My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.

They played another White Collar ad on telly last night. Sorry, I'm not used to seeing ads for WC, so it's a novelty for me. This one was right in the middle of Maverick. Whoa, there, Neal, don't go messing with the Maverick boys, my impulsive young pup. Those Maverick boys are so wiley they could take Neal for everything he had and will ever have without even rising from the card table.

It's not dear little Neal's fault, of course, as he never had the words and wisdom of Pappy to guide him - grin. Still, it was cute to see all my favourite tv grifters in one place, so to speak. Well, they didn't run an ad for Leverage, but they should have.
( more: the game is afoot )

"There are a lot of detective shows on television, and all of them owe a debt to Sherlock Holmes. The socially maladjusted detective, the bantering partners, the curious charm of a guy who knows he's smarter than anyone else in the room -- USA must have eight shows in development right now with all these elements, to add to the 15 or so I think they already have on the air. So it's nice to see the original back in action, outshining his imitators." - Huffington Post

Oooh, was that a shot across the bows of any quirky (or, at least, they think they're quirky) tv crime fighters currently on the USA Network? Smirk.

Meanwhile: They killed Danno! Vale the One True Danno, pop culture legend (down here, at least) that he was.

But yeah, from my understanding gleaned from the US press and the non-recommendations of friends, the remake sucketh buckets.
( more: mmmmmm...doughnuts... )

Today, my 'other duties as required' incude: bear fluffer.

There were some great lines on tv yesterday. From The Saint: "People who say money can't buy happiness just don't know how to spend it", and from Maverick: "I'm gonna shoot you so full of holes you're not gonna know which one to bleed outta first". Is that a classic Western line or what?
( more: but they do wear tweed )

Two shows, two interviews, two completely different viewpoints.

On White Collar, despite the large amount of press about the supposed bromance between Burke nand Caffrey, TPTB keep explicitly stating that no matter how friendly the boys are, deep down they don't trust each other and are willing to betray each other and, this, we are told, is what keeps the show exciting.

I beg to differ. It keeps the show distressing and distancing. Who wants to watch two supposed friends knife each other in the back? Or, at least, be expected to watch it and still respect them in the morning? (Not on, not even in Oz politics).

Butch and Sundance? Hardly. More like Pat Garrett and billy the Kid.

Meanwhile, over on Sherlock, we're told that no matter how prickly the boys are with each other, deep down there is a real connection and friendship and yes, even affection. They understand they are what each other needs, the missing parts of themselves. All very co-dependent but when it comes down to it, they would do anything for each other.

So, which is the better approach? Well, Holmes and Watson have been going for over a hundred years, so if longetivity and popularity and continued relevance was any measure, I'd have to say the Holmes/Watson aproach to bromance wins.
( more: school for tv tough guys )

"There is a joy in killing Campbells, even fictionally." - Neil Gaiman

Or words to that effect, I meant to jot down the exact quote but lacked writing material and foolishly didn't get it down before it vanished from my poor noggin, nevertheless, I was just extremely bemused that Neil took part in the (deserved, imho via ancient blood feud) dissing of Clan Campbell. Bwahaha!

This, of course, was mainly just to annoy Mr Eddie Campbell, who was onstage at the time, bemoaning the number of Campbells despatched in Neil's story. Neil reposted with something like "Had I known you would be here I'd have made it sixteen," or, again, words to that effect. Snerk.

Yes, Neil Gaiman read The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains, a story set in Scotland (hence the Campbells) on stage at the Opera House, accompanied by a string quartet and paintings by Mr Eddie Campbell. And I was in the fourth row (which shows you how long along I bought the tickets, in view of my sudden penury).

And it was wonderful. Just wonderful, just to be in that moment. And, bonus Kevin Smith - bwee! I thoroughly enjoyed the tale, even though I found it very familiar in parts (he later said it was based on local lore so I suspect that explains it). It was like having someone read to me from the books my grandmother used to send to me. So it was Very Special Indeed.
( more: elementary )

Thurs: So, last night I toddled off to hear a talk being given by some gentleman travelling from England. Oh, alright, it was Mr Stephen Fry and I was in heaven, absoloute heaven.

And toddle isn't quite the right word. Bent over against driving gusts of rain, more like. It was so miserable a red double decker bus trundled past and it had gone a block and a half before my poor brain twigged that something was out of kilter, and I can forgive the poor old brain for thinking trudging in the dark and cold driving rain naturally goes with red double decker buses, from past experience, but this ain't London. No idea what the bus was about but it bemused and set the scene.

Then, just as I arrived at the Quay, enormous fireworks burst forth from the Opera House forecourt. Full on, for about fifteen minutes, and so very pretty. I stood, clung to the railings in my mittens and scarf, ooohing and ahhing at the unexpected show. No idea what that was about either but it sure blasted away the work merde with bright sparkly pretty so I was happy.
( more: fry and chocolate )

Okay, I meant to post this the week I got back but went down with t'swine flu and I'm only just beginning to surface again, so without further ado, a potted travel diary...
( more: if it's Tuesday it must be Camelot )

"I find myself thrilling as I think of it, and feeling once more that sudden flood of joy, amazement and incredulity which utterly submerged my mind."
The Empty House

Steady, Watson. Okay, yes, this is the return of his beloved Holmes, but there is a lot of thrilling, tingling, flushing and flooding from Watson elsewhere in the books. More than enough to bemuse this reader, in any case. A few pages later the poor boy actually faints like a girl (too much flooding, per chance?) though shame on Holmes for playing such a cruel trick on poor, devoted, Watson.

You know, I used to have the slash goggles firmly locked in the drawer when reading Holmes, mainly because the character were always played by gentlemen of a certain dotage and I was a young lass and I didn't want to go there (seriously, no). But now they've cast him and him, well, slash goggles fully deployed, sir, and, to my bemusement the source material isn't disappointing, and in many cases, exceeding my expectations.
( more: every breath you take )