Snow wonder

Guy of Gisborne looking snowy

It has been warmer than usual so far this winter. Many parts of Canada haven't received their usual amount of snowfall.  I can't conceive of a Christmas without snow, so please let me share with you some snowy scenes and songs of the season. These two songs were both new to me and are both by very talented young Canadians. 

I love the retro sound of this song.  It was written and performed by Meaghan Smith who hails from London, Ontario.  She has a lovely voice and I find the bouncy, upbeat vibe of this song is very engaging.  The video appears to be by and about some university students celebrating a "snow day" when classes are cancelled due to a snow storm.  They look like they are really enjoying themselves. 

Please click on her name to see Meaghan's webpage where you can read her bio and see some professional videos of her songs.

Snow Day (It Snowed) / by Meaghan Smith

This cover of The Little Drummer Boy is by a 16 year old High School student from Winnipeg, Manitoba named Sean Quigley.  He plays all the instruments himself, but especially loves his drums.  He also made the video himself with a bit of help in filming by a family member.  I love that he used the city of Winnipeg as his backdrop on a perfect snowy day.  The last scene from atop a building, showing the skyline is very effective.  Also very nice is that he shows friends of his holding up signs which read Merry Christmas in a variety of languages. If you click on his name below you can read more about him in a news article.  His video has quickly gone viral.
***Please Note:  Most people would not choose to wear shorts in the winter!***

Little Drummer Boy / Sean Quigley

You may think me a flake, but this is no snow job!  Looking closely will make my subject crystal clear.

Now that you are in a flurry of excitement - Here are some good wishes for you!

Autumn Songs

Autumn Song

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

Autumn Music (1963) by Isabel McLaughlin (1903-2002)

Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf

How the heart feels a languid grief

Laid on it for a covering,

And how sleep seems a goodly thing

In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

And how the swift beat of the brain

Falters because it is in vain,

In Autumn at the fall of the leaf

Knowest thou not? and how the chief

Of joys seems--not to suffer pain?

 Know'st thou not at the fall of the leaf

 How the soul feels like a dried sheaf

 Bound up at length for harvesting,

And how death seems a comely thing   
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

Except for nature's glorious display of colour, this time of year -- with darkness falling ever earlier and colder weather descending, can seem rather depressing for some people.  No wonder then, that the poetry and music which has been inspired by it is often melancholic.

These two songs performed by Gordon Lightfoot on one of his earliest albums have been favourites of mine forever!  In fact, I dearly love the entire album Lightfoot! and have referred to it before in an earlier post. But I did not realize until very recently that this next song was not written by Lightfoot but by Phil Ochs. If you are not already familiar with the work of Phil Ochs I urge you to click on his name (which is highlighted) above the following video. The link will take you to a Wikipedia article about him.  I will admit, although I had heard of him, I was not aware of the range of his work or his lasting influence.

Changes / by Phil Ochs (sung by Gordon Lightfoot)

This song is so simple and pure.  It is a like a hymn of benediction.

Peaceful Waters / by Gordon Lightfoot

I have collected some very autumn looking scenes to make a collage from the

BBC's Robin Hood with Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne.

Guy of Gisborne, the character portrayed so realistically by Richard Armitage in the BBC's rather campy production of Robin Hood 2006-2009 undergoes his own fall from grace. Luckily he redeems himself in the end.

When You're Falling: a Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) fanvideo / by Delicateblossomvideo

Many of us who have seen his work, have fallen for the talent and dedication to his craft, of Richard Armitage, (not to mention his amazing good looks) and even more amazingly the shy humbleness and good humoured generosity of his personality. Many fans came to know his work in Robin Hood as Guy of Gisborne. Even though he played a "bad guy" who struggled and failed to win the heart of Maid Marian, he was able to capture the hearts of many fans.

Falling Into You / by litteraes

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

Songs from Middle Earth

Not long ago, I happened upon this picturesque video with music from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack  and thought it seemed very appropriate for Earth Day.

The music here  is by The Tolkien Ensemble, 

a truly amazing group that I hope to hear a lot more from.

This beautiful music makes me even more excited about Peter Jackson's production of The Hobbit.  I didn't realize that there was so much potential for music until I read the book and saw the lyrics there. 

A lovely slide show of location pictures from Lord of the Rings 

set to Enya's "May it Be" and Annie Lennox's "Into the West"

New Zealand truly does make a spectacular Middle Earth. And according to a new video from Peter Jackson's blog, the production is being wise enough to reuse many of the old sets from LOTR for his new production of The Hobbit.  That sounds very earth-friendly to me! :)

Of course I am most anxious to see this man (Richard Armitage-- as if you didn't know!)

--who is front and centre and being gazed at adoringly by the actor who plays Bilbo Baggins!

What do you think Martin Freeman is thinking here? (Sounds like another caption contest idea!)

We are not sure exactly how he will look as Thorin Oakenshield (the leader of the dwarves). But if it is anything similar to Gimli from LOTR, he could possibly look like this...

We can only hope and pray that we get to hear him SING!!

(or play the flute or cello?)

**UPDATE**
Check out a new RA blog: Befuddled Musings, I just discovered today. Thank you Servetus!
Calexora has been thinking about Richard's musicality as well -- on this post.

Put on a Sweater / Jumper

Let's ogle Harry Kennedy in his stripey sweater!

February 17 is National Sweater Day in Canada and wherever else -- if you'd like to participate.  The idea is to turn down your thermostat by 3 degrees and put on a warm, funky sweater. It's a fun way to show your support for the environment by reducing energy use.  Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) whose ultimate goal is to build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

 In honour of this day I'd like to take the opportunity to admire some sweater-wearing men. There is even a Facebook page called Stripey Sweaters with some awesome pictures of swoonworthy men in sweaters.

If you are in the British Isles you probably refer to these clothing items as "jumpers".  I thought that was a funny thing to call them until I thought about the word "sweater".  It is rather crude sounding isn't it? After all, until the latter part of the twentieth century women were not even supposed to "sweat".  My mother always said that women don't sweat, they glow! Does that mean we are radioactive?  Perhaps some athletic types might actually perspire but sweat? -- Never! And now here is actual scientific proof confirming my mother's old adage, which goes to show how mother's are always right!  Study: Men better than women at sweating during exercise

Colin Firth in a reindeer jumper (Bridget Jones' Diary)

Jumper ‘sweater’ (19th c.), incidentally, appears to have no etymological connection with jump. It was probably derived from an earlier dialectal jump or jup, which denoted a short coat for men or a sort of woman’s underbodice. This in turn was borrowed from French juppe, a variant of jupe ‘skirt’, whose ultimate source was Arabic jubbah, the name of a sort of loose outer garment. (quote from Word-origins.com )

Martin Freeman as Watson wearing an Aran sweater

I could go into great detail about the different types of sweaters, (of which the Aran is one of my favourites, or the Fair Isle, which was very popular in the 1980s -- I even almost knitted one!), but as time is of the essence I will just say this... Regarding the difference between the words sweater and jumper -- here is what I have gathered in far too much time trolling the net:

Ben Barnes in a hoodie

A sweater is a term which describes many different types of knitted, long sleeved garments, intended to clothe the upperbody. Originally it was made of wool, but nowadays can be made out of many different types of knitted material.( ie. the hockey sweater which used to be wool, and now is also called a jersey.)
A jumper is a type of sweater which could also be called a pullover as it has no front opening so it can only be donned by pulling it over one's head. Fleece sweatshirts are also called jumpers in the UK.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

  

Avalon--This one's for you!

I almost forgot about this fabulous fanvid!

Fuzzy / by immadeofatoms

And now, I must stop -- because my brain is sweating from looking at pictures of  

Richard Armitage in a sweater!

As Phillip Durrant (wearing a cardigan) in Ordeal by Innocence (Richard Armitage Central Gallery)

Yes Ma -- I'm Sweating!

Chillin' with Phyll

Winter Morning / Tom Thompson

It is bitterly cold in central Canada. Time to plug in your car's block heater at night. I sing the praises of my command start as I press the button from inside my cosy kitchen, instead of running out to start the car and warm it up first, before I leave for work. Not in order to have a comfortable temperature in my vehicle, but so that my car's engine will actually start!
 My dear, thoughtful husband has been plugging in my car before he leaves for work in the morning. (I usually leave a couple of hours later.)  But this morning, apparently that was not enough time to keep the engine warm enough to start -- because as I discovered when it was time to leave for work -- my car was stalled!

Too bad I didn't have this lovely lady handy, with her jumper cables to help me restart the car!

When I eventually arrived at work (my boss came and rescued me), it was to find the busses cancelled (but quite a few students had straggled in anyway) and recess was definitely indoors that day (as it had been almost all week).  The temperature was warming to almost -27 degrees celsius but with the windchill it was definitely more than 30 below, even at midday!

It's not much better today. Have a look at our thermometer this morning.
 

For it's forty below in the winter,

And it's twenty below in the fall.

It just rises to zero in summer,

And we don't have a springtime at all.

(Christopher Dafoe (1936-) Forty Below)

Well, we don't have too many natural disasters where I'm from. Oh, a forest fire here and there, a bit of flooding maybe, and of course the hordes of mosquitoes and blackflies to fend off all summer long. But life is generally pretty mellow in the boreal forest most of the time...that is, if you can survive the winter...

Archibald Lampman (1861-1899)

Midnight

J.E.H. MacDonald / Early Evening Winter (1912)

              1    From where I sit, I see the stars,

              2    And down the chilly floor

              3    The moon between the frozen bars

              4    Is glimmering dim and hoar.

              5    Without in many a peakèd mound

              6    The glinting snowdrifts lie;

              7    There is no voice or living sound;

              8    The embers slowly die.

              9    Yet some wild thing is in mine ear;

            10    I hold my breath and hark;

            11    Out of the depth I seem to hear

            12    A crying in the dark;

            13    No sound of man or wife or child,

            14    No sound of beast that groans,

            15    Or of the wind that whistles wild,

            16    Or of the tree that moans:

            17     I know not what it is I hear;

            18     I bend my head and hark:

            19     I cannot drive it from mine ear,

            20    That crying in the dark.


If you think that is a sad and lonely piece of Canadian literature, then get a load of this work of non-fiction!  Frozen in Time is a historical piece of forensic science from a shallow grave in the gradually melting permafrost of the Arctic tundra. The discovery of some of the crew  members of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 by anthropologists from the University of Alberta was led by author Owen Beattie in 1981 (and has since been updated with new research in 2004). It is a tragic mystery story and also a cautionary tale.  What sticks most in my mind about it was that there is evidence that the local Inuit people tried to help the doomed crew, but they were too proud of their supposed "technological superiority" to accept the help of a people they believed were beneath them!  This  was certainly proof of the aphorism: "pride cometh before a fall".  After all, I don't recall hearing much about Inuit people freezing to death!

Lawren Harris / Icebergs, Davis Strait (1930)

The story of the search for the fabled Northwest Passage has lured many explorers to Canada's frozen northland. It has also inspired many artists and musicians.  Which brings me of course, to Canada's greatest folk musician and songwriter -- Stan Rogers and his song "The Northwest Passage".

Stan Rogers / The Northwest Passage

I am amazed by how often I have been able to discover new "favourite" songs from the wonderful music videos made by fans of Richard Armitage. I am sure I had heard of this group, but I had never had the pleasure of hearing the song "Frozen Oceans" before. Of course, any song is made more special by the addition of pictures of Mr. Armitage! :)

Shiny Toy Guns / Frozen Oceans by TheCICLAMINO

Then there is this interesting movie "Frozen" 2005, (that I have yet to see) in which RA has a rather small but riveting part. The following video shows basically all his scenes in it.

Richard Armitage in Frozen

Now that film does seem pretty cold alright. But if Richard Armitage were really frozen, this is how I imagine he might look...

Thanks again, Face in Hole!

Come to think of it, he couldn't possibly stay like this -- he is hotter than a thousand suns! There, that's better, I'm finally starting to warm up!

Poppies

Linda Granfield. Toronto, ON: Stoddart Kids, 2001

The poppy -- a flower for remembrance. Blood-red, it is at once a symbol of sacrifice and a hope for the future. The flocked red plastic pin with black centre poppy that Canadians start wearing as soon as the Halloween gear is stowed away, has been offered for sale by the Royal Canadian Legion since the 1920's.  
 
Remembrance Day November 11th at 11:00 am we will pause in our work and play and pay tribute to those brave souls who put their lives on the line for all of us who live in freedom.
 
All Canadians are familiar with the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, a doctor in the first World War from Guelph, Ontario who wrote the poem after his friend was killed in the battle of Ypres, France, 1915.

In this video by Poetryanimations,
we see a picture of John McCrae seem to perform his own poem.

If you watch this video at Youtube, you can read the extensive notes underneath the video. To visit Youtube, simply click on either the video title or the Youtube symbol within the frame.

I don't know how I missed knowing this before, but apparently this poem has been made into a song!
Even if you are familiar with the poem, please listen to the song -- it is quite beautiful.

Remembrance Day is always a very sombre and sad time for those who feel the pain for those who have suffered and are still suffering because of war's devastation. But the symbol of the poppy is one of hope. It is afterall, a part of nature, it has a graceful and strong beauty able to withstand the turmoil that humankind inevitably creates.

Here are some of Claude Monet's paintings of poppy fields.
It seems he must have admired the beauty of these flowers too.

And now, although it may be entirely inappropriate. I am going to include an imaginary character from a television show who is wearing a poppy.  I am actually feeling quite sad about this character right now because of the way in which the scriptwriters chose to write him out of the series. I would like to remember Lucas North from Spooks / MI-5 as he was in the first episode in which he appeared in season 7.

Richard Armitage when he was Lucas North

To Autumn

Claude Monet, Autumn Effect at Argenteuill

To Autumn

by William Blake

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou mayst rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe, And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers. "The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve, Till clust'ring Summer breaks forth into singing, And feather'd clouds strew flowers round her head. "The spirits of the air live on the smells Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees." Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat; Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.

This past week I had the great pleasure of discovering a very talented singer named Eva Cassidy who is singing in this video. Sadly, I also discovered she no longer graces this earth with her presence, having succumbed to cancer in 1996. There are many lovely videos of her songs on Youtube, but I chose this one for the beautiful pictures of autumn foliage. If there are any readers out there who care to send me a translation of  the language in this video, I would very much appreciate it.

Claude Monet, Waterlilies series (1920-26)

Claude Monet has always been one of my favourite Impressionist painters. He also was a dedicated gardener who often used his garden as a subject of his paintings. I would love to visit his house at Giverny, France.  Many people do visit and many take photographs. Here are some photographs of his lovely garden in the Fall.

Photographs of Claude Monet's fall garden.

It ocurred to me that although I love all things British, (poets included), I should include a poem by a Canadian author.  This one paints a picture of autumn in the Canadian woods.

Here is the poem "The Solitary Woodman" by Charles G.D. Roberts

Some of my favourite Fall scenes by the Canadian artist  

Tom Thompson :

 and The Group of Seven :

Arthur Lismer

Frank H. Johnston

Frank Carmichael

A.Y. Jackson

JEH MacDonald

Lawren Harris

And here is another work of art....Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne!

Couldn't you just "Fall" for him?

Poetry of Earth

Earth Day is April 22nd so in honour of that and also for the fact that April is Poetry Month I have collected some poetry that celebrates nature, spring, and our shared experience of living on this wonderful planet we call Earth.

Poetry is best appreciated when read aloud. So I was very happy to find so many poems performed on Youtube!

The Poetry of Earth Is Never Dead

 by John Keats (1795-1821)

   The poetry of earth is never dead;

When all the birds are faint with the hot sun

And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run

From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead.

That is the grasshopper’s, – he takes the lead

In summer luxury, – he has never done

With his delights; for, when tired out with fun,

He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.

The poetry of earth is ceasing never.

On a lone winter evening, when the frost

Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills

 The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,

 And seems, to one in drowsiness half lost,

The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

Daffodils
by William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

Don't you just love Jeremy Irons? But what's with the funny hat?

Video by Noxdl.

I have loved the poetry of John Masefield since Gr. 7 when I first read "Trade Winds". He is best known for poetry which speaks of life at sea on a sailing ship, but in this one he is clearly longing for home.

The West Wind

read by the author himself

John Masefield (1878-1967)

Video made by poetryreincarnations

This Youtube channel is a treasure trove of animated pictures of poets reading their works!

Nature poetry can be found in the lyrics of modern songs.

Here is a song that warns people to take better care of the natural world or we might lose it altogether.

Big Yellow Taxi 

words and music by Joni Mitchell (1943-  ),

performed by Counting Crows.

Although I am a great fan of Joni Mitchell, I chose to use the version by Counting Crows, firstly because the visuals suited my theme better, and secondly because I think I think more people would prefer this version. Die-hard Joni fans can still hear her version if they click on the video bar at the end of this video.

John Denver  (1943-1997) was a great nature lover.

His song, Rocky Mountain High

celebrates a special corner of the world that he called home.

WARNING: If you turned up the volume to hear John Denver, get ready to lower the volume for this next video. For some reason it is much louder than the others. (I would hate for anyone to get annoyed by being blasted with the next reader's amazing voice!) And if you are not interested in staring at pictures of Richard Armitage while he reads this poem, just minimize the screen, but don't miss his reading -- the poem is wonderful, and the delivery can't be beat!

Here is a poem from World War II

about guarding the land against the enemy:

Nightwatch for England

by Edward Shanks (1892-1953)

read by Richard Armitage

This is a fanvid by DanielleRCA

By the way, if anyone out there has any information about the poet Edward Shanks I would be very interested. I have become a bit of a fan of his poetry since researching for this post.  (There is very little interesting information that is easily searchable on the net, (so far) or I would have put up a link.)

Here are some other mentions of poetry amongst my blogger buddies.

Nat from Richard Armitage Fan Blog has a couple great limericks.

And Sue from Me + Richard Armitage had a haiku contest!