LBD P&P Obsession

So, you may or may not know this, but my favorite book of all time is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I love Austen's wit, her flawed characters, the love that develops over time, the misunderstandings ... all that makes great drama!

I own the book (and all other Austen books, in my lovely Everyman's Library set), and read it at least once a year. I have also seen almost all of the movie/television adaptations (well, except for the 1940s one; I should correct that). My favorite has been the BBC/A&E version with Colin Firth (*swoon*) and Jennifer Ehle. I thought it was so faithful to the book. My only real qualm with it was that I didn't find that Wickham very attractive (and he's supposed to be, so ....). But, maybe that's just my person opinion.

SO, how is it, that it took me almost to the end of the Web series to discover this gem?

It was my darling husband that came across The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which is an modern-day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, as told by Lizzie Bennet through her Vlog.

And I LOVE it!!!!!! Like, big, puffy hearts love it.

It's about to come to an end, so I'm actually glad I just barely found it. Means I could catch up with it only have to wait for a few more episodes to be released.

But, I have to tell you, the Lizzie & Darcy (played brilliantly by Ashley Clements and the swoon-worthy Daniel Gordh) in this version are giving Firth & Ehle a run for their money. Seriously!

I also love that they made it a multi-racial cast, and that the writing deepened some of the characters (like Darcy's sister) and even gave me some understanding to others (like Lydia).

I think it's hilarious how they interact off the show, through Twitters and appearances, as their characters. They were up for some Streamy awards, and showed up in character. Somewhat. So fun!

And the cast is HOT. Some beautiful people up in there!! Just look:

So, if you have some time to waste (or not, because, really, each episode is only a few minutes long), go check out this awesome web series!! GO. Now!

Oh, and FYI, there are some Vlogs that run concurrently at certain times during the series, namely Lydia's and Gigi's/Pemberly's that would be helpful if you watched, as well.

Nowadays, these are becoming more and more popular, and now that I've seen a few, I think I may take a time to look around for more. I find the writing is usually tight and concise (it has to be, these are only a few minutes long), and they have to engage the audience, or they will get dropped.

How about you? Do you watch any web series? Enjoyed them? Any recommendations?

A Night at the Opera

Okay, actually, it was an afternoon at the opera.

But, it was at the Metropolitan Opera. Okay, but not in New York. At a movie theater.

Did you know they did this? You can watch live broadcasts of the Met Opera.

Brian took me to one of our local movie theaters this weekend to watch The Enchanted Island, a newly commissioned Baroque pastiche (fun word, eh?).

Basically, it's in English, with storylines taken from some Shakespeare plays, with music taken from a variety of operas (Handel, Vivaldi, and some lesser-known composers).

It was a lot of fun, and exceptionally well done (well, it is the Met, eh?), and it featured Placido Domingo in the role of Neptune (my mom LOVES him).

We can still say that opera's not really our thing, but that's okay, we can still appreciate it. ^_^

Although, I do have to say, some of the music was a little catchy.

My favorite was used in this trailer for the opera:

It was a fun and different thing to do, although, I must say, I think we were the youngest in the theater by like 40 years. *LOL* (Okay, maybe not, as there was a younger gay couple next to us, but, close enough!)

Dralion

About a week and a half ago, Brian and I went to see

I have wanted to go see a Cirque du Soleil production for years and years, but the tickets were so expensive! So, I finally wised up and got on their mailing list, which not only lets you know when a production is coming to town, but also lets you buy tickets before others and usually at a discount. So, back in March, I got tickets (for a really good price for being on the 10th row) to this July's Dallas performance of Dralion.

Dralion is a melding of a Dragon and a Lion (sort of an East meets West thing, I think?), but also, this particular show was about man against or working with nature. So, of course, some of the main characters were the 4 elements.

However, there were also some hilarious clowns to entertain throughout the show (and they kept picking on an "audience member").

However, one of my favorite acts was this juggler.

Uhm, not only was he extremely athletic and talented (juggling a gazillion balls at a time), but he was also totally cute! *LOL* I know, I know, I'm such a dork. Okay, so maybe some of it's the makeup, so sue me. (No, really, without the makeup he's cute too!)


But, my favorite, favorite act was the ribbon dancers!

*dreamy sigh* They were just wonderful! The dance was so sensual, yet tasteful, beautiful, romantic, dreamy, athletic (again, I mean, come on, ALL of these people are athletic -- check out the muscles!). So pretty!


It's just amazing to me what the human body is capable of. There were some amazing athletes that could do crazy things with their bodies! It really left me with my mouth hanging open in awe and surprise a lot of the time. I will say the storyline was a little weak, but, I've heard that's a little common, and that Dralion's is especially loose, but that's okay. I definitely want to see another one!!

The only thing bad I have to say is that the arena was a little warm (and this particular arena is where local hockey games are played, so you KNOW they can keep it cold in there if they want to), and the seats were really uncomfortable. I should have brought a pillow. But, that's not Cirque's fault. *shrug*

Highly recommend it, if you've never been!

(Oh, and this was our late 5-year wedding anniversary gift to each other. ^_^ We then had dinner at IHop! *LOL* I know, so not romantic for 5 years, but we both had to rush home after work to go, and we didn't have time for dinner before, and nothing much was open after, so .... Still enjoyed it, though. ^_^)