The Editrix and Cub Reporter Heather L. are off to Vancouver for the JASNA AGM this weekend; Cub Reporter Julie B. will be looking after things on the blog, and we hope to post reports from the AGM as well. If you’re going, look for us and say hello!

The Province has an article about the Vancouver Region’s preparations for the event.

After dance programs are tied with silver thread, name tags strung with ribbon, and folders filled with an Emma quiz (Q: Who tells Emma she is too generous with the muffin?),

QUIZ PREVIEW!!!! *takes notes*

But to true readers, she’s a great writer. And because she penned just six books, “it’s foreseeable for people to read them several times. The characters become a community of people you know.”

Isn’t that the truth!

And the fourth page of the article has lots of links and resources (including AustenBlog, la!)

We’re very excited about the conference and can’t wait to arrive!

ITV, perpetrator of the Jane Austen Season, has announced that production has begun on a new series called “Lost in Austen.”

Disillusioned with her life in London and her boyfriend, Amanda discovers Elizabeth in her bathroom. Soon she finds herself swapping place with her as she enters the ‘real’ fictional world of Pride And Prejudice, arriving in the home of the Bennet family.

As has been pointed out in comments, it sounds like a rather fun premise, but as we blogged a while back:

We have heard some details about the planned series from a very well-placed source, which unfortunately we are not at liberty to reveal; but from what we have heard, be afraid, Gentle Readers, be very afraid. Of course it’s still very much in pre-production so we may be suffering anticipatory angst in vain, and it will turn out to be the wacky, hilarious modern-girl-meets-Regency romp that The Powers That Be apparently think it is rather than a Mary Sue bad fan fiction trainwreck.

We know that in some quarters we are considered Negative Mags, the snobby purist who ruins everyone’s fun by insisting on quality Jane Austen Brand™ merchandise rather than “good enough” or “close enough” or “better than the other one”; but we repeat that there is no one who would be more delighted than we if this turned out to be something great. Dorothy is writing to Serle for healthy recipes for stewed crow, which we will feast on publicly if Lost in Austen does turn out to be good; and with pleasure, because the enjoyment of a great series will make us very, very happy. But we’re not holding our breath.

Even not considering our bit of inside information, there are a couple of things in the press release that give us pause. One we already mentioned: four episodes. Four one-hour episodes, we understand (probably more like 45-50 minutes with ads, let’s say). That’s a minimum of three hours. We repeat:

ITV gave Northanger Abbey 90 minutes. They gave Persuasion 90 minutes. They callously, viciously, and with extreme prejudice shoehorned Mansfield Park into 90 minutes. And they’re giving this three to four hours.

We think this shows ITV’s attitude toward Jane Austen quite plainly, don’t you?

The other thing that amused us from the press release was a quote from Controller of Drama Commissioning for ITV, Sally Haynes.

“Lost in Austen has the high production values of period drama. Its sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props are juxtaposed with Amanda Price’s very modern lifestyle.

“High production values?” “Sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props?” This from the network that gave us a claustrophobic Mansfield Park that never moved off the estate, as though it were surrounded with an electrified fence, replaced a ball with a picnic with OUTDOOR DANCING!!!, and had Billie Piper in medieval bodices and her hair looking like she had just got out of bed? And Northanger Abbey with 100 feet of cobblestone and an arch in Dublin appearing as the entire city of Bath, which they apparently seemed to think no Janeite had ever seen? And Persuasion–well, that was a little better, at least they filmed in Bath. Or more properly in various locations along the Royal Crescent. See Anne run from one end of the Royal Crescent! See Anne run from the other end of the Royal Crescent! Can we trust in these “high production values” and “sumptuous period locations, costume, carriages and props?” Or should we be irritated that, again, they’re giving the crappy Mary Sue fan fiction the good stuff after having cheated the real Jane Austen stories?

The cleverness of the script will appeal to Austen aficionados and attract a new audience to this beautiful love story.”

Oh please. Don’t patronize us.

The series will have Jemima Rooper as Amanda, Gemma Arterton as Elizabeth, Elliot Cowan as Darcy, Morven Christie as Jane, Hugh Bonneville as Mr. Bennet, Alex Kingston as Mrs. Bennet, Lindsay Duncan as Lady Catherine de Bourgh; Tom Mison is Mr Bingley, Tom Riley is Captain Wickham, and Christina Cole is Caroline Bingley.

(Captain Wickham? When did Wickham become a captain?)

Meet Mr. Darcy, and here’s an article on Alex Kingston.

Thanks to Alert Janeite Lisa and other parties for the heads-up.

Hard on the heels of the announcement of Lost in Austen, we have yet another P&P sort-of adaptation called Jane Austen Handheld (hey wait–our Personal Assistant Enrico over there is a Jane Austen Handheld!).

Its first movie will be “Jane Austen Handheld,” a period spoof to shoot next spring, financed by the Isle of Man’s new production venture NX, with HanWay handling sales. The debut feature of TV comedy helmer Tristram Shapeero (director of cult shows “Green Wing” and “Peep Show”), this re-tells the story of “Pride and Prejudice” through the lens of a fly-on-the-wall doc crew.

Fry himself will play the paterfamilias, Mr. Bennet, with Carrie Fisher as his wife, pop starlet Lily Allen as wayward daughter Lydia and louche comedian Russell Brand as the dastardly Wickham. The traditional lead roles of Lizzie Bennet and Darcy have yet to be cast.

“Re-tells the story of “Pride and Prejudice” through the lens of a fly-on-the-wall doc crew?” This actually might be kind of fun. And we have to admit we love the idea of Stephen Fry as Mr. Bennet!

The BBC also has a short article featuring Lily Allen and Chortle has one featuring Russell Brand.

Thanks to Alert Janeites Lisa, Kirsty, Helen B., and Carmen for sending us links about this.

The Chicago Tribune (you need a password to read it; try BugMeNot) has a profile of presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, who described his latest “three-dog” movie thus:

MOST RECENT 3-DOG SELECTION: “Pride & Prejudice.”

CAPSULE REVIEW: “Mr. Darcy! Mr. Darcy!” (yelled in an English accent). Kucinich explains that he took a nap during the movie and that’s all he remembers.

Despite appearances, there are some who would say that makes him very much a friend of Jane indeed.

Thanks to Alert Janeite surreyhill for the link.