Downton Abbey

Thanks to a little tip off from Miss Cornelia, the Duchess of Teslace, I've been made aware of a TV miniseries called Downton Abbey.

Written by Julian Fellowes who seems to make a speciality of Edwardian drama, having written the screenplay for Gosford Park as well as portraying people such as Winston Churchill and George IV during his acting, again brings the lives of the aristocracy vs. their servants into scrutiny.

The Earl of Grantham, his wife, three daughters and a multitude of servants currently live in Downton Abbey. The first episode opens with news that the Earl's cousin, the Heir Presumptive, and his son are both among those lost aboard the Titanic. It turns out that under the inheritance entailment that whoever becomes the new Earl will also inherit the entirety of the Estate. The miniseries follows the twists and turns of the family up until the start of World War 1.

English inheritance law has been the subject of drama before, most notably in Dickens' Bleak House. Viewing numbers for the ITV production were impressive to the point where it has been confirmed a second series will go into production. However executives at PBS, who have bought American screening rights, are a little concerned that the detailed plot might be too much for their audience and plan to cut 2 hours out of the 8 hours of the series. Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS network admits that American audiences demand a 'different speed' to their shows. And because they're taking an axe to it PBS also believes its audiences will need an American to outline the key themes of the show so Laura Linney is going to give an introduction to the series.

I'm surprised they haven't added subtitles to help poor American audiences cope with the Northern accents of the servants.

Frankly I would urge potential American viewers to contact PBS letting them know that despite a seemingly endless supply of "reality" shows you do not have the IQ of a goldfish and would prefer to see the series in its entirety.

Lest We Forget

I still cry like a baby when I hear this version.

Who Knows About Your Second Life?

(*Stolen from Zaida, who stole it from SLuniverse*)

Who knows about your avatar?
Only a few friends know my AV specifically, but most family and friends know I'm on SL.

Who doesn't?
Work. Uni. Although my Uni had/has a sim in SL I don't think they ever did much with it.

Are you 'proud' to have a Second Life avatar?
Not proud, but not ashamed.

Are you proud enough to tell your friends?
Have done. A few have even come into SL and met the AV directly. Even discovered one Babbagite was an old RL friend because I recognised her voice on a sound file.

Are you proud enough to tell your family?
I've told them I play SL (though Mum's probably forgotten). My mother has enough trouble working out how to save a picture attachment from email. I'm not about to explain the intricacies of a virtual world.

If you do tell, how do they react?
A few friends have tried it but it didn't grab them. Omega and Grrbrool have been in SL but have moved on.

Do you think their reaction is because something is wrong with having a SL avatar or that they're daft and closed minded about your game life?
No. Most are busy with their specific hobbies, be it Lego, Star Wars, or whatever. I had a couple of friends who came along to the last Doctor Who podshock and have listened to my Breakfasts in Babbage without being in SL but nothing beyond that.

Greg Merryman's passing a few months back has made me think I need to organise a "If I'm dead" file. No-one else has access to my email and I don't have a partner who could pass on that information. And I do my best to encourage the cat to stay off the computer.

Steampunk is not a lifestyle

So many people seem desperate to add things to Steampunk that aren't there or that are parts of other subcultures they like. Steampunk is, at it's most basic, a nostalgia concept. Nostalgia for the Victorian era. This is not a new concept either. Looking back at a time where manners were arguably better, where goods and clothing were made to last (even the ones that came off a production line), where war was something you might read about in the paper but there was little chance of it arriving on your doorstep, is something that people have been doing for decades. "The Good Old Days" always have a heavy rose tint about them and will ignore or gloss over the poverty, vilification and abuse of the time.

Steampunk tries to incorporate the nostalgia of the past with the social conscience of today. Racial slurs are out, exploitation of the poor is a bad thing, and trampling on foreign countries because you have more guns is *bad*. We've added to that the SF elements of a more advanced technology, so we can have our computers but with bevelled edges and lacework, or our rayguns, or we learn how to say thank you.

There's no DIY ethic in Steampunk. Sure some of the people involved love learning how old tech works. But Fred Dibnah was not a steampunk despite being more DIY with steam engines than anyone I know. Most of the DIY is simply practical. If I want my computer to have old typewriter keys then I have to do it myself because the local Radio Shack doesn't sell them that way. Any "anti-corporate" and recycling concepts would vanish under a deluge of credit card purchases if Dell brought out a "pre-steampunked" laptop.

Railing against human rights abuses, globalisation, working conditions and equal opportunity are also not Steampunk. Yes steampunks may have views on those topics but so do most politicians. The current US President is trying to get a healthcare package through so that poor people can get access to basic medical attention. Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize for trying to bring democracy to China. Neither of them are steampunk.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call steampunk a fetishism of 19th century technology but it can be close. The high nostalgia element is certainly there as I said. But that doesn't make it punk. Choosing to not eat meat because you dislike animal cruelty makes you a vegetarian, not a punk decrying the Establishment.

People who claim steampunk is a lifestyle are mistaken. Steampunk has no political agenda. There is no "steampunk world view". Choosing to wear waistcoats or button-up boots 7 days a week hardly qualifies for a "lifestyle". It's like being a sports fan. You have your chosen sport and often a specific club that you may be passionate about but there's no "Red Socks Lifestyle" or "Manchester United Lifestyle". It's just called being a fan.

Edward's arm in RL

If Edward's mechanical arm were in RL rather than in SL it might look something like this.

Full details over on Boing Boing

Real Life Steampunk House!

A while back Jack Von Slatt posted some pictures of a house in Massachusetts that a chap has been fixing up as his own.

This time there are pictures of the converted pipe organ computer workstation.

I think I'd kill to have something like this. Maybe even a kitten.

An Inspiring Memorial

While going through the "recommended" entries on my Google Reader I was showing this post on the Memorial to James Gordon Bennett in New York, the former publisher of the New York Herald.



The memorial (locally also known the Bellringers Monument) is made up from statuary that used to adorn the former New York Herald prior to its demolition in 1921. The statue of Minerva and the two bellringers was created by French sculptor Jean Antonin Carles. The bellringers themselves have been nicknamed “Stuff and Guff” or “Gog and Magog”.

But the best bit is the clock at the top.



The eyes of the owls on either side glow green at the striking of the hours.


Love it!

English as she are talked

Although I've not teased her about it for some time, for a while there was much good natured ribbing over accents and the apparent difficulty in pronouncing "Warwickshire".

But surnames, like place names, will often retain a spelling from five hundred or even a thousand years ago while the pronunciation changes with emigration, education or isolation.

Some examples of surnames not pronounced as they are spelt:

Beaconsfield - Beckonsfield
Beauchamp - Beecham
Belvoir - Beaver
Cholmondeley - Chumley
Marjoribanks - Marchbanks
Wemys - Weems
Hairstones - Hastings
Eyre - Air
Geoffrey - Jeffrey
Colquhoun - Cohoon
Urquhart - Urhart or Urkurt
Dyllwyn - Dillun
Waldegrave - Walgrave
Cockburn - Coburn
Mainwaring - Mannering
Cowper - Cooper
Froude - Frood
Knollys - Knowles
Gower - Gor
Meux - Mews
Kerr - Car
McLeod - McCloud
Ruthven - Ri’ven
St. John - Sin Jin
St. Clair - Sinkler
Bourne - Burn
Featherstonehaugh - Fanshaw

Additionally, the printed page will alter the way a word is pronounced. In Scots (also known as Lowland Scots) there was no Z (Zed). There was however a character called a Yogh. This made a nj sound (smiliar to the ñ in Spanish).

The character looked like this: .

With the introduction of moveable type, it was found easier to substitute the Z block for the Yogh and just pronounce it the right way. But lack of education and an influx of people who could read English but not Scots gave a shift with such names as Menzies or McKenzie, which should be pronounced mingis and makenyie respectively.


Is it any wonder that the old practice of "sound the word out" will only further confuse rather than assist though who read the language rather than speak it.

Happy Thanksgiving

On behalf of Christine and myself I'd like to wish all of our Canadian friends a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend. Our hope is that as they celebrate this holiday they're in the company of good friends, loved ones and hopefully plenty of food.

Want!

Publication Date: November 11, 2009
Format: FC, 64 pages, HC, 8 1/2" x 12"
Price: $14.95 USD or $31.07 NZD
ISBN-10: 1-59582-463-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-59582-463-9

Available for pre-order on Weta's Collectables aetheric site.

Relay for life survived again.

It's that time of year when people start to breath a sigh of relief that SLRFL is over for another 6 months. I'd say "year" but by February there will be people starting on about the 2010 event and kiosks and vendors and the rest of it will begin to appear again.

The guilt tripping has eased in recent times, or possibly my avoidance of most things RFL means I've not been around if it has happened.

Relay For Life is franchised to local cancer organisations around the world (yes they have to pay for the privilege to have an event with that name) but SLRFL (or Relay For Life in Second Life) is run under the banner of the American Cancer Society. Last year I upset a few people with my views on how SLRFL was being handled. Doing some reading on the ACS itself means I'm due to do it again. Tax reports for 2006 and 2007 say ACS CEO John R. Seffrin was paid over $1.1 million for his annual compensation package (of which over $500,000 was his salary). Not bad for a "not for profit" organisation. Especially when the US President is on a salary of $400K. There's also serious questions on how much of the money raised goes into cancer services. In 1992 The Wall Street Journal reported that some ACS chapters barely more than 10% of total revenue on actual cancer services.

For me though SLRFL is really a time for talented builders to indulge in some fantastical building bringing together a community spirit in putting on a display. The creativity and skill continues to blow me away each year. I was even convinced to help out with the New Babbage team's build despite my reservations about RFL in general.

The New Babbage Exhibition site.







The Port St. Christopher or "Babbage Mars" sim.









The Moon sim (There was a lot of moon influences this year)





Inside the domes

The art deco Metropolis build



Her Lyonesse's influence could be clearly seen




An impressive deco train.


Spinner's For Life giant Speaker is a multilevel dance club.


The Steelhead build


The American Frontier


Animated Dragon at the Armada Build


Giant sculpted hands


Camping anyone?


Best of SL Team build


Caledon Build


The machine working on a cure.

The RFL Wonders sim held a great collection of ancient monuments

Colossus of Rhodes


Lighthouse of Alexandria


The Acropolis


Hanging Gardens of Babylon with a pyramid in the background.


Tree of Life


The Angkor Wat temple perhaps?


A rather interesting Egyptian scheme


Purple Battlemechs.


I don't understand the significance of this build. I originally thought that the Twin Towers and the Tower Bridge may have been symbolic of two cities that had been the victim of suicide bombers...


...but the stones of Stonehenge at the foot of the Towers throw that theory out. I have no idea what all three landmarks have in common.


Memorial to the 40th anniversary of the first Lunar Landing.


The New York World's Fair inspired build.


A magnificent train at the Fort Wrangler build


Another Acropolis build.


The home of the Justice League


The Titan Tower.

RFL The Shire held one of my favourite builds.

Bag End




The floor plan owes more to Karen Wynn Fonstad than to Peter Jackson. Very nicely done.