that catherine girl. and the abbey.
Whenever anyone mentions Westminster Abbey around Steph she gets all crazy-eyed and shouts out LONGSHANKS! It has to do with her obsession with William Wallace and a kind of temporary Tourette’s.
London is a pretty camera-friendly place, but there’s no photographs allowed inside the Abbey. Unless you’re Steph. She’s a bit of a ninja and can sneak a shot anywhere. I think she might be posting some of them on facebook tonight, in honor of Whats-His-Face and that Catherine girl and how they’re getting married there tomorrow.
The Euro and I have decided to get up at 5:30 in the morning for a slap up British breakfast. Since Katie Couric and those lot are a bit annoying, we’ll be watching the BBC stream the nuptials. The best part…we’ve even got in some lovely chocolate HobNobs in honour of the royal wedding cake.
jane eyre, the movie. and this silly limited release.
Jane (Mia Wasikowska) and Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender)I am, quite frankly, aghast that the movie Jane Eyre is only on limited release – 300 theatres nationwide, or something ridiculous like that. I never was much a fan of Jane Austen. I read her entire library in middle school, because that’s what you do when you’re a teenage girl obsessed with all things British. But I never rated her (Colin Firth notwithstanding). Not the way I did the Bronte girls. I thought Anne a better writer than Emily, even though I had a teenage crush on Wuthering Heights. But it was Jane Eyre that I fell so passionately in love with. Flynn and I saw the film separately over the weekend and we both agree, it’s wondrous. The novel itself is just under 400 pages, so it’s probably no surprise that a moment or two in the film seemed rushed. But these bits were brief because the actors were so compelling and believable in their passion and reserve. Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska are perfect as Rochester and Jane. Throw in Jamie Bell and Dame Judi Dench and …. you get a limited release.
Makes absolutely no sense.
If you can find a cinema showing it, you really need to get out and watch it. If you can’t, then beg for it. In the meantime, some Bronte inspired photos for your viewing pleasure.
West Yorkshire Countryside
West Yorkshire Countryside
Charlotte Bronte’s Manchester lodgings, where she began writing Jane Eyre.
The new 2005 sign reads: In 1846 the Reverend Patrick Bronte came to Manchester for cataract surgery accompanied by his daughter Charlotte. They took lodgings at 59 Boundary Street West (formerly known as 83 Mount Pleasant). It was here that Charlotte began to write her first successful novel, Jane Eyre.
The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire
The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire
The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire
The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire
Path leading from the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire, to the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels
Clergy Daughter’s School attended by the Bronte sisters.
Clergy Daughter’s School attended by the Bronte sisters.
a sort of harem
The Euro spent some one-on-one time with his folks back in the autumn and I’ve just gotten around to downloading the photos from his trip. One of the things I love about the man is this: the way he loves books. One of his prize possessions is a copy of the Apocrypha printed in Italy in 1681 – bought at auction back in 2004 – and a beautifully illustrated Book of Knowledge that hit the presses in the North of England in 1764. My own collection isn’t as illustrious. A first edition Artemus Ward, signed by the man himself, which I bought at my favorite Oxfam Bookstore on Marylebone in London. A superbly old and beautifully preserved novel by Mark Twain, compliments My Darling Steph. And a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, circa 1934, without its dust jacket, sadly, found laying in a nondescript antiques store in North Carolina for a mere eight dollars.
beverly lewis’ the shunning. hallmark.
One of the films The Euro worked on last year, The Shunning, is premiering on The Hallmark Channel on Saturday.
Based on Beverly Lewis’ fantastic novel of the same name, from the Heritage of Lancaster County Series, The Shunning was directed by Michael Landon, Jr. and produced with Brian Bird. Starring Danielle Panabaker, Sherry Stringfield, Bill Oberst and Burgess Jenkins.
I’m nothing if not falsely modest and, having already mailed the roughly 700 people on my contact list, it’s time for a little reminder. The Shunning premiers on The Hallmark Channel on Saturday, 16 April, 9pm EST. If you miss it then, you can catch it on Sunday at 1pm and again 8pm.
The Shunning – Hallmark Trailer
The Shunning – TV Guide Listing
The Shunning – On Facebook
van lear, baby.
Buffy: Do you have weekends off? I want to visit soon. I need a muse. If I don’t get these revisions finished by my birthday, I’m cutting off my ear.
Flynn: Yes! Every weekend off, and after the first week of May I’m free and easy, baby. PLEASE COME. Together we will find the cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler.
Buffy: Can we really find the cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler?
Flynn: We can! And her brother will give us a tour for five bucks.
Buffy: This is why I love you. And your awesome taste in footwear.
(P.S. I stole these photos from a Man Named Max. He does clever things with microphones.)
la vie en rose
The only thing worse than having your doctor tell you you’re shorter and fatter than you think you are is having him ask if your hair falling out. “Any clumps? Bald patches? Noticeable thinning?”
Fantastic.
Still, it’s an absolutely gorgeous day out and my boss brought in muffins from Trader Joes and java from my favorite coffee house so, other than being short, fat and balding, I haven’t a thing in the world to worry about.
