Anything

[fenris]

Just a few assorted ramblings...

I read last weekend that American actress Adrienne Shelly had been found dead, having apparently committed suicide by hanging herself. Although I couldn't honestly call myself an avid fan, she was one of those actresses who registered on my personal radar, and I'd always enjoyed seeing her turn up in various films and TV shows. While she unfortunately never reached the heights of major stardom, she was extremely pretty and specialised in playing sweet, vulnerable and quirky characters. Amongst her movie roles she was particularly memorable in the spoof thriller Hexed and also had a scene-stealing bit part in the offbeat relationship comedy Sleep With Me.
Today I read on the internet that despite the initial reports that she'd killed herself, the police have actually declared she was murdered, and a 19 year old construction worker who was working in her apartment building has been arrested and charged.
Adrienne Shelly was 40 years old, and leaves a husband and 3 year old child. RIP.


On a sort of semi-related note, last night I watched Dragonslayer (1981) on the Sci-Fi channel. For anyone who's never seen the film, it's a fantasy set in Britain during a Dark Age in which magic is real and dragons exist. One of the customs that has developed is for all the young maidens in the kingdom to be rounded up once a year and forced to take part in a lottery. The girl whose name is picked is then sacrificed to a dragon that plagues the countryside. An actress called Caitlin Clarke (making her screen debut) makes a huge impression as the heroine, a girl who's been forced by her anxious father to pretend to be a man her entire life, in order to avoid the lottery. But after Dragonslayer, Clarke just seemed to vanish, and I'd never seen her in anything else.
Dragonslayer has always been a favourite of mine, but for some reason I'd never gotten round to looking it up on the IMDB. Did so today, and thought I'd check to see what else Caitlin Clarke had done.
Turns out she had appeared in other films and TV shows, but just minor roles or bit parts. Instead, she'd concentrated mostly on theatre work, including a long run on Broadway, and had also become a teacher. But she died two years ago from cancer.
Strangely, I actually felt quite shocked when I read that. It was just unexpected, I guess. I've just always had this mental image of Caitlin Clarke as she was twenty five years ago, in Dragonslayer, permanently frozen in time as a beautiful, feisty young woman. And although I know that time marches on, it's still a shock to find she's no longer with us.

[fenris]

I'm going away for three days, attending a training course in central Birmingham and staying in a hotel. Hopefully it won't be too dull. And on the plus side, I might be able to get some Xmas shopping done.

[rwctlc1107]

I use to love dragonslayer!! It was a minor obesession of mine. I am not sure how many times I watched that movie. I think that came out around the same time as BeastMaster and I watched that tons of times also.

Tina

[fenris]

Have heard the news that James Brown died in the early hours of this morning (25/12/06). Despite his troubled personal life, there's no doubt that he was to soul what Elvis was to rock & roll, and Sinatra was to swing. One of the truly great musical entertainers, we won't see his like again.

R.I.P.

[fenris]

Has anyone else been affected by all the storms we had this week? I thought we'd gotten away with it where I live, but awoke this morning to learn that the trunk of a large tree at the back of my parents' house (presumably weakened by the storms) has split, and part of the tree had crashed onto the roof of the garage. The roof's still intact, and so I've spent most of today with my dad, using a hacksaw and large clippers to cut away as many of the smaller branches as we can. What's left is still too large and cumbersome to safely move ourselves, so I suspect we'll have to call in a tree surgeon.

[DreamDangerously]

Thankfully my place escaped unscathed but the winds last night were absolutely petrifying! I seriously thought my windows were going to shatter at one point. supposedly the blustery weather is going to change to heavy snow next week.

[orokiah]

I think snow is definitely on its way. We're already having severe hailstorms (my dog is terrified of them), plus the sky is so white it looks as if it's been bleached.

Winter's finally here, then.

[fenris]

The big media news story at the moment is all the problems apparently being caused by contaminated fuel. Has anyone been directly affected, or know anyone who's been affected?

[orokiah]

Fortunately not. Running a car is expensive enough without facing a three to four figure repair bill for fuel you purchased in good faith.

Anyone get a good view of the lunar eclipse last night? It was spectacular; quite spooky though seeing the moon turning blood red. I've never seen one so clearly before, it's usually too cloudy.

I love eclipses.

[fenris]

Didn't see the eclipse I'm afraid. Had an early night. Sounds very impressive.

[fenris]

My parents buy The Mail on Sunday. Now at the moment we have British troops fighting and dying in both Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraq rattling the sabre regarding it's nuclear programme, Russia speedily drifting back to a Cold War style of government, China and India both establishing themselves as future superpowers, American ruled by an openly corrupt and corporate-owned puppet, and assorted strife across the globe (including a war in The Congo that's been raging for almost fifteen years and has cost over six million lives - but because that part of the world doesn't have any natural resources that the Western nations want, the media here doesn't seem to consider it worthy of attention).

So, seeing as how we live in such interesting times (as per the old Chinese saying), what's the cover story on today's Mail?

Answer: the break-up between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Not just the cover, but the first SEVEN PAGES are dedicated to the end of their relationship.

Yes, I know Wills is second in line to the throne, but this is just not that newsworthy. 'Unmarried Twenty-something Couple Split!!' is not that important when British soldiers are fighting in two separate wars far from home.

I should point out that my annoyance is aimed squarely at the media, especially The Mail, which likes to pretend that it's more highbrow than the red-top tabloids, when in fact it gleefully prints almost as much celebrity gossip and finger-pointing bitchiness as they do.

When it comes to the Royal family, I'm not particularly pro-monarchy or anti. On one hand, I appreciate and understand the important and essential role that the throne and it's occupant has in the history of this country. But on the other hand, although the Civil List has been slimmed down over the last decade, and the Royals finally agreed to pay income tax (about time - their subjects cough up, so should they), I still find it amazing that we, the taxpayers, pay the Windsors via the Civil List for carrying out their official duties, when they are amongst the richest land-owners in the country. For example, Prince Charles makes more from the rent he collects from his properties in Cornwall in one month than he receives from the Civil List in a year.

My view is that although the Windsors legally own their assorted land, it could be argued that morally that land was given to them by the nation. In return, the rent they collect should be the payment they receive for carrying out their official duties, and the Civil List should be scrapped altogether. The Queen was apparently quite upset when the current Labour government decided to decommission the Royal yacht Britannia, as the cost of maintaining it couldn't be justified. Here's a thought your Majesty: you're one of the richest women in the country - if you're so sad to see Britannia go, why don't you pay the costs of keeping it afloat out of your own pocket, instead of expecting us to foot the bill?

But I'm rambling. To return to my original point, two young people have split up. The reasons why are private and personal to them, and should be of no interest to anyone else. In fact, until the moment when Prince William physically sits on the throne, what he does with his life should be of no concern to anyone apart from his friends and family. I mean, does anyone really care? Or do the papers merely print this stuff because the editors automatically assume we're interested?

End of rant.

[DreamDangerously]

completely agree with you on all counts. When I'm visiting my Mum I'm banned from reading The Daily Mail because I start ranting every time I open it. It's a useless, xenophobic, royalist pile of crap.

I keep trying to sneak the guardian in to mum's house when I'm home in the hope they might give up the Daily Crack.

[fenris]

I've become totally addicted to Dark chocolate Kit-Kat. Can't eat normal Kit-Kat anymore, because it now just seems tasteless.

Just thought I'd share.

[DreamDangerously]

I didn't realise there were dark chocolate kit kats...hmm...sounds like just the thing to get me through the intense agony of open evening at my school on Wednesday...(13 hour day, pushy parents, gaggles of kids...it's not fun.)

they sound heavenly!

[Beattie~Babe]

Im feeling reeeeeally cruddy today .... Well its kind of a mixture of and

I found out I cant have another surgery on my back for at least another 6 months ..... I couldnt find anyone to actually vent my frustration on, so Im trying to write it out, so please forgive any bitterness that leaks out into any of the other threads.