Seize the Stars

In the midst of the usual heinous cold weather, it's been nice to stay in the house more and watch some period dramas again. The Downton Abbey premier was good fun entertainment, and hopefully this season will continue to be just that. I haven't cared about it as passionately since they killed off Sybil, as she was my fave, but I still don't care for characters getting killed off left and right, or too serious of things happening, since it is escapist soap-opera, after all. Everyone else seems to have seen it already, even other American friends, so I do know several spoilers for this season, but it's not really ruining the fun. I've been trying to avoid spoilers for Mr. Selfridge like the plague, however, since it's currently my fave new show. I have actually heard a few that don't bode well, but knowing a little bit of the real history behind the show makes it unavoidable that there will be sad things in it this season and next. I just don't think I can stand seeing my favorite characters killed off or my ship sunk again so soon after Sybil on Downton!

Have been slacking off on my Classic Who watch lately. Must get back into the habit! I've got another Pertwee story on hold at the library, and I've been thinking I ought to go back and listen to the audio of the missing Hartnell and Troughton serials too. Maybe it'll inspire me to write some fic again, I hope!

Also been watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries which if course continue to be fabulous. Even though the historian in me wants to scream every time Phryne goes out of the house wearing pants, the Jazz Age glamor and Phryne's badassery are enough to make up for it. Also Phryne and Jack. I just watched the episode where he thought she was dead, and if there's one trope I can never hold out against, it's the 'they told me you were dead and I realized how much I loved you when I thought you were gone forever' trope. It's not as if everyone didn't ship them already, but lordy lord! The drinks and the looks and just gah! And I know they don't get together this season, but they're apparently filming a third season in Australia already, so at least we know there's more!

I was hoping to re-watch ReBoot soon, since I finally did get the DVD box set, but I think that'll have to wait a while until all my costume dramas go on hiatus again!

OMG I forgot there was a new Poirot episode tonight, and so I turn on the TV a few minutes into it AND THERE'S HASTINGS AND MISS LEMON AND INSPECTOR JAPP. WHY YOU NO TELL ME THIS, PBS?! NOT NICE TO SPRING ON POOR UNSUSPECTING FANGIRL OUT OF THE BLUE! And they were at Poirot's funeral, no less, and even though we know this isn't an adaptation of Curtain, so he can't really be dead, still. Make me feel all the feels, why don't you?! I am never wanting to see besties thinking Poirot is dead again! MY BABIES! THE GANG REUNITED. THE GANG. Hastings and Miss Lemon only had a few minutes at the beginning and end, BUT STILL. MY BABIES. THE GANG. THEY STILL LOVE EACHOTHER. Hastings, you adorable, lovable, stupid idiot, never, EVER change. Omigod, a few minutes and I can't even deal with it. I've always wished we could have more new eps with the gang, but it might actually cause my heart to explode. They are the BEST. I've watched Poirot my whole life, and I love all of it, but the early eps with the gang will always be the Golden Age to me. Oh yeah, and there was a mystery somewhere in there too, but whatever. I got to see my babies today!!!! ♥

And Ariadne Oliver is in next week's episode! Yay, I love her too! I always like it best when Poirot has some friends along on a case. He's one of the few detectives who really can carry a story on his own, but it's just more fun with friends. (And now I will try to recover and speak in proper language again, instead of randomly breaking into lolcat speak like I've apparently been doing in this post... my love is so great that proper grammar can't even contain it.)

Edit: After some poking around online, I've just discovered that they ARE doing Curtain this year! It's already aired in the UK! It's over! This is the end! THE END OF POIROT FOREVER! OMG NOOOOOOO!!!! It's been there my whole life! How can the world just go on without it? I think we should have gotten a proper adventure with Hastings and Miss Lemon in the whole episode if it's really the end... how can this be happening? I should have figured it would have to end sometime, but- just- OH GOD WHY???? *curls up in a ball and cries*

Now that the Olympics are over, this journal is returning to it's usual fare: British TV fangirling.

I was too distracted by figure skating to do proper reviews of Downton Abbey, but I think the fourth season can be summed up by saying that I'm now convinced that everyone at Downton is a complete moron except for Mrs. Hughes, and if it weren't for her the whole place would fall apart. But I still love them all! Except Bates. ( Downton Abbey season 4 in review. )

Already counting down to Season 5! And looking forward to Mr. Selfridge season 2! I hope it avoids the really soapy storylines it developed toward the end of last season and goes back to being at least slightly more intelligent, but I'm none too hopeful on that score. Still, we'll find out soon enough!

Gah, haven't had time to update LJ in FOREVER. I've been writing a play, and am still writing it, and should be writing it now instead of doing this, but sometimes you gotta take a break! I've also been working on several dresses for a convention this August, which has sorta become my epic cosplay fantasy weekend: I'm making Jane's yellow bustle dress from Disney's Tarzan, Christine's Hannibal costume & dressing gown from The Phantom of the Opera, AND Christine's wedding dress from The Phantom of the Opera! The other two I've had planned for a while, but the wedding dress got added at the last minute because everything kinda came together: I acquired a roll of white silk taffeta, I'm going to be making an 1880's bustle for the Jane dress anyway, & it's an indoor venue, so I can wear a silk dress with a train and not worry too much about it getting destroyed. Add to that the fact that the wedding dress in the Broadway production of Phantom is possibly the most beautiful, perfect Victorian bustle dress this girl has ever seen, and I want one so much I could die, and there was simply no way I couldn't do it. So I've got four months, approximately, to make it all happen. While also writing a play. Heck yeah! Let's do this!!!

All this work to do, and still, I find time to watch TV. (Probably why I haven't gotten much done yet!)

Downton Abbey is getting nuts, they'll have to stop randomly killing off everyone's favortie characters if they expect us to keep caring about the show, but hey, as long as there's pretty clothes, I'll probably still watch.

Mr. Selfridge has proven to be surprisingly good thus far. We're only one episode in, but I actually CAN accept Jeremy Piven in a period piece. Wonder of wonders. I'm pretty interested to see where it all goes, even if we already know the store will be a success!

The Borgias was actually, dare I say it, not awful in season 2! (I only just got cable again, so I just got caught up.) There was actual like, PLOT and DIALOGUE, man! WOW! I actually watched most of it, rather than just pushing the fast-forward button on the OnDemand until there was a scene with pretty clothes, which is how I got thru season 1. Though I fear the show is making me a worse person, because seriously, I'm rooting FOR the Borgias! I mean, I actually care about them! Granted, there was a helluva lot fewer murders, rapes, tortures & whatnot this year than last, but still, the very first show began with the drowning of an altar boy! Not good! Of course, that's pretty tame compared to most network shows these days, and this IS a totally first-rate piece as far as production values are concerned. Unbelieveable quality in costuming and sets. I'm definitely excited for season 3 starting next week, but have a feeling it'll probably be a return to more gross stuff again. Thank goodness for OnDemand viewing and that lovely fast forward button!

Doctor Who continues to be adorable and fun, and I hope it stays that way for at least this season. TV needs more nerdy heroes and zany adventure, if you ask me.

Miss Fisher Mysteries was a total chance discovery on the PBS cable station late last night, and I'm happy to have found it. Sophistocated heiress becomes private investigator in 1920's Australia sounds as good a premise as I can think of, and Phryne Fisher is a wild, independant, badass sort of character, which makes it even more fun! I'm totally excited to see where her next case will take her.

So that's my bit of chatter for today; now I shall go forth and sew! And write! And listen to cast albums! You can listen to A LOT of cast albums while you're cutting out fabric... that'll have to be a whole other post some other day...;D

So last night I watched the season finale of two of my favorite TV shows (I think the ONLY current TV shows I watch, come to that!) and I have a few thoughts.

Firstly: Garrow's Law! Sadly, it's no longer current, since the third season finale was also the series finale, it having been unaccountably and prematurely axed by the BBC earlier this year. I, for one, miss it already. I just can't say enough good things about how well done this show is.( But here I'll certainly try to! How do I love Garrow's Law? Let me count the ways! )

Secondly: Upstairs, Downstairs. This, as far as I know, has not been cancelled, even though it's nowhere near as original or clever as Garrow's Law. Go figure. I definitely don't love this show even half as much as I love Garrow, but it is fun, even if I don't really care about the characters in any personal way.( Fluffy soap-opera viewing at it's most stylish. )

So, all told, a satisfying evening of television viewing. And now, the long wait until Downton Abbey season 3 commences! Gah! So excited! And so jealous that it's aired in the UK already, but I'm trying to avoid picking up spoilers anywhere. Maybe I'll just rewatch S2 till it gets here, I think they're re-airing it on Thanksgiving... (heehee. The madness begins again!)

Saturday evening television is SO boring without Lark Rise to Candleford!! Or Garrow's Law. Or Murdoch Mysteries. I've been trying to watch Land Girls but it's so stupid, and I really can't get into it. It just feels full of cliches and none of the characters are particularly likeable. At least on Lark Rise even the characters you didn't like you still, well, liked. Pearl Pratt, for instance, was just obnoxious and horrrible but you couldn't hate her completely because she was a fully realized person with different layers to her personality; all the characters felt like real people and not just characters, you know? That's called quality writing, and whoever at the BBC decided to pull the plug on it is an idiot beyond measure.

I've been having a look at imdb.com to see if there's more of Murdoch and Garrow, in the hopes they might return to PBS soon, or at least to hunt down on DVD, and it appears there's three more seasons of Murdoch, but only one more of Garrow's Law. I'm happy that there's something, but it appears the third series is going to be the last, which makes me so sad! Especially since it's only got four episodes each series, and that's not a lot considering that I'd adopted it as my replacement for Lark Rise. Why on earth would they not continue on with something so good? There must be so much material still to draw on in the Old Bailey records, it could go on forever! I'll bet the same idiot who cancelled Lark Rise killed Garrow's Law too. Most likely the BBC has hired a monkey or a dog or something to randomly select which shows go and which stay, because I can't think how someone with an actual human brain would choose to cancel the two most intelligently written, superbly acted, and all around handsomely produced shows the BBC has done since, well, EVER!

I think I need some Lark Rise or Garrow's Law icons, in defiance of cruel fate. (Or just in defiance of evil TV executives. Grr.)

And I got one! The BFMC Nicolai doll was the only Silkstone I've coveted recently, and he was my x-mas present to myself after finding him on sale at a discount store. (Along with the Pillow Talk giftset also found on sale at the same store! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them on the shelf for $30 each, the very last ones, too! Christmas is indeed a season of miracles!)

In the long ages since my last update I've done little besides bake Christmas cookies (and eat them!) and clean out stuff to donate to a church mission going to Africa, which at least makes me feel as if I was doing something worthwhile despite not having finished that darn civil war ball dress (and thus having to miss the New Year's Ball too, drat!). But I went to see Beauty & the Beast when the touring company came thru town, and even though it was lackluster as a show, seeing the ball dress up close and in person made me seriously want to make a Belle-inspired dress for my ball dress. I've been wanting to since I was 5 years old anyway, so now I can actually sew, why the heck not? The other reenactors hopefully won't notice I'm wearing a dress from a Disney movie! ;D

I'm also terribly excited because I bought myself a bonnet from Timely Tresses, and as soon as I dig out the ribbons and flowers I've got hiding in my stash somewhere, I can start trimming it. However, I did plan to make myself a new summer dress for this year's reeenacting season, so I don't know if I should wait and trim it to match the new dress. (I'm kind of afraid I have too many projects on my plate and the bonnet might wait till next year to make it's debut!)

Meanwhile, I'm being led astray by all the great period dramas on TV. I wish they'd make a show set in the 1860's, because between Garrow's Law and Downton Abbey, 19th century clothing isn't on my mind! I marathoned Garrow's Law on DVD last weekend so I could finally see the episodes all the way thru, and I really truly am kind of in love with it now. I've always been a proponent of color in the design of any show or movie, but even though Lady Sarah's wardrobe is disappointingly colorless in keeping with the overall design of the show, I nonetheless have a thing for her grey striped anglaise dress. Thank heaven I don't have any fabric remotely appropriate for it, because I would probably be wasting time planning one just like it!

On New Years I marathoned Downton Abbey in preparation for the new season this weekend, and I'm properly excited about that too. Luckily for my new project roster though, 1910's evening gowns intimidate the heck out of me, sewing wise. They look so simple, but if things aren't cut and draped perfectly, it doesn't end up looking 1910s. Someday I might attempt one, but that's pretty far off.

And I'll try not to go on about how much I miss Lark Rise to Candleford already. (Best show on TV ever!!! *sniffle*)

The reenacting season is officially over - whew! I'm actually pretty relieved, it was mostly fun but really exhausting. And now I've only got the winter in which to make up all the clothing I've discovered is neccessary for next season - a sheer dress for when it's hot and a cloak or coat for when it's cold are a must. And I'd like a bonnet and a ballgown if possible, but first things first! And I've got my Jane dress too! Lots to do and little time to do it in!

Hopefully now I can catch up on all the TV I've missed too, specifically Doctor Who. I never missed an episode before I started reenacting, but now I'm usually out of town on Saturdays! I missed the season finale and I hope they re-run it soon! But I'm actually not too excited, since this season was oddly rather lackluster. (But I can't stand River Song, and she was in almost every episode.) I'm much more excited about Lark Rise to Candleford, but very sad to hear that it was apparently cancelled in the middle of the new season. I can't begin to fathom why, it's the best show on TV right now and one of the all time best there's been in years. I just hope PBS will be airing what little there is left soon! I suppose it figures that an intelligent, original, well made drama would get cancelled in this day and age of CSI and reality shows. If there's no dead hookers or people screaming obscenities at eachother, it doesn't seem to stand a chance, unfortunately. At least there's still the mildly trashy but well costumed charms of Downton Abbey to keep the intelligent viewer occupied. :)

Well, I'm amazed. I finally got to see a specialist who actually knows about blocked tear ducts and how to treat them. This is the first time I've come away from a doctor's office in months where I haven't been more confused and worried than before I came in! I can't believe I might actually be close to a resolution to all these months of nonsense! \o/

Just finished watching the last episode of The Irish R.M.. A very cute series, and genuinely funny; I laughed out loud several times at each episode. I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves British period TV. (The costumes were quite variable in quality, the first few episodes had beautiful clothes that actually looked like 1898, but I think they got a new costume designer for the later episodes, and then it was all over the map.) But great fun, a bit like an Edwardian-era Ballykissangel. I suppose a lot of the Irish characters were pretty stereotyped, but it was based on books from the 19th century, and they were all very likeable anyway. And Somerville and Ross, who wrote the books it was based on, were apparently some of the first successful Irish novelists, which is quite interesting, since I've been into 19th century women authors for a while and never heard of them. I'll have to hunt up the books now!

Lark Rise to Candleford is another period TV show I've been watching that I quite like; it's sort of like an English version of Road to Avonlea. (With some very fabby Victorian costumes!) I hope there's another season of it coming our way!

Off to watch The Duchess now, at long last. I would say I'll write a review, but I'll more likely just gush about the gorgeous clothes. *teehee*

I've actually started a new sewing project! But I'm mad at myself for it, because it's a doll dress, when I promised myself I'd start on my Costume Con wardrobe. Bad me! But you can't have too many pink doll dresses, right? And besides, I already had the sleeves cut out, because I'd intended to use them for the last pink doll dress, but since they didn't work out I've had them sitting there, and I hate to see perfectly good sleeves go to waste, so what was I to do but design a new dress around them? It's going to be an 1820's day dress, and I'm going to put pink ribbon trim on it and it'll be adorable. I'm halfway through applying the trim and feeling a little guilty because my stitching probably ought to be a lot tinier, but why strain my eyes for a cotton dress? I'll bust out the tiny stitching when I get to the silk dresses!

Just found a special edition DVD of the 2006 Jane Eyre at Barnes & Noble, and am now consumed with the need to possess it. It's ten dollars more than the regular one, but isn't that worth it for deleted scenes, interviews and commentary? Heck yes!!! And it comes with the 1998 Wuthering Heights, which I just saw the other day, and though it's not that great (it's sort of like a condensed, Cliff Notes version), and only has two or three nice dresses, it does feature the scrumptious Matthew McFadyen as Hareton, and I could always resell it or give it to someone. See, the reasons to buy this set are just piling up! I'm going to have to give in.