Hi Honeys
How are you today? I hope you're staying warm? Late last night it finally started to rain and our over a foot deep snow started to clear. I can't remember ever being so glad to see rain arrive. Everything came to a complete standstill during last week. The bus service almost entirely stopped and what few buses still running were only travelling short distances.
Well dear ones, early this morning with (finally) clearing snow, Hubby and Jade came back from their morning walk only for the skies to open again to another very heavy snow storm! Luckily, the streets and roads were already too wet from the overnight rain for it to be able to settle very much.
I'm so, so tired of winter now honeys. I'm tired of the cold, the damp, the long, long (really long) dark nights and mostly if I never see snow again I'll be a very happy wee Rosie! Thankfully it's not too long till the clocks change to welcome in spring. Our cousins across the pond move into daylight savings time this coming Sunday, and for us in UK we'll change our clocks one hour forward on 25th March, so we have two more weeks to wait.
We've been passing the bitterly cold evenings by watching the latest additions to our DVD collection. We still had some Christmas gift tokens left for Amazon and decided to have a look at their box sets and found two series we both adored in our teens. They were quickly ordered and thankfully had arrived before the worst snow storms in over forty years met Storm Emma and the country came to a standstill.
The two series we ordered (and have been absolutely falling in love with all over again) are Monkey and The Water Margin...
Even looking at the photos for this post makes me smile 😊 I'm so thrilled to finally have them in our library. I can clearly remember running home to be there in time to settle down and watch both these wonderful series. Let's have a closer look will we?
Monkey
Monkey is a fabulous, fun, Japanese television series based on the book called Journey To The West by Saiyūki.
Monkey tells the story of a small group of travellers, led by a young monk called Tripitaka, and their journey to India in search of Holy scriptures, which they hope to bring back with them for the good of mankind. Tripitaka is helped on his journey by Monkey himself, who Tripitaka rescues from inside a mountain where he had been imprisoned by Buddha for 500 years to teach him patience. Sandy, a "water monster" and Pigsy complete the group.
Monkey was brought to the UK by the BBC in 1979 but only thirty nine of the fifty two episodes which made up series one and two, were screened after being dubbed into English. The remaining episodes, the last thirteen episodes of the second series, were later dubbed into English and screened by Channel Four in the UK.
These "missing" episodes are included in this box set in their original form, un-dubbed and with English sub-titles. It's wonderful to be able to hear the actor's own voices and being a huge fan of several European drama TV series, such as the awesome original Swedish version of Wallander, I actually prefer subtitles to dubbing.
This, thanks to youtube, is a little glimpse of Monkey...
Seeing the Monkey episodes again has been fabulous and they're just as fun as I remember them. The thirteen dvds which make up the Monkey boxset will definitely be among our favourites and they've made the perfect antidote to long, dark, snowed in winter evenings 😊
The Water Margin
Another wonderful Japanese drama series and another childhood favourite. I have such memories of this series honeys.
Included in the box set are all twenty six episodes (thirteen each from seasons one and two) in their original form. When the BBC originally screened them in their teatime slot, the episodes were edited to remove anything deemed unsuitable for a family audience.
In this box set all of the twenty six episodes have been restored and remastered... take that BBC censors, now we can finally see these fabulous stories as they were intended to be seen....
The Water Margin is set in ancient China during the Song Dynasty. The Government is corrupt and very cruel to it's citizens who are kept poor and hungry. The central character of Lin Chung (played by the heart stopping Atsuo Nakamura, seriously ladies I would have been around 10 or 11 but I had such a crush on him squeeee!!) is one of "nine dozen heroes." Freedom fighters, forced to live and survive in the water margins of Liang Shan Po, to the south of the capital city.
Each of these heroes lives with a bounty on their head. They fight the corruption and tyranny all around them. Among these heroes is a beautiful lady called Hu San Niang (played by the stunning Sanae Tsuchida) She might have the appearance of a tiny, delicate lady but Hu San is as able a fighter as any of the men around her. Forget the Spice Girls honeys, this lady was the definition of girl power, she's awesome.
I can't even begin to tell you how good this series is. It's wonderful. As soon as I heard the theme tune the years rolled back and I was a wee girl sitting in front of the TV lost in the world of the water margin and its heroes... Joy!
More To Read And See...
A few additional information resources I've managed to find for you honeys:
Monkey
Monkey Wikipedia page
wonderful fan page called Monkey Heaven here
Monkey Heaven YouTube channel.
The Water Margin
The Water Margin Wikipedia page
TV.com info page
Have you seen either of these two fab series honeys? What are your favourite DVDs to pass cold winter evenings with?
Till next time dear ones, stay warm, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always xx
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