h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

[Amy]

[]

*checked wrist watch all the way to the train station this morning, which is probably why it took me the usual 20 minutes*

No, no. The stylized Lord Byron...you know, the foppish twit with long dark hair and extremely pale skin.

{[caer csd] You mean Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen. He isn't gay, not that a wife and family are necessarily confirmation of heterosexuality.

Not feeling too bright this morning and I'm not going to drink ever again, ot at least not until tomorrow night }

[Munchkin] Thought I'd sit and watch some Farscape last night. By half nine I was fast asleep on the sofa. Having watched it before I know it is not a dull programme and was most annoyed. Roll on my holidays I think.

Hi - tried to post yesterday but ISP stopped me

Been working on this - any thoughts?

http://www.fiendrecordings.com/Candi_Nook.htm

Off to Nostell Priory today - looks like the weather will stay fine for us

I can relate to bumbling....
It looks nice and pink, Candi.
I spent yesterday at home, enjoying the unusual warm September weather dotting around in the garden and reading in the sunshine. I felt this urge to listen to Mozart's Requiem, the melodies was stuck in my mind, so I put it on. Later, on the news, they said that that piece had been played and sung all over the world! Good to know one is in tune...
September 22 is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins as well, Witty!
And welcome to Pinniped (hope I got the name right).

[LIL]
would welcome pinniped if she were here

Matina dear? Have you any coffee that can wake the dead?

I was out last night helping a buddy of mine do some covert backup of computers at his office for staff that are about to be given the boot. I forget what hou of the morning I stumbled into my house.

[{Courtesy}]

Re: BBC America A while back they had two or three episodes of a comedy called "League of Gentlemen" - I think. It was part of a viewers favorites type thing. It was set in a place called Royston Vasey (?) and 4 0r 5 actors played all the parts. Did they only make those episodes? Course I have a sick sense of humor, but I enjoyed it. Also enjoy Midsomer Murders. ( Dare i say it? The books are better than the movies.) Didn't they have some of those on A&E? Liked Farscape a couple of years ago. Don't know why I stopped watching.

That leads me to a hypothetical question... Are there any examples of either a television show or a film that is made based on a book that is better or equal to the book?

I rather think not. The closest that I can come to an almost equal relationship is the film "Stand By Me" and the novella which it is based on "The Body" authored by my least favourite american author Stephen King.

Any other thoughts on films/TV that come close to their printed counterpart?

for Marv.

IMHO the ones that come the closest are the BBC productions that are shown on Mystery on PBS. I'm thinking in particular about the Sherlock Holmes series and the Miss Marples. But, I agree that it's almost impossible to find a movie made from a book that isn't disappointing.

I can't think, off hand, of any movies that were better than the book. But I do find that sometimes having read the book makes the movie better, and sometimes it makes it worse. For example, both the Harry Potter movie and the first Lord of the Rings movie were better because I had read the books - I could fill in the missing bits, and knew the characters well already. On the other hand, a number of years ago, I had just read Dune and had loved it and had bought the next few in the serries to read. Then the movie came out and I saw it and hated it. The images in my mind had been very different and much richer than those shown. The movie so turned me off that I didn't want to read the follow-on novels. It took probably 10 years before I finally reread the first novel and the follow-on ones.

Oh, and welcome Pinniped.

The David Lynch Dune was (I know this should start a riot) pretty good in my estimation. I just dont think of it as the same story. Another good example of this is Heinlins Starship Troopers. The movie was pretty good as long as you do not consider it to be the same story as the book.

Harry Potter is a good example of making a decent film from a book. I should have thought of it. The books are far better, however the films casting director did a fantastic job of finding kids to fill the roles of the children in teh books.

Oh, and Welcome Pinniped. I guess I missed that...

Personally, I thought the Harry Potter movie was so close to the book that one could either read the book or see the flick, but there was no need to do both. Typical Chris Columbus, he sucks the life out of everything.

A&E did show episodes of Midsomer Murders. And recently, PBS' Mystery had the "Dark Rooms: the Early Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes" (or something to that effect). I don't think it was adapted from a book, but boy! that was some excellent TV. I can see that Sir Ian Richardson is rapidly taking on the Elder Statesman of English Dramatics mantle from the late Sir John Gielgud.

I'd say The Shawshank Redemption, marv. great book, great movie. incidentally, it's also a book by the fabulous stephen king.

Ah! On further reflection it was "Murder Rooms: the Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes". It was about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first attempts at solving real-life mysteries whilst maintaining a medical practice.