Talk Like Jane Austen

In celebration of the 202nd anniversary of Sense and Sensibility's publication, today (October 30), as determined but... somebody important, is "Talk Like Jane Austen Day." So assume a Regency demeanor and have a splendid time quoting your heart out and trying to speak as if you've been transported two centuries back in time.

One thing I've always loved about P&P95 is all the wonderful talking they do. For new devotees it will take some time to become accustomed to--it did for me, back in those days--but I always thought it sounded delightful, and the actors do a lovely job of making it seem realistic.

What do you think are some of the best-sounding quotes from Pride and Prejudice? (Or any other Jane Austen story, if you like!)

Visit the web page for Talk Like Jane Austen Day here.

Caption Contest {14} Winner

Winning caption by Joan!

Game the Forty-First: Caption Contest {14}

Try your wit with this one, ladies. :)

A winner will be selected before Monday. Until the caption is posted (it will appear here as well), feel free to enter!

What Were They On: Answers

Last week's game is posted here, and these are the answers.

~One~

1. Sense and Sensibility (1971)

2. Elinor Dashwood

3. Joanna David

4. Mrs. Gardiner

~Two~

1. Wives & Daughters

2. Lady Cumnor

3. Barbara Leigh-Hunt

4. Lady Catherine de Bourgh

~Three~

1. Lark Rise to Candleford

2. Ruby Pratt

3. Victoria Hamilton

4. Harriet Forster

~Four~

1. David Copperfield (1999)

2. Clara Copperfield/Murdstone

3. Emilia Fox

4. Georgiana Darcy

~Five~

1. Agatha Christie's Poirot (episode called "The Chocolate Box")

2. Virginie Mesnard

3. Anna Chancellor 

4. Caroline Bingley

~Six~

1. Miss Potter

2. Fruing Warne

3. David Bamber

4. Mr. Collins

~Seven~

1. Emma (1996, A&E)

2. Mrs. Elton

3. Lucy Robinson

4. Louisa Hurst

~Eight~

1. Cranford

2. Jessie Brown

3. Julia Sawalha

4. Lydia Bennet

~Nine~

1. Adam Bede

2. Dinah Morris

3. Susannah Harker

4. Jane Bennet

~Ten~

1. The Secret Garden (1987)

2. Adult Colin Craven

3. Colin Firth

4. Mr. Darcy

And our winner is most certainly Miss Laurie, with 38.5 out of 40 points! :) Thanks everyone!

How I Met P&P95: Banríon An Gheimhridh

The story of how Pride and Prejudice 1995 came into my life began before my life began.  What I mean is that even before I was born, I was in a way destined to meet the ‘95 version of P&P.  This story begins with my mom when she was eighteen.  I know this story is supposed to be about me, but I must tell that story as well, because it all is connected, and in a way, all part of one huge story about how much P&P ‘95 means to me.

When my mom was eighteen years old, she went on a trip to Britain with her grandparents.  When they were doing some shopping in the shopping district in London, they came across a posh new video store, gleaming, and two stories high, as my mom describes it whenever she retells this story, that was very hip at the time.  It was June 1986, and VHS tapes and VCRs were fairly new.  My great grandma and my mom found a shiny brand new VHS box set of the 1980 version of Pride and Prejudice.  It was exciting for both of them, as they had only ever seen the 1940 version with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson.  They brought it over to a young blond salesclerk who stood behind the cashiers counter.  In later years my mom would recall seeing a strange look fliter across his eyes, when they told him they were from Canada.  When my mom and great grandparents returned home to Canada, to their disappointment, the tape wouldn’t work in their VCR.  VHS tapes in Great Britain use a different format to the one used in North America, but they hadn’t realized that when they bought it.  That was when it dawned on my mom that the look in the salesclerk’s eyes had meant that he had known the tapes wouldn’t work in Canada.  He had sold it to them anyways.  My great grandpa sent it back for a refund.  Later on in life, my mom thought that they should have kept it anyway, since she and my great grandma liked looking at it and owning it, even though they couldn’t watch it - that’s how much they loved it.  Sadly, my great grandma never got to see it.

Fast forward to years later, when my mom just turned twenty nine and now had a six month old baby, me.  It was the year 1996, when P&P ‘95 was a new and recent series by the BBC.  My mom was shopping on that fateful day.  She came across a complete VHS box set of all 6 episodes of P&P ‘95.  She didn’t make the purchase that day.  My great grandma had had a stroke but insisted on going with my great grandpa on one last road trip to visit me, her new great granddaughter, and the rest of my family.  While my great grandma was visiting, my mom mentioned to her that she had seen the ‘95 P&P while shopping, and my great grandma asked her how much it was.  It wasn’t until four years later that my mom acquired the box set of P&P with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

This brings me to why everything in this story is connected - if my mom had not experienced losing the opportunity to see the ‘80 version with her grandma as an eighteen-year-old, she may not have made so sure to buy the ‘95 version.  And if she had not bought the ‘95 version, it would never have become one of my childhood favorite movies, and therefore, I wouldn’t know to love it to the extent I do now.

My mom has always regretted that she did not buy the P&P ‘95 the first time she saw it, so that she could have watched it with my great grandma.  If my mom had purchased the ‘95 P&P earlier and brought it to Canada when we came to look after my great grandma, watching Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle’s Pride and Prejudice would have brought my great grandma joy when she was immobile in her last months.  My great grandma died when I was five years old, never having seen the 1980 or the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice.  This is why the story of how P&P came into my life is a bittersweet one.  The happy part is that I have grown up with P&P ‘95 and love watching it to this day.  And I have loved watching it ever since I first pushed the VHS of the first episode into my T.V., as an eight-year-old, and fell in love with the world of Jane Austen’s characters.  All my childhood I had seen scenes of it from all of the times my mom watched it, but it wasn’t until I was eight that I got to see all of it from start to finish for myself, and it quickly became my favorite.  I have loved it ever since.  That is the story of how I met Pride and Prejudice 1995. :)

Game the Fortieth: What were they on?

Helloooo everyone.  Today we shall have an actors game. The last one I did was, if I recall, a bit hard for y'all. So hopefully this will be easier. And more fun.  Sorry this is a day late... I was all out of ideas until the dear Miss Jane Bennet inspired this one. (Many thanks for that!)  But I won't post the answers till Monday, so feel free to play up to then. :)

First of all, no peeking at the actors page. Because the object of this game is to recognize the actors of P&P in other period dramas, so that might give things away. Well, all of the pictures will be of some actor who was in P&P, but none of them will be from P&P. Each one will have four categories, there are ten pictures, so the highest number of points will be 40. (I'll just put the categories under each picture to make it easier. :) )

~One~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/Miniseries/TV Series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Two~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Three~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Four~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character (on the left)

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Five~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Six~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Seven~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Eight~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Nine~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character (on the right)

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

~Ten~

See if you can name the:

1. Movie/miniseries/TV series

2. Character

3. Actor

4. Actor's character in P&P

Have fun! Let me know if you have any questions.

The Us Game: Answers

1.  How did we meet each other?

We met when Miss Marianne began following (and commenting on) Miss Dashwood's blog-- technically Amy first followed Melody's blog, but we didn't mutually acknowledge each other's existence until Melody found Amy's blog so we say that we met when Melody left her first comment on Yet Another Period Drama Blog.

2.  Who discovered P&P first?

Miss Dashwood, the summer she was fourteen.  (Miss Marianne followed soon after, though her first exposure to Jane Austen came through Sense and Sensibility.)

3.  When did we first see each other in real life, and how many times has this happened?

We met in real life on July 9th, 2013, and sadly this delightful event has happened only once thus far. WE DO NOT INTEND FOR IT TO BE THE LAST TIME THOUGH.

4.  Were we knowledgeable about Jane Austen before we actually read her books?

No-- in fact, we knew very little about her life at all.

5.  Which is our favorite film version of Mansfield Park?

The 1983 miniseries, though we by no means call it perfect-- we heartily wish the BBC would make a new, delightful, true-to-the-book and fascinating adaptation.

6.  Which of us began blogging first?

Melody did, in January of 2011.

7.  Which is our second-favorite Jane Austen movie (after P&P95, of course)?

Emma (2009).  It is practically perfect in every way, and is in fact the only Jane Austen adaptation (to date) that we have seen together in real life. (Not that the blogging world isn't real, but you know what I mean.  :D)

8.  Who created the Which P&P Miss Are You? quiz?

Miss Marianne.

9.  Which of us has had real-life experience with English Country Dancing?

Melody again (and I don't know why I'm using the Misses and our real names interchangeably-- I suppose I enjoy befuddling you.)

10.  Which of us prefers the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion to the 2007 one?

Miss Dashwood indubitably prefers the 1995 version, but Miss Marianne has a hard time deciding and concedes that both have their merits and faults.

11.  What is "probably" Miss Marianne's favorite part of P&P95?  (the word probably is used as Miss Marianne used it, and is meant to be taken to mean that it is very difficult to pick a favorite scene above all others.)

In Melody's own words in the comments on this post, "My favorite part of the movie is probably the bit at Pemberley. Beginning when she visits the grounds up until Lydia's elopement."

12.  Find us on the blog.  You'll know us when you see us. ;D

We were located on The Music page, and here is the picture in which we appeared.

Oh!!! You FOUND us!

And our winner is... The Elf!  All three ladies who participated did EXTREMELY well, however... thanks to all who played!

Game the Thirty-Ninth: The One About Us

This game is just a wee bit different from the norm... in honor of the two years and four days that Miss Marianne and Miss Dashwood have known each other, this week's game will focus on trivia facts about them and their friendship.  (It's not narcissism if there are two people involved.  Fact.)  The quiz is fairly simple, and all of the answers can be found somewhere on this blog.  You may have to dig deeper for some facts than for others, of course.  :D

1.  How did we meet each other?

2.  Who discovered P&P first?

3.  When did we first see each other in real life, and how many times has this happened?

4.  Were we knowledgeable about Jane Austen before we actually read her books?

5.  Which is our favorite film version of Mansfield Park?

6.  Which of us began blogging first?

7.  Which is our second-favorite Jane Austen movie (after P&P95, of course)?

8.  Who created the Which P&P Miss Are You? quiz?

9.  Which of us has had real-life experience with English Country Dancing?

10.  Which of us prefers the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion to the 2007 one?

11.  What is "probably" Miss Marianne's favorite part of P&P95?  (the word probably is used as Miss Marianne used it, and is meant to be taken to mean that it is very difficult to pick a favorite scene above all others.)

12.  Find us on the blog.  You'll know us when you see us. ;D

Have fun!

Caption Contest {13} Winner

Caption by Anne-girl.

How I Met P&P95: Deryn Joy

It's odd to remember a time when I wasn't acquainted with Jane Austen, she's been such a huge part of my life for the past few years. (Okay, that sounded creepy. Guys, I don't know her personally or anything.)

Of course, though, once there was a time before I knew the words, "there is a truth universally acknowledged," or fully understood their import...and shockingly, that was a mere 4 years ago. I distinctly remember being at church one Sunday evening and having a friend reference some person called "Mr. Darcy"; I gave her a blank look ("oh, this is, like, one of those obscure-celebrity crushes *sigh*") and had to admit, no, I've never read Pride & Prejudice...nor any other of Jane Austen's works...nor have I even heard of Mr. Darcy. Frankly, he sounds like a fuddy-duddy. -- NO, I didn't say that out loud, thank heavens. My rep would be virtually unsalvageable if I had.

In the course of human events, however, I had to read P&P for school and... I could say 'the rest is history,' but that would hardly be satisfactory.

I was hooked and dangerously obsessed by the second page. I ate, breathed, slept, swore by, and spoke nothing but Pride & Prejudice for weeks. ...the book, I mean. Not the actual manifestations.

My ravings over everything Mr. Darcy and the book finally induced one of my friends to ask if I'd ever seen The Movie (by which she of course meant the miniseries, though she wouldn't have, had she known where it would lead me).

"I'll bring it next week," she said. "You'd probably like it," she said.

Well, okay, she was a little more emphatic than that. I think the word "obsessed" figured in her description; but we can understand the gist without the details.

The rest is, pretty much, history: I read every other Austen novel out there within the year; I own two 'complete works of' and an extra each of P&P and Sense & Sensibility; I happen to have both movies. (...and lest you think I am a traitor to the cause, I present to you a little DISCLAIMER: my poor sainted grandmother only knew that her poor crazed granddaughters were nuts about this story and she sweetly bought us "the movie" as a present. yes, "P&P"05. Pestiferous & Pathetic would be a better title; but I digress. She couldn't have known how we'd say... mean, unprintable things about the actors, laugh it to death, and execrate it. AND IT'S NOT MY FAULT WE HAVEN'T BURNED IT YET! My dear grandmother can't help that  Matthew Mcfadyen looks like a horse and acts like a donkey. We sent her very sweet thank-you notes.)

Anyway, my wonderful friend brought me The Real Movie. As I watched all the glorious hours of Colin Firth's face it, I knew that my life would never be the same. Innumerable marathons later, I'm not sure what "my life would never be the same" really means, but it's got to be true, because all my productive-life plans have been trashed in favor of asking people how their families are and cracking up over "WHAT. -- excuse me."

So. That, my friends, is the story of how I met P&P95.

And I lived happily ever after.

Find out more about the blog series by clicking the "how I met P&P95" tag below.