Pick up the phone!

Why hello there!  Thank you for calling.

This is one of my usual sorts of posts, combining my love of music and popular culture with my current obsession fascination with actor Richard Armitage.  New visitors just here for RA stuff can scroll down to the end of the post where I finally get around to mentioning the real reason you are here...

My love of songs about phones goes way back... All the way back to a Warner Brothers cartoon that we got to watch in movie theatres before the main feature (back in the day before advertisements took over).  Later on it showed up on television on the Bugs Bunny Show, but there's no bunny in it.  Just a very unusual frog.  A singing frog!

I used to sing this song like crazy when I was a kid!

The next video was brand new to me, but apparently was a hit in 2009.
It is by a Canadian band from Toronto, Ontario.
It's very catchy, and has been remixed for dancing but I prefer the original version.
See what I learn when I do these posts?

Pick up the Phone / Dragonette

Phylly's Favourite Phone songs:

My all-time fave!

Operator/ Jim Croce

My second-most fave!

Brings back my teen years! It hit #1 in Canada in 1976.  I used to hang out in a local restaurant and get my friend, who was waitressing there to play this song over and over and over...

Telephone Line / ELO

Other Faves:

This song is such a classic and brings back my childhood.  I just noticed that it has been covered quite nicely by R.E.M. but Campbell's version still does it for me

Witchita Lineman / Glen Campbell

Call Me / Blondie

Now, this song brings back memories of viewing Richard Gere's full frontal in American Gigolo. I sat through that movie twice so I could catch another glimpse!  But Blondie's music really can stand on its own.  She was a fabulous singer with an original sound that was captivating!

Sylvia's Mother / Dr. Hook
This song is so pathetic it is almost funny.  But I love it very much.  It is great fun to sing!

I have to give the RA fandom credit for introducing me to Lady Gaga. I hadn't heard of her until I started watching fanvids back in 2009.  There are at least two RA fanvids to her song Telephone.  One I have already featured on my blog in my fanvid tribute to La Gaga.  Here is the other one:

Telephone- Lady Gaga (Lucas fanvid) by  Behind Blue Eyes - mixed Armitage roles

Many fans of Richard Armitage have noticed his characters seem to spend quite a bit of time on the phone.  In fact someone has devoted a whole blog to just this theme!

Richard Armitage on the Phone - Tumblr

Here is RA fan blogger / graphic artist and fanvidder Bccmee's contribution to this theme which she featured on her blog awhile ago:

Please follow this link to her blog post: 

http://fanvideos.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/lucas-north-vs-john-porter/

I love it when a fan turns one of his commercial voice-overs into a video!

Richard Armitage reads 02 Offer ("Better Connected") advert / by NotEvenAnOuch

Oh yes!  Before I forget... Check out this page at Richard Armitage Central for 
Richard Armitage's voice on a Ringtone!
RAC RA Ringtones

I've got to try one of those!

One more song I just love to sing is
I just called to say I Love You /  by Stevie Wonder
I can't help it! I love this song right down to the "cha-cha-cha"!

So I couldn't help myself... I had to make this video.  (Please forgive me!)

If the sound doesn't work - try this link: http://vimeo.com/61946623

Do you have any favourite songs about telephones?
And... which ringtone would you prefer?

This has been my second contribution to FanstRA 4. Please click on the banner above to be directed to the Hub page where you will find many more contributors this year. 
If you are interested in any of my previous FanstRA posts
you can click on the category FanstRAvaganza in my tag cloud listed under Favourite Things.

Wuthering about Kate

Kate Bush has been making her highly distinctive style of music since the late 1970s and 1980s and I'll admit although I had heard of her, I hadn't paid much attention -- until lately, that is. 

She's been a British pop sensation since the age of 16 when she materialized on the music scene with a repertoire of 200 songs which were distilled into her first album The Kick Inside.  Her combination of original talent accompanied by her beauty and grace soon had the attention of the entertainment media.  
This album is listed in Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.

Here is a short film biography about Kate Bush.

I did appreciate her duet with Peter Gabriel  "Don't Give Up".  I am sure I once saw a fanvid from North and South that someone had made to that video. I don't think I dreamt it.  I thought I would find it on my Youtube playlist, but if I ever saved it, it has since disappeared.

Wuthering Heights was her first hit from her debut album. The 1970 miniseries with Timothy Dalton was her inspiration. I vaguely remember hearing Kate sing this song in my youth, but I don't think I listened well enough to know what it was about.  She was playing in the background of the soundtrack of my life, I just wasn't tuned to her channel.  In 1978 when this song first came out, I had just discovered The Police and Blondie's Heart of Glass was the song that most intrigued me.  Now that I have rediscovered this song, I am almost haunted by it.  Kate's soaring vocals are almost terrifying in their passion.  If you watch one of the videos where she is singing and dancing, she really acts like a ghostly Cathy yearning for her lost love. 

I like how this fanvidder (thumbelina15) has used the song with clips from the 1992 version of Wuthering Heights starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. 

Richard Armitage fans can't help wishing that he would be given a role like Heathcliff someday.  There was even a fanvideo by EvenstarCrystal mixing Guy of Gisborne into the 1992 version so that he does look like Heathcliff.

At the tender age of 16 Kate Bush was discovered by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.  We have him to thank for launching her career.  Here she is with him singing her hit from 1985
"Running Up That Hill".


I guess I am not the only Richard Armitage fan who appreciates Kate's music.  Here are two fanvids which use a cover version of this same song as performed by the group Placebo.   Miss Hale78 has done a simply stellar job in this video showing Lucas North's struggle with himself in Spooks series 9.  The music is a perfect fit and her editing is very intense.
It seems hard to believe but this same song has also been used for a North and South fanvid by Lotjeknorrepotje.  It works well because of the clever use of the clips she has chosen.


This next video is the song that ultimately inspired this post as it seems as if it could have been written by one of us Richard Armitage fans!

The Man with the Child in His Eyes


This song brings to mind Richard's portrayal of John Standring in a modern version of Wuthering Heights called Sparkhouse. Cathy is named Carol, a wimpy Heathcliff aka Andrew is played by Joe McFadden, and Richard's character is kind of an Everyman who is thrown in to keep it real.

Look at his eyes!  He is so sweet. Who could hurt him?

The more I found out about Kate Bush, the more songs I found to admire.  This one also brought Richard to mind with his early career as a dancer.

Moving

Here's the biggest surprise I got from watching Kate's music videos.  She made a filmlike video to her song Experiment IV starring Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) and The Vicar of Dibley herself! (Dawn French)



For more of Kate Bush's music videos, visit her official Youtube channel.

I was very pleased to remember to include the following fan video and I am very grateful to have received permission to post it here.  Heathdances was inspired to create a sequel to North and South using Kate's song "Women's Work".  As it doesn't follow the usual plot of the miniseries, here is her explanation of the video:

This is an AU (Alternate Universe) video!! Basically, it takes place after the N&S series has ended. John (Richard Armitage) and Margaret (Daniela Denby-Ashe) get married and start a family. At the train station Margaret is trying to tell John she is pregnant, and is a little nervous about it. He holds her hand and assures her everything will be fine and of course they are very happy about it. During her pregnancy she collapses and goes into early labor. Margaret is struggling with the birth and spends many hours in labor. John is not only concerned but heartbroken and feels like his life with Margaret is falling apart. He thinks back on the good times and bad in their relationship. He doesn't want to lose either Margaret or the baby. Margaret is a strong woman though and pulls through. She has a beautiful healthy baby. John is relieved and they are one happy family. :-)

I don't know where my mind goes sometimes LOL but I have always wanted to make a continuation story for John and Margaret. I can't write fan fiction so this is my way of fan fiction! LOL

If you click on the Youtube logo on the bottom right corner of the video you can watch it from the Youtube page and change it to a higher definition picture.

Thanks Heather! Your video is very creative and beautifully realized. Please feel free to make more musical fan fics. :)

Here's another surprise... I didn't realize when I started this post that after a long hiatus, Kate Bush has released a new album: Director's Cut. 
 Here is a recent BBC radio interview you can listen to if you wish.

A Moorland Cottage?... on a walk to Hilltop Farm

Thanks to the Gaskell Blog which is hosting the Group Read of Moorland Cottage, I ordered a copy of Elizabeth Gaskell's short novel and am presently enjoying a visit to the countryside in Victorian England.

 The first chapter paints us a picture that reminded me very much of my trip to England's Lake District last July. According to the Gaskell blog Elizabeth Gaskell wrote this work while staying near Lake Windermere, so it is no wonder that my memories of the area kept popping up while I read her lyrical descriptions.





Most comfortable shoes ever!

 I did a lot more walking than I was used to when I was visiting England.  I had hoped to do so and thankfully had brought some comfortable walking shoes, but little did I know how grateful for them I would be.  

While staying at Lake Windermere I had expected to catch a bus to Hilltop Farm, but when I discovered I would have to wait at least an hour for the bus, I decided to walk. Uphill. For over an hour.

That may not sound like much to you heel-toe speedsters, you marathon trainers, you healthy go-getters, but to a couch potato who's bottom is usually firmly ensconced in front  of a television or computer, this little jaunt was an event of gargantuan proportions. Thankfully, we were fully able to appreciate  the beauty along the way due to the frequent rest stops. *Gasp!*
I didn't need to worry that my husband was being held up by my lack of physical fitness. He was suffering from a knee injury and wearing a knee brace to keep the swelling down, so he was even more eager to pause than I was.

 Here are Elizabeth Gaskell's directions to Moorland Cottage:

If you take the turn to the left, after you pass the lyke-gate at Combehurst Church, you will come to the wooden bridge over the brook

(Okay, so it's not a lyke-gate, but it's such a pretty picture! Can we pretend that there is a wooden bridge and a brook over there behind the hedge? hmmm?)

 Keep along the field-path which mounts higher and higher, and, in half a mile or so, you will be in a breezy upland field, almost large enough to be called a down, where sheep pasture on the short, fine, elastic turf.

  You look down on Combehurst and its beautiful church-spire.

(At least I think this was a church.) It doesn't have much of a spire though. I seem to remember it being more brown.  That is what inspired me to start singing "The Little Brown Church in the Vale". O come, come, come, come..... (Nevermind --- off on a tangent again!)

The path goes down a green abrupt descent; and in a basin, surrounded by the grassy hills, there stands a dwelling, which is neither cottage nor house, but something between the two in size. Nor yet is it a farm, though surrounded by living things.

Well, unfortunately I skipped a bit of her lovely description because I didn't have a corresponding picture. You can see a house in the distance behind the greenouse. This is my imaginary Moorland Cottage.
  At the time I took these pictures though, I was wondering if I were anywhere near Hilltop Farm (which was my ultimate destination).  I assumed it was at the top of a hill, (and I knew I was because the road sloped downhill after here) so it made sense that it must be very close.  When we stopped at the nearest pub and asked directions we discovered we had another 3 miles to go!!

I will be posting later about what we saw at Hilltop Farm, (and yes, it was worth the effort).  The only thing that would have made the walk even more worthwhile would be if I had seen a sight such as this:

He looks a bit surprised to see me!

photo courtesy of Richard Armitage Net

"Are you stalking me, Phylly?"

No! *Gasping* Honestly! It was a complete coincidence running into you like this!

*collapses*

Bare, ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang....

A recent visit to Kirkstall Abbey at Leeds, UK has inspired me with the words from Shakespeare's Sonnet 73.

One line of poetry came to me while viewing these ruins, and at the time I had no idea of the title or the author of the poem.  (Thank you Google) I also have no idea how I was familiar with the poem as I don't remember studying it in school.  Did I actually read it on my own, when I was on a long ago Shakespeare kick?

Bare ruined choirs....

Where late the sweet birds sang...

These were the size of coffins -- very spooky!

Something about a ruined building, particularly a church, is so forlorn. (I  also like pictures of rotting, falling down barns on the prairie.) Abbeys and barns don't seem to have much in common, but they do say much about the culture that created them.When new and proud they both seem somewhat incongruous to the landscape around them, but as ruins, they gradually become accepted by nature, leaving their own quiet dignity to whisper about their glorious past.

Now looking at ruined abbeys is one thing, but I did see other churches 

(not in ruins) on my trip.

 Leeds Parish Church

The beautiful etched glass in the interior.

I did manage to go to several other places in England:

I visited the Bronte Chapel at Haworth:

The interior has been updated quite a bit since the Brontë family frequented it.

(More on this visit on a later post!)

St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
I wasn't allowed to take any interior shots of this church. I rushed through it with such unseemly haste to get back to our tour bus, that I felt like a hooligan! If I hadn't stumbled over the marker for Jane Seymour's resting place I would have completely missed it!


Bath Abbey

Detail in the abbey door.

(More about Bath in a later post!)

St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle

 This is the oldest part of the castle, built in the 12th century
by King David to honour his mother Queen Margaret.



Unfortunately I didn't visit Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral (much to my disappointment) as I had hoped to go all Mary Poppins-like and possibly break into a chorus of "Feed the Birds".

I had a glimpse of St. Paul's from the open-top tour bus as we raced off to some other attraction. So much to see and so little time!


Frequenters of this blog might well be wondering how all this can possibly tie into my fascination with a certain actor?  Well, I seem to remember seeing Richard Armitage in a few church scenes...





Sad.

At a funeral for Margaret's mother in North and South

Should be happy, but....sad

Getting married in Sparkhouse

Tragic!

About to be jilted at the altar in the season 1 finale of Robin Hood

 Finally...Happy!

Getting married to the Vicar of Dibley in the final episode

I'm not adverse to verse...

A few posts back there was a Haiku contest at Me + Richard Armitage that I had to respond to, and it had me so into making those little verses of 5 / 7 / 5 syllables that I was practically speaking in that way for a day or so!

So here is what I came up with when I thought about Mr. Armitage -- it was all his wonderful roles which I scouted out through the generosity of Youtube posters and other online video sources, after first being gobsmacked with his incredible talent in the BBC's fabulous production of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

I have decided to illustrate my poem with pictures of him (duh who else?) just in case there are still some people out there who haven't been introduced to the wonder that is Richard Armitage...and the rest of us who know all about him really don't mind looking at the same pictures over and over and over again!

The roles were: North and South 2004, the Vicar of Dibley 2006, Robin Hood 2006-2009, Spooks/MI-5 2008- (also referred to as "The Grid"), Sparkhouse 2002, Cold Feet 2003, Between the Sheets 2003, The Impressionists 2006, The Golden Hour 2005. These were more or less the order that I discovered these programs.

I followed you from

North and South to Dibley and

Sherwood to the Grid.












On the way, I passed
Through Sparkhouse, seeking some warmth

For Cold Feet, Between the Sheets.

I understand why
The Impressionists paint such

Golden Hours of you.

Servetus was very kind to write a review of my haiku which was very complimentary**blushing** but I won't print it here, there is a link to it on my "Poetry of Earth" posting.
So, poetry month is almost over and I hadn't written a line of poetry in quite a few years, so it was fun to be inspired by my muse, (a.k.a. Mr. Armitage) and by Servetus for posting the challenge.
Even TeeTotallyNot is getting into it -- I see she's posted some limericks today on her blog YI, Mum?
Yep! We've got it BAD!

Spring is sprung...

Spring is sprung.
The grass is riz.
I wonder where the birdies is?
The bird is on the wing.
Now isn’t that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird!

-- Anonymous

I remember fondly my Dad quoting this verse and telling me it was by Odgen Nash. Well, I have been unable to prove this assertion (at least by internet research)! But this one is one of his:

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has newly sprung
the hills are full of grass
and along comes a billy-goat
sliding on his overcoat
down the summer pass

~ by Ogden Nash ~

Here is a video bursting with the signs of Spring set to Vivaldi's Spring suite from "The Four Seasons".

This Beatles tune always puts me in the mood for Spring:

And once again here is a painting by Claude Monet, entitled Break-up of Ice, Grey Weather (1880)

Canadian artists were also influenced by French Impressionism. Tom Thomson was a forerunner of the Group of Seven but his style of painting had great influence on them.

Spring, Algonquin Park

Here is another painting by Tom Thomson entitled Spring Ice (1917)

This was finished shortly before he died, mysteriously drowned while on a painting expedition.

Springtime brings thoughts of romance and here are some favourite movie clips with this theme:

I had to find a new clip for The Lonely Goatherd  from The Sound of Music (1965), as 20th Century Fox had a copyright issue with the last clip. Here's hoping no one has an issue about this one! Julie Andrews sings the song on The Muppet Show (1977)



Besides lonely goatherds there have been some lonely shepherds as well:

Alan Bates played Gabriel Oak in Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd (1967) with Julie Christie, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch. His character, like his name was strong and natural as an Oak tree and as kind and heroic as the angel Gabriel himself. One wonders why it takes the love of his life, Bathsheba Everdene so long to figure out that he is the man for her!

Here is a clip from the movie where Bathsheba is singing
at the Shearing supper for her tenants.




This story was redone for television in 1998 starring Nathaniel Parker (from the Inspector Lynley series) as Gabriel Oak and Paloma Baeza as Bathsheba.
Here is a wonderful fanvid by Elva75 of the 1998 version of the story:



As an interesting side note, both of these actors have worked with my favourite actor (have you figured out yet whom that might be?) Richard Armitage appeared with Nathaniel Parker in an episode of The Inspector Lynley mysteries. As well, Paloma Baeza appeared in 3 episodes of Spooks / MI-5 Season 7 as Lucas North's ex-wife Elizaveta.

RA with Nathaniel Parker

RA with Paloma Baeza

Even better, Richard Armitage had quite a Gabriel Oak type role as John Standring in Sparkhouse, which is a modern retelling of the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Here's a link to my blogger buddy Mulubinba's terrific review of Sparkhouse.

Richard Armitage as John Standring helps tend the sheep on a farm owned by the father of the girl he yearns for, named Carol (played by Sarah Smart) who is madly in love with Andrew (Joe McFadden). Since Andrew's parents believe Carol is beneath him, they foil the couple's romantic dreams and Andrew abandons Carol at the altar. Years pass, and he marries someone else and even becomes a father. One day he moves back home and when he sees Carol again, his passion for her is reignited. Nevermind that she has finally got her life back together and has persuaded the ever loyal and loving John to sell his house, put all the money into her farm and then she will promise to be a good wife to him. Long story short, it's very sad, but not quite as tragic as the original story because really, which guy would you rather end up with?

On the left we have Andrew whose parents hate you and although he professes undying love, he has abandoned you at the altar, married another woman and had a baby with her, all without any explanation for his behaviour.

On the right we have John, who has always been there when you needed him, is willing to make himself over for you, heals your wounds, doesn't mind raising your child by another man, is always kind, gentle and caring, and oh yes, although he doesn't start fights, can do a fabulous job defending your honour.

It's not really a fair choice...for a sane person! Immature boy-man vs. man of any woman's dreams!

Here is one of my favourite fanvids by Neelma, telling the story from Carol's viewpoint. It's set to Fallen by Sarah McLachlan.