She's just joking, Lucie. Don't worry about it. We've just had some bad experience with polls. Can't take them too seriously.

Paraphrasing Mr. Bennett's "lace" quote, I believe. :-)

Thanks Heidi. That was a bad day for me so I was a little too sensitive. My water pressure dropped when I was taking my shower but I finally got rinsed of, then the water was off for 4 hours. Then they gave us a notice that we have to boil the water til further notice. To cap it all off I found a leak under my bathroom sink, and someone stole my butterfly plant, pot and all. When I read this I have to laugh It sounds like a three stooges plot.

Oh my, Lucie that is a bad day :-(. I hope you have no more plumbing or thieving problems for a good long while.

(Lucie) Soory if I offended you Now, now, Lucie, *of course* I was kidding. I hope your day improved and that you're back in the splash of things!

Yes, thank you and my husband got his bike back.

THE REAL THING MOST CRITICS adored David Leveaux's revival of Stoppard's play about love, commitment and politics when it was staged at the Donmar last May, so its reappearance is welcome. Stephen Dillane is still bringing his rueful charisma to the role of a dramatist, alongside Jennifer Ehle (above) as the charming, but wayward, actress he eventually marries. The play has all the wit and intellectual sparkle you expect from Stoppard, but its main interest is that, for the first time, he fully acknowledges the pull of he heart and the glands. Its conclusion would appear to be that love is not merely a game or a weapon to be used in the sex war, it is "mess, pain, self- abasement, loss of self- respect, nakedness". This is subtly argued but, more importantly, powerfully shown in a tale that embraces adultery, betrayal and a hard-won happiness - and, let me add, plenty of classy fun. BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE

The Fracas on Opening night of TRT was to due to the fact that we could not hear SD clearly.At the beginning of the second act we heard clapping from the rear of the stalls..then,people shouting "Louder, we can't hear you". ( At first I clapped too thinking it was genuine applause) SD rose from the reclining position on the sofa and said "Wot"?Meanwhile Jennifer who was kneeling on stage right, heard it all and ROTFL. SD then said "Pause". And went right on in character. It was extraordinary..I have never heard of such. PS, They spoke louder after that. Got three long curtain calls. Did you send flowers to JE as well? Yes, in the afternoon we took her a mini-vase with tiny coral roses and a card.

They spoke louder after that. Got three long curtain calls. Undeserved IMHO. The night was a mess. The number of curtain calls was out of pity. All the coughing and sneezing!! I thought I was in a hospital ward. Then the telephone ringing (and not from an audience member's mobile phone), but from somewhere else in the theatre. Totally a mess.

Karen, what did you think of SDs performance? And, compare it to CF. How crazy are those Oliviers for not nominating him? Evelyn, what are the three changes that you mentioned from London that have been implimented in TRT?

Evelyn, what are the three changes that you mentioned from London that have been implimented in TRT? Debbie and Brodie are cast changes....not for the better IMO.Brodie speaks with such a thick Scottish accent, they'll have to use surtitles for the audience to understand him.SD does not sob like he did on the Donmar...instead says: "Oh, god"..despairingly. Jennifer does not do the play within the play love scene with her lover.Costume changes (for the better). Gone is the dowdy gray number at the end. Instead a pretty clingy purple two piece.Her hair is a strawberry blond color now.

BTW Emma got the definitive souvenir, IMO. She had Jennifer sign her "Making of P&P" book and that evening had Colin sign it on the same page. Cool, uh?

Debbie and Brodie are cast changes....not for the better IMO. Brodie speaks with such a thick Scottish accent, they'll have to use surtitles for the audience to understand him. I'd lay odds that the new Brodie will NOT be going to Broadway. Smallish part will be given to an American actor who will do a v. light Scottish accent that we can understand, e.g., a la Sean Connery. Which reminds me...saw a funny movie tonight called The Big Tease, a mockumentary about a Glaswegian hairdresser who thinks he's entered in this big international hairdressing competition in L.A. and what he does to actually get in it. If you like Waiting for Guffman type things, you will like this. Very funny. Starred Craig Ferguson (of the Drew Carey Show) and written and produced by him. Small film with lots of walk-ons by celebs playing themselves.

(Evelyn), Debbie and Brodie are cast changes....not for the better That is a huge mistake. TRT was perfectly cast. I will have have to agree with you on the changes. Karen, I would like to hear your critique of SDs performance.

(Evelyn)BTW Emma got the definitive souvenir, IMO. She had Jennifer sign her "Making of P&P" book and that evening had Colin sign it on the same page. Cool, uh? Indeed! Cooler would freeze :-)

SD CV in the TRT listed "Anna Karenina" in the TV credits, This from the London Standard: "In May, he appears alongside Helen McCrory and Kevin McKidd in Channel 4's Anna Karenina, playing the hapless Karenin."

(Evelyn) BTW Emma got the definitive souvenir, IMO. She had Jennifer sign her "Making of P&P" book and that evening had Colin sign it on the same page. Did JE come down and sign it in person? Or did Emma send the book backstage? Did SD come out at all? (Karen) All the coughing and sneezing!! By the actors, during the performance? Must have made it hard to do the love scenes;-) Well, the flu is sweeping the U.K., so guess actors aren't immune.

No the coughing and sneezing were by the audience. V. loud. These people should've stayed home, especially in view of the theatre's policy of ticket returns and resales. Here, you'd lose your money. There, they get their money back if the boxoffice resells. People were queued for returns for 3DOR. Totally impolite to come to the theatre and disrupt everything.

Glowing review of TRT in today's TIMES...so the voice projection problems must have been resolved.Don't know what they did with the coughers. Pic of Jennifer looks like she has red hair, but it is strawberry blond... "Ehle's vocal precision and air of fierce attention go with her luminous beauty to create an object of love as passionate and real as her lover." Last night was press night. ~~~~~~~ (Susan)Did JE come down and sign it in person? Or did Emma send the book backstage? Did SD come out at all?We dropped the book off at the stage door when we took the flowers. She and SD never came down at the Donmar. The Albery stage door is in the rear...so I imagine they have to come out that way.We did not go after the performance.

The NY Times article about Jane Austen fanfic was picked up and excerpted in the Evening Standard on 21 January: EVENING STANDARD: JANE AUSTEN 2: AT A WEBSITE NEAR YOU from MOLLY Watson in New York It is a truth universally acknowledged that a reader of Jane Austen's novels must be in want of a sequel. For the millions of people addicted to her books, often through the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth or the movie, Sense and Sensibility, with Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman, Austen's six completed novels have never been enough. Now her fans are logging on to the Internet for all things Austen and creating online libraries of their own stories, either written in her prose style or using her characters - even for tales set in space, the Wild West and Medieval England. Ann Haker, the founder of Austen. com, which offers its 30,000 weekly visitors live chat in the Jane Austen tea room as well as hundreds of stories by fans, says: 'There are just not enough of Jane Austen's own words to read, so we write our own.' It's called fan fiction - or fanfic - at the two most popular websites for American e-mailers paying homage to the English spinster who died in 1817. The Republic of Pemberley at www. pemberley. com is 'your haven in a world programmed to misunderstand obsession with things Austen'. It has thousands of creative offerings by more than a million visitors to the site. But the most fun is to be had at the Fantasia Gallery page of Austen. com which features works like Darcy Hood, in which 'Darcy and his merry men do good in the forest of Netherfield', and Shooting Stars, an ambitious leap of the imagination which has Elizabeth Bennet wrestling with her driv controls as the entire cast of Pride and Prejudice is uprooted to the Star Wars universe. Even funnier is a tale of Darcy and Bingley running Netherfield airbase in which Darcy delivers the immortal line to Mr Bennet: 'Are you saying Elizabeth is going to flip out?' In a later chapter when Darcy and Elizabeth are happily married, they move into their new linoleum-floored home where she discovers the waste disposal unit is broken and Darcy, who was once the master of Pemberley's rolling acres, decides the back garden 'was big enough to justify buying a lawnmover'. In Epilogue Abbey amateur authors try to continue Austen's literary legacy by filling in critical scenes that Austen never described, like Darcy's second proposal to Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Fanfic writers also attempt to embroider Austen's restrained Regency prose, often with cringe-making results. In Roses and Thorns, Darcy muses that Elizabeth 'brought me to the rim, the very edge of wild madness and desire, my mood has changed from lofty pride and prejudice to teeter at the brink of love's precipice'. Austen's Internet fans are serious about their work. Professor Laurie Kaplan puts the urge to expand her novels down to the author's own 'non-endings'. 'Her summaries at the end of her novels are never as neatly packaged as those of other authors at that time,' she says. 'There's always change and trouble hinted at - it's almost satiric - and the story isn't projected very far into the future. It makes the reader want to push it further.' Ann Rydberg, a prolific Swedish fanfic writer, says: 'Austen's novels can take any amount of bungling amateurism and still remain unsoiled, the exquisite and well-polished bits of ivory she once presented us.' Sadly, the readers of Arias and Arrogance, in which Darcy and Elizabeth sing in a sexually charged production of The Marriage of Figaro, would beg to disagree.

Wait til they find Fan Fic on Drool.Sizzzzzle.

Thanks for posting, Karen. Poor Ann is having trouble posting too. She deserves the praise. Wait til they find Fan Fic on Drool.Sizzzzzle. Oh! I do not think Terry could handle the million plus readers, could he?

Wait til they find Fan Fic on Drool.Sizzzzzle. LOL!! What would they make of us? We can only hope we remain unexposed. Kudos to Anne.

You know who looked the most uncomfortable at the GGs? Minnie Driver!! ;-) Bet she had a good time chitchatting with Matt Damon or perhaps Babs and James Brolin. OK, how many pictures will there be of Courtney Love's dress that wouldn't stay up?

Minnie looked great last night, and her boyfriend Brolin's son is very handsome. I loved Halle Berry's dress and Babs looked fab too. Did you notice that Gwynnie arrived wearing a long skirt and changed to jeans for the show? She must have seen Lara F-B in her bell-buttoms and probably called someone to bring her jeans. Certainly, as the only two with that casual look, the called attention to themselves. Winona Rider has no class, no style or taste in clothes, and no posture either. As a presenter this really came through. Jim Carrey was very funny and he makes a cute couple with Renee (loved her dress, very 60's). Did you know that Courtney Love's dress was glued on to her breasts?

Minnie looked great last night, and her boyfriend Brolin's son is very handsome. Wait a minute!! I thought that was all over, as Minnie has been spotted sneaking out with David Duchovny, he of "new fatherhood." Argh!

From the Guardian: Full-length Blackadder movie to be made Rowan Atkinson is to make a film version of Blackadder, with our hero playing a pop manager who misses out on signing the Beatles. There have been rumours of a feature-length version of the popular BBC series for a number of years now, intensified recently by the reunion of the characters in Back and Forth, the short film currently showing at the millennium dome in the Skyscape cinema. But the stumbling block for Atkinson and co-writers Ben Elton and Richard Curtis has been the period in which to set the film. However, according to cast member Stephen Fry, the team have finally decided on the 60s. "We have had great fun thinking what the next one ought to be. We've decided it should be set in the 60s, where Rowan would be a manager of a band that was on the night after the Beatles played at the Cavern Club - so he just misses [them]... and he's enraged with bitterness," he said. Atkinson will play the Svengali Brian Epstein-esque manager Edmund Blackadder, and as usual will be joined by Tony Robinson, this time as the band's bald drummer, Rick. The remainder of the band will be played by Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerney and Rik Mayall. Together they spend the 60s trying and failing to make it big by emulating the Beatles. It is not yet known when the film will go into production. ~~~~ Opportunity for another guest-starring bit? ;-)

I just left voicemail for Ann giving her every technical detail she needs to access austen.com or 208.171.121.122, the new site. I imagine she's at work, so she'll probably get this tonight. Ann, please send me a confirming email or voicemail when you get this information.

I'm ftping all the old site files to http://208.171.121.122. Some of the links (probably being absolute links) won't work till the site gets tweaked. But you should be able to access the ip address url till the domain name repropagates through the net. Try it out!

Terry, Ann will never see this message here, as she doesn't frequent the Drool conference. Just FYI. And BTW, have you looked into my access to the new server. Karen

I have set up an account for you there. I will set it up again using all lower case instead of upper and lower. Email me so I can reply with the details.

Agree with everyone on the GG clothes. Courtney Love is a mess.As is Winona Ryder.Did you see her punching Matt's arm when they were mentionsing his name for Best Actor.She lacks poise.This is Gwynnie's best friend? Gwynnie looked cadaverous in those leather trousers.I thought Denzel was the classiest guy around.Liked all the Barbra Streisand stuff.... though it went on 'on...almost like an obit.

Did everyone spot Meg Tilly at the GGs? She was sitting right next to Julianne Moore, and they showed her several times. Meg looked terrific--very glam, very youthful; must be the contentment and security of married life;-) ;-) Also . . .I believe that was that was Richard Greenberg sitting at the table directly behind Sam Mendes (who is adorable, IMO). Discussing a film version of our fave play perhaps?;-) Courtney Love--gets my Smacked Ass award. Yech! Minnie Driver--We know you have breasts, dear, you can put them back inside your dress now;-) Odd (but Cute) Couple: Russell Crowe and Jodie Foster I thought Julia Roberts looked great--slinky but classy. Barbra--very very elegant, but Shirley MacLeane's intro almost took us into next year. Nicole K's sis is a brunette version of Nic--and also a foot or two taller than Tommy (who I thought gave a nice acceptance speech).

Hmmm, missed Meg T. I hardly pay attention to the others who might be in the shot from the rest of the table, and I missed the criticial E! Pregame Show. Joan and Melissa would've surely pointed out all that was fit to watch. Maybe they'll do a rerun tonight. ;-) Why would Richard Greenberg be at the GGs, especially seated anywhere near the American Beauty table, way down front? Don't think it was him. Did you see where Pedro Almodovar sat? Up in the cheap seats.

Julianne Moore looked so good on camera, I did not notice Meg. I will take your word for it Mari, if she looked glamorous. Wow, Greenberg by Mendes and of course, Spielberg? What could that mean? You are a hawk Mari, good scoop! According to the Miami Herald, Gwynnie's new best friend is Madonna. They spent the holidays here and techno dancing on NY Eve the were seen kissing/making out after a long hot dance number.

I missed the criticial E! Pregame Show. Joan and Melissa would've surely pointed out all that was fit to watch. Maybe they'll do a rerun tonight. ;-) I doubt that, Joan is so out of it. I remember at the Oscars big stars would walk right by her and she would be there trying to be funny with a TV actor. I preferred watching the pre-show with Dick Clark last night. Still no Meg. BTW, when Tom Cruise was interviewed, he said the same thing he ended up saying when he accepted his award. So did Jack Lemmon. I guess they had their lines down.

Meg Tilly at Julieanne Moore table? Which one was Sony? Magnolia, End of the Affair,or AIH? Moon, Rupert Evert looked a little mangy...not his usual sartorial self.Too many parties?

The End of the Affair was Sony. (Moon) I doubt that, Joan is so out of it. Did you not see my winky? Maybe Greenberg was somebody's date? Huh, Moon? ;-)

Maybe Greenberg was somebody's date? Huh, Moon? ;-) He really wanted to sit with Aldomovar but changed his mind when he saw mangy Rupert, he knows a party boy when he sees one! ;-) Totally missed the winky, Karen. I know you're in the know. :-D I would love to see a glamourous Meg. Did anyone tape the show?

Sorry to interrupt, but first thing firthst...I was checking my Birthday list and I see we have CherylB's Birthday 31 of January. Time to hunt new gifs because all of mine are locked up on a Spring file I cannot enter. See you then if not before!

Elena, are these your neighbors too? ;-) BERLIN � The Berlin Intl. Film Festival�s (Feb. 9-20) Intl. Forum of Young Cinema section announced a string of European titles Monday. The world premiere of two Finnish films follows last year�s coup of vet Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki�s �Juha.� This year, Markku Lehmuskallio�s �Seven Songs From the Tundra� and Auli Mantila�s �Geography of Fear,� about a group of women dealing with male violence, rep Finland.

Be sure to email or call me today with the details of your new account, Marcia. I'll get you going on the new site.

Okay...This is me, who hates polls and is now about to eat her words....again;-) FYI The Albemarle Theatre website is conducting an Olivier Awards poll and 3 DOR ia waaaay ahead of "Lady in the Van". And so is Jennifer.Now I'm not asking anyone to vote...just giving results. http://www.demon.co.uk/cgi-bin/albemarlelondon2/survey.pl

Elena, are these your neighbors too? If they are, they�ve kept quiet about it. We actually planned to go to see the Geography of Fear (Pelon maantiede) with hubby last Sunday but started to fear even before we saw it and changed our minds. We went to see Sam Mendes�s American Beauty instead. Hmmm...quite interesting, partly. I�d like to know what kind of reviews it received in the US, if anybody happened to read any. I was amazed how terrible Annette Bening was in it, too histrionic to be true.

Something wrong with the link Evelyn? Doesn�t work for me.

Try this URL and click on "Voting results without voting". The one I gave you was after I voted. http://www.albemarle-london.com/vote.html

Too bad there isn't a place for *write-in* votes ;-)

(Elena) I�d like to know what kind of reviews it received in the US, if anybody happened to read any. American Beauty got outstanding reviews, Elena--probably the best-reviewed film of the year here. Did very well at the box office as well. Re: Bening--it's supposed to be a satire, not real life, ts the tone of her character. What did you think of Kevin Spacey and Wes Bentley (the young neighbor)? Sorry, Moon, I didn't tape the GGs, but will ask around. (Karen) Too bad there isn't a place for *write-in* votes ;-) Yeah--poor David Morrissey.;-) ;-)

Elena, about American Beauty, I still feel it was the best picture of the year of the ones I've seen so far. It was perfection in every category. Yeah--poor David Morrissey.;-) ;-) Exactly, they should have "Most Improved" category too! ;-)

Feeling dense here, but I still don't get why 5 actors are nominated in the best actor and best actor/musical categories, while all the other Olivier categories have only 4 nominees. Anyone know the logic? I presume that 2 actors tied for the 4th slot in both the actor categories?

(Elena), We went to see Sam Mendes�s American Beauty instead. Hmmm...quite interesting, (Karen), I still feel it was the best picture of the year of the ones I've seen so far. It was perfection in every category. I was not as satisfied as you were. I tend to agree with Elena. I liked The Three Kings very much (in every category), and that film seems to have been forgotten. Thanks Mari, I think we would all like to see a picture of a glamourous Meg Tilly. I still don't get why 5 actors are nominated in the best actor and best actor/musical categories, while all the other Olivier categories have only 4 nominees. Good question, Susan.

(Moon) I liked The Three Kings very much (in every category), and that film seems to have been forgotten. I agree, Moon. I liked this movie very much - good acting, interesting characters that you could care about, plus a message about the ramifications of war and poorly thought out policies of governments. And thankfully enough action to keep my DH from squirming in his seat :-). I would like to see it gain some awards recognition, particularly for its script or story, but there is so little buzz about this film I kind of doubt it will happen.

Evelyn. Is this site poloced like Hot Brits? This gal has it set up so that you have to log in before you can vote and you get 5 votes. You get to vote once every 24 hours and if you try before the 24 hours is up you lose those votes and you are locked out until 24 hours from that time. Right now it seems that there are only 2 of us voting for Colin. http://www.freevote.com/booth/hotbrits

(Mari)it's supposed to be a satire, not real life But satire just doesn�t work if it�s not somehow plausible too. And satire has everything to do with real life...it won�t bite if all you can think of is "good god, she�s really trying to act her socks off" every time an actress steps in and starts to badly overdo her stuff. What did you think of Kevin Spacey and Wes Bentley Wes Bentley: great, mostly. Very Finnish type of sincere insanity!! Spacey: not my taste. Typical clownery. But whoever it was who played Janey, I thought she was brilliant! (Karen)It was perfection in every category. Especially in the flying plastic bags category! Seriously, I think American Beauty is one of the better American movies I�ve seen because the technique was so different and it really tried to say something about reality for a change. Great psychedelia and some almost touching scenes (but not very touching really and that�s one thing that sucks in it.) And the music was good, hubby wants to point out!

(Jana), I would like to see it gain some awards recognition, particularly for its script or story, but there is so little buzz about this film I kind of doubt it will happen. "The Three Kings" also had great music and beautiful cinematography. I hope the academy remembers this at Oscar time. Elena, I recommend you see "Happiness." One could easily compare it to Am. Beauty because of the themes. "Happiness" is a more important film. BTW, I also did not like Annette Bs acting. If you want to see great acting go to see Sean Penn in Woody Allen�s new film "Sweet & Lowdown." Wow!

(Lucie)Evelyn. Is this site policed like Hot Brits? Lucie, I really don't know any of the voting regulations of the Albemarle website.It's strictly for fun....nothing serious.The Olivier committee obviously will not pay any attention to it.Nor should it.

On Jan 25th, I moved all the old spring conference files to the new site, and I am now posting on the site for the second or third time. Kaylene Thaler has been our savior today, working on getting it to work. Not everything will work at first, because we're being pioneers, but we'll get it to work with your help. The old accounts may not even work, because Kaylene is trying to figure out how to make them work. I'm logging in with a new account.

I just logged with my old username, so maybe our old usernames and passwords will work after all. I hope someone else shows up soon. Last 50, etc. doesn't work yet, there will be lots of things to fix, but the good news is that we've done what many said couldn't be done and moved to this new server. I'm pumped!

Welcome everybody to the new site! Thanks Terry. Calendar of Oscar events: Oscar nomination ballots are due by 5 p.m.(PST) Friday. Noms will be announced Feb. 15 at 5:30 a.m. The awards will be handed out March 26.

Thanks Terry and Karen. I too logged on successfully with my old user name and password. Hooray!

That's great, Kaylene wasn't sure if our old passwords would work, with the exception of the missing background here, we've been far more glitch free than I expected. A lot of people said we couldn't pull this move off, but we did it and I'm relieved.

This was posted at austen.com's Tea Room. Thought many of us might be interested. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ********************************************** TLC'S "GREAT BOOKS FESTIVAL" TAKES A WALK DOWN THE AISLE WITH "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" AND "MADAME BOVARY" ********************************************** On Saturday, February 19, TLC will feature an all-day GREAT BOOKS FESTIVAL, with two all-new, world premiere episodes: Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice,' and Gustave Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary.' "GREAT BOOKS: Pride and Prejudice" airs Saturday, February 19, from 9-10PM, and "GREAT BOOKS: Madame Bovary" follows from 10-11PM (ET/PT). The GREAT BOOKS FESTIVAL airs from 9AM to 3AM. TLC's GREAT BOOKS presents the stories of the heroines of these two novels, and introduces viewers to modern-day writers and relationship experts, who explain how and why women around the world still identify with the novels' characters. "GREAT BOOKS: Pride and Prejudice," airing from 9-10 PM, interviews blockbuster screenwriter Nora Ephron to reveal how she features elements of Austen's work in her movies. Helen Fielding, the author of the bestseller 'Bridget Jones's Diary,' borrowed her book's plot from 'Pride and Prejudice.' The program illustrates that Austen's characters are so universal that they update with ease. The program goes from gyms to private girl's schools to bridal shops, meeting young women and their mothers who reveal that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Women are still worried about finding the elusive Mr. Right, couples still have to overcome first impressions in order to find true love, and mothers still obsess over seeing their daughters wed. The story doesn't end at the wedding though, as Madame Bovary learns to her dismay. Stuck in a marriage that can never live up to the passionate romances in the novels she reads, Flaubert's Bovary feels trapped. "GREAT BOOKS: Madame Bovary," airing from 10-11 PM, interviews Erica Jong, author of 'Fear of Flying,' who explains why she took a character similar to Emma Bovary, and sent her on the same sort of emotional quest that Flaubert created. The program also introduces Delma Hayn, the author of 'Marriage Shock,' who reveals that the feelings Flaubert imbues in Bovary are fairly typical with newlywed women. They often feel disillusioned and some turn to affairs to try and recapture some of their old feelings of attractiveness and romance. In order to illustrate the point, the program contains interviews with women who've experienced this disconnect, as well as one women who's currently having an affair. An unmarried man, Flaubert managed to capture the essence of these women's emotions in his masterpiece

interviews blockbuster screenwriter Nora Ephron to reveal how she features elements of Austen's work in her movies. Goody! This must include a fleeting glimpse of ODB on the P&P book cover. Can't tell you how many times I've tuned into You've Got Mail just to catch this elusive sight (best part of the movie, IMO). Thanks for this, Karen. (Karen) Calendar of Oscar events: Oscar nomination ballots are due by 5 p.m.(PST) Friday. Noms will be announced Feb. 15 at 5:30 a.m. The awards will be handed out March 26. If you're interested in all things Oscar, the current edition of Newsweek (2/7/00) features "The Envelope, Please" where "Newsweek invited the makers of the year's most talked-about films to discuss art, money, studios and statuettes. There were a pair of thoughtful Brits (Anthony Minghella, Sam Mendes), a fiesty Canadian (Norman Jewison) and three very different, but equally driven, Americans (Michael Mann, Kimberly Peirce and M. Night Shyamalan)." If you're a Sam fan, he comes off funny ("directing is a very lonely occupation. You think you're the only one who goes through it. This is our AA meeting. My name is Sam, and I am a director [laughter]") and respectful of his peers. Anthony describes how his fight to retain the TEP cast of H'wood unknowns strengthened his commitment to make movies on his terms, not the studios. It's an interesting piece.

Here we go - the nominations that count for something - the SAG nominations: American Beauty continued to bloom Tuesday as the awards season front-runner with four nominations for the sixth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Being John Malkovich and Magnolia received three nominations each. DreamWorks' Beauty, which won Golden Globes for best film drama, director and script, received SAG nominations for outstanding performance by a cast, for leads Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening and for Chris Cooper in a supporting role. First-time nominees dominated, taking 15 of the 20 possible individual nods in the film categories. Julianne Moore achieved a first by taking double nominations for lead role in The End of the Affair and her supporting role in Magnolia, giving Moore her second and third nominations; her first was for 1997's Boogie Nights. Crystal ball SAG film nominations and awards provide forecasting guidance as to sentiment among Academy Awards voters, since actors represent nearly 24% of the Oscar vote with 1,321 of the 5,607 ballot-casting members. Indications have been particularly strong in the lead actor and actress categories, with nine of 10 SAG winners since 1994 also taking the Oscar. The lone exception came in the first year, when Jodie Foster won the SAG award for Nell and Jessica Lange won the Oscar for Blue Sky. SAG selections in supporting categories have been a less reliable predictor. Last year Robert Duvall (A Civil Action) and Kathy Bates (Primary Colors) won SAG awards, but James Coburn (Affliction) and Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) won the Oscars. And SAG ensemble cast winners matched the best picture Oscars only last year with Shakespeare in Love. "This and the Globes are good indicators of what might happen at the Oscars," said SAG president William Daniels. "It's very meaningfulfor these actors to be honored by people who are in front of the camera." Ballots to 97,000 Nominations were based on polling of 4,200 randomly selected SAG members. Ballots will be mailed Feb. 15 � the day that Oscar nominations are announced � to the 97,000 SAG members, and winners will be announced March 12 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. The film nominations give a major boost to New Line's Magnolia and USA Films' Being John Malkovich, which were both shut out at the Globes. Besides Moore's nod, Magnolia also received nominations for cast performance and for Tom Cruise for his supporting role, while USA Films' Being John Malkovich scored nods for cast and for Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener in supporting roles. Warner Bros.' The Green Mile, Fox Searchlight's Boys Don't Cry and Miramax's The Cider House Rules each took two nominations. Mile received nods for cast and Michael Clarke Duncan's supporting role; Boys for Hilary Swank's lead and Chloe Sevigny's supporting role (Swank took the Globe for actress in a drama); and Cider House for cast and for Michael Caine's supporting role. Kudos counting In addition to Cruise, Globes winners Denzel Washington (The Hurricane), Jim Carrey (Man on the Moon), Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) and Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted) received nominations. A mild surprise came from the lead actor nomination for Philip Seymour Hoffman in Flawless rather than a supporting actor recognition for Magnolia. Meryl Streep's nomination for Music of the Heart was her fourth, the most of any of the nominees.

If you're interested in the Newsweek article I spoke of in #364, here's a link to the online version: http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/ae/a2873-2000jan30.htm

I'm so excited, just had to share with everyone, I have tickets to go to The Olivier Awards on the 18th February, now if only Colin had been nominated, (sob) but you never know he may be one of the Presenters, will be able to give you a first hand report on all the gossip!!

I made it over, has other topics been transfered yet? And are all of them transferring over? Should the ones that are not used just be deleted? Anyway, the aztec/mayan motif is interesting.

Laura, everything's here that's gonna be here. AnnW, how exciting! Are you going to go to the Oliviers? I'm sure, SD's presence will make up for the dearth of Firth. Be sure to yell out, when they are reading the nominees for Best Actor, "This is rigged!! You left out the best one!!" ;-) Just kidding (well, sort of) Have fun.

Ann, I'm jealous! You're so lucky! How on earth did you manage to get tickets? Do you know where you'll be seated? I'll look out for you when it's screened on the BBC.

Ann and Aishling ...we're so proud that you're going to be our reps....I'm thinking that perhaps Richard Greenberg, author of 3 DOR will be there. (If you tell Moon, she'll want his autograph!).And all sorts of important people. What troupers! Take copious notes.Tell me what she's wearing... And whoher date is....;-)

tell me what she wears Evelyn , I just hope it is not that black dress she wore at the BAFTA Films Awards when she was nominated for Wilde!!

....that black dress she wore at the BAFTA Films Awards when she was nominated for Wilde!! That was ghastly...even with the front slit all the way up. By her own admission, she is not a "clothes-horse" and like her ex-boyfriend, is not concerned about clothes. Imagine...with that bod!

FYI - 3DOR just opened in DC to good review in the Post. The actress looks cuter than EM, but of course Ned/Walker--well, what's the point? I was hoping that, when his agent said he was leaving the country, it meant he was coming here to continue the role. Alas!

(Karen) Be sure to yell out, when they are reading the nominees for Best Actor, "This is rigged!! You left out the best one!!" ;-) Just kidding (well, sort of) Karen, maybe we should jet back over for the show and wrap ourselves in paper chains in protest.;-) (Sorry, totally tasteless, I know;-) Ann and Aishling, have a super time--very exciting! BTW, the What's On Stage newsletter predicts Maggie Smith to win (predictably), but says Jennifer *should* win. RE: SAG noms. Nice to see people like Chris Cooper and Phillip Seymour Hoffman recognized. Does CF have one or two of these? If memory serves, cast won for SIL, but not for TEP, though nommed. Cymbeline, I saw that 3DOR review. It gets good reviews wherever it plays--which is pretty much everywhere in the U.S., which is why there's no way it will come back to NYC any time soon.

I was going to see 3DOR in Philadelphia, but never made it:( And I saw that it was getting really good reviews. I'm curious who are the actors that are in the American version? Does anyone have a clue?

Is it still there? Cymberline reported that 3DOR is playing around Washington DC right now. You can read the review at the Post site. I'm sure different actors perform at each theatre.

I don't know if it's still in Philadelphia. But DC is only 2 hours away, it could be the same troupe from Philadelphia? I thought maybe the 3DOR cast was the same (traveling company). Karen, when you saw it in Chicago, I don't remember what you thought of the actors? Were they good in their own right?

Of course, they were. It was the Steppenwolf Theater.

No, the troupe in DC is not the one who played in Philly. I just did a compare from the Philly review I had posted at springfolks. It ran in Philly from late October to early December. Also, it played in Boston in April.

If topic 34 didn't make it over from drool, Karen, can you revisit http://206.97.234.70 and copy and paste it in to a new topic. How many posts were in that topic, was it very big? I'm concerned and want to help get that stuff over here to the new site.

I think I got this done in topic 128. It it may not be as bad as I thought. Try it out and let me know if topic 128, the old fan fiction topic, is working ok. I don't know why this didn't travel over??? But maybe it's ok now.

Thank you, Terry. Everything moved over just perfectly on 128. I've left a big message on old 34 about the changes and how their entry the first time will be a bear and a tip about how to avoid loading hell, which I'm reproducing here: Important!!! Drool Fan Fic has moved to the new Spring location and has a NEW topic number. Bookmark this url if you only check Fan Fic: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/drool/128/new Be Warned However... The first time you use that url, it will take forever to load because you will be getting 1970 messages and your PC will not likely be able to hold it all in memory cache and will stop loading at some point. So for the first time you go into the new Fan Fic topic, use this url, which will start it loading at message #1900. http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/drool/34.1900 After that you can go back to the usual one I listed first. See you there! :-)

What's On Stage newsletter predicts Maggie Smith to win (predictably), but says Jennifer *should* win. Albemarle Theatre website has Jennifer 115 votes .... Maggie Smith 68 3 DOR 102...Lady in Van 79. SD 107....Henry Goodman 38 My guess is that at Olivier time the owners of the website will rig the numbers to coincide with the awards. *Cynical* evelyn

Evelyn!! You're not going to believe this. This Year's Love is going to show at the Santa Barbara Intl Film Fest, which begins March 2. Here's the url at Variety: http://www.variety.com/article.asp?articleID=1117776079 Films among the U.S. preems are �If You Only Knew,� toplined by Johnathon Schaech; �The Spreading Ground,� Dennis Hopper; �The Annihilation of Fish,� James Earl Jones; �It�s the Rage,� Gary Sinise and Joan Allen; �Passion,� Barbara Hershey; and �This Year�s Love,� Catherine McCormack. For fest passes and a complete schedule of events call, (805) 963-4408 or log on to www.sbfilmfestival.org.

Evelyn, how about this then, from today ES Theatre Section:- "ACT sale hit by price of Success: .... this week The Real Thing broke the theatre's all-time box office record." All-time record, can you believe it.

Ann.....Evelyn...this week The Real Thing broke the theatre's all-time box office record." All-time record, can you believe it. And that's 800 seats/performance.!!! (Karen)Evelyn!! You're not going to believe this. This Year's Love is going to show at the Santa Barbara Intl Film Fest, which begins March 2. *evelyn...smiling...like a dog eating..----!*

Well I finally got to the new site. It's really good to find all of you again. Thank you for the virtual birthday party, it was great. My actual birthday celebration(s) were very nice too. I posted about them on the old site, which was the only one I could access. As per usual, I was much too verbose. It figures that my birthday would happen at the time Spring is in upheaval. But I won't take it personally that, my birthday party and response weren't transfered to Spring's new site. I swear computers have it in for me. At work the running joke is I'm always the first person to be thrown out of certain programs or whose computer crashes. In the future, when artificial intelligence is perfected, an unintentional offshoot will be artificial mental illness. Just think you could get a bi-polar computer or even one that's obsessive-compulsive; it would just keep doing the same thing over and over. Mine would no doubt go shopping for itself on the web. Because of online shopping, it would know my credit card number and decide to buy itself some new software, sent overnight mail of course. Sorry, I'm being silly. Thanks again to Karen, Moon, KJArt, Evelyn, Heide, Gi, and Eileen for all your birthday felicitations. I hope that's everyone, and the right names. Now I can't access the old site. Lastly, Happy Chinese New Year. It's the year of the dragon, I'm not certain what that entails, but I am being taken out for the multi-course Chinese dinner. It is good to be back.

CherylB, I think Darlene left you her belated birthday wishes too at the old site, I went in today to check for stragglers and there they were... :-) The url is http://206.97.234.70/yapp-bin/restricted/read/drool/127/new and it is still accessible if you want to go there.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.. GOOD HEALTH AND GOOD FORTUNE IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON 4698

And a Happy New Year from me too!!

More Ralph Feinnes on the front cover of the Sunday Times Culture section, how I wish Colin has as much exposure, however, some news that Sunshine starring Jennifer Ehle and her mother oh and RF, opens on the 2st April, and not 7th April as originaly suggested,

that should be the 21st April.

Happy year of the Dragon everyone! (This is as near a dragon as i could get in the spur of the moment) Can someone tell me: a. Why is the numerical Spring location still up? b. Why can't we see the list of the most recent postings in this one? c. Why can't some graphics (e.g. the Amazon.com button)show up here yet?

a) No idea. The company has not shut it down yet. b) They haven't fixed that yet. c) Someone has to fix the urls, which point to the wrong place. Like the background, which didn't show up initially. wer fixed that, and he will get around to bringing back our other buttons and customizing our conference page.

Headline story from The Sunday Times: Disney takes over as dome boss is sacked [last paragraph] Gerbeau will look immediately at the issue of admission prices.

Oh no, I have just bought our tickets for April!!

Oh forgot to say that TRT is the No.1 play in London now, has taken over from The Lady in a Van and if Friday night is anything to go by it will stay there, the audience loved it.

About BBC Drama, with Colin mention: WHY THERE'S MONEY IN THOSE TV FLOPS (4/2/00) Only four million of us tuned into the first episode, and barely half that number have stayed the course. With the final part due to go out on Monday night, it's no longer just a matter of the critics carping. Gormenghast is officially a flop. The BBC denies it, of course. Alan Ayres, the publicity commissioner for BBC2 drama, says the figures for the opening episode were a "terrific success". But a couple of years ago the Beeb admitted that its adaptation of Ivanhoe was an "honourable failure" - and that drew eight million. The Beeb will plead that you never get a huge audience on BBC2, which begs the question why a GBP6million adaptation was scheduled there. And that doesn't explain why half the viewers who did watch the adaptation of Mervyn Peake's work decided so quickly to give up the Gormen-ghost. We know the real reason. The series was slated by the critics as a badly written, self-indulgent turn-off. Grotesque characters babbled incoherently, and nobody seemed to care whether we understood what was going on. The world of Gormenghast was like nothing we have seen before, but the story of high costs, overinflated expectations and pitiful ratings is familiar. For this isn't the first BBC flagship drama to sink. Gormenghast is the latest in a fleet of them. That "honourable failure" Ivanhoe was so difficult to follow that most of us gave up trying. At GBP5million, it was only just cheaper than Gormenghast. Even more expensive was the eight-part biopic Rhodes. The series was 10 years in the making and involved 10,000 extras. Unfortunately, each episode also felt like it lasted 10 years. It cost a cool GBP10million. Then there was Nostromo, starring Colin "Mr Darcy" Firth. Half the nation may have drooled over Firth in his wet breeches, and six million people tuned into a repeat of Pride And Prejudice in the same year, but only 1.5 million stayed loyal to the GBP5million Nostromo. Other flops included A Year In Provence and the interminable Seaforth. And never forget the disastrous Eldorado. Set in a specially built village outside Malaga, the "sun, sex and sangria" soap was actually more like a dose of Spanish flu. Another GBP10million was sneezed away. But the turn-offs need putting in context. For every Nostromo there is a David Copperfield or a Pride And Prejudice. And even if a series is a flop at home, the BBC can point to some staggering successes in persuading television companies overseas to buy our rejects. Rhodes was sold to Canada, Australia and South Africa for GBP15million. The Canadians and Aussies loved A Year In Provence, earning the BBC a healthy GBP10million, and Seaforth found an audience in Holland, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong and Romania, recouping about half of its GBP10million budget. Most remarkably of all, Eldorado has struck gold in Sweden, Poland, New Zealand, Mauritius, Australia and Russia, earning a staggering GBP20million. Sure enough foreign viewers are already coming to the rescue of Gormenghast. The series has already sold to Greece, Poland, South Africa, Hungary, Australia and New Zealand, and more deals are expected. "It's selling extremely well and we're very confident it will recoup the original BBC investment," says Mary Collins, head of publicity at BBC Worldwide. She also stresses that the cost of Gormenghast was split with co-producers WGBH in Boston and a Canadian television company called Chum, so the licence-payer is not responsible for the full GBP6million. She says it is quite normal for a programme to be made with one eye on the foreign rights if the producers think it will sell.

I thought that RF article in the London Times was rather cruel... Titled "Fogey Bare" an Old Fogey at 37? C'mon. And those buns look pretty good in the End of the Affair". The last line of the article was really the killer: "But remember, even Olivier did coffee commercials in the end." Those UK journalists really know how to get to a fella'. And that's a mainstream paper...not a tabloid. No wonder Colin doesn't like to do interviews. Who needs these assaults?