Pride and Prejudice (BBC) TV review

I watched the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was a long series, 5 hours worth of goodness. I may be years late, but that moment was worth it.

This is what pleases me. It is not a movie which means no cutting of scenes, instead, it stayed very true to the book. This scenario is rare, very rare indeed.

Often, I laments how movies spoils a good book. I'd watched the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy. It was quite a good movie, but lots of people recommended the BBC version.

Come to think of it, Macfadyen's portrayal pales in comparison to Firth's. But, maybe, it's because everyone see Colin Firth as Mr Darcy in their eyes.

It was by chance I found the tapes in my school library. It did not cross my mind then to borrow. I wanted to watch it sometime, but I did not mean to borrow it through school. Come to think of it, my decision at that time seemed stupid.

I have just discovered the joy of my school library but exams were upon us and school term was ending. How unfortunate.

I'm thinking of borrowing the 2 discs again when my school term starts. I was in a rush and not in a mood to watch the whole show properly due to exams.

Ahh, well, I'm in the "Pride and Prejudice" phrase. All the books I borrowed today were related to the book. Considered them a sequel and Mr Darcy's POV.

I've to agree that the BBC version is so much better. Hahaha, Colin Firth as Mr Darcy was swoon-worthy. No wonder all those people, (I'm thinking them to be women) recommended it. He really portrayed Mr Darcy well.

I think, the entire cast was very into character. They were well-chosen for their roles. Furthermore, the girls' beauty or rather, handsomeness, seemed very real for that time-line. How do I put it, it was not like the beauty of the 21st-century.

Hmm, most older women would considered Mr Darcy as to what we (teenagers) considered Edward Cullen of Twilight to be. I may be bias though, because teenagers will be attracted to Mr Darcy as long as they read the novel and older women will swoon over Edward.

Regardless, everyone likes a gentleman.

I highly recommend the film to anyone who read Pride and Prejudice. Too bad there's no subtitles. They have a tendency to speak softly.
So, it seems that the 2005 movie and 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice were rated favourably by the critics. Both stayed very faithful to the novel. I watched both, and my favourite is the BBC version.

Pride and Prejudice by BBC.

Produced in 1995.

Starring Colin Firth as Mr Darcy.

Very, very into character.

Starring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet.

Just like how I would 'see' Elizabeth from the novel .

--

Marketing End-semester exam

Marketing today. I thought I'll die.

I just studied Marketing for less than 3 hours yesterday night.

I was feeling strangely light-hearted and not stressful before the paper. During reading time, I was thinking "Oh my God", I'm going for the Sub paper, which I never want to in my life. To touch that subject again would go against my every wish.

For don't know what reasons, I thought of the answers, well, the sub-headings anyway. I can't explain every well and my English is really bad. I felt ashamed for writing those sentences in the answering book.

I've been thinking. Is it because I'm wearing my four-leaf clover? I forgot to wear it today, I didn't want to go back home to get it. However, I went back and got it all the same. Makes me wonder if things would have been different if I didn't. I'll surely blame myself for the "bad luck".

I think I can pass. I must pass. I'll not, in any case, go for the Sub paper. But, I don't just want to pass, my GPA will drop drastically if I do.

We'll be getting our results in the middle of March, I guess. Oo, I'm so excited and anxious.

Exams are over, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, now what? The problem I've been thinking of is coming true. Gah, I'll deal with it should the time comes. As for now, I'm going to enjoy my holidays. Enjoying, in my sense.

I started on MacGowan's Ghost by Cindy Miles, her latest book. Quit a nice read so far.

Oh well, Freshmen Year has come to a complete stop. It's been a good year, with many emotions on the way. Thanks for all the fun and the memories. I'll treasure them. Hoping to have a couple of classmates in my Junior Class. A familiar person by the side is always better.

BS & BA2 end-semester exams

Actually, I have much more interesting things to update. But, since, it's exam season, it's customary for me to give a daily commentary on my exam papers experiences. It'll soon be over though.

Business Statistics was alright. Hmm, now that I think of it, there's nothing much to say. I must have that A.

Business Accounting 2 today was OK, with me heaving a sigh of relief. I only study once. I know where my standards are for Accounting, seriously, it is bad.

I was very careless though. It's either the font that gives me headache or that I just speed-read everything. I don't think my calculations will be wrong but it's the way I see the questions.

I don't ask for much, just a B/B+. I was so worried yesterday night that today's BA2 will be a goner. I'll cry if it was. And, I spent some time yesterday night watching a show (which I'll elaborate on tomorrow).

On a side note, too bad the disc can't be burned. Guess I'll borrow the 2 discs again, when I return to school after my holidays.

Tomorrow is the final paper. Yes! Marketing, as it is, hates me and vice versa. With little time on my hands, and not one to burn midnight oil, I just read through what the lecturer told us to study. I did not study anything extra, on the contrary, I cut down on the things that have already been cut-down.

I'm so going to regret my actions tomorrow. Why is it that my mind says one thing but my heart says the other?

Oh well, a B is all I want. Then, I'll be free from Marketing forever. I hope tomorrow's paper will be alright and manageable.

Till then~

OB end-semester exam

Done with OB.

It was a killer. So now, OB stands for Obviously Bu******.

I can't say I never tried my best, neither can I say I tried my best. Obviously I can study it better or concentrate better, but at least I sort of did my best.

I forgot some things here and there. The MCQs were so difficult. I'm always left with 2 choices, both seemed right, it's just which one is more correct than the other. Argh...

I totally forgot what is the strategies to solve conflict and 3 situational factors that affect a leader's behaviour. The latter which I did not study at all.

Ah well, it's gone. I won't have to touch OB again. I was so angry that I have a mind to tear the paper. The best thing is, I won't have to see my answers. At least, there is some consolation to this mess.

Goodbye OB, we ended at a sour note. *There goes my chance of acquiring an A. I hope my B/B+ is still intact.*

Business Statistics tomorrow. It should be well. But I dare not think positive, or else it will be jinxed.

BA2 and Marketing, another killer. Oh joy...

Oscars & MacroEcons paper

Gah, why is the Academy Awards or Oscars be on Monday morning? No wonder I felt something wrong when they announced that this year Oscars will be on a Sunday. I spent too much time on USA-based websites.

Yeah, yeah, Sunday, USA timing. Zzz, so it's Monday morning, again. No! I want to watch it, especially when Twilight movie actors/actresses will be present.

I'll see. The most, I'll ask my cousin helped me taped it. 3 hours of show. Normally, I get all excited about it and when the actual thing comes, I often found it boring.

Today's MacroEcons paper was quite alright. Once again, I did the front part slowly but ended up rushing a little for the last few questions.

I stumbled along the way but there should no big problem. My A should be still within grasp.

1 down, 4 more to go. 2 more As and 2 B/B+. That's my wish, I'll work hard for them. Sort of.

Exams are a bother

I'm terribly excited, if excited is the choice word to use for the jitters I'm feeling now. I'm thinking anxious is more like it.

Tomorrow, tomorrow is the big day, after all. MacroEcons can be considered "my life". I thrive on it. It's by far the most interesting subject I've studied and come to enjoy as well. Needless to say, it has my high expectations set to it.

If I can't even do well for it, then what chance do I have for the other subjects, say Marketing? With high expectations, comes stress.

An A. All I need is an A. I'm will go mad if I don't get it. Hmm, maybe not. That will be an exaggeration. I think I'll cry though.

I studied as much as I could, what is the results remains to be seen. Oh god, please help me.

After tomorrow, I'll concentrate on Business Statistics and OB. Another 2 As I must get. OB, not that much, but what other subject can I get an A on? Definitely not BA2 and Marketing.

Exams are a bother, that much I can firmly say.

Ill and exams is starting

I'm ill. Actually, it's been about a week but I just saw the doctor yesterday.

Sore throat and dry cough. Now, my voice is all scratchy and weird. I can't speak properly and sing.

Tomorrow is the start of my exams. MacroEcons paper, comprising 60% of overall. Gods, I must get an A. Gah...

All the best to me then.

Volvo sure knows how to market their products.

"Drive a Volvo. Live Forever" is the tagline for Volvo C30. A great marketing act.

With New Moon movie on the horizon, the next luxury brand to market their ads will be Porsche. "Be cool, Get a Porsche". "Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but Porsche is a girl's true love." Who needs diamonds when you've got a Porsche?"

Well, well, the director and script-writer better include the famous yellow Porsche 911 Turbo inside the movie. And for goodness sake, put in the proper brand and model this time.

The moment I saw the advertisement for Volvo, I know that something is off. It don't seem like the model that the real, fictional Edward drives in the books.

I did some research, and guess what? The Volvo model used in the movie is a C30, a family car. The real deal is actually a Volvo S60R, a sports car.

Gah, the difference is a whole yard. There's just something wrong for a teenager (although forever young) to drive a family car. Even Carlisle do not drive a family car.

If anyone has money for their disposal, would anyone get a family car?

No wonder, I almost chocked when I saw the movie's Volvo. Not sleek but bulky. I wanted to get to the bottom of the lack of class of the Volvo used but didn't, and it slipped my mind.

It gets on my nerves when details aren't even pay attention to.

Rantings

All the years of belief that holidays meant the start of a new beginning is dissolving right in front of my eyes.

Reality is setting in, all too quickly.

Holidays mean naught but another day, one more stressful than a typical school day. What in the world is happening?

I've had enough. This is it.

Fine. I live by this "motto" now. Tomorrow will another day. No matter how imperfect today is, it will end and relief will come again.

Updates

Many things to update.

Today is officially the last day of school. Having mixed feelings. Feeling quite reluctant and happy at the same time. Holidays...not so much.

Got back my Business Accounting 2 and Business Statistics coursework grades. A B+ and A respectively.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://riddles.juliakniep.de/HallOfFame.html

Click here and you'll see the Hall of Fame to the Twilight Riddle. *Refer to the above picture. That's just a print screen. As such, only those names who starts with A is captured. For full details, click the link*

I'm officially a Twilight Riddler. 3rd in line in alphabetical order. Adrielle Soong.

I'm also granted eternal bragging rights. With thanks to helpful strangers, of course! Not to mention, my wits, books, google/yahoo, and websites.

I'm thrilled at this, it's been quite some time since I got featured or done anything like this.

On a side note, I love the new banner! It's so beautifully done and the topaz eyes are just amazing. Bella's eyes looks more greenish than brown though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week is the start of study week. Going to really sit down and absorb information like a sponge. So many things to study and yet not enough time.

Time is always not on my side.

I've got to work hard. My expectations can't be considered that high. I know where my limits are and know enough not too push myself too hard. But I can't help to feel left behind sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've things planned out for the upcoming holidays. I want to do the things that I like. There are 2 books sitting on my shelves, waiting to be read.

I'm planning to sweep the library shelves for books. Which reminds me, I am going to reserve those books that I want.

I want to make bead accessories. Recently, I read some magazines that ignite the passion to weave beads once again. Seeing those shiny, cute, little beads and crystals make my day.

Regardless, I'm expecting a vacation to either nearly countries or in Singapore itself. Let's just say it's sixth sense. Maybe there won't be one, I'm fine with that.

There's a delicate matter I don't want to say. Nothing is fixed, I don't think Alice will even "see" it, seeing that no decision is confirmed. We'll see...

Till next time~

School term is ending

I'm feeling a little forlorn lately.

The school term is ending, another "year" will be gone, soon.

Whatever I felt and said/complained about in the beginning will soon past. Yes, I know that I'm not happy when school first started, but, now that everything is ending, I'm feeling quite reluctant.

I felt guilty for thinking this way and that. But, I realised, my class is as good as it could get.

Every time, when a school year ended, I would start to have these feelings and thoughts. Would it be better if I had done this?

I may not like it at first, however, it has started to grow on me, just like other things.

Realisation always comes too late for me.

2 more days of classes to attend. Then, I'll be "free". Really? Sometimes, I feel that in school is better than out of school. I just want to bang my head for thinking this. Didn't I always moan and groan about schooling?

Humans are always so fickle-minded... At least in my case.

Sigh... I can't control time, I can't seem to make use of time and worst of all, I don't treasure time.

At this point of time, it makes me think of the song 'When all is said and done' by ABBA. I don't know how much in context it is. But, 'Thanks for all the generous love and thanks for all the fun, neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done".

I don't know about the generous love portion but I did have fun in school. I also know there's no one to blame except me, when all is said and done.

Whatever is the case, the song is stuck in my head, probably due to listening it over and over again when I'm trying to learn the lyrics.

Updates

OK, I had a good time in school but I'm in a sort of bad mood now.

I've no idea why though.

Whatever, it's so near to sleeping time so I'll just sleep the bad mood away. Tomorrow will be another day.

Got back my MacroEcons and OB coursework grades today. I'm very happy for MacroEcons because I got an A. Woohoo! That was also the project I spent the most effort in. So, the efforts paid off and it was sweeter than others. My friends who are in my group, too, got A for their coursework. 40% an A, 60% to go.

OB was great, too. Our project was 87/100. Not too bad. I got an A for coursework. Yay! Now, I really must work hard for OB end semester exam. I can have a chance to get an A. 50% more to go. OME!

For Marketing coursework, I had an B. 50% to go for end-semester. I don't have high expectations for Marketing but needless to say, the lowest I can get is a B.

Hoping to get back French result tomorrow. High expectations for it.

Watched Les Choristes in the library with my friend today. Wow, I never thought that the school library is actually so up-to-date. I'll surely make use of the facilities next time.

Anyway, I borrowed the tape, have to return it on Friday though. The bad thing about borrowing tapes from school library is the lack of borrowing time. 3 days for DVDs, a little too short to my liking. But, it'll be efficient.

My friend borrowed the soundtrack. Hoping to be able to burn it.

Watched the second part of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Actually, I can't really see why it can get so many awards. But, I enjoyed it all the same.

Updates

Let's see,

I bought Brisingr by Christopher Paolini yesterday. I'm only going to read it when my exams are over. It's 20% off and I got it hard-covered. How good is it? I'm already losing my devotion to action/fantasy books so that's why I can buy it at this time. It's romance for me.

Anyway, buying of the book is to finish the collection of the trilogy and the series. I hate to leave things half-way.

If only Eragon is hard-covered too...

My latest favourite movie is Les Choristes. It means The Choir in English. Although I only watched the later half of the movie in school, I still love it.

It was by chance that I managed to watch it. I was released from class early, and had nothing to do till the next lecture. My friend wanted to get her movie ticket stamped so we went for the movie.

I'm going to borrow it or buy it. Borrowing makes everything easier, I hope it can be found in the library.

I know my school's library has it, but I don't feel like borrowing from there.

My favourite songs includes La nuit, Vois Sur Ton Chemin, Caresse sur l'océan.

The French movie is highly recommended because it is unlike other movies. There is always something different about French movies, be it the way they filmed it or the way the story is presented.

I'm watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as part of the French CDS. It was a great movie, I remembered seeing the title on the newspaper. A pity I never went to watch it.

It's rated favourably by critics which is a really big step for any movie, and it had won acclaimed awards in 2007.

Taking French CDS is probably one of the rare times I didn't make a wrong choice. Maybe it's CDS, so it's not that stressful. Maybe it's because I always wanted to study a foreign language, so the appeal is already there.

Regardless of what, my aim is to get an A and have fun at the same time.
I'm going to know the results next week, I think.

I'll start to study for exams next week, which is tomorrow. Really, I swear. Even if it's only a couple of chapters of a subject. I'll also not leave marketing revision till the last minute. I'm going to at least get an B for it.

Marketing, what a killer.

BA2 test

I got back my BA2 night test results. Yay!

38/45, not bad at all, even if I say so myself.

Now, I've to do well for my end-semester exams to get my good GPA.

Next week will be a brilliant week, I guess. We'll be getting all our coursework grades which are part of the marks components.

My view

Another update recently in my life: The link is here:

http://twilightsingapore.com/2009/02/04/twilight-news-179/#comments
See SK comment, that's written by me, obviously. What gives me the warm fuzzy feeling is that people (Singaporeans) actually like what I wrote! That really surprised me a lot. Read the others' comments too.

I've put one up, a longer version on www.twilightlexiconblog.com. Under the alias, Rose.

Read the whole comment here:

"Ahh, the sore spot. Do you know that literally anyone can be an author and write books? As long as one have imagination and able to dream, you can produce a book.

To have it published is another matter altogether. Then comes the ‘having readers’ for your book. You have to worry about critics and fans.

Do you want your book to seat on the shelves or flying off them?I respect authors because that’s something I’ll not become in my life. I don’t have the hard-heartedness that is needed when you become an author.

Since they are both in the same profession, I think it’s unwise and not very nice for King to say that about Meyer. It’s just like speaking ill of a co-worker, but in this case, they are probably rivals in the market.

We all have to admit, Meyer’s books sells, at least for now. What the future holds, no one knows(unless you are Alice).

Budding authors are appearing every day. Soon, their books may take over the popular ones now and vice versa. It’s a tough world out there.

Whoever says vampires burn instead of sparkle. Well, this is what I wrote when I saw an news article about this matter.

No one knows what a vampire looks like to begin with. So whether he/she should dressed in black cape and lingered around in back alleys or dressed in fashionable clothes and drive fast cars, no one knows. Unless, you met one before, but, then again, you probably won’t be here.

It’s the same case as aliens, are they supposed to have web-feet or 3 eyes and speak in gibberish? So, who is right and who is wrong? The same goes to wizards. Are they suppose to hold a wand and “wish” for something they want or do spells and hexes the hard way?

It’s fantasy. That’s why it appeals. In the fiction/fantasy world, anyone can be anything. It’s a world people escaped into, be it into one where you find your true love, or do spells and be the hero or get capture by out-of-the-world creatures.

Yes, Meyer’s books may not be that wonderful in the grammar/spelling aspect but that’s not really her fault is it? Who don’t make mistakes in their compositions and essays? While normal people can have spell check, she has an editor and publishing team behind her. Need I say more?

Also, someone says the story will be much more if another person thought it up. That’s the wonder of the mind and the way life goes. Life isn’t fair. If anyone can thought it up, who needs books? Everyone can sell and publish their own books by then.

PS: I’m way past the childish 12-year-old line."

This is what I wanted to add in regarding the issue, which I'll not bring up.

This situation is just like an actor who has acted in A-listed movies and gotten Oscars & Golden Globes before. He criticised this other actor, a budding one who has just acted in a couple of films and in the supporting roles. He also compared his acting skills to another actor, a slighter more experienced one who got nominated for prizes. Is the whole thing fair at all?

Yes, to be able to accept criticism is good, but one can be kinder in his words. Just because you are better in something you do, doesn't mean you can flaunt about it.

Besides, how in the world is Meyer's writing style related to him? He is nothing but a stranger. He's in no position to say who is good and bad.

I don't know if King has received any awards for that matter, but that's just an example.

Finished ultimate twilight quiz

Yay! I finished the quiz and decoded the code that was the last hurdle. Woohoo! I'm very happy right now.

My brains is not that bad after all, imagine that. I can answered quite many questions on my own, sometimes with referring to the books.

I have to thank those people (strangers, mind you) who helped me along the way. In return, I'm helping anyone who got stuck. This is the pretty aspect of life. Hints and clues, whatever you called them.

I have to admit, browsing through 2000+ comments paid off. At least I got to see what clues were being offered to those who asked for help for the questions.

The student who created this riddle is very clever and quick in the mind. I love the tag clues and the one liner clues that are the questions.

This is my favourite : A tool to ignite the time before nightfall.

If it is only me doing this, I would have stumbled. But, I read the hints given by those helpful people and saw the light.

A tool to ignite is a lighter. The time before nightfall is twilight. Put them together and one gets twilighter. The term fans called themselves. Lovely, isn't it.

101 questions and I did them within 2 days. The hours spent are obviously lesser. About 10 hours or more, I should think.

Ultimate Twilight quiz

I'm doing a really brain-twisting and ultimate twilight quiz/riddle.

It is created by a student doing a project in University. It test everything under the sun, from the books to the movie to the media hype surrounding it to common sense. http://riddles.juliakniep.de/


*Bet you got stuck at the 1st page.*


It's quite difficult in a way that it's not multiple choice. You have to really type in the correct answer to get move on to the subsequent question. Sometimes, the answer won't be that direct and can't be found in the books. It needs very detailed answers too.


The first time I tried, I jumped from question 3 to 49. Then, today, I realised it was supposed to go accordingly. So, I restarted the whole thing.


I can get some questions correctly on my own and am quite proud of that. All those days of looking at the news contents on http://www.twilightlexiconblog.com/ paid off. Nobody who didn't follow all the news will know how to do some questions, unless they really go search for it.

I got one question right which I'm very happy of. "Representative of a different species of readers who didn’t change his name after finishing the first book." My 1st answer was twilight haters. I tried various answers to no avail, then before I went to sleep, I remembered. Twilightguy. Guys who read twilight. Haha.

The others, I asked other people online for hints or just direct answers. Seems like everyone have a good time playing this quiz.


It do makes me feels a little silly to call myself a Twilighter when I can't even answer supposedly easy questions.


Oh well, I'm on question 32. I think I'll continue it tomorrow.

It's fun, addicting and pure evil at times.

Ramblings for the day

Long time since I last posted.

Nothing much has been going on. Mundane, but all is expected to change soon. Why? The end-semester exams are coming, just like the storm clouds looming on the horizon.

I've been thinking. To maintain my GPA, I need to get 3-4 As. French is a must to get. C'mon, it's easy and all and I didn't make a wrong choice. I'm going to bang myself on the head if I didn't get it.

Next are MacroEcons and Business Statistics. It's just that I've have more interest and confidence in these 2 subjects. The other 1 A, I suppose can either come from Ba2 (which looks bleak), OB (it depends) or Marketing (shudders, I'll say thank you if I got a B). Hmmm...

I'm going to work hard now. I swear, but I said before, my words are louder than my actions, so I'm not expecting too high.

Going to cut down on the usage on laptop. I feel like reading once again, I think I'm losing my touch. Should I or shouldn't I?

I mean, the library better buck up on the service. I've not yet e-mail my special letter of concern to the Library Board due to some weird Internet problem. If this time I go there, and the books are still lacking. I'm going to recycle that letter and send it this time. And see what the management can come up with.

Another way to get the books I want is through reservation. If that's the case, then I should start reserving now cause it may take a long time to get the books. I will see...

Oh well, I did some more banners last time. I'm loving some of them. But there's a problem with photobucket, at least on my laptop. Anyway, I'm using the desktop to do them, so it'll take a while for me to load. I think, by this Wednesday, they should be up on facebook.

Ending here.