The Squeee

FRIDAY After seeing both Wollaton Hall and central Nottingham, 3" Thorin went off to the local beer festival, despite it not being on until October. When I picked him up again to take the bus home, he was completely plastered and ended up vomiting on the pavement. Cheers for that, mate. For today, I thought I'd get him into nature, and where better to finish off our sightseeing trip than by visiting the renowned Sherwood Forest? Everyone who comes to visit us always end up getting carted up to Edwinstowe to see the Major Oak, and Thorin is certainly not going to be the exception!

We were actually busy watching part two of Syfy's Alice on DVD last night, so I have yet to see Women in Love . Here are some reviews I've tracked down, to see what "the professionals" have to say about it. Not that it should be used as a guide as to what you might think of it yourself, because professional critics are generally from a different planet than the rest of us. Andrew Billen of The Times gave it 4 stars out of 5. He's not too impressed by it, finding the original novel "hard to take seriously". Not quite sure what he means by that specifically. I have issues with the book, which seems to be more part two than part one (being the prequel The Rainbow from what I've understood these reviews), but take it seriously? Well, yes. And finding it a bit weird, dull and preachy too. Billen seems to think that the story was best served when it was first published, in the 1920s, when sex in books was something revolutionary, but nowadays, "L...

And that airdate is TOMORROW! The BBC two-part adaptation of DH Lawrence's Women in Love and The Rainbow starts tomorrow, Thursday 24 March 2011 at 9 pm / 21:00 on BBC Four and concludes Thursday 31 March. Ursula (Rachael Stirling) and Gudrun (Rosamund Pike) The adaptation was filmed in South Africa as opposed to in Nottinghamshire, where the book is actually set, for " budgetary constraints ". Last time I remember seeing outdoors South Africa trying to pose as outdoors England was in Merlin: The Return , and the least said about that film the better. (Scenery was just one of many things that let that piece of sh production down.) It looked nothing like England, let's put it that way.

Tonight, in an hour, the UK will pass from 2010 to 2011. Almost half the world is already there, in fact! I hope 2010 has treated you well, and even if it hasn't, I hope 2011 will be (even) better. :) Here's a quick re-cap of the year of The Squeee . The Squeee in 2010 - A year of unabashed fangirling January opened with the All About the Brontës Challenge , where I set to work straight away, listening to some old radio plays of Jane Eyre , watched the 1996 film adaptation of the same and finished reading Wuthering Heights for the very first time. I also wrote about my visit to Haddon Hall the year before, and had ideas on how you might be able to make sports interesting , because let's face it, it's not exactly all that interesting. I also discovered I was Marianne Dashwood , even though I don't really play the piano. February announced the first International Magic Day , the blog got itself a makeover, and we were being spoiled rotten by Mr. Armitage n...

Was going through Marvin (the desktop computer) to find some files, and came across this, which I believe was posted on Facebook a couple of years ago or so. So not necessarily very up-to-date, but anyway. Here goes: 1) What author do you own the most books by? Technically, Carolyn Keene, but on the other hand, they’re not all mine and besides, they’re all at my parents’. Seriously though, we’ve got probably 100+ Nancy Drew books! Sheer number of books aside from that … Bengt Linder. My collection of books about Dante and Tvärsan is almost complete. :D 2) What book do you own the most copies of? Hmm. I’ve got a few doubles of Jane Austen books now, as I decided to get a new batch from the same series (Wordsworth Classics) to make it look nice and consistent. 3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? Prepo-what-a? :P

BBC Four have done a press release regarding the schedule for the autumn 2010 / winter 2011 season. And I'm thrilled! Delighted! Amazed! As happy as can be! 1. There's the first ever filmed adaptation of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency . It might not have been made clear here just yet, but I'm a huge fan of Douglas Adams and Dirk Gently is one of those things that tend to get over-looked because of the vastly more successful Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Dirk Gently! On the telly! :D Holistic detective Dirk Gently, as played by Harry Enfield in the 2007 BBC radio production 2. They're also adapting not one but TWO of DH Lawrence's novels! Hooray! Women in Love and The Rainbow , which are combined somehow, apparently, and will star Rosamund Pike. DH Lawrence! Now, how's that for timing? :D

Went into town on Saturday, and as we were passing one of those wonderful discount bookshops, I went in to see if they had anything of interest. They did: a whole shelf of Wordsworth Classics! So I helped myself to these ones: Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence The Plumed Serpent by DH Lawrence The Virgin and the Gipsy & Other Stories by DH Lawrence Guess my reading list for the DH Lawrence Challenge just expanded! :)

The darkness steals the forms of all the queens, But oh, the palms of his two black hands are red Inflamed with binding up the sheaves of the dead Hours that were once all glory and all queens. And I remember still the sunny hours Of queens in hyacinth and skies of gold, And morning singing where the woods are scrolled And diapered above the chaunting flowers. Here lamps are white like snowdrops in the grass; The town is like a churchyard, and so still And grey now night is here; nor will Another torn red sunset come to pass.  Good night, everybody! :)

Today, it begins! Good luck everyone who's signed up . Thanks for joining in! It's my first go at this so please bear with me. :) My personal aim is to take it a bit easier with this challenge than with the Brontë one, where I went "a bit" mad, so have set my limit to a more reasonable one book a month. Will read them in order in the omnibus, but I can't remember which one comes first. Just know I plan on finishing with Lady Chatterley's Lover in December. That being said - let's go! :D Post your DH Lawrence Challenge reviews here! When you have finished something in the challenge and written something about it on your blog, please pop by here and let the rest of us know the link to your review, because sharing is caring! :) See the Challenge details and sign up to participate here!

Here's my list of things I wish to accomplish during the DH Lawrence Challenge 2010 , which kicks off on Thursday 1 July 2010! :) Lady Chatterley's Lover (book) The Captain's Doll (novella) The Ladybird (novella) The Man Who Died (short story) The Virgin and the Gypsy (novella) Love Among the Haystacks (short story) The Lovely Lady (short story) Rawdon's Roof (short story) The Rocking-Horse Winner (short story) The Man Who Loved Islands (short story) Visit DH Lawrence heritage! I hope to be able to track down some adaptations as well, such as the 1993 version of Lady Chatterley , with Sean Bean and Joely Richardson. We shall see. If so, I'll add more to the list as they come along. But this is my starting point! :) Oh, I nearly forgot: As part of the challenge, I also aim to visit DH Lawrence Heritage in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire . Don't know when exactly, but hopefully at some point this summer! Learn more about the author: DH Lawr...

DH Lawrence (1885-1930). Controversial. Censored. Persecuted. Misunderstood or just way ahead of his time? I'm liking these literary challenges being posted around various blogs, because they get people reading, and perhaps reading things they would otherwise not get around to. As I found DH Lawrence omnibus book in a charity shop recently, and have been curious to host one myself, I decided that would be the subject. Not only because I enjoy his writing and his thoughts on society and people, but also, because I like the regional aspect of it: DH Lawrence was from Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, 20 minutes down the road! :) I first read Lady Chatterley's Lover after a classmate let me borrow it, as she thought I might like it. I don't recall exactly what the discussion around it was, as it was in 2003, but one day, she brought it with her, and I started reading it, not quite knowing what to expect. I had heard of the title before, certainly, but had never actually read i...

"You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately." Take the Quiz here! Umm. I took piano lessons for a year when I was ten... that's not "beautifully", that's "yes, you do play only a little". Captivating singing voice? I do okay on Singstar, but I wouldn't call that "captivating" by any stretch of the imagination! I also have an intense dislike of poetry. I once bought the collected poems of DH Lawrence in a fit of "I like his writing and he's a LOCAL!" (five years in Nottingham and I've still never been to the DH Lawrence Heritage site in Eastwood, 20 mins from where we live now *cough*) only to remember, when I finally opened it to read, that I find 98% of all poetry insanely...