Good Morning, Saturday! Camelot, Merlin and The Mists of Avalon

Saturday and Sunday mornings are very special to me, like I'm sure they are to a vast majority of you. On these days, I celebrate by drinking different coffee. Drastic and shocking I know, but that one little change helps me relax and get into the spirit of the weekend. So with coffee in mind, you might want to grab a cup because I intend to ramble on for a good errrrr...six minutes or so.

So my bloggy followers are no doubt aware of my Netflix addiction. I have in fact, turned off the cable because I haven't watched anything live in almost a year now. Thanks to Netflix I've discovered so many great shows and because of these great shows I've discovered even more.

Someone left a comment for me to try out the BBC's (have you noticed that everything the BBC does is made of win?) Merlin. I got completely hooked by episode three and I've watched the first two seasons. I haven't watched the third because it's not up on Netflix yet- a fact that makes me want to throw things at ponies. Regardless of the fact that it's a pretty tame family show, the production and sets are AWESOME and I'm madly in love with Merlin and his giant ears. The whole thing centers around Merlin, you know the famous wizard out of Authorian legend, who posing as Arthur's lackey and saves the young prince's arrogant ass from a wide variety of trouble. Magic is forbidden in Camelot, all of the sorcerers having been hunted down and killed by King Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father. Uther is a major asshat, with absolutely no redeeming qualities and I want so very much to be able to reach through the screen and throttle him.

So Merlin goes around doing GREAT FEATS OF MAGIC (imagine those letters all in flames) and saves the day. I love that on the surface he appears to be a bumbling idiot but when he performs magic he is ridiculously, baddassedly powerful (Badassedly is a LAJ word and not be used without my express permission).

So that's Merlin. While I wait for Season 3 to pop up in my Netflix instant queue, I'm watching season one (and maybe it's the only season. Hell if I know.) of Starz's Camelot, starring some long haired scrawny Orlando Bloom wannabe and.....*deep inhale in* Joseph I'veLovedYouSinceShakespeareinLoveandthinkyourbaldheadissexy Fiennes. Annnnnnd exhale.

I'm on episode 6 of 10 and I want Igraine and Merlin to do it :) I don't ask for a whole lot but Merlin is so dark and brooding and self-loathing that I feel he deserves to boink Uther's widow. I'm loving the show. Everything in it is very BIG. The sets are Big, the costumes are BIG, the plot is BIG and it's pretty graphic, violent and raunchy. I think it's suppose to be their answer to Showtime's The Tudors, which I haven't really gotten into but maybe I should.

So all these stories about King Arthur, blahblahblah, since I was what? Fifteen? Sixteen maybe? The only acceptable truth in Arthurian legend, for me, has been Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. It's probably the first giant brick of a book I read and I've read it about four times now. It's focuses mainly on the women of Camelot (and there abouts) and paints the whole thing in a much darker light. I can't think of the story of King Arthur in any other way.



It follows Morgaine, who goes off to the island of Avalon to become a pagan priestess. Lots of goddess worship and magic that had me wanting to paint a blue crescent moon on my forehead long before the vampires of The House of Night did. Anyway, the point is, anytime I watch or read something else about King Arthur I throw my hands up and exclaim "THAT IS NOT HOW BRADLEY SAID IT HAPPENED!"

Pick it up if you have strong arms and can hold it for long lengths of time. You'll love it. It will make you want to read everything she's written. For instance, The Firebrand her version of the Trojan War has also become THE TRUTH for me and nothing will ever make me believe otherwise. Hmph.

Anyway. I tried to watch the series, Legend of the Seeker but after struggling through two very boring, poorly acted episodes I found I'd much rather stare dumbly at a blank wall and drool.

And that's it. Drink up!

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