All the lies I live make me wonder

[sovay]

I was already having a tired and somewhat melancholy night and not looking forward to getting up early tomorrow to wait for a second round of repairs on our bathroom door, a situation which has begun to feel like a cross between Samuel Beckett and Flanders and Swann, and it did not improve my mood any to read that Bernard Hepton has died. At a reasonable age, but still. It's a reasonable age that Mel Brooks is not dead at (don't contradict me, Kaminsky). I don't think I ever wrote about him outside of Robin Redbreast (1970). I liked him wherever he turned up. He never looked remarkable and he was always, always good.

The major event of today was taking the cats to the vet for their annual tune-up. Autolycus is in robust health for which we are grateful after last summer's scare; Hestia needs a short course of medication, but providentially she seems to find pill pockets indistinguishable from candy. Per usual, she hisses and snorts at her brother for hours afterward for smelling like vet, even though she suffers the same indignity. They are such brave and affectionate cats. One of them is sitting beside my keyboard, licking hopefully at the back of my hand, as we speak. [edit: As I hit post, he moved with complacent purring to my lap.]

It made me very happy to read earlier this evening that one of Michael Almereyda's great influences was Derek Jarman. He started using Pixelvision because of the way Jarman used Super 8. He used Super 8 himself: I was not wrong to think of The Last of England (1987)'s time-bending home movies in The Eternal (1998) or the gently teasing self-deconstruction of Wittgenstein (1993) in Experimenter (2015). "His work had opened a window in my head."

At least my e-mail is no longer broken.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

nd it did not improve my mood any to read that Bernard Hepton has died.

Aw. he was always so very good in anything! I don't suppose being dead will stop him stalking me about old telly, though. (I'd assumed he must be dead already! Most of them are!) 92 is a good age, but it's still sad when the good people leave us.

to wait for a second round of repairs on our bathroom door, a situation which has begun to feel like a cross between Samuel Beckett and Flanders and Swann

0_o

I hope tomorrow improves a little! <3

[sovay]

I don't suppose being dead will stop him stalking me about old telly, though.

I certainly hope not! He should keep turning up.

92 is a good age, but it's still sad when the good people leave us.

Exactly. It feels like too many terrible people stick around and too many good people leave.

I hope tomorrow improves a little!

Thank you. At least the handyman came promptly to look at the door at ten a.m. [edit] And is now replacing our door!

[thisbluespirit]

At least the handyman came promptly to look at the door at ten a.m. [edit] And is now replacing our door!

Hurrah!

[moon_custafer]

(From Hepton’s obit): “He had eased this promotion by accidentally becoming proficient as a fight director with a fellow Rep actor...”

What an intriguing statement.

[sovay]

What an intriguing statement.

You mean, how does a person accidentally become proficient as a fight director?

[moon_custafer]

Yes. I have trouble seeing anyone (except maybe d'Artagnan) just falling into that particular line of work.

[sovay]

I have trouble seeing anyone (except maybe d'Artagnan) just falling into that particular line of work.

I think it's especially awesome that Hepton did, then.

[kindkit]

Bernard Hepton was a marvelous actor. I especially loved him in Colditz.

[sovay]

Bernard Hepton was a marvelous actor. I especially loved him in Colditz.

I should see that. I never have.

What did you like about his performance?

[davidgillon]

I was just a little young to appreciate the performances in Colditz on its original run, it was Secret Army I remember him for, though those memories need careful separation from Gorden Kaye's pastiche of his role in Allo! Allo!

[sovay]

it was Secret Army I remember him for, though those memories need careful separation from Gorden Kaye's pastiche of his role in Allo! Allo!

I know both of those only by reputation!

(Okay, and in the case of 'Allo 'Allo!, quotation. I had a friend in grad school who made frequent reference to The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies.)

[davidgillon]

Secret Army was really very, very good, it should be right up there with Colditz in terms of lasting reputation. Allo! Allo! was a very clever pastiche, down to the appearance of many of the actors, but ran on rather too long for me.

[sovay]

Secret Army was really very, very good, it should be right up there with Colditz in terms of lasting reputation.

Cool!

Allo! Allo! was a very clever pastiche, down to the appearance of many of the actors, but ran on rather too long for me.

A popular feature of successful shows, alas.

[gwynnega]

Oh, Bernard Hepton was great. I think I first saw him as Thomas Cranmer in The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

[sovay]

I think I first saw him as Thomas Cranmer in The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

I saw him in surprisingly few things to be as fond of him as I was, but I was!

[skygiants]

PIXELVISION! I have a great fondness for Pixelvision; one of my grad school classmates wrote a paper on its bizarre technical specs and brought in a camera for us to play with and it has been a Weird Video Format lodged in our hearts ever since.

[sovay]

I have a great fondness for Pixelvision; one of my grad school classmates wrote a paper on its bizarre technical specs and brought in a camera for us to play with and it has been a Weird Video Format lodged in our hearts ever since.

That's awesome!

You should see Nadja (1994). It has deadpan lesbian vampires. Jared Harris receives a psychic fax.