For any and all fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice who were hooked on the online adaptation called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries the next question is now: “What’s next?”
Although the showrunner Bernie Su mentioned that there are a few ideas out there – but won’t say what exactly – it is up to the fans of web series to speculate what could work in a similar format.
If we are looking at specifically Jane Austen’s novels…
Ok I am going to be the first to admit that this particular recipe didn’t exactly come out the way I had originally hoped or intended. It was good, don’t get me wrong, and creamy… but it was almost too cheesy and not creamy or milky enough… which was probably my own fault since I didn’t really use much in terms of milk and had too much cheese.
Ah well… you live and learn… right?
So first here are a couple of more legitimate recipes that I used as inspiration… because obviously I used neither of them!
First there is the recipe from Food.com’s Tiramisu Ice Cream Recipe…. and then there is FoodandWine.com’s Once-a-Year Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe.
Why did I decide to combine two recipes? Well because I had the following ingredients that I wanted to get rid of:
This was probably one of the more unique ways of storytelling that I have seen in a very long time. Taking six seemingly independent short stories and tying them together where not only does one influence the next, but they all have common threads and tie-ins with one another… rather fun to see and watch.
Now… I know there is a film out there that was inspired, adapted from the book itself, but I haven’t seen it and I still have yet to decide if I really wanted to… so until then I will focus more on the short stories and what I liked and didn’t like… come to think of it lets my life easier and just do a quick list first:
1: The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing – Meh
2: Letters from Zedelghem – Meh
3: Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery – Love
4: The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish – Like
5: An Orison of Sonmi~451 – Love
6: Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After – Meh
So the second half of the post I would focus on those that I either liked or loved and those that got a “meh” I might go ahead and talk a little about them, but not really… mainly because they were just “meh” to me.
Anyway, the novel opens with a short story that goes into the past and continues until it reaches a particular climax when it then opens the next story in chronological order and stops when that hits the climax and rinse and repeat until the sixth story in the series when it goes uninterrupted until a moment in time when the action has ended and the protagonist (or relation thereof) goes back to the story, film, inspiration that drove some of the action in their particular thread and opens to the climax of the previous story and so on…. confused yet?
Well… let’s look at it from a numeric point of view:
first half of story 1 –>
first half of story 2 –>
first half of story 3 –>
first half of story 4 –>
first half of story 5 –> story 6 –> second half of story 5 –>
second half of story 4 –>
second half of story 3 –>
second half of story 2 –>
second half of story 1
It is like opening a book in the middle and placing another book in it and opening that in the middle and rinse and repeat for up to six books and then just read all six books straight through like that. A little disconcerting to be sure, but fun to me nonetheless.
So now let’s go into the short stories… shall we?
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Why is this particular panel getting its own post? Simple, because it was funny, crazy and entertaining… and I have a bad habit of heckling to the point that it is borderline flirting.
*sighs*
Story of my life.
So what happened? Well I am not sure… first there was some back and forth with a few people in the audience (myself included since I don’t really know when to keep my mouth shut sometimes). Then the creators asked if someone would be interested in joining them on the panel to which someone (Ryan Sainio) jumped up and joined them on the panel.
It came out that he has only read the first volume, and that he had already interacted with them the night before so he had trouble with coming up with a few questions…
Along the way it all came out that there is some obscure law in the Canadian Constitution that it is illegal to kill Will Shatner…
WHAT?!?!?!
And that plus a bunch of other things caused this to be one of the best panel discussions EVER!
Then the heckling continued.
*sighs*
Oh did I mention that Conor McCreery did the voice of Bane from Batman? And did an excerpt from the Bane Rap? Don’t know what the Bane Rap is? Let me rectify that for you:
Oh and I learned a new word: Thon
A few things that I was interested in:
– stage adaptation of Kill Shakespeare
– expansion of the universe to include (more) characters from some of Shakespeare’s comedies
However, I am not going to provide the questions and answers because I didn’t keep any notes… I know silly me… instead just head on over to Ryan Sainio’s podcast and get his thoughts on that part of the panel discussion…
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Another attempt on the savory menu during the Bake-a-thon was Artichoke Soup (though technically ours would be better described as Spinach-Artichoke Soup but who is really paying attention here?
Anyway… from the website Examiner.com we have:
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
12 articoke hearts, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
6 Tbs. yellow cornmeal
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. cilantroDirections:
1: In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the chicken stock, artichoke hearts, onion and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 30 minutes.2: In a medium bowl whisk together the milk and yellow cornmeal. Whisk this mixture into the soup until it is smooth.
3: Add the remaining ingredients into the soup and cook 5 minutes before serving.
Remember in college when you went to all those clubs and bars and partied like it was the end of the world? Rolling out of bed at high noon to make it to your first class of the day?
Well this is where you and I deviate… because you may remember all the fun you had in college, but me? HA! What fun? Granted, my deciding to take on a fairly challenging (or demanding) major didn’t help me any…
I know… I know… it was hard for you too….
After JR Ward completed the first six books in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series she took a “break” to write “An Insider’s Guide”, this includes not only a few interviews with the Brothers from BDB but also tips and notes as she wrote through the first six novels in the series.
Father Mine: A Novella of Zsadist and Bella and Nalla
The novella caught my attention first, well considering it was the first thing in the guide is that really a surprised? For anyone that remembered Lover Awakened, between the end of the primary story and the Epilogue there was a period of time that was skipped. While snippets of this ends up being filled in over the course of the following three books (Lover Revealed, Lover Unbound and Lover Enshrined)… the piece that is missing is the period of time between the birth of Nalla and what happens in the Epilogue of Lover Awakened.
What this novella does is not only fill in that missing piece of the timeline but ties it all back to what was already written in the epilogue and continuing for a moment thereafter. Although the novella focuses on how Zsadist comes to terms further with his past as a blood slave and how to approach his newborn daughter with that news… there are a few snippets here and there that ties in with a few of the other Brothers in the Brotherhood.
When I first read / listened to Lover Awakened to the end, I felt that Zsadist had quite a bit story left in his, particularly when it came to his daughter. So I was rather pleased when I read this novella and realized that JR Ward did exactly just that and developed more of Zsadist healing period and confronting the demons when it came to his daughter. Now Lover Awakened made a lot more sense to me.
Much like how I did with various Modern Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Classics here is a quick list of various modernizations of Jane Austen’s novels that I have seen and appreciated on some level (so this is by no means a comprehensive list by any stretch of the imagination):
EMMA
Clueless
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Bride and Prejudice
I Love You Because
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Now the interesting thing to note is that I actually did a little bit of research about this and realized that out of six of Jane Austen’s novels only two have been modernized and adapted whilst still keeping the intergrity of the primary storyline and the majority of the characters.
Rather odd if you ask me.
Granted one of the major modernizations that most everyone would know about but I have yet to have seen would be Bridget Jones’ Diary. Now why haven’t I seen it? Simple, because all the clips and trailers I have found online haven’t lured me enough to have any kind of desire to watch the movie itself. It is simple not my cup of tea from what I have been able to see. Sad isn’t it?
So since I have already devoted several posts to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I am not going to touch that particular modern adaptation in this particular post, instead just focusing on the other three…
Probably one of the more tedious novels in the series. Lover Reborn is the culmination of the storyline of Tohrment’s grief over his beloved Wellsie’s death and how he attempts to move on by learning to not just let go, but truly let go.
Before moving on, let’s look at the ninth cheat sheet about some of the players in this particular novel: Book Thingo: Black Dagger Brotherhood Cheat Sheet Part 9
– Black Dagger Brotherhood: Tohrment, son of Hharm
– Hharm
– Lassiter
– Muhrder, son of Murhder aka Eliahu Rathboone
– The Coffins
– No’One
– Story of Son
Two new characters who will both play a significant role in dragging Tohrment out of his stupid includes the Fallen Angel Lassiter and the enigmatic No’One.
Available Summary:
Ever since the death of his shellan, Tohrment is a heartbroken shadow of the vampire leader he once was. Brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving fallen angel, he fights again with ruthless vengeance- and is unprepared for a new tragedy. Seeing his beloved in dreams—trapped in a cold, desolate netherworld—he turns to the angel to save his former mate, only to despair at the path he himself must take to set her free. As war with the lessers rages, and a new clan of vampires vies for the Blind King’s throne, Tohr struggles between an unforgettable past, and a future that he doesn’t know he can live with… but can’t seem to turn away from.
Another recipe my friend and I worked on during the Bake-a-Thon was Cheese Bread… or more precisely: Brazilian Cheese Bread (aka Pão de Queijo). So how is this any different from a popover? Well in general:
– Popover is a light, hollow roll made from an egg batter typically baked in muffin tins
– Bread is prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients, such as butter or salt to improve the taste.
After sifting through plenty of recipes I settled on one that I found via AllRecipes.com.
Since there was no tapioca flour on hand traditional flour was used instead… what happened in the end was that our version of the about (though tasted fantastic) didn’t look like the picture. Hmm… How did ours look? Well from my friend’s Facebook Wall…
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If there was one major difference between the life of Elissa Wall and that of Carolyn Jessop during their time in the FLDS it is that Carolyn is legitimately college educated and has worked as an educated in both the public school system and within the FLDS community at Alta Academy.
Elissa did not get that chance of being able to learn all that she could from a public school system, she may have had a few years (if memory serves) but even then she may not have gone further than a high school education.
Because of that significant difference, Carolyn by virtue of her background was able to discern the differences between her life before Warren Jeffs took over and after. Which is probably another major difference between the two women…. Elissa Wall throughout her life has only known of how life was when Warren Jeffs was in power (for most of it) while Carolyn has known how life in the FLDS was prior to Warren and probably during Rulon’s early years.
Yes, I know that the above doesn’t make sense, but I am just writing / typing / blogging whatever is coming to mind at this point… so bare(bear?) with me.
One of the recipes that me and a friend of mine tried during the Bake-a-Thon in late January was the Cheddar Cheese Popovers. I found several recipes on the internet but the one I ultimately decided to try was from Food.com
From the original recipe below…
I naturally made changes… like what? Well…
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Six months…
Six months ago from today I had flown back into the U.S. from what was probably one of the more emotionally draining trips of my life only to see in my “little black [calendar] book” that I had a very busy schedule ahead of me.
So what happened in the six months?
Well at first I was going to list everything major that went on… but then decided that a fair number of what has been going on is a private matter and what I have been doing that was “theatre-related” is more than enough to give a glimpse of how busy my life has been. But then I also thought of all the reasoning about other days or nights of the week that I had free time and decided that a basic breakdown would be a good starting point:
For a quick glimmer of what I mean:
– Weekdays: Day Job (really is that a surprise?)
– Weeknights: Rehearsals, or working late at the Day Job
– Weekends: Family
Now in between all the major things above there are also a series of personal projects and I have been working on, but there is no need to go through those either. So what theatre-related stuff was I working on?
Well…
| Show: FULL CIRCLE By: Erich Maria Remarque Adapted By: Peter Stone |
Location: Wheaton Drama Director: Sean Ogren Assistant Director: Suzanne Ogren |
Disclaimer: Before I begin I should warn you that there might be a bit of bias with this particular production from Wheaton Drama… and not in the sense that you may think. For me war dramas are rather difficult for me to look at (let alone be a part of) with any objectivity due to my own personal and familial connections with war. So bear that in mind as you continue onward with this particular post.
So why the disclaimer? Simple, because this was not an easy show to watch for me, nor was it an easy show to think about let alone review.
Other than the above disclaimer what other strikes was there in regards to this show? Well by virtue that I knew a fair number of the cast by either reputation, having worked with them before, or having seen them in other productions I already knew walking in what they could bring to the table.
Take all that together in consideration and my expectations for this production and for the players in it and they are much higher than the norm for a community theatre production.
So how did “Full Circle” from the cast and crew at Wheaton Drama fare?
Acting: Love
Set Design: Love
Staging: Love
Directing: Love
Overall: Like
Wait… wuh? Well allow me to explain… eventually.
This was a very moving, very emotionally charged show. There is a lot going on when it comes to the human condition that will touch (and possibly provoke) the audience in different ways. Because this production is set in the point of view of the citizens / common man who don’t typically see the actual warfare, but are victims of the raids / bombings / etc… it open a window into the lives of these people in ways that media never could.
These are the people that didn’t ask for war, didn’t ask to hide in bunkers as the sky showers with explosive devices. These are not the people that want to stay inside earlier and earlier everyday because it is too dangerous to walk out on the streets. These are not the people that wanted their lives to be disrupted or asked to live in constant fear and paranoia as to who is a friend / family / foe. But… to even understand any of the above… this is a production that must be seen. Because honestly, nothing I can say would do this production justice, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.
What really set the stage from the get-go was the director’s (Sean Ogren) intention of making sure that everyone spoke with an (authentic as possible) accent, be it German or Russian… depending on their character. While most everyone did a respectable job, I felt that Lauren Filip – who portrayed the sometimes oblivious, sometimes annoying, and but 100% self-indulgent Grete – was the most authentic.
Don’t ask me why, seeing as my own accent (Asian or otherwise) do need work… but Lauren’s German accent felt and sounded the most realistic and natural as if she spoke German regularly.
Another aspect of the production that was above and beyond was the set design and scenic art as done by R J Ogren. He truly knocked it out of the park from the skyline of the near-ruins of Berlin, to the feel of the inside of the apartment.
But you’re not here to read about the accents/dialects or the set/scenic design… you really want to know about the show don’t you? Well if the above scorecard isn’t enough…
Ok… I am going to admit, the main reason that I wanted to see this movie was because of the fight scene. The one scene in the movie that is blatantly not in the book. I know when I read the book (and yes I will admit to reading the book, no shame in that… much) I was supremely disappointed that there was no battle, just one massive chess match. Especially since Alice had a vision that showed that some number of the Cullens (if not just Edward and Bella) and other vampires would not survive the Volturi’s visit in some capacity.
I wanted to see how that would have played out, who would have survived as well as how and who did in the battle?
What we know from the books:
– Jacob and Renesemse survive
– Bella and Edward die
– Other members of the Cullens die
That’s about it… Well not really.
Later in the novel (towards the end to be exact) Edward mentions his theories as to why and how the Cullens and company survive. His speculation was that Bella defensive shield was enough to throw Aro and the Volturi off to the point that battle was more than evenly match… Edward admitted that the Cullens and company would have sustained heavy losses but so would the Volturi. If there is anything that Aro hated it was losing… in any capacity.
After watching the film, I finally decided that the best bit of the series was the faux-battle scene that happened. Yes it was just a future that Alice saw as long as Aro continued on his path to destroy the Cullens, but still that was one damn fun battle to watch.
So what actually happened in the battle?