PlazaJen: Passion Knit

I have always been completely captivated by Helen Mirren. From the first time I saw her as Jane Tennison in "Prime Suspect" on PBS, I've always held this part in me that wants to just emulate the hell out of her. My friend Shelley has the same rapture for Dame Judy Densch; maybe it's something about regal British actresses that resonates.

She's edgy, uncompromising, incredibly talented, and flies in the face of traditional, conservative views on women, especially those who are older than 25. I've always been drawn to those women as my mentors - I used to tell people I wanted to be Madeleine Kahn when I grew up, but then she died, and it didn't feel quite as aspirational. So I've switched to Catherine O'Hara, because everything she's done with Christopher Guest has left me helpless with laughter & admiration. But I think, if I could be British and a little less funny, I'd be Helen Mirren in a heartbeat.

The recent (and last) Prime Suspect just aired on our local PBS station, and in my desire to record it on our DVR, I didn't realize we have like, three different PBS stations on the high digital cable, and one of them only broadcasts between 6a and 6p. But it still shows up with available programming, so I basically recorded two hours of an informational screen telling me when they ARE on-air. Lovely. And that was it - the repeats were the same night, in the overnights, and I completely missed the second half, with explanations and conclusions and of course, loads of Helen Mirren. Pissed is an understatement, except for the tempering factor that it's TELEVISION. You know me. I don't just flop down, I emailed our local PBS station and told them I wanted to see it, explained my error, and when was it going to run? Well, they were nice & wrote back, but with bad news, that they weren't going to be re-running it, but I could maybe buy the DVD from the national store. HaRRUMPH. Jane Tennison wouldn't bother with that. She'd smoke some fags, drink some vodka, heat up a frozen meal and tell them to piss off & go shag themselves. So I just set it aside in my head, and figured it would show up eventually on Netflix.

Today, I got another email from the lady at PBS, telling me they were going to be re-airing the whole thing in February, complete with dates & times! It's great news, but it's even nicer that she emailed me again, given that I probably sounded a bit wonky in the first place. And she'd be right. But she'd best say it in a lovely British accent.