This is too much, to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning: P&P #21

Oops! This has been sitting in the draft folder for a month and a half!

Pride and Prejudice, 1995.

So... I may have, in the past, railed a little strongly against the 1995 mini-series. I know I'm in the minority here, and it's possibly because I'm biased for the 1980 version, but I don't swoon over this version. Which is weird, because I know I rewatched it often enough when it first came out. I think that when I hadn't seen it for a few years, some of the things that bother me about it grew larger in my mind and I kind of backed myself into a corner in discussing it until I reached the point where I thought the whole thing was garbage.

I approached this watching with an open mind and I have to admit that I don't dislike this version as much as I thought I did. The not good moments are far outweighed by the good stuff. In fact (glances around, lowering her voice to a whisper) I think it does some things better than the 1980 version.

Va va voom!

You may be wondering how I'm doing on that 9 in 6 sewing challenge. The answer is, er, not so well. I am terrifically behind. I've finished one thing, at least: the Bombshell swimsuit. So I will pay penance by posting a picture of me in my swimsuit on the internet.

Heather Lou from Closet Case Files had a sewalong in June, but despite my having bought the pattern mere minutes after it went live, I didn't get around to buying fabric until late July. At which point it sat for a bit, despite all my planning. I really wanted to take the suit to Lindystock, though, so I finally got off my duff and sewed it up last week. And here we go:

Get Happy, Joe

Two of my Errandonnée trips in February were to dance rehearsal, and you may have been wondering what I was rehearsing for. Like I did two years ago, I was taking a swing dance choreography class, and we performed at the Bees Knees Swing Goes to the Movies show in April. The videos have just been posted, and I thought I'd preen share them with you.

I wound up being in three numbers. The first was the opening number, choreographed by Mandi Gould and set to one of my absolute favourite songs, Get Happy. I'm aways in the back, in the red snood^*.


The second number was Juke Box Joe's, choreographed by Rachel Sparacio-Foster (the lady in the blue dress).

It's based off a 1944 soundie (which is one of those musical shorts they used to show before and between movies) by the same name. I was the girl with the really intense wink.


The final number of the show was Lullaby of Broadway, choreographed by Mandi again. Tonnes of fun in this one.

(That's me in the red dress, dancing with a sailor. Typical me.)

If you want to see the rest of the numbers, check out the playlist. I'd tell you which ones are my favourites, but then I would just end up naming them all.

^*Hair snood, not neck snood. I didn't even know neck snoods were a thing, but apparently they are.

Thinking only of the past as its remembrance gives me pleasure: P&P #20

Pride and Prejudice (1980)

It's my dad's birthday today. I miss him, especially as I've been doing this challenge because he was a huge Jane Austen fan. I'd love to discuss some of the books and movies I've been reviewing with him -- although he would be horrified at some of the more, shall we say, salacious offerings.

It seems appropriate to review this miniseries today, since it was my introduction to P&P when I was younger. It was on Masterpiece Theatre, my parents sat me down to watch it with them, and after the first episode, I was hooked. We had one of the first VCRs of the 80s (top-loader, chipped out of stone) and my mom taped it. I watched and rewatched it until it got grainy, fast-forwarding through the introductions and watching Alistair Cooke's head dance about. When my dad told me it was based on a book, I was all "There's a book?! " and thus began my love of the book and long discussions with Dad about it.^*

I hadn't watched it in years, and I wanted to review it as I see it now, not as I remembered it. Would it stand up to my childhood adoration?

Now you has jazz jazz jazz jazz jazz

Well, sort of.

The 25th Beaches International Jazz Streetfest (aka Jazz Fest to most) is a bit of a misnomer. Most of the acts on the street aren't jazz at all, but despite that it's still one of my favourite street festivals of the summer.

The return of squid on a stick

The DC couldn't come with us on the Hydro Fields and Bungalows ride on Sunday because he had to work, so he met up with me at Ed's Real Scoop and, full of ice creamy goodness, we went on to the T&T Waterfront Night Market on Cherry Street. This seems to be a tradition^* with me: bike around the city, eat squid on a stick.

Hydro Fields and Bungalows

I'm always happy when people offer me ways to explore parts of the city I haven't been to before. Denise, who I know from the Cupcake Rides, organized a bike Meetup that introduced us to the new Gatineau Hydro Corridor trail in Scarborough. I hadn't heard of it before, and I might have thought the trail was in Quebec. It's not. In case you were wondering.

After a solid week of oppressive heat and humidity, Sunday's weather was gorgeous. I rode to our meeting point at Broadview and Cosburn with a brisk breeze in my face; I was almost concerned that I would be, dare I say it, chilly. I needn't have been.