Speedy's Cafe - General Chat about anything you like!

[Slithytove]

To be honest, my husband likes Downton Abbey. It bores me to tears, mainly because it signals everything that is going to happen ages before it does. Also, the characters are hideous stereotypes - the arrogant but noble aristocratic beauty, her oldfashioned but decent father, the loyal butler, the scheming (gay) footman, the bustling good hearted cook and the plain little maid.... God, I detest them all. The only one who is bearable is Maggie Smith as the sarcastic dowager grandmother.

[aely]

I adored Parade's End, but have never been able to sit through an entire episode of Downton (and gave up trying years ago)...

[Slithytove]

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Oh! I want to talk about it - I loved it so much - but I don't know how to use spoiler boxes....

 

I personally hated the people who reviewed it nastily on Amazon, particularly those who compared it unfavourably to stupid Downton Abbey, which is basically a posh soap opera. (And Benedict presumably felt the same, as he said Downton was rubbish - for which he was criticised in the UK press.). I particularly loathed the person who said Christopher Tietjens was "very weak.". How dumb can you be? He isn't weak, he is an honourable man who lives by a moral code that other people have abandoned. He sticks to it even at great cost to himself, when other people blame him for things of which he is wholly innocent. My heart bled for him, both in the book and the tv series.

 

I thought Benedict's performance was masterly - subtle, intelligent and sad. The actress who played his wife - I am afraid I forgot her name - was exceptionally good too.

Spoiler boxes... okay. This one is actually easy. Write whatever you want. Then highlight it. Then click on the symbol with the "!" inside a red triangle. A box will pop up. Click "ok" on that one. That's all.

 

The actress who plays Sylvia Tietjens is Rebecca Hall. I adored her in that role. One of the many things I love about Parades End is that it has these really strong women without seeming to want to drive home a point.

 

 

 

Christopher Tietjens weak? Huh? That is a strange interpretation. Sure, he's vulnerable. He cries occasionally. He's visibly shattered by the war and he suffers from the confinements of his own ideals and he can't entirely cope with his marriage. He is accused of being "soft" by his own staff. But weak? Weak is different. His friend, McMaster, could be called weak, I think. But not Christopher Tietjens.

 

 

 

I can understand though why fans of Downtown Abbey didn't like Parades End. I think it is unfortunate that they were compared by the media. They really don't have much in common except the era they are set in.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use things like emoticons, spoiler boxes, etc. I asked my daughter and she says it is probably becauseI am using the iPad. Does anyone here using an iPad know if you can do these things?

 

Anyway, I will have to confine myself to general remarks. I think Christopher Tietjens is one of the most interesting fictional characters because everything is simmering below the surface. He has strong opinions and powerful emotions, and yet so little is actually expressed. In the book, of course, you can follow his thoughts but on screen so much has to be conveyed non-verbally. It must have been an enormous challenge for an actor. No wonder the role meant a lot to Benedict.

 

What did you think of Valentine?

[T.o.b.y]

 

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use things like emoticons, spoiler boxes, etc. I asked my daughter and she says it is probably becauseI am using the iPad. Does anyone here using an iPad know if you can do these things?

 

Can't help you there, I am afraid, but I have opened up a discussion thread just for Parades End where we can chatter away without having to bother about spoiler boxes at all. See you there...

 

http://www.sherlockforum.com/forum/topic/1985-parades-end-spoilers-included/

 

[Let's_have_dinner]

Excited to have the Sherlock series three DVD in my hand but disappointed there aren't any audio commentaries. Love those :-(

[Caya]

 

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use things like emoticons, spoiler boxes, etc. I asked my daughter and she says it is probably becauseI am using the iPad. Does anyone here using an iPad know if you can do these things?

 

I'm not an iPerson but you should be able to use them if you simply spell things out - if you can type, you can do spoiler boxes. Simply write it like this (click on the thingie below to enlarge):

 

and voila, spoilers. Same with emoticons - a basic smiling one, for instance, is : and ) only written directly after each other, like .

[Carol the Dabbler]

Excited to have the Sherlock series three DVD in my hand but disappointed there aren't any audio commentaries. Love those :-(

Really?!      I'm disappointed as well -- was hoping they'd comment on some of the things that we're still puzzling over. (Maybe they don't actually understand them either?     )

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Maybe we should have recorded the commentary after last night's episode of "TEH".

[Carol the Dabbler]

I believe that Let's_have_dinner meant that there are no "audio commentaries" that can be played as alternative soundtracks to the episodes themselves.  The piece that PBS played last night was what I'd call a mini-documentary or a behind-the-scenes video -- and I suspect that it's from the DVD.

 

[Slithytove]

/>

 

 

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use things like emoticons, spoiler boxes, etc. I asked my daughter and she says it is probably becauseI am using the iPad. Does anyone here using an iPad know if you can do these things?

I'm not an iPerson but you should be able to use them if you simply spell things out - if you can type, you can do spoiler boxes. Simply write it like this (click on the thingie below to enlarge):

 

 

and voila, spoilers. Same with emoticons - a basic smiling one, for instance, is : and ) only written directly after each other, like .

Thank you. I will try. I am afraid I rather struggle with these things.

[Caya]

No worries, we were all bbcode newbies once . You'll get the hang of it in no time, I bet.

[Carol the Dabbler]

A lot of times, I think it's easier to just type the BBCode than try to find the equivalent button on the editor toolbar.

 

Here are a few more smileys you might want to practice.  I'm going to type them with spaces within the codes (so they won't turn into smileys) -- just remember when you use them, leave out all the internal spaces (though you do need spaces before and after them):

 

   : )   (as Martina already said)

 

  ; )

 

   : P

 

   : D

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

 

I believe that Let's_have_dinner meant that there are no "audio commentaries" that can be played as alternative soundtracks to the episodes themselves.  The piece that PBS played last night was what I'd call a mini-documentary or a behind-the-scenes video -- and I suspect that it's from the DVD.

 

 

   OOohhhh, okay. Like the commentary on the Second Season dvd, gotcha. Yup, I hope there is at least something like that behind-the-scenes vid on them.

[Let's_have_dinner]

For those who are wondering, there are 3 extra features on the DVD - 'Fans, Villains and Speculation', 'Shooting Sherlock' and 'The Fall.'

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Thanks Let's_have_dinner. That is helpful.

 

[Let's_have_dinner]

Hurrah, well done Benedict! Knew he'd get that National Television Award

[CSIBakerStreet]

Ugh. So broody. Broody. Morose. Deeply sunk. And my brain will not give me a moment's peace. How in the world do people deal with this sort of thing? How do they turn off their brains? Forget 'mind palace', now it seems more like 'mind palace ripping itself apart'. It's not boredom, that's just not it. And I don't know how to get rid of it.

 

Closed. Quiet. How could I talk to anyone about it, they wouldn't understand anyway. Not really. Not to be insulting. But... this is what one defines as life, I suppose. There are the ups. And then the downs. In this case, mine seeming to be an extreme down.

 

On the up side, there seems to be quite a lot of hype on John's blog and this... television series. More so than before. But who on Earth is Benedict Cumberbatch? No no no no, John. Stop trying to explain it to me.

 

I'm forgetting. Trivial. Oh well.

[Slithytove]

/>

A lot of times, I think it's easier to just type the BBCode than try to find the equivalent button on the editor toolbar.

 

Here are a few more smileys you might want to practice. I'm going to type them with spaces within the codes (so they won't turn into smileys) -- just remember when you use them, leave out all the internal spaces (though you do need spaces before and after them):

 

: ) (as Martina already said)

 

; )

 

: P

 

: D

Thanks!

[Slithytove]

Last night, I had a strange dream in which I was talking to Benedict on the phone and giving him all sorts of wise advice. Can't remember any of it now, but he found it very helpful.

 

Evidently my subconscious mind decided - instead of making me 30 years younger, as I might have hoped - that I am his mother. Oh well. More realistic, I suppose.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Actually, if he found your advice helpful, you can't have been his mother! 

[Slithytove]

Very true.....

 

I don't know why I can't be a youthful supermodel, with whom Benedict is besotted, in my dreams. Seems I am stuck in Mummy mode even when I'm asleep.

[Ruthyone]

Unfortunately, I'm old enough to be Benedict's mum but I'm allowed to admire his prowess as an actor ................ if I were 30 years younger!!!  ;)

[Let's_have_dinner]

I have so much work to still do before tomorrow, but I was just channel hopping and Sherlock is on. Which is distracting. And it's against my nature to switch it off! 

[Ruthyone]

How can you possibly turn Sherlock off!!!

[Mr. Holmes]

Dunno if there's a thread for this, but I'm really enjoying the Sherlock app game.