Noe and Cindy write

Thursday

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum, R.I. Four

If you have not read the first installment, you're going to want to begin there before continuing this journey, for this is installment four....

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

* * * * *

As soon as Darcy and Aurora had entered the lift, Dr. McCrete turned to the captain with, “Josh, do you think it’s safe for Aurora to be in the lift with him alone?”

“Aurora can take care of herself,” the captain replied, and then addressing the rest of the bridge crew, he asked, “Any observations on this man?”

Young Ensign Checkon eagerly observed, “He is not from my country, Captain.”

“Right... does anyone have any observations that are not obvious?”

Mr. Spot pointed out, “He continues to assert he is in a dream. If we are to assume he believes this statement to be true and is not simply trying to stall, it may very well be, Captain, that he is not in any position to inform us as to how he came to be here.” Captain Kurt nodded in agreement.

Checkon, feeling somewhat embarrassed, made another attempt: “His clothes look like. . . well, he doesn't dress like he is from around here.”

Stones, trying to make Checkon sound like he had said something smarter than he did, suggested, “He looks to be playing the part of an English gentleman from days gone by.”

Shooloo came in with his deep voice, “I believe that is what Checkon was trying to say.”

The captain barked, “All right, all right! -- that’s what I’m trying to figure out: is he playing a role, or is he what he appears to be??”

Checkon, having started all this with his comment about the stranger’s clothes, felt better about himself, until he added, “I wonder what kind of tea he takes?. . .” Everyone turned to look at him with a deadpan expression, which gave him no doubt that he should have left well enough alone.

Captain Kurt impulsively threw his hands up, which arrested everyone’s attention: “Wait a minute, Checkon might be onto something! Why is he insistent on having tea? Spot, are you aware of any significance to tea?”

“Aside from it being a common beverage of enjoyment, it is also used for medicinal purposes...”

“Medicinal purposes!?” snorted Stones. “Who in Sam Hill takes tea for medicinal purposes in the twenty-third century, you pointy-eared, purple-blooded, never-been-sick-in-your-life Volcon?”

“Doctor, I assure you, there was no intent to malign your profession; I was simply attempting to answer the captain’s query. And if I may be permitted to continue -- there are also 20th century references to tea leaves that remain at the bottom of a cup being used for some superstitious purpose. We must wonder, does our unexpected guest have any of these things in mind, or is he simply comporting some form of etiquette? He did seem rather irritated at what he considered a breach in our manners.”

Everyone began to ponder, what could be his reason for wanting tea?
. . .

Is this a dream? Or an incredible adventure? . . .

Watch for your first look at the starship Venture, coming soon!

Look on the right sidebar for links to more installments →

Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

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Friday

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum, R.I. Three

If you have not read the first installment, you're going to want to begin there before continuing this journey, for this is installment three....

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

* * * * *

The group of men directed Darcy toward one side of the room, when suddenly, doors opened and Darcy stopped with a start. Peering inside, he cried, “You cannot be serious! We are to have tea in such a small room? ...there is hardly sufficient space for us to stand in there! This is beyond comprehension -- to begin with I, your guest, am required to ask for tea, and now you show me a room that is only fit to hang one’s coat in. Do you expect me to have refreshments in there?”

Mr. Spot looked curiously at the stranger as the captain looked up at the ceiling, exasperated. Stones, the only one understanding the man’s reaction, turned to him and said, “We will not be having tea in there; we have to get in that room for it to take us to a more comfortable place for tea.”

“What are you saying? Show me the door to the other room, good sir, or I certainly will not step foot into such a confined space with foreigners such as yourselves.” Darcy was beginning to wish this dream would conclude, as it was becoming quite vexing, and he had better things to do, such as make that proposal to Elizabeth Bennet! There was a vague sense of concern coming over him, however, for his conversation with Elizabeth seemed so real, her refusal so forceful... could it be .... certainly he did not really...??

Darcy’s thoughts were interrupted by Captain Kurt, who, feeling like he had already given a mile just to agree to tea, burst out, “We only want to find out your name and where you are from! But it seems we can’t do that till we serve tea, and we can’t serve tea till you get in the lift!”

“Lift?” Darcy said quizzically. A man of Darcy’s education and stature in society could not help but be interested in investigating what a lift could be!

Mr. Spot proceeded to inform him, “The lift takes the occupants in that cubicle up several levels of a building much faster than if you were to walk up stairs. In this case, it will take us down five levels to the mess hall.”

Darcy, always one to hear any discrepancies, propounded, “If that room takes its occupants up as well as down, why is it referred to merely as a lift?”

Captain Kurt broke in, “Spot, we don’t have time to teach him how everything on the Venture works. Listen, sir, would you agree to get in the lift with Lieutenant Aurora? She can take you to the mess, and we will follow after.”

Darcy responded, “Now that is the first civilized thing you have said, sir.”

* * * * *

Mr Darcy falls in love . . . our new book about Darcy's side of Pride and Prejudice, →
released this 200th anniversary of that romantic story . . . and this also being the year of the release of the new Star Trek sequel . . . put them both together and you have . . .

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

Look on the right sidebar for links to more installments →

Noe

Tuesday

100 word scary story

I saw something about writing stories or poems in only 100 words and thought I'd take a stab at it. There are various categories to choose from, or I suppose you can make up anything you want. Some rules say you can include the title, some don't say, others say don't... haha

Count the words to mine and see which rule I'm following --

My Turn to Scream
Eyes darting, heart pounding, hugging the wall, which seemed the only safe place... Moving steadily toward the exit, even more fearful since the screams from the others had stopped... The quiet is so profound, my head fills with the last sounds of the cries of terror... "Someone always escapes!" I say, to drown the echoes... Must step past an open doorway, then to safety... Should I run? or put my trust in silence? Quietly I step forward, next the feel of hot breath, the sensation of being pulled -- oh no! Now it is my turn to . . .

Thanks, hope you enjoyed it!

Noe

Monday

Pride and Prejudice movie characters, part 6

Miss Caroline Bingley

When we think of Pride and Prejudice, we automatically consider Darcy's pride and Elizabeth's prejudice and, of course, they each had their share of both. But the one person that exhibits these two qualities potentized is Caroline Bingley. She scoffs at people who make their money in trade, even though that is how her father made the family fortune. She asserts herself into a higher rung of English society by assuming a superior air, and nothing pairs so well with snobbishness as hypocrisy -- Caroline Bingley is the epitome of both. I suppose a book about her could be called Snobs and Hypocrites ... maybe I should think about that as my next P&P variation!

The 1940 movie must have set the example for most of the others that followed with reference to the way Caroline is portrayed. I'm referring to leaving out the dynamic of her wanting Darcy for herself; the 1980 BBC, the 2005 P&P, and Bride & Prejudice all have Miss Bingley not showing that much interest in Darcy. Only one version does that, the 1995 BBC series with Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle and Anna Chancellor. This dimension of the story being left out, though, is a big mistake. There are some spicy exchanges in most versions between Caroline and Elizabeth which are fun to watch, but without the aspect that Caroline is fighting for Darcy's attention, all that is being portrayed is Miss Bingley being full of -- dare I say it? -- pride and prejudice!

The real laugh of all this in the book is that Lizzy, who has no interest in Darcy, is simply enjoying the comedy playing out before her as she sees Caroline doing all she can to get Darcy to take notice of her, only to be ignored by him. Sure, you will enjoy the story without her interest in him shining through in these other movies, but why leave Austen's brilliance on the sideline? You might as well hang a copy of the Mona Lisa on your wall that is only partly done.

Now as to who plays the best Caroline Bingley in the movies we've been discussing, I was tempted to say it is a tie between Frieda Inescort in the 1940 movie and Anna Chancellor from the 1995 BBC version. However, the scales tilt in Anna's favor, because she really can be so Caroline -- gracious, elegant, with jealousy and pride all mixed together.

Honorable mention goes to Indira Varma as Kiran from Bride and Prejudice -- just looking at her IMDb photo, you might think she didn't even have to act the part!

Our choice for best Miss Bingley, Anna Chancellor

1940 version

1995 Anna Chancellor

1980 BBC

2005 version

Bride and Prejudice

Thursday

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum, R.I. Two

If you didn’t read the first installment, you’d better do that before continuing this journey....

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

* * * * *

Space, the new frontier. This is the journey of the starship Venture ...
its mission: to confuse Mr. Darcy, to introduce him to strange people and even stranger places, to brazenly go where no 19th century English gentleman has gone before...

* * * * *
Darcy’s astonishment soon turned to laughter. Speaking to himself, for he gave no thought to the people before him and the place he found himself as being real, Mr. Darcy said aloud, “How glad I am this is just a dream! That means I did not propose to Miss Bennet, and better still, she did not turn me down! ... obviously it is a dream, for what woman would turn down an offer from me?”

Mr. Spot, the man with the funny ears, declared, “Captain, he seems either to be unaware of our presence or is ignoring us.”

Dr. McCrete sniffed, “By George, I know one way of getting his attention.” Walking over to the man, he tugged on Darcy’s arm. “Well, he feels real enough,” he said, and flapping his arms in front of Darcy’s face, he queried, “Hey, you, can you see us?”

Darcy was shocked at the impertinence of this little man. “I say, sir, will you let go of my arm? Certainly, even in my own dream, I am allowed to determine if I am to be addressed in such a fashion or not.”

The captain directed his communications officer, “Aurora, contact Starship Command. Inform them of what’s happening and that further details will follow as they become available.”

Turning to see who was being addressed, Darcy saw a lovely dark-skinned woman staring at him in disbelief. “Well, at least there is one pleasant thing about this dream,” he thought.

Stones spoke to Darcy again, “You are not dreaming, man, you are on the starship B.I.Z. Venture. Now will you answer me -- who are you??”

“Not a dream?! Are you mad, sir? What else could account for what I am seeing?!” And for the first time, Darcy turned around and saw the main viewer. “Good God! what is that?!” This dream was becoming ever more fantastic!

Captain Kurt had had enough of being ignored, however, and demanded, “OK, mister, listen up and listen good! You better start giving us some answers, or into the brig you go until you’re ready to talk!”

“What sort of barbaric place is this?... threatening guests with being thrown into whatever a brig might be! And where are your manners? Have you no common decency to offer a gentleman tea?” He thought, “If this is my dream, I may as well teach them how to properly greet a stranger!”

The captain shot back, “Tell me who you are, and how you got on my bridge, and I’ll gladly throw a dance in your honor.”

“My word, it is just as I observed to Sir William Lucas -- every savage can dance!”

The captain, turning to Mr. Spot, muttered, “He has given us everyone’s name but his own.”

As if this was the most common occurrence, having someone suddenly appear on the bridge requesting tea, Mr. Spot calmly replied, “Perhaps, Captain, we should offer him tea.”

“Very well, then, Mr. Spot, let us serve our guest tea and see if we can get some answers! Aurora, I suppose you can “ring for tea” down in the mess hall.”

* * *

Darcy was about to have tea in a most unforgettable setting, and Captain Kurt, Mr. Spot, and Stones were about to go from trekking through the stars to entertaining what was to them a very strange character indeed.
* * *

Dream? Nightmare? Or incredible adventure? . . .

Watch for your first look at the starship Venture, coming soon!

Noe

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

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New series: join Mr. Darcy in space

Introducing our new serial: Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum
You've already had a taste of it in the first episode, R.I. One

* * * * *

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

Look on the right sidebar for links to more installments →

Noe

Thank you for reading what noeandcindy.write !

https://www.amazon.com/author/noeandcindy.write

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Friday

Mr. Darcy and the Space-time Continuum

This is the beginning of Mr. Darcy's journey in space, R.I. One
The year is 1813 A.D. -- the place ... Kent, England . . . .

“You could not have made your offer of marriage to me in any possible way that could have tempted me to accept you, Mr. Darcy.”

How those words stung Darcy, and as his ardor began to rise, he looked intently into Elizabeth Bennet’s eyes to demand the respect he considered his due.

However, as his gaze deepened, Elizabeth noticed an alteration of his countenance. What was once indignation became instead a look of wonder. For Darcy himself, what he was seeing was reason enough for this alteration.

The glimmer in Elizabeth’s eye that had caught his attention was growing in intensity. He knew not what to attribute it to, and kept his steady gaze upon it. The gentle sparkle, becoming gradually brighter, soon overspread her face, and then the brightness was all there was, causing him to raise his hand and cover his eyes, while simultaneously closing them tight with discomfort.

In a snap, there was every indication that the light was gone, and slowly opening his eyes to confirm it, he began to lower his hands from his face. What now presented itself before him caused him to close his eyes again and run his hands across his face, as if he was trying to rouse himself from slumber!

This second opening of his eyes verified what his first had revealed. He found himself in an extraordinary place, with men and women in strange attire. He heard one man authoritatively say to another, “Mr. ShooLoo, has there been an unauthorized transport within the ship? Or have our sensors detected another vessel nearby?”

“No, Captain Kurt, no transport has registered and there are no vessels detected in the vicinity.”

The captain asked, “Do you agree, Knotty? What can you tell from the engine room?” From nowhere, Darcy heard another voice saying, “Affirmative, Captain, no transport and no vessels to be seen.”

“Mr. Spot, what do you make of this?”

“Unsure at this moment, Captain; with insufficient data, any hypothesis would be useless. But as we can all see, the stranger appears to be a humanoid life form.”

“Do you concur, Dr. McCrete? What do you make of him, Stones?”

“I’d say Mr. Spot is right on the spot, Josh.”

Captain Joshua T. Kurt now addressed the stranger, “How did you get on my bridge? Who are you -- do you have a name?”

Stay tuned to find out what Mr. Darcy’s reaction is . . .
Look on the right sidebar for links to more installments

Noe

Pride and Prejudice movie characters, part 5

Continuing our discussion of the various characters
Colonel Fitzwilliam

"Colonel Fitzwilliam ... was about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address, most truly the gentleman." Who doesn't like this cousin of Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? But which of the various movies we've been discussing has the best Colonel Fitz?

We have to choose the perfect Colonel from either the 1980 mini series or the 1995 A&E/BBC version, because basically, these are the only ones that take the time to show much of him. For instance, the 1940 version with Greer Garson has the colonel giggle like a silly girl and clap when Elizabeth is finished playing the piano for Lady Catherine and that's about it; whereas, the 2005 P&P with Keira Knightley has a good actor playing the part, but has him informing Elizabeth about Darcy in church, so the conversation must take place in whispers, which is a very poor choice.

Anthony Calf, who plays the part of the colonel in the BBC version, does a great job, of course, but we always thought he was too handsome for the part and should instead have been chosen to play George Wickham, who is described as having all the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure, and very pleasing address. Calf's manners as the colonel, though, also make the perfect Fitz.

With the book's description of the colonel in mind, however, you should see Desmond Adams from the 1980 version playing this part. I like this version for many of its aspects, one being that it has more of the conversations between Elizabeth and the colonel that are in the book than the others do, and Adams more closely resembles this character.

In particular, there is one conversation where they are walking the grounds of Rosings and Lizzy remarks that 'Darcy likes to have his own way', to which Fitz responds, “He likes to have his own way very well, but so we all do. It is only that he has better means of having it than many others, because he is rich, and many others are poor. I speak feelingly. A younger son, you know, must be inured to self-denial and dependence.” Lizzy gives her opinion that the younger son of an earl can know very little of either. The colonel informs her, his point is that he cannot marry just anybody, making her wonder if he said that so she would not get her hopes up about him. It's a really nice scene.

The 1995 series just has the colonel tell Elizabeth about Darcy saving a friend from a most imprudent marriage, which is the only significant part of their conversation. But for people who love P&P, more is better!

So, even though I have taken the long way to get there, I must say I prefer seeing Desmond Adams playing the part as Colonel Fitzwilliam. Thankfully, whoever is responsible for deciding what scenes to have in their movie wisely chose to have more of what is in the book about the colonel, making it the best choice for me.

1940 1980 -- best Col. Fitz

1995 2005

Wednesday

Movies -- why begin and not end?

Give me the ending
We recently watched a couple of movies that were a disappointing waste of time. Obviously, there are some people that will consider watching any TV or movie a waste of time, but all that aside, what made the ones we watched unsatisfying for us was the ending -- or lack of one.
Have you ever seen a movie that ends without bringing to a conclusion the various issues raised during the movie? Don’t get the idea that I’m talking about not having a happy-ever-after ending, because neither Romeo and Juliet nor Cyrano de Bergerac do, but they are both movies worth watching, and both give the viewer the satisfaction of closure. We want to know what happens to these people we've just spent time with, whose lives we have been caught up in for a couple of hours.

You might as well start watching a game -- pick any sport you want -- and then not be able to see the finish, just be left hanging. Who would keep watching sports if that's all you got? What kind of entertainment is that?
It is primarily so-called romance movies that end without really ending, apparently for some claim to realism. I would argue if that is the case, then why have a beginning of the story? Since the movie-makers are not going to give us an ending, or lamely say the ending is up to the viewer, then why not just give us a title and let the viewers come up with our own beginning and ending? These artsy movies, (if that is what they are called) are a bad use of the word art. Movies that end this way in the end are unfulfilling, anti-climactic, and downright frustrating, no matter how good the rest of the movie is.

By the way, I'd say the same thing about a book, because some of those kinds of movies are based on a book. Come on, you guys, give us the ending.

Great movies:
Romeo and Juliet 1968
Cyrano de Bergerac 1950