Bodice Rippers: 2009 Archives

Best houseguests EVAR. Junk shopping, Kaiju popping, Okonomiyaki flipping happy goodness. Paul & Melissa.

Sunday was super hot so we had an impromptu Film Fest, with banana shakes and sundry other boozes. Once the sun went down Paul got to work in the kitchen and made a series of Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake-like griddled dish) of ever increasing complexity and awesomeness. The Grande Finale was Octopus & Hamhock— or, HAMHOCKTOPUS—that bloo my mind. For real, it was superb! Whoddathunkit???

Pose Doll by Melissa! She is so dreamy, I will name her and play dress-up for DAYS. More, better pictures to come!

And last but not least, Mr. Kallisti has spent the last few months dissecting vintage Kappa, analyzing how they were made, and recreating the art of Kappa Kraft!

Film Fest for the Aging Hipsters:

Pride & Prejudice Blu-ray Edition (BBC 1995)

BOOYAH! I'm so excited. P&P prints have been notoriously bad. The Amazon page above has several nice examples of the cleanup they've done to get this print sparkle.

I've owned nearly every edition of this series, from the initial VHS, which I watched til it disintigrated, and 2 subsequent dvd editions of varying states of UGH. Vive le Hi Def! I can't wait.

What I did over the Christmas holidays... It started out with Mr. Kallisti downloading "The Devil's Whore" for me "cuz it sounded like your type of thing. Y'know, whores..." It snowballed from there as I watched Charles I beheaded three times over the two week slowdown! It has taken me 2 more weeks just to finish this post, oy!

Here's the line-up, all highly recommended, in rough chrono-order.

1638 to 1660: The Devil's Whore [IMDB]

By and large, there are two categories of period drama. The first is White Petticoat Drama, where people do a bit of frisky fan-work, have a picnic that involves a huge ham, and then live happily ever after. The second is Dirty Period Drama - where everyone is covered in boils, wees out of the window, and palpably suffers from the lack of antibiotics and/or mobile telecommunications. The Devil's Whore is definitely in the second category. John Simm's fleas should make the credit list. Oliver Cromwell clearly pongs. It makes a dirty war a very dirty war. But one that, against all the Civil War odds, makes great telly.

-Caitlin Moran, The Times

1640 to 1660: "By the Sword Divided" (1983) [IMDB] [WIKI]

A bit obvious to say, but if you liked Poldark you'll really enjoy "By the Sword Divided." Classic low budget, yet brilliantly written and performed eighteen hour series from the BBC. It also aired on Masterpiece Theater in the late 80's. One of the few period dramas to deal with the English Civil War, before and aftermath.

1660 to 1685: Charles II - The Power & The Passion (The Last King in the U.S.): [BBC] [IMDB] 2003, covers the life and adventures of Charles II of England, played by the ever roguish Rufus Sewell. Mwrowr.

1673 to 1722: The First Churchills [IMDB]

The First Churchills: 1969! Covers the period 1673 through 1722, based on the biography by Winston Churchill of his illustrious ancestors, the first Duke & Duchess of Marlborough. Susan Hampshire & John Neville are sublime.