Blogtober Day 9 - To see the ivy

We are having some gorgeous weather here at the moment. Lovely and warm with blue skies, the garden abuzz with insects and everything growing like mad. Despite the fact that I'm facing two deadlines (or perhaps because), this cheerful weather is putting me in a rather frivolous state of mind, in which I would much rather be sitting in the back garden reading Little Dorrit or continuing on knitting my first ever attempt at a cardigan than staring at the computer. For some reason, all this put me in mind of the 1981 series Brideshead Revisited, especially the first few episodes (it all gets fairly messy and bleak by the end). There's not only the lovely way the series is shot to gaze upon, the way in which the characters are played to relish (I love Sebastian almost as much as I love Aloysious) and of course Evelyn Waugh's brilliantly wrought plot but there's that wonderful soundtrack by Geoffrey Burgon which wends its way so perfectly through the series, making the entire package of vision and sound in these initial eps seem like one's witnessing some sort of dream. Ah, gorgeousness!



By the way, when do you do most of your reading and knitting? I am trying to do mine in the evenings but I find I am making no progress at all because I doze off, despite the fact that I am very interested in doing both!



And finally, has anyone ever knitted a fair isle jumper? I am in love with them at the moment but they look very difficult to make but are quite expensive to buy complete on Etsy. I suspect as a baby knitter they might be a bit beyond me at present, but I'd love to know about your experiences.

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast!

We are in a slightly strange situation here in Australia at the moment. We have a general election coming up in less than a month and the two main candidates are debating on tv on Sunday. They have been forced to re-schedule the debate to earlier in the evening though, due to Sunday night also being the last night of the competitive cooking show Masterchef. I have watched Masterchef a couple of times and it's ok but I am puzzled as to its immense success, as I have always been puzzled by shows that involve this incredible idea of competition - Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Survivor etc., etc. I have never understood such intense feelings of competition. I don't mean to make myself sound noble - in fact I suspect my lack of competitiveness has probably done me in a bit professionally. At school even, I didn't 'get' games and the overwhelming sentiment attached to winning - much to the fury of my fellow classmates. But why do we want to watch people battle it out to the last, backstab their opponents and weep with the effort and frustration of it all? With Masterchef it's even been noted that the winners each night are not necessarily the best cooks overall but the ones who managed to present adequately to the judges on that particular night. So what really is it proving?

And what will I be watching on Sunday night? Probably a bit of the debate and then I'll turn off the telly, dejected that both Dr Who and Little Dorrit have finished up...!

Eurovision

Didn't really get drawn into the Eurovision thing as much as I have in previous years this weekend - in fact I found the semi-finals pretty boring and only watched a little of them. I committed to the finals last night though, and sat through almost all of the 25 songs and the very tedious voting process to see that Germany won. And a very well deserved win it was too. A great fun song and very Eurovision. Honourable mentions must also go to Ukraine, Armenia, Israel and Greece. Did you watch it?

Mad Men

I must be getting old. Or maybe I just watch too much tv (but hey, it's winter)! More nostalgia (of a kind) today.

Is anyone else watching Mad Men, the tv series about the Madison Avenue ad agency, set in the early 1960s? If you're reading this in the States, I think you're episodes and episodes ahead of us here. We are only about 6 eps into season 1 but I have to say I love it as much as the advertising for it told me I should. Many of the characters are repugnant - the men are so sexist! - but there's something compelling about it nonetheless. Initially I thought I would just watch it for the wonderful 60s decor and costuming because I really didn't like the characters. And this normally switches me off a book, tv show or movie very quickly. But there's something kind of mesmerising about just watching the sets unfold before you - they really do make you feel that you are looking through a window and into another era. And I have always said that if I could do one thing it would be to time travel, so this suits me very well. My mother who was actually around in the early 1960s (though not on Madison Avenue!) isn't a fan of the show but she does concede that they set the scene very well.

Now I find myself warming to the characters. Especially Peggy - slightly dorky, a little too earnest but genuinely nice and looking for just a little more than what the mainstream is offering. So, I'm posting a link here to a great exchange between her and Joan, the office bombshell (see, now I'm slipping into 6os speak!). Just as I've discovered the joys of embedding a clip (thanks WS!), the poster of this clip has preventing the embedding of it. Oh well! Follow the link if you like and you'll get the gist of it, just the same!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2FZOCgZe8k

And if you're a Simpsons fan too, you'll probably like their spoof of Mad Men's opening credits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmM7Jh2Y3k