Et tu, HBO? March 28, 2007

"The die is cast." and I am in mourning. Deep, deep mourning.

No, it's not because the half completed back of my Elaine Shell ("No Sheep for You") died a horrible death by frogging last night. It is because of the demise of "Rome" on HBO. I know what the TV-people are saying...it was only supposed to be a one season mini-series and getting that extra season was a bonus. I know all that. But I still feel cheated!

For those of you who didn't watch it (and yes, some of you may not have been very much into the violence and nudity - but hey, come on people - it was Rome in the days of the Caesars for gods sake!!), this version starts with the first one who named himself Emperor...Julius to the common person and ended with his successor, Octavian. The story followed their lives as well as those around them: relatives, senators, friends, and enemies alike. And parallel to life at court was the tale of two friends - Pullo and Vorenas - who served together as soldiers. This was, perhaps, the more compelling story...to see these two men take such different paths after their service ended and then to end up, together as brothers always.

It is so very hard to describe just how good this series was. There aren't enough superlatives to explain the skill with which each actor portrayed their character... Not household names, at least in the US, Polly Walker as the lusciously scheming Atia (mother of Octavian), Ray Stevenson as the brute with a heart Pullo, Kevin McKidd as a haunted Vorenus. The list goes on and on with not a mis-step in the casting at all as each performer painted their role with so much color and depth that I believe I will actually miss them! And, of course, the characters themselves besides the ones, above, there was Servillia, Livia, Octavia, Agrippa, Marc Antony, Cleopatra....and on and on...

If only the show would go on like "I, Claudius" did back in the day. Then we were treated to the full retinue of Caesars from Julius to Nero who fiddled while Rome burned in the last episode; we passed through the very bad, bad boy Caligula and his Uncle Claudius....ah, me.

If you have digital cable go fetch this progam from OnDemand. It is well worth your time. And see "I, Claudius", too.

At least I can look forward to Battlestar Galactica starting another season...in fracking 2008!!!!

To paraphrase: HBO, you came, you saw, you conquered. Me, at least.

Salve', Citizens.

Happy Birthday to Me!!, Thursday, March 22, 2007

Look at all my pretty, pretty presents from my dear sisters!!



From the chef-sister a whole pile of goodies from Williams-Sonoma! My fave! The French Bundt pan is just beautiful - almost too pretty to use. So really, come on now, surely I can't use those gorgeous towels to wipe anything up! No way! And I sure hope she doesn't expect me eat those cakes with those teensy-weensy spoons!

I love everything!!!



And from the doctor-sister a whole pile of books. She's been listening to this author, David Rosenfelt, on books on tape - uh, actually books on download and thought they were a hoot. They are set in the homeland, New Jersey, and although none of us lives there anymore we read the mystery series set there; you know, like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.

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I can't wait to start the first book. As for the cakes, which should the first one be? Chocolate? Lemon? Vanilla? I do love the lemony things! It probably doesn't matter since each mix starts out with the baker creaming 2 sticks (1/2 pound) of butter!!! That cannot possibly be bad! Yummmmmmmm......

Thank you, thank you, thank you, my loves! I heart you both!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Javajem says to me... Friday, March 9, 2007

There I was, minding my own business, when my pal at work, Javajem, shows me a Humor Survey being conducted by a fellow knitter. How could I say no? And how can you??? It's not short but rather insightful...after careful analysis of my responses I am.....well, you can read for yourself.

You filled out a questionnaire to assess your learning style along four scales: active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global.

Your learning styles are: balanced active-reflective, balanced sensing-intuitive, verbal, balanced sequential-global.

• active: you learn by trying things out, and enjoy working in groups.
  reflective: you learn by thinking things through, and prefer working alone or with one or two familiar partners.
• sensing: you are concrete, practical, and oriented toward facts and procedures.
  intuitive: you are conceptual, innovative, and oriented toward theories and underlying meanings.
• visual: you prefer visual representations of presented material, such as pictures, diagrams, and flow charts.
  verbal: you prefer written and spoken explanations.
• sequential: you have a linear thinking process, and learn in incremental steps.
  global: you have a holistic thinking process, and learn in large leaps.

Rebecca's sense of humour is most similar to:

• People in their 30's
• People from: United States of America
• Of gender: Male
• Who speak: English
• Your sense of humour is similar to those with a balanced active-reflective, intuitive, visual, and global learning style.

If you'd like to take this survey, contact Eve Forster at Queen's University.