(no subject)

Watching the Tivoed Grand Prix final, and argh, I want to strangle the stupid commentators! First, Beijing has not been the seat of government and culture in China for thousands of years. Hundreds, yes, but definitely not thousands (I guess that would be Chang'an? Luoyang?). And then there's the comment on how Westerners can't understand the poverty and the desperate desire to succeed. Why not? I don't get it. Also, they ask the stupidest interview questions ever: "So winning team, how good does it feel to skate this well at this event in your home country?" I maen, what is one supposed to say after that? "Er, yes, yes, indeed, it does feel good." "But tell me how amazingly good it is and how stupendous it must be!" "Er."

And then the interviewer made some really dumb comment about how everyone was yelling "Add oil!" for the skaters. I was quite confused until the skaters repeated it in Chinese -- cheering in Chinese is literally "add oil." I suppose it makes sense, but the way the guy said it made it sound something like, "Haha, you say 'add oil' to cheer on people, you people are so strange!" and completely ignoring the fact that people generally don't think about the etymology of what they say. I mean, when I say something is quintessential, I don't usually mean that it is of the five elements. But then, given that completely stupid question, I shouldn't expect so much.

Rant has now ended.

Austen, Jane - Sense and Sensibility (reread)

I'm of two minds about reading introductions and whatnot before reading a book, particularly if they function as critical essays. I did that this time (the B&N edition), and now all I can think about are the points that the writer was making. Mostly the gist was that Marianne is a much more sympathetic and interesting character than Elinor because of Elinor's restraint and how Marianne seems to be later punished for her exuberance by having to marry the staid Colonel Brandon.

I'm still sort of thinking about that -- when I was reading it, I was much more interested in Marianne's story, and to be honest, I did find Elinor a bit boring. But I can't tell how much of this is because of the remnants of the Ang Lee movie in my mind. I remember liking Elinor in the movie, but I really dislike Hugh Grant when he's playing the shy, affable Englishman (he's much more fun as the skeevy Daniel in Bridget Jones). And I fell very hard for Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon. So I kept thinking there were some scenes in the book that were in the movie, but there wasn't.

Part of me was also a little resentful because I remember how much I liked Marianne and Mrs. Dashwood in the movie, and it was a bit jarring at times seeing Austen poke fun of their excessive emotions. I think I need to see the movie again as well, just to compare with a recent reread.