Lynn Johnston announced in 2002 that her comic strip “For Better or For Worse” would finish up in five years. Readers have observed storylines wrapping up, with the Pattersons settling down into retirement. Now Johnston has decided that instead of ceasing the strip entirely, she will be taking a “hybrid” model by mixing new material with old. Her characters, who have been aging in real-time, will go into the ageless mode typical of other comic strips. New plots will also incorporate remembrances from earlier years.
In 1986 I saw the Merchant-Ivory film “A Room with a View“, immediately went to the library to borrow the E.M. Forster novel, read it, and returned to see the movie again a few days later. I remember a summer night in Cambridge, Massachusetts when some friends and I put the soundtrack on auto-repeat and played a 2,000 point all-night game of Spades. On trips to our favorite poster store I would hope to find an Italian version of the movie poster, which I had my heart set on buying (only French and English were in stock). The movie still tops my favorites list. Now, twenty years later in the U.K., ITV is making a new movie adaptation of the novel — not a movie remake the producers would stress, but a fresh interpretation of the book. With such strong actors inhabiting the original roles, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham-Carter, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, it will be extremely different for fans of the first movie to accept new characterizations. But the classics are constantly reinterpreted on film, so a new approach to the details could be very welcome. Eileen Quinn, head of drama for the production company, is blogging about her experiences working on this new adapation. Casting details lie therein.
Tiger cubs triplets at the Philadelphia zoo. They’re ready to meet the public.
As much as I enjoyed Babylon 5, I considered the DVDs too expensive to own. Thanks to Steve I was alerted to a Best Buy deal: $19.99 per season this week. Amazon has a few of the seasons for the same price, but not all.
The number of cats with hyperthyroidism started increasing in the U.S. soon after the use of PBDEs became common.
Persian leopard cubs at the Budapest zoo came out for a photo op. Cuteness abounds as the 2-month-old triplets make their public debut.
I recently mentioned Camp Blaze, a firefighter camp in Washington for young women. For the east coasters there’s similar camp in New Hampshire, Camp Fully Involved, where 15 to 20-year-olds spend a week putting out Dumpster fires in gear weighing almost 100 pounds and learning search & rescue techniques. 14 women from all over New England participated last week in the camp’s first year.
A disadvantage of skipping over commercials with Tivo is that I miss crucial reminders for new programs such as Alton Brown’s Feasting on Asphalt Part 2. I think the Tivo did catch it for me as a suggestion but I ignored it thinking it was a repeat of his first series. Well, Part 2 started on August 4th and will surely be repeated in the future. I’ve got a Season Pass set up now to follow his ride up alongside the mighty Mississippi on a BMW R 1200 GS (yellow). He manages not to break any bones this time around.
Animal-rights activists have been campaigning to shut down the horse meat industry. It turns out that zoos are the largest consumers of horse meat in the U.S. Zoos feed it to carnivorous animals such as lions since it is leaner and better matches their diet in the wild. As the horse meat suppliers gradually shut down some zoos have switched to beef and deer. The Oregon Zoo orders their meat from Canada. The majority of U.S. horse meat is actually shipped abroad.
The most useless “helpful” commuter article ever: the Seattle P.I.’s unconventional ways to beat the I-5 backup. Jet packs, wormholes, and a visit to Spain. Gee, thanks for nothing.