Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Stoppard, Ford Madox Ford & ! TREME!

Benedict Cumberbatch plays the protagonist of Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End, adapted for a 5 part BBC2 series by Tom Stoppard. This looks like the sort of quality that shows in comparison Downton Abbey for the shoddy that it is. For one thing Ford Madox Ford lived through what he's writing about. Julian Fellows just sort of makes up what he sort of thinks is the era his crew writes about. Of course Downton Abbey will continue to garner all sorts of awards and Parade's End will be as ignored as is David Simon's Treme.*

* Season 3 premieres September 23rd! Trailers many places, here's one place.

Additionally -- it looks like we're going to get to be in New Orleans about four times this fall, winter and spring!  Gads, I'm missing New Orleans.  Just that teeny taste from the Treme trailer made me go all, "I must be there now!

I wore a Mardi Gras colors sparkle fleur de lis t-shirt obtained some time ago in the French Market on my walk to back therapy on Thursday. And I tell you, that walk up there and back at 12:30 felt as hot and humid as New Orleans herself. Three different fellows pointed at my shirt and -- did not yell, but spoke sort of breathlessly -- "New Orleans."  When I got to the therapy gym one of the therapists also recognized it as the New Orleans symbol.  He'd been there for the first time during Mardi Gras this year.  He asked me if I'd ever heard Rebirth play ....  When he showed me photos on his phone of his time in NO, among them was not only his favorite po'boy, but of the sign for Lafitte's, his favorite NO bar.  He had no idea who Jean Lafitte was though. Nor had he watched HBO Treme.