RA Blog Reunion! (2020 Pandemic Edition)

I am so glad I still check Twitter occasionally, otherwise I never would have seen Nat's tweet about wanting to set up a reunion of Richard Armitage bloggers from way back when!
Nat was my first contact with the RA fandom.  At the RichardArmitage Fan Blog, she got me hooked pretty good!  I couldn't resist her humour and musings on what the heck was going on with this crazy obsession we shared.  She must be most famous for drawing and later making videos about Stick-Figure Richard!

I miss you guys too!  While there are still quite a few newer blogs around, (I could never keep up with them all!), there is only one of the original RA blogs still around that pulled me into the whole blog world.  Well, maybe one more too, but I am speaking of course of Servetus of Me and Richard Armitage. When I speak of Servetus in my personal world - usually to my husband - I refer to her as "my professor friend".  Not that we are actually real-life friends -- sadly, I have never met her. But she has been kind enough to donate books to the libraries that I have worked in. As well, I follow her on Facebook in my real-life persona, so I feel like I know her.

Even with the fake nose I am hotter than ever!

I am still a huge fan of Richard Armitage, but I guess after he starred in The Hobbit movie series, I figured he didn't need me to toot his horn anymore.  After all, he was practically famous now.

The proof was that when I started with my interest in this actor, if you Googled his name, you got a picture of a very unattractive, balding American politician.  Now, the internet is studded with the very attractive face of this extremely talented and drop-dead gorgeous British actor.
When I first saw Richard in the wonderful mini series North and South, I couldn't believe that he wasn't as famous as so many other good looking British actors.  Why has no one else (who hadn't seen North and South) even heard of him?  It was an outrage!  Part of my purpose in blogging, besides connecting with other like-minded bloggers, was to give him the attention he deserved.
Now, I doubt very much that my little blog (with its quite small list of subscribers) really had anything to do him gaining fame.  But it made me feel better to write about him, and post pictures of him and poke fun at myself for my crazy obsession.

Hello, fan gurlz! Welcome aboard!

So what have I been doing since I stopped blogging?  By the way, I never really intended to stop blogging, it just happened.  I got lazy. I didn't have the need anymore.  It didn't help that almost everyone had switched blogging platforms from Blogger to Word Press. I tried to work with Word Press but it is definitely not as easy.  So I found it more difficult to comment on the Word Press blogs that sprang up exponentially as RA got more famous.  Spooks (or M1-5, as it was known in North America) helped with that!


Yes, well I can't say I have been doing anything really exciting since my last blog post.  I am still a Library technician in a school library, but sadly, I had to move up from elementary to secondary to keep the same working hours. It has been a steep learning curve and I was grateful for all the skills I acquired while blogging. I miss those little people and I miss reading picture books to them. I have been reading much more Young Adult books lately to try and connect with the older crowd.

Yup! It's Guy of Gisborne!

I have been spending waaaay too much time on my phone and iPad playing stupid games.  One of the ones I am addicted to is The Sims FreePlay.  When I was playing The Sims on my computer years ago, I was able to create a Sim with the same face as RA.  But I lost all that when we got an update.  So the Freeplay version does not give you the same ability to import a picture to make a face resemble a real person.   This was the best I could do,  Who is this good looking guy?


But the best news I have to report is that one of my life goals has finally been accomplished - and it only took a world-wide pandemic and some pointed use of guilt to achieve. I need to preface this story with the fact that my poor husband, who recently retired, injured himself while preparing to paint our kitchen.  He tore his Achilles tendon and was unable to get around without crutches or me to drive him places.  We had a quiet birthday for him unfortunately, as the accident happened the day before his birthday at the end of February. When my birthday rolled around we were about a week into the quarantine and he was feeling badly that he hadn't been able to buy me a present and spoil me like he usually does.  I really didn't mind, I had been feeling bad about not having a nice party for him last month, and besides -- I had another plan.

It's about time you looked this way, buddy!

I announced that the best present he could give me was to watch North and South with me!  I had previously tricked him into watching Castlevania, and he had enjoyed that!  Also we watched The Stranger when it finally came to Netflix and I didn't have to twist his arm too much.  So we watched all four episodes and he grudgingly had to admit that it was very well done.  (I knew he would like it!) Although he maintains he was more interested in the labour dispute than the romance, I could tell he was getting worried when Henry was making the moves on Margaret!

So that is it for now folks!  Thank you again to Nat and all who are participating in this reunion and thanks to all who visit here now and forever, until this blog disappears into the netherland or wherever blogs go to die...

I really couldn't resist this!

I've been meaning to post something for ages...  There is nothing like a good belly laugh to finally get me motivated!

Voice-over Switch: The Hobbit / North & South / by Buchjj

Thanks to fellow RA well-wisher Teresa Armitage, 

who posted this on The RA Friends Network Facebook page.

Good Egg / Bad Egg

Start with a RAw egg

I've been hunting for Easter egg treats for all of us Richard Armitage fans.  Now, we all have our favourite characters -- but some of them are much nicer than others.  I am partial to the good ones - like Harry Kennedy, John Standring, and John Thornton. So, because we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket, I have divided them up between the good and the bad eggs.

What is your choice for best egg?

In North and South, it took Margaret Hale quite a while to realize than Mr. Thornton was not such a bad egg as she first supposed. The mini series had her encounter him in the cotton mill as he was beating a mill hand for smoking.  This was a very dangerous and foolish thing to do with flammable cotton fibres flying around in the air.  As Mr. Thornton later explained -- he had seen the results of a mill destroyed by a fire from someone smoking and the needless deaths it caused.

Mr. Thornton seemed like a bad egg to Margaret Hale

When she finally realized what a good man he really was - it was almost too late, as she feared she had lost favour in his eyes, and then she had to move back to London.  But, although he appeared to be a hard-boiled businessman Thornton really had a soft centre (much like a Cadbury cream egg)!  He tracked her down to London (in the book) or halfway between London and Milton in a train station (in the miniseries).  Either way, it was an EGGcellent ending!

Thornton's shell is finally cracked

Oh so sweet!

 Here is a collection of bad eggs.

 Clockwise from front left:  Guy of Gisborne, Lucas North a.k.a. John Bateman, John Mulligan, Bill Chatford, Heinz Kruger, Percy Courtney. 
(If you don't know who some of these characters are, check out the pictures at Richard Armitage Central Gallery.)

Probably you won't agree with all my choices.  For instance, it pained me to put Lucas in with the bad eggs, because he wasn't at first (well he was -- but he WASN'T)!  Oh dear, you see my dilemma?  Also I realize the Gisborne contingent will have a convincing argument why Guy does not belong in the bad egg category.  We all think the love of a good woman could have saved him.  Even though we know that doesn't really work in real life - but why not in a fantasy world?  

And the Good Eggs!

Clockwise from top left: Oh look! It's Lucas North again. You see?  Since he's a split personality, maybe he's really a good egg that got devilled!  Next to dear Lucas it's Claude Monet, then sweetie John Standring, then Thorin Oakenshield, Harry Kennedy, Alec Track, John Porter, John Thornton,  Ian Macalwain.

Doesn't he look wonderful 
all dressed up for a special occasion?

Those who follow in the fandom know that 
Richard Armitage is himself a very good egg.

Who are some of the characters I have missed?

World Wide Armitage Watch!

I'll be watching North and South on DVD at 7:00 pm Central time in Canada.  Part 1 anyway - then family obligations will take over.  I was planning to make it an all nighter, but since my nephew is in town I'll have to catch up sometime later.

But my tea is brewing and I've got a little snack. 

I will try to keep in touch via social media.  It sounds a bit complex, so I'll see if I can manage... 

For real instructions see here.  Sorry, I'm posting a link to more links but I'm getting short of time and I'm all aflutter!

This is why I'm so keen to watch...

And I'm a Goner!

Piano

To hear an excerpt, click here

I grew up in a house where the piano was the biggest piece of furniture. It's presence dominated the livingroom and  someone could almost always be heard pounding at its keys.  My  mother taught piano lessons. Two of her four daughters learned to play and two did not.  I, unfortunately was one who did not.  Not for lack of interest, as I loved to fiddle with the keys and played a bit by ear.  But it is difficult to learn from a parent, too easy to say, 'not now' when told to practise.  I didn't feel the need to impress my mother, so I didn't try to.  The two sisters who did learn to play had other tutors besides my mother!

Sparky's Magic Piano was my favourite children's record as a child.  The piano selections included on the album are still fascinating to me -- especially The Flight of the Bumblebee.  If you would like to hear a bit of it, please click on the link.  I had mentioned this same album previously in my very first post as the flip side of the record is Sparky's Talking Train.

I've always liked to blame my mother for the reason I never had piano lessons. I wanted to have lessons from another piano teacher as my older sister did, but I wasn't allowed as they hadn't budgeted for two children to have lessons.  ... Fast forward many years....  Since I had always wanted to learn to play, when an opportunity to take Adult Piano Lessons presented itself a couple of years ago, I jumped at the chance and signed up.  It was a lot of fun, and I did learn quite a bit, but it also served to remind me that practising piano was not something that I was inclined to want to do.  This next video from Canada's National Film Board has always tickled my funny bone (as it perhaps reminds me a bit of myself?).

Getting Started / Richard Condie (NFB)



D.H. Lawrence "Piano"

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

My mother had a love / hate relationship with the Canadian superstar of piano, Glenn Gould.  She hated his posture and his wild style of playing which was not the proper way to play in her book.  But of course, she enjoyed listening to him as he was a master pianist.  She owned a CD of his Bach Goldberg variations that I used to play for her when I visited the Seniors home where she now lives.  I could see how she enjoyed it. It seemed to relax her and she listened very intently.  Perhaps I played it too much and she got tired of it. I'm not sure, because one day I couldn't find it.  The case was there but not the disc. It had mysteriously disappeared.

Goldberg variations, 1981 / Glenn Gould

 

In the BBC's 2004 production of North and South, the character Fanny Thornton

appears heart broken at the Hales' lack of a piano.

"I wonder how you can exist without a piano?" Fanny agonizes.

 Here is a famous pioneer who refused to be parted from her piano even while venturing into the wilds of the Canadian frontier.

Canada Vignettes - Lady Frances Simpson / by the National Film Board of Canada

I wonder if anyone ever called her Fanny!

Piano playing was an important social skill in Jane Austen's time.

For a history of the pianoforte check out this link.

I came upon a wonderful video of Elizabeth Bennett's efforts at the piano in three different versions of Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately I cannot embed the video, so please click here.

Billy Joel has some excellent piano songs but I think he says it all with this one!

Piano Man / Billy Joel

Some people might like to criticize the simplistic nature of this song, but I just love it.  I love the idea of it, I love Paul and Stevie and I especially like when the video shows them in minature sitting on the keys!

Ebony and Ivory / Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder

It is difficult to find a good video of Burton Cummings playing piano.  In particular I wished to highlight this song (with is piano theme).  This is a live recording which unfortunately cuts out before the end of the song.  What I enjoy most about this video is looking at the faces of the crowd who are watching him perform at lunchtime in a Toronto mall.

I Will Play a Rhapsody (Live) / Burton Cummings


Burton Cummings acted in a movie called Melanie in 1982.  He played a singer songwriter who falls in love with the girl in the title role (played by Glynnis O'Connor. Here he is in the movie, singing a song called Something Old, Something New.



Amazing what you can do when you are stuck in time with nothing better to do than practise.

Bill Murray's piano solo in Groundhog Day

This movie was based on the real life story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman.

The Pianist (2002)

And who can forget Holly Hunter's amazing performance in this movie?

The Piano (1993)

I saw Impromptu on Netflix recently and I recommend it highly.  It is about the very unusual author Georges Sand (wonderfully played by Judy Davis) and her romantic attachment to Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant) whom she meets during a madcap weekend at a country house.  Also appearing in the movie is Franz Liszt (Julian Sands) who appears to be jealous of Chopin's genius. The rest of the star studded cast is terrific too. Emma Thompson, Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin play their parts famously!

Impromptu (1991)

I think Mr. Armitage would do a great job in a biopic of Chopin!

The real Chopin

It works for me!

I couldn't resist including this little gem.


 Learning Piano to Get Laid (With Bo Burnham)  

Wait! Who is that sexy guy at the piano?

I am not sure that Richard Armitage plays the piano.  I have heard he can play the cello and possibly the flute.  He is definitely musically inclined.  Perhaps he can tinkle the keys a bit?

One of the many reasons the BBC production of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South was so memorable (besides the fact that Richard Armitage is starring in it) are the beautiful piano themes running through it.  Here is one fan's performance of the main theme (with a link to the sheet music from the Youtube page).

 I might be more inclined to practice if I had this picture to inspire me!

Now I know not to blame my poor Mother any more!
 I just didn't have my Muse back then!

Do you have any favourite piano-themed movies, or favourite piano pieces?

He's a Masterpiece and a mystery!

I have loved watching PBS's Masterpiece Theatre ever since Alistair Cooke was its host.  Now known as Masterpiece Classic, it has since 2008 had a young and  beautiful new host in Laura Linney. I also enjoy the Masterpiece Mystery series which very often includes Agatha Christie's master detective Hercule Poirot. In my teen years I couldn't get enough of that series of books.  My favourite book was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which unfortunately did not translate well to the screen.  I remember being disappointed with it when it aired, quite some time ago.


While scouring Youtube for my regular Armitage fanvid fix, I recently came across someone who obviously shares my love of Poirot and Richard Armitage.  Here is RA as John Thornton in North and South set to Poirot's theme music!

Inspector Thornton (Murder in Milton) / by NotEvenAnOuch

Chocoholic!

I will admit it, I am a lover of chocolate! The smooth, rich, melt-in-your-mouth, dark sweetness is a temptation too difficult for me to resist.

Shall I compare thee to a chocolate bar?
Thou art more smooth and more sweet:
No calories can I gain from afar
To witness all your work is my treat
If my imagination causes me to melt
Over consumption may cause my complexion to dim
Even more might make love handles felt!
By chance I found you, looked for more on a whim
And now my craving I cannot deny
I seek you out -- my mind in such a haze
I look, I listen and I sigh
To velvet richness of voice, brooding azure gaze.

As long as you are there and I can see
I will continue both to sigh and squee!

(With apologies to William Shakespeare)

I found this funny German video quite awhile ago and I have been waiting to share it with you.  A rough translation follows, but I am sure you will get the gist of it!

John Thornton vs. Chocolate / by miltonlass

I found an English translation for this song from a commenter on a blog called Dans Mon Cafe about the German singer Trude Herr.

"I never have any dates. At the very most I get to go for a short walk with my parents. But my father says, this is how it should stay and gives me chocolate (as compensation). But recently I just exploded because chocolate's simply not what I want.

(refrain): I don't want any chocolate! What I want's a man! I want someone to kiss me! And make me weak and defenceless! 

I celebrated my birthday just a while ago, together with my aunts, who gave me flowers and chocolate. But I yelled "I don’t want that anymore!"

(refrain)

Last Sunday I bought lottery tickets at the fair and won. But the prize disappointed me a lot. Because I got a teddy bear, chocolate, and marzipan. I threw it all angrily into the crowd while screaming at the lottery ticket seller: 

(refrain)"

Just Sayin'

By special request for RAFrenzy!

Not long ago when I came up with my third posting of Coldplay RA Fanvids, RAFrenzy commented that she wished I could post her favourite Coldplay fanvid by CrimsonCoat.  Apparently it had been previously removed from Youtube (by the powers that be) and she was hoping I might find it for her.

I was hoping someone out there might read that note and fill us in on how to possibly view it again.  But rather than wait for a miracle, I decided to do some detective work myself.  First I checked Youtube for CrimsonCoat which yielded no results. Then I tried Vimeo and also struck out.  So I tried Youtube again with just a general search.  I actually forget exactly how I found her because it could have been while looking at a list of subscribers on someone else's page but... when I saw the name ScarletBlazer it occurred to me that the name sounded very close to CrimsonCoat.  So I clicked on her channel to read this message:

About RedJackett CrimsonCoat -- I used to [be] someone else twice, but then I got removed yet again.

BINGO! (At least I hoped so).  So I sent her a message.  Last night I got a reply... She reuploaded the video!  So thank you for the request RAFrenzy!  I hope you enjoy the video. And thank you so much ScarletBlazer.  Let's hope your video is never removed again!

North & South: X&Y / by ScarletBlazer

Lighten the darkness

A memorial candle brightens the darkness of the season.

Even though this is not a Christmas song, it seems appropriate.

Long as I Can See the Light / CCR

This time of year can be very difficult for people who are far from their loved ones or worse, have lost someone close to them.  The long periods of darkness also lead to depression in some who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  

Lighting a candle to remember a loved one is a time-honoured custom.  Although it was traditionally done in a church, the practise does not need to be religious.  It does not even have to be a real candle.  If you wish, you can follow the highlighted link to Light a virtual candle.

Wintersong / Sarah MacLachlan

Just belting out a tune can help to lighten a mood. So if you have the blues, there's nothing better than to sing the Blues!

Christmas Blues / Amy Sky and Colin James

The angelic tones of this boys' choir named Liberia is definitely in tune with the Christmas season.

Light the Candles of the World / Liberia

The Jewish holiday of the Festival of the Lights (Hanukkah) started yesterday. Servetus from Me + Richard Blog has made a Chanukkah video starring none other than RA to help celebrate the festival.

Here are some photos of Richard Armitage featured in various roles, illuminated by candlelight .

 

 As John Thornton in North and South (episode 2)

 As Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood (series 3).

As Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit (to be released in Dec. 2012)

Bask in the glow of his loveliness and experience the Armitage Effect!

The days are now starting to lengthen again at the passing of the Winter Solstice.  Likewise the lack of news from The Hobbit is over with the release of the trailer!

****UPDATE***
(for Canadians who like Richard Armitage and/or Dawn French)

Tyme4t sent me a note that Vision TV will be showing The Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials (2006) Tonight!: Thursday Dec. 22 (Part 1), and Friday Dec. 23 (Part 2) at 8:00 ET (7:00 Central time)

Watching Harry Kennedy propose to Geraldine Granger lights me up - every time!

Coldplay fanvids continued...

This is part 2 of an earlier post where I discovered that there were quite a few Richard Amitage fans who were also fans of the music of Coldplay.

If you haven't seen the original post (which was recently updated with a new fanvid for Spies) please click here.



The first fanvid up for your enjoyment is to the song Violet Hill.  The lyrics start with:

Was a long and dark December,
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow
White snow

which seems very appropriate for the current month.  It also fits well for the opening scenes of Thornton's mill in North and South with all the cotton flying around like snow.

Violet Hill by crazyfilmcat

The next video is from the short-lived television series The Golden Hour. I made reference to this video in my comments in part 1 of this post.  This is a private video on Vimeo but you will be able to watch it if you enter the password (which is supplied for you) into the box.

Fix You / by Yorkshirewench

(The password is butterfly)

The Golden Hour - Fix You from yorkshirewench on Vimeo.

The next three videos are by the same vidder and all are from the Robin Hood series. Liisakee is definitely a Coldplay fan as I had a couple of her videos in the Coldplay part 1 post.

 Lost by Liisakee

Strawberry Swing by Liisakee

Liisakee's last one is only for real Robin Hood fans.  There's not enough Guy in it to satisfy most RA fans, but if you enjoy the song and keep your eyes peeled you will be rewarded. As she states in her note headed by *please read* the song was picked for its faster beat and doesn't really follow the lyrics. But as she also says: "Coldplay + Robin Hood = Epic Win"

 Speed of Sound (Robin Hood Season 3) / by Liisakee

Here's a Coldplay song I wasn't familiar with. That's what I love so much about fanvids.  I have learned so many more new songs this way!

What If? / by Ganamona

This next video is based on a plot by Rosfan (I am guessing a fanfic?).  It imagines a deeper relationship between Ros and Lucas from Spooks in which they have both been deeply affected by the bomb in the series 7 season ender.  The song used in the video is Life in Technicolor (which is rather ironic since the video is all in black & white).  I also enjoyed the camaraderie of these two and every scene they shared very much.

"Fallout" (Lucas/Ros) / by JulietD001

The Scientist is the music for the next video by the same vidder.  It is from series 7 Spooks about the way Lucas North is yearning for some sign of love from his ex-wife Elizaveta.  It is really heartbreaking to watch Richard Armitage's portrayal of Lucas North's desperate attempt to connect with her as he is so coldly rebuffed.

Tell Me You Love Me? / by JulietD001

This vidder uses the sadness of the song 42 to help portray 

Lucas North's character for series 7.

42 / by salazarlp

The song Trouble seems perfect for the character of Lucas North in Spooks.

Trouble by misshale78

I am always interested to see more RAfanvids to Coldplay songs.  Let me know if you find some that aren't in my Part 1 or Part 2 posts.

Factory

Cotton milling machines in the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry

I have lived almost my whole life under the shadow of a smoke stack, not of a factory but very much like one.  So I feel an affinity to the working class factory workers.

 The song "My Little Town" by Paul Simon from his album (one of my all-time favourite albums) Still Crazy After All These Years (1975) so beautifully describes the depressing feeling of a factory town, especially to a young person.  Although I never felt the same hopelessness about my town, so many of the images were similar to my experience and the poetry of the lyrics still impresses me.

In my little town
I grew up believing
God keeps his eye on us all
And he used to lean upon me
As I pledged allegiance to the wall
Lord I recall my little town
Coming home after school
Riding my bike past the gates of the factories
My mom doing the laundry
Hanging out shirts in the dirty breeze
And after it rains there's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
It's not that the colors aren't there
It's just imagination they lack
Everything's the same back in my little town

In my little town I never meant nothing
I was just my father's son
Saving my money
Dreamin of glory
Twitching like a finger on a trigger of a gun

Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town (repeated)

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/paul+simon/#share

 Here is a nice version Paul Simon singing this song (unfortunately without the harmony of Art Garfunkle).  If you prefer to hear the album version, please click on this link which I was unable to embed. It shows scenes of a factory town in West Yorkshire.

 

Speaking of West Yorkshire, that is very near the imaginary town of Milton where Victorian age Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South was set. Her novel explored the interrelationships between factory worker and master, rich and poor as well as male and female roles. Her masterful work was made into the BBC's miniseries of the same name starring Danielle Denby-Ashe and (of course) Richard Armitage.

Here is a beautiful slide show by lafillenoir from North and South set to the same soundtrack used in the miniseries.

Here is Margaret's first vision of the cotton mill where she encounters Mr. Thornton at the end.  It was made by lucifmello using the beautiful soundtrack by Martin Phipps.

I was listening to Bruce Springsteen's album Darkness at the Edge of Town not long ago and when I heard the lyrics to his song Factory it inspired me to make this video.  Unfortunately it is very rough around the edges. I don't yet know how to make my own clips so the ones I used were quite low quality.  That's what I get for being impatient and in a rush.  Really I just wanted to put some images from North and South together with the song.

Factory from Phylly3 on Vimeo.

Time Out with Phylly

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali.

Time Is the Keeper 
lyrics and music by Ian Thomas

Everyone has a dream or a wish they would like to see come true
From the time you begin to crawl it's inside of us all
There are always those who go through life with a silver spoon
That can get so hard to take, just sit back and wait
Cause time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)
Of the dreams you make
(Time is the keeper)
Dreams are the sleepers
(Time is the keeper)
Waiting to awake
(Time is the keeper)
You will get some of the things you want
But in your mind there's always more, guess that's the way we are
We all want to go so far
Patience is a virtue tried and proven, you get what's coming to you
You might as well have a seat, take a load off your feet

I had this album in LP and also (horrors!) in 8 track (I just dated myself!)

For time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)
Of the dreams you make
(Time is the keeper)

Dreams are the sleepers

(Time is the keeper)
Waiting to awake
(Time is the keeper)
Time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)
Of the dreams you make
Woah time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)
Of the dreams you make
Woah time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)
Of the dreams you make
Oh time is the keeper
(Time is the keeper)

I don't see this version available anymore but there is this one:

for the Amazon.ca link, click here.

Ian Thomas is one of Canada's best kept secrets. I could never understand why he didn't make it big down south (the U.S.) but maybe he just never really wanted to leave Canada. He is still making music and touring around Canada when he can, but I haven't had the pleasure of seeing him perform yet.

There are so many great songs with a Time theme, that if I tried to post a video of all (or even most) of them, this post would be way too long.  So I have picked a few of my faves to highlight and a few more I give passing mention to (with a link) in the following paragraph:

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child (a long way from home). Mostly I know time is on my side -- yes it is! Although I spend so much time on the computer, you might think I have many wasted days and wasted nights. But time after time I find myself finding some bit of information or long forgotten bit of nostalgia on my journey through the past that I might save or pass on to someone else. If it makes them happy, then I am also happy also, but you can be sure that I am having the time of my life!

I had a pretty cool psychedelic video here before, but it has been taken off of Youtube (for some reason).  This is a concert version of the song which I hope you will enjoy.  Please let me know if any links stop working, or videos disappear (or even if I make spelling mistakes!)  I hate to waste your time. :)

Time (1973) / Pink Floyd

One of the few newer bands I totally love is Coldplay. If you share my love of Coldplay and Richard Armitage you will probably like my earlier blogpost Fanvidding with Coldplay. I looked for this song in a fanvid starring RA but couldn't find one, although there was one from Spooks starring Rupert Penry Jones. If anyone out there knows of one, please share it with me.  Or if anyone wants to make one, I would love to see the finished product!

Clocks (2004) / Coldplay

This one is a favourite because I really like the artist (she was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) and also the words and music are very meaningful to me.

Time  (2002) / Chantal Kreviachuk

This video is all the more poignant because it shows Brittany Murphy (in the 2003 movie Uptown Girls) who showed such promise as an actress. Unfortunately she passed away last year just when her career was starting to blossom.

The next video is of another artist whose career ended much too soon. Jim Croce (Jan. 10, 1943 – Sept. 20, 1973) died in a plane crash on his way to his next performance.  The video contains footage of him with his family and his song is so much more meaningful than he ever could have known when he wrote it.

Time in a Bottle (1973) / Jim Croce

This Canadian band has really stood the test of time. This video is from a concert in 2003 in which they sound just as good (or better) than they ever did!

 No Time (1970) / The Guess Who

This next song title could be my theme song. (I am time challenged!) It is very annoying for others but could actually be a good thing (as long as I am late for my own funeral!)

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (1969) / Chicago

Franco Zefferelli's production of Romeo and Juliet (1968) was such a beautiful movie, I don't believe any version has surpassed it yet. I always found this song entrancing. It was in my sister's piano book and she used to play it often. I was very pleased to find a fanvid of the movie using the song (with words) as the soundtrack. I think in the movie the song was used for the credits but without the words.

A Time for Us

Wow! I didn't realize this post would be so sad. Think of all of what passed before as the death of the old year. And now for some comic relief...

George Carlin explains the concept of Time

I would really like a watch like this! I don't like digital clocks either, George! Really, unless you are timing a  soufflé, defusing a bomb (shades of Spooks), or doing a science experiment, do we really need to be so exact with each minute and second?  When I am outside I am fairly good at telling time with the sun. I am not suggesting that we go back to using sun dials or anything, just that we should lighten up a bit.
While I was in Northern England this year I heard people referring to "half two" which I assume is 2:30 or what we used to refer to as "half past two" (but does anyone say that anymore?). I guess half two is the same but leaving out the word "past".  (How's that for living in the present?)

Phylly's favourite Movies about TIME (not necessarily in this exact order):

5. Time After Time (1979)

Malcolm Macdowell (as H.G. Welles) chases Jack the Ripper into modern day San Francisco via a time machine. It makes for some very amusing fish out of water type antics, some romance with Mary Steenbergen and of course the thriller elements are very well done.

4. Back to the Future (1985)

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you are overdue for some excellent entertainment. Michael J. Fox stars as Marty McFly in another time travel adventure where he must go back in time in order to ensure his parent's romance really happens. Unfortunately, his presence complicates their relationship so much that it threatens his very existence. Then there is the problem of returning to the present!

3. Same Time Next Year (1978)

Even though this movie is about an extra-marital affair I can't help loving this movie! Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda are so endearing as a couple who meet on vacation away from their spouses. It is a love story that is continued  for one day every year and endures longer than most marriages. I love how they change over the decades and how they have to get to know each other all over again. Ultimately they each help each other with their respective spousal relationships which is like a form of marriage therapy. It's hard to explain without seeing it, but the link is to the first part of the movie on Youtube. I also love the song which is played at the beginning credits, sung by Johnny Mathis -- The Last Time I Felt Like This.

2. Groundhog Day (1993)

Whenever this movie comes on TV (which is often -- probably every February) I have to drop everything and watch it. I never get tired of it! I love the whole premise of the movie. The miserable antisocial bachelor who somehow gets stuck in the same day and must relive it over and over until he finally gets it (and himself) right to win the hand of the fair maiden. By the end of the movie he is every woman's dream! Why he's almost as good as....Richard Armitage?  Nah! Close, but it's still Bill Murray after all! Oh, and did I mention -- it's hysterically funny!

1. Somewhere in Time (1980)

Now here's a time travel romance with two of the best looking stars of the 1970s -- Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Now I know it sounds smaltzy but it is very well done. Christopher Plummer also plays sort of a villain. It also has quite the cult following judging by the number of websites dedicated to it.

It is very romantic, well acted, touching and surprisingly believable.

What are your favourite movies about TIME?

If that's not romantic enough for you, here is a fanvid of the most romantic miniseries ever, the BBC's North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell starring Richard Armitage and Danielle Denby Ashe. This vid has time as its theme.

Thornton's Sorrow / Spikesbint

 

Wouldn't this be an exciting billboard for Times Square?
(Or anywhere else really!)

Phylly's Faves first Caption Contest

 Can you think up a funny caption for this picture?
Please send entries to phylly3@gmail.com by Friday January 7th, 2011.

Winner gets bragging rights! :)

Make this your count down to the New Year!

Delicateblossom's video 4 Minutes

http://delicateblossom.net/Delicateblossom/4_Minutes.html

All the best to my loyal blog readers for 2011!