Movies & Books Into Movies

[ginny]

I'm a sucker for old British sitcoms and Amazon has a new one 2018-2019 - in a free trial of Britbox and it's got one I've really been enjoying called Hold the Sunset with John Cleese. It's cute and funny and harmless.  I thought the whole world hated it till I read IMDB and that's not the case, it grows on you. It's really gotten me some great laughs through the news lately, and I have to say it's a bright spot in my day, I'm only on episode 7.

 Also on Netflix is a great made up mystery (not a comedy)  about Agatha Christie and her disappearance, it starts with a murder on a train, (possibly nightmarish) but you can and I did,  fast forward that one, it's quite good.

I just paid 2.99 I think it was on Prime  to see the brand new  Knives Out which I absolutely loved, it's a total hoot, think Daniel Craig (OO7) with a thicker than KFC "Southern" accent solving  a mystery about the death of a wealthy author and his grasping kin, gigantic house,  it's an absolute  hoot. I like it so much I'm going to buy it. I hear they are going to make a series out of it.

Now that we see I have no taste at all, enjoy!

[ginny]

It's amazing what one finds comforting in such a time, with thousands or so it seems of movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime and Acorn and Britbox, etc., etc.

I am finding stuff which is light and fluffy and silly is just what I want. I'm reading serious stuff and escaping through film.

I finished 2  years of the silly Hold the Sunset which has an indefinable vibe, it's sort, once it gets going, of like a continual Christmas movie, that kind of works out in the end with nice people coping with silly situations.. it's hard to describe and definitely not for everybody's taste but I like it and am having withdrawal in not watching it, so I think I'll watch it again. The characters are aged, think of that, people in their 70's, still trying to get by in a good natured way in a crazy world.

 But in going into the free trial of Britbox movies,  lo and behold I see they are actually offering Mapp and Lucia again, for heaven's sake, and of course being a huge EF Benson fan, I'm watching it. Yes it's dated. Yes it's silly,  yes I  have all the CD's, and yes I've got it memorized anyway,  but it's fun.   

That's not all they've got, they've got the original Agatha Christie Miss Marple movies with Joan Hickson, love her in that part, she's marvelous, again an aged heroine,  Agatha Christie's choice for Miss Marple, so that's next.

I guess these are my "cowboy" movies, these  being  gentle  escapist fare where good prevails and people are gentle and kind and life has some very silly moments.

[rosemarykaye]

i know exactly what you mean Ginny. Is that the Mapp & Lucia with Miranda Richardson?  I do think she is such a good actress. Anna Chancellor is also very good in it.

Joan Hickson really was the best Marple, wasn't she?  Though I quite liked Geraldine McEwan when she took over.

My comfort viewing is much more tacky - things like Gilmore Girls and Desperate Housewives - but I am also watching Doc Martin and Monarch of the Glen from the beginning, and enjoying them both very much.

I think I might also rewatch Mad Men, which isn't exactly a comfort watch, but is just so, so good. I feel once wasn't enough to pick up on all the references and nuances.

Rosemary

[BarbStAubrey]

I loved Hold the Sunset - we only finished that series here on our PBS channel last month - I like the bits of fluff from France and watched one of my favorite actresses Catherine Frot in Odette Toulemonde and then found another of her movies that was really great - Haute Cuisine - she is a chef and chosen as the chef for the private dining room for the aged French President, a take off on a real story during Mitterrand's years at 55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré - Next I think I will watch one called Lulu - something about a young women who does not get a job after a bad interview and decided to sail around the world - all the people she meets and her own self-discovery - less fru fru but it sounds interesting.

[ginny]

Hey,, Rosemary, good to see you here!  No, it's the older 1985  Mapp and Lucia with Geraldine McEwan, and Nigel Hawthorne version that's on Britbox, I missed the newer one, I'll have to look for it, too.  I had seen this one first but then I read the books and had the most awful time reconciling the book Lucia with the McEwan one but she took it over in my mind and I could not see the book one after that.

I really  like Prunella Scales in it. I recall how disappointed I was when I went to "Mallards"  itself and there was no  "Garden Room" there, it had been bombed in the war? I think that's right. But the "Giardino Segreto"   was there and  you could tour the house,  I really enjoyed it and I loved Rye.

Have you seen the new Doc Martin? I think it's series 9? I think it's the best of all of them, I  have also enjoyed binge watching it as well. I think it's on Acorn here, and was also on PBS. I still like Father Brown, too, though they delayed his new one in the USA so long this year I thought it wold never come out. We need Sid back and it will be perfect  again.

Barbara, I had NO idea Hold the Sunset was on our PBS stations! Did it have both years?  I think the second one is better than the first.

Here's to Happy  Escapism! 

[rosemarykaye]

Hi Ginny

I've never been to Mallards - I'd love to. Rye is beautiful - a childhood friend of my mother's lived just outside, at a village called Peasmarsh - their house was huge and the garden was glorious, I remember the most wonderful tea they did once for a special wedding anniversary; the memory is so clear, all of us sitting in the blazing sun eating raspberries and cream. Sadly the friend died some years ago and i don't know what happened to the house - Paul McCartney had (maybe still has) a property that backed on to their woodland, but the plots were so enormous that they were hardly close neighbours.

I am recording the latest Doc Martin but was trying to catch up with the earlier series first. Unfortunately I think I have left those DVDs in Edinburgh - but there is no way my husband would want to watch it, so maybe I will just have to wait - or watch the new series then fill in the gaps afterwards!  I am also recording Father Brown (and definitely agree with you about Sid), but have the same issue with husband not liking it.  As I cannot stand to watch some things he likes - Top Gear being the chief offender - I think we both have to be accommodating at the moment!

Last night I found I had the DVD of the original BBC adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I remember watching this every week with my mother - turns out that must have been in 1979! Alec Guinness was such a brilliant actor, though I also thought the more recent film version was excellent, the one with Gary Oldman, Toby Jones and Colin Firth. In the 1979 version London now looks so incredibly shabby - and yet so familiar, I recognise so many of the streets. Even when Smiley goes into his very smart Pimlico house, the inside is tatty and what would now be called 'in need of upgrading', but I don't think that was intended to be the impression. I think we just had different standards then - now people expect everything to be so perfect and up to date. Anyway, I decided I would really concentrate and try to follow the plot for once (daughter and I had to watch the Gary Oldman version at least 3 times to work it out), and I am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to the appearance of Beryl Reid, who was so wonderful as Connie.  The DVD also has Smiley's People on it. I read both books as a teenager, I wonder if I understood them?   John Le Carre is such a good writer - more recent TV adaptations of The Night Manager and The Little Drummer Girl have also been outstanding.

We forgot to bring an important cable up from Edinburgh - it is needed to allow us to watch recorded TV - my daughter has posted it to me so I just hope it turns up today. Tonight there is a new series of Friday Night Dinner, and i also want to see the more recent episodes of The Windsors,; we find both series hilarious, though i am not sure how they would go down in the US.

Lunchtime beckons - as my other daughter said last night, her choice of which can of soup to open has become a pivotal moment in her day!

Best wishes, Rosemary

[ginny]

Oh I'd not heard of Peasmarsh, it sounds wonderful and I loved your description of the wedding anniversary, I would say you ought to write, but you do? Don't you still have your column?  Is there a book in the works?

I have such wonderful memories of Rye, I used to go quite a lot, the entire place to me is magic, like Port Isaac was before the Doc Martin series. (I haven't been back since the series).  I was so pleased for Port Isaac when that happened as, like Rye, I found the people there to be absolutely incredible and the best.  It seems you are wholeheartedly welcome.  I just loved it.

Your statement about I think we just had different standards then - now people expect everything to be so perfect and up to date  seems to be so true.  I remember after  WWII when the big thing was a chicken in every pot and a car in front of the house would signal prosperity. Where I grew up (admittedly the urban North) having a tree in your yard meant you had money (believe it or not). A development called Levittown   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown,_Pennsylvania   was put up but as I recall came with  no trees.  They put one up near where I lived, they were originally intended to be affordable housing for returning veterans, there were a couple of designs, I think,  3 or 4,  and they were relentlessly duplicated along the streets.  I used to talk to my children about Levittown years later, it was quite striking,  and one year I took them there, I would not have believed it if anybody told me, but the little community where people would often get confused coming home after a long night partying because the houses were so similar on some streets has been transformed by the owners into something quite amazing, a lovely neighborhood,   and my children kept saying where IS this Levittown you speak of? This is a nice  neighborhood!

So much for my credibility. Nowadays young couples seem to feel deprived if their first home is not a mini mansion the like of which we'd never have considered  back in the day, much less have gone into hock to buy.

 It's amazing what this isolation has wrought. I have become obsessed by, of all things, Solitaire, the various versions available in APP form on mobilityware I think it is.  I haven't played Solitaire in years, but there are two of the games which are fiendishly challenging, no purchases necessary, and replete with crisp
 sounding card placements. And in playing it last night I kept hearing in my ears the Mapp and Lucia crowd assembling for a card party, complimenting the arrangements and the crispness of the cards, and the hostess saying she had washed them because she knew it was a special occasion.

The things one finds comforting and appealing lately!

[BarbStAubrey]

talk about making the simple appealing - I wish I had the skill of many of my neighbors who not only see the humor in most everything but can write humor - one post after the other yesterday as neighbors wrote of their big social event of the week -taking out the trash to the curb for pickup - what should they wear and every weed and pebble on or next to the driveway was made into a red carpet event - it was hilarious

[PatH]

You don't want to know the sort of things I wear to take the trash out at 6 am.  But I have a raincoat covering all.

[BarbStAubrey]

fun Pat - these were mostly from folks who were in the habit of dressing for work everyday and since we are all staying home they had reverted to staying in their jammies everyday for over a week or as I like to call it their leisure wear that I too have been falling into the habit of wearing - at least I put on a clean Tshirt every morning and clean undies but many are staying in their jammies and so this dressing in jeans or scrubs or a clean pair of jammies and some their choice of makeup to takeout the trash was a riot as they described their possible choices and the condition of these choices often with holes in the knees as if they were attending a ball at Buckingham palace - just furthered the humor that folks are using to get through this isolation from the world we knew that was eruptly dismantled.

So you wheel your trash out in the morning - sounds like you prefer a coat rather than a robe - fun - I usually get mine out late at night just before going to bed - I'm usually barefoot but do still have on my clothes from the day - seems like most of us do get our trash out the night before - the guy next door leaves for work before 6: but he still puts his trash out the night before and they get to our area between 10: and 11:- interesting how areas develop common habits.

Looks like we are all going to get some stimulus money - nice - I know I have gone over budget in that with this rush for food the brands I usually choose are all gone and some foods have crept up in price - I'm fine this week after Paul's Fed Ex box and will probably be fine till at least the middle of next week - I'm wondering how the Farmer's Markets are going to work out distancing - not sure I want to risk it but they sure would be a way to restock fresh local veggies. I should get a pan of sprouts started - in a week I would have greens to use for a salad-

Been reading The Wish List - wow perfect explanation - a page turner that will break your heart - it goes on to say it will piece it back together but have not gotten there yet - folks that can write utter unexpected sadness with such truth are to me amazing. Nothing on TV tonight so back to my book.

[ginny]

They're still collecting trash then?  Our dumps (euphemistically called Recycle Centers) are also open here, not sure for how long.

Little Spot of Escapism yesterday: I spent the most glorious time yesterday afternoon with nothing to do, just indulging myself watching the 1985  Body in the Library with Joan Hickson's Miss Marple on Amazon/ BritBox,  and it was just a joy. The photography, the beautiful small English village scenes, the great manor house, the music, the stuffy Major, and the elegant grand hotel on the coast and Miss Marple at her best.

Such wonderful atmosphere. Age scorned but then  respected. I had not recalled the thing was an hour and a half, but it's presented in 3 half hour segments. The series has been "remastered" but still has that gauzy   look you see in  old films, it was a wonderful peaceful escape.

Here is how Joan Hickson became Miss Marple: https://www.visiontv.ca/2020/01/10/how-joan-hickson-became-agatha-christies-ultimate-miss-marple/

It was just what the doctor ordered.  Despite having read the book and having seen the movie before, I had no idea hu dun it. As always. hahaha I am not sure what to call these Small Bits of Escapism, but they sure are nice.

[BarbStAubrey]

Just watched Keys to the Castle - oh my - and here I felt overwhelmed clearing out my 53 years of living in the same house - it appears they had accumulated so much more in their later years compared to the old movies of the castle after they refurbished it - I liked her remark when looking at photos of her husband as a younger man that he was like someone she used to know - not sure of the difference in their age but she certainly aged better then he did -

I guess when we are young and full of energy we never think of what our life will be when we are old. The movie does not show the house where they have downsized but it certainly will not be surrounded by the beautiful acres of grounds that she admitted can can no longer keep up. In one sense sad but in another to get out from under all the 'stuff' = and much of the really attractive 'stuff' is no longer used because they no longer entertain and he no longer can take a walk much less drive and so she is constantly making do with old stored outdated products.

A sobering movie to watch on this rainy day but it did get my mind off everyone's concerns over shopping, staying home. the political ramifications, and finding fault with others who cannot keep their teens at home - I just want to shut out the world for a bit. 

[Frybabe]

Sounds like something I would watch. I am going to put it in my WatchList.

[ginny]

 That does look good, and they look odd, I've also marked it down for later. I need fluff, constancy and order,  happy fluff.

There are (oh joy) (we get our escape where we can) 3 seasons of Joan Hickson on Britbox  AND  Wolf Hall (!!!!) and Rosemary and Thyme, used to love that show about  two retired lady gardeners, (still playing in London last year on one of those nostalgic channels), Hetty Wainthropp (where on earth can you see that now), and Hyacinth Bouquet, believe it or not,
Are You Being Served, the NEW Midsomer Murders, I like the new seasons so much better,  Father Brown 8 AND of all things, I nearly fell over, at the end of the 20 pages of attractions, the UP series!

Do you remember the UP series, in which a landmark documentary  study was made about British school children, some in posh schools some in normal schools to see how they eventually turned out? And they then followed them every 7 years?  And have continued to do so?   A social experiment study?

There they are! All in one place, apparently, or the oldest ones, anyway.  I used to know the characters but have fallen by the wayside, perhaps I'll catch up now. DID they turn out as expected or not? And were their educational advantages the reason? I seem to recall one of the "posh" boys who turned out very well, indeed, refused to be further photographed, rejecting the idea his background and education had elevated him. Or so I recall, it probably was he was tired of it, but now maybe I can find out.

Last night I eagerly tuned in to the  second Miss Marple, the one with the Poison Pen letters and hated it. Just could not get through it,  Season I, Episode 4, the bad acting of the minor characters, and not enough of her, so went to the 3rd one and hit gold, A Murder is Announced, pure gold.

I'm thinking if you're doing it for escapism, you don't have to watch something  you don't like, more than ever perhaps.

At any rate it's so much fun, and of course was first a book.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny,I love all those old series - we get quite a few on our Drama channel, which is free.  (The rest are shown on the GOLD channel, which costs money, so we don’t have that!) This is where I have been recording Monarch of the Glen.

I enjoy many of the Agatha Christie TV films, but like you there are one of two I can’t get through and I don’t know why.

I think I’ve watched most of the ‘Up’ programmes - it started with 7 UP and it’s still going on. In the most recent one I think at least one person had died, and there are some who just don’t want to participate any more. Many of the people are now retired, and needless to say the ones who went to public (ie super expensive private - like Eton) schools are affluent and have beautiful houses and gardens. The boy I always feel most for is the one who was such a sensitive, ‘different’ little soul. His life has been marred by mental illness and failed projects, such a shame.

And yes, escapism should be fun - don’t watch something you don’t enjoy!  We are lucky to have so much choice - i remember the TV as a child, we all had to watch at a certain time or miss it, all huddled round the same tiny set in the sitting room, glued to things like The Newcomers or Emergency Ward Ten (or as a small child at lunchtimes,, Watch with Mother - The Woodentops, Bill & Ben, Tales of the Riverbank). The Flintstones, shown I think on a Friday at tea time, were the highlight of my father’s week.

[Frybabe]

Watched Keys to the Castle last evening. What a tremendous effort that must have been to sort all that stuff they collected over the years. They seem to have packed a lot of it, so their new home must have been big enough to hold it all. I was in fear that one or the other would trip and fall on those under-lighted steps and uneven floors. Wonder what the new people did with the place.

[BarbStAubrey]

Ferybabe I got the impression they left some of the furniture but that was minor wasn't it - I really sat back in my chair when I saw her saving the big boxes of dried leaves - oh oh oh -

There is a book coming out this month called Downsizing by David Ekerdt, that I am anxiously waiting for that sounded like its about the emotional impact rather than the usual nuts and bolts of actively doing the clearing - this movie justified my thinking that it is not the actual clearing - its all the emotional baggage not only over each item but the concept of saying goodby to a life that will never be again - oh we all know it but to actually acknowledge it with our surroundings is hard regardless saying it is a new adventure.

I have a greater appreciation for those in a retirement home - I do not think they have been even allowed to go through the grief process of saying goodby to the life that was.  But for sure to be so surrounded with 'stuff' that you end up cooking in a tiny tiny cleared space - wow - at least she had the out of doors to spread out, clear her lungs, breath and actually do something unencumbered but he could only sit there surrounded by all that.

I thought the last when he was looking for and could not find his coat among the pile of coats, and sweaters and jackets all hanging together on the entry wall hooks was the perfect bit to include.  She was suggesting a substitute but he was not having it - either the coat he was looking for or no coat at all - then in the vehicle she at least gets him to wear a wool scarf. But then, I smiled that with all her ability to adapt and shoulder on, the many trucks ahead of them hauling all their stuff was all her decisions that included an awful lot of stuff.

I wonder what they do with all that when folks die with no heirs as they have no children. And I wondered too how they work that out legally since the castle was closed and sold but they continued for it appeared quite some time living there as they were clearing out before the packers and movers even got there - she said the money was in the bank till they close on the other house - do they not pay rent for staying or who is libel if something happened to the castle - their insurance would not legally cover it but then the new buyer's are not the resident so their insurance would not kick in till they actually move in. Typically there would be renters insurance but even that would not cover the structure - hmm sure different then here where you are out the day of closing or else there is a rental fee so the buyer can get insurance coverage as the landlord.

Probably all those details are worked out and just not included in the movie - what struck me was the amount of time they continued to occupy the castle after closing - it was as if they did no packing till after the closing and it had to have taken weeks - in fact she was still planting bulbs after the closing.

[ginny]

I  must watch it, it sounds like Grey Gardens, which I was once obsessed with!

I've just spent THE most wonderful relaxing afternoon watching A Murder is Announced, the last  hour, truly the most... I can't even describe it, but something about the combination of the filming and characters, the theme music, the costumes, the setting, and the acting really resonates with me, genteel peaceful  murder mystery and of course I never ever figure it out.

I see Amazon has TWO other Miss Marples in addition to Joan Hickson on Britbox. The one, as you mentioned, Rosemary, is Geraldine McEwan, once I finish all 3 sessions of Joan Hickson, I will look at their take on it, McEwan (Lucia of the old Mapp and Lucia series)  has a very sharp eye, it's easy to think she could figure out a mystery. I am not sure how old she was for the film,  though? I will look  it up. (In Edit: I did look it up, and she was 72).

Joan Hickson was  a few months older than I am now at the time of filing. She is dressed, and portrayed, however, as a much older woman for the show. I do recall a time when everybody that age did their hair a lot like that and dressed so, too.

I am truly enjoying this "isolation" and down time....the dogwoods are all blooming and it's just
glorious here for walks. I must have needed a rest. hahahaa

Rosemary, I do recall those tiny  TV's. For some reason my father had the first one on our block and all the neighbors would come in, in the evening and watch whatever show was on, crowded around that tiny screen.  I can somewhat remember something called "I Remember Mama," but am not sure of the date, and William Bendix in The Life of Riley (which my father absolutely HATED) but apparently was outvoted.

  What were some of the others? As a child we watched Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which I think originated in Philadelphia, and Winky Dink and You, where you put some sort of paper over the screen and wrote on it to solve puzzles. Decoder rings. Howdy Doody, one of our SeniorLearn members was once a child in the Peanut Gallery on that show, the programming of those days seems so......what? now. Innocent?

[Frybabe]

Yesterday I suspended any housework to watch Nero Wolfe which popped up on YouTube. The pitot for the show was one I had not seen. Also, there was a 1959 unsold pilot for the show staring William Shatner as Archie and Kurt Kasner as Nero Wolfe. It was more serious and not near as "flip" as Tim Hutton's version. I have also been spending time watching shipping traffic on the St. Clair River through StreamTime Live's and Boat Nerd's live webcams with occasional side trips to the Duluth Harbor cams.

The cats have been entertained in the wee early morning by their favorite bird channel. There are two cams, one a bird feeder and the other a pond. The pond isn't as entertaining right now because the two swans, two geese, and most of the mallards seem to have disappeared. Oscar shows particular interest in the two deer when they show up. He also shows interest in the Cardinals on one of the Cornell birdfeeder sites.  Now that Lucy can't hear, she pays much more attention to movement.

[jane]

Thanks, Frybabe, for the info on Nero Wolfe. I loved those books back in the day. 

[Tomereader1]

Tossed out a slice of bread this morning, intended for the birds.  A couple of birdies came up, not to the bread, but they were so tiny, fledglings I guess, one was a robin, the other just brown, probably his sister!  Anyway, they found something else to eat, and a squirrel came up and devoured the whole slice, then moseyed around digging for its buried treasure!

[ginny]

 I was just thinking yesterday how beautiful this year the birds are. The bluebirds are absolutely spectacular, the cardinals (the first thing I saw when we moved to the farm other than the rampant wild boar was the 7 red  Cardinals in the front yard.  A red cardinal on a white dogwood in bloom is something to see. There is some strange yellow bird,  flitting about, have never seen one before, have  to get the bird book out. Such happy little creatures, singing, enjoying life, lots to take from their example.

I only have two chickens left from our original flock, and these are an ancient 8 years old, but they are something else. One is a huge snow white Orpington and the other is black and silver, a silver laced Wyandotte, so they are like salt and pepper.  Devoted to each other. I never tire of watching their antics, and they are spoiled rotten.

 

[PatH]

Ginny, let me know what the yellow bird is if you find out.  Is it a goldfinch?  They are incredibly joyous birds.  The bird population around my house shifts back and forth.  This year it's lots of cardinals and mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, and a few mockingbirds again, after a gap.  Plus the cute little Carolina wrens.

[ginny]

No, these are relatively big birds, not the cute little goldfinches. My husband says they might be Brown Thrashers, they have those stripes, too.  I looked them up online and they seem to have, the immature ones, somewhat of a yellowish coloring, but these were very striking looking  birds. We have mockingbirds everywhere,  they start early in the day though, don't they, and are very aggressive if you get too close to their nests, I love to try to imitate them and have them answer.

Home Improvement Projects in Isolation:

Still watching Miss Marple, loving the experience, today's episode had her in her garden.   I am also planting a rose bed. I had roses in pots which made such a pretty garden up on a brick terrace,   so  I had an area bricked  in last fall, and last night emptied a truck load of  soil on top of the sand in  it  (which was a lot easier than it sounds when you back the truck with the tailgate down over the wall of the garden). Nothing to it.  Now to put the roses in from the pots. I will need the help of my youngest son as the pots are gigantic and very heavy. But I've so enjoyed  enjoyed having roses in pots, and you can create a bower with very  little effort.

I love the small English gardens in their front yards. Often times they are so creative with this very small space, they put my weeding  skills to shame. The last Chelsea  Flower Show I attended in London had as a theme  the mini garden and such wonders in a small space I've never seen, such cleverness. I don't have that skill, I know mine will be a disaster, but I love flowers and so am going to try anyway. (They looked good on the porch, and roses do so well in pots).

Speaking of Miss Marple in her garden near the street, I am so pleased to have a  new rose which just came called Sheila's Perfume which I once saw while  walking down the street,  in one of these tiny English front gardens, and it just knocked me away, the fragrance!!  You  could smell it from a long way away and it's a gorgeous flower...we couldn't get it here for the longest time and now I have one finally.  Every time I look at it I will think fondly  of that experience long in the past.

Idle thoughts from an isolated mind.

[Frybabe]

Years ago, when I was feeding the birds, I had a few favorites: Chickadee, Titmouse, and a particular Mockingbird. The Mockingbird would sit on the deck railing each day, look straight into our sliding glass door and squawk until I let Sammy out. Then they would play, broken wing/catch me if you can for a while. The bird could tell the difference between cats. He would dive bomb Dingy (a neighbor's cat, and closely resembled Sam) every chance he got. You could hear Dingy meowing the whole way across the open space until he was safe from pursuit.  This same bird took to hollering down my neighbor's chimney which was attached to a wood stove; it took them a while to figure out what the racket was. Sadly, it was only around for three summers.

[PatH]

Many years ago a friend had one of those gizmos that plays a little tune to open your garage door.  One morning she heard the door going up and down, up and down.  The local mocking had learned the tune, and was having fun.  She changed the tune to a different, more complicated one, and the bird wasn't able to learn the new one.

Ginny, Shiela's Perfume is beautiful.  If the fragrance is as lovely, it's really something.

The brown thrashers are indeed showy, but don't look yellow to me in either of my bird books.

[ginny]

Aren't these stories incredible about the intelligence of birds? Bird brain is a misnomer, birds are smart, they have done a lot of studies on chickens, who display some traits which are very surprising, and they pass some tests used for intelligence tests in dogs. They can count and if an object is hidden they know it's there, it's unreal. They can delay gratification for a later reward, they show empathy (when not killing each other)  and the very latest stuff I can't find but they can either be taught to recognize words or symbols or colors, or all,  I forget which.

As this is about movies, I succumbed to RosemaryKay's The Windsors which we can get on Netflix and as I had seen series I, in the past,  I watched 3 (is that the last, with Megan Markle?) and am working back to 2.

I love Camilla, and Beatrice and Eugenie, I LOVE Beatrice and Eugenie's  accents and general....whatnot.

Is Philip only revealed in letters from Grandpa? hahahaaaaa Golly moses the language.

And as noted in the Library I finally gave in and watched one episode of  Joe Exotic.  Yes he's exotic. Just another in our taste for a Freak show  on TV, so bad you can't stop watching. Where do they find these people? Why would anybody watch this, much less be obsessed by it?
They say all the celebrities are.

[ginny]

Pat, it just flew by again, I have no idea what it is, it kind of looks like this, a Golden Fronted Pileated  Woodpecker?

We have a lot of woodpeckers here as well, but the thing is not exactly posing for me so it's hard to tell, but this is the type of striping anyway and the size. Pretty good size bird.

[nlhome]

Ginny, might be a woodpecker? I asked my husband, who is a wildlife biologist, retired, and he suggested it might be a woodpecker, but I don't remember where you live so he can't get too specific. Maybe look at gila woodpecker or golden-fronted woodpecker in your bird book.

[ginny]

I think he's right, Nlhome, that picture above is the Golden Fronted Pileated Woodpecker, and  is not quite as yellow as it is, and in the front, too, but I looked this particular one up and the range is Texas coming up from Mexico,  but we're in SC, that's a long way out of range. I will look  up the gila woodpecker.  We have a lot of woodpeckers here.

How exciting he's a retired wildlife biologist!

[nlhome]

Maybe a yellow-shafted flicker, then, more in your area? Or a tourist from the southwest? Interesting.

We live in town. This morning a jake turkey walked across our street, between some houses, and then through the back yard.

[Frybabe]

I was thinking Flicker, too, Nlhome. They used to be common around here when I was a young'un, but I have not seen one in many, many years.

Now they are finding COVID-19 in cats and dogs. Yikes!

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny, I am so glad you found The Windsors again, it is providing much appreciated entertainment in my house.  I think series 3 is the most recent, it has just finished here.

I don't think Philip ever appears - they leave the older royals out of it, but Charles, Camilla, Wills, Kate, Harry & Meghan are an absolute hoot, though my favourites are, as you say, Beatrice and Eugenie, and also the wonderfully evil scheming Pippa. I might have mentioned this before, but the guy who plays Wills is a dead ringer for one of my daughter's school friends. James is a lovely boy - a man I suppose now! - who went to Durham University (one of the more prestigious English ones) to read Philosophy but just couldn't get into it, as he has always wanted to be an actor but had not managed to get into any of the London drama schools. He left Durham and joined a new drama school in Edinburgh, where he is having a brilliant time. Every time Madeleine and I watch The Windsors we have to remind ourselves that it's not actually him we're seeing!

I think the Meghan character has been a brilliant addition to the show - she's so PC and New Age compared to the traditional royals. And I love all this surreal backstory about Kate having been a gypsy.  Of course the real Kate never was anything of the sort, but she does come from a family that, although wealthy, are not titled and would be called 'new money' by many people here.

Last night I recorded an old film 'The Family Way', which I haven't seen, but which got 5 stars in the Radio Times as a classic of its time. It stars John Mills, Hayley Mills and Hywel Bennett and it looks promising - does anyone know it?

I know nothing about Joe Exotic - what or who is he?

Rosemary

[ginny]

Nlhome,  the Flicker looks like it, too! But I don't recall the red on the head. I guess I was so shocked at it suddenly appearing on a bush behind the computer that I failed to take in the details, but those stripes and that yellow remain. At this point it may be like witnessing an accident, the thing is probably purple and green . hahaha It's only been back once, further away and again in profile, but if it comes again,  I will get a better look. I can see why people become birdwatchers!

Frybabe, in dogs and cats? I heard about it in  the one tiger. Do they think the animals caught it from the human or do they think the animals are giving it TO humans?

Rosemary, how interesting about the young man playing Will!!  I had to watch the Art Gallery episode over again,  I woke up hearing "Beatrice" this morning, she is SO good.

Let me ask you a loaded question? I can see this a satire, how much is it based on the common opinion of the people involved? Is Harry for instance,  perceived as dumb?  I get the others (I don't know much about Harry), I did think  the Middleton mother was treated a bit...roughly?   The actor playing Charles has a face like putty, doesn't he? He almost looks like a puppet himself, though not the one on Spitting Image, never saw such a face. Love Camilla, the dragon lady, I can see the reason they would make her like that.

Does anybody know what the  people portrayed think of it?  They ought to get Charles Dance to play Philip, he'd be perfect.

 As far as Joe Exotic (of the new series Tiger King on Netflix) that's a good question: who or what is he?

I am not capable of describing him.  I am thinking you can't see Youtube in the UK,  is that right? So I won't put a link to it, then, but here's one from Netflix itself, there's a promo little film here if you can see it: https://www.netflix.com/title/81115994

Here's an article from the Atlantic if you can't see the above,  which should allow you to read it free: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/04/netflix-tiger-king-is-an-ethical-trainwreck/609568/

I barely made it though the first episode, I understand there are 7 of them. I do NOT understand this genre of Freak Show (I am sorry but that's what it is) which seems to be overtaking the country.This is not the only one!

[Frybabe]

Ginny, the reports I read about the cats and dogs said that it is more likely that they picked up the virus from us rather than the other way around. Here is one of the articles I saw on the subject. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200402/Can-cats-and-dogs-catch-or-spread-COVID-19.aspx

[rosemarykaye]

Oh my gosh, Ginny, I watched that trailer (thank you) - how absolutely appalling.  I think you can actually get that programme here, but it's the last thing I'd want to watch.  Captive wild animals, especially in private 'collections' should not be allowed, in my opinion.

Zoos are bad enough, but at least most of the ones here are now very aware of the issues, and are concentrating on the protection of endangered species. London Zoo no longer has elephants or polar bears so far as I know, and their Highlands operation (at Kincraig, near where my son lives) is very involved in the protection (and, we hope, eventual return to the wild) of wolves and other native Highlands species. I may have mentioned before one of my favourite wildlife writers, Jim Crumley - he is very active in the reintroduction of beavers, and he also supports the 'rewilding' of wolves. His books are wonderful, especially the more recent ones published by Saraband (his first publisher was not great).

And now to The Windsors!  The actor who plays Charles is Harry Enfield, he is very well known in the UK, I think he started out in stand-up comedy. I feel he has Charles to a T, I don't even think his portrayal is much of an exaggeration. Haydn Gwynn, however, is obviously way over the top as Camilla - who, I believe, is a very nice person - but the character works as she is just so funny, with all her plotting, her endless gins and cigarettes. Camilla attended a premiere in the Cathedral where I work - it was of a new piece of music composed to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War. We had a lot of meetings with all her ladies-in-waiting, security people, etc beforehand, but really her own requests were very few - a cushion to support her back, as she has problems with it, and a Diet Coke at the interval. And she also asked for time to be made in the programme for her to go out to the front and thank everyone for coming (it was a free, ticketed, performance.)  IMO she and Charles should have been allowed to marry in their youth, it would have saved a lot of unhappiness all round, and Diana could have married someone like her, lived in West London and enjoyed the life that well-heeled smart young women have, without all the royal baggage.

I think (sorry if I have said all this before) the court protocols of the time have a lot to answer for - it was the same with Princess Margaret - my mother says if Margaret had been allowed to marry Captain Peter Townsend she would probably not have turned into the bitter woman she became. The palace seems finally to have caught up with modern life, in that both William and Harry have not been prevented from marrying 'commoners' (and Zara Phillips, Princess Anne's daughter, is married to a rugby player); I imagine it would now be unthinkable to try to stop a royal marriage because the partner did not have the right credentials.

As I've said already, none of my family is much interested in the royals, and we do not have much time for the taxpayer-funded hangers-on like Beatrice & Eugenie - I have no idea what those two are really like, but I do so enjoy the way they are played in the programme, the accents are perfect (one of my elder daughter's school friends used to speak exactly like that - this was when they were at a tiny primary school surrounded by private estates, so all the landowners sent their children there for 'free' prep school, then sent them off to boarding school around the age of 8 or 9.  Although it was like a private school it was in fact just the local council one, so there was a mixture of extremely wealthy families (Anna had a 'Lady' in her class, whose family lived in a castle) and estate workers' children. The older classes in the school had only the latter left, which had a very detrimental effect on numbers. )

Yes I think Harry is most definitely perceived as dim and impressionable compared to his brother. He lived a very wild youth, which did not go down well with the public (who were of course paying for it). Meghan is more of a tricky one - my daughters tell me that she has been absolutely vilified by our gutter press (Daily Mail and Sun being the worst offenders, as ever) and that they feel that the abuse she has received has been unbelievably and inexcusably racist. I have not read any of this stuff myself but I can well believe it - sections of our press are really appalling. I think if Harry and Meghan want to make a go of it on their own, (and on their own money) why shouldn't they?

And I agree, Charles Dance would be excellent as Philip!  I love him as an actor - have done ever since he was Guy in the unforgettable Jewel in the Crown, though since then he seems to have played nothing but baddies (excellent as Tulkinghorn in the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House, for example).  Philip is not popular with many people as he is so racist - and pig-headed, still driving around and causing accidents when he has been told to stop driving years ago. It's not as if he hasn't got anyone to do the driving for him!  The perception of the Queen is quite different, I think almost everyone does see her as very hard working.  I think the problem with most of them is that they are so cushioned and divorced from the real lives of the majority of people in the UK. No-one was at all impressed with Charles coming up here to Birkhall (his house on the Balmoral Estate) when he already knew he had coronavirus. Although he wouldn't, of course, have been in local shops, his staff certainly were. And everyone else in the country was getting such a bollocking for retreating to their holiday homes.

And I agree about the portrayal of the Middleton parents - that was most definitely caricature, so I hope they saw the funny side of it. I think they live their own lives.

I don't know if any of the royals watch the show - I would hope that they could find it funny, because really it is quite gentle by UK standards!

Something I have not yet seen is The Crown. It was hugely praised here, so I really must watch it - and of course it is still going on, and I believe Olivia Coleman is taking over as the Queen. She is a fantastic actress, one of our very best, though Claire Foy (who, I think, played the younger Queen) is also exceptional (viz her Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall).

My husband has now decided that we must buy a larger TV!  Miracles do happen!  (The one we have here is literally 14", we have to sit right in front of it to see it.) He thinks he can set it all up himself if we order it online, so I just hope he's right. I rarely watch it during the day, but I do enjoy sitting down after dinner for an hour or two, with a cup of tea, a bar of chocolate and a good programme or two

Best wishes,

Rosemary

[ginny]

Oh I agree, appalling. I just read  yesterday that he actually killed 5 of the tigers to make room for the new ones which he breeds.  You have to wonder what this world is coming to,  you really do, and people are RABID about it. I think it's quite uncharitable of me to refer to it as a freak show but that's what it is and so are some of our Reality Shows here.

 I used to watch one of the other Reality Shows  and so tuned in recently to one out of curiosity  and I did not, I really did not recognize two of the women, their plastic surgeries have rendered them  almost unrecognizable and not in a good way. Those awful lips and cheeks. UGGG. They look like puppets.

Thank you SO much for that description. I did not know half of it. I did not  know  about Philip, as racist,  really?   Or Harry being  "dim," that explains a lot.  Prince Philip has enough private acreage and roads  he could drive himself daily over, he doesn't need to take to the public highways at all if he'd like to get behind the wheel.

And I loved your anecdote about Camilla, how nice to hear something nice about her, there can't be much wrong in somebody who only wants a Diet Coke! hahaha Woman after my own heart.

But would Margaret have been happy with Group Captain was it Peter  Townsend?  Didn't she have airs and graces of her own?  I know she's been vilified but golly moses that awful awful Antony Armstrong Jones, what a horror of a man, who wouldn't be bitter having to live with him? Awful awful AWFUL man. I wonder she put up with it one minute. Have you read the new biography of her?

They are a bit hard on  Princess Anne in the series, goodness how  unattractive they make her, in every way.  She can't be that bad, surely. I keep looking at the mouth of the actress who plays her, surely that's a prosthetic device over her teeth? I must look her up.

Oh do watch the Crown, we'd all like to know what you think  of it. 

Loved  your story on the child with the real life "Beatrice" accent.  I can't imagine that in real life, at any age. I've been practicing the "Beatrice" accent and don't really have it down, something about drawing out the last syllable into two, that actress needs an award.  hahahaa They are so clueless, it's a wicked portrayal.


Oh I so agree on Dance,  will there ever BE another Tulkinghorn like him? He nailed it. He's Mountbatten in the Crown, and he looks exactly like him, too. Wonderful scenes, you've got to see it.

 I did NOT know Charles had the coronavirus when he want to  Birkhall!  Hmmmmm.

14" TV. hahahhaa Rosemary, this will be an adventure for you both. Your posts are SUCH a breath of fresh air.  Please don't disappear again when this is all over?

[ginny]

Thank you, Frybabe, for that article. I hope people are not abandoning pets but I fear they are.

[Tomereader1]

Rosemary, my oldest daughter gave my husband and I, for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago, a 40" Smart TV.  It was a gigantic surprise, she brought it over in her car, on Christmas Eve, set it up, plugged in the DVD Player, Sound Bar, and all the other rigamarole.  I never would have gotten it right.  It has a beautiful picture, you can get your Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu or others (not free of course, but makes selecting something fairly easy.  If your hubby hits a rough spot in the setup, most any person in their late teens or 20's can do it in a heartbeat!  You will love it.  Our living room is not big enough for any larger screens, and that is something to take into consideration.  Anything bigger than 40" should have a "great room" to give the best viewing experience.  Also I am not a big fan of all this 4K stuff, and am glad we got ours before that came out.  I don't even know if you can still get one without it.  Ours is a Samsung, and we have had good past experiences with that Brand.  So...
do your research, and when it's all set up, ENJOY!

[ginny]

Oh my gosh. This is for anybody who has ever seen The Windsors on Netflix.

THIS is Vicki Pepperdine, aka Princess Anne!  

THAT is a transformation nobody would ever believe! And "Princess Anne's mouth when open!" Unbelivable.