Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Cold as Canada

This song came up on my YouTube feed from someone I subscribe to.  It fit with my mood perfectly as I have been very lethargic because of the cold temperatures.


It is by the Australian folksinger Paul Kelly, whom I wasn't familiar with, but can certainly appreciate, so I am grateful to be introduced to him. The video (I had originally posted included many iconic images of Canadian winter to fit with the title "Cold as Canada". It was made by a vidder called paganmaestro with quite a wide collection of great music and photographs that have been shared through YouTube.)  Unfortunately that channel has been discontinued - so I had to find a replacement video.

Canadians who are lucky enough to afford winter vacations love to travel to warmer destinations to escape the cold.  This blog post by Australian author Pru Batten made me very envious as it sounds like paradise! It is summer where she is in Tasmania. She describes a day at the beach near her home.  I can almost feel the sun and water on my skin as I read it.  Aaaahhh!


This is so not what I was picturing.
by Sebastien Lefebvre on 05 Oct 2012 in Ottawa
Runner up in Stormy Scenes from Canadian Geographic
magazine's Whatever the Weather photo contest

Yep. We are knee-deep in winter here in Canada and although Canadians pride ourselves in our ability to withstand and even thrive in cold temperatures, it doesn't mean we don't enjoy whining about it occasionally. For instance, last month was comparatively warm around here, so of course the cold had to start sooner or later.  I think we're getting spoiled actually. Environment Canada has reported that in the last 65 years temperatures in Canada have warmed over 3 degrees!  That may not sound like much to you, but it is a pretty big deal.  So when the temperatures start to dip to 30 below zero celsius (which is pretty normal for January in my part of Canada) we don't seem quite as able to adapt because the week before it was barely minus 10!  The variation in temperature is pretty crazy lately.  In the past decade I have seen pouring rain in February, and then a few years later in January even!  Believe me, that was unheard of here when I was a child.

All I want to do is stay warm.  My automatic car starter isn't working now for some reason.  Maybe it has something to do with when I bashed into a snowbank on a slippery corner on the way to work last week.  At least I avoided hitting the school bus!  You might think a snowbank would be full of soft, fluffy snow.  Oh no!  Not here!  The crunch sounded more like hitting a brick wall.  I damaged the front right corner of my Honda van, curiously in the same area as my husband bashed the truck the previous week.  Did I mention the roads were slippery?  Let's see, above normal winter temperatures followed by a huge dump of snow for two solid days, so that the town could barely keep up with snow removal on the roads. (Luckily for me it was on the weekend); followed immediately by bone chilling temperatures!  That is what's been going on for the past two weeks here.

I am going into hibernation mode.  But before I do, I am going to try and thaw myself out by gazing on some cozy photos of my favourite actor, (you know who).



You'd better bundle up a bit more than that Richard!






That's better!  But is that coat warm enough?  Nice watch!
(Speaking of watches - The Armitage Watch Movie Club is at it again.  Check out this blog for the times to tune into Robin Hood Fridays and Spooks Saturdays)






This coat looks quite cozy, but not good enough for a Canadian winter!






Now this guy knows how to dress for the cold!




screencap by Linda van Pelt

But this is the scene that really warms my heart!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

SNL spoofs The Hobbit!

Thanks to Servetus for her post here:"More Hobbit" on SNL or Mr. Armitage, when they spoof you there, everyone in the U.S. will know who you are...
She thanks her Twitter friends for the alert.  I am very grateful too! But I couldn't play the link she posted (not available in Canada).  So I found this on YouTube and I couldn't resist posting it!


I wouldn't be surprised if this video disappears soon so enjoy it while you can!



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Call for participants...

For more information, or if you are interested in participating, please contact Traxy @TheSquee blog

The Squee

or on the 
FanstRAvaganza page on Facebook

and fill out this form

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Some Lucky Canuck might win a trip to New Zealand!

I was alerted to this opportunity to win a trip to New Zealand by my blogger friend Nat from Richard Armitage Fan Blog.  She was contacted by the company who is promoting this prize but since it for Canadians only, she passed the information on to me.

Here is what you could win:
Roundtrip Economy airfare for two (2) from Vancouver, Canada to Queenstown, New Zealand
Ten (10) night’s accommodation for two (2) at the Hilton Hotels & Resorts Queenstown in a deluxe lake-view room
Daily breakfast for two (2) at the Wakatipu Grill, courtesy of Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Follow this link to Tribute.ca to enter the contest:

You can enter until Feb.10, 2013, so keep trying until then!

For more information, the rules are all laid out here:

Good Luck!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Music to the honour the King

In honour of the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien (Jan. 3, 1892 - Sept. 3, 1973)

I have collected a bit of a musical tribute to Tolkien's first fantasy adventure The Hobbit,
focusing on my favourite character, Thorin Oakenshield a.k.a the rightful King Under the Mountain
(portrayed in the movie version by Richard Armitage).
GIF from Tumblr by Courtney of somanyvows.tumblr.com



All Tolkien fans would know of this author's wide influence on the fantasy adventure genre (which began with the publication of The Hobbit in 1937, but one might be surprised to discover his many other influences in pop culture, such as in the field of music.

This first musical offering is in a genre called Folk/Viking Metal (an intriguing style mixture) by the northern British band called Windrider.

The King Under the Mountain / Windrider 

For the lyrics click here

Did you know that Led Zeppelin was one of many rock bands that have been inspired by Tolkien's works?  I'll have to admit - I didn't until now.  However I can't admit to being a huge Zeppelin fan. My husband bought the album that this next song is on and he didn't get the reference until now either. But he read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit long after first hearing this song.

Ramble On / Led Zeppelin


For a composite list of songs with Tolkien influences - check out this web page:
The Tolkien Music List

This next selection has nothing to do with J.R.R. Tolkien or The Hobbit, but its title is reminiscent of Thorin's title of "The King Under the Mountain".  I like to imagine that Tolkien may have been inspired by this music when he was writing his famous works.  And yes, I do know this music has been played ad infinitum in movies and commercials alike, but I still enjoy hearing it!

In the Hall of the Mountain King / Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg, a famous Norwegian composer created this music for Henrik Ibsen's musical version of the fairy tale Peer Gynt.  It was first performed in Oslo, Norway in 1876.  Of course, I don't know if Tolkien ever heard this music, but as it is about the hero being chased by Trolls through a cave, it certainly bears much similarity to some scenes in The Hobbit.


This next video is a reading from The Hobbit with illustrations from various artists such as Alan Lee, John Howe, David Wyatt, Greg & Tim Hildebrandt, Ted Nasmith, and Justin Gerard. The beautiful Gaelic Harp music is by the band "Alzibar".

The Hobbit - Misty Mountains / by ambermaykay



But Tolkien's poetry is meant to be sung, and who better than the composer of The Lord of the Rings soundtrack, Howard Shore to put those poems to music!  And who better to sing them, then the dwarves themselves, and their deep voiced leader, Thorin Oakenshield.

The Hobbit - Misty Mountain Song / by bccmee


For more traditional Tolkien inspired music, please visit my previous post:
Songs from Middle Earth

What are some of your favourite Tolkien inspired songs?

Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year 2013!

Now it's time to put the old year behind us and bring out our good wishes for the new one to come. I was thrilled that my last year's wish (which I thought was just a pipe dream) actually came true - when Richard Armitage visited Canada - Toronto, Ontario (to be exact) even if only briefly.  The interviews he gave there were some of his best, IMHO!
RA at Toronto Union Station (photo courtesy of RANet)


I have had a good year here in Blogger land, meeting new bloggers and fans and watching Richard Armitage's career finally begin to take off into the upper echelons of stardom!  (Currently his starmeter on IMDb is at #2 after languishing in the triple digits for years.)  It was wonderful to read the stories of several fans all over the world who were lucky enough to catch a real life glimpse of him, get his autograph or actually have a conversation with him!

We have a lot to look forward to seeing in his career for 2013.

Summer of 2013 will be the debut of Black Sky starring Richard Armitage as teacher from the American midwest who is searching for his son in the aftermath of a tornado.  December 2013 will be part 2 of The Hobbit, which I am sure I will enjoy even more than the first part!

In between those two projects we are hoping he will finally start work on his dream project for a movie about Richard III.  Please read the latest news about it at this blog.

Plus, I am still hoping to hear more about this movie, which has been stalled due to "a certain actor's" casting commitments.  (I am hoping it is Richard they have been waiting for!)

I have so many good wishes for Richard for the coming year, for his career and also for his personal life - too many to list, but mostly they are the same as for you, my dear readers.  As I always wish: May you be happy, healthy, and wise!