Thread 17 - TalkLair: "Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge."

[RasaSayangEh]

(Previous thread 16).

Spring is springing, daffodils blooming all over our LairGarden, which have not all been picked by a neighbour's kid...

In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, cosy rugs are down on the floors looking a bit stained by cat hairball regurgitation. The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics. We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

I look forward to seeing how you like it, @Gonners . Fanny looks like a decent choice of actor, a bit too lively and attractive but that tends to be the way. There have been clips of it used on the genius series that I've enjoyed.

Is it a new Mansfield Park Fags?

I haven’t heard about that yet but if it’s a BBC production it will probably make its way over to Masterpiece Theatre eventually.

@PoppySeedBagelRedux It's the old 1983 Mansfield Park. The whole thing's available on the iPlayer (BBC4).

Ooh excellent, I'll see if I can persuade the rest of the household to watch it! Although I think they may not be keen on 1980s period dramas.

Earlier this year before our trip to Bath, we watched the 1987 Northanger Abbey (it was what the library had) and DC thought it was weirdly acted and bizarre. I did say that Northanger Abbey was supposed to be weird, but they remained unswayed.

I watched this version of Northanger Abbey recently having just read the book and i thought it was pretty good:

Northanger Abbey
https://g.co/kgs/s5W39eu

and this version of Mansfield Park is also good IMHO:

Mansfield Park
https://g.co/kgs/yhfDtLk

both are films so quite a bit shorter than each book but I thought they captured the essence of each.

Urgh, DH is going to San Diego this week, followed by a weekend in L.A - conference and meetings. What are the chances that the L.A. unrest will either have escalated even further (or preferably calmed down) by next weekend? I feel like telling him to hunker down in his hotel room and then book an armoured car to take him to LAX.

I'm sure in the US, that's entirely possible.

Poor DH, having to go to the US at all. If I were him I might go to San Diego ... though only if I had time to visit the zoo. As for LA, it's wait and see I think.

I've just looked it up because it isn't, but I couldn't figure out when it was filmed. I was just grateful it wasn't the Billy Piper one. She's a lovely actor but she is so far physically removed from Fanny Price that it's painful.

Anyway, 1999! It looks lovely though, to the same extent that the 1995 P&P still holds up in terms of scenary and acting. Frances O'Connor is playing Fanny, with a talented looking cast. I'm thinking good adaptation.

I know I must have read this somewhere before but had forgotten it because it rang a bell when I read it again. After watching the Austen/genius I looked up Sanditon - they were showing clips from it so I'm hoping they put it in the series of adaptations they're showing but I fear it's an ITV production - and Sanditon is Worthing! And there's death in it when she knew she was dying as she raced against time to finish it. Which she didn't. I've bought what there is of it which is less than three hours on Audible. We're both having a bit of a race against time although I wish she'd finished Sanditon which would have been a tour de force given how with each book I think she got better. Persuasion? Welcome to the world of literature, the unreliable narrator! Or Emma! One of those. Says the unrealiable post writer!

@Britinme the Austin/genius is a three parter and you will love it. I have no doubt whatsover that it will be on before too long in the US.

And enough of my obsession. I'm about to watch Shardlake on ITV. I was reading the first book in this series and enjoying it because it felt as though I was living in Tudor England as I was reading, but this way I'm able to make space for another book my watching a somewhat abridged version of the book!

I love the Shardlake books and the recent movie of Dissolution was good too.

So hard to say what will happen in LA. Trumpton is saying he'll send in actual troops but I think that's like his tariffs. Says it will happen last minute U-turn. The most reliable thing about him this time around is that anything big he says he's tending to back down on because it's either impossible or because the man's an idiot. Both generally.

I'd want to see how LA looked before I left to go to LAX but my guess is that everyone there will be worried too and far more able to give him the lay of the land. It's also worth remembering, as I saw reported today, it is in small pockets throughout the city and not one large area of full on violence. It's not good but it's not as bad as it looks. A week is a long time so we can but hope it's all good by the weekend and keep our fingers crossed for you and Mr @RasaSayangEh

I wasn't impressed by the Sanditon series. I know they had to make things up because of lack of book, but it was really more of an 'inspired by' than an adaptation. It had the setting but lacked her voice.

Trumpton has sent in the Marines. So, that's not an overreaction.

Remains to be seen whether American troops will care to open fire on Americans. Of course all this is distinctly illegal anyway, in terms of the constitution - not that the mango Mussolini has ever read it.

The National Gaurd has certainly fired on citizens before.

DH and I went to San Diego together before kids, it was a work trip and our first visit to the West Coast, we tacked on a bit of extra time after the conference to see the sights. I remember the famous zoo being absolutely wonderful, the first time I'd seen pandas for real. I loved the Embarcadero seafront bit in the old downtown and the aircraft carrier museum was fantastic. And some lovely parks and historic areas. We also went to look at Some Like It Hot's Hotel Del Coronado, couldn't afford to go inside but had a lovely walk on the beach and took a million photos. Best of all were the hummingbirds just buzzing casually around the flowers even in the city centre.

DH is very much looking forward to going back to San Diego.

After the conference he has lined up a series of meetings with people in L.A. and in fact he's being given a lift with a couple of them who'll be at the conference. They were recommending touristy things for DH to do in L.A. (mainly he wants to run out of the Griffith Observatory shouting "I got the bullets!") but now he's thinking he might not bother trying to see anything, just attend the meetings, hide in his hotel room eating takeout, and then get a taxi to LAX.

He's really not a nervous traveller but there is something deeply unnerving about the US government calling its own troops on its own citizens!

Obviously concerning in your shoes, Rasa. America's a mad enough place at the best of times, but this!

Are you thinking of Kent State @SinnerBoy ? It caused a mighty reaction back then.

On a nicer note, we are at the. Chateau Azay le Rideau today and about to have a nice goat cheese quiche and salad for lunch.

[Neil Young earworm]

Grrr! Just found out our house insurance has lapsed! Apparently, my wife knew last week, but didn't think it was worth mentioning. They don't offer cover for underpinned houses any more.

Been on the phone for an hour, with 3 different people. I have a company which does cover, just having a short break befocalling them...

@SinnerBoy ... might be worth giving LV= a call. They're a mutual and less horrible than most.

I have it, it's actually cheaper than previously. Thank fuck the hoose didn't catch fire yesterday!

There are only a very small number of firms which deal with underpinned houses, so I'm quite pleased. I'm not impressed with LV, which had an, "It happened on a Tuesday morning" clause when the dog swallowed glass.

They coughed up eventually, months later, despite having a pay on the day and give us the balance of excess next month thing.

Yay! Very poor service from LV= re the dog, though. They're (generally) pretty good. I was on their "Member Panel" for some years: about 40 of us met senior management once or twice a year and the women had a go at them over specific issues (which, to be fair, they did address) while the men asked much more searching questions like "However do you manage to be so absolutely wonderful?"

Whilst I am certain that these sorts of parents are a small minority, I'm still reserving the right to roll my eyes and thinking middle-aged thoughts like "WTF?"

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5352838-teachers-unite-around-this-stupidity-and-try-for-another-day-not-to-leave-the-profession?