BBC Online - Gormenghast
Gormenghast - Welcome
On Wednesday I went out to lunch and to hang out with my friend Dennis. The whole time it snowed we kept looking outside trying to tell if it was sticking or not (I don't think he wanted to have to work the rest of the week). The buffet at Tandoor in the University district was decent and there were one or two very good dishes.
After that we visited Cafe Allegro and Dennis showed me two books, one was a reprint of a book on transvestitism that was originally published in the twenties. Oddly the reprint happened in 1954 and contained a strong pro gay rights tone. The other book was a Dover collection of piano pieces written by Erik Satie. I just had to read all the "directions" he included for proper attitudes for playing his music. Dennis suggested that they constituted a surrealist poem if they were read successively, which I had to demonstrate for myself. You must forgive me for not reproducing the absurdities as I believe I cannot do them justice from paraphrasing.
We ended up going downtown and visiting several stores in the Westlake Mall, ogling pens at Monte Blanc, clothes at Hot Topics and books at Brentanos. All in all, it was a pleasant visit.
Jason had invited me over a week ago to visit him and his partner Greg at their home in South Park. Jason picked me up early this afternoon and we drove to Queen Anne to pick up a book he'd ordered and get some supplies for supper. We talked about the idea for an Alphaville fan web page he's been dreaming up, then watched the four-part made-for-television movie BBC did several years ago of Mervyn Peake's gothic moderne trilogy Gormenghast.
It was entirely fabulous and only wished I'd been able to catch more of it when it had been broadcast here on PBS. The casting included Christopher Lee and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the costuming and sets were incredible and the screen play managed to bring this fantastic tragic-comedic story of a dynastic kingdom in decline succumbing to treachery and disregard. A must see, if you haven't yet.
Gormenghast - Welcome
On Wednesday I went out to lunch and to hang out with my friend Dennis. The whole time it snowed we kept looking outside trying to tell if it was sticking or not (I don't think he wanted to have to work the rest of the week). The buffet at Tandoor in the University district was decent and there were one or two very good dishes.
After that we visited Cafe Allegro and Dennis showed me two books, one was a reprint of a book on transvestitism that was originally published in the twenties. Oddly the reprint happened in 1954 and contained a strong pro gay rights tone. The other book was a Dover collection of piano pieces written by Erik Satie. I just had to read all the "directions" he included for proper attitudes for playing his music. Dennis suggested that they constituted a surrealist poem if they were read successively, which I had to demonstrate for myself. You must forgive me for not reproducing the absurdities as I believe I cannot do them justice from paraphrasing.
We ended up going downtown and visiting several stores in the Westlake Mall, ogling pens at Monte Blanc, clothes at Hot Topics and books at Brentanos. All in all, it was a pleasant visit.
Jason had invited me over a week ago to visit him and his partner Greg at their home in South Park. Jason picked me up early this afternoon and we drove to Queen Anne to pick up a book he'd ordered and get some supplies for supper. We talked about the idea for an Alphaville fan web page he's been dreaming up, then watched the four-part made-for-television movie BBC did several years ago of Mervyn Peake's gothic moderne trilogy Gormenghast.
It was entirely fabulous and only wished I'd been able to catch more of it when it had been broadcast here on PBS. The casting included Christopher Lee and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the costuming and sets were incredible and the screen play managed to bring this fantastic tragic-comedic story of a dynastic kingdom in decline succumbing to treachery and disregard. A must see, if you haven't yet.
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