Herding cats!

Why is it that I find the background of this picture so fascinating?

Final ADR for@TheHobbitMovie @WBPicturesID @wetafx @wetaworkshop can't believe what I've just seen utterly gobsmacked pic.twitter.com/x2VMtikBmM
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) September 18, 2014

Well, of course I love the main part of the picture!  It's a SELFIE by none other than Richard-freaking-Armitage!!

But those cats on the wall in the background?  I can't help thinking....  Is it a hidden message?
Is he playing cat and mouse with us?  That ginger cat folk art painting looks very familiar to me.  Does it have any other significance?  Could it be sort of a visual apologia to all us cat-loving RA fans for his infamous dog preferential statement? Does he even look remorseful?

Let's look at those background items more closely...

#1 is very familiar, in fact I thought I once had this same picture as a ceramic tile that I used as a trivet until it broke.  But after searching google images for quite some time I have not been able to find out anything about it.  But I did find a picture of my old trivet (and it wasn't the same at all!).  If anyone has any information about this cat painting - I would be very interested!

I did however, find plenty of other very interesting pictures of orange tabby cats. My favourites were the ones inserted into famous paintings over at Fatcatart blog -- especially (because of my fondness for Monet paintings) this one:

#2 appears to be a Felix the Cat clock.

Here is a still from the animated film Felix the Cat in Hollywood (1923)

#3 (The Hidden picture) is the real problem.

Luckily, I was able to find this picture of the same room where the picture is visible.

Note the Felix the Cat clock has moved.  In this picture it is just over the girl's shoulder. 

The little figurine between the cat painting and the now visible blue matted photo looks like a cat playing a musical instrument.

From Soundtrack's' Facebook Page

The photo of the figurine is very blurry but it does appear to be a cat playing a bass violin, or could it be -- a cello?  Hmmm... Curious and curiouser...RA fans know that Richard has been known to play the cello.

The above photo on the right is more of a mystery. It appears to be a handsome man playing an instrument which I have come to believe is called a Vibraphone.  My first impression of the blurry picture was that it was of Elvis (the King) but since my research didn't turn up any evidence that Elvis ever played a vibraphone, I had to look for other options. The best looking vibraphone player I could find was this man Tito Puente, otherwise known as the Mambo King.

Even though RA is also known by his Hobbit film character's nickname of the King Under the Mountain, I knew I was grasping at straws here...  I really didn't think his hairline looked correct, and besides where was the cat reference?!!  I was going to go with the fact that Jazz musicians are also known as Hepcats... but I wasn't fooling myself.  So I kept looking for another good looking vibraphone player.

Finally I came up with this man, Terry Gibbs.

His hairline looked spot on, and when I researched his music 

this album fairly sprang up and dug its claws into me!

There's that orange cat again!

Even more strange... this album was released the year I was born (1961). 

I have no idea what all this means but it seems that somebody around here must be some crazy cat!

Before you give up on me have a listen to the cool vibes of
 Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco playing 

Please Send Me Someone to Love

That orange kitty has found someone to love!

Manip from Richard Armitage with Cats Tumblr

Here kitty!

I do love cats...even though I cannot have one of my own as I am very allergic. :(
So I have to love them in theory, rather than in practice.

The Tale of Tom Kitten / by Beatrix Potter

As I am a Beatrix Potter fan - I had to include this one.

My personal favourite cartoon kitty was Warner Brothers' Sylvester the cat
voiced by the inimitable Mel Blanc.

Warner Bros. Sylvester the Cat

Since this blog is inclined to be fairly musically oriented, here is Sylvester attempting his musical debut:

Unfortunately he didn't get a warm reception.


 There are many other fabulous cartoon cats, if you are interested in seeing some more,
here is a link to a great article: Famous cartoon cats

The AristoCats was a Disney cartoon feature film which I enjoyed very much when it hit theatres in 1970.  I probably had to wait awhile to see it though. Even though we still had a theatre in our town then, it usually took about a year before it found its way to my neck of the woods.
The music was very memorable.
I was delighted to find this clip from a television special which reunites
two of the best voices in all of moviedom!

Everybody Wants to be a Cat / The Aristocats

 I also remember being inspired to sketch some of these cats,
probably from a comic or possibly colouring book.

This movie, An American Tale : Fievel Goes West came out when my kids were little and I am sure my husband and I enjoyed it as much (or more) than they did.  I particularly liked Dom Deluise's tubby cat named Tiger who was a friend to Fievel Mousekowicz, unlike the bad guy cat who was voiced by John Cleese.  This clip has Tiger rushing to catch a train (while being hindered by countless dogs)!

Dom Deluise as Tiger in Fievel Goes West: An American Tale (pt.2)

Do you remember The Stray Cats?  I loved their retro Rockabilly sound back in the '80s.
This next video includes cute pictures of real kitties.

Stray Cat Strut / The Stray Cats
video by Dayniac4324

Love this next song, and although it is not about cats,
the video cleverly features claymation cats.

Nina Simone _ My Baby Just Cares for me
video by pluisje666

Do you think that Tomcat is a bit of a stalker? Hmmm.....


You may be wondering.... 
What has all this cat stuff got to do 
with Richard Armitage?




Well ... some of us cats know that Richard Armitage 
appeared in the 1994-95 production of the musical Cats 
in London's West End.

Lots of gReAt bloggers have already written about it, but I believe Jonia (Jonia's Cut Blog) was the first to get the scoop on all the best information.  Here is her post about it. (Click Here).
Apparently Richard played the dual roles of Admetus and Macavity.

Jonia has some great videos on her blog but more recently Crystal Chandlyre saved us all some time but compiling several videos to highlight just the parts that Richard Armitage appeared in.

Richard Armitage as Admetus in CATS - Pas De Deux

/ compiled by Crystal Chandlyre

As quoted from the Wikipedia article on Macavity:

Macavity is typically depicted as a cat with a chaotic array of red, orange, white, and sharp black stripes. He is often portrayed with very long claws and wild dark hair. The role of Macavity is usually played by the same actor as Admetus...  His costume is ginger and white, and specifically includes a simple make-up design that the actor transforms into the elaborate Macavity make-up, and then re-applies after the featured scene. Admetus/Plato is also often recognizable as one of the tallest cast members, as the fight scene between Macavity and Munkustrap requires him to be able to lift other male dancers. 

Richard Armitage in the 1994 cast of Cats, on London's West End (photos from Jonia's Cut Blog).

I was rather thrilled to hear he had played the Macavity role because I was very familiar with the poem (from  Old Possum's Book of Cats by T.S. Eliot).

Way back in my elementary school days I performed that poem on stage in our local Festival of the Arts. As it is a fairly long poem I was given kudos by the adjudicator for my (I believe she said) "prodigious" memory (if only it were so good today). But I was also criticized for not putting more feeling into it.  I remember being a bit shocked, because no one else had suggested that I should do that.  My mentors, who were family and friends only helped with my lines, but never did it occur to me that I should do more than get up on stage and recite it!  It made me wonder how differently I could have done it had I actually tried to perform it rather than just recite it. This was long before Andrew Lloyd Webber's  musical CATS was inspired by the poems. If I ever wanted to try the poem again, I think I would rather sing it!


Then, there is the Tumblr blog entitled: 
Richard Armitage with Cats!

When I saw these pictures for the first time, 
it was a very happy day. :)

Here are two of my faves!

This next video is very cleverly done by Ana Cris 
who hosts the blog La Loba.
She has combined clips from the documentary narrated by Richard Armitage
with clips of him in Spooks / MI-5.

Richard Armitage_Eye of the Tiger / by acrl2

Imagine if all the characters in The Hobbit movie were portrayed by... you guessed it -- Cats!

Trailer Cats version of The Hobbit trailer

More Hobbit Cats!
The longer I wait to post this, the more great stuff I find!  This is the newest one. From the fantastically creative graphic artist Tannni  - where she compares the cast of The Hobbit to various cats.

Oh course I had to show you a couple.

She has several options for Thorin.

You simply must click on this to see the whole page!

I know! That was amazing!


You think that's something?  Look at this..
Another great graphic from Tannni!
Watch Richard Armitage transmogrify into the King of the Beasts!

How are you "feline" about cats?  
What is your favourite cat from literature, 
stage or screen?

The Highwayman

I have been really lazy about blogging lately.  But it's almost the end of April and I didn't want to miss posting something for poetry month!

Many of us Richard Armitage fans have seen some resemblance between the character of Guy of Gisborne in the BBC's television version of Robin Hood and The Highwayman of the poem by Alfred Noyes.

I've been thinking about posting this lovely wall paper for quite some time.

Wall paper by TygerMag

Then, last month there appeared another tie-in between Richard Armitage and The Highwayman that was discovered by the blogger at The Heirs of Durin. Please follow the link and check out her post.

One of my favourite Canadian songstresses is known for setting the poem to music. Recently, I stumbled across this fan video set to Loreena Mckennitt's song. I was extremely pleased.  It has been around for almost 2 years now, so I don't know how I missed it.

The Highwayman starring Guy of Gisborne and Marian of Knighton (BBC Robin Hood)

/ by fayzabeam

I was so happy to find this video that I had to contact its creator.  She very kindly provided me with her storyboard for the video which she shared with her middle school class.  

Stay tuned....  Soon I will be posting an interview 
with the creator of this fanvideo -- fayzabeam!

Phylly's Day Off

I love when several of my interests merge themselves into one example.  Here is a video I recently happened upon that shows a scene from a very popular '80s teen movie that takes place in an art museum and has a beautiful soundtrack song from The Smiths.

The scene was filmed at the Art Institute of Chicago, which I have never yet had the pleasure of visiting.  I do love to visit art galleries and museums and I can see by several of the works showcased in this clip, that it would be a real thrill to visit this one.

Museum Scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I like the song even better with lead singer and lyricist Morrissey's distinctive voice singing the very meaningful lyrics. Another RA fan obviously thought the lyrics fit very well with Guy of Gisborne's relationship with Marian in the BBC's Robin Hood series.

Guy of Gisborne - Please let me get what I want / by hedgeypig

Most of us RA fans have our own collection of "art" taking up quite a bit of computer memory.
But wouldn't it be fun to see some of it displayed museum-sized on a wall?

...Just one of the places I'd visit on Phylly's Day Off!


If you would like to see some real RA fan art visit Deviantart.com
where you will find artwork like this one :
by  ~Essinvrok

First Impressions - More RA comix

In a Nutshell

Hearing of the death of Maurice Sendak yesterday brought me back to being 6 years old and reading his Nutshell Library collection of books at our local library.  They were perfect sized books for little hands. They were cleverly written with amusing language and charming illustrations.  They were probably the first books I ever signed out of the library.  My favourite of the four book set was Chicken Soup With Rice.  But what I didn't know (until today) was that it became part of a musical with the words sung by Carole King!

His most famous picture book was Where the Wild Things Are.  Although I should have known it as a child, I didn't really connect with it until I was old enough to babysit.  I decided my nephew needed to have his own copy and so I happily presented him with it when he was around 4 years old.  It was one of the bedtime stories that I didn't need any prodding to read to him.  When my own son was born, this book was a necessity for our home library.

I have seen the magic of this book happen for other young children (particularly rambunctious boys) in my work as an elementary school librarian.  More than once, there has been a certain Kindergarten aged boy who for some reason has not yet discovered the joy of a good book.  I bide my time, and when I decide the time is right, then I read that class Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.  I have witnessed the moment of transformation, like a wonderstruck epiphany where I imagine the child is thinking, 'Hey! This book is about ME!' And after that introduction to the world of great literature, that child is the first one sitting on the carpet, with eyes and ears ready for another great story.

I am privileged to have the opportunity to share the great talent of Maurice Sendak with my school community.  Let the Rumpus never end!

An Easter tReAt

Here is an Easter goodie for you!

For a larger version as well as more goodies, visit YI Mum? and leave her a thank you comment!

That was EGGsactly the kind of treat I was looking for ... 

and no calories either! :)

Seasonal offerings

When I travel, I love to visit historical sites, such as old churches as well as art galleries and museums. Not all places allow photographs to be taken, and I certainly can't take a picture of everything, but I do try to capture a few that interest me.  I had to do a bit of research to discover some of the background to these works of Christian art from the Medieval period as I didn't take notes at the time.  It is interesting that both of these pieces were created within only a few years of each other, but they are by artists from different countries and are also housed in galleries far from the other.

German Lamention (1510)

Glasgow, Scotland. The Burrell Collection

Lamentation over the Dead Christ (ca. 1509).
by Andrea Solari (1460–1522)

Paris, France. The Louvre

This next picture was taken by my husband on our recent trip to Mexico.  I was unable to discover any details about this particular work. 

Wrought iron artwork in doorway (ca. early C20th)

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Since I can't bear to see anyone so sad, it brought to mind this famous Negro spiritual which has been rediscovered since Bruce Springsteen covered it.  I realize it's not about Mary, the mother of Jesus - but it still works, if you can ignore that fact!

Oh Mary Don't You Weep

performed by Bruce Springsteen

May you have a joyful Easter season!

My Guitar Man



Lorenzo Pagans and Auguste de Gas,
the Artist's Father. c.1871-72 by Edgar Degas

When my husband turned 40 I was all set to put up with-the dreaded "mid-life crisis".  I thought he might want to buy a car with a souped-up engine, or return to his motorcycle riding early days or worse yet, decide he had more wild oats that needed sowing!

But no, at the age of 40 my dear husband decided it was time to learn to play guitar!  And he did so, with only the help of a DVD and the occasional lesson with a fellow player.  He is now some 10 years later, quite good at it, although still too shy to play in public.

But that's okay because I enjoy his private concerts, especially when we sing together.  He even taught himself to sing on key from a video!

The first song I'd like to feature is from the early '70s and has a calm and peaceful vibe. It's by the group Bread headed by lead singer and songwriter David Gates.  The lyrics describe very well the attractiveness a guitar player has for me.

Guitar Man / Bread (1972)

I have had a fondness for John Denver ever since I first heard him singing Take Me Home Country Roads.  My favourite of his songs was Annie's Song, and it still has the power to make me teary.  He wrote this song about his wife, who later left him.  I don't think I could ever leave a man who wrote me a song like that!

Here he is singing about his old guitar. In his introduction to the song he tells us the history of it and his song explains why it is so important to him.  The guitar was cremated with him after he was killed in a plane crash in 1997.  His ashes were spread over the Colorado Rocky mountains.

This Old Guitar / John Denver (1974)

portrait of John Hiatt by Jim McGuire

My husband's excellent taste in music was my introduction to John Hiatt.  I came to really appreciate his raunchier sound, and especially his lyrical style. One of my favourite of his songs is The River Knows Your Name which I posted on my All Wet blog post last summer.

In this next song Perfectly Good Guitar I can't help but agree with him when he sings:

It breaks my heart to see those stars
smashing a perfectly good guitar
I dont know who they think they are
smashing a perfectly good guitar.

I never understood that practise of Rock stars smashing their guitars on stage. What a waste!

Perfectly Good Guitar / John Hiatt (1993)

Neil Young's album Prairie Wind is so special to me.  In it, he explores his youth living on the prairies of his Canadian home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  He developed the album after a terrible interlude in his life where he almost died from a brain tumour.  This caused him to reflect on his past, how he came to be the person he was, and which direction he should take in his future.

This video comes from his performance at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.  Jonathan Demme filmed his concert there in a movie called Heart of Gold. It is a very moving film and the best concert movie I have ever seen. In this song he is accompanied by Emmylou Harris.
UPDATE: 24/09/13 (The original video is no longer available, so I have replaced it with this one from a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina).

This Old Guitar / Neil Young (2005)

.

*****UPDATE (Feb. 10, 2012)******

 I have realized that I should have included one of my favourite guitarists and singer/songwriters of all.  George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps takes his love of his guitar to almost spiritual levels. When I stumbled upon this fanmade video I knew I had to add it to this post.  The video shows George Harrison as a young Beatle cavorting with his bandmates, and in his solo career after The Beatles' breakup. Throughout he is shown playing various types of guitars. His sense of humour and his pensive otherworldliness really come through for the camera.  It is a wonderful video!

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I thought this might be the best I could do until...

I discovered Heirs of Durin's fabulous post about how various musicians are reproducing the song first heard from the Hobbit trailer.  She has found sheet music,  a piano version and of course a guitar version!  And being the talented graphic artist that she is, here what she came up with when trying to imagine Thorin Oakenshield playing it on guitar.

It certainly works for me!

Richard III Fan Art

I've been meaning to get to this post for quite some time!  CDoart has been running this Richard III fan art theme all month on her King Richard Armitage blog.  Recently the petition has passed the 500 mark!

Then, just when I was almost ready to post, my computer crashed.  It is now in the shop and I am praying I didn't lose my RA picture collection (which is replaceable but took many months of joyful snaffling to compile). What is not so easily replaced are the downloaded fan vids from some vidders who are no longer anywhere to be found -- hello Sooth -- are you out there?  (Not to mention my holiday snaps and personal photos -- waaaahhh!)

Anyway.... back to this topic...

I did a Richard III post back in August for Richard III week where I had a few Face in Hole pictures of Richard Armitage as Richard III.  Here is a new one with a different background.  This one is from Al Pacino's portrayal of the monarch in Looking for Richard.  Guy of Gisborne looks very regal in this crown, eh?

But rather than me messing around with Face in Hole (which I love, of course) because it is so easy to use!  There are real talented artists out there who know how to do a real work of art or proper manip with better graphic software!

Here are two from TeaTotallyNot. In the first one see how she brings a Renaissance look to the portrait with her use of light.  It looks rather like a Dutch master!

The next one is even more stunning.  Although it looks more like a photograph than a painting, the details are amazing.  I am wondering especially how she did those hands!  The placement of the fingers and the rings are just like the painting!

This is proof of a real master of photomanipulation at work!

Now I will need to repost a painting done by Elizabeth Alger.  I interviewed her during the FanstRAvaganza last March. Elizabeth is an author and illustrator who is also a fan of Richard Armitage and Richard III.

You are welcome to check out the other artists' Richard III fan art here.