The most important book in the history of PEI

Something to cross off my life-list: I finally read Anne of Green Gables. Up until a few days ago, everything I knew about that book came from cultural osmosis, and having been on the sound crew for my high school's production of the musical (which, now that I know the source material, wasn't as faithful as it could have been). I hadn't even watched the movies - or was it a TV series? Interestingly, despite having never seen them, whenever I see Megan Fellows on TV, I still think of her as Anne. And, speaking of people whom I can't separate from the characters they've played, did anyone else notice Blossom on Bones!?!

Back to Anne, as for the book itself, it actually is pretty great and I totally see why it's adored by millions of little girls across the world. I didn't read this book when I was younger, I think I tried but it didn't capture me. I think, had I kept reading, I would have loved it then. Anne really is an unique character, and the community she lives in seems so much more interesting than the one I grew up in. But, I think, had I read it then, I wouldn't have wanted to be Anne so much as I'd want her to be my friend. And, perhaps, had I read this book years ago, my disdain for PEI wouldn't be nearly as great as it currently is.

One thing that L.M. Montgomery is wonderfully adept at is describing nature. Her book The Blue Castle is one of my all-time favourite books, in-part because of her beautiful descriptions of Muskoka. She really is able to capture the way Muskoka looks and feels. I hadn't known, but that is a hallmark of hers, and all her books contain such evocative descriptions of nature, Anne included.

Also, and this has nothing to do with the book, but I love the symmetry - or maybe it's synergy - of reading a book with a character named Anne Shirley, when I was so recently commenting on the name of Shirley.

Surely

I'm slowly making my way through the collected works of the Bronte women. So far, Jane Eyre is still the best, and Wuthering Heights still the worst, in my estimation. Wuthering Heights, however, is maybe only a little darker than The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which chronicles a horrible and abusive marriage. The main difference is the Tenant has sympathetic characters, and I don't want to slap every single character in the book (just a couple of them). (Aside: I realize that these are many books by three different authoresses, but I can never remember which sister wrote which books, so I just don't bother separating them).

Last night I finished Shirley (by Charlotte, for those of you who care about that kind of thing). At its centre it's the story of the courtship of two couples, but it's also about the limited options for women in days past, as well as the Napoleonic wars and Luddite riots in England (Big shout-out to the Luddites! I am descended from the Luddites, as my father is one).

One really interesting fact is that, when she wrote this book in 1849, C. Bronte was the first person to use "Shirley" as both a first and feminine name. Up until then, it was only a surname. How cool is that? Think of someone you know named Shirley - she has Charlotte Bronte to thank for her name.

And, perhaps most importantly, we have Charlotte Bronte to thank for this:


(the "altogether" is just bonus).

Do we even need PEI?

I just saw an add online for PEI tourism. How long have they been calling themselves The Gentle Island? As opposed to what? The island in Lost? I suppose it's better than calling themselves The Innocuous Island. But, really, is their only selling point the fact that they're not attached to land? We know you're an island! It's in your name! Granted, PEI doesn't have much going for it. I was there once, and I remember it being very flat. Maybe they could capitalize on the tumulosusphobe market? Or, maybe it's about time that PEI stopped pretending it's a real province and gave itself over to New Brunswick rule. At least NB has the magnetic hill, and a catchy, alliterative, bilingual slogan.

On a slightly related note, I've committed to reading the Anne of Green Gables books. I figured that since I am female, Canadian, and living in the maritimes that it was about time I read them.

Greg v. Shaun

About a month ago, I had dinner at Darrell's with Alej. It was the night of the Great Big Sea concert, which I still haven't written about, but I've been meaning to. Darrell's is home of the, I kid you not, peanut butter burger. They say it's good. They may be crazy. I didn't have it. Anyway, when we walked in, there was this older, unwashed-looking gentleman in a booth facing the door, and he looked so familiar. By the time we sat down, I had placed him: Greg Thomey from This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Pretty cool, eh? I now have two squares filled-in on my 22 Minutes Bingo Card (I saw Mercer once, years ago).

Of course, my sister-in-law had to go one-up me. Two days after my sighting of Thomey, she went to the taping of a CBC radio show and Shaun Majumder was there. Not only did she see him, but during one of the breaks she went up to talk to him and shook his hand. I'm so jealous. Majumder totally trumps Thomey. I mean, Majumder knows Kiefer Sutherland. Poor Greg just can't compete.

Whedonverse

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the Whedonverse.

First, Willow and Wesley had a baby (together) and gave it a horrible name, Satyana. Which, I found out, is Sanskrit for "a vehicle for action infused with the grace of spirit." Really. I think even "Buffy" would have been a better name. And I have no idea how to pronounce that. Is it like it looks? Or is Sanskrit like Gaelic in that nothing sounds like you would think?

Then, I find out that even Spike thinks he's too old to play Spike anymore. Dude's 46!

And, sadly, Lorne died. Unlike the geriatric Spike, Lorne was only 33 (which, think about Lorne being 13 years younger than Spike. Weird). That's really sad. He did such a great job with that character. In honour, I'm posting a the dance of joy. Because we should celebrate his life.


(I love Numfar's dance).

Only 5 months until the new Douglas Coupland comes out!

Yclept

Yclept is my word of the day. I love words that look like typos. Yclept has nothing to do with what I actually want to bring to your attention, which is this:


As far as superheros go, I've always been drawn to the more dark and tortured (Wolverine, Batman) as opposed to the do-gooder types (Spiderman, Superman). But a musical about Spiderman by Bono and The Edge? I think that could be kind of awesome.

Three

I was so caught up in U2 ticket sales, and my celebration of Flannery O'Connor's 84th birthday that I completely missed the release of the new Joel Plaskett album, Three. I believe it's called Three because it's a three-disc release, among other things. The track listing and lyrics are here, and you can listen to a couple of the new songs here. This is one of two albums I intend to actually purchase this year. The other, of course, I already bought.

I wasn't going to buy just anyone's cockatoo

I have a bunch of posts in my head, I just haven't gotten around to making them actual. I realize that my internal thoughts are all well and good, but they don't really help any of y'all procrastinate. I will try to do better in the future.

Speaking of "y'all," I had a dream recently that I was in a meeting with my former supervisors and other people who were on my thesis committee, and I called them "y'all." Afterward it was all silence and awkwardness, and significant anti-Ellie looks were exchanged. That's a word I use all the time when I write, but I don't think I've ever used it (un-ironically) in reality - it doesn't slip out of me the way that "dude," somewhat regrettably, does.

I also recently dreamt that I was being hunted by this feral raccoon, but it was mutated and looked more like a sloth (holy crap, those are creepy animals, I don't care how slow they move, if ever there were an argument for animals not having a soul, the sloth would be it. Dude!). The sloth-like raccoon was pursuing me at my parent's house and I managed to elude it. Then it followed me into another dream! I've never had that happen before, when elements of one dream appeared in another. It was cool.

I also wanted to write about this great play I saw with Anne. It was called Ubuntu, and was about a man who comes to Canada from South Africa in search of his father. The cast was only 5 people, and the set was pretty stark, but it was amazing how they were able to create so much with their bodies and motions. In one scene, they were able to create the feeling of a large university library using only a cart and about 10 books. The man who played the father was especially gifted with his movements, able to convey a lot with just the way he held his body. There's a really great example I'd like to share, but it would reveal too much. The play has already been to Toronto, and I don't know if it's going to be touring, but if you get a chance to see it, go for it.

I'd also like to point out how much more rational the Pay What You Can procedure at Neptune Theatre is compared to the Citadell in Edmonton. At Neptune, the Pay What You Can ticket sales begin 30 minutes before the show starts. That's it - no wristbands, no lining up twice, no entire afternoons spend hanging around with the homeless people at the library. So much better.

P.S. -If monday rolls around and anyone is looking for a belated present for me, tickets for U2's Toronto show go on sale at 10am.

Pat and Oswald

This time last year, when I was in Georgia, my cousin introduced me to the comedy of Patton Oswalt (who, because of her accent, I thought was a duo named "Pat and Oswald"). Tonight Patton Oswalt was on Dollhouse. And, since his guest appearance featured both a bed and a stove, it reminded me of a bit he does, that also features a bed and a stove. So, I'm going to encourage most of you (those who aren't easily offended) to check out this bit.

I'd also like to say, is anyone else watching Dollhouse (aside from Deb and Alej)? I accidentally found out about the Mellie twist a week ago. I wish I hadn't known, because it would have been a great reveal. Also, I usually half-tune out during fight scenes, but the one in the restaurant looked brutal. In a good way.