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| carrobin |
 Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:53 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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It seems almost everything reminds me of Trump these days. Watching "Victoria," I noted several parallels with his rise to power--she's unexpected, nobody takes her seriously, there are rumors of scandal, she has to insist on doing things her own way. But somehow Trump is more like a cartoon with characters that blow up at the end.
Incidentally, my 96-year-old mother has been more and more vague and forgetful over the past year or so--but when I talk with her on the phone, and I bring up Trump, suddenly she becomes more focused and interested, and she remembers what she's seen on the news and read in the (flimsy South Carolina) paper. We actually discuss the election and the possibilities (and fears) of the future. My sister voted for Trump, so I'm not sure whether I should mention this to her or not. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| Just watched the final "Sherlock," which was brilliant but frustrating and occasionally irritating. Gaddis and Moffat thought they were writing another Doctor Who, it seems--there were so many tricks, games, and twists that it became thoroughly unbelievable, which is fine for Doctor Who but shouldn't go so far in Sherlock. It was entertaining, but ultimately disappointing, I felt. (Also, do the Brits really incarcerate dangerous felons in transparent high-tech rooms? I can't help but wonder where the loo is.) |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 8:06 am |
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| Clearly it's a transparent loo. You don't want to know more. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 3:05 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| The local pbs didn't run Sherlock here, showing the queen victoria pilot instead, so I haven't seen the final. Seems like several US series follow that trend to absurd hightech holding rooms for the superbaddies...really expected mmore sense from the brits. Is fending off such nonsense a cultural waterloo? |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 5:24 pm |
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| Ever since Magneto wound up in one, all the cool cons are demanding them. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 11:15 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| Anyone watching Queen Victoria on PBS the past couple Sundays? We suspect some historical liberties are being taken, but it makes for very watchable drama, and the chemistry between Jenna (sigh) Coleman and Rufus Sewell is quite something. I don't know if there was really a suppressed thing between QV and her PM, Lord Melbourne, but it's fun to speculate. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:33 pm |
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Location: NYC
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| Jenna Coleman was Doctor Who's most recent traveling companion, and I can see a nice overlap if the Doctor showed up to counsel Victoria. I've been watching the show but not very carefully, catching up with email and such while it's on, but it caught my attention last night when King Leopold showed up. So he was her uncle? Scary guy. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:53 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| I knew I'd seen Coleman somewhere before. So she was Clara, and now I see in the papes that Capaldi is leaving DW, so that frees him up for a guest role in "Victoria." And there was a DW episode a few years ago with Queen Victoria, one of the small select number of DW eps I've seen and enjoyed. This past Sunday's courtship episode of "Victoria" was rather steamy...oh those Victorians! |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:05 pm |
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carrobin wrote: Jenna Coleman was Doctor Who's most recent traveling companion, and I can see a nice overlap if the Doctor showed up to counsel Victoria. I've been watching the show but not very carefully, catching up with email and such while it's on, but it caught my attention last night when King Leopold showed up. So he was her uncle? Scary guy.
Her uncle was Leopold I, who as far as I know wasn't that scary. He's the one who became King of Belgium in 1830 and his coronation anniversary is a national holiday in Belgium. He arranged the marriage of Victoria and Albert. He was generally well-regarded.
His son, Leopold II, was the one behind the Congo Free State and he's one of the monsters of history, among other things inspiring the goings-on in
The Legend of Tarzan. Victoria was his cousin.
Interestingly, if Leopold I's first wife had lived until 1830, she would have become Queen of England (and Leopold her consort), and if her daughter had survived we might never have had a Queen Victoria.
(Leopold I's daughter by his second wife is also famous: she was Empress Carlota of Mexico.) |
Last edited by Syd on Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:37 pm |
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Location: NYC
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| Thanks for straightening out the Leopolds for me--I knew there was a bad one. Victoria had so many relatives that her crown seems more like a lottery win than an inheritance. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:33 pm |
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Location: Black Hills
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And Victoria's son, Leopold, died of haemophilia B, which she carried. Some think erroneously all the H-B in her children (which they spread throughout the royal houses of Europe through a couple of her daughters, IIRC) was a result of marrying her first cousin, but the research I've read points to it being a de novo mutation, which started with her. There was no H-B in Albert's line.
The other speculation is that QV was actually illegitimate, and the H-B gene was introduced from some continental nobleman (if that's the right word) that her mother had an affair with. The British don't seem too thrilled with that theory AFAIK. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2017 5:46 pm |
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Location: NYC
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| Well, there was that shadow of doubt over Edward III as well, which could bring into question the lineage of Richard III and Henry VIII, among others. I found out about that one when I read the novel "Sovereign" by C.J. Sansom. (All his historical novels are excellent.) |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:17 pm |
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| Blindspot has apparently dispensed with the episode titles that were anagrams and is now doing palindromes. The February 22 episode, for example, will be "Draw O Caesar, Erase a Coward," which is certainly better than "Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord." |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:05 pm |
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Haven't watched this season. Like palindromes, though.
On air, Blindspot tops SD nil, Brian-O! |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 12:09 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Is anyone watching "24: Legacy"? I was a fan of "24" all the way through, but somehow when I started watching the first episode of this follow-up, the violence put me off and I haven't looked at it since. Something about the current tensions in the world that are all too real, I guess. |
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