Thursday Virtual Office 7th May (dramatic drumroll...)
Thursday, 7 May 2015 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
byslantedlightFeeling a bit less glumphy today, which is good! The sun's shining a bit, maybe that's what it's all about! Even though I didn't sleep well again last night - at least until I got up and put some bedsocks on. I was cold! How can I be cold in bed in May? I suspect it may be a stoopid thyroid thing, cos I was always far more likely - anywhere - to be too warm, and suddenly I seem to always be too cold... But - hey-ho!
So - today... a fun thing first! I've been all uninspired about food and cooking for ages now, despite getting a Riverford box each week, and even though I get the smallest one, too much of it ends up unused. So I thought I'd try something different - it's a bit more expensive per box, but might work out more cheaply in terms of using it all: a Riverford's Recipe Box. When I first saw them I thought they seemed like something you might want for fancy dinners or summat, but actually - they might turn out to be just right. The one I chose is the vegetarian box for two people, and it has the exact ingredients for three meals for two people - in other words, for six healthy meals for me, without wasting the rest of the ingredients cos I can't use an entire block of sheep's cheese fast enough when I only need a bit for a recipe... *g*
What else? Election day, of course. No choice here except to vote tactically, although in theory any vote is currently for the party I'd not want least, rather than for the party I'd want... *sighs* I'm not holding great hopes in general, I'm afraid, though maybe people will surprise me... oh please surprise me, people!
ETA - went and exercised my right to vote, and was taken aback to be jumped on outside the polling station by people asking for my card number. Although you don't have to take it, it makes it easier for the people on duty to find you on their lists, so without thinking I gave it - only to realise that of course they weren't the people on duty at all, they'd both been standing with rosettes covered by their arms, and I'd just given my number to blue and yellow parties. They said it was so they could chase up party members who hadn't voted yet, but even so... and in fact (not that I would) but if I knew the parties went around doing that I'd make sure not to join in the first place... gargh! They're not allowed to set foot in the polling stations, but I thought there was a wider radius that the parties weren't allowed into on election day... gaaaaah! Has anyone else come across this, or is it just my new place? /gargh... (sort of...)
No archery tonight either, cos it's Book Club night, I missed the last one, and it's my book choice that we're discussing, so going to archery instead isn't really an option!. We all submitted a list at the end of last year - when I'd only just joined! - so I was hugely surprised that one of mine came up so soon. I had no idea what they'd read or what they liked to read, so I went for a book I'd loved and that was well-reviewed by the Grauniad and the New York Times as something special too - Among Others by Jo Walton - because I was pretty sure none of them would have read it despite that. I have a feeling, though, now, that they're much happier with I've-lost-my-baby type books rather than ooh-look-the-world! type books, so I suspect it won't go down well. Oh well, we'll see! I'm not entirely sure how long I'll keep going to book club now that it clashes with archery, cos we seem to get there and everyone has the kind of chat they could have anywhere (which is fine, of course!) then we go around in a circle and everyone says what they thought of the book, which takes about five minutes, and then that's it - it's back to general chat, we go and have a meal with more general chat, and then it's all over... Which is fine, but it turns out that I'm not quite in-the-village enough to be able to join in, and really I'd quite like to talk about books anyway, and we don't. So on the whole, if it's going to be like that, I'd rather being doing archery, I think, where I'm not just sitting around listening to other people talk at me... But you never know, maybe it'll be better tonight!
On the bright side, one of my jobs today is to finish re-reading the book before tonight, so I can remember how it ends! And I shall go to archery tomorrow night, if someone'll open the clubhouse...
Oh - and I remembered to watch George Gently last night!
Today's Stuff
11.30-12.00 Wrk pgs 1-10 (to 12.15...)
Fiddle practice
12.30-13.00 Wrk pgs 11-20
13.00-13.30 Wrk pgs 21-30
13.30-14.00 Wrk pgs 31-37
Vote!
Lunch
Fiddle practice
Wrk pgs 1-5
Wrk pgs 6-10
Wrk pgs 11-15
Wrk pgs 26-20 Yeay, finished on time! Bless competent academic writers of English!
Book group
So - today... a fun thing first! I've been all uninspired about food and cooking for ages now, despite getting a Riverford box each week, and even though I get the smallest one, too much of it ends up unused. So I thought I'd try something different - it's a bit more expensive per box, but might work out more cheaply in terms of using it all: a Riverford's Recipe Box. When I first saw them I thought they seemed like something you might want for fancy dinners or summat, but actually - they might turn out to be just right. The one I chose is the vegetarian box for two people, and it has the exact ingredients for three meals for two people - in other words, for six healthy meals for me, without wasting the rest of the ingredients cos I can't use an entire block of sheep's cheese fast enough when I only need a bit for a recipe... *g*
What else? Election day, of course. No choice here except to vote tactically, although in theory any vote is currently for the party I'd not want least, rather than for the party I'd want... *sighs* I'm not holding great hopes in general, I'm afraid, though maybe people will surprise me... oh please surprise me, people!
ETA - went and exercised my right to vote, and was taken aback to be jumped on outside the polling station by people asking for my card number. Although you don't have to take it, it makes it easier for the people on duty to find you on their lists, so without thinking I gave it - only to realise that of course they weren't the people on duty at all, they'd both been standing with rosettes covered by their arms, and I'd just given my number to blue and yellow parties. They said it was so they could chase up party members who hadn't voted yet, but even so... and in fact (not that I would) but if I knew the parties went around doing that I'd make sure not to join in the first place... gargh! They're not allowed to set foot in the polling stations, but I thought there was a wider radius that the parties weren't allowed into on election day... gaaaaah! Has anyone else come across this, or is it just my new place? /gargh... (sort of...)
No archery tonight either, cos it's Book Club night, I missed the last one, and it's my book choice that we're discussing, so going to archery instead isn't really an option!. We all submitted a list at the end of last year - when I'd only just joined! - so I was hugely surprised that one of mine came up so soon. I had no idea what they'd read or what they liked to read, so I went for a book I'd loved and that was well-reviewed by the Grauniad and the New York Times as something special too - Among Others by Jo Walton - because I was pretty sure none of them would have read it despite that. I have a feeling, though, now, that they're much happier with I've-lost-my-baby type books rather than ooh-look-the-world! type books, so I suspect it won't go down well. Oh well, we'll see! I'm not entirely sure how long I'll keep going to book club now that it clashes with archery, cos we seem to get there and everyone has the kind of chat they could have anywhere (which is fine, of course!) then we go around in a circle and everyone says what they thought of the book, which takes about five minutes, and then that's it - it's back to general chat, we go and have a meal with more general chat, and then it's all over... Which is fine, but it turns out that I'm not quite in-the-village enough to be able to join in, and really I'd quite like to talk about books anyway, and we don't. So on the whole, if it's going to be like that, I'd rather being doing archery, I think, where I'm not just sitting around listening to other people talk at me... But you never know, maybe it'll be better tonight!
On the bright side, one of my jobs today is to finish re-reading the book before tonight, so I can remember how it ends! And I shall go to archery tomorrow night, if someone'll open the clubhouse...
Oh - and I remembered to watch George Gently last night!
Today's Stuff
12.30-13.00 Wrk pgs 11-20
13.00-13.30 Wrk pgs 21-30
13.30-14.00 Wrk pgs 31-37
Vote!
Lunch
Fiddle practice
Wrk pgs 1-5
Wrk pgs 6-10
Wrk pgs 11-15
Wrk pgs 26-20
Book group
no subject
Date: Monday, 11 May 2015 11:35 pm (UTC)So far I'm very much behind in my GG viewing. I'm trying to do it methodically and not jump ahead. So far I've only watched the first two seasons and the first episode of S3. I'm reading with interest your comments and those of other commenters here, and I agree. The show is beautifully filmed, there's a sort of 'elegance' in the production process, and it's clear they strive for historical accuracy. But I do have similar reservations as you do about George seemingly being decades ahead of his time in his social conscience and moral compass, which is great to see, makes you root for him, emote with him... but I keep wondering whether the show would be less palatable to a modern viewer had they decided to present it simply as a historical piece rather than have every single episode contain a topical character or issue a modern viewer can't just help but reassess through a modern perspective and sensibility.
And yes, it seems a bit strange (at least in the episodes I've watched so far) that only George is presented as progressive while most of his colleagues and people he comes across in his job seem stuck in a socially regressive world (from our POV, but which made perfect sense back then).
I don't know how much of a personal input Martin was allowed in portraying his character. We're used to seeing him portray characters in law enforcement who also have a social and moral conscience, so I guess there's some expectations from the characters he portrays by now. What I'm still failing to see for myself is the chemistry between Martin and Lee, or rather the sparks between GG and Bacchus, which I've several times heard mentioned in interviews and such. Either it will be developed more in later seasons I haven't watched yet, or it's my fault for paying too much attention to Martin's character at the expense of everyone else LOL. He has such a screen presence that I am too easily distracted to pay attention to everyone else on screen at the same time!
Cheers :)