'Tis hot

[mandragora]

And as usual, we're surprised by it. Despite the fact that five out of ten hottest summers on record in Britain have been in the past decade, heat really isn't something that we expect. Rain, we expect and are always amazed when we don't get it. Heat, not so much.

It's hot enough that I voluntarily went to the supermarket this afternoon when, really, I could have waited until next weekend, just so I could drive the air conditioned car. And enjoy the air conditioned ambiance in Sainsburys. Alas, the coolness is now but a distant memory.

Met up with some friends last night. We were going to see Stander (film about a confused South African cop) but it turned out that the internet listing was wrong and we had about 3 hours to go to the actual performance. So, we went to see As You Like It at the theatre instead. *g* One of the things I love about living in London is that such spontaneity is possible. We were right by Leicester Square anyway, on our way to a bar to have a drink and mull over options and, there was the half-price ticket booth. Quick instant change of plan, suggested by myself and the theatre it was. We rejected the musicals (okay, left to myself I might have voted for a musical on the basis that it was So Damn Hot and a musical was suitably mindless, but the Men were Not Going To Some Damn Musical) and went for the more highbrow. Again, my suggestion of As You Like It was accepted, mostly because no one else seemed capable of making a decision. One of the Men even said that it was all happening too fast for him. What is it with men and organising social events and why are so many of them so bad at it? (Not all, I know a few men who are very good organisers).

Rosalind was very good, Orlando okay, and the Shakespearean singing was surprisingly affecting. And, the theatre was air conditioned. Thank you, God.

Am trying to write long SGA story, whilst playing SGA Season 4 DVD in the background (again). Am up to The Brotherhood. Socially inept Rodney and Mensa snark here we come. But it's so hot am having trouble concentrating. Maybe I'll revise some earlier writing as opposed to progressing the story.

Back to wilting.

Comments

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

It's an important marker of being English that we are constantly surprised by the weather. It makes it easier for us to complain about it, and differentiates us from, eg, the Scots(1), who are never surprised by rain.

Gina

(1) especially those on the West of the country. Edinburgh is probably even more over-run by the English(2) now, than it was when I lived there.

(2) I'm from Sheffield. We may not count as English

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes, to the complaining about the weather, although I consider myself as British, not English (what with the Welsh and Irish ancestry).

I'm from a little Derbyshire village 9 miles from Sheffield myself. Very civilised place, Sheffield (parents live now in South Yorkshire about 10 miles from Sheffield).

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Which villages?

Parents still live in Bamford, but I actually went to school in Sheffield so I feel more Sheffield than Derbyshire a lot of the time (especially when writing novel chapters set in Sheffield and involving Old Girls from my old school).

Gina

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Grindleford (I was at school with people from Bamford). Did you go to the Girl's High in Sheffield?

The parents now live in North Anston.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Dad's parents lived in Grindleford after Sheffield and before Bradwell.

And yes, I'm another SHS Old Girl.

Gina

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Such a small world (cliched, but true). I still miss Grindleford.

Me, I went to Hope Valley College for a couple of years and then St Elphins in Darley Dale, Matlock. But I know of SHS, of course.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I was at SHS from the age of nine, because the village school was boring me to tears. Otherwise I might have started at HVC and then seen how things went.

I've driven past St Elphins many times (the kids nextdoor went to Lady Manners).

gina

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Ooh, tell me more about AYLI? Who was playing in it and who directing? Re: Orlando being merely okay, it's a bit of an icky role, isn't it? I've seen the play twice, and neither time was the Orlando much good. I begin to think that he as a character rather pales in comparison to Rosalind's fearsome competence and vitality. I find myself wanting Rosalind to get her man not so much because he is remarkable, but because she wants him and damnit, should have what she wants. But I'm sure there must be a way of playing Orlando that makes him more than just Rosalind's foil. After all, I used to think Orsino was an unplayable role (yet another love interest overshadowed by a strong comedic heroine) until I saw Toby Stephens's take on him in the Trevor Nunn film of "Twelfth Night".

Incidentally, will be seeing Love's Labour Lost next week, and As You Like It and Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead later in the summer. We actually run to a bit of culture in the colonies, amazingly enough, although we're not lucky like London,a nd just able to spontaneously go to the half-price ticket booth and grab tickets on a whim to a world-class play or musical or concert. Not that I'm jealous or anything. Oh, no. Green's my natural skin tone; that's not envy.

I'm sorry it's so hot there. I've stocked up for summer, with a big standing fan in the living room and a biggish desk fan for the bedroom. Given how small my flat is, I think the two will create enough crossflow of air to keep it from being too oven-like. Of course, as soon as I got the fans, the weather promptly cooled. Bloody temperate climates, always being contrary just to spite the residents. Is there air-conditioning in the office where you're currently working?

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Okay, the cast were:
Helen McCrory (Rosalind), Sienna Miller (Celia), Dominic West (Orlando), Sean Hughes (Touchstone), Reece Shearsmith and Clive Rowe (Duke Senior).

The blurb reads:
This new production by Young Vic Artistic Director David Lan, designed by Richard Hudson (The Lion King), keeps the play in France where it is set but updates it to the late 1940s with music in the style of the great French chanson.

The time period worked pretty well, I thought, as did the songs. Hughes is a well-known comic in Britain and Rowe is known for musical theatre, as well as his performances with the RSC, which partly accounts for the excellence of the musical interludes.

I agree with you about Orlando. If only Shakespeare had written a male lead with the strength of Benedict, say (I absolutely adore the Benedict/Beatrice banter in Much Ado About Nothing - now there's a true marriage of equals). Ah, well, it's always a joy to see Rosalind strut her stuff. And maybe one day I'll see an Orlando who's worthy of her.

Glad to see that you're going to be taking in a bit of Culture in the coming weeks. The green suits you BTW. I don't take nearly enough advantage of living in London, but it is nice to be able to be spontaneous, on occasion.

I have an air cooler in the house, but it's not particularly good. Better than nothing, though. But, 33C in June - hottest June day since the Great Drought of 1976. And no, no air con in the office. I have started a campaign for it, mind you. *g*

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

MENSA?! Gah!

There's a Mensa chapter on Atlantis? [google] Holy crap.

Look, >50% of the people I work with daily (and yes, [brag] self included [but you knew that]) could qualify for Mensa, but we don't bother. You know why? Because most of the people we know who choose to join that organization are idiots. Sure, they take IQ tests well, but they can't seem to find any other way to define themselves. What do you DO with those brains, if you supposedly have them? That's what counts - what you produce.

It's an automatic negative if you put that on a CV for a biomedical research job, at least in the US. I'd like to think that the engineers have a similar attitude...

I mean, WTF do you do at a Mensa meeting except talk about how smart you supposedly are?

Socially inept Rodney and Mensa snark here we come.

Much snark. Socially inept is a common characteristic of members, for sure.

/rant

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Yes, that's the joke; that the socially inept McKay is a member of Mensa, whereas the rather cooler Sheppard passed the test but chose not to join.

I think it's widely known that being in Mensa is, well, not something that you'd necessarily boast about. There's no way I'd join, that's for certain, although I could if I wanted to.

Incidentally, McKay is a bona fide genius, whereas Sheppard is simply very bright. There's a qualitative difference between the two, although I don't know how many people realise that being a member of Mensa doth not a genius make. God, no.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Oh, actually, thinking about it, I'm doing Sheppard a disservice. In general, he comes into the 'very bright' category, but he is a genius at maths (although he chooses to conceal it; we don't know why as yet).

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

...I could if I wanted to.

No doubt in my mind. That counts for many of the original SaB folk. What a great bunch of brains. I love brains. Well, not in that way.¹

And simply (as in merely) and very bright should rarely be put together. There aren't a lot of very bright people, or people who let themselves.

And speaking of eating brains, did you know that Ash was the male lover of Set, and that's the name of the Bruce Campbell character in the Evil Dead movies.

1. "Balls of string have twiney goodness."

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. Braiiiiiinnnnnnssssss. Yummy. (Love the cartoon).

I agree with you that 'simply' very bright is a bit of an misnomer. But it was in the context of comparison with someone who is a genius, and there is a qualitative difference between the two IMO.

I did know that Ash was the lover of Set, but not the Bruce Campbell connection.

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

Yep, there is a qualitative difference. I know very few geniuses, among a crowd of literally hundreds of very and extremely bright people.

I don't know that there was any intention originally with the name, but there was an Army of Darkness comic that pits Ash agains his evil Egyptian counterpart.