Remotely Connected http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/ Remotely Connected is a guest blogger project PBS is conducting in connection with the winter / spring TV season. We've invited a small, diverse group of bloggers to present their perspectives on major PBS programs in an open forum. With Remotely Connected, we're offering a venue for bloggers to initiate conversations and generate dialog. Join the conversation! en Copyright 2008 Fri, 23 May 2008 08:46:43 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.21 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Austin City Limits "R.E.M." by Robert Duffy

Before we get into R.E.M.’s performance on Austin City Limits, let’s put my opinions and ramblings into a little bit of perspective.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/austin_city_limits_rem.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/austin_city_limits_rem.html Tuesday Fri, 23 May 2008 08:46:43 -0500 FRONTLINE "Storm Over Everest" by Erica S. Perl

For me, “base camp” is the spot where we park our Volvo, pitch our two-room tent and roast marshmallows over an open fire. The only sherpas involved are me and my husband, who often end up carrying our kids’ day packs back from strolls to “the summit,” no matter what promises were made when we set out.

Everest, it is not.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/frontline_storm_over_everest.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/frontline_storm_over_everest.html Frontline Tue, 13 May 2008 09:59:53 -0500 AMERICAN MASTERS "Marvin Gaye: What's Going On" by Joe Pagetta, joepagetta.com

At the recent Nashville Film Festival, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with songwriter and producer Dennis Lambert. Lambert was in town for the screening of “Of All the Things,” a documentary directed by his son Jody, about Dennis’s unlikely 2007 tour of the Philippines. Among his many contributions to popular music, Lambert co-wrote with the Commodores’ Clyde Orange the band’s 1984 hit “Nightshift.”

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/american_masters_marvin_gaye_w.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/05/american_masters_marvin_gaye_w.html Tuesday Tue, 06 May 2008 10:44:23 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Sense and Sensibility" by Laurie Viera Rigler by Laurie Viera Rigler, janeaustenaddict.com

Imagine my delight when PBS asked me to blog about the new Sense and Sensibility film with a screenplay by Andrew Davies, he of the famous Colin Firth-in-a-wet-shirt scene from the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice. (I don’t really get all the fuss about the wet shirt, being far more enamored of the “I shall conquer this” fencing scene, but that’s beside the point.)

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/04/the_complete_jane_austen_sense_1.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/04/the_complete_jane_austen_sense_1.html Masterpiece Theatre Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:30:20 -0500 AMERICAN EXPERIENCE "Walt Whitman" by Joe Pagetta, joepagetta.com

When Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855, he unleashed upon a disinterested public a powerful statement of “I Am.” But Whitman’s “I Am” was far from the deduction that philosopher Rene Descartes made centuries earlier when he prefaced it with “I think, therefore…” For Whitman, the “I am” was synonymous with “I feel.”

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/04/american_experience_walt_whitm.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/04/american_experience_walt_whitm.html American Experience Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:37:37 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Sense and Sensibility" by Maggie Sullivan by Maggie Sullivan, AustenBlog

When PBS invited us to write a review of the new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility for Remotely Connected, our vanity was flattered to such an extent that we found ourself quite unable to decline; but the glow of self-consequence was unfortunately followed by the appalling reality of having to actually write the bally thing.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_sense.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_sense.html Masterpiece Theatre Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:27:09 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Emma" by Jessica Emerson by Jessica Emerson, Austen-tatious

Emma’s Admirable Journey from Cluelessness to Self-Awareness

Jane Austen famously called Emma a heroine “whom no one would like but myself.” While some readers may have found that true, many of us have not. Why do we not dislike Emma?

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_emma.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_emma.html Masterpiece Theatre Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:19:07 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Emma" by Erica S. Perl by Erica S. Perl, Chicken Feed

When PBS asked me to write about Emma, my first reaction was to be flattered.

My second reaction was to panic because of how ill-suited to this task I am.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_emma_1.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/03/the_complete_jane_austen_emma_1.html Masterpiece Theatre Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:34:17 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" by Kristen Hammond MommyNeedsaCocktail.com

As I lounged on my couch watching Pride & Prejudice for probably the 200th time, I suddenly noticed the similarities between Jane Austen’s characters and the men I met during my online dating heyday. I don’t know why it never hit me before today. Not that Pride & Prejudice is full of losers, or anything.

Mr. Collins

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride_2.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride_2.html Masterpiece Theatre Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:59:41 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" by Seth Cassel by Seth Cassel, Flamingnet Book Reviews

Jane Austen’s Lady Catherine

One of my favorite characters in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, is the oft-overlooked minor character of Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Besides her hilarious comments, I love how Austen uses her to elucidate the characters of Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Gardiner. Lady Catherine’s unintentional acts bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together by influencing Mr. Collins to marry and then later by disapproving of the relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride_1.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride_1.html Masterpiece Theatre Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:49:45 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" by Myretta Robens by Myretta Robens, The Republic of Pemberley

I popped the DVD into my DVD player and sat down in front of the television with my laptop. The opening music (which, by the way, has been the start-up sound on my PC for over ten years — supplanting the Elvira Gulch theme in 1996) came up, and my heart beat a little faster. It was like falling in love all over again.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/02/the_complete_jane_austen_pride.html Masterpiece Theatre Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:37:11 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Miss Austen Regrets" by Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose

It takes spirit and resolve to write a biopic on the life of Jane Austen. In the face of her incredible talent and renown, it takes pure pluck to write a review of a movie about it.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_miss.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_miss.html Masterpiece Theatre Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:39:51 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Mansfield Park" by Lori Smith by Lori Smith, Austenquotes.com

Fanny Price is a ninny. (Forgive me, dear Jane.) I’ve tried to like her and I can’t.

When I was first asked to blog about Mansfield Park, the editor mentioned that she saw “such similarity” between me and Fanny. I had to stop to consider whether or not that was an insult.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_mansf.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_mansf.html Masterpiece Theatre Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:22:31 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Mansfield Park" by Diane Danielson by Diane K. Danielson, Downtown Women’s Club

Let’s start off this review by stating for the record that I’m not a Jane Austen purist. I thoroughly enjoy creative film interpretations (Clueless, Metropolitan, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Jane Austen Book Club, and even arguably, You’ve Got Mail), which should not be surprising considering I wrote a technology book with a Jane Austen theme. I also understand the difficulty of adapting the complexity of a JA novel into a condensed 90-minute version. Hence, the nomenclature: “adaption.”

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/post_3.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/post_3.html Masterpiece Theatre Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:34:56 -0500 The Complete Jane Austen "Northanger Abbey" by Heather Laurence Northanger Abbey
by Heather Laurence, Solitary Elegance

Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen’s first novel accepted for publication, but one of her last novels published, and only after her death. This adaptation’s road to production has also been long: it was originally written in 1999 for London Weekend Television, then purchased by Miramax, bought back from Miramax in 2004 by Grenada, then ultimately produced for a 2007 Austen Season broadcast on ITV1. During this time fans have amused themselves with creating dream cast wish lists and wild speculation about the script to rival anything from heroine Catherine Morland’s lurid imagination. As with the conclusion of The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe’s £500 gorilla of Gothic novels, it has been a long wait to find out what sort of adaptation waited behind the mysterious black veil.

Now that the veil has been pulled aside, what does this fan think?

]]> http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_north.html http://www.pbs.org/nights/blog/2008/01/the_complete_jane_austen_north.html Masterpiece Theatre Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:40:33 -0500