Whitehall Archives

2005

2006

11/3/06 - Holy moley, it's been a while! I'll bet there were some of you wondering if the ScaryFangirl had lost her Hornblower groove.  HA!  Not bloody likely!  In fact, Hornblower has been what has been keeping me from this site of late.  Okay, Hornblower and an ill-timed computer crash that took me out of action for a good three weeks in September.  It wasn't pretty, I assure you.  So, let me give you a quick *snicker* run down on the last few months.

First, The ATROPOS audiobook is MINE!!!  ALL MINE!!!!!!  MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's right!  Thanks to a wonderful tip from mmt, I was able to procure the elusive book-on-tape from eBay.  And there was much rejoicing.  I am very proud of my complete set (only lacking Admiral, which, from what I can determine, was promoted but never released) and thanks to romanticalgirl from LiveJournal (who has the technological wherewithal to do such things), the Horatian Welshtones have been converted to CD for my listening pleasure.  Emphasis on pleasure.  Behold, a happy ScaryFangirl.

Next, unfortunately, came my computer crash.  It would seem my "ancient" (by computer standards) machine had had enough of being overloaded with software and files that contained nothing but Hornblower-y goodness.  So it decided to go on strike at the most inopportune moment--in the last weeks before the convention.  Thankfully, it was in a decent enough mood that it allowed the transfer of just about all of my files to an external hard drive (*smooches the external HD*), so I lost very little if anything.  I am now delighting in my new computer (dubbed, of course, Indefatigable...long may it remain so...) and the former "tower of power" has been stripped of all fangirlish remnants and is happily retired in my son's room.  I have yet to load up most of my vid-making software on the new machine but otherwise, I'm back on solid digital ground.  And speaking of vids...I've got another one finished which must first be reduced to a downloadable file size before it can be seen here.

Which brings me to the convention.  HHUS2006 was a joy--as all HH conventions typically are--but more so because everything went so smoothly (and being on the planning committee, that is a very good thing).  The weather was fabulous, the company delightful, and Gregory Peck on the big screen is a treat not to be missed.  There are all sorts of reports from the convention at Horatians, so I'll spare you the details.  If you'd like to get a gander at some of the prizes that were given away, you can check out the HHUS2006 site.  And for further glimpses of life before, during, and after the convention, be sure to check out the HHUS2006 convention blog. Next year, Horatians take over Halifax, so start making your plans to attend!  More details to be posted as I get them.

In Hornblower-related news, I was able to go to the Virginia Film Festival late last month and saw a "sneak peek" of Amazing Grace, starring Ioan Gruffudd.  FABULOUS movie.  I fear the subject matter might be a little more heavy than general audiences would typically go for (which is a shame because the movie is delightfully presented) but I really, really hope that it gets the wider distribution that it deserves rather than be hidden away at art house type theaters.  Great flick, well-acted all around, and there is much for Hornblower junkies.  Besides seeing Ioan reunited (briefly) with Earl of Pembroke (aka "Hotspur"), we get to see him in breeches and his character marrying his match (by the name of Barbara...SQUEE!!!), and playing with his young son (DOUBLE SQUEEE!!!).  My mind could not help but dabble in thoughts of whether a wider distribution--with the acclaim that this film deserves--might not combine to make the allure of more Hornblowers irresistible.  Pipe dreams, I know...but if sci-fi stuff like Firefly can do it, why not period drama???

Anyway, I had hoped that when I next updated Whitehall, it would be with a completely new look for the site, but that has obviously not come to fruition as yet.  It was taking me so long, I finally decided that I'd better just post and prove that I was alive for now.  With any luck, I'll have that ready soon, but I trust the above rambling will hold you over for a little while as I update.  Until then, Happy Hornblowering! :)

8/2/06 - *raises hand* Question, ITV...  Amazon.co.uk has recently posted a picture of the cover of the new "Hornblower: The Complete Collection" that is slated for release in October of this year.  They haven't, however, posted details about what, exactly, is going to be on said DVD collection.  This is unfortunate...especially because the collection looks to be composed of only four discs.  I suppose all eight movies could be packed into four DVDs, but it doesn't seem very likely that four discs would be crammed with twice that number of movies (to say nothing of the fact that it doesn't bode well for UK fans hoping to actually score the extras on this edition they've previously been denied...)  We'll have to await the actual details to be released about what is in this particular set, but from what we know now, it doesn't seem as though "Complete" is the most accurate term to describe this collection.

7/26/06 - Veddy interesting... While browsing around eBay yesterday (code for "trying to see what other Hornblower stuff is out there"), I found it hard to ignore that the normal glut of Hornblower DVDs had been compounded with a metric ton of same by a single seller: ae_tv, a.k.a. the A&E Store.  Not only were they offering what seemed to be their remaining stock of Hornblower DVDs with free shipping, but with many, they were offering extra incentives such as gift certificates to the A&E Store.  At the time I am writing this, no one has made a bid on the DVDs being sold by A&E.  (The bitter part of me huzzahs...)  There's a reserve on the movies, though, so don't think that you can pick them up for the mere $0.99 that they're going for at the moment.  I didn't notice any of the Collector's Edition sets listed from A&E, so I'm wondering if they are simply clearing out their stock in order to sell JUST the full set.  Complete speculation on my part, of course, but I found it interesting that they would turn to eBay.  Gosh, you'd think that folks interested in well-made drama would simply flock to the A&E Store, what with their current programming...

7/18/06 - Another depressing confirmation of A&E's decision to nix the Hornblower series and again it comes from Hornblower star, Ioan Gruffudd.  TV blogger Melanie McFarland caught up with Ioan at a Hallmark Channel party where he

There is nothing more to say than, "Amen."

In other A&E related news, a nasty rumor had been circulating within the fandom that one of the main reasons that Hornblower found itself on the outs with network executives is that Delia Fine, producer of the series in the States, was no longer with A&E.  'Tain't so.  Ms. Fine is still with the network, most recently involved in the projects FIRESTORM: LAST STAND AT YELLOWSTONE and PAUL MCCARTNEY: THE SPACE WITHIN US. 

6/22/06 - Riiiiiight. It's official.  A&E is sorry that I've lost interest in them. *snicker*  I opened my e-mail this morning to find this amusing bit of A&E spam in my mailbox:

Want me back for real, A&E?  Stop pandering to the lowest common denominator and give me more Hornblower.  Until then, you ain't seein' a dime of my money.  Despite that, I would like you to know how much I appreciate the lengths to which you are willing to go to prove what a joke of a network you've become by running shows like the Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships.  Your mediocrity continues to astound me.  Well done.

5/8/06 - And to think I was starting to wonder if Hornblower fans were the only ones to see this... Thank you, Matt Roush, of TV Guide's "Ask Matt".  It's nice to get the view of a person who makes their living watching TV, who has their finger on the pulse of television viewers, particularly when that view seems to line up squarely with my own.  But, mainly, thank you for calling a spade a spade.  To wit:

Of course, you understand, Mr. Roush, A&E doesn't care.  Not that hearing--much less listening--is physically possible considering where the folks in charge of programming over there have their heads shoved.  But nonetheless, thank you.  That hearty "amen" that you hear is from Hornblower fans everywhere.

5/7/06 - FREE THE RENOWN!!!!!! I have posted this on other sites, but neglected to post the same here (for some strange reason).  You'd think that the recovery of interviews from the long lost HH2 A&E website would be cause for celebration (and for the most part, they are), but then I happened upon this line from the interview with HH2's set designer, Rob Harris:

Renown is alive and well and stored in Menorca for "not the next story but the story after it."  In other words, not HH3 (since this is an HH2 interview), but HH4.  ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!  It is only made worse by the realization that Menorca is pretty close climate-wise to the area in which the adventures of Beat to Quarters take place and that the next 74 of significance that crosses Hornblower's path is Sutherland.  Do you understand what that means???  HH4 was going to be based in whole or in part on the Captain Hornblower trilogy!  ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!  I want Lady Barbara telling Horatio how in love with his hands she is!  I want deck showers and naked romps through the French countryside in stealthy demolitions of enemy assets!  I want to see Bush's foot get blown off!  I want to see a mature Ioan play Hornblower as he has to surrender the Sutherland!!  I want to freakin' see Horatio in a pair of epaulettes!   Curse you once more, A&E, for having so clearly planned for future series and abandoning them in favor of the craptastic trash that passes for programming on your network now!

4/21/06 - Wha...? I happened to run across an entertainment column today which had me scratching my head.  Rob Owen, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, answered this question in his TV column for a reader:

While it's pretty much common knowledge that A&E has lost interest in Hornblower, I was rather perplexed with the second half of Mr. Owen's answer.  Um...the reader is asking about Hornblower.  How, pray tell, is the news that "MI-5" is returning supposed to console him?  Is the assumption here that if you like one British show, you'll like 'em all?  Or is Mr. Owen implying that we should rejoice that the reappearance of "MI-5" means that there will be at least one whole show on the network that smacks of "quality" (regardless of whether it is of a genre we enjoy or not)?  Am I the only one to whom this answer makes no sense? 

In other unrelated news, Sharpe fans are gearing up for the release of the new Sharpe movies this weekend in the UK.  While I don't know much about Sharpe (GO NAVY!!!), a Hornblower fan cannot help but be encouraged by the Rifleman's reappearance so many years after his last episode.  Bodes well for our fandom, doesn't it?  So, in that spirit, I give you a quote I just ran across from Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe's author) about his creation: "They are a rip-off of Hornblower really."

3/22/06 - Now, that's just cool.  In a very scary way.  While taking a peak at eBay (still trying to get my hands on that darned Atropos audiobook), I came across this vendor peddling his wares: Hornblower career documents.  HA!  That's bloody brilliant.  I have nary a clue if they are accurate in appearance since I'm not familiar with Royal Navy documentation of the time, but scrawl the name "Hornblower" across something and I'm on it like a maggot to ship's biscuit.  Heh.  I can't believe I'm actually considering springing for what amounts to a bunch of computer printouts of fictional commissioning documents.  I rationalize it would make for nifty convention decor.  In fact, it looks like something I would have come up with if I had had even more time in excess of the time I already flitter away to indulge in all things Hornblower.  I just don't know that I would have had the cajoles to charge fifteen bucks for copies of it.  My bicorne's off to ya, man.

3/7/06 - The housewives aren't the only people who are desperate... The Mouse is looking for some extra cheese money, apparently.  Disney is shopping around for a buyer for Desperate Housewives and I'll give you three guesses as to one of the networks it is hoping to sell it to because of its history of purchasing network cast-offs--and your first two guesses don't count.  Disney's asking price is $1.2 million per episode (with 23 episodes per season).  *cringes at the thought of how many episodes of Hornblower that would be*  We might be able to see the day when Desperate Housewives is the 'new' Murder, She Wrote.  *rolleyes*  Suggestion for TNTSNBN:  save yourself the trouble of pretending to have original ideas and just call yourselves "A & Re-" 

2/23/06 - How to turn a squealing fangirl into Bobby Fischer... I have hated chess for a very long time.  Despise the game.  I don't enjoy losing, but I can bear my losses with good humor where they are quick and relatively painless.  Chess, however, doesn't allow a player to *just* lose.  No, it requires an announcement of "checkmate" in order to broadcast a defeat to all within hearing distance.  Not only that, but before the game has even reached its conclusion, it insists that the victorious player revel in his opponent's imminent doom with the oft-repeated "check".  I may, however, have found a cure for my "game of Kings" phobia.  I'm gonna commission me an artist.  No, really!  Hear me out!  Seems a chess enthusiast in Australia couldn't find the sort of chess set he was looking for, so he hired an artist friend to make one for him.  Her inspiration...?  The Hornblower movies.  HA!  No longer will that long awkward pause after my opponent moves be attributed to my inability to conjure a decent move.  No!  The long awkward pause will result from my constant admiration of the pieces! 

Okay, so maybe it wouldn't improve my game, but it would do wonders for the experience!

2/16/06 - Okay A&E.  Now you just look desperate. I just got an e-mail from A&E touting some new DVD along with several other new releases.  Just for kicks, I decided to follow one of the links provided in their e-mail to "A&E Bestsellers"--you know, just to see what is selling so well for A&E.  There were, of course, "new favorites" (meaning "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" and "Rollergirls"), as well as many of the classics--Pride and Prejudice, Poirot, and Hornblower, for example.  What cracked me up, though, was their claim in large red letters under the Hornblower Collector's edition DVD set: "This DVD only available here!" Um, right.  Somebody better tell Amazon and DeepDiscountDVD and, no doubt, hundreds of other merchants who are carrying this very set, because not only is that DVD not "only available" at A&E's online store, it's significantly cheaper everywhere else.

In other A&E news, the monkeys still don't know what they're doing with the discussion boards.  I've heard from one person who signed up with the A&E Club that he can't get online to post and heard from several people that their old logins, despite warnings from the network to the contrary, still work today.  I've even seen a few posters from outside the hallowed North American zone who have been able to post today.  Long may it remain so!

2/10/06 - It's not as bad as an incendiary cartoon, but it certainly doesn't promote world peace... A&E, self-proclaimed ally of discussion communities past, present and future, wants to hear from you about what you think about the new changes which are coming down the pike at their website.  Not that they plan on really listening, mind you, but setting up a place for folks to belly-ache is the least that they can do.  After all, a good portion of them won't be allowed to participate in the near future anyway.

As stated in their little announcement (below), after February 15, 2006, people wishing to join in the discussions on A&E's boards will be required to re-register with the A&E Club.  They will also be wiping out any inactive discussions on their current boards and moving the discussions from active boards associated with shows which A&E no longer carries to one large conglomerate "A&E communities" board.  My understanding is that, as a result, Hornblower will no longer have a separate community on the A&E site, but will only exist within the designated "Communities" board along with other shows too intellectual to attract the sort of audience A&E is currently after.  In attempting to register as instructed, however, many discussion board participants happened upon an interesting bit of information: unless you live in the United States or Canada, you will not be allowed to register for the A&E Club.  The theory is that the content which A&E intends to make available will be subject to certain laws which could be violated should those from outside those two nations be allowed access.  I say "theory" because A&E has cheerfully ignored the frantic questions of international posters who have made those discussion boards their online community "homes".  In fact, there are very few questions which the moderators at A&E have answered in their "Tell Us What You Think" forum--and fewer still on their FAQ page (which is filled, for the most part, with the gibberish that would indicate that the page is still in its beta stages despite the upcoming transition).

If you have any connection with the A&E Hornblower forums and wish to save discussions near and dear to your heart, this is your last chance.  If you are a poster from a nation outside of the US and Canada, then, you might consider "shopping" for another Hornblower community such as Horatians or Hornblower-L.  And feel free to make your nation's rude gesture of choice in the direction of A&E.  Trust me, your American and Canadian fellow fans will be cheering you on.

2/6/06 - Join the Club.  The A&E Club to be precise.  I know...you're just falling all over yourself to join, aren't you?  This is the message that was just recently posted to the Hornblower discussion board (actually, only one of the active Hornblower discussion boards) from an A&E Administrator:

To quote Saturday Night Live's Church Lady: well, isn't that special?  It's so nice to read that they are "committed to supporting our community members".  And don't you feel all warm inside at the battle cry to "continue to support" A&E's shows?  And it must have been posted by someone who is paying slight attention as the post was not a completely new one, but posted within a thread which was discussing the changes that had been made to the boards...nearly a month ago.  Add it to the pile of evidence that A&E is hearing...and refusing to listen.

2/4/06 - WOOHOO!!!!!!  What the...?  I've had a very ying-yang Hornblower experience today.  Thanks to a tip from mmt, I'll have the Atropos audiobook in my hands within the week if all goes well. *squees*  Unfortunately, mmt also noticed on this same site that publication of the Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies audiobook has been cancelled.  *growls*  For a while, it's been known that Admiral was extremely hard to come by, but this is the first that I've seen of news from the publisher that they had no intention of releasing it.  AND WHY NOT?!?  They've already designed the cover art.  One assumes that Ioan Gruffudd actually did read for it considering how long it has been "out" on retailers like Amazon.  Is Hodder audiobooks drinking the same water as A&E?  Oy.  What does the world have against fangirls looking for a Hornblower fix?! 

2/4/06 - So it begins... Well, thanks to the persistent nagging of a pal who will go unnamed (*cough*sidhe*cough*), I have bitten the bullet and joined the relatively controlled chaos that is LiveJournal.  The username chosen (as if you couldn't guess) is scaryfangirl.  Of course, being a newbie there, I have nothing up at the moment.  Haven't made my first post, haven't done the first thing to customize my journal and haven't even been able to decide what "interests" I want to share beyond Hornblower.  Heck, I can't even think of what to put in my mini-bio which is pretty sad considering that I've been living with me all my life.  Obviously, this will be an exercise in extraordinary foolhardiness.  Oddly enough, I'm looking forward to it in a rather guilty way.

On the A&E front, that site has been taken down.  Not that I have the inside scoop or anything, but they used to have a link to the main page on the discussion boards.  That link is gone.  Were it simply technical difficulties the link would still be up, though broken.  A&E is continuing to sever its ties to classy entertainment in a big way.  I'm attempting to scrounge what topics of interest I can from their cached sites, but I don't know what I'll be able to find and save.  What is salvaged will most likely find a home here, starting with the HH1 Teaching Guides which you can download from the Main Board introduction page. (NOTE:  The Teaching Guides from A&E can now be found on this site on the Downloads page.)

1/21/06 - We interrupt this Hornblower fix due to technical difficulties... At least, I'd like to hope that it's due to technical difficulties.  A friend of mine recently pointed out that the introductory page for the Horatio Hornblower show over at A&E is down.  She said that she had also gone over to the ITV equivalent and found that that site was gone as well.  I am aware that there are times when web pages like to 'go missing' and that, considering that A&E just changed the interface at their discussion boards (again), it is very possible that it is only a temporary glitch that has brought the page down.  Yet, given how the network doesn't seem eager to do another Hornblower series, it doesn't seem wild to speculate that they removed the page altogether.  Which is sad.  If you Google "A&E" and "Hornblower", the first link that results is that introductory page.  When I first decided I was interested in learning more about the show, those were the keywords I plugged in--if others are like me, then new folks are no longer going to have an official site from which to launch their search for more Hornblower-y goodness.  Unless they go directly to the A&E homepage, look for the link to the discussion boards and hunt for the Hornblower discussion boards among the list of topics, they probably aren't going to know that the forums exist.  There are an astonishing number of folks just now coming to the series or just discovering the communities that have formed around the books and movies.  If the networks actually removed these sites, it's a shame and illustrates once again how little regard they have for a show that remains popular and continues to build its fan base despite the lack of new episodes in the last couple years.

1/7/06 - *eyeroll* *nod* *LOL*... I just stumbled upon a relatively recently posted review of the Hornblower Collector's Edition on PopMatters.com which I rather enjoyed reading.  It was a half and half read--half of it was a brilliant assessment, the other half was as wrong as it could be.  But I think I may have found one of my favorite quotes of all time in regards to the Hornblower fandom.  In one of reviewer John Nettles's statements, he mentions, "Many of these episodes are adapted from mere chapters of Forester's books, so while the teleplays have ample room for extemporizing, they cleave to Forester's tendency to get Horatio in and out of scrapes with Teflon slickness. One wishes that the creators of the series had stuck more to the spirit of the Hornblower books than the letter..."   Ha!  To think that all this time I'd thought they had stuck more to the spirit than the letter!  And in the case of Loyalty and Duty, sometimes I wonder if the book Hotspur was consulted at all!  The whole debate regarding "spirit vs. letter" in regards to adaptations is rather pointless to me to some extent.  Realistically, it is impossible to bring a series of novels which is primarily the internal dialogue of an introverted character to screen without compromising the spirit of the character.  However, "the spirit" of the novels comes from "the letter"--you mess too much with canon and you will lose much of what makes the stories as a whole great.  But I didn't dwell on Mr. Nettles's assessment for long, because he finished the above with the statement, "but Forester's fans are in their own way as rabid as Tolkien's or J.K. Rowling's, and they must be appeased."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!  You hear that, A&E!  We are rabid and we must be appeased!!!  *snicker*  While I am prepared to admit that I am rabid (hence the moniker, ScaryFangirl), I could only dream of holding the sort of sway over The Powers That Be that Mr. Nettles implies fans such as myself might have.  Hehehehe..."must be appeased"...  That just cracks me up.

12/26/05 - Preach on, Brother Yardley...Just found out about an article from the Washington Post today.  According to the Post, they like to ask their book reviewers to talk about "neglected" books every now so that interested parties might add them to their reading lists.  And Jonathan Yardley of the Post (bless him) chose Beat to Quarters.  Can I hear a 'HUZZAH!' from the choir?  Mr. Yardley lets loose a book gush that does this Scaryfangirl's heart proud, focusing on BtQ, but putting in a good word for all eleven (plus The Hornblower Companion) of CSF's masterworks collectively known as "the Hornblower series".  And while I have to disagree with his statement that the A&E series is "completely faithful to the original"(*cough*Loyalty-and-Duty*cough*), I'm definitely willing to give him a pass based on the earlier part of that sentence in which he declared Ioan Gruffudd to be "perfectly cast as Hornblower."  (Amen and pass the collection plate!) Thanks for helping to spread the Hornblower gospel, Mr. Yardley.  (Think you might be able to get one of your television reviewing colleagues to needle A&E about the genius of a "neglected" series of the same name as well...?)

12/5/05 - *facepalm* - Well, the holiday season is in full swing and I am paying for the sin of purchasing videos from the A&E store many, many moons ago with marketing spam from TNTSNBN.  As if it weren't enough that I am being asked to purchase videos that I have already purchased, they are also deluging me with pleas to buy their "Dog: The Bounty Hunter" and "Growing Up Gotti" DVD sets.  Oy.  Ironically enough, it was an ad for their "Romance Classics Collection" that sent me into the throes of fangirlish outrage.  Granted, this is the group of programming that I actually would put my money out for were it not for the fact that I already own the ones that I'm actually interested in, but it was this description that had me seeing red:

HORATIO HORNBLOWER
There's always time for a dalliance or two in C.S. Forester's thrilling high seas adventures.

"There's always time for a dalliance or two..."?!?!?  ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  Are we talking about the SAME Horatio Hornblower, A&E?!?  And again I say, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  That is just wrong, wrong, wrong, captial WRONG!!!!  Especially when contrasted with the description they give for Catherine the Great: "Catherine Zeta-Jones, Omar Sharif and Jeanne Moreau star in this world-class epic."  So, Catherine the Great, czarina who would bed the world, is nothing more than a "world-class epic" and Horatio Hornblower, naval hero who could hardly be called a ladies' man, is always ready for "a dalliance or two".  *shakes head*  Just let me know when you release your "Hornblower's Favorite Music" CD collection, A&E...

11/28/05 - IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!* - The UPS man was kind to me today!!!!  Yes, yes...my new HH Collectors edition is finally in my hot little hands and of course the FIRST thing that I had to do was pop that sucker into the ol' DVD drive of the computer and watch the new interview "Horatio on Horatio" with Ioan Gruffudd.

First things first...for the hardcore fan who has scoured the Internet and the resources of fellow fans for years (particularly if Ioan counts as the primary object of your desire), you probably won't learn much from this.  Fans with lives outside of Hornblower will probably pick up some new tidbits.  Among some of the information that I'd never run across is a bit about Ioan's first night spent miserably homesick in Yalta and Sean Gilder's words of "encouragement" and Andrew Benson's statement when the Grand Turk first appeared on set.  I will also never watch the scene where Styles gets flogged the same way again.  However, just because the information isn't entirely new to you, don't think that you won't enjoy the interview if you've been a fan of the series for a while.   There are diamonds hidden in this interview...behind the scenes shots (mainly from Hornblower 2) and snippets where Ioan talks about some of his co-workers (Crumpeteers, I'm talking to YOU.  You are going to go ga-ga over some of the things he says about Jamie and Archie.  Trust me.).  The interview itself lasts a good 20 minutes or so and is packed with beautiful smiles and charm well worth the time of any Ioan gusher.  (Oh, and for the odd Buckland gusher, there's actually a glimpse of Nicholas Jones in a gaping frilly shirt...).  Ioan wraps up the interview with Horatio gushing--the typical "I really loved playing this character" stuff that you might expect from any actor--but you definitely get the idea that he really means it.  And thank you, Ioan for the statement on camera that you would love to continue to play this character throughout his career.  Let's hope A&E obliges.

11/23/05-ARRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!-Being a rabid fangirl sure can suck sometimes.  Here I've been waiting for many moons for my new HH Collector's Edition DVDs and this morning, I hear a knock on the door.   Could it be...?  I rushed to the door and...YES! YES! YES!!!!  THE UPS MAN!!!!  Beaming like an idiot, I open the door, sign the little electronic thingy that supposedly records your signature despite the fact the digital result never looks remotely like your handwriting, and nearly ripped the package out of his hand as I wished him a happy Thanksgiving.  Unable to contain myself, I looked down at the box ready to tear into it--only to notice my husband's name on the package. *bursts into tears*  I nearly chased that poor UPS man down and begged him to look through his truck again to make sure there weren't any other parcels for this address.  Sigh.  I'd like to call it withdrawl, but I think 'pathetic' is more apt.

11/20/05-Veddy Interesting...Okay...what gives?  As I was trolling Amazon to see if I could find more loot to add to my wish list, I was inevitably drawn once more to view the promo video that Ioan did for the HH Collectors Edition.  What caught my attention, however, was the fact that the price for this set--one I purchased just a little over a week ago (and still have not had delivered thanks to my decision to choose "Supersaver" (read: super slow) shipping)--had gone up.  Considering how inexpensively they were selling the videos and the proximity of the holiday season, I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised, but it threw me.  After all, they had dropped the price significantly within a short period after they released the DVD--could it be that demand had pushed the price upwards...?  In an effort to check my fangirlish hopes, I went to see if the price at A&E was doing anything as nutty.  Shockingly, when I first logged onto the A&E Store, searching under "shows", the Collector's Edition wasn't even listed as one of their products.   One had to go to the "best sellers" category in order to find it.  Ugh.  The price there is doing nothing, by the way.  It's still nearly double Amazon's (which explains why I didn't purchase it from A&E).

Speaking of A&E, they've got a new show that they're promoting: "Rollergirls".  Oy.  It looks to be 'Footballers' Wives' on roller skates (not that I've ever seen anything more than previews of 'Footballers' Wives', but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the most descriptive adjective for that show is the exact opposite of 'classy').   The more I see of their lineup, the more convinced I am that A&E is being run by Jerry Springer and Maury Povich.

Keep watching this space, though.  As soon as I get my grubby hands on my Collector's Edition DVD, I will be putting up a review of the Ioan interview!

11/11/05 - It's official (...as if it weren't before).  I'm obsessed.  Upon being advised that the new Hornblower Collector's Edition DVD did, in fact, have a brand new interview with Ioan, I went to Amazon and bought the darned thing.  I was rather disappointed to discover that I couldn't use, in bulk, the myriad of credits that I earned for scarfing Burger King meals all summer long to get my Fantastic Four Amazon gift cards--they are only applied one at a time, dagnabit--but I did have a little bit left on a gift card that I had been given, so the bite on my wallet was considerably less.  Of course, the point remains that I actually bought DVDs that I already own.  Yes, it's a sickness.  But I know that it's a sickness, so I think that makes me a little less sick.  (Gosh, I hope that Ioan appreciates what I do for him...)

11/8/05 - uHf's Random Rant of the Day This will not start off as a rant.  In fact, it's really not much of a rant at all because as disappointed as I am, I'm definitely not unhappy.  (Heh.  Figure that one out.)  As a reward for not going nuts with the money I had saved for my trip while over in the UK, I decided to go mad once back on American soil by spending my cash on the Ioan-narrated Commodore and Lord Hornblower audiobooks.  Long have I awaited purchasing these gems and--at last!--they are mine...mine...MINE!!!!  Only Atropos and West Indies have eluded me thus far...and they will be mine.  Oh, yes...they will...  (Am I scaring you yet?)  And God bless Amazon.co.uk for getting them to me in a record four calendar days when I had been a cheapskate of the first order by purchasing shipping at the molasses-in-January level. *smooches Amazon*  Of course, when I got home today and found them waiting for me, the Fangirl Code required me to let out an excited squeal and rush them upstairs and take a listen.  My AbsoluteMostFavoriteChapterInTheEntireSeries being the first chapter of Commodore, there was no question as to which one was going in to start.

Can I just say how profoundly saddened I am that Chapter One got majorly chopped?  (Not nearly as saddened as I was to see Betsy Bonaparte emerge as a main character in the movie adaptation of Hotspur, of course, but saddened nonetheless.)  Not that I wasn't expecting it to be abridged--I was--but I was hoping for a little more of it to be included.  You see, this had promised to be a fangirl nirvana of sorts for me.  After all, we're talking Ioan reading the first chapter of Commodore.  Movie and book ideals merging flawlessly into one beautiful alternate reality.  Unfortunately, 'guh' turned to 'uh...?' as Horatio was hastened through his bath with only a single "damn your eyes" at Brown. (*sniff*)  And while Ioan Gruffudd may be Horatio Hornblower come to life, Lady Barbara he is not.  (But, trust me, I'm okay with that.)  Again, I certainly didn't expect him to have that 'lusts after Horatio' sultriness in his voice (that I feel certain that I could pull off...), but I didn't expect Barbara to sound like Hornblower on a serious helium trip, either.  Oh, well.  Ya can't win 'em all.

11/3/05 - Er....  Out of curiosity today, I went to Amazon.com to check to see if any progress has been made on getting Peck's Captain Horatio Hornblower released on DVD.  I nearly jumped in delight when I got to the page in question because it has been updated--well, sort of.  Instead of the "sign up here to express your interest..." blather that they had had previously, they are now providing a release date.  Unfortunately, said release date is December 31, 1969.  Immediately following is the happy information that we can order it now and they will ship it "when it arrives".  *snerk*  Nothing like waiting 36 years for the studio to deliver.   Still, the fact that they changed the information on the page (albeit to something completely erroneous) gives me hope that something might be happening with it soon.  Mmmm...Peck as Hornblower in digital clarity.  Bring. It. On.

Until then, though, if you're looking for Classic Hornblower squee, go here.  This is probably the largest collection of Captain Horatio Hornblower screen caps ANYWHERE on the web.  Trust me, I've looked.  Kudos to Black Hound/Crazed Ferret for enabling!

11/1/05 - I'm baaaaaack! Woohoo!!!  There is NO rush quite like a Hornblower convention and this year's was EXTRA rush-inducing thanks to its coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.  The Victory, while always a sexy ship, has never been quite so sexy in recent memory as when that (special effects) broadside erupted from her starboard side.  (Guh.  Hold me.)  Back to Hornblower, though, this year's convention hosts did a phenomenal job of putting on a party.  It was great to see old friends and meet new ones and, as ever, it was a kick to enjoy the Hornblower movies with folks who get it. 

And now I will really try to keep the site up to date (...she says with the thought that such a statement sounds ominously like a New Year's Resolution...).  Guess it's time to brush the dust off that Favorite Book Quotes page, huh?

9/18/05 - And the *squee* goes on...I'm really feeling fangirl-y.  Amazon has chosen a unique way to market the Hornblower Collector's edition--a promotional video featuring Ioan Gruffudd (check out the link underneath the "See Product Details" section).  Besides being absolutely delighted by Ioan saying "Horatio Hornblower rocks" and "Thank you for your continued support of this incredible series" on video (*pause for swoon*), the fact that they are promoting it with such vigor is somewhat encouraging.  Part of me even hopes that Mr. Gruffudd is still on A&E's payroll for a certain naval character whom I would love to watch take to the high seas again.  But I must not let the euphoria induced by Ioan talking Hornblower on video play havoc with common sense.  But still...   Ioan.  On Video.  Talking Hornblower. 

For that 43 seconds, life is goooooooood.

9/14/05 - Well, *squee*.  I have a confession to make.  I'm cheating on Horatio.  After numerous unhappy encounters with the highly-acclaimed Mr. Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, I have cut my losses and moved on to another series in the genre.  I had heard a lot about both Kent and Pope, so I took the plunge and bought the first book from each series.  I'm starting with Ramage.  To be quite honest, Pope's prose isn't as masterful as Forester's (but Pope wrote non-fiction, so I forgive him) and I'm not as 'into' the story as I get with Hornblower (but I'm not wanting to slit my wrists as I was with O'Brian, so I forgive him), but it's a decent read.  I had heard that Forester had actually been supportive of Pope's fictional endeavors, too, which was another point in Ramage's favor.  I still miss Horatio, though, and have been steadily working my way through the book ever conscious of the fact I'm not reading about "my boy".  And then...I read page 151 (McBooks Press edition).

"Coincidences were normally too frequent in the Navy for anyone to pay much attention, but he had spent two years with Dawlish as a midshipman in the Superb.  Indeed, Dawlish and that fellow Hornblower had done their best to teach him spherical trigonometry."

It's really quite pathetic that a mere mention of the name can get me as giddy as it has.  And the fact that the book is set in 1796, which is the same year that William Bush earned his commission while on the Superb makes me no less so.  Of course, since Hornblower was never on that ship, I was slightly confused by the appearance of his name in that sentence, but again, I'm willing to forgive Pope--or at least assume that he meant that Hornblower was simply one of many, not necessarily a shipmate, who attempted to get trigonometry into Ramage's skull.  And again I say, SQUEE. 

9/12/05 - And fangirl-owned wallets everywhere breathe a sigh of relief...because A&E missed the boat on a primo opportunity.  Turns out they are releasing a Hornblower "Collector's Edition".  A Collector's Edition.  And not a single new extra.  Curse you once more, A&E, for taunting me with stunning new box art only to leave me with an absolute dearth of collectibles within!  Were you to have flaunted the merest blooper reel, the slightest hint of a cast commentary, my sixty dollars (plus shipping and handling) would have been yours!  That's right.  You could have had people--who own the DVDs already (and in some cases, own it in both VHS and DVD formats!)--lining up to buy this edition for the 'new stuff' that probably wouldn't have cost you very much to add to the set.  As it stands, though, most of us have self-control enough to refrain from whipping out the credit card for new box art.  (That could be changed, of course, if the new box art was to be published in poster form...hint, hint...)

8/26/05 - We interrupt your regularly scheduled rants to bring you...a moment of pure unadulterated fangirlishness.  Let me start by saying, GUH.  That about sums up the extent of my ability to talk when I logged on to Ioanonline yesterday and found a thread in which it was announced that Inka, visual enabler in chief at said Gruffudd fansite, had sent what appears to be the mother load of HH2 publicity pics.  Every single one of them new to me (no easy feat considering my never ending quest for all things Horatio).   Broody Horatio pics.  Smoldering Horatio pics.  Heroically-posed Horatio pics.  Just plain darned good looking Horatio pics. *Has palpitations*

A&E is so holding out on us.  (Oops, sorry...that was a rant, wasn't it?) 

But ya know what the coolest thing about these new shots was?  Just being able to feel the excitement of having something 'new' in our grasp again--to say nothing of the appealing thought that there might be more out there that we have yet to discover.   Of course, it would be really nice if certain executives at certain networks would oblige us with an entirely new series, too, but I'm willing to count my blessings.  For now.

Speaking of which...HOLY MACKEREL! Have you seen the petition of late?!?  It's a sight to gladden the heart of any fangirl.  Of course, we've had the odd double signature and I've had to delete a few obvious phonies (yes, I'm looking at you, whoever signed as "Horatio Hornblower"), but other than that, it's nothing short of thrilling to see the number of folks willing to support the series.  Hopefully, there will be information on the postcard campaign up VERY soon...stay tuned!

8/8/05 - Wow, folks!  First of all, to all of you who have signed and passed around the "Save the Hornblower Series" petition, THANK YOU!!!  When I first posted it, I thought that I would have been satisfied with 300 signatures.  As of this writing, we are past 500.  To see the number of fans--from around the world (25 different countries, to be exact!)--ready to support this show is invigorating, to say the least!  Please continue to encourage people to sign and to send letters to A&E and Meridian--the more effort fans are willing to put out, the more the networks will realize how much this show means to people!

7/27/05 - Amazing.  Simply Amazing.  By now, no doubt, you're tired of hearing me rant about the somewhat insane nature of the decisions made by the higher-ups at the network home of the Hornblower series.  But indulge me.  I just saw a commercial on the History Channel in which words such as "Epic" and "Extraordinary" appeared in elegant writing on a black screen interlaced with clips from TV dramas such as Victoria and Albert, Poirot, Pride and Prejudice and, of course, Hornblower.  This lovely little montage concluded with a large A&E logo and a sophisticated voice entreating the viewer to purchase one of the many high-quality programs offered by A&E Home Video.  Part of me rejoices that at least some segment of the A&E marketing community realizes that these programs are what put the network on the map--that these series are big money-makers.  Perhaps then, my ever-optimistic self hopes, there is a good chance that someone of sense is still employed by the channel and might even be capable of convincing the executives there that it wouldn't be such a terrible idea to return to the days of Emmy-winning series.  However, the other part of me--the more rational part--simply shakes her head in disbelief.  Not once did a current "favorite" at the network scroll across the screen.  NONE of the programs that grace the A&E line up at the moment, in fact, put in an appearance.  It's like a gourmet restaurant under new management, banking on its previous reputation to bring in the customers while serving fast-food crap to its current patrons in lieu of its former stellar menu.  The capitalist within shrugs and says, "Whatever works."  The Hornblower fangirl within picks her jaw up from the floor and screams, "HOW DARE THEY?!?"

On a side note, while shooting an e-mail to "Viewer Relations", I happened upon A&E's FAQ page.  Two of the questions dealt with why there were not discussion boards for "Growing up Gotti" and "DOG, the Bounty Hunter".  According to the network, there WERE discussion boards, but the "community standards" were so consistently violated by the posters there that they had to shut them down (A revelation which is surprising only in so far that there were literates enough among the audiences of those shows to actually populate a discussion board in the first place).  Meanwhile, the Hornblower discussion boards rank second in number of posts within A&E hosted forums.  Pretty impressive considering that the only show that has more posts to its credit (Columbo) has been on for a longer period of time, has more episodes, and was shown on a major television network.

7/21/05 - May I just take this opportunity to say A&E, YOU BUNCH OF SIMIAN IDIOTS!!!!!! *ahem*  Gosh, I feel a lot better for saying that.  Another day, another Ioan interview.  Another lament about how he would love to play Hornblower again, but the character's fate is in the hands of the brainless cretins knowledgeable executives at A&E.  Only in this interview, Ioan goes a step further than he has before and says that A&E has actually made the decision to no longer carry on with the Hornblower franchise.  To say I am distraught is an understatement.  Oh, sure, I've told myself that it is not unreasonable to think that this quote could simply be a misprint or misinterpretation of Ioan's actual words, but reality bids me recognize that offerings such as "Growing Up Gotti" and "DOG, the Bounty Hunter" don't exactly smack of A&E's commitment to classy (or even mildly intellectual) entertainment.   Way to go, A&E.  Happy descent into the pit of the dying trend of the low-brow reality TV series.  Your inanity is an inspiration to us all.

7/7/05-Keep talking like this, Ioan, and you'll really get me excited...(Not that Ioan talking to me wouldn't do that anyway... *whistles innocently*) The Orlando Sentinel posted a story today in which their movie critic interviewed Ioan Gruffudd, ostensibly (*snicker*) in conjunction with tomorrow's anticipated release of The Fantastic Four.  But we ScaryFangirls know better...just look at what was said in the article:

'And even though there are already plans for a second and maybe a third Fantastic Four -- hey, if The X-Men sell, why not the Fantastics? -- the role that remains nearest and dearest to him is Hornblower, whom he has played in eight films thus far, through the rank of commander (below captain, above lieutenant).

"I am not contractually committed to ever do another," Gruffudd says. "But emotionally, I am. I live for that part and I can't wait until another one comes up.

"I would love to play him all the way through until he's an admiral. It would be a unique opportunity for an actor and a unique viewing experience, I think, to see this man go from boy to old man, through every stage of his career."

He's just waiting on the rights to another Forester novel to come through, and for a script to come from that.'

Okay, pause for fangirlish *SQUEEEEE!* at the phrasing, "...the role that remains nearest and dearest to him is Hornblower..."  And while I confess I'm scratching my head at the discrepancies between this and previous interviews regarding his contractual commitment to The Character Who Made Him, so long as he keeps going on record as saying he's eager to play Horatio, I'll be ecstatic.  Seriously, I'm giddy right now.  Just to see the sentence "I live for that part" attributed to Ioan Gruffudd in reference to Hornblower is...is...  Well, I have no words.   It's just the best darned thing (next to seeing HH4 become a reality, of course...).

7/3/05 - Back to the Original Mr. Fantastic - ComicBookMovie.com recently spoke with Ioan Gruffudd and bless the comic book fanboy who was conducting the interview, he asked about Hornblower.  (*Genuflects in the direction of the interviewer*)  The response from Mr. Gruffudd was, at least, mildly positive.  When asked if there was another Hornblower in the works, Ioan answered:

"To be honest with you, you'll have to ask the people over there at A&E because they are the decision makers when it comes to Hornblower, but the latest I heard they were still writing and developing scripts for another couple of episodes. So, I dunno. I'd love to play that part throughout every stage of his career. It's so unique."

So, we're supposed to blame A&E, right, Ioan?  No problem.  Fangirlish blindness demands I refuse to accept that you might want to do big-budget Hollywood pictures instead of small TV dramas.  You ARE Hornblower.  You belong in the bicorn, baby, and if the programming monkeys at A&E are the ones keeping you on the shore, well, darn it, tell me where to write/e-mail/call.  I'm there.  Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.  Hornblower IV will be made a reality, or my moniker isn't ScaryFangirl.

6/6/05 - *Triumphantly pumps fist a la Tiger Woods* - Well, the publicity-generating machine is at work for Fantastic Four (in which chief Hornblower alumnus Ioan Gruffudd stars as "Mr. Fantastic") and I have recently had the opportunity to glimpse some of the pages of the companion book The Making of Fantastic Four.  One page in particular struck my fancy (superficial fangirlish visual delights aside...).  On this particular page, Mr. Gruffudd discusses with the book's authors how he approached the character of Mr. Fantastic:

"The obvious bad pun is irresistible: is playing the bookish nature of Fantastic Four's scientist Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, a bit of a...stretch?  Not really, says Gruffudd:  "I likened Reed's journey to Horatio Hornblower's journey.  Hornblower's a boy becoming a man and Reed Richards is a brilliant man gaining his social skills and social confidence as the movie progresses, to become the leader of the Fantastic Four."

Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!  So good to see that the Boyo hasn't forgotten about The Character Who Made Him.  There's something very satisfying about knowing that one Horatio Hornblower is still quite present in the Welshcake's thoughts.  What's even more delightful is that Horatio's getting a mention again in connection with Ioan.  Of late, it seems, the words King Arthur and Century City come up far more often as the primary reference points of Ioan's work.  More recent titles, perhaps, but no more recognized than Hornblower (and in the case of Century City, far less so).  It's a little thing, true, but no less exciting to a scary fangirl like myself.  If nothing else, it shows that Gruffudd's not entirely sick of the bicorn.  Yesssssss, Ioan...Yessssss...  Come back to the light...

5/27/05 - My Preciousssssss... Okay, so I'm tooling around the Internet today, searching for more pics of Greg Peck as Horatio when I run across the "No Quarter Given" website.  This group of pirate re-enactors participated in the "Hornblower Sea Battle" events which took place in 1999 to promote the first Hornblower series on A&E.  I was aware that these had happened (and most disappointed that none of them came near me so that I might have seen them), but something caught my eye today that I was NOT aware of...

Do you see what this particular promotional hack is wearing?!?!?  Can you make out what is plastered on the back of that windbreaker?!?  Forget the goofy A&E bandana in his hand...I. Want. The. Jacket.  I would pay good money for the jacket.  I would wear the jacket.  Curse you, CURSE YOU, A&E for only allowing your marketing people--who are, no doubt, completely lacking in appreciation of the sort of gold you are handing them--access to these sorts of things!  I have heard legends, too, of a Hornblower baseball cap that eluded fangirls during a Master and Commander premiere.  Money was offered.  Ridiculous sums of money considering.  And the promotional flunky refused to relinquish his iron grip on said hat.  If you are going to put out the dough for these promotional items, I beseech you, let the fangirls have a chance to buy them, too.  We will happily cavort around town sporting your network's logo on our persons if only you will give us the chance to likewise wear the name of a certain Napoleonic Era navy hero!  We will pay you for this privilege!  For those of you who, by virtue of your job as an A&E marketer, may have acquired one of these jackets/hats/misc. clothing with the "Horatio Hornblower" logo emblazoned upon it, PUT IT ON EBAY--or better still, EMAIL ME!  You know you never wear it--it's just taking up space waiting for the day that you actually get around to cleaning out the closet and donating it to Goodwill.  Here's your chance to turn a profit on what would otherwise be yet another piece of clothing you were forced to wear at yet another promotion you were forced to attend!  This is not a joke!  Honestly, there ARE people who want this stuff!  You could be laughing all the way to the bank!  Sell! Sell! Sell!!! (My guess is that you won't get a similar offer on any "D.O.G. the Bounty Hunter" muscle shirts you might have acquired courtesy of your employers...)

4/2/05 - No Surprises Here. - Well, the list of shows in production at A&E is out and, wonder of wonders, Hornblower is nowhere to be seen.  Not that this comes as a great shock to anyone.  (Interestingly enough, they are working on a show with the working title "Abandon Ship".)  Of course, just because Hornblower isn't in production now doesn't mean that it will never go into production.  There could be other--very valid--reasons behind the "delay".  Budgetary considerations, for example (*doffs hat to Tony Soprano*).  Or perhaps the legal negotiations surrounding the rights to the Hornblower novels weren't concluded in a timely enough manner to schedule shooting for this year.  It could be, too, that 'Horatio' is, at present, tied up with other projects or--as rumors have suggested--is uninterested in continuing the series at the moment.  (Ioan, you know I love you, but answer me this:  Has any comic book-turned-movie hero ever been nominated for an Academy Award?  You've got talent, babe.  Don't be too hasty to ditch the bicorn.  If it helps, I'll even continue to call you "Mr. Fantastic".)  Whatever the reason, one thing is for certain: HH4 ain't hull up on the horizon yet.

2/1/05 - [sarcasm] Thanks, A&E [/sarcasm] - The fangirl in me is wailing and asking, "Why? Why???"  Today, it was announced that A&E, beloved network home of the Horatio Hornblower series, had acquired the rights to HBO's hit, the Sopranos.  "So, what's the big deal, uHf?" you may ask.  "The Sopranos is a popular show, sure to bring ratings to A&E big-style!  Do you wish the network ill?"  No, I don't.  Really, I don't.  I just didn't know that A&E was making a bid to be the Re-Run Channel.  I suppose I should have seen it coming, what with their obviously successful strategy of collecting premium cable cast-offs, popular-but-dying network dramas and 1980s murder mysteries then airing the same episode of each five times daily.  No doubt they're doing great in Neilson homes comprised entirely of viewers with ADD.  And if the big-wigs see the potential market created by bringing a show to an audience which did not previously have access to it (beyond the fact that the flippin' DVDs for the series have been out for a few years now and in every movie rental place in America...) and censoring the heck out of it to make it palatable to their loyal hordes of "Murder She Wrote" watchers, well, that's why they earn the big bucks and I'm simply a rabid fangirl with a lowly website.  They obviously know better than I that "Original Series" like Pride and Prejudice and Horatio Hornblower that win them wide-spread acclaim (to say nothing of Emmys) just aren't worth it.   No, who am I to question the judgment of such programming gurus?  Being a layman, my knee jerk reaction results from the figure that they paid for the bloody series:  two and a-freakin' half million dollars per episode.  That comes to about $162.5 million for the lot.  Do you know how much they spent on the ENTIRE first series of Hornblower?  $18 million.  If they DARE tell me that they don't have the funds for HH4, I'm going to be a seriously unhappy camper.

1/11/05 - WOOHOO!  NASCAR makes a bid for the fangirls! - While having a meal in a delightfully distracting family sports bar/restaurant, my ScaryFangirl radar went off and I looked up to see a monster screen covered with...TALL SHIPS!!!! (*swoon*).  Unable to place the scene of a storm-tossed vessel from the age of sail, my eyes remained glued on the massive TV until the end, at which point (oh, joy of joys!!!) a WET LIEUTENANT appeared on the screen!  Behold!  It was...JEFF GORDON?!?  (The Horatian mind boggles!)  Turns out, NASCAR has a series of these commercials called "Knights, Cyborgs and Sea Raiders."  Any of these sound familiar...?  Say like, King Arthur, Battlestar Galactica and Master and Commander/Hornblower?  Am I the only one who sees the coincidence here?  Long have we wished for a Fangirl Advocate on the various TV networks, but whodathunk we'd get the first evidence that our hopes were becoming reality from a NASCAR commercial?  It's enough to make a girl wanna hustle down to the track!  (Okay, so I probably won't be watching races any time soon, but this is about as close as I've ever come to wanting to...)