What Do I Know?

Pride and Prejudice at 200

Pemberley, also known as Chatsworth House

Sigh. Pride and Prejudice. It's 200 years old today. I wish Jane Austen could have known how long her novel would thrill movie goers and novel readers long after the pages turned yellow and mildewed with age. 

I saw the movie with Kiera Knightly and Mathew Macfadyen as soon as it came out here in England, and then I visited most of the locations over the next few years. I finally saw the BBC version with Colin Firth and hated it. I couldn't even finish watching the six episodes, that's how bad it was. It was like an amateur video compared to the lush scenes in the Joe Wright 2005 version. Both the acting and the cinematography were several levels below the film version. With Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland as Mr and Mrs Bennet, it's no wonder the actors from the BBC version was a poor imitation.

I analyzed my love for Mathew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy yesterday on my writer blog: Mr Darcy: The Vulnerable Hero. 

Futher reading:

Pride & Prejudice: A Peak Experience My review in September, 2005. 

Eight Minutes of Syrup: I discovered the American version had eight extra minutes tacked on at the end, to its detriment. When I finally saw those eight minutes on the DVD, I hated them. What a cheesy way to end the film!

Friday Zeedonk Blogging: You won't believe what sort of animals live at Groombridge, the Bennet's residence in the film. 

The Royal Mail is issueing Jane Austen stamps. Yes, this is true.

The Bennet's house in the film is actually Groombridge.

And Bingley's house Netherfield was actually Basildon Park. I visited during the drought of 2006, so the lush lawn wasn't so lush.  

And another side of Pemberly—just like its owner, it has two distinctly different sides. 

And for perspective, here is where Jane Austen wrote her novels, at this small desk at her home in Hampshire. 

Friday Sheep Blogging

When we got out of the car at Samphire Hoe, this is one of the sheep that greeted us.
 

To read more about my visit to Samphire Hoe see the previous installment of Friday Cow Blogging.

Don't Call This A Flash Mob

I know, flash mobs jumped the shark a long time ago, even before the phrase "jumped the shark" jumped the shark. 

So I don't click on them any more. But this one slipped through my flash mob videos Twitter screen, and then it showed up on the arbiter of good ideas Andrew Tobias's website. 

And now I'm sharing. 

It's a flash mob in Spain. In an unemployment office. Spain, where the unemployment rate is 26.6%. No, you didn't read that wrong; more than a quarter of the working population is no longer able to find work. 

Things are tough in Spain. 

But here comes the sun, anyway. 

It's all right.

Friday Cow Blogging

Cows at Samphire Hoe near Dover

(Again, I missed Friday, but remember: Friday is a state of mind.)

Last Saturday I took my daughter and her boyfriend to Dover. Since he especially wanted to see the famed White Cliffs, I searched online for a good viewing spot. Several people mentioned Samphire Hoe, the charmingly named piece of land reclaimed from the sea when the Eurotunnel was dug under the Channel.

 

The construction company needed somewhere to put all the material pulled out of the tunnel, obviously. (Or not so obvious: I never before considered what must have happened to all that dirt.) This spot between Dover and Folkestone fit the bill, and as the land mass grew, it was used to store equipment used in the construction of the tunnel as well. Eventually the spot was turned into a nature reserve. It's still owned by Eurotunnel, but managed together with White Cliffs Countryside Partnership.

It's a wonderful place to visit, perhaps on your way to Dover Castle.

As we drove, the clouds grew thicker and thicker. I had to turn on my fog lamps several times, so I was worried that once we got there we wouldn't be able to see the cliffs. No need to worry; the cliffs are so close even thick fog can't hide them.

The cliff at this spot is called Shakespeare Cliff, which inspired the name for Samphire Hoe: 

During the construction of the Channel Tunnel, the area was known as Shakespeare Cliff Lower Construction Platform. In 1994 a competition was organised by Eurotunnel and the Dover Express to find a new name for the newest part of England which was reclaimed from the sea. Hundreds of entries were received, from which the judges chose Samphire Hoe.

Gillian Janaway came up with the name. Having been an English teacher, she was familiar with Shakespeare’s King Lear.

"There is a cliff whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep… The crows and choughs that wing the midway air scarce so gross as beetles; halfway down hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!".

At the time that William Shakespeare was writing King Lear he was said to have travelled regularly through Dover. It was his familiarity with the cliffs that may well have inspired his descriptions. To this day the first cliff on the West side of Dover is known as Shakespeare cliff.

Great story, but this post is really about the cows.

When we got to the parking area at Samphire Hoe (after passing under the cliffs through a one-lane tunnel), I immediately noticed sheep on an outcropping, staring at us. (Next week, Friday Sheep Blogging!) But as we walked along the path, I saw evidence of cows:  their poop is much larger than sheep poop. So I was not surprised when we rounded a curve and found a few black cows grazing the grass. When we walked back, they'd moved into an attractive position overlooking the Channel.

Worth waiting until Saturday for, don't you think?