We had a snowstorm on Wednesday, which left the world looking absolutely beautiful: "I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, 'go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'" - Lewis Carroll Niece decides to take a taste of her baby snowman: Last night after work, I and two of my sisters went down to the homestead and shovelled out our parents' driveway. It was a beautiful, crisp night. Related Posts: On Sunday I continued my annual tradition of not watching the Golden Globes as, judging by the ratings, did a lot of other people. I did see, however, that host Ricky Gervais had apparently said some offensive things- no surprise there- to the gathered celebrities which were, depending on who you listened to, either hilarious or shockingly mean- or both, maybe. Unwilling to subject myself to the grisly sight of self-satisfied egomaniacs pontificating on subjects they have little to no understanding of and then patting themselves on the back for their "bravery", I waited until Monday to check out clips of Gervais' monologue. And frankly, it was great. I haven't actually watched a lot of Ricky Gervais; I've never seen the original The Office- and only a smattering of the American version- and haven't watched his stand up either, because I don't generally like blue humour. So mostly I've just seen clips online of him hosting the Golden Globes on numerous occasions, which are admittedly pretty funny with him verbally smacking around the stars, smirking all the while . This was his fifth and final time hosting, and so he apparently decided to burn his bridges on the way out. To be honest, it's not that the jokes were amazing... what was so funny was that he stood there gleefully speaking some very uncomfortable truths to a bunch of pompous celebrities who seem to believe that they have some sort of moral imperative to tell the knuckle-dragging masses how they must live their lives- or else. And the celebrities had to sit there and take it whether they liked it or not... most didn't. Just look at that rictus grin fixed on Tim Cook's face as Gervais ripped into Apple- so great. Gervais hit on a lot of issues that the Hollywood crowd would prefer were swept under the rug- or red carpet, as the case may be. He mocked their constant droning on about "diversity", impishly told the executives in the room that they were terrified of Ronan Farrow- and should be- and bluntly pointed out that most of them knew what Harvey Weinstein was up to, but turned a blind eye to further their careers. He mocked Felicity Huffman's conviction and made an Epstein joke, drawing attention to the fact that a lot of them consorted with the pedophile, even after his conviction. Gervais also sneered at their faux woke-ness: pretending to occupy the moral high ground, all the while dealing with companies with dubious business practices who kowtow to China. He concluded his monologue by advising the stars not to use their acceptance speeches to deliver political diatribes: "You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg." Ain't that the truth. Of course- of course- the celebs didn't listen to this sage advice, so convinced are they that the world needs the benefit of their superior moral insight. But that was the beauty of Gervais' monologue: it cut the virtue signallers off at the knees. Whenever one of them- like Patricia Arquette- started a secular sermon, the spectre of enfant terrible Ricky was grinning puckishly over their shoulder, reminding everyone that these people are out-of-touch hypocrites. The result was that their speeches sounded even lamer than usual... or at least they did in the few seconds of them that I could stomach listening to. Because for one night anyway, someone had called them on their false piety, exposed it for what it was, and laughed at them because of it. Elites with multiple mansions, who travel around the world in private jets, yachts, and stretch limos telling ordinary people to use public transit and conserve power. Celebrities who screech about pay gaps, the Bechdel test, and exploitation of women but who also chummed around with the likes of Henry Weinstein despite knowing what he was, in order to get good roles. Cheering for self-admitted child rapist Roman Polanski. Calling anyone who questions illegal immigration racist while regarding Latinos only as a source of cheap labour: Kelly Osbourne- "Who will clean your toilets?"; Amber Heard- "Just heard there's an ICE checkpoint in Hollywood. Everyone better give their housekeepers, nannies, and landscapers a ride home tonight..." Advocating for increased taxes while making their movies wherever they can get the best tax breaks. Saying that they won't work in Nebraska if the state won't allow dudes in the women's washrooms but having no problem working and marketing in China where there are literal concentration camps. And endlessly whinging about McCarthyism and censorship while voluntarily editing "offensive" parts of their movies out for release in China in accordance with their censorship laws. As Ricky Gervais rightly pointed out, "You did it, not me." Gervais' oft-repeated response to the gasps of outrage was, "I don't care." Most of us don't and haven't for a long time, if ever. You would think that the Hollywood set would realise this, considering how their political ads- in both America and Britain- moved the needle of public opinion not one whit. I can only assume that, surrounded by sycophants and media lap dogs, their insulated bubble and well-padded egos lead them to believe that Ricky Gervais was merely being offensive instead of truthful (and offensive). They actually seem to believe that the hoi polloi need and want them to tell us how to live our lives, and that is the greatest fantasy fiction which Hollywood has ever produced. "Players, Sir! I look on them as no better than creatures set upon tables and joint stools to make faces and produce laughter, like dancing dogs." - Samuel Johnson Related Posts: This image is from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, the 1847 novel by Charlotte Bronte (writing under the pen name of Currer Bell). In the scene pictured, the protagonist- Jane- had been about to marry her employer Mr. Rochester when the ceremony was interrupted by a man on the grounds that Rochester is already married. Rochester admits this is true; years before he was tricked by his father into marrying the man's (Mr. Mason) sister for her inheritance. It turned out that she was even then slipping into the madness which eventually claimed her mind entirely. Unwilling to consign her to an asylum, Mr. Rochester has kept her hidden away in an apartment in the attics of Thornfield, guarded and cared for by a nurse. A danger to herself and others, she has occasionally escaped from the attic, one of those times setting fire to Rochester's bed. Needless to say, when all of this comes to light, the wedding is off. Related Posts: We had been planning on getting back to a regularly scheduled movie night after a hectic holiday season, starting last night. Unfortunately for these plans, there was an afternoon/evening snow storm which then turned into freezing rain, and this precluded our get together. I got home around suppertime and the roads were a mess, so I put on some soup, made a pot of coffee, and gave some thought as to what to watch on my unexpected free night. There was no way that I was going to subject myself to the woke-fest otherwise known as the Golden Globe awards, though I hear Ricky Gervais' monologue was worth tuning in for. I"ll watch a video later on of his clips, with all of the actors' smarmy virtue signalling cut out. I couldn't think of anything streaming that I wanted to watch or, like the new series of The Crown, I'm waiting to watch with a couple of my sisters. I then perused my DVD collection and my eyes lit upon my set of Sherlock series 1-4. I haven't seen the first series in probably four years or so, so I decided to pull it out and watch the first episode A Study In Pink. I really enjoyed this show, though I wasn't a fan of series four, which probably accounts for my not watching the rest of it in so long. I remember when I first heard that there was going to be a modern adaptation of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories: I rolled my eyes. I assumed that it was going to be terrible... much like the show Elementary was/is. In case you were wondering, I'll never be reviewing that show. Having seen and liked Sherlock, I decided to give Elementary (which was made to capitalise on Sherlock's popularity) a chance. I lasted a few episodes... by that time, not only was Watson a woman, but Holmes was a self-tattooing mess who consorted with a steady stream of prostitutes, and- oh yeah, Mrs. Hudson was transgender. I guess the show also dealt with some mysteries, but all I can remember is the characters' angst-y dysfunction. No thanks. Circling back around to my original point, I had no great expectations of Sherlock and didn't watch it when it first aired. After seeing a few clips of the first episode on YouTube, however, my interest was piqued and I watched the first series- and loved it. As a whole, the show has its highs and lows- as previously mentioned, I don't much like season four at all- but it gets a lot right. The writing is clever, the update to modern times works surprisingly well, and the chemistry between the two leads is great. The show's creators, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, successfully made a show which is rich in moments from the original stories, delighting lovers of the literary Holmes, yet is able to be viewed and enjoyed by people who have no knowledge of Conan Doyle's works. It's a very fine line, but it is skillfully tread in these episodes. The first episode A Study In Pink is, of course, a very loose adaptation of A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes novel, and it is a great introduction both to the characters and the world they inhabit in Sherlock. I won't say anything further about the plot here, as I would like to review the show as a whole when time permits me to do so. Suffice to say, it's worth viewing and, even better, searching out the source material.
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