The Code of the Woosters - P.G. Wodehouse

I mentioned in an earlier post that a sale at Audible enabled me to get my hands on a few new audio books to hold me over until "new credit day" when I will likely begin the Tales of the Black Company saga. The Code of the Woosters was among the three shorter books used to fill the void until Thursday.

The Code of the Woosters is one of several stories of the life and misadventures of Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. Set in pre-WWII England, the story follows Bertie as he is swept up in the problems of the extremely rich and insufficiently wise. Such drama includes, but is not limited to, being denied meals prepared by his aunt's amazing chef, having to convince antiques brokers to sell silver "cow creamers" at lower prices to his collector of an uncle, and keeping his loved ones happily affianced thereby eliminating the threat of marriage for himself. Jeeves, the brains of the operation, is busily set to saving Bertie from his own bungling of these stressful situations.

I presume many people have had little or no exposure to these tales. I must confess that my first encounter was through the British TV show Jeeves and Wooster, starring the equally amazing Stephen Fry (Jeeves) and Hugh Laurie (Wooster).

Hugh Laurie as "Bertie Wooster" and Stephen Fry as "Jeeves"

And yes, you uncultured ass, that is TV's "Dr. House" on the left. He is British. He is a comedian. Shame on you for not knowing (and kudos to him for being great at drama too).

You can see this pair in another great British comedy, A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

It's 9/27/2011 and every episode is streamable on Netflix today!

I firmly believe that the Brits have a better understanding of comedy than most Americans. I would go so far as to say that, once I am elevated to the place of power that is my destiny, I will see to it that everyone will be mandated to watch British comedy or will be publicly flogged. Those doing the flogging will be the many out of work American sitcom writers, since their "services" will no longer be required. Not to say that all American sitcoms are bad, just most of them, enough to staff a small army of "punishment distributors" out of the "writing staff".

A cow creamer, two engagements, a chef, a policeman's helmet, a fascist, newts, burglaries, blackmail and broken noses. This fast-paced, witty book has it all.

If you love real comedy and a profound mastery of English, you should read or listen to this book.

If you believe Friends was the pinnacle of humor, you should not and you should not breed.

Hot Tub Time Machine - 2010

One of the many joys/pitfalls of having a netflix account if the ability to "stream" something you never had any intention of watching. This can work to your advantage when you discover that delightful film or series that somehow flew under your radar, or can just waste your precious time.

I had just finished watching a special episode of Top Gear UK, because netflix increased the total amount of episode that were available on their service, and decided to see what else was new. Hot Tub Time Machine then caught my eye.

I thought inside my brain to myself, mindfully "Oh, a comedy film movie. I like to enjoy laughing at humor jokes"

I laughed once.

I'll even tell you the funny part.

SPOILER!

Craig Robinson's character, Nick, figures out how they traveled back in time, then has the titular line. He says "Hot tub time machine" and looks into the camera with an expression that says: "Yes, I just said the name of the movie, make a big deal out of it and I'll kick your ass"

That made me laugh, but probably because if made me think of an episode of Upright Citizen's Brigade.

Say it! Say I had the titular line in Star Wars!

I guess the irony of John Cusak playing a failure who gets to go back to the decade when people gave a rat's ass about John Cusak was also kinda funny... but not "ha ha funny"

If your netflix account is broken and will only let you select this movie, and there is nothing else you can even attempt to do with your time, you should see this movie.

If you can stream episodes of Top Gear UK instead, you should not see this movie.