I found those Shakespeare adaptations boring as hell. I don’t really get why he needs to fiddle with something that is good the way it is. But well, I just don’t like the man – mostly because it really pissed me off the way he assumed the authority to write about and from a woman’s point of view. Personally, I do not think that an old, white, privileged man should claim to know what is going on in a young woman’s mind…
I switched back to The Burning Girls, too, despite earlier worries about supernatural horror. It’s been fine so far, but I suspect I already know what the big twist is going to be. Nevertheless, it’s certainly entertaining. Not enough RA, though…
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Just the synopsis of that (without the supposed historical connection to martyrdom or whatever) made me run in the other direction. Blerg. I did buy the Doctor Who piece, although the discs are not here yet, and I think I will try the 2000 AD one as well. I know I come across as a snob but in general I just think these middle-brow things that sort of masquerade as having some kind of quality usually don’t. Give me scifi / fantasy over that any day; at least I won’t have to listen to a running dialogue with myself about everything the authors got wrong.
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For me it is the supernatural that puts me off. I just don’t like being spooked. But I still haven’t learnt to resist the temptation of hearing RA read… And since I actually quite liked CJ Tudor’s previous offering (The Other People), I was happy to try. It’s alright, as I said, but simply not 100% my genre.
Haven’t bought Gallifrey yet… Probably my next listen.
Snob or not – the question is simply, can these authors not come up with their own original stories or why do they have to rewrite the classics? I mean, it’s all fine and good to write a AU Pride&Prejudice. I’m all for it. But label it as that and not as a high-brow retelling that nobody needs.
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I like some retellings of classic stories — but generally they have to have a perspective that throws different light on the story, or some other facet that makes them not just a retread. E.g., I really liked Kamila Shamsie’s retelling of Antigone — but I only realized that was what it was about half-way through. It’s compelling as a story on its own. (I feel the same way about fanfic, incidentally — there are a jazillion Bagginshield fics that revisit the same territory as the movie, and unless they change something really significant, I usually click away from them.)
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I am a sucker for any gender-swapped classic story because I always enjoy the insights that a different perspective brings. And if it takes you half the book to realise it is a retelling, then that means the story is significantly original and the author has definitely added something of their own to it.
I don’t mind with fan fic so much because I generally read that as pure distraction. And sometimes it literally is just a lazy way of getting the Kopfkino rolling, so fair enough. But I take your point – why read a retelling, when there is nothing new in it? Might as well read the original *shrugs*
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I saw the movie, it’s nice but I’m really into sci-fi, and find lovely almost everything with starships and robots. The movie is proudly basic and Sullivan is very mean: a paranoic billionair, a liar and a reptile-like fascist-ecologist who hates people. Adorable
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š¤£
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LOL – I love how you have put that…
(I still haven’t watched it…)
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