French actor Stanley Weber plays a Cistercian monk in one of RA's recent movies titled Pilgrimage. In a recent interview Stanley made following comments:
He plays a monk who travels to an Irish monastery after being sent by the Pope. A group of monks plan to deliver a sacred relic - a stone used to kill St Mathias - to Rome. The journey through Gaelic lands is very dangerous, therefore the monk makes a deal for security with a Norman lord. RA plays the Norman knight Godfrey's son Raymond de Merville. The latter chases the group in order to retrieve the relic. Weber said it starts as a movie about religion and faith and transforms into an adventure.
Nov 8th viewing (shown above) is sold out as well!
Following examples of Thorin fanart are very similar to the real thing above
We missed commenting on Guy Fawkes Day(Nov 5). See links at bottom of this post for the history of the day. We definitely did not miss it last year - there's even a photo of the signature on the controversial historic figure's confession. Appears he could barely scrawl his name once his political enemies managed to extract it from him. Is it obvious The Tudors has left me with the feeling Henry VIII's actions caused terrible suffering, turmoil and hatred simply in an effort to enhance his name in history books. There's satisfaction in knowing it did not work - 500 yrs later, whenever his name is mentioned, it's accompanied by a snigger. http://allthingsrarmitage.blogspot.com/search?q=guy+fawkes
Great Read follows: It's written by always interesting columnist, Thomas Sowell, who disagrees strongly with liberal politics. He weighs in on the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. Mr Sowell just happens to be an African American; sadly, he's ridiculed and dismissed by Democrats(and their national media puppets) as not an authentic minority member due to his more conservative political beliefs. He doesn't follow liberals required template for those citizens among the minority demographic - therefore they consider him not worthy of being taken seriously. Slowly but surely the number of more conservative minority Americans is increasing ,which creates a panic in the Democrat Party. Without their votes, that political party will find itself someday soon in the dustbin of history.
Couple interior shots of the above house. First one captured my attention because we have a very similar grandfather's clock standing in our foyer. When we first built our house, colonial American was my favorite. Accessories such as the hobby horse below are often seen in rooms using that decorating style -- houses in Colonial Williamsburg, VA are furnished with virtually the same type of pieces. After a few years, my taste slowly switched to a stronger appreciation of the Victorian period - the final result is an eclectic mix of both decorating styles. We have an old Amish kitchen cupboard sitting in one corner of the dining room and a Victorian style china cabinet in the opposite corner. Never did believe in the concept of only one period per room. How boring is that?:)
Second photo displays an antique metal tub in the London house, which only looks large enough for a child. However, the person who lovingly restored this house revealed he enjoys soaking in the tub while watching foot & vehicle traffic on the street :) Neat trick considering how close the tub is to the window and the fact the room is at street level..
READ IT ON TWITTER:
Finally, the answer to why there are two spellings of the word gray/grey. I've always used both spellings depending on the mood I'm in - thankfully it's not usually a gray or a grey one;)
Excerpt from the blog of a twitter account I follow:
...It is generally accepted that “Grey” is the English spelling for an achromatic or neutral colour and that “Gray” is the American spelling. However, as with much of our language, this has been fluid – rather like the word “colour / color”. “Gray”, in spite of being championed by Samuel Johnson and other English lexicographers, found itself becoming “grey” in the early twentieth century.
One author on paint and colour suggested a different interpretation to the two spellings: Black and white = “grey”, while black, white and a colour = “gray” -
“Although the dictionaries do not usually distinguish between the spelling of “grey” and “gray”, and although many decorators use the two words indiscriminately, there is a distinct difference which it is both convenient and advisable to recognise. A “grey” is an admixture of black and white, and may vary from the smallest quantity of black added to white to the other extreme, where there is almost as much black as white. Anything between the two would be termed a “grey”…When a colour is added to the black and white the admixture is called a “gray”, provided, of course, that the black and white predominate; for example a French gray is made by tinting white with a little ivory or drop black and adding a little carmine or crimson lake or ultramarine. It will be seen that the addition of the lake or ultramarine gives it a peculiar warmth which distinguishes French gray, and changes the spelling from “grey” to “gray”.1
While such a difference may be clear to the person compounding the colour, to the inexperienced observer (unaware of the nuances) it is often impossible to tell how a colour has been produced. http://patrickbaty.co.uk/2011/10/30/the-perfect
Sue suggested that RA reminded her of a Russian naval officer w/his Thorin beard and dark coat. The original Mr Bond himself, Sean Connery, came to my mind. Of course, RA is much younger, therefore he could play Sean's son in a remake of The Hunt for Red October. (Connery played a Rusky nuclear-sub captain)
That's right big boy...take it off...take it all off...hahaha..silly Fri mood...
King Henry VIII, the young and ambitious monarch of England, prepares for war with France but is dissuaded by the diplomatic manipulation of his powerful Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who proposes that the King sponsor a "Treaty of Universal Peace." The harmony of the King's domestic affairs is threatened, however, when he discovers that Elizabeth Blount, the young and beautiful lady-in-waiting to his Queen, Katherine of Aragon, is pregnant with his child.
[Ricrar Note:....Last evening hubby & I watched the above ep and half of ep 2. Within the first few scenes, we're introduced to the fact this series is definitely "for adult audiences" only, when we become voyeurs at young Henry's romp with his wife's lady-in-waiting, Mrs Blount. As in the entire series, almost nothing whatsoever is left to your imagination during most sex scenes. Of course, Mrs Blount in a future ep becomes the mother of Henry's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy. Therefore, I alerted DH(who's entirely new to the show) that it's important to keep in mind this particular liaison of the king's. Hubby's reaction was "then I'd better look at her face." hahaha :)
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Season 1, Episode 2: Simply Henry: Henry and his court look to sign the treaty with France, though tempers of both kings flare up at the summit. Meanwhile, Henry takes on a new mistress named Mary Boleyn...
[Ricrar note:...So far, dh has only seen 1.5 eps of the long-running series, but I was so curious to know his initial reaction that I asked if he's interested in viewing the remaining 36.5 eps and he replied.."yes, if they're as good as these first two. I'm really impressed with the quality of the cinematography (he's a photographer) and enjoying the cut-throat palace politics."]
Fun photos from behind the scene moments of period costume dramas...
Court candles being lighted with a modern blow torch :)
MOUSE CHALLENGE: Bet you can't put your mouse on this guy's head (that's not code for something naughty;)
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Showtime sold the rights to The Tudors to the BBC, but they retain their website--filled with great background material. Chas Brandon ages well ;) Here he is in the final series..details on all 4 available.. http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/cast.do?name=henry_cavill
There are several stunningly beautiful landscape scenes in each series - unfortunately, unless you're watching the dvds, only indoor pix are available. Interior sets/cinematography are almost equally as gorgeous as the outdoors...sumptuous costumes, candle-lit court revelries/chapels/ *love* scenes scorching hot enough to provide central heating for the entire palace.. (the latter are a bit overdone at times--the story is compelling enough without needing to flash detailed anatomy lessons every other scene:) *that said---just might need to re-watch several in the Chas Brandon classroom..giggle*
Writer Hirst said the Brandon character was used as the conscience of the piece. Guilt did manage to penetrate his emotional armor, unlike he life-long friend Henry VIII..
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, escorts Anne of Cleeves. Historical records show that her betrothed, HenryVIII, said she was horse-faced. Might've been true of the authentic female but certainly not an accurate description of the actress chosen to play her in the series. The character gave the impression of being an innocent, naive young woman who was ill equipped (that's a compliment:) to deal with the aging king's personal demands.
This is not Anne of Cleves,,,hmmm, doesn't appear to be Anne Boleyn either(she's dark haired)..obviously, you can't keep track of Henry's amorous adventures without a SCOREcard *teehee*
EXCERPT: 'Albion's Seed' by historian David Hackett Fischer, pub 1989..p.445
"THE QUAKER GALILEE": England's North Midlands
These emigrants [to colonial America] came not from North Midlands in general, but mainly from the Pennine moors and uplands which ran in a northerly way from the Peak District of Derbyshire to the Fells of Yorkshire and Cumbria. This was the highest ground in England. It encompassed the six counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, east Cheshire, west Yorkshire and southern Westmorland. The Pennine Moors are Bronte country. Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre were set in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte had grown up in the village of Haworth. Their writings are uncertain guides to the culture of dissent in this region, but powerful evocations of its climate and terrain.
Later in the modern era, this area became the industrial heartland of Britain...
This region shared a common culture condition, and also a common history. The North Midlands more than any other part of England, had been colonized by Viking invaders. Historian Hugh Barbour writes, "...in the central region of the North, the Pennine moorland, where Quakerism was strongest, the villages were mainly Norse in origin and name, and Norse had been spoken there in the Middle Ages. From the Norsemen came the custom of moots, or assemblies in the open at a standing-stone or hilltop grave, which may have influenced the Quakers' love for such meeting places. The Norse custom was individual ownership of houses and fields; the Norman system of feudal manors imposed in the 12thC was always resented."
The Norman conquest of the north had been particularly brutal, and had left a region bitterly divided against itself. Its governing families were culturally distinct from the governed, and long remembered their Norman-French origins. Many remained Roman Catholic more than a century after Henry VIII broke with the Pope. In the 17thC many of this elite became Royalist. But shepherds and farmers of the north thought of themselves as a race apart from their overlords. Their religion was evangelical and Protestant. They felt themselves to be aliens from the schools and churches and courts and political institutions of the region---all of which remained securely in the hands of the ruling few. This attitude entered into the theology of the Quakers, and profoundly shaped their social purposes. In some respects, the Quaker culture was that of its native region; in others it was a reaction against it.
...This was the region where the Quakers first appeared. It long remained their strongest base. The founder, George Fox(1624-91), was a Leicestershire weaver's son who developed his doctrine of the Inner Light by 1646 and made his early converts mostly in the North Midlands. By the year 1654, 85% of Quaker meetings were in the northern counties of England.
THE FRIENDS MIGRATION: Regional Origins
The Quaker founders of Pennsylvania and West Jersey came from every part of England. But one English region stook out above the rest...The Friends migration drew especially from the counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, DBY, Notts. In one list of English immigrants who arrived at Philadelphia between the years 1682 and 1687, more than 80% came from these 5 contiguous counties...The same pattern also appeared among immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania's Bucks County before 1687.[named by Wm Penn after his family's Buckinghamshire UK roots] 2/3 came from counties of Yorks, Lancs, Cheshire, DBY, Notts and Staffordshire...A sizeable number also came from English settlements in Ireland.
Wm Penn was often reprimanded by other English gentlemen for mixing with Quakers. In 1671 Sir John Robinson told him "I vow Mr. Penn I am sorry for you. Your are an ingenious gentleman, all the world must...allow you that, and you have a plentiful estate. Why should you render yourself unhappy by associating with such a simple people?"
To this complaint, Penn answered that he favored "honestly simple" people above the "ingeniously wicked." In the Friends' migration, he found the company that he preferred to keep.
That said...the writer goes on to state that within the first generation of settlement was a small core of Philadelphia Quaker families - 85% were related to one another.
The Dilworth, Waln, Pemberton, Harris and Morris families all hailed from Lancashire. The Sharplesses, Janneys, Simcocks, Stanfields and Brasseys were from Cheshire. The Matlocks, Buntings and Bartrams came from Derbyshire, the Yardlys and Rudyards from Staffordshire; Hopkinsons from Nottinghamshire; Holmeses from Yorkshire; Whartons from Westmorland; Kirkbrides from Cumberland; and Fenwicks from Northumberland.
There were Buckinghamshire connections related to Penn himself.
Yet another group consisted of Quakers from Wales---David Lloyd and his rival kinsman Thos Lloyd, and also the Jones, Owen, Meredith, Cadwalader and Painter families.
...The Norrises from London by way of Jamaica, the Carpenters from Sussex by way of Barbados, the Dickinsons from Jamaica and the Rawles family from Cornwall. In the New World they were joined by German and Dutch Quakers.
In Bucks County there was a Quaker connection headed by Jeremiah Langhorne...all came to be connected in a great cousinage with Philadelphia families: Reads, Logans, Prestons, Smiths, Powels, Morrises, Shoemakers, Lloyds, Carpenters, Cadwaladers.
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Fastforward from Henry VIII to a truer heart in the form of RA's Claude Monet and his beautiful painting 'Saint Lazare Train Station'...
