Small Talk: Chewing The Haggis

[AheadofStraight]

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 1:27 PM, Clawdette said:

I'm not much of a t-shirt wearer outside of the house but I ordered this one and it fits perfectly.  Just may have to venture out to advertise.

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I've had my eye on that too but I really want a V-neck!

[MedievalGirl]

I went to a funeral this week and there was a piper. As I got out of my car he was playing Skye Boat Song. That was just the boost I needed on a sad say but I hope no one saw me laugh. 

[Keeta]

Warning: potentially controversial comment ahead.

This is the only board I frequent on these forums, but I was just looking at one for another show, and one of my takeaways was to be grateful that the Outlander commenters are majority women. No offense meant to male posters in general, and it's not that I saw anything majorly offensive or trolling. But it was interesting to compare to the conversations and comments here. How people focus on different aspects of a show, as well as some subtle sexism at work. (I know, I know: on the internet, I should be grateful that's all there was. Thank god for moderators.)

[WatchrTina]

I'm watching The Musketeers on Hulu as a way of getting through #Droughtlander.  It is set in France like season two of Outlander, though in an earlier period (1620's and the King is Louis XIII).  In the first episode of Season 2 the Queen of France is in labor and her maid just ran through couple of rooms in the Palace of Versailles that looked very very familiar to me.  It was the same two rooms that Claire walked though before her audience with the King -- and one of them was the same room where Jamie played chess with the Minister of Finance and Claire was poisoned by Le Comte St. Germain.  Remember those two big, beautiful, book-lined rooms?  The funny thing is that neither of them was at the real Versailles.  I'm not sure if they were in Prague (I think they only used Prague for exteriors) but they definitely weren't at the real Versailles.  Its fun for me to have spotted both the continuity between the two shows and to recognize that these period dramas must share info and /or poach ideas from one another for locations.

ETA:  Whoops, historical gaff.  The Palace of Versailles was expanded into it's current form by Louis XIV.  Versailles was built during the reign of Louis XIII but at that time it was "a hunting lodge of brick and stone."  Those two gorgeous rooms don't seem likely in a hunting lodge nor would a queen be likely to give birth there.  Oh well, it was still an interesting bit of synchronicity that both shows used the same two room to evoke the spirit of Versailles.

Edited September 3, 2016 by WatchrTina

[katville]

We are visiting Versailles next year and I am super excited. Did Outlander film only in the gardens?

[morgan]

Outlander didn't film at Versailles at all.

[WatchrTina]

The Drummond Castle gardens in Crieff, Scotland doubled for the Garden's of Versailles in Season 2.

http://www.drummondcastlegardens.co.uk/the-picture-gallery/

[katville]

Well, that is a bummer. 

[Petunia846]

Versailles is still really cool though. And you can just pretend.

[Athena]

On 2016-09-03 at 10:54 AM, WatchrTina said:

I'm not sure if they were in Prague (I think they only used Prague for exteriors) but they definitely weren't at the real Versailles.  Its fun for me to have spotted both the continuity between the two shows and to recognize that these period dramas must share info and /or poach ideas from one another for locations.

The Musketeers was filmed almost completely in Czech Republic and Outlander filmed a lot of their France scenes there as well. I think most historical fiction on France and Versailles is filmed there as well.

Versailles is nice. The gardens are not like the ones they filmed on the shows, but still worth the visit. I actually found the town of Versailles really cute and there's another garden estate in the town that's really lovely as well.

[Cubisa]

Both of the shows filmed in the Czech Republic.  I work at a Norbertine college, and tooka tour of Norbertine sites in Germany and the area last spring.  We visited Strahov Abbey in Prague, which is where the two libraries of the abbey served as sets in both series.  The wood-panelled library is the main library of the abbey, the one where Jamie plays chess.  The other one, the Philosophical library was also shown in Outlander - as part of Louis' suites of rooms when Claire visits him to earn Jamie's release from the Bastille.  She walks through a beautiful rococco library with on her way in and out.

The town set of the Musketeers is at the convent at Doksany, in the Czech republic.  We got a chance to visit there, and walk through the set, which is built among the existing buildings.  It was really hard to tell, even close up, which were real stone buildings, and which were only wood facades.  Here's where Jamie plays chess. 

[Cubisa]

And here's the other one.

[WatchrTina]

Last Thursday was the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek.  I happened to call in sick that day (it was legit I SWEAR) and so I ended up watching Star Trek movies all day on the SciFi channel before switching over to BBC America at 8:00pm when they began running season 1 and season 2 in their entirety.  I went to work on Friday but other than that and other than sleeping I've just been watching Star Trek nonstop and tweeting with complete strangers via the #StarTrek50 hash tag.  I can't say it's the smartest way I've ever spent a weekend but since I haven't seen Star Trek the original series in decades it was loads of fun.  Yes sometimes it was cheesy (OMG the costumes were SO bad in some episodes) and yes the way that women were portrayed was not always in keeping with 21st century sensibilities, but damn that was a fun ride.

It's also given me a theory about why William Shatner and Sam Heughan have become friends. (Sam is currently featured on Shatner's twitter home page -- both in the small and large photos.)  In one episode Captain Kirk gives his age as 34 -- which I assume was also William Shatner's age when the scene was filmed.  That is the same age Sam was when Outlander "broke big" -- when a hard-working but unknown "jobbing" actor suddenly found himself in one of two lead roles in a popular SciFi/Fantasy TV show with a huge, active, outspoken, opinionated fan base.  I can well imagine that Sam reminds Shatner of what it was like for him 50 years ago and I presume Sam looks at Shatner and sees someone he could learn from.  William Shatner has reinvented himself more than once (remember when we discovered how funny he was on Boston Legal?) and is still, at age 83, working actively and having (I suspect) quite a lot of fun in the brave new world of online fandom.  The man has 2.4 MILLION twitter followers even though he regularly blocks people who piss him off so he's clearly doing something right.

I started paying attention to Shatner's online presence when the kerfuffle between him and Diana first happened.  It's all water under the bridge now but the Shatner/Outlander relationship started off in a bumpy manner, fans got nasty, fans got banned, and accusations of bullying flew back-and-forth in both directions.  Sam and Diana finally stepped in and worked with Shatner to settle things down but it was cray-cray for a while.  I wasn't really sure what I thought of it all.  

Now I know.  I just LOVE William Shatner.  I'm watching his new TV show, "Better Late Than Never" and while it has had a few cringe-worthy moments, it mostly makes me laugh out loud a LOT and the humor is mostly self-effacing humor about aging from a group of boisterous senior citizens.  Then I watched Star Trek non-stop for two days.  You know what?  William Shatner was HOT 50 years ago.  I was only 5 years old when the show went on the air so I think I can be forgiven for not noticing it before but now I'm looking and DAMN.  That's the other thing Shatner can give advice to Sam about -- how to cope with being a SciFi/Fantasy sex-symbol.  I'm tickled to death that these two are now friends.

Sigh.  Back to reality tomorrow.  I feel a bit let down, the way you do when you first finish a Harry Potter book after a weekend-long binge read (yeah I used to do that too.)

Edited September 12, 2016 by WatchrTina

[katville]

9 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

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Last Thursday was the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek.  I happened to call in sick that day (it was legit I SWEAR) and so I ended up watching Star Trek movies all day on the SciFi channel before switching over to BBC America at 8:00pm when they began running season 1 and season 2 in their entirety.  I went to work on Friday but other than that and other than sleeping I've just been watching Star Trek nonstop and tweeting with complete strangers via the #StarTrek50 hash tag.  I can't say it's the smartest way I've ever spent a weekend but since I haven't seen Star Trek the original series in decades it was loads of fun.  Yes sometimes it was cheesy (OMG the costumes were SO bad in some episodes) and yes the way that women were portrayed was not always in keeping with 21st century sensibilities, but damn that was a fun ride.

It's also given me a theory about why William Shatner and Sam Heughan have become friends. (Sam is currently featured on Shatner's twitter home page -- both in the small and large photos.)  In one episode Captain Kirk gives his age as 34 -- which I assume was also William Shatner's age when the scene was filmed.  That is the same age Sam was when Outlander "broke big" -- when a hard-working but unknown "jobbing" actor suddenly found himself in one of two lead roles in a popular SciFi/Fantasy TV show with a huge, active, outspoken, opinionated fan base.  I can well imagine that Sam reminds Shatner of what it was like for him 50 years ago and I presume Sam looks at Shatner and sees someone he could learn from.  William Shatner has reinvented himself more than once (remember when we discovered how funny he was on Boston Legal?) and is still, at age 83, working actively and having (I suspect) quite a lot of fun in the brave new world of online fandom.  The man has 2.4 MILLION twitter followers even though he regularly blocks people who piss him off so he's clearly doing something right.

I started paying attention to Shatner's online presence when the kerfuffle between him and Diana first happened.  It's all water under the bridge now but the Shatner/Outlander relationship started off in a bumpy manner, fans got nasty, fans got banned, and accusations of bullying flew back-and-forth in both directions.  Sam and Diana finally stepped in and worked with Shatner to settle things down but it was cray-cray for a while.  I wasn't really sure what I thought of it all.  

Now I know.  I just LOVE William Shatner.  I'm watching his new TV show, "Better Late Than Never" and while it has had a few cringe-worthy moments, it mostly makes me laugh out loud a LOT and the humor is mostly self-effacing humor about aging from a group of boisterous senior citizens.  Then I watched Star Trek non-stop for two days.  You know what?  William Shatner was HOT 50 years ago.  I was only 5 years old when the show went on the air so I think I can be forgiven for not noticing it before but now I'm looking and DAMN.  That's the other thing Shatner can give advice to Sam about -- how to cope with being a SciFi/Fantasy sex-symbol.  I'm tickled to death that these two are now friends.

Sigh.  Back to reality tomorrow.  I feel a bit let down, the way you do when you first finish a Harry Potter book after a weekend-long binge read (yeah I used to do that too.)

 

I agree wholeheartedly. I fell down the Shatlander drama rabbit hole as a newbie Outlander fan and having no idea how ... um, passionate? the fans were. Twitter schooled me. I don't think anyone involved came out smelling like a rose but it left me with overwhelming sympathy for Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan that they had to deal with such violation into their privacy. And it made me very glad that I was not famous.

At Shatner's age and status, I think that he has decided that he is going to say what he wants to say and does not really give a flip what people think. My mom, while twenty plus years his junior, is also in that stage of life, and while it must be liberating, it can also be cringeworthy for people around him. That is why I give Heughan a pass for not condemning his words on Twitter like so many fans were demanding. But I also don't think that stars owe fans anything about their personal life and that is my big problem with a section of Outlander fans -- that they feel that they are owed something by the actors who are just doing their job. 

As for Star Trek, as a longtime fan, I loved all of the recognition it received last week. I actually share my birthday with Star Trek, although I have to point out that it is quite a bit older than me. ;) While I have never cottoned to the original series, I love the movies and am a TNG fan. Just last night, I found a Locutus of Borg Pop figurine at Target, who is now beside my Outlander Claire Pop figure in my office. Watch out, Jamie! I think WatchrTina is right on the money that they there are some parallels between Star Trek and Outlander. I liked that they cast actors in their mid-thirties for Claire and Jamie. In our youth-obsessed culture, it is nice to see actors and actresses my age on screen -- especially ones who are in fantastic shape and inspire me to put down the donut and go do some crunches.

I could see where Heughan would see Shatner's career as hope that he too can have a long and successful career after Outlander is over. I hope he does because although he receives a lot of attention for his looks, he and Balfe are both phenomenal actors.

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Edited September 12, 2016 by katville

[Dust Bunny]

19 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

 William Shatner has reinvented himself more than once (remember when we discovered how funny he was on Boston Legal?) 

Sometimes his tweets annoy me, but then I remember Boston Legal and all is forgiven.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to see a charity promo YouTube of him and Sam in chairs drinking whisky on a balcony?

Ok, now that I have that image, it needs to happen. Make it so.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Dust Bunny

[maraleia]

Well I can't see Shatner's tweets because he blocked me when I questioned his sexist comment about Claire in an episode he was watching.

[katville]

His friend Paul Camuso who apparently was all up in the Shatlander drama is kinda an odd duck. 

[Liser78]

Just wanted everyone to go to spoilertv.com and vote today for Outlander. You can only vote once, it the Favorite Series Competion that they do yearly, quarter finals

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/09/2016-series-comp-day-29-quarter-finals-person-of-interest-agent-carter-major-crimes-outlander-leverage-librarians-supernatural-veronica-mars.html

[WatchrTina]

I tuned into the Emmy's and was feeling "meh." They didn't nominate Cait or Sam or Tobias or the show and although they nominated Gary and Terry neither of them won at the technical awards so . . . "meh."  Also I don't watch ANY of the comedies that were nominated and I never saw the OJ Simpson mini-series that cleaned up so all those categories were boring.

But then Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won and I thought, "Well, okay -- that's well-deserved."  And then Mr. Robot's Rami Malek won best actor in a drama series and Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany won best actress in a drama series (finally!) and OH MY GOD all my favorites are winning!  Game of Thrones won best drama and if it couldn't be Outlander then I'm glad it was GOT.  So all in all, a pretty good evening.  

Okay, best line of the night was after "Transparent" won another "comedy" award.  Jimmy Kimmel said something along the lines of "people are wondering why Transparent is in the comedy category since it deals with some pretty serious topics.  Well Transparent was born a drama but it identifies as a comedy." Perfect.  Now if he could just explain how "The Martian" won a Golden Globe as best comedy film.

[Dust Bunny]

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That all makes sense.  Layers make sense in New England, too, but it's just been so warm here still!  

DB, so jealous of your trip to Scotland!  Someday I hope to get there.  What all did you do?

The easiest way to answer that is to direct you to the tour: Scottish Dream Tours'  Romancing the Highlands. I can't recommend it enough. The tour guides are outstanding guys, and it's a small group experience. Only 10-11 people are on each tour, which makes everything better. They've been doing it for 10+ years, but, surprise surprise, it's really taken off the last couple years. This is the first year they've sold out, and I'm sure that will continue. I love Outlander, and I'm a huge history buff, but I fell in love with the land. For me, it really was heaven on earth. And you appreciate that kind of stuff as a cancer survivor. :) It's also about the people. The 10 of us came from all over the country: Oregon, Washington State, New Jersey, Colorado, Kansas, and yours truly from Minnesota. We bonded right away. It was pretty awesome. It was quite a thing to see these huge coach tours come to the sites: people get out, walk around, take pictures, then get back on the bus to spend most of the day on the road. This tour is a 180 from that. We drove on local roads, saw so much land and towns, and got the local and authentic flavor every step of the way. Seriously, it's awesome. It really was the trip of my dreams. A few of us are going back on a different SDT trip in a few years. They're also on Facebook and Instagram.  

I kind of didn't want to post this, so it could stay a lesser-known treasure, but that ship has sailed with their 10,000 likes on FB. You get a lot of intimate experiences that you would never get on big group tours. (And the best Tattoo seats in the place! The guys wait HOURS to snag those.)

Nothing against large coach tours for people who like those (it is a great travel option for some people), but these tours live up to their name. 

ETA: Make that 50,000 FB likes. Yeah, that ship has sailed.

Edited September 24, 2016 by Dust Bunny

[morgan]

Sounds wonderful!  Thanks for sharing.  

[Bort]

That sounds like a neat tour @Dust Bunny. I'm in Scotland right now, myself, up in the Shetlands. For work, so I don't really get a lot of time to galavant around. But the hotel I'm staying at is 500 years old and a hugely popular place for weddings. They had one today with a lot of the dudes wearing kilts. Even kids. 

[WatchrTina]

Thanks Dust Bunny. I'm following them now on Facebook.  I really do want to take a trip to Scotland now.

So . . . remember a few days ago when I declared my new-found appreciation for William Shatner (Sam's new BFF)?  Friday night I went to a big, downtown Austin theater for a screening of Star Trek II:  The Wrath of Khan with, you guessed it, William Shatner in attendance.  I was worried about the Q & A.  Sometimes the interviewer is bad.  Sometimes they throw it open to questions from the audience (always cringe-inducing).  But no, it was great.  The interviewer REALLY knew Star Trek and, more importantly, he knew how to get out of the way of an experienced guest like Bill Shatner.  He started off with some general, leading question and Bill was off and running, talking about the circumstances under which Wrath of Khan came in to being.  It was funny -- he'd forget the name of someone peripherally involved in the production and look to the interviewer, who would fill in the name.  Until he didn't.  Shatner teased him mercilessly about one such gap giving him "helpful" clues like "You know -- he was a white guy.  Tall."  Then he said "He spoke with an accent" and the interviewer came up with the name!  We all cheered.  In fact the interviewer got a good laugh at one point and Shatner was taken aback saying "Did you just get a laugh?"  But it was all in good fun.  At one point they were talking about the special effects, which everyone now agrees just overwhelmed the first movie.  When talking about the sometimes laughable special effects in the original series the interviewer called them "charming."  Shatner was at first taken aback by that characterization but then he said, "No, you're right.  That's a good description of them.  Charming."  Later, during the screening, someone says something to Captain Kirk and he responds with a dead-pan "Charming."  We all cheered.

Last night I watched "For the Love of Spock", which is a documentary that was made by Adam Nimoy (Leonard's son).  It was originally intended to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration but when Leonard passed away last year it morphed into a tribute film about his life and career.  I really enjoyed it. (It's on Time Warner on-demand and in some theaters if you are interested.)  And now I'm off to continue my re-watch of season 3 of Star Trek, the original series.  They didn't show it during the first weekend marathon two weeks ago and, having begun the series, I now feel the need to finish -- especially while I'm still immersed in this glow of fondness for the original cast.  It's not a bad way of getting through Droughtlander #3.

Edited September 25, 2016 by WatchrTina

[katville]

I love that, WatchrTina! Seeing Shatner in Austin would be amazing, especially if he is talking about Wrath of Khan (I am a huge WoK fan).

[Bort]

I was talking to one of my Scottish co-workers last week and I brought up Outlander, and she said she had been meaning to watch it. She's down in Aberdeen and I got this email from her yesterday: "I am on episode 6… HOOKED!!!"

By the way, her name is Gaelic: Seonaid. Pronounced sho-na. 

[Bort]

Had a day off from work that wasn't super drizzly rainy windy and disgusting. I present the Scottish Shetland Island Cliffs of Esheness:

[morgan]

Beautiful!

[morgan]

Just had to share.  When I do cardio at the gym, I Netflix shows to help the time pass.  Just finished Inspector Morse (have been a fan of Inspector Lewis and Endevour, figured it was time to check out the original).  Today I needed something new and Netflix recommended Midsomer Murders.  Watched the first episode.  Jury is out on the series, but cracked up because a woman was killed and another woman said she needed to go tell the bees or else they would leave.  I did such a double take!  Very funny, the first time I has ever heard this expression was when Diana announced the name of the new book.

[LMR]

Anyone watching Versailles? I know it just premiered in the states but I watched it on Netflix at the start of the summer (I'm a brit living in SE Asia!). Its definitely worth a watch during droughtlander if you like historical drama. Its very much in the Tudors mould. (Which full disclosure I hated because I am a history teacher and know too much about the period to be able to fully enjoy the liberties they took with the actual History, but I know a lot of people LOVED). The costumes are absolutely gorgeous and it definitely made me want to go to France. I also think some of it actually was filmed on location as its a french co-production.

[Bort]

So this is what a broch looks like…

[crystalball]

I just discovered Litographs (litographs.com), and I'm in love. They have tees, totes, scarves, and posters designed with text from famous books. Currently offer items with Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber - looks like the others are coming per some Facebook comments, too.  Plus a whole lot of other great books.

I am in no way affiliated - just excited to have found these and thinking of all the great gift giving options for all the bookworms in my life (and how to keep from going overboard for myself, too). Thought many here would appreciate as well. Happy shopping if you're one of them!

[Rilla-my-Rilla]

47 minutes ago, crystalball said:

I just discovered Litographs (litographs.com), and I'm in love. They have tees, totes, scarves, and posters designed with text from famous books. Currently offer items with Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber - looks like the others are coming per some Facebook comments, too.  Plus a whole lot of other great books.

 

Another similar site to that is Out of Print Clothing. (outofprintclothing.com) A lot of their shirts look like the book covers. I think the library stamp shirt is cute. 

I liked the Outlander tote from the litograph site. 

[ulkis]

I turned on TCM and the movie "Women in Love" was on, and at times Alan Bates reminded me of Roger a lot:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/535083999448601172/

[WatchrTina]

I binge-watched "The Crown" (about the young Queen Elizabeth at the start of her reign) on Netflix today.  It is GORGEOUS and really well-cast.  In Outlander-related news, the scenes shot outdoors on locations in Scotland are spectacular and completely unrealistic as there was not a raindrop in sight.  But they are lovely to see.

Edited November 6, 2016 by WatchrTina

[dustoffmom]

I watched the first seven episodes today as well.  Enjoying it very much.  Will try and finish the season tomorrow.  Are there more than the first season?

[WatchrTina]

From what I understand they are planning six 10-episode seasons (60 eps in all) and the thought is that they will re-cast everyone every other season since the actress playing 20-something Elizabeth II could clearly not play her during the Diana years or the Queen's recent Diamond Jubilee (celebrating 60 years on the throne).  Some people have even speculated that the series creator/writer, Peter Morgan, will try to get Helen Mirren to play the Queen in the final two seasons since they already collaborated together on his previous bio-pic about the royal family, 2006's "The Queen."   Helen has done television before -- I still recall her first coming to my attention when she played the detective Jane Tennyson in "Prime Suspect."

If you want to see a bit of season 1 from a different angle, try to find "Churchill's Secret" starring Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill for a different perspective around Churchill's secret heart attacks.  It came out earlier this year and I think I saw it on "Masterpiece Theater" on PBS but it might be available on demand somewhere.

Edited November 6, 2016 by WatchrTina

[abbey]

oops.  not necessary.

Edited November 6, 2016 by abbey
typo

[dustoffmom]

I saw Churchill's Secret when it first aired, and I agree, I believe it was on television.  That, among other films about him, and The Queen constituted my knowledge with the current queen.  And of course Wm. Manchesters definitive books on Churchill.  This version is presenting basically a side of her I have not been familiar with, perhaps adding to my enjoyment.  Interesting that they plan to recast throughout the entire season but you are correct, if not it would be difficult to show the progressing ages.  I look forward to many more hours of viewing over the next few days!

[Dust Bunny]

You guys are great, but this fandumb drives me nuts, sometimes. Even Terry Dresbach wrote a mean-spirited tweet this morning. Granted, it was politics-based, and I know how crazy this election is (just 3 more days!!). Still, if there's a reason why I step away from this forum periodically, it's because I need to step away from the dumbness. Again, you guys are great. It's just that sometimes I need a break from the Droughtlander madness.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Dust Bunny

[Summer]

2 hours ago, Dust Bunny said:

You guys are great, but this fandumb drives me nuts, sometimes. Even Terry Dresbach wrote a mean-spirited tweet this morning. Granted, it was politics-based, and I know how crazy this election is (just 3 more days!!). Still, if there's a reason why I step away from this forum periodically, it's because I need to step away from the dumbness. Again, you guys are great. It's just that sometimes I need a break from the Droughtlander madness.

Could not agree any harder to this post, Dust Bunny.   I have unfollowed every single Twitter account having anything to do with Outlander. Don't get me started on seeing grown adults asking the actors to pray for their sick loved ones, or a requesting a "birthday shout out".  But Terry Dresbach is who really sent me over the edge.  She claims to "enjoy a respectful dialogue and debate"  yet any time anything was ever said in the slightest negative way about her beloved costumes she would throw a hissy fit.  EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  After last season when the famous red dress wasn't met with overwhelming applause and adulation, she declared she would no longer design anything for the show that was described in the books.   I could go on but I won't.

I really lost a lot of my obsession/interest in Outlander this past season, so I too will most likely just lurk from now on.  

And I second Dust Bunny, that this board and the participants are awesome....but, man, Twitter tho.....

Edited November 6, 2016 by Summer

[WatchrTina]

I'm re-watching the first episode of "The Crown" and I'm almost certain that the great house where they spend Christmas in the first episode is supposed to be Sandringham House, which is an estate that is privately owned by the Queen.  Clearly they are not filming at the real Sandringham so they are using another great house to stand in for it and unless I am very much mistaken it is the same great house that Outlander used for the Duke of Sandringham's house.

It's funny, I guess I had always half-assumed The Duke of Sandringham was based on a real person (like Lord Lovat) but now I realize that Diana must have made him up. There probably wasn't a real Duke of Sandringham who was a suspected Jacobite and who was beheaded in his own kitchen by persons unknown.  So now I'm rather tickled that our fictional Sandringham's home was played by the same great house that is standing in for the real Sandringham estate in The Crown.  I like the synchronicity.

And as for Dust Bunny's comment about the fandom/fandumb -- I saw that a couple of days ago Sam felt compelled to post a tweet that said "Shameful behaviour by many on social media recently. It's disgusting and needs to stop. Spineless bullying. Stop. Now."  I don't even want to know what provoked that strong a response by him.  Sigh.  Can't we all just enjoy the show and get along?

[dustoffmom]

Just finished season 1 of the Crown.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.  Netflix has no further seasons available at all Watchr Tina!  Where did you find a season 2??

[WatchrTina]

Season 2 hasn't been filmed yet.  Alas, now we have to wait a year for another season.  

[Petunia846]

If you're waiting and bored, I just binged the first season of Magnificent Century on Netflix. Very different tone from The Crown or Outlander, but pretty cool and also addictive. It's a drama from Turkey about the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, so Ottoman sultans and stuff.

[Bort]

Toured the Culloden Battlefield today. The Clan Fraser headstone is very popular. Someone had written "Je suis pret" on a small stone and placed it on top.

[WatchrTina]

I recently resumed my re-watch of the SciFi series, Farscape (I own the whole thing on DVD), and one thing I noticed -- particularly tonight -- is an interesting similarity between that show and Outlander.  In episode 1 of Outlander, Claire is seized by forces beyond her control and flung into an "alien" environment full of customs and conflicts she doesn't understand, where she immediately meets her soul-mate (though their path to one another is anything but smooth.)  In episode 1 of Farscape John Crichton (a rocket scientist who is built like a rugby payer) is seized by forces beyond his control (a wormhole) and is flung into an entirely different kind of alien environment -- one with actual aliens (played by actors with heavy prosthetics as well as by animatronic puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop).  In the first episode he meets one alien, "the radiant Aeryn Sun", who looks human (but isn't ) and who turns out to be his soul-mate (though it takes those two MUCH longer to figure it out than Jamie and Claire do.)  Both shows fall within the "Fantasy/SciFi genre but what really makes them similar is the fact that everything really revolves around the central couple.  If their relationships did not resonate -- if you did not believe in them -- both shows would have failed.  Instead, both succeed.  If you've never watched Farscape and you are looking for something to fill Droughtlander, I highly recommend it.  It is, alas, not available on demand from Netflix but you can get it through their DVD rental.  Oh, and have some patience.  It takes a bit longer than Outlander to hit its stride but if you like it you'll have a great ride ahead of you.  Also please know that there is a follow-up movie that is necessary viewing to end the series.  It was made after the fans staged a grand-mal hissy-fit on the internet and in the press (I participated).  We went crazy after the SciFi channel cancelled the series at the very end of season 4 after having previously announced its renewal through season 5.  This left the central couple in a brutal cliff-hanger situation at the supposed end of the series.  The words "To Be Continued" are actually hanging there on the screen in the final image of the final episode.  Oh the rage!  Thankfully the fans agitated sufficiently (and bought enough copies of the DVDs) to justify a follow-up movie ("Farscape:  The Peacekeeper Wars) that brought the series to a more satisfying close.  

Which reminds me -- have y'all ever watched Firefly?  That SciFi series was brutally cancelled by Fox (morons!) after only 14 episodes and then earned its own follow-up movie due to fan devotion.  That's another great way to get through Droughtlander.  It also has a will-they / won't-they relationship (or two) in it and blends SciFi & spaceships with cowboys & horses.  I know, it sounds weird.  Just trust me on this one -- watch it. It's shiny!  That one is available for streaming on Netflix but you'll have to get the DVD to see follow-up movie, Serenity.  Enjoy!

Edited December 11, 2016 by WatchrTina

[j5cochran]

On 12/10/2016 at 11:41 PM, WatchrTina said:

. . .

Which reminds me -- have y'all ever watched Firefly?  That SciFi series was brutally cancelled by Fox (morons!) after only 14 episodes and then earned its own follow-up movie due to fan devotion.  That's another great way to get through Droughtlander.  It also has a will-they / won't-they relationship (or two) in it and blends SciFi & spaceships with cowboys & horses.  I know, it sounds weird.  Just trust me on this one -- watch it. It's shiny!  That one is available for streaming on Netflix but you'll have to get the DVD to see follow-up movie, Serenity.  Enjoy!

Ah, Captain Tightpants! I'm not that fond of the main will-they / won't-they couple (I love the characters, just not the two of them as a couple), but the show itself is delightful.

I'll be in my bunk!

[WatchrTina]

I'm reading a short-story collection by Neil Gaimen called "Trigger Warning."  Last night I read one titled "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains."  It is set in the highlands of Scotland.  There is an oblique reference to "the king across the water" by which two Jacobites come to recognize one another (and didn't I think I was smart when I recognized THAT reference.)  One of the characters is something . . . other.  He is small.  He is ugly.  He has powers he keeps hidden.  He very much reminded me of a certain French apothecary we come to know and love in "Dragonfly in Amber."  There is a cave.  There is hidden gold.  If you've read all the books you know those items set off Outlander "triggers." There is some Highlander-style eye-for-an-eye vengeance going on in the story.  The landscape of the highlands is described in all its rough, wet glory.  It is a spooky story.  All the synchronicity with Outlander made it even more so.

[WatchrTina]

I'm binging my way through Penny Dreadful on Netflix as a way of dealing with the Droughtlander.  I couldn't watch Penny Dreadful when it originally aired because I gave up Showtime to get STARZ when Outlander began.  Tonight (in Season 3) they introduced a bad-ass female character named . . . . Caitriona.  That's only the 2nd time in my life I've seen that name spelled that way (and you all know when the first time was.)  And get this -- she's a Highland Scot -- taught to swing a claymore since she was a child (apparently her father really wanted a son.)  I enjoyed all the Outlander synchronicity but I had to scoff at the notion of her being a Highland Scot -- her accent was nothing like what we're used to hearing.

[WatchrTina]

Okay this video has been all over my Facebook newsfeed (which tells you something about my friends) so I think it needs to be here too.  Ladies & Gentlemen . . . yoga in a kilt.

http://www.today.com/health/so-cheeky-scottish-men-do-kilted-yoga-nsfw-video-t108532