Author Topic: Counting Down to the End of....Downton Abbey  (Read 272776 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2011, 07:25:14 pm »



I was surprised in the latest episode to hear the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Wow! Shades of The Shining!!




I knew it was old, but didn't know how old, Lee!




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_work_and_no_play_makes_Jack_a_dull_boy


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is a proverb. It means that without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring.


History

Though the spirit of the proverb has been expressed previously, the modern saying appeared first in James Howell's Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish  (1659), and was included in later collections of proverbs. It also appears in Howell's Paroimiographia  (1659), p. 12.

Some writers have added a second part to the proverb, as in Harry and Lucy Concluded  (1825) by the Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth:

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,
All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy ”




Uses in popular media

While the proverb is used in several examples of popular media (from James Joyce's short story, "Araby," to Jack Kerouac's Big Sur,  to the 1957 movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai ), probably the most famous example appears in the 1980 movie The Shining,  when a main character's descent into insanity is marked by the production of hundreds of sheets of paper covered with the typewritten sentence "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."

The proverb's psychotic use in The Shining  had some effect on popular culture, inspiring several other works to include a direct homage to the scene: for example, a 1994 episode of The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror V" contained a parody of the phrase, when Marge finds No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy written all over the walls, also mentioned in a episode in Family Guy "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater" when Stewie was riding his tri-bike at Lois's big inherited house and met the twins from The Shining  at a corridor and they said "Come play with us Stewie for ever, and ever and ever" and Stewie replied back to them "All work and no play makes Stewie a dull boy"; and a 2002 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer  -- "Gone" -- includes a scene where Buffy Summers fills a social worker's report with pages consisting entirely of repetitions of "All work and no play make Doris a dull girl."

Also, the Christian band Casting Crowns used the proverb in the song "American Dream".

"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline southendmd

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2011, 07:56:50 pm »
Don't forget Malcolm McLaren!  "Boy's Chorus" from Puccini's Turandot

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrth7i2A624[/youtube]

"All work, no joy, makes Mac, a dull boy."

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2011, 01:30:20 am »


http://austenprose.com/2011/01/25/downton-abbey-episode-three-on-masterpiece-classic-pbs-%e2%80%93-a-recap-review/



Downton Abbey:
Episode Three on Masterpiece Classic PBS –
A Recap & Review


by Laurel Ann (Austenprose)
25 January 2011






Episode three of Downton Abbey aired on Masterpiece Classic on Sunday. The “engine of social change is roaring through society,” its ripples even reaching traditional life at Downton. As the family upstairs and their servants downstairs face change, they are forced to make choices. Some like Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and the Dowager Duchess (COUNTESS!!!) (Maggie Smith) hold on to the past, hoping that the entail can be broken and others like the parlor maid Gwen (Rose Leslie) and Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown-Findlay) attempt to forge their own future out of the norm. Here is a brief synopsis from Masterpiece.






The fair has come to town, and with it comes romantic hopes for several Downton Abbey inhabitants. In a triumph of the absurd, Violet, the Dowager Duchess (sic!  COUNTESS!) asks a baffled Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) to use his legal acumen to dissolve the entail — the very document by which he is to inherit Downton Abbey. Matthew’s findings and his hopes for Downton cement his growing closeness with Robert, the Earl (Earl, YES, correct!) of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and a new warmth suffuses his encounters with Lady Mary.






But Mary’s thaw doesn’t extend to her sister Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) , as their competition becomes crueler. Cora, the Duchess (sic!!  COUNTESS, thank you very MUCH!) of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) simply wants Mary married, but newly circulating rumors may hinder that aspiration. Meanwhile, Violet’s power struggle with Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton) moves from the hospital grounds to the annual flower show as Isobel casts her democratizing gaze upon Violet’s prize-winning roses.






A kind gesture by valet Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) is not lost on housemaid Anna (Joanne Froggatt); but he cryptically professes to not being capable of more. Lady Sybil discovers the politics of gender and class, with the help of the socialist chauffeur, Branson (Allen Leech), and butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) discovers that several valuable bottles of wine have gone missing. The vulnerable kitchen maid Daisy (Sophie McShera), under increased pressure and ire from a fretful Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), possesses a dangerous secret that she learned upstairs.





This episode was all about social changes with many characters pushing and pulling at their station, or each other. One would think that of all the social classes in the Edwardian-era, that aristocrats know their place and what is destined for their lives. The working class can move up if they can, but a family born into a peerage has pretty much made it. This may apply to the men folk, but certainly not for the ladies unless they marry up. I was moved by Lady Mary’s plight. She has come to the grim realization that she is powerless. A pariah. Her conversation with her cousin Matthew says it all. “Women like me don’t have a life. We choose clothes and pay calls and work for charity and do the season, but really we’re stuck in a waiting room until we marry.”






Lady Mary knows that her mother and grandmother’s efforts to smash the entail are futile. Her father, Lord Grantham, has accepted the inevitable. She will not inherit nor be an heiress. She is frustrated and angry. Cousin Matthew has been accepted as the heir and is now the son that her father never had. “Matthew, Matthew, Matthew.”  (Shades of Jan Brady in the 1970’s sitcom The Brady Bunch,  whining “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” ) Her mother isn’t much help either. She thinks her daughter is a lost soul, and she is right. Mary took a lover with no thought of marriage. She is a ruined woman if it is made public.






Ironically, I was reminded of a great quote from Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice  by Mary Bennet. Set one hundred years prior to events in Downton Abbey, not much has changed in regard to woman’s worth and reputations.


“This is a most unfortunate affair; and will probably be much talked of. But we must stem the tide of malice, and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other the balm of sisterly consolation.” Then, perceiving in Elizabeth no inclination of replying, she added, “Unhappy as the event must be for Lydia, we may draw from it this useful lesson: that loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable — that one false step involves her in endless ruin — that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful — and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex.” Chapter 47


Reputations are still brittle, as Lady Mary well knows and her sister Lady Edith even more so. She will use Mary indiscretion against her for revenge. There is nothing more painful than sibling-icide. It’s as old as Cain and Able, and just as ugly.







On a happier note, love is in the air. I had to applaud housemaid Anna for not being a lady and just saying so to the man she loves. What a plucky Miss she is. It is easy to be generous when you have nothing to lose! Kudos also to Lady Sybil. I feel a romance brewing between our spirited rebel and the socialist chauffeur Branson! Just thinking out loud mind you, but they make a handsome couple, even though socially, their romance would not be accepted. Hmmm? Interesting plot possibility.







I will end on a great quote from the butler Mr. Carson. “What would be the point of living if we did not let life change us?”  I couldn’t agree more.

The conclusion of season one of Downton Abbey airs next Sunday, January 30th with episode four.  Will it be a cliffhanger?





"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline David In Indy

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #23 on: January 28, 2011, 03:16:45 am »
I haven't been watching it, but Eric (Chowhound) has been telling me about it and it sounds wonderful. And I just noticed Barnes & Noble is advertising the series for sale both on DVD and Blu-Ray. It's not very expensive either! 8)


http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?store=DVD&WRD=downton+abbey&page=&prod=univ&choice=video&query=Downton+Abbey&flag=False&ATL_lid=vU5msPIL7r&ATL_userid=vU5msPIL7r&ATL_customerid=bH5yyhFN1gmXJga3&ATL_sid=ew6ZXWeN0d&ATL_seqnum=2&ugrp=1

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2011, 07:04:54 pm »



Parody!!
Uptown Downstairs Abbey Part One
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dMlXentLw&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
&feature=youtu.be
 



Uptown Downstairs Abbey Part Two
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=p3YYo_5rxFE[/youtube]
[ Invalid YouTube link ]
;D ;D ;D


« Last Edit: September 09, 2011, 10:48:57 pm by Aloysius J. Gleek »
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Meryl

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #25 on: September 08, 2011, 09:02:51 pm »
And what a parody!  I didn't expect all those name actors.  Very funny!  :laugh:
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #26 on: September 09, 2011, 10:45:44 pm »


Now--not  parody, but the real thing,
second season:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpoSSLeX60Q&feature[/youtube]
&feature




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Amd_hxks8&feature=related[/youtube]
&feature=related




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQHPRdNGtLQ&feature[/youtube]
&feature




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rluWw2W4U0&feature[/youtube]
&feature




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JaogyPobo&feature[/youtube]
&feature




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDCTAdaN7l0&feature[/youtube]
&feature



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #27 on: September 09, 2011, 11:04:33 pm »




[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw1WoyJSl4k&NR=1[/youtube]
&NR=1



"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #28 on: September 12, 2011, 08:30:46 am »
Does this have a theme song sung by Petula Clark?  8)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Have you been watching … (Julian Fellowes's) Downton Abbey?
« Reply #29 on: September 12, 2011, 09:05:42 am »




Does this have a theme song sung by Petula Clark?  8)



I always liked her!   :D





PC 1965
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oQ5KwRSMU[/youtube]



PC 2010
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyoWBlytqtA&NR=1[/youtube]





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petula_Clark


"Downtown" era
 
Neither Clark, who was performing in Canada when the song first received major air-play, nor Hatch realized the impact the song would have on their respective careers. Released in four different languages in late 1964, "Downtown" was a success in the UK, France (in both the English and the French versions), the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Italy, and also Rhodesia, Japan, and India. During a visit to London, Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith heard it and acquired the rights for the United States. "Downtown" went to #1 on the American charts in January 1965, and three million copies were sold in America. It was the first of fifteen consecutive Top 40 hits Clark achieved in the United States, including "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "This Is My Song" (from the Charles Chaplin film A Countess from Hong Kong), and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". The American recording industry honored her with Grammy Awards for "Best Rock & Roll Record" for "Downtown" in 1964 and for "Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance" for "I Know a Place" in 1965. In 2003, her recording of "Downtown" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Clark's recording successes led to frequent appearances on American variety programs hosted by Ed Sullivan and Dean Martin, guest shots on Hullabaloo, Shindig!, The Kraft Music Hall, and The Hollywood Palace, and inclusion in musical specials such as The Best on Record and Rodgers and Hart Today.




Ad for the NBC-TV special that sparked controversy even before it aired

 

In 1968, NBC-TV invited Clark to host her own special in the U.S., and in doing so she inadvertently made television history. While singing a duet of "On the Path of Glory," an anti-war song that she had composed, with guest Harry Belafonte, she took hold of his arm, to the dismay of a representative from the Chrysler Corporation, the show's sponsor, who feared that the moment would incur the racist bigotry of Southern viewers. When he insisted that they substitute a different take, with Clark and Belafonte standing well away from one another, Clark and the executive producer of the show — her husband, Wolff — refused, destroyed all other takes of the song and delivered the finished program to NBC with the touch intact. The program aired on 8 April 1968, with high ratings and critical acclaim. (To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the original telecast, Clark and Wolff appeared at the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan on 22 September 2008, to discuss the broadcast and its impact, following a broadcast of the program.)

Clark later was the hostess of two more specials, another one for NBC and one for ABC - one which served as a pilot for a projected weekly series. Clark declined the offer in order to please her children, who disliked living in Los Angeles.
 
Clark revived her movie career in the late 1960s, starring in two big musical films. In Finian's Rainbow (1968), she starred opposite Fred Astaire and she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her performance. With her role, she again made history by becoming Astaire's final on-screen dance partner. The following year she was cast with Peter O'Toole in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, a musical adaptation of the classic James Hilton novella. (Her last film to date has been the British production Never Never Land, released in 1980.) After that, her output of musical hits in the States diminished markedly, although she continued to record and make television appearances into the 1970s. By the mid-1970s, Clark scaled back her career in order to devote more time to her family. On December 31, 1976, she performed her hit song Downtown on BBC1's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee.
 
Herb Alpert and his A&M record label benefitted from Clark's interest in encouraging new talent. In 1968, she brought French composer/arranger Michel Colombier to the States to work as her musical director and introduced him to Alpert. (He went on to co-write Purple Rain with Prince, composed the acclaimed pop symphony Wings and a number of soundtracks for American films.) Richard Carpenter credited her with bringing him and his sister Karen to Alpert's attention when they performed at a premiere party for Clark's film Goodbye, Mr. Chips.




 :) :) :) :) :)

"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"