Boring music and Merlin
Sep. 22nd, 2008 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
burntcopperMy god. I've never been so bored.
Listening to this week's Friday Night is Music Night because Daniel Boys was on it, and the Daniel tracks had already been put up for d/l on the comm. Normally there's some extra good stuff that the comm doesn't mention because they tend to be a bit focussed. This one was a Charles Strouse fest (Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, a few others). Oh my god. Nothing stands out whatsoever. Even Daniel's stuff isn't that interesting. I'm a few minutes into the second act and am crossing my fingers for some Annie songs at the very least.
Merlin : pretty good. Decent acting, interesting storyline and character set-up, and good effects. The BBC once again haven't been able to resist the requisite slashiness. (several of the comments have been 'and cue the Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana fic is 5, 4,3,2...') Camelot is suspiciously clean. Not that period specific - seems to be a combo of high medieval, some Dark Ages - essentially they've decided to go generic fantasy. admittedly I'd have preferred full-on post-Roman Empire dark ages, but I'm quite happy with non-period-specific.
What I do bloody wish is that some of the commenters would stop whining that it's not TH White or Malory. Seriously. Get a clue. Every generation and take on the Arthurian legend re-interprets it in a different way, picks and chooses which bits, changes the back story of characters, focusses on other ones, dumps stories in it from other traditions. There are no hard and fast rules. You can do whatever you damn well like with it. I didn't see them complaining about the recent King Arthur film (the only problem most people had with that was the screaming historical fuck-ups) or the Merlin that was adapted from The Crystal Cave. Malory grabbed what he wanted and made up other bits, as did TH White. (I have a very low tolerance for either of these versions) Ygraine doesn't have to have been seduced by trickery. Arthur doesn't have to shag his sister. Guinevere can be everything from a servant girl to French princess to very Christian to a British war leader against Arthur's Romans. All of them are equally valid.
Listening to this week's Friday Night is Music Night because Daniel Boys was on it, and the Daniel tracks had already been put up for d/l on the comm. Normally there's some extra good stuff that the comm doesn't mention because they tend to be a bit focussed. This one was a Charles Strouse fest (Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, a few others). Oh my god. Nothing stands out whatsoever. Even Daniel's stuff isn't that interesting. I'm a few minutes into the second act and am crossing my fingers for some Annie songs at the very least.
Merlin : pretty good. Decent acting, interesting storyline and character set-up, and good effects. The BBC once again haven't been able to resist the requisite slashiness. (several of the comments have been 'and cue the Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana fic is 5, 4,3,2...') Camelot is suspiciously clean. Not that period specific - seems to be a combo of high medieval, some Dark Ages - essentially they've decided to go generic fantasy. admittedly I'd have preferred full-on post-Roman Empire dark ages, but I'm quite happy with non-period-specific.
What I do bloody wish is that some of the commenters would stop whining that it's not TH White or Malory. Seriously. Get a clue. Every generation and take on the Arthurian legend re-interprets it in a different way, picks and chooses which bits, changes the back story of characters, focusses on other ones, dumps stories in it from other traditions. There are no hard and fast rules. You can do whatever you damn well like with it. I didn't see them complaining about the recent King Arthur film (the only problem most people had with that was the screaming historical fuck-ups) or the Merlin that was adapted from The Crystal Cave. Malory grabbed what he wanted and made up other bits, as did TH White. (I have a very low tolerance for either of these versions) Ygraine doesn't have to have been seduced by trickery. Arthur doesn't have to shag his sister. Guinevere can be everything from a servant girl to French princess to very Christian to a British war leader against Arthur's Romans. All of them are equally valid.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 01:34 pm (UTC)YES THANK YOU. I haven't even seen it (yet, though if nothing else it's been picked up for US distro already) and frankly I'm psyched because it doesn't seem to be one more Malory retelling. If I want White or Malory, I'll read White or Malory, you know?
no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 06:24 pm (UTC)There was a critic whining on the radio that they didn't have Mordred, or Ygraine being raped by deception and that it wasn't dark enough. Complete Malory fangirl (the interviewer pointed out that she had it on the table in front of her). To which I tend to respond that Guinevere and Lancelot were French inserts. Most of the Arthur stuff doesn't say anything about his birth.
I'm fine with pretty much every interpretation of the legend aside from White, Malory and First Knight (no-one can be that much of a masochist).
no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 05:40 pm (UTC)http://www.amazon.com/Merlin-Crystal-Cave-George-Winter/dp/B00004WG3U
http://www.rambles.net/merlin_ccave.html
no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 05:30 pm (UTC)Indeed ! (http://davidcook.livejournal.com/206739.html)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-22 06:25 pm (UTC)