Probably not the same definition of winter as used in many parts of the country, but when it gets down to 32° in Southeast Texas, it’s winter. No precipitation, just cold—and it only made it up to 45° during the daytime today. I liked Obama’s comments today just before his statement about the economic stimulus program, chiding Washington D.C. for overreacting to the weather.
Fringe’s plot last night was about the most ludicrous of the series so far, and that’s saying a lot for a show that had a kitten-sized cold virus recently. Still, Walter keeps me coming back for more. You gotta love a guy who is delighted by liquefied brains and ordered baboon seminal fluid, though he can’t quite recall why.
In preparation for tonight’s return of Life on Mars, I’ve been watching the UK version. A friend recommended it over the US edition and I have to say that so far I agree. What I find interesting is how straight a reproduction of the original series this is. It isn’t “inspired by,” it’s virtually a photocopy of the UK show. The plots are more or less the same, and so is a lot of the dialog. Except the stories are firmly rooted in 1973 Manchester instead of NYC. The episode about the murder that seemed to be related to the Manchester United/Manchester City rivalry was quintessentially British, and it’s translation to US culture pales in comparison. I still like the guy who plays Sam on the US version, but the British actor brings something extra to the role, a kind of delicate fragility. And I thought no one would top Harvey Keitel as Hunt, but the British guy would win that rumble hands down. The BBC version is somewhat less ambiguous about what’s really happening, but that doesn’t detract from it in the least. I will admit, though, that there were times that I wished there were closed captioning, because 1973 British jargon isn’t all that familiar to my ear any more.
I reached the 90% point of the book in progress this morning. I’m about 2/3 of the way through both Chapters 8 and 9, and should finish them off this week. That leaves some ancillary material to be written and some final proofing. I’m still waiting to hear back from the editors about the midpoint deliverables I sent in last week to see if I’m on the mark in terms of what they are looking for and whether or not I’ll have to do some major revisions.
I wrote a review of Chelsea Cain’s Sweetheart last night.
