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...

You can Bank on it!

The idea of Banking has certainly changed over the years.  The Banks used to be regarded as a venerable institution.  But now, Banks and bankers are seen as a greedy, gouging scourge on society.  It's not like they don't deserve that reputation either!

From the recent world-wide financial crisis, precipitated by deregulation and the institutions' own inability to police itself, to here in Canada where our Banking system remained relatively intact -- we have recently been disgusted with the Royal Banks' treatment of their employees who were expected to train their own replacements before being let go.
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/04/08/hamilton-rbc-facebook.html

Back when I was little, banks seemed like very respectable places. When I was in Grade One, our teacher sent a letter home to our parents stating that each child would need one dollar to open a savings account at our local bank.  When the day came and we all had our dollar bills, we marched en masse from our school down the street to the Bank of Nova Scotia.  Each one of us opened our first savings account.  What a perfect first lesson in civics and early economics.  I had the joy of watching my small deposits accumulate interest at quite a significant rate.

I used that account to save for buying Christmas presents for my family, and later to deposit my revenues from babysitting and other jobs.  My favourite teller had a head for numbers and knew my account number better than I did. She still remembered it, after I moved away and only came back for summer holidays! That branch (now known as Scotiabank) is closed now "in order to serve us better" so they said. (?)

This was all I knew about banking as a child.  You put money in the bank and as it acquired interest, the amount kept growing. If only it were still that simple!  That was also in the days before bank fees gobbled up more than the pittance of interest they are giving for savings accounts nowadays.

Ahhh!  If only things were like the good old days! 

British Bank Singalong from Disney's Mary Poppins

Two Scenes from Mary Poppins

Fidelity Fiduciary Bank Song

I guess some bankers were greedy back then too!


This commercial is a great portrayal of how the banking community is viewed today.

Capital One commercial "You've Got Bankers!"

And I can't resist sharing Rick Mercer's take on Canada's Banks. 
Of course it's a few years old now, but still good for a laugh!

 Rick Mercer (2009)



 Here's an Australian spoof which attempts to explain 
The Reserve Bank:

Newstopia Explains the Reserve Bank (2008)



  Is it any wonder that with what has been going on in the world that someone would want to murder a banker? 
Here is an episode from the first season of the BBC's Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch which is about the murder of a banker.  But there is another reason I am showing you this clip. (Hint: it is in the last few seconds of the video)

Sherlock BBC: The Blind Banker / by GriddlePop


If you were watching closely, you would see a character in this episode is the same actress who starred with Richard Armitage in The Golden Hour.  In this program Zoe Telford plays Watson's girlfriend.

 Zoe Telford in The Golden Hour (top) and Sherlock (bottom)

In Spooks (MI-5) series 7 episode 5, Richard Armitage plays the role of a banker while the Grid is spying on a millionaire high roller who is toying with Britain's banking system so he can make more millions on the resulting mayhem.  RichardArmitageOnline.com has a great pictorial summary of this episode here.  Also on this website is a video clip of one of my favourite scenes. Ros and Lucas are posing as an engaged couple.  They certainly look lovely together!

The following is a fan made video of the same episode meant to be a spoof of an actual bank's commercial.  Their real life motto is "which bank?"

Which Bank [spooks] style / by DeltaTango45



Fans of Richard Armitage are familiar with his voice overs for Santander.  But this vidder has gone one further and turned another Spooks episode into a Santander commercial.
(Thanks to NotEvenanOuch for reuploading this video just the other day!)

Richard Armitage reads ''Santander" advert / by NotEvenAnOuch



And that's not all!
Fellow blogger CDoart wrote a fan fic about RA 
which begins in a bank.

My money is on Richard Armitage.  
I have certainly invested a lot of time admiring him! ;)

Jingle Jangle Phylly

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

I've always loved the sound of The Byrds.  Something about their sound has always really appealed to me.  Of course I loved their harmony, but it wasn't only that.  I wasn't sure what it was until I really thought about it, and when I heard a song similar to theirs I realized it was the guitar music with that jangly sound that I liked so much.

I have been hearing this type of music almost my entire life, but I never really thought about what made it different than any other type of music. I knew plenty of songs I loved, but I never really made the connection to what they had in common.

Mr. Tambourine Man / The Byrds  

In the early '80s my husband and I saw a movie where we enjoyed the soundtrack so much we tried to purchase it but it was always sold out.  The movie was Valley Girl with Nicolas Cage.  Here is one of my favourite songs that was played on that soundtrack.  You can hear that jangly sound in it.

I Melt With You / Modern English

This next song was also made famous by the Valley Girl movie.

A Million Miles Away / The Plimsouls

So for years I was loving that jangly guitar sound without even realizing it was anything but a certain style of playing guitar.  (I didn't even know for sure it was a guitar sound until I asked my husband about it once).  Then one day, as I was listening once again to Free Falling by Tom Petty, I realized he had that same sound and I just had to know what it was that made me like it so much.  I decided to do a Google search for "jangle music" and what a surprise I had!  I learned that Jangle Pop is an actual genre of music!

Here is the definition (according to Wikipedia):

Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s", as exemplified by The Byrds, with electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones". Between 1983 and 1987, the description "jangle pop" was, in the US, used to describe bands like R.E.M., Let's Active and Tom Petty, and a subgenre called "Paisley Underground", which incorporated psychedelic influences.^[1] In the UK the term was applied to the new wave of raw and immediate sounding melodic guitar-bands collected on the NME's C86 (and laterCD86) compilations.

Here's a great blog post on the history of the Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitar (which is what gives Jangle pop its jangly sound): 
Jingle-Jangle Revolution: How Rickenbacker Guitars Changed Music 

So to celebrate this fave genre of mine, I would like to showcase a couple of Richard Armitage fanvids which feature jangle pop tunes!

Richard Armitage - The Golden Hour / by maraiad72

Losing My Religion / R.E.M.

And here is a fanvid I was originally going to use in a winter-themed post.  I realize the season has moved on but actually the song still works anyway, as it does refer to the seasons changing.  Besides, I shouldn't be so northern hemispheric, eh?  For you folks Down Under, this fits in quite nicely!

But, of course the real reason I have chosen it today is for the sound.  This song, "A Hazy Shade of Winter", was originally written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkle.  The cover is by The Bangles, who are listed in that Wikipedia article as a Jangle pop band!  Who knew?  Certainly not me (until just a little while ago).

Spooks/MI5 - Lucas North by KatSw3
Hazy Shade of Winter / The Bangles

Had you ever heard of the term "Jangle Pop" before?  How do you feel about that sound?

Elton John fanvids

Elton John was my first real musical love.  I still love his music just as much today. Since it was his birthday today yesterday,  I have found a few songs made into fanvids starring various characters portrayed by my fave actor - Richard Armitage.

This first video was my favourite Elton John song for a very long time.  Usually I don't like it when someone else covers a favourite song.  I didn't like Ewan McGregor's version in the movie Moulin Rouge.  In fact, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.  I turned it off and refused to watch any more of that movie.   But when I heard this singer's version of the song, I changed my mind.  It is so different, it is almost like a new song.  Of course it works much better with a female voice in this fanvid. 

Your Song - Richard Armitage Multi-role video by angieklong

song performed by Ellie Goulding

This next fanvid is by a Spanish vidder and it looks like it was made as a birthday present for someone.  What a sweet gift!  The song has no words but its title is very fitting for Guy of Gisborne.

Song for Guy / by cuatrobesos

I am very fond of this next video as it fits so well with Lucas North's character in Spooks/MI5. 

I Want Love / by ialmajacobus

I hope I can find more RA fanvids to Elton John songs some day.  

If you know of any more, please let me know!

Meet Another Canadian Fan... my friend Tyme4t!

Tyme4t has been one of my most faithful commenters since I started blogging back in 2010.  I've often thought we seem to have a lot in common -- besides our mutual admiration for Richard Armitage.  I really didn't know much about her other than she was also Canadian.  I knew she lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia -- too far away to visit (as she is on the east coast of Canada and I am located near the middle).  So I decided if I wanted to find out more about her - I had better ask her!

Welcome to Phylly's Faves Tyme4t!  Thanks so much for agreeing to this guest post. Tell us something about  yourself...

I am a proud Canadian, born and raised and currently living in Nova Scotia. I have a University Degree in Political Science and College Degree in Public Relations, and am currently working as a Customer Service Supervisor, I am single, never married (but still hoping Prince RA I mean Prince Charming comes along). And I have a wonderful family - I love spoiling nieces and nephews.  My other loves are: Bruce Springsteen! -- I have seen him in concert 3 times! ; reading ; the beach -- especially in autumn and spring! ; learning about other cultures and countries.

A favourite place... the view from her parents' cabin

 Please tell us how you became a fan of Richard Armitage.

It began as a comment from a roommate:
"Hey! That's the new hottie spy on [spooks]!"

Looking at her bewildered I replied - "What's [spooks]?"

"It's a British spy drama called MI-5 here and every few years they get a new good looking guy in the lead. That guy playing the vicar's date is the newest one."

Richard Armitage in The Vicar of Dibley

Although I first saw Richard Armitage on Vicar of Dibley, it was MI-5 that I crossed over to the "fangurl" dimension! And really it was my developing obsession with MI-5 that lead me to so many of the great blogs and new friends.

Up until finding MI-5, I was never one to go to YouTube or visit a fan forum. I just didn't "get" why people would join or become involved in those things. But because both RA and MI-5 were in Britain...and I am in Canada...the internet became an essential link to finding out more about both.

First I tried YouTube....typed in Richard Armitage - the first video that popped up was Nat's Stick Figure Richard!! I loved it! and then I did a brave thing...I clicked on the link to her blog! From then on...I was hooked. I discovered other fans, blogs, sites, forums I could check out. Heavens above...there were a LOT of them and so varied. 

Richard Armitage and Rupert Penry-Jones in Spooks/MI-5 series 7
Then I stumbled upon the [spooks] forum. I lurked around for a bit and then decided to join. For me that was it....I found soooooo many people hooked and loving MI-5 as much as I did. My roommate although a fan, was not ADDICTED as I was. Now I had discovered a community of people who, even though we may have differing opinions, understood the obsession. My favourite part of the forum was becoming friends with people from around the world who were having fun like me discussing episodes as well as trying to stump each other with quotes; ogling gorgeous pictures/graphics of the various actors and suggesting other tv programs/movies that members may enjoy. From this forum I made friends from Britain, Germany, Brazil, Spain, the US and met other Canadians which I keep in touch with in other ways now.

I was (and still am) amazed at the creative people who do the graphics, banners, art, fanfic, blogs, etc with Richard Armitage as one of their muses. I always have fun with doing captions or funny poems like limericks or Haikus. I have been asked in the past if I was going to start blogging. I have considered it but I don't think it's for me. So I tend to be the one who drops by and makes a comment or a funny observation. But never say never.....

So who and what other movies/programs did I discover because of my RAddiction?

These actors: 

Matthew Macfadyen - (visit Darcylicious everyday) ; Rupert Penry-Jones ; Peter Firth ; Hermoine Norris ; Nicola Walker ; Danny Oyelowo ; Keeley Hawes ; Trevor Eve ; James Nesbitt ; Martin Freeman ; Benedict Cumberbatch.


And these shows:

Robin Hood ; North and South ; Cranford ; Wives and Daughters ; The Impressionists ; Shakespeare Re-told ; Life on Mars ; Ashes to Ashes ; Waking the Dead ; Clatterford ; Hu$tle ; Murdoch Mysteries ; Sherlock ; The Hobbit ; Ripper Street

Of course there are way too many to list here but the above is a small sample. I have re-discovered my love of Victorian novels and period piece dramas, at the same time as increasing my love of spy and mystery genre. In a strange way, this "obsession" with RA and MI-5 has also led me to more Canadian novelists, TV shows and movies, as I seek out new-to-me entertainment. 
Our mutual "muse" on his Toronto visit
I no longer have that roommate (insert silent thank you prayer)...So thank you Harry Kennedy with your stripey sweaters and glasses! You lead me to MI-5 and soooooo many other amazing shows and actors. But most importantly you lead me to new friends, new art, new points of view, new communities, new ideas.

Thanks to Phylly for asking me to be a part of her blog - I am truly honoured.

I am so happy that Tyme4t agreed to this guest post. This introduction made me think of even more questions to ask you! I hope you will answer any questions in the comments below. Thanks for contributing to FanstRA4!

Click on image to go to the main FanstRA site

Spooks comic

It's Alternate Reality time again folks!  This time I'm trying to rewrite a bit of Spooks.  Hey! It couldn't hurt!

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.

Update!

Maintaining a blog can be quite a lot of work, especially if you are like me, and want to make sure all the links still point to the proper place and the videos haven't been removed. I check some of my older posts now and again, especially if I notice some extra traffic there.  Recently I saw that Liisake's fanvid about Lucas North to the tune of Coldplay's Spies was no longer available. I sent her a message to see if she had uploaded it anywhere else, but I haven't heard back yet.   Just today, I happened upon another vidder's version of the song done using clips from several seasons of Spooks / MI-5. Richard Armitage's Lucas North character features prominently in it, but it also includes many of the other actors from the series, both past and present.

The video was uploaded last month, but it hasn't received very many views yet.  Here it is now, for your enjoyment.  To see more fanvids featuring Coldplay songs, see my earlier post Fanvidding with Coldplay.

Spies / Coldplay (Video by PrinceZukoFanGirl)

To anyone out there who notices that my links and /or videos are no longer working, I would appreciate very much hearing from you so that I can try to fix it. You can contact me if you click on my profile, in the top right sidebar.  Thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday, dear Richard!

For his 40th Birthday tribute, Richard is being serenaded by a blonde bombshell from the past.  Who could it be?

Let's see... there were quite a few good looking blonde castmates from his time on MI-5 / Spooks...

Perhaps Genevieve O'Reilly as Sarah Caulfield?

No. Definitely a bomb, even a shell, but not a bombshell.

What about Hermione Norris as Ros Meyers?

While we do like her, still not bombshelly enough.

I know! How about Miranda Raison as Jo Porter!

A bombshell yes, but no, it's not her!

Then it must be...Sophia Myles as Beth Bailey!

Lovely choice, but wrong again I'm afraid.

You are so close...  While she was not on the cast of Spooks, 

she could actually qualify as a Spook!

It is the beautiful,
but long gone

Marilyn Monroe!

How is this possible, you may well ask?  

Well, in the modern world of technology, nothing is impossible! 

August 22nd is an auspicious day in the world of RA fandom, but it is also famous for another reason.  It is the same date as King Richard III of England was killed in battle on Bosworth Field.  Perhaps because of this tie to such a famous namesake, Richard has always been keenly interested in this period of history.

If you would like to support Richard's goal of bringing to the screen a new biopic of  England's much maligned ruler King Richard III don't forget to sign this petition.

He's so shy!

I was just commenting on Lady Rose's blog An Obsessed Fanatic about her latest post where she mentions the interview with Richard Armitage where he says he doesn't have a "nice-guy" face.  I beg to differ sir!  Basically your face is such a perfect combination of manly beauty that you can play a hero or villain as you wish!  Plus your prodigious acting talent can make us believe you are anything you decide to be. You even convinced me -- sadly -- that your heroic character Lucas North on Spooks / MI-5 was actually baddie John Bateman.  (Damn those writers!)

He looks pretty nice to me!

Lucas North series 7 Spooks / MI-5

 

Now he's being scary!

John Bateman series 9 Spooks / MI-5

 So do me a favour and stop being so darn modest all the time.  Yes, it is very sweet, and it's one of the main reasons I grew to think you were so wonderful (as a real person), but it won't be so great for your future career if you don't learn to talk yourself up a bit more!

 He's So Shy / video by angieklong

For instance, the second (annoying) interview on the red carpet in Hollywood for the Captain America debut, the interviewer asks him about the star Chris Evans.  Richard was very effusive in his praise for the actor, but totally missed his chance to put in a word for himself.  The reporter really had no idea who he was (other than a British actor) but she didn't even try to draw him out but asked him lame questions about the film and then about the London Olympics!!

The point I am trying to make here, is he doesn't need to be so self-effacing.  In fact. I think it is actually more about his good manners and upbringing than his actual view of himself.  This article seems to agree that perhaps some seemingly shy people are more confident than they seem.   I love the good manners, but geez!  Richard should toot his own horn a bit sometimes! 

But even if he doesn't (start tooting) Team Richard here will continue to trumpet his talents from the rooftops (or into cyberspace anyway)! :)

All Wet

Spring River by Tom Thompson.

Living in an area that has almost more lakes than dry land, water is very important to me.  I wouldn't want to live too far away from a lake or at least some large natural body of water.  



June 8th is Oceans Day and June 12th is Canadian Rivers Day, so the week of June 8th to June 12th is called Rivers to Ocean Week.   The Canadian Wildlife Federation reminds us that we can all help to protect our shared water resources by reducing our waste, participating in a beach clean up, using less water and choosing tap water over bottled water.  There are thousands of little things we can do to help. For more ideas, please click here to visit the CWF website.

World Water Day happened to be on my birthday this year.  I had a lovely experience on that day as I spent it on holiday in Hawaii.  We took a boat cruise down the coast of the Big Island and I was treated to my first sighting of a pod of Spinner Dolphins! They surrounded our boat and performed  jumping and spinning games for us.

 How about some classical water music?  Handel composed this music at the request of King George I to be performed outside as he floated down the Thames River on his royal barge.  No wonder it sounds so regal!




Handel / Water music

Song
Memory, hither come,
And tune your merry notes:
And, while upon the wind
Your music floats,
I’ll pore upon the stream
Where sighing lovers dream,
And fish for fancies as they pass
Within the watery glass.

William Blake

Here are some of my favourite modern tunes about rivers...

John Hiatt / The River Knows Your Name

Some stills from a scene in Chris Ryan's Strike Back, (episode 2 in Zimbabwe), screencaps from Richard Armitage Central Gallery.

A leap of faith!


On the riverbank

Bruce Springsteen is one of my all time favourite Rock singer / songwriters.  His lyrics are usually about people trying to escape from their lack-lustre lives.  The following song is from his "Darkness at the Edge of Town" album.

Bruce Springsteen / The River

The following pictures are from an episode of the George Gently series.  Richard Armitage plays a character named Ricky Deeming who initiates new members to his motorcycle club by baptizing them in the ocean.

Alison Krauss / Down to the River to Pray

From the soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I stayed up way too late one night recently to rewatch a favourite movie that I hadn't seen in a long time.  The Prince of Tides has a water theme as it takes place on the tidal flats of South Carolina. One of my favourite scenes involves the children jumping into the water holding hands, as a way to escape their troubled home life.  It was based on a book by Pat Conroy which I also read a few years before I saw the movie version.  The book is a masterpiece, and usually it is difficult to adapt such a rich, and multi-layered story to a two hour movie version.  But as the author wrote the screenplay, he managed to pull it off.  There were many vital scenes missing but what was left still managed to convey the same sense of the storyline and vivid beauty of place. I enjoyed the actors too.  Barbara Streisand was the director, but her role as the psychiatrist didn't overshadow the other fine actors. Nick Nolte gave one of his finest performances ever here, and I was very happy to see Blythe Danner as the wife.  She is a beautiful, graceful woman with a soft, sultry voice who has played before in film adaptations of Pat Conroy's books, most notably in The Great Santini. Also I would be remiss in not mentioning Kate Nelligan in a standout performance as the unstable matriarch of the family.

If you wish to watch the trailer for this movie, please visit IMDb.com here.

Here is a tribute to the movie showing some beautiful scenery.
 

 Richard Armitage has admitted to an aversion to "dark water".  It seems that he must be pushing himself to confront this fear as the previous pictures can attest.  In series 8 of Spooks / MI-5 his character of Lucas North is subjected to waterboarding (a type of torture which simulates drowning).  The following music video by JulietD100 brilliantly explores Lucas's experience with water.

Fanvid by JulietD100 / *spooks* Lucas North 'The Water'
Hurt / The Water


How terrible that such a life-giving resource could be used for torture.  I hate to end on such a sad note.


"We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon,
that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens
and fields, and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way." 
American Indian, Chinook Blessing Litany, 
Earth Prayers from Around the World, 1991

I can't resist one last look...

Richard Armitage is all wet in Robin Hood BBC