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!

Christmas Wishes

I have a new video which I would like to dedicate to all admirers of Richard Armitage. It is my Christmas wish for all of us, and for Mr. Armitage too.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish this video with all the last minute things I needed to do to get things ready for Christmas. Servetus came to my rescue at the last minute with a clip from North and South to replace one I wasn't happy with.

There are so many wonderful things in the world (and some not) but I choose to see the glass as half-full... :) But nothing is as important as love, so love is what I wish for everyone. This was the great gift that Christ shared with the world so it is most appropriate at this time of the year.  It is for all people regardless of their beliefs, because love must be shared to be experienced in the fullest sense.

I Wish You Love

My best wishes for a peaceful, relaxing or energizing holiday season 

that you can enjoy with people you care about.

Merry Christmas

Christmas tunes

Here are some of my favourite Christmas tunes.  By no means is this anywhere near a complete list but these are just a few that are somehow more meaningful to me. I have a warm spot in my heart especially at Christmas for two singers who have absolutely nothing in common. One is a very linguistically talented woman known for her intellectual looking dark rimmed glasses and angelic voice. The other is a smooth talking, velvet voiced sophisticate who somehow seems almost perpetually pickled.
They are Nana Mouskouri and Dean Martin.
If these choices say something about my personality, then so be it! You are free to interpret this in any way you wish!


I love this song when anyone sings it, but to me, no one can sing it as well as Nana Mouskouri.

Old Toy Trains

Here's Dean Martin singing my favourite of his Christmas tunes. He owns this song, as far as I am concerned! However, a little help from Frank Sinatra in this video is always a bonus!

Winter is a Marshmallow World

  I love this French Christmas song and though I prefer Nana Mouskouri's version (Click here), I really enjoy the scenes on this video and also the fact that the lyrics are there to sing along.
This version is by Tino Rossi,, a famous french tenor and film star who had a huge hit with this song back in 1946.


Petit Papa Noel

Apparently this singer and movie star was renowned for making women swoon.

 

Now here is an actor who makes many modern women swoon.  I only wish I had a recording of him singing a Christmas tune.  For all you Richard Armitage fans out there thanks to Santa:

Not exactly a wallet size portrait, eh?

Christmas kicks

Okay...This piece of news is just too exciting to sit on. Richard Armitage Net dot com has posted an article from Woman's Weekly which states that Mr. Armitage's first performance as a child (like many of us) was in a Nativity play. But here's the kicker...as a donkey!  I can't help it! I find this fact unbearably cute!

I'm sure at the time, being cast as a donkey wasn't considered a choice role. However, when one considers the importance of the donkey in biblical history, one can see that without the donkey, the very pregnant Mary would have had a much more difficult journey to Bethlehem.  The donkey also helped the Holy Family to escape to Egypt when King Herod was on his infanticidal rampage.  Then again, a donkey was what Jesus was riding when he entered Jerusalem on the now famous Palm Sunday.  When viewed from this perspective, except for one of the Holy Family or perhaps the Angel Gabriel -- the donkey was a very prestigious role indeed! :)

RA as John Thornton in North and South

Now it makes some sense that such a talented brooder might have something in common with everyone's favourite donkey from Winnie the Pooh -- none other than that sad-eyed little brooder -- Eyore!

RA as Harry Kennedy in The Vicar of Dibley

Not to imply that all donkeys are so morose!  Another favourite donkey of mine is an upbeat, fast-talking scheming donkey from the movie Shrek (voiced by Eddie Murphy).  Richard could certainly handle that kind of personality!

Notice the picture on the wall?

Richard Armitage and Dawn French in The Vicar of Dibley

Now here's a little Christmas ditty about a donkey which is starring another of The Vicar of Dibley's favourite men -- Johnny Depp!

Did you get a kick out of that? 

Now I would much prefer a childhood photo of Richard Armitage in his Nativity play finery, 

but I'll just have to make do with this...

Do you think maybe he is not too impressed with his costume?

(Ohhhh! I am definitely on Santa's naughty list now!)

In the spirit

In the spirit of the season I have chosen three of my favourite Christmas carols to share with you. They are all three rather mournful, but I find them very beautiful and moving.

 

This first carol is plaintive and full of hopeful desire for the Saviour to rescue his people from darkness and sin. It is very reminiscent of an ancient monastic chant. It is in fact, one of the world's oldest hymns, discovered, translated and modified from an obscure 9th century processional in 1850 by an Anglican priest   John Mason Neale.

 

O Come Emmanuel

Now this carol is a personal favourite of mine because it is a truly Canadian hymn and its background tells much about Canada's early history. It was written by a French missionary in order to explain the story of the nativity in a way that the Huron people could understand. Father Jean de Brebeuf also translated his song into the Huron language. The following link explains the story more fully. (Click on the song title).

Huron Carol

It is no wonder that this next hymn is a favourite of mine! I had no idea until I did this research that this hymn was inspired by a poem written by the English poet Christina Rosetti which was published after her death in 1904. In 2008, a poll of choral experts and choirmasters voted Harold Darke's setting of In the Bleak Midwinter the greatest Christmas carol of all time!

In the Bleak Midwinter

Slightly off topic here but I am reminded because of the title, to mention this wonderful fanfic about the sweet, shy hunk of an RA character  -- John Standring in a story by Khandy entitled...
(you guessed it!) ... In the Bleak Midwinter.

Richard Armigage as John Standring in Sparkhouse (2002).

bccmee is putting everyone in the Christmas spirit with her lovely Christmas fanvid about 

Harry Kennedy in the Vicar of Dibley.

Click here

Richard Armitage as Harry Kennedy in The Vicar of Dibley

Song for a Winter's Night

It's cold and snowy here in Central Canada. So nice to stay inside where it's warm and watch a lovely fanvid. This one puts two of my faves together -- my favourite miniseries with a song by one of my favourite Canadian songwriter /performers.

Yorkshirewench has graciously allowed me to post her North and South video Song for a Winter's Night by Gordon Lightfoot.

The password is: butterfly

North & South - Thornton/Margaret - Song For A Winter's Night from yorkshirewench on Vimeo.

I hope it will play for you!

Here are the lyrics to this beautiful song by Gordon Lightfoot.

Song for a Winter Night

The lamp is burnin' low upon my table top
The snow is softly falling
The air is still in the silence of my room
I hear your voice softly calling

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The smoke is rising in the shadows overhead
My glass is almost empty
I read again between the lines upon the page
The words of love you sent me

If I could know within my heart
That you were lonely too
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
On this winter night with you

The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim
The shades of night are lifting
The morning light steals across my window pane
Where webs of snow are drifting

If I could only have you near
To breathe a sigh or two
I would be happy just to hold the hands I love
And to be once again with with you
To be once again with with you