Binge Watch: Queen Charlotte - A Bridgerton Story

 The Series: Queen Charlotte - A Bridgerton Story

Streaming Service: Netflix

Time Investment: Around 7 hour (6 Episodes of just over an hour)

Stars: 4

Bridgerton is my guilty pleasure. We all need one, and Shonda Rhimes, who is responsible for Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, among other series, of course I was going to watch this. 

I've binged watched this over the last few days, as this is often the best way to take in these shoes. Complete immersion. 

So - what's it like?

If you're a Bridgerton fan, you'll love it. The costumes are there. Some of the sex is there - but it's not as racy as that first season. The witty comebacks - also present. The music is also there - modern pop songs by Beyonce, Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys set to classical music, just as was done in the other series.

It's all there. 

And what's it about? 

Well, this looks at Queen Charlotte's early married life. For those in the Bridgerton know, Queen Charlotte (played in Bridgerton time by Golda Rosheuvel, and in the early days by India Amarteifio) is the wife of Mad King George. She was a German princess hand picked for the role. At seventeen, she's shunted across to England to marry into "The Firm", where she encounters all sorts of problems. These are compounded by the King's mother, Augusta (Michelle Fairley) who is trying to keep her son's condition a secret. 

In the background Agatha, Lady Danbury (Played in Bridgerton time by Adjoa Andoh, and in the olden  days by Helen Coathup) is a young woman married to a horny old bloke. She's miserable, not that her husband cares. He has his heirs - she's done her job. 

And there's a young Violet Ledger (Ruth Gemmell, and her younger self is played by Connie Jenkins-Greig) soon to be Bridgerton, about to come out to society. 

The themes encountered here run along the marriage and happiness and status and race. 

Yes, race. This is where the real history gets a bit murky. 

Is this historically accurate? 

Hells no. But that's okay. They've put a disclaimer right at the front of the first episode. 

So, is this a bit of a revisionist history?

Absolutely. That they bring in the black cast members and say that in marrying Charlotte, black folk are now equals - this is a good thing. It also shows the early struggles these families are prone to, and how tenuous their position appears to be. 

It also looks at George III's madness. As those up on their history know George III was prone to bouts of madness. Whether he was bi polar, or this was an effect of his porphyria, poor George didn't have a good time of things, but Charlotte managed to find a way to help him through. 

On the other side of this, in the updated Bridgerton times, we see Charlotte struggling with her eleven children, who've all managed to remain childless (okay, legitimately childless) and unmarried. And she wants somebody to continue the line - as all good queens do. 

Oh, then there's the help. The footmen, who are having a relationship - which would have taken them to the gallows at the time. They're lovely. As is the Pomeranian, which appears to be the butt of a number of jokes. 

Is it worth watching? 

Absolutely. It won't be for everybody. It won't be for history purists. But if you like a good yarn, something racy in a prescribed world where things are a bit freer, then go for it. It's escapism at its best. 

Today's song: 

Today's Dad Joke

 After working with one particular colleague at my last job, I've grown used to a daily enslaught of dad jokes. 

Dad jokes are a thing, it seems.

Normally, they are clean enough to relate at work without offending anybody. 

Zingers like, What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie?" "Sofishticated.

Or, a skeleton walks into a bar and says, 'Hey, bartender. I'll have one beer and a mop...

Yeah, bad.

Or you get the ones from the latest Ted Lasso episode. 

There are the slightly dodgier ones, which you think twice about sharing on Teams. Jokes like, I've just watched a documentary on marijuana. I think all documentaries should be watched this way.

Or, It's okay if your phone autocorrects 'fuck' to 'duck.' You're still using fowl language.(That one probably wouldn't get through the work sensors - then again, we're pretty conditioned to obfuscating letters when required. 

Or this one. Gonorrhea would have been a great name for diarrhea medicine...

Anyway, tonight's zinger came from the gym. We had our last in person session with Cleo. We've taken possession of her kettle bells - a 12 kg and an eight kg one in the boot of my car waiting to be brought upstairs. Not in the mood tonight. I'll do it over the weekend.

Anyway, tonight's Dad joke comes from Cleo and Jay. 

What do you call Mexican Firemen?

Jose and Hose B.

Think about it...

Today's song: 

Baby Steps

 I've made it to the gym.

I've made it to the gym twice this week. 

Which is a bit of a miracle, but it is also a start. 

I've also seen Cleo, but after around eight years of being our trainer, tomorrow is our last session with her as she's moving to Spain on Sunday. We've been seeing her at another studio in the next suburb for the last few years. We're going to miss her. She's been a great trainer and a good friend, however, we'll be seeing her online as she'll train us once a week from home while she settles into life in Barcelona (lucky cow)

Last night I did around half an hour of weights.

Tonight, half an hour of gentle cardio. 

It's a start. 

It felt good. 

Hopefully the anxiety I've been feeling when I think about Pump class will abate soon. It's the noise and the crowded room I don't want to face. 

As with everything, baby steps. 

I don't want to write any more tonight. Nothing to say. 

Today's song: 

A Date with the Dietician

 I have an Alicia in my life. Monday afternoons she calls and checks in on me like an overbearing partner. 

Alicia is my dietician. She's paid to call me. 

I'm pretty sure after these first couple of weeks of teething she's going to become the bitch from hell, but at the moment, she's okay. Very nice. But most monsters will start out this way. 

I remember seeing a naturopath a few years ago who made me give up gluten, dairy, caffeine, sugar and alcohol cold turkey. I was ready to rip her head off, especially over the coffee. Strangely, five years on, I've never gone back to the caffeine and try to keep the others to a minimum. 

We had our first check in yesterday. 

It was interesting.

She asked me what I thought about the process. 

Truthfully, I found the whole thing of photographing what you eat and thinking about how you feel about it all fucking confronting. 

And yes, some of this has a bit to do with my current mental state at present, which is a little on the fragile side, but to actually articulate what you're thinking when you're eating, or about to eat, is hard. I mean, eating is something you do. Sometimes you do it for pleasure, sometimes for energy, other times for boredom and stress. 

It wasn't so much the recording, but what I was thinking at the time when logging all of this. 

So, I told her this. 

It seems it's not an unusual thing to think like this. 

But that is why I've enlisted the help of Alecia - to help reassess my relationship with food. 

She was pleased with many of my choices - she could see them - I'd photographed everything I'd eaten in the week, down to the choc tops I downed at the cinema to the toast I'm partial to at 3.30 p.m. when I'm bored.

The other thing I jotted down was the sweet cravings I get at around 10 p.m. which I try my best to ignore. 

And her fruit challenge. I managed to have some sort of fresh fruit on six of the seven days. I still feel strange about fruit. If somebody isn't there to cut it up for me it just doesn't taste right. 

We also worked out I'm a lot more social than I think I am. I was out all of Saturday - and part of Sunday. And Friday night. And Monday lunch. And Wednesday lunch. Yeah. 

It's about making good choices. 

For the next week it's more of the same. Get comfortable with recording everything I eat. Look more into the things I'm feeling when I'm eating. Keep up with the fruit. I have a box of grapes to take to the office tomorrow. 

And lastly, start taking an iron tablet. After receiving some blood test results, it was found my iron was a bit low. I'm not anaemic, but my results were just out of range. The sooner I start working on this, possibly the sooner my general malaise and occasional dizziness I've been experiencing when going from horizontal to vertical might abate. 

And we're food shopping twice a week, rather than my regular once a week. This way, I can buy fewer veggies and keep them fresh. 

She's also been complimentary about my seeking out a mental health plan with the G.P. It needs to be done. But that is a job for next week. This is something that won't be a quick fix. 

For now, it's a matter of one foot in front of the other, one bite at a time, even if I get triggered writing about what I'm eating. I just have to learn to deal with it. 

Today's song: 

April Check In - May Goals

 It's that time of the month again. Goal setting day. 

April wasn't what I wanted it to be, but still, it's good to put these things out there. 

My April goals went like this: 

1. An hour of exercise every day. 

This didn't happen - though I got some exercise in every second day. With my mental health being a little on the fragile getting into a crowded, noisy pump class just wasn't happening. It's okay.

2. Read four books over the month. 

This didn't quite happen either, but I blame Charles Dickens for this. 

I finished two books - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and Song of the Sun God by Shankari Chandran. 

And I'm 85% the way through Charles Dickins' David Copperfield - Richard Armitage is reading it to me by an audiobook. It's nearly 900 pages long. That's two normal books. 

I don't feel bad about missing this goal - nearly there. 

3. Save $2000.

Done. Pity it's all going on bills this month. 

4. Write some fiction at least 20 days over the months. 

Alas, no. Struggling with anxiety is not conducive to writing fiction. 

5.  Have somebody over in my flat. 

It didn't happen, but I did invite somebody over, so that is a start. 

6. Stretch more

This happened on a couple of occasions - wish I'd done more if it. 

So, what goals am I setting myself for May. 

1. Be kind to myself. 

Something this hard patch is teaching me is that listening to myself is a good thing, as is being kind. 

2. Exercise and stretch daily. 

I'm not setting time goals, I just want to do more of this. It makes me feel good. 

3. Read four books over the month. 

This is pretty standard. As David Copperfield will be finished by the end of the week, I'll be back on track with reading. 

4. Stick with what the dietician says to do. 

I had my first check in with Alecia the dietician. Things are going to be okay. Recording everything I eat is confronting. I have to trust the process. 

Today's song: 

Goddess: Power. Glamour. Rebellion

 The Exhibition: Goddess: Power, Glamour Rebellion

Where: Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square

Until: October 1

She's sitting on my fridge now. She spoke to me yesterday. 

And it's not the pout or the sadness behind her eyes, or the fact that she looks tired and a little unkempt. I love this shot for its unpredictability. You don't know where she's going to go, or what she's going to do.

She is a woman to be celebrated - like all women. And this is what I loved about this exhibition. It's a celebration of women in their power on screen. 

Was this what I was expecting? No. Did I enjoy the exhibition. Yes. 

I joined my friend Elle and her wonderful daughter Haylee for the afternoon. Haylee's eight-years-old and a little dynamo. Sweet, cheeky and the best of what eight-year-old girls can be - and it was wonderful to see the exhibition through her eyes as well. 

This well curated exhibition looks at the"... characters and moments from over 120 years of moving image history, Goddess celebrates the women and gender-transcending superstars who shaped their own roles, took creative control and fought a system that tried to exploit them."

There's a lot to see and think about. The Marilyn Monroe story looks at how she took on studio executives in various acts of defiance. She was a gutsy woman. Stories like this, from icons like Josephine Baker, Mae West, Joan Crawford just a name a few. Through the display of costumes, photos, film clips and other artifacts, you're taken on a ride with a plethora of strong, powerful and defiant women. It's amazing who's represented in this exhibition. I was mesmerised by some of the film clips showing on the big screens. 

Even better, on entering the complex, we were issued with a disc. At each information point you can tap the disc to download the information you're seeing. No need to take photos of everything, you can download the exhibits onto your own device. 

We spent about an hour and a half meandering through this wonderful exhibit, time we spent. Haylee was kept occupied looking at the number of interactive displays. Elle and I took in the incredible costumes on display - Marilyn Monroe's dress from Some Like it Hot and Mae West's shoes were standouts for me. 

Another thing I liked about this exhibition was that it wasn't too busy, nor too noisy. It's early in this exhibition's run. It's also a must for lovers of good film. 

A testament to women's empowerment, tenacity and audiacity, Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion is worth a look. 

Today's song:

Sunday Stealing: League

 I'm currently being the designated adults for Blarney and Barney's nearly thirteen-year old twins. I'm the designated adult as they are too old to have a babysitter, but just that little too young to be left at home alone at night. We went to see Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, which was just as good on the second viewing. 

So, this is a good time to get the Sunday questions done, which have been provided, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. My favorite sources for delicious recipes

The internet. A lot of my recipes come from taste.com.au, recipetineats.com and Nigella Lawson - she's great for really decadent stuff. 

2. If I had to repeat a day over & over, how I’d want it to go

A great day to be repeated would have lots of friends, films, yummy food and cuddles. And cats. We need cats. Cats are great. 

3. Who or what has saved my life

Therapy.

4. Something I can never seem to start or finish

My novel. I really want to get back to that. I definitely have a book or three in me. 

5. How my taste in food has changed over the years

I'm a really adventurous eater. Happy to try most things, but I think I'm a lot more in awe of the subtleties of food. 

6. The last time I cried

Yesterday. I binge watched that last series of Firefly Lane and was ugly crying. It's a fun series, but the last few episodes are really sad. I cried watching CODA too.

7. The best parts of human nature

Kindness and tenacity. 

8. Concepts and ideas that bend my mind

Kindness and tenacity. 

9. What I’m most likely to ask for help with

All sorts of things, when I finally give up and admit that IU need help. I get it. I'm seeing a dietician at the moment because need help.

10. The story behind one of my scars

I have a scar in one of my eyebrows. It's not really noticable unless you look for it. I got it when I was eleven years old. My sister clunked me over the head with a five iron. It was an accident.  

11. I’ve never said this out loud...

There is a hell of a lot that I don't say out loud. I try to keep my judgements to myself. Gets me into less trouble. 

12. Times I’ve been the leader/the one people count on

The job I had this time last year I had a team of six under me. It was pretty full on, but they said I was a good leader. 

13. Whenever I see these people, my heart lights up

My friends. They're good. 

14. With my financial needs met, here’s how I’d spend my time

I'd be travelling all around the world. And maybe living in Europe. 

15. The people I talk to when I want the truth

That depends on what truth I want to hear. I know I don't go to the internet when I'm looking for truth. 

Today's song: