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Post by Stormrider on Nov 20, 2009 7:04:18 GMT -6
I would say that your story on the history of smoking regulations is pretty much the way it happened in Illinois, too.
I was never much of a smoker; and when I did in my late teens-early twenties, it was not more than 4 smokes a day--if that. I never really liked it and just ended up quitting cold turkey. I always hated going to bowling alleys because those were so smokey and all my clothing and hair would reak of cigarettes when I came home. If it is not good for you health, why keep doing it? And it costs some much now days.
The Camping Out episode was pretty good. I did enjoy it more than the others. Although I did like Diamonds are a Man's Best Friend, too. I liked that everyone was tapped out on cash before the week ended. By trying to cheat each other out of the reward for finding the diamond showed how deparate they were to get a few extra pounds in their pocket. But where did all those costume diamonds come from anyway? Seems weird they would be lying around the store when a real diamond was lost. I was starting to think it was some kind of a set up by the rich lady.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Nov 20, 2009 12:41:43 GMT -6
Hello Again! ~~~
.... That plot in the "Diamonds" episode sounds like a improbable one, just as at least several others in AYBS? ( & perhaps other shows like it ) tend to get sometimes, sometimes bordering on sheer fantasy ( & not of the "Heroic" variety, but more of the frivolous kind )... I think as the show wore on through the years, some of the premises & devices employed approached the level of absurd, ridiculous & preposterous...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Nov 25, 2009 6:31:33 GMT -6
I forgot about Gosford Park ( the movie ) ! ~~~
A deserve a rap on the knuckles for that ommission...
Of course, it was a big hit back in 2001, won some Oscars & all that, so many of you have probably seen it already, but it's always worth a second look...
Gosford Park has an extensively long list of British actors in it ( & Stephen Fry makes an appearance toward the end of the movie as the bumbling Police Detective Inspector )...
One thing I've noticed recently, when watching some of the more recently made Brit mysteries on TV ( including, but not limited to: Masterpiece Mystery! ) is how much it appears that Gosford Park has influenced these subsequent productions, especially stylistically speaking, but also as well as in tone, mood & feeling ( as well as pacing )...
It turns out that the writer behind the movie, Julian Fellowes, is an actor who my wife & I both recognize as being "Lord Kilwillie" from The Monarch Of The Glen series - ( another one of our favorite Brit programs, which I have mentioned before, but not in this thread ) - Mr Fellowes is yet another Brit actor who I could picture easily filling a role in a "Hobbit" movie - he too would make a good Bombur, by the way...
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Post by Stormrider on Dec 5, 2009 5:45:58 GMT -6
I watched a DVD with three episodes of Red Dwarf. It was pretty good. How did they decide on the name "Red Dwarf" for this show anyway?
I liked the first episode. They were messing around with a time warp and ended up in Dallas Texas on the day President Kennedy was assassinated. They changed the course of history by stopping Lee Harvey Oswald from killing JFK.
The second episode was how Rimmer was selected to replace the super hero guy when his time was up. It was ok but not as good as the Dallas episode.
The third episode was called Ouroborus and was how the captain became his own father and his ex-girlfriend his own mother. That one was good.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Dec 9, 2009 20:46:53 GMT -6
Hello Again! ~~~
I used to watch Red Dwarf on one of our local PBS stations ( KTEH, the one that always tended to specialize in Brit shows )
Those three episodes sound like the much later on episodes, I don't know which season or whatever ( although I'm sure it is all listed in the Wikipedia article about the show )...
The first episode I ever saw must have been the first one in the series, because it involved Dave Lister waking up from his state of suspended animation to discover he had been "asleep" on this free-floating spaceship for millions of years, & finding himself all alone there, except for the presence of the hologram, Rimmer...
As I recall, the first few episodes were mainly concerned with the clash of personalities between Lister & Rimmer, Rimmer being vain, egotistical & officious & scrupulous about "rules & regulations" ( he reminded me an awful lot of the character "Frank" from M*A*S*H ) whereas Rimmer is more easy-going ( although clearly rather unhappy about waking up to find himself in this dreary situation ) and he tends to tease & insult Rimmer a lot, as well as playing practical jokes on him as well... ( since the two have been compelled to become "bunk-mates", you could say that Lister is like the "Hawkeye Pierce" character to Rimmer's "Frank" character )...
That was just in the beginning, of course, then the other main characters began to get added, mainly the android, Kryton, & the Cat character...
My guess about the naming of the show is that it has something to do with ( in astronomical terms ) actual "Red Dwarfs" being the most diminished of stars - the suns that emit the least light & are the coolest...
( which would be another sardonic slap at the whole Sci-Fi show & movie genre, as well as an ironic, self-effacing put down [ & a kind of "pe-emptive strike" ] on the Red Dwarf show itself )
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Dec 22, 2009 20:52:32 GMT -6
Hello, Again - It's me, Ardo ( not Fredegar --- Freddy, if you want me to change my "avatar" ( to avoid further confusion, I won't mind - I'm sure I can find something else )...
We still can't get enough of those Brit shows - Lately we have been watching episodes of Midsomer Murders & enjoying them - & last night we got about halfway through Murder Most Foul, from the 1960's - with Dame Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple...
Of course, these adaptations of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories bear faint resemblance to the original works, ( unlike the Masterpiece Theatre Mystery! adaptations that came later, which were much more faithful to the books ) and the '60's movies are basically just comedies, & vehicles for Dame Margaret & her regular co-stars, which include the character of a platonic male companion / aide de camp for Miss Marple & the Detective Inspector who is always at odds with Miss Marple until she solves the murder ( or murders ) by the end of the story... This film was the fourth in the series ( probably the last, too ) It's in authentic Sixties Black & White, which also adds to its allure ( for me, anyway )...
I'm hoping we get to finish that movie tonight....
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Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Dec 23, 2009 23:44:56 GMT -6
Hello, Again - It's me, Ardo ( not Fredegar --- Freddy, if you want me to change my "avatar" ( to avoid further confusion, I won't mind - I'm sure I can find something else )... No need. I've already changed mine. Now that I've graduated to Dúnadan rank, this one seemed appropriate. Part of my Fredegar character's background is that he served as a squire to a Dúnadan Ranger. So he's now dressing the part. He's still a hobbit but one with a fancy hood.
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Post by Stormrider on Dec 27, 2009 8:45:51 GMT -6
Hi Ardo and Fredegar!
I guess I was so used to Ardo posting on the British Show thread that I didn't pay attention when Freddie posted on it using the same Bilbo avatar! I'm usually in a hurry when on line and not paying attention to who was who was the real cause for the mix up. But I am glad Freddie is happy with his Dúnadan avatar now.
Yes, The Red Dwarf episodes I received from NetFlix where later in the series. I thought I was getting the first in the series but when it came to me and said Season 7? I was surprised. Again, I was in a hurry while on line and selected a later set of episodes. Thanks for the explanation of what Red Dwarfs are. I never knew that.
I got the first couple of episodes of "One Foot in the Grave." That is an interesting show and one that I can relate to. I will be 58 in March and I know that I will have plenty of things to keep me busy when I retire!
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Jan 5, 2010 19:06:44 GMT -6
Greetings Again!...
There's been a lot of Pledge Drives going on on the local PBS stations here through the month of December, but it seems like it's getting back to regular programming again, so we have seen a couple more One Foot In The Grave episodes recently...
Another excellent series I recommend ( if I haven't mentioned it already ) is Doc Martin, about the grumpy, rude GP, Martin Ellingham, who comes to the small Cornish seaside town of "Port Wenn" to be the town's only doctor... Some drama, but mostly more in the comedic vein, with a continuing theme revolving around the Doc's relationship with the lady schoolteacher, who is attracted to Martin, although often put off by his rudeness and lack of "feeling", and martin is attracted to her, but he is so "uptight" that he has a hard time expressing his feelings towards her, and also circumstances always seem to be intervening between their getting together...
On the PBS station where it airs locally, the series has just recently begun all over again at the beginning... I'm not sure as to it's availability on DVD, as I've yet to see it at the library, but maybe it is available through Netflix or something like that...
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Post by Stormrider on Jan 5, 2010 21:47:13 GMT -6
Is that Doc Martin as in the designer of those heavy thick soled shoes? Just kidding! Sounds like it could be a quaint show. I will have to see if I can get it on TV if it is a regular time slot show. Otherwise, I might have to Netflix it.
I've got another episode of Red Dwarf in the mail today. I probably won't get to watch it unti late tomorrow night and/or Thursday night. Drill team practice on Wed. night.
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Post by Vanye on Jan 5, 2010 22:49:37 GMT -6
Doc Martin is quite a character & he is very like someone w/ Asperger's i.e. he hasn't a clue to how his behavior affects other people & you find yourself wanting to strangle him at times. He thinks that everybody else has or is the problem as he is totally logical & direct in dealing w/a village full of admittedly quirky citizens of the rather remote area on the Cornish coast. His reaction to a medical emergency is spot on; his problems come in interpersonal relationships.
I really like this show & it is in it's 3rd or 4th season tho we have only seen the first one so far in our broadcast area. 8^)
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Jan 6, 2010 2:55:56 GMT -6
Hello Vanye!...
That is an excellent description of the Doc Martin character!
The way the series has been shown around here, they go through the first three seasons or "series", but ( like many British shows ) there aren't necessarily that many episodes in a "season", so I think the entire three seasons go by in a matter of a few months...
The last time I looked up Doc Martin on Wikipedia, the article mentioned that there were plans in the works to this "Series Four" starting last year in April... I have yet to see any of those episodes...
( actually, I just checked out the official site of the Doc Martin show ( itv ) & filled myself in a bit on what was going on during this latest series, which apparently just ended... But I still haven't seen these new episodes...)
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Jan 22, 2010 22:17:26 GMT -6
A Very Fine & Good Evening To All...
My latest discovery in the realm of Brit shows is Life On Mars ---
This is a great show!... A bit like The Prisoner in some ways, sort of a "conundrum" of a premise, where the protagonist is a policeman in the present day who gets in an accident, & finds himself transported back to 1973 - and also finds that he has been "transferred" to the police station with the macho / male chauvinistic narrow-minded Chief Inspector & his equally backward minded barbaric lieutenants, & experiences a formidable case of "culture shock"...
The conundrum part comes in where they try to keep you guessing all the time: Is this really happening, or is he just in a coma and is hallucinating the whole thing? ( although everything that is happening in "1973" seems to be very real ) Or maybe is he dead, and he has gone into some sort of "purgatory" , or has he somehow wandered off into a parallel universe, or what?..
Sometimes there are possible hints - like that bartender who seems like he might know something about sam Tyler may have come from and where he might be going...
( & the remark by the head honcho guy at the police station that Sam "requested" to be transferred to that station )...
Anyway - I just now found out that there was an American version of this same show recently produced on ABC - I never saw that version, so I don't know if it as good as this BBC one - maybe it was...
Anyway, I'm digging all this '70's "nostalgia" ( "The Seventies are the new Fifties" )
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Post by Stormrider on Jan 24, 2010 9:04:26 GMT -6
I was surprised when you said that Life on Mars was a Brit show because I caught a couple of the episodes and Harvey Kitel was in it. I didn't see the first episode but it was on Wednesday nights right after LOST! last year. Since that was my drill team night, I taped LOST! and watched it as soon as I got home. I saw a couple of the intros to Life on Mars since it was part of the extra 5 minute taping time that I tacked on to the end of my LOST! recording. I never did get into that show because if I don't come in right from the beginning, I get confused and don't like to have to get up to speed on the story.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Feb 28, 2010 4:31:48 GMT -6
Hello Stormrider! ~~~
Well, you saw the American version of Life On Mars...
This show is one of those "conundrum" series - but I have been much less concerned with finding out how everything is going to be resolved, so much as enjoying the storylines in the individual episodes, the characters portrayed, the Seventies setting, etc...
There's a little bit in the way of explanation of what's going on with all the weirdness in the story at the beginning of each episode ( "...My name is Sam Tyler... I am a policeman... I was in an accident... I woke up in 1973... Am I in a coma?... Or did I travel back in Time?... Will I ever be able to get back?..." )
Of course, it's better to see the series from the beginning, but I think it's possible to enjoy the individual episodes, just going on the information given in that "sypnosis / intro" & not get all that confused about what is going on ... - also, there's those recurring "devices" in each episode ( such as when Sam suddenly hears the voices back on the "other side" - the nurses, the doctors, his mother, around his hospital bed [apparently] with the sound of a heart monitor beeping loudly in the background ) & it's not like you need to have seen the previous episode to understand what's going on...
Inotherwords, even though it is a contiguous serial, every episode ( except maybe for the last one, where presumably, "all will be revealed" at the end ) is also self-contained...
But, I could understand not wanting to go through all the trouble to have to do all that "catching up" with this show...
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