boring status, but also, we are so 14 (see comments)

[rm]

Taking the day off had mixed results on the productivity front. The amount of cleaning I have done so far is minimal, but that's okay, it's always a middle of the night thing for me anyway.

On the other hand, I did send out seven headshot submissions, a thank you note for the meeting yesterday and some other boring mail. I paid my cell phone bill and watched the first disc of Horatio Hornblower (which is now on its way back to Netflix, which once again -- owns my soul -- it's like movie homework, everything I was supposed to see and never got around to, on my list, so when it shows up I have to damn watch it).

Anyway, Horatio Hornblower has got to be the most adorable miniseries ever (despite the name that makes me giggle like I'm in 6th grade again). I mean first it's far more comprehensible than the Master and Commander movie (which I wanted desperately to like and even thought was a good film eventhough it kept me so resolutely at arms length). And secondly our title hero is so far this gawky, unathletic loner of a kid who gets picked on and then blamed for it by truly awful villans. He's afraid of heights, is a huge klutz, and gets seasick and he's in the bloody British navy. But of course, in the end, he triumphs. It's like Freaks and Geeks as a bloody costume drama on a boat. So I'm smitten out of my tiny little mind. And yes, the historically accurate shoes do ensure that everyone runs like a girl. It's vastly amusing.

Parents are back from the west coast. Had mentioned the Counsellor thing to them briefly when we spoke on Tuesday, so I'm rather hoping we won't have to discuss it again. I'm in no mood, and haven't returned their call.

Should cook dinner and all that good stuff, and certainly acqire a more cheerful outlook on the world before facing the horse again tomorrow. (Like my flying lessons, I'm utterly enamoured of the entire thing, but I seem to also have bad anticipatory nerves about it).

Comments

[adriang.livejournal.com]

The Hornblower books are quite good, although they do a lot to illustrate just how grim the existence of the average British sailor was, during the Napoleonic wars, and some people may not like reading them, for that reason. The A&E series takes a few shortcuts and simplifies and mixes some of the story lines, but on the whole it is about as good a dramatization of the series as I could have expected.

If you ever find yourself acting in something relating to old sailing ships, the books are well researched and would be good to read.

Adrian

[rm.livejournal.com]

I actually like the grim stuff, just in a, I don't like shortcuts sort of way, and I was already rather feeling that as my one complaint watching these so thanks for the tip.

[adriang.livejournal.com]

Actually, the books are detailed and a lot of the story is about what goes on in Hornblower's head. Sticking exactly to the books would have made the series three times as long, and would have required lots of narration with little action on the screen. I just don't think they could have been successful if they had really tried to capture all the details in the books. They really had to make a lot of hard choices about what to trim, and I think they did well, in general.

If you decide to read the books, it's important to read them in order. It sounds like you might enjoy the details. Hornblower's world really comes to life in the books, and I don't think there are any compromises made for the sake of romanticizing the stories. I never had the sense that situations were contrived or that characters wouldn't act the way they did in the stories. Hornblower is clearly not perfect, but it was very easy to be drawn into caring about how he fared from one book to the next.

Adrian

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think this may well be my next bout of subway reading. Yay!

[adriang.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll tell me what you think of them. 8-)

The first book is Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and the second is Lieutenant Hornblower.

Adrian

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

They show how bad it was, at it's worst, but they draw a lot of the imagery from the most egregious aspects. The O'Brian books do a very good job of showing how a well run ship handled things.

The truth was more toward the middle, but that middle was also more toward O'Brian.

If you want an interesting read, look into Lord Cochrane, who was the inspiration for Aubry, or the events of the mutiny against Pigot, or the mutinies at Spithead, and the Nore.

The most interesting things have to do with the reactions of the officers to those mutinies, or to the mutinies against Bly (one afloat, and one ashore).

TK

[adriang.livejournal.com]

Okay, thank. I have a couple of them on the way.

Adrian