Changing of the guard

At Buckingham Palace. Neat to watch, I never saw when I actually lived in London.

Heading out

When we left Harrods, it was nighttime.

Harrods at the start

When we entered Harrods, it was daylight.

Triple hitter

We went to a Chocolate Bar at Harrods. On the right are three hot chocolates: Italian (like a very light textured pudding, a creme pot de cocoa), Trinidad (white chocolate, like sweet hot milk), and Equador (pure Ghana dark almost bitter hot chocolate with a hint of orange). Yum!

Liked the look of it

A street in Knightsbridge. Kind of cloudy out, not best for iPhone photography.

Sunset view

Out the backside of the hotel. I'm so tired right now. Though I did not sleep at all on the plane, I rested with my eyes closed for about 80% of the time. Since our hotel has a refrigerator and a microwave, we went to Sainsbury grocery store for some basics in food (fruit and yogurt). I took a nap for two and a half hours but I'm up for a bit now before going back to bed for real. Nothing too exciting yet. I just love being here.

Airplanes are miraculous!

I will be flying on a plane like this in about an hour, whoohoo!

I hope to actually sleep a little. To that end, I'm having a mocha right now since caffeine makes me sleepy.

London Awaits

My top ten parts of London that I am looking forward to:

10) Just being there, walking around and taking the tube.
9) the cement rectangles that make up the sidewalks (they are maybe 1 foot by 1.5 feet)
8) Harrods
7) the buildings
6) the history
5) the Parks
4) Afternoon Tea
3) Theatre, plays!!!!
2) Wagamama's (Asian fusion restaurant, the menu has changed since I last went a decade ago)
1) Holy Trinity Brompton church, I became a Christian in London. So in a way, London is my spiritual birthplace.

I probably forgot something. I'll see if this list changes when I get back.

This one is for the Richey kiddos

Everyone else can ignore.

Comics - did I mention that I love them?

Especially, Silver/Bronze Age ones.

Unsticking the back tape of the plastic comic sleeve. Carefully removing said comic. Oh, the anticipation. Haven't done that in a looooong time. I bought some old comics at Comic Con so now I get to do it again. Yay!

The most special memories I have with comics are because of my awesome dad. Before a camping trip, we would make a stop at a comic book store. He would let my brother and I pick out comics to bring and read during the camping trip. I guess I am bit girly because I sort of gravitated to the Lois Lane and Supergirl comics, with the occasional Superman. Of course, I always read whatever Shane choose too. But we are definitely a DC family.

In the 90s, we also collected some of the contemporary comics, like the various Superman titles, Supergirl, and the Legion of Super Heroes. Good times.

Thanks, Dad, for sharing this world with us!!!

Newest Walking Plan

I brought my sneakers and crummy old khaki cut-offs (they were once my favorite pair of pants but then the knees got holes, so cut-offs seemed like the next best option. They also have various shades of yellow paint splattered here and there.) into work to wear for my after-lunch stroll/hike.

I really do love walking.

Google Plus - now what?

Anyone else there? I'm in it but functionality feels limited. I guess I need to remember that it is in beta. I look forward to when that iPhone app comes out. I do like the idea of "hangout" feature and not so sure about the +1 (similar to FB's Like button, I guess).

Well, I guess more playing is required. ;D

Jeffra

Sent from my iPhone

Breakfast!

I'm not the best pancake maker or flipper but sometimes I just can't resist, and I overcome my fear of pancake flipping.

Jane Eyre - What was once My Scathing Review

(Beware: Spoiler-filled!)

Yes, I had high hopes for this movie. I mean doesn't this trailer look awesome and like it really catches the story, right? It's unfortunate that a few key scenes were in the trailer that were not in the actual movie. I hate when they do that, grrrrrr.

Anyhoo, have you read the book? I think this is key to understanding my review. Clearly, I have read it but in fact, only within the last two years.  The core elements of the book/story are (imho):

• Jane's isolation and longing to belong, to have friends, family, love (& I think Mr. Rochester is actually seeking the same)
• The mystery of Thornfield, in gothic style
• Mr. Rochester's taunting of Jane, pulling and releasing her. And this is equally important: Jane's own teasing and taunting of him. As her confidence grows, she truly becomes his equal.
• And well, of course, the Romance of it all.

Pros:

• The actors do quite well. Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) pulls the plain off quite well. Michael Fassbender (Mr. Rochester) is appropriately grumbly, though he is supposed to be a bit more eccentric and unpredictable in his behavior.
• The aura of the movie, I don't know what you call it. The coloring, the music, the stylings, whatever. They were just right. Ah, looked it up, cinematography. Yep, this was great.
• Oh, there is a scene where we are informed that her imagination has overwhelmed her. I liked that addition.

Cons:

• Poor direction. Should we laugh or should we cry? When she as a child bangs her head on the door and is knocked unconscious, was that supposed to be comical or sad? When Mr. Rochester & Jane return to Thornfield unmarried, the house staff in ignorance throw flowers at them and Mr. Rochester yells at them to stop, was this supposed to be comical or sad? When Mr. Rochester tells Jane that he feels tied to her in a way that he has never felt before, was this supposed to be comical or serious? Well, I can tell you that the audience I saw this movie with laughed at all these parts and more that to me didn't seem like they were intended to be funny. 
• Perhaps it is just poor editing rather the directing that caused the above. 
• The mystery of the house was barely noticeable. Where's that gothic feeling of mysterious horror?
• Jane is too somber. I like the idea of her being a free independent spirit that has never really been able to be this way until she settled at Thornfield. In this version, she is so serious that Mr. Rochester goes even so far to ask Jane if she ever laughs? She never seems to tease Mr. Rochester as she ought to do so.
• Perhaps Jane Eyre is not a story that can be told in 2 hours.

I guess I would give this movie two and a half stars. It is possible, as I have ruminated on this more and more that I was heavily influenced by the audience I saw it with and all of their "wrong" reactions. Their laughing and mocking it as they watched it was thoroughly distracting. And I confess to re-reading some of my favorite scenes in the book only a few days before seeing the movie (rarely a good idea).

Ultimately, I highly recommend the 2006 version with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens (son of Maggie Smith, I couldn't believe this when I found out because she is awesome!), the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre TV mini-series. Ruth and Toby are Jane and Mr. Rochester to perfection. (Though, I suppose they are both still a little too pretty ;)

I decided to widen my view a bit by watching two other versions of Jane Eyre. (Thanks to Danielle, I could watch them both streaming through Netflix.)

First, Jane Eyre (1943) with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Of the women you could pick from during that era, Joan Fontaine is a very good choice (I'm thinking of her role in Rebecca (1940), in some ways a very similar character). Orson Welles has a strong screen presence, which works well for Mr. Rochester's character. This movie certainly carries the mystery of Thornfield. The end, unfortunately, is where it fails. It is like suddenly they look at the clock and realize there is only 10 minutes of movie time left but about 4 hours of story time still to go. So major cutting of plot occurs. I suppose it works out okay but it was a bit surprising to someone who has read the book. From character development perspective, Jane's character is not given the opportunity to grow in understanding of herself and her need for family/community in this version. But I don't want to give away the details.

Second, the much talked about Jane Eyre (1983) with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. Now this is actually another BBC TV mini-series. Something like 11 episodes of about 30 minutes each. Now I have to admit not being a big Timothy Dalton fan, only knowing him from some unfavorable roles. However, I think he is able to pull off Mr. Rochester. Zelah Clarke is fine, but a bit too old, being around 28 years old. These two seem much closer in age, so a little less scandalous. Now because this was a low budget mini-series, artistic cinematography is practically non-existent. Most of the interior shots look like cheaper theater sets (& probably are). The story moves slowly, trying to hit a number of the details in the book, but still changing many as you would expect. The soundtrack for this TV series does nothing to help the pace of the movie. Fortunately, this Jane and Mr. Rochester do tease each other. She is gentle but firm while he is brusque and a little wild. It is pretty much what you would expect from a good 1980s BBC TV series book adaption.

My final comment is on a piece of the book that is one of my favorite components that I have not yet seen shown in movie form. And this is after Mr. Rochester and Jane become engaged, he wants to treat her differently, really to treat her as his lover, but she shuns him away. Jane will only see him after dinner and keeps him at a physical distance as well. While this aggravates Mr. Rochester, it also leads him to respecting her more. In this case, Jane is not teasing him but rather securing their relationship as friends, companions and equals before they become a true united couple. I can't figure out why all the film versions ignore this part. It really adds so much more to their relationship and I think it is instructive even for us today.

Okay, so there is my Jane Eyre ramble. I started writing this post on March 28th and have finally finished!!! Phew.

Kitty tussle

The out of the wilderness part

The road not taken part

The lost part

The tall grass part

The desert part