They got it wrong...

I guess this is a continuation of my last post. I watched the second part of PBS' Masterpiece Theater version of Wuthering Heights last night. It was only an hour. Combined, they gave 2.5 hours to this majestic book. They should have skipped it all together. Number One Peeve (I apologize for shouting): HEATHCLIFF DID NOT SHOOT HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll say that again. Heathcliff did not shoot himself! And the whole death scene with Cathy...for Pete's sake. They left out the majority of the speeches. Heathcliff and Cathy had a heck of an emotional breakdown/fight before she died. And let's not forget the emotional meltdown she had that started her sickness to begin with. Some of the best writing of the book was left out. It was horrible. Made me think I was losing my mind, that I didn't remember the story as well as I thought (hah, I've read it so much in English I can - and have - read it in Spanish!) . So I pulled out my time-worn copy, and followed along. Yep. They left out a whole lot of the emotional, twisted, heart-wrenching speeches between Cathy and Heathcliff. And the whole scene where Edgar runs into Isabella? Puh-leeze. NEVER HAPPENED. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when she bursts into the kitches at the Grange shortly after Cathy dies, and relates how she ran away from Heathcliff, etc. Fabulous stuff. They left out a majority of the wild, obsessive, mental distraught/deranged verbiage between Cathy & Heathcliff. Made it look like, gee, Cathy got sick and died, not that in a fit of pique and stubborness and revenge she WILLED herself to die. Read chapters 11 - 16. I am soooooooo disappointed in PBS & Masterpiece Theater. What a hack job. All in all, they get a big fat F from me.

Getting It Right

Last Week’s Sitrep: Tues – 30 treadmill, 10 minutes crunches, 20 minutes bicycle Thurs – 45 minutes Life Fitness Circuit (setup w/1 set on 16 machines - weights, computerized system) Sat – 40 minutes swimming (making games up so my little & I were moving) This week: Goal - 3x workout at gym Completed 1x on Sun – 35 minutes weights (legs, arms, abs); 15 minutes Treadmill

Yet another attempt at adapting “Wuthering Heights” for film aired last night on PBS. It was okay, but disappointing so far. One and a half hours, when normally they go an hour and forty to forty five minutes. Yes, that’s only 15 minutes or so. You’d be surprised how that makes a difference. There was beautiful scenery. But the skips in the story drive me mad. An absolute lack of chemistry between the actors playing Heathcliff and Cathy was jarring to me. And the way they cut lines from some of the most important scenes, or re-worked them. Example: the scene Heathcliff runs away. He overhears the conversation between Cathy and Nelly up to the point she says it would degrade her to marry him. Then he runs off. After making her dramatic declaration “Nelly, I am Heathcliff”, in the book she soon learns he overheard, and she ends up getting sick in the rain trying to find him/waiting for him to return. Thus she ends up at Thrushcross Grange to convalesce. They trashed that whole conversation. This is one of the best scenes of the book, and lays much of the groundwork for Heathcliff’s determined destruction of them all. And then the way they kept switching the order of scenes around. The whole sketchy, jumping around, no explanations with Linton & Catherine (the daughter) at the beginning was so unnecessary. Confusing, detracts from Cathy/Heathcliff…I can only imagine what someone new to the story would be thinking. They have this problem with a lot of the film adaptations of WH. Either they don’t care to dedicate the time needed to fully adapt this book to film, or the person adapting hasn’t read the book, or read it enough. I just don’t understand, especially PBS. Maybe it’s because they’re trying to modernize Masterpiece Theater. I noticed some glaring shortening/editing of the Jane Austen films last year that left them disappointing. Why do they do this when I know they can do it right? Just look at that marvelous adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Of course, I’m probably a bit biased as my first introduction to “Wuthering Heights” was the movie adaptation with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Granted, it’s an adaptation that only covered the first half of the book, including the end of the book with Heathcliff’s death. But the acting, the passion between the two leads, the fact that they didn’t re-work the order of the book, or alter/omit lines in the important conversations…now that is what makes the difference, I think. Ah, well. I’ll tune in next week no doubt, to see how they butcher the conclusion.

Look, it's an Elk!!!!

No, it's a Llama! "Hunter Shoots Wild Llama Thinking it's an Elk"

And I thought I had bad days. I think this might top any bad day I've ever had. Can you imagine how stupid this guy must feel? On an international level, no less!

Especially since he even wasted his tag on it. For Pete's Sake.

This is an elk. This is a Llama. Any Questions?

And this is a Moose....Grizzly Bears...Black Bears. Just in case.

Why do we let these people into my state? Oh, that's right. Money.

PS - Blogger is giving me fits lately on my work computer...so I hope this all shows up. Half the time I can't see what I've posted.

Do You Ever?

Understand this: you are the ONLY ONE who can change and cast off these shackles of limitation and turn your life into what you want it to be…until you do step forward, you will be a prisoner within yourself, a shipwrecked spirit without rudder or compass, subject to the winds of your own self-imposed limitations…or even worse, the limitations of others. ~ Alden Mills on Charlie Mike http://perfectpushup.blogspot.com/2009/01/perfect-promise-part-ii-team-perfect.html

Sometimes, when I listen to music, read a passage in a book, when the air and light are just so I feel like my inside self is doing pirouettes across the grass. As if I’m leaping through the air, like dolphins on a sunny day. Sometimes I truly understand what the Grinch felt when his heart grew two sizes. Sometimes, when I’m too tired, too stressed, too something, I feel like pulling in as much breath as my lungs can hold and just letting it out in the longest, loudest scream I can manage. Sometimes, when the sky is gray, the clouds play peek-a-book with the mountains, and it’s just plain cold out, I feel my heart squeeze tight with happiness, and can't help but sing. Sometimes, walking down a hallway at work, dealing with the minutia of life, I hear a carnival theme echo in my head. Sometimes, I don't. Do you, ever?