Warmest Wishes for Christmas

I found a lovely Christmas wallpaper on Tumblr by Anna on Richard Armitage Poland Fanpage.

And here is my contribution...

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful, safe and peaceful holiday season.

November, Revisited.

I apologise for neglecting my blogging duties lately.  It's not that I haven't had ideas, I just lack the energy to put it all down in some kind of logical manner. November's weather was very gloomy, and winter has set in for the season.  I was considering whether I wanted to do a Remembrance Day post, but the Sunday before the date, we were invited out for dinner so that meant if I wanted to write something I would be up most of the night.  Then that night we heard the news that there was a plane crash at our local airport.  This was something that had never happened here before.  Sure, there were sometimes accidents with float planes, but never a passenger plane.  With sick hearts, we went to bed knowing that in our small area, it was a certainty that we would know at least one person who died in that crash.  We learned the names of the victims the next day.  There were three local people who were killed, as well as the pilot, and copilot.  Miraculously there had been 2 survivors.
That was a dreadful time of mourning for our town.

The other thing that has been occupying my every waking moment was getting ready to transfer to another elementary school library in our area.  It was very bittersweet to say good bye to such a wonderful group of students and teachers.  It was hard work trying to tie up all the loose ends I had built up over the dozen or so years I had been at that school. But I received such a fabulous send-off in a school wide assembly - it was truly overwhelming.  I am still going through all the lovely notes and drawings I received from the students.

The other preoccupation around here lately has been antics of Toronto's mayor.  It is a Canadian truism that everybody hates Toronto (except Torontonians).  While some might think that it is a western Canadian thing --  I can assure you that Northern Ontario has a much bigger grudge.  So of course we can delight in the world wide mockery that Rob Ford has made of his city!  Almost every day there he was on the news making an even bigger ass of himself than the day before!  My favourite comedians didn't have any trouble coming up with something to say- they just basically needed to repeat his quotes.  I love the look on Stephen Colbert's face after Ford's last infamous quote.

But as always, Rick Mercer manages to bring everything into perspective.

I was dying to write something about this ridiculous excuse for a public figure, but I have tried not to be too political on this blog, although it has been difficult at times.  Why did I wish to reign in my very strong opinions? -- Just that I had no wish to offend anyone.  So imagine how thrilled I was when I read Richard Armitage's statements in the New York Moves article!  Nothing he said really surprised me, but I was glad that he had the courage to share his opinions.  Since he is a British citizen, it isn't hard to believe that he would be pro gun control and pro National Health Care. Most Canadians would also agree. (Not too sure about Rob Ford, though!)

Well, with all this talk about guns and Rob Ford, I can't help thinking about one of my favourite songs from Elton John's fabulous "Rock of the Westies" album.

These lyrics in particular:

Like a child when his toys have been stepped on

That's how it all seemed to me

I burst the bubble that both of us lived in

And I'm damned if I'll ever get rid of this guilt that I feel

And if looks could kill then I'd be a dead man

Your friends and mine don't call no more

Hell, I thought it was best but now I feel branded

Breaking up's sometimes like breaking the law

Breaking up's sometimes like breaking the law

And I feel like a bullet in the gun of Robert Ford

I'm low as a paid assassin is

You know I'm cold as a hired sword

I'm so ashamed can't we patch it up

You know I can't think straight no more

You make me feel like a bullet honey in the gun of Robert Ford

I Feel Like a Bullet (in the gun of Robert Ford /Elton John

I really couldn't resist this!

I've been meaning to post something for ages...  There is nothing like a good belly laugh to finally get me motivated!

Voice-over Switch: The Hobbit / North & South / by Buchjj

Thanks to fellow RA well-wisher Teresa Armitage, 

who posted this on The RA Friends Network Facebook page.

Killer in the corn

What makes a cornfield so scary?  Last year I posted about scarecrows, but sometimes a field can be spooky looking even without the scarecrow.

 In Season 6, episode 12 of Bones, Dr. Brennan and FBI agent Booth discover
a grisly murder in a cornfield.

Recently I had the pleasure of hearing Brock Zeman perform  a crowd favourite,
his spooky song: "Killer in the Corn"


If you click on his name it will bring up his touring schedule.  He may be coming to a place near you!


In the Alice Sebold's novel, The Lovely Bones the main character, 14 year old Susie is murdered in a cornfield and she tells the story from her perspective as her soul lingers nearby her family while they try to cope with her loss.  Here is an excerpt of the first chapter which describes what happened to her.  (It is quite graphic so don't read it if it might disturb you.)

Saorise Ronan stars as Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones

A film adaptation was made from the book in 2009 and was directed by Peter Jackson.  (It just happens to be his birthday today! ) Here is an interview with Jackson where he discusses the movie.

Director Peter Jackson has just wrapped up filming of his 3 part adaptation of The Hobbit, starring Martin Freeman as hobbit Bilbo Baggins and none other than Richard Armitage as the heroic dwarven leader Thorin Oakenshield.  There have been many interviews since part 1, An Unexpected Journey hit theatres last December.  Part 2, The Desolation of Smaug will be this Christmas season's offering.  The interview I would like to feature here was a film screening, and an interview session from Sydney, Australia known as Popcorn Taxi.

View the photo gallery here!

There are quite a few videos of this interview on Youtube and even on the Popcorn Taxi site, but I like that they also have the transcript here.
I have enjoyed listening to this interview more than once, but this time it was this quote which stood out for me.  When asked if he considered himself a "method actor", here was his response:

We were always told, ‘Don’t bring the character to you, go to the character’. I always preferred leaving lots of myself outside the room and exploring the world through the eyes and the body and the mind of a different person who is ultimately better than you are. Even if they’re a mass murderer, they’re infinitely more interesting than you are. People talk about The Method, or whatever. I don’t think I’m a Method actor. I have a method but I don’t believe you have to be a mass murderer to play a mass murderer.

So there you go.  Thankfully, Richard Armitage is definitely NOT the killer in the corn!
(I know I'll sleep better tonight!...)

Thanksgiving Time

We've been having some lovely fall weather lately, nothing like last year!  I only wish it could last longer.  But some strong winds keep blowing away that glorious golden foliage.  My back door (which needs replacing) keeps banging open and shut and it startles me every time.  This is also the time I am cleaning up our cabin to close it for the dreaded winter!

The song Four Strong Winds keeps running through my mind.  My favourite version is sung by Neil Young with Nicolette Larson from his Comes a Time album (1978).  This album is not only one of my favourite Neil Young albums, but also one of my all-time favourite albums period!

I found this video of the title song from the album.  The video seems to suit this season quite well.

I love Neil Young songs, but mixed with the harmonies of Nicolette Larson - it is so good it makes the hairs stand up on the top of my head!  I love to sing -- I used to be in a church choir, very small but we had some very good male voices and we were able to do 4 part harmony.  Sometimes, when I was singing and I hit a certain note, it mixed with the other voices I was hearing and gave me a buzz like a micro-second eargasm!  Have you noticed I love harmony?

But wait, now I'm off on a tangent -- this was supposed to be my Thanksgiving post.  I guess I get bored doing similar posts every year.  What else can I say?  Here was my post in 2010, my first year of blogging, where I attempted to explain our Canadian tradition of Thanksgiving:
It's Thanksgiving in Canada.
The next year I was lucky enough to be able to share a Gizzy cartoon, especially made for Thanksgiving by a fellow Armitagemaniac who is much more talented than I! :
Give Thanks for Gizzy!

So while Canada celebrates our Thanksgiving Day, I hope Armitage fans around the world have seen this wonderful video from Morrighan's Muse.  She has just celebrated her first anniversary as a fan of Richard Armitage.

Thank You Richard Armitage / by Morrighan Muse

Tomorrow I'll be baking some pumpkin pies and 

taking them over to my sister's house for our big turkey feast!

This is the best I could muster from my limited graphic skills, 

thanks to a couple of great free apps on my iPad.

In a whirl!

Richard Armitage fans have been impatiently awaiting news of his "Tornado movie".  Originally referred to as Category 6, then listed on IMDb.com as Black Sky, it is now in post-production after various delays and possibly another title change - (Into the Storm).

A few lucky fans were able to meet Richard when he was on set in Michigan last summer. You can see some of the pictures on the RA Central gallery. Fan pictures here!

Graphic by blogger JTisforme from DoIHaveaBlog? 

Although we were hoping to see Richard Armitage 
in theatres during the summer of 2013, 
we should be very grateful he wasn't in 
this tornado film that came out this summer...

Sharknado Trailer

Whoah!  Flying sharks?  Is this why CGI was invented?  I seriously doubt that this film could take a real bite out of the box office. Because unless it fits into the "so bad it's good" category --  it looks like it really bites!

Anyway, that's what I thought when I stopped laughing!

Awhile ago, I was so desperate for new pictures from this film that I resorted to making this one!

It was an ill wind...

But producer Todd Garner has been active on Twitter sharing a picture now and then. Have a look at this page at RACentral to see all his tweets.

This is one just tweeted tonight. 

I like it!

I really love this gif by Bccmee

(She's on Tumblr now!)

RA drops keep falling on his head

which of course, has me singing this song

I'm a sucker for lyrics like this:

But there's one thing, I know

The blues they send to meet me

Won't defeat me.

It won't be long 

'till happiness steps up to greet me.

So, I'll just have to be patient and wait for the darn movie to get released.  But it sure doesn't help to be tormented like this!: