One of my favorite Victorian narrative paintings is about to go up for sale: http://ping.fm/kvRSV

Christmas, the British way...

Check out Anglotopia's Infographic on the British Christmas experience. 8)

Say what? http://ping.fm/OxMe7

This Sunday...

Col. Brandon and Miss Dashwood (otherwise known as Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson) star in "The Song of Lunch" (annoying title, yes?) on PBS Masterpiece Contemporary.

I had to write a short blurb on this, because it's a small miracle for me when I see two of my favorite British actors co-star for a second time. I just wish Alan was in a cravat on a horse and Emma was weeping con pathos over a bit of ivory (let the reader understand), but instead, we have to make do with this lot.

It looks a bit dafty: a very modern poem about two ex-lovers eating lunch. With red wine. Quick, hand me my stain-resistant linen napkin, I'm going to blubber myself...

How stirring. What it really looks like is a silly vignette about two middle-aged prats eating lunch with overpriced wine at a restaurant in London I probably could never afford myself. Watch the short clip here to understand what I'm getting at (watch for Rickman's languid, upper-class twit outcry as he looks at the menu, "It's almost all pizzas! I am afraid it's gone to the dogs!" Oh, for...).

I tried to get into the previews, but just couldn't. Other than Rickman looking like his usual scrumptious Welsh self plus his accent that sounds more Blackpool than Hammersmith, and the infallibility of Thompson's loveliness, there isn't much to tempt me.

Though I admit, it did make me a tad bit hungry. ;-) Bon Appetit!

Yet another new layout

I've gone pink again, with a heavy dose of London. 8)

I may decide to just rotate photos I like until I find something I want to stick with permanently. For now, this will have to do! ;-)

Insanely Great...

I'm studying the history of technology and communication in a Grad class at the moment. Our readings consist of what one would expect: "Dealers of Lightning" by Michael Hiltznik, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhm, "Orality and Literacy" by Ong and others.

My classmates and I were recently discussing how fitting it is to be taking this class at this time, in this year, in this century. Steve Jobs passed away several weeks ago; the Apple industry - with the evolution of smartphones, tablets and digital music - has helped to define the culture of the past decade ; the majority of us came of age during this reinventing of how technology functions in our lives. Yet, here we are, in our late 20's, learning about how everything started - Xerox, ARPANET, lasers.

My professor played this for us in class tonight and I began to cry (it's a good thing I was sitting in the front of the room). I still have not deciphered the reason why the passing of Jobs makes me so emotional or nostalgic; maybe it's the fact that the beginning of the last shift in electronic communication began roughly the year I was born and I (and the rest of my generation) have witnessed its evolution. Or maybe it's the deep connection I share with my husband, a complete Mac geek, whom I love so much.

Nevertheless, watching this short clip of Steve Jobs introducing the Macintosh of 1984 sent my emotions into overdrive. He was a master of marketing and persuasion and it certainly shows here. Yet, when I really begin to analyze my response, I'm able to see the link between Jobs Father/Son dynamic with the computer and his own disconnection from his birth father.

I'm thankful that his mother didn't have an abortion, when she could have easily chose to do so. I think, in the end, Jobs biography is a testament to what life, if left to be lived, can do: create, inspire, impassion.