I *thought* he looked familiar

Sunday was a very Hornblower day. I got through chapters 6 and 7 ("Retribution" and "Loyalty"), which were pretty good, if you were careful not to look at the ridiculous poses they put Ioan Gruffudd in for the menu screens...

Well, anyway, many on my f'list might find it interesting to know that a young, idealistic young officer who showed up in "Loyalty" all keen to serve with Horatio was none other than the young, not-so-idealistic Tom Riddle. That's right, Chamber of Secrets' evil, book-bound hottie was Sir Red Shirt of His Majesty's Navy. Seriously, how could any other country in the whole thing possibly think to defeat England? At that point, it had on its Navy, at various points in time: Mr. Fantastic, Apollo, Wedge, Ra's Al Ghul (no, not Liam Neeson, but the actor who provided the voice of the animated Ra's), and now, Lord Voldemort his evil self. Really, just give up, rest of Europe.

ETA: And this might interest a few folks, too: Lt. Bush was the 8th Dr. Who. So, there you have it. Rest of Europe = pwned

( For the one or two of you who've seen the series, a more squeeeee-filled/weepy reaction to the series thus far... )

I also watched some of The Pretender yesterday. Good Lord, is it formulaic in the extreme (so far, so far! Don't hurt me, ivy03!). Not only do they keep repeating that Jarod is a "pretender" over and over and over, but the helping people shtick is going to need a swift kick in the pants if it wants to remain a draw over time. Sliders got bogged down by the same thing. Ms. Parker's skirts put Ally McBeal to shame, and I'm sure there was a good reason for her to be dressed like a hooker in the first episode. Also, bad guys clearly give up too easily. If Jarod smirks and waves at you as he gets into a cab while you're stranded away from it, track the goddamned cab number down! He's jumped off the boat in mid pursuit? 180, and go back! Scan the harbor, at least, for goodness sakes. The Center can afford bodyguards Ms. Parker and Sydney don't need, but can't scramble some manpower or muscle to comb the place? Jarod is soooooo clever that he tricks them into raiding the room he's next door to, and they don't start knocking on neighbors doors asking after him? Wha' happen?

I assume it gets better, so I'll continue on with it. Lisa watched the pilot episode with me yesterday and was wigged. I told her it was because of Jarod's Vulcan haircut. That, it turned out, was exactly her problem, and she settled down.

( And, if you haven't heard, the short version of my cavity filling rant... )

(no subject)

You Are 70% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

I protest! I am waaaay eviler!

I could do without this

( But as I've been conscripted to work on my lunch hour, I've earned a bit of wasted time )

(no subject)

Having finished my Hornblower box set, I can honestly say the whole thing ought to have ended after the sixth installment. ( Because Ivy will kill me even if the spoilers end up being minor, and they're actually pretty major, so all the better that there is a cut-tag. )

Really, my most significant insight came after I put on Pride and Prejudice, which, given my predilection towards A&E at present, has been on my mind for a while. Despite the excellence of three-fourths of the Horatio Hornblower, Pride and Prejudice remains the most superior miniseries ever shown on that channel. The first disc is almost painful to watch in parts as the bits that are mortifying to Elizabeth Bennet are just as horridly embarrassing for the viewers.

Oh, and my insight was this: the Navy men are much more attractive than the Army men. Watch Hornblower and compare Archie Kennedy, Horatio Hornblower, Mr. Wellet, Lord Voldemort, Mr. Bush, even the Admirals are terribly distinguished versus the army officers in Pride and Prejudice. I may be biased--Navy's in the family, after all (my grandfather was a Naval engineer)--but you cannot beat the men of the Navy, not in those poncy red coats, boys. And lose the muttonchops.