MY VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PRESENTS

It was my birthday few days ago. It was doomed to be lonely and sad. I had to work in the morning (teachers' meeting at school) and spend completely alone the rest of the day. Mind you, I hate to celebrate my birthday, especially now that I have to cope with the fact that I'm not ...let's say... 20 anymore! However, the idea of my husband and sons at the seaside and me here at home alone didn't help my already difficult coping with the hard truth!

Mothers are always very attentive, aren't they? Mine insisted for lunch together whatever the time I finished at school was. I said "OK, Mum!" and wasn't alone for lunch. Mum, Dad, Granny (yes! 98 and she was there too), Aunt, Sister, Nieces and Nephew were all there for me! Lovely lunch and after-lunch chat around the table. No blowing on the candles... for practical reasons but the cakes were delicious!

Once I got home in the middle of the afternoon, ready to spend the rest of the day reading, answering the phone and blogging,  a phone call changed everything ... My friend Karen's. "I'm coming and fetch you... click!" What does that mean? Very briefly,  she was going to face a one-hour's drive after work to fetch me!

Her present ? A lovely dinner with her and another friend of hers, Rome by night, friendship and sympathy, talking and laughing.  It was really special. How did I find such a special, generous friend?

 

See Richard Armitage, actor.

Well... he was only the sparkle... we did the rest.

I didn't feel alone on my birthday also  thanks to  my many online friends/mates/acquaintances. Wishes, e-cards, nice words, pictures. What do I share with most of them?

See Richard Armitage, actor

Well, also Jane Austen,  period drama, love for books and reading.....

Now, I wanted to show you some very special prezzies I got from a talented blogfriend. Do you like them? She said they are only mine! She didn't post them but give me the freedom to share. Aren't they awesome?

We are eagerly waiting for this new film ... The Three Musketeers. Matthew Macfadyen will be Athos with Orlando Bloom (Duke of Buckingham), Logan Lerman (D'Artagnan) , Christopher Waltz (Cardinal Richelieu) and many other popular names in the cast. The film is due for release April 2011.

Have a very good Sunday! Hugs. MG.

RA FRIDAY- BLACKIE OR REDDIE?

Hi! Do you miss me?

Yeah! So much,  Guy!!!

Ehm... Hello, RA Friday followers! Welcome again to my RA rambling weekly corner. I was just wondering ... how much of  Reddie and how much of Blackie is there in me? Well, when I see pictures like the one above or the one below... burning red Reddie grows huge!

So the danger is something like what happens in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:  the latter grows  and grows inside the first and takes control in the end. No, please! What if I should turn out completely Red! I'd be very dangerous for myself and my dear! Impossible to be trusted, always swooning, awwwwwwwing and daydreaming! Listen, if you realize Reddie is taking too much control, please, warn me!
And now, let's start. Here we go .
Another week of RA, lots of news, new things to listen to, read, and very soon to watch too!

1. Have you watched and , especially listened to SURGERY SCHOOL? It was broadcast on ITV on 6th September. You find two clips on Alicat's site http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/ on this page or on Annette's site http://www.richardarmitageonline.com/  HERE . I can't stand blood and usually can't watch surgical operations on TV so I had to quarrel with Reddie who wanted to see those clips! She's still crossed because I refused to watch them! Can anyone tell me if there are very disgusting scenes in those clips? Thanks a lot. Neither Richard's charm could convince me to watch an operation on TV!

2. What I am eagerly waiting for is instead this radio programme due to be broadcast on BBC Radio3, Words and Music: Symphony of a City . The programme includes readings from the works of Swift, Dickens, Wordsworth, TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf and William Carlos Williams, and music by Gershwin, Varese, Byrd, Steve Reich and Charles Ives (further details are  available on the BBC website's page about the programme). Richard Armitage and Emilia Fox will be the readers. Only one problem:  lessons will started next day. I have to be awake and kicking, ready for my first lesson this year on Monday morning 8.10 and the programme will be on Sunday, 22:45. It means 23.45 here in Italy. I know I won't be able to resist and I'll be there till the end ... and exhausted the next day.  Reddie? She told me she 'll bear classical music + classic  literature just for RA's sake!

3. More than Reddie,  what is growing terribly inside  me is the anxiety for Lucas North. It was confirmed that episode 1 of Spooks series 9 is Monday 20 September and episode 2 on 27th September on BBC1. If you don't mind spoilers,  synopsis of both episodes are on BBC Press Office HERE and HERE.  Than we had a new photo from the set with Lucas, his  ex  flame, Maya and reporter Catriona from Digitalspy. (HERE)

Richard, Catriona and Laila Rouass

Watching Lucas /Richard in that black hooded jumper gave me a fright: something very bad is supposed to happen to someone wearing a black hooded jumper! I was so worried and scared that I posted on twitter about my fears. Guess who tried to calm me down and reassure me? @Lucas_North! He was such a charming gent!

4. You know Richard Armitage managed to make me read and watch something so far from my taste as  Chris Ryan's STRIKE BACK, or start listening to audiobooks, or like something I had always hardly been able to bear,  Richardson's CLARISSA. What I've just discovered today is another victim of this talent of his : Hilary at Vulpes Libris . Have you read her brilliant review of The Lords of The North  read by Richard?

She says: "One of the things I most admire about Richard Armitage is his gift as a physical actor, and strangely enough this comes to good in his reading of the set-piece fights and battles. He’s telling them as if he’s seeing them in his mind’s eye, and marking the movements – the sense of choreography is so strong. That artifice certainly has helped me through the blood and the dismemberment at certain points, and it occurred to me that the best sort of reader for this sort of book has to be an accomplished stage-fighter with the certificates to prove it. ( ... ) I’ve tried here to describe my reactions to this particular interpretation, and how I relate to it as a reader who ordinarily would probably have hurled The Lords of the North at the skirting board by the end of chapter three, but who listened avidly to every word of this reading. It was a completely different experience – I was not reading the book, I was listening to a dramatic performance, an interpretation by an actor with an intelligence and conviction that drew me into this violent and rather repellent world – where nevertheless a civil society was being forged. As a result, I became curious and learnt more about Alfred the Great and his age, the political geography of the British Isles in the time of the Viking invasions. And I am now an audiobook listener, avidly discovering other wonderful voices. A Bernard Cornwell reader? Well, I’ve now read the rest of this sequence, enjoying the voice of this narrator in my head, Sadly, this is the only novel out of the (so far) five that Richard Armitage has read. To me, his voice is that of Uhtred the hero, so I am not seeking out the others".

5. Last but not least, Richard Armitage Wikipedia page has been updated at last! I definitely appreciated the many quotations from Richard's interviews.
Here's an example:

 Richard Armitage describes himself as a method actor. "In a way it's slightly lazy because it means you don't have to pretend - you just have to believe. As much as it's possible to be like that I suppose I kind of do step in and out, I'm not one of these people that can't talk to other people because I'm in my character, but I kind of do stay with the character, yeah. He's always there. It's like marinating something - you're sitting in a marinade the whole time." He frequently speaks of being drawn to and developing dualism in his characters. “If I’m offered the role of the hero, I immediately look for the antihero within!...I see everything in terms of an outer skin and an inner skin.” He has also often mentioned creating “character diaries” with entire biographies for the characters he plays. “It was important to me to put in a background for my character that would be useful for the whole journey. A lot of that is secret and no one gets to read that. It’s what is useful to me. If you are playing something long running and a role that has a future [beyond the initial series], it’s almost like you have to plant a garden which you will need to come back to at some point. If you don’t put in early, it can jar with you

 Great job! Well done!

5. Finally I want to help my American blogomates to spread the news taking part in their campaign to see North and South on PBS Masterpiece Classics:  if any RA / Gaskell/  Period Drama / North & South  fan living in the USA reads this post and doesn't know yet , please read this announcement from servetus at ME+RICHARD ARMITAGE. Heathra has designed a wonderful postcard which has to be signed and sent to Rebecca Eaton, Executive Producer of Masterpiece, to promote the screening.

Heathra's postcard

Read HERE for the details

There is also  a facebook page

Bring North & South to PBS

Promote Your Page Too

What about North and South on Italian TV , too? It'd be torture to me since I can't bear watching Richard without hearing his real voice. Horrible torture! But , is anybody interested? We could launch an Italian campaign!

Done! It's all for now. See you next week if you are around. Reddie is ready to start. She promised to be brief but she's got a cunning smirk on her face. I'll come back to check in a while. I must really go, now.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Byeeee, Black-Self! I'll be very brief, promised!

Shhhh!!! Gone,  at last! " It'd be torture to me since I can't bear watching Richard without hearing his real voice" (*rolls eyes*) Melodramatic! Watching Richard is simply always a great, great pleasure!!! Now, I must be quick. Do you remember which is my favourite pastime other than watching and re-watching, listening and re-listening to Richard's works? Gossiping about Mrs- Prof- Black- Self!

Have you seen how she poses as the only serious one?

Can you believe she went on  flirting with ... @Lucas_North on Twitter?

She saw a pic of Lucas wearing a black hooded jumper and started rambling something like:"No! So.. you see... OMG... No I just feared that ... ! " And began to twitter something about that pic and then ... have a look at these exchanges ... ( her nick is SMaryG on twitter)

....  isn't there a scene in which Lucas (???) is chased and has a hooded jumper on? Look at that black zipped jumper@Lucas_North...Isn't it hooded? Dressed down to be chased in the street....I'm so nervous for what is to come! Richard/Lucas: gorgeous in any dressing style!

 *Arches one eyebrow...smiles with a nod and sharp intake of breath* well...that would be telling now....*stares* wouldn't it?

*blushes* Perfectly right, forgive me.*blushes++* That black hood evoked such haunting nightmares. I'm so nervous. Oh, Lucas!

 *Arches eyebrows* need a cuddle?

Awwww! Could die for it!

 *Smiles and walks over very slowly..pulls you into my arms giving you a very strong but gentle cuddle...smiles down at you* better?

Yeah! Like being in heaven, thanks. All those nightmares have vanished. *smiles up in bliss*

*Smiles and kisses your cheek* a pleasure.....*slow smile*

 On her tiptoes kisses your cheek back.You've made her day. She will go on with a sweet smile printed on her face all day long.

*Dazzling smile* always happy to make someones day.....

(from @Lucas_North  and SMaryG on Twitter)

Reddie or Blackie?

So,  you see? Doesn't she sounds like a simpering,  silly,  little thing? The serious one! I want to chat with a Lucas North , too! Actually , I'd love something more spicy. To meet him in person? To see his tattoos from a very short distance? What about candles and blue blankets? Oooops! She's back! I told you I had to be quick. She's here to check! Better to disappear. Have a super weekend!

WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING - CHERI (2009) & BBC GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1999)

My love for costume movies and period drama has brought to me other joys recently. I've finally watched the 2-part adaptation of my favourite Dickens, GREAT EXPECTATIONS and I've happened to watch this relatively recent film,  CHERI , on pay-tv. 

Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri

1. CHERI (2009) Set in the luxurious demi-monde of pre-First World War Paris, CHÉRI is the story of the love affair between the beautiful retired courtesan Léa (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Fred, nicknamed  Chéri (Rupert Friend, Albert in Young Victoria 2008 and Wickham in Pride and Prejudice 2005), the son of her old colleague and rival, Mme Peloux (Kathy Bates , Misery 1990). 

Turning stereotypes upside-down, it is Chéri who wears silk pyjamas and Léa's pearls, and who is the object of gaze. The two believe their relationship is casual until they are separated by Chéri's marriage, with young Edmée (Felicity Jones, Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey 2007)  at which point they realize they are in deeply and desperately in love. They spend a miserable nine months apart, at which point Chéri appears at Léa's home. They spend the night together and Léa begins to plan their new life together. 

However, when she learns that Chéri had returned for the moral strength to be a husband, she releases him to return home. The final scene shows Chéri leaving Léa's home to walk down the street towards his home. Léa watches him leave, sure that he will turn and come back. When he doesn't, she returns to her vanity table to gaze at herself in the mirror. The narrator cuts in that after many years Chéri will realize that Léa was the only woman he could ever love, but she was too old for him. 

 

 

2. GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1999) - Two relatively  young stars team up with a seasoned cast including Charlotte Rampling and Bernard Hill in this  Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd (Hornblower, Titanic) stars as Pip, Dickens' hero who goes from rags to riches under the patronage of a secret benefactor. The term "great expectations" refers to prospects of a fabulous inheritance, communicated to Pip by Jaggers, a coldly calculating attorney, on behalf of an unidentified patron. The event transforms Pip from poor orphan, mistreated by his sister and apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, into a supercilious gentleman-in-training.

The story ranges from the Kent marshes in Southeast England, where Pip grows up and where he encounters Magwitch, a terrifying escaped convict, to bustling, companionable, Dickensian London. Justine Waddell (The Woman in White, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Wives and Daughters) is Estella, the haughty young woman who beguiles and tantalizes Pip from their tender years into adulthood.

Charlotte Rampling (Farewell My Lovely, The Night Porter) plays Miss Havisham, Estella's deranged guardian, who has hated men ever since her wedding day many years before, when her fiancé failed to show up -- an event she commemorates by living as a recluse in her bridal gown among the decayed ruins of the wedding feast. 

 Bernard Hill (Titanic) is Magwitch, the convict whom young Pip assists at the start of the story. Dickens fans well know that a desperate character who pops up at the beginning is sure to show up again in a most unexpected context.

Other immortal Dickensian creations spring to life  including Molly, Jaggers' brutish housekeeper; Wemmick, Jaggers' dual-personality clerk; Mrs. Joe, Pip's neurotic and abusive sister; Joe, her husband, the mild-mannered blacksmith; Biddy, their unkempt angelic servant; and Herbert Pocket, Pip's loyal and guileless friend.

The bizarre and once-beautiful heiress, Miss Havisham, seems to be behind Pip's unexpected legacy. She has mysterious motives possibly connected with a warped match she envisions between Pip and her ward, Estella, whom Miss Havisham has trained to treat all men with contempt.

Although set in the 1800s, producer David Snodin sees the story as being very contemporary: "We've been diligent about getting it historically correct, but what we accentuate is the modernity of the characters. There are people like this in the world today. There are Miss Havishams -- slightly clinically-insane shut-ins who are in deep need of therapy. There are Estellas. There are Magwitches. There are Pips. There are a lot of Pips -- uncertain young men who don't quite know what their lives are about..." 

I posted about GREAT EXPECTATIONS, the novel, some time ago. If you want to have a look ... HERE'S MY OLD POST.

WILLOUGHBY'S RETURN by JANE ODIWE - MY REVIEW

I've honestly told you I have a crush on  libertines, and  John Willoughby is my favourite Austen rogue. I couldn't but read this sequel to Sense and Sensibility by Jane Odiwe , WILLOUGHBY'S RETURN , hoping that Marianne and her first passionate lover had a second chance.

My review  HERE on My Jane Austen Book Club.

RA FRIDAY - DOES HE EVER HAVE ANY HOLIDAYS?

Here we go again! The BBC Press has started hammering.  A new SPOOKS campaign has   started and , lucky us, lots of new pics & articles & interviews are going to come out! " And we are glad of it, honest!" I do not mean to be ironic like  John Mulligan in the prison scene of MOVING ON! I'm just blissfully happy! Lots of news RA ladies and girls!

1. SPOOKS 9 is going to start! In the 38th week of the year. It means in a couple of weeks! 

2. If you don't mind spoilers too much, here's the plot of episode 1!!!

3. A new interview with Richard talking about  Lucas North in this new series is on line (again beware of spoilers)

4. Richard provided a new voiceover for a new series on ITV1 called Surgery School

5. Another radio work! Richard  will be a reader for the BBC Radio 3 programme Symphony of a City, part of the Words and Music series, airing on Sunday September 12 at 10:45 pm. This a programme of "poetry, prose and music recording and evoking the movement of a city day." The Words and Music link has a link to listen to... BBC Radio 3 live (internationally) and it will be available on iPlayer after the broadcast.

Now, first thing, Lucas's look. Cold, icey, menacing, disquieting ... more wicked than the wickest look of Guy's! OMG , what expects us in this new series?

We  already know we'll see  Richard / Lucas chasing and being chased...

On a ship with cuffs...

Dirty and ruffled after an explosion ...

(pictures from http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/)

I am definitely ready ( though a bit nervous -anxious - with a pessimistic disposition) to start with a new exciting season of Spooks. It's always been one of my favourite series and I really hope I won't be disappointed  . Oh Nooooooooooooo!!!

  OK! OK!!!! 

I 'm so sorry  but,  in order to keep peace in my house, I must leave you with that little dev..., ehm,  with little Reddie, my Red-Self!  Again, enjoy all the  recent news and all the ones I'm sure will come out soon! 

Have a nice week.... (To Reddie: Wait  a moment! Stop it , please! You never behave. Can I say good-bye, at least?) end  all of you! Till next Friday, then!  

I don't know why I must always come second! She  has already told you everything and  that's not fair!!! What can I write about now? Calm down, Reddie! You'll give her her comeuppance sooner or later! Yeah!

I  was just wondering: have you seen the list 1/5 above?  Does he ever have any holidays? Any day off? Did he relax a bit this summer? Gosh, Richard! You are even worse than that crazy, boring Mrs Prof., that is Black- self! You work too much! Not that I complain, not .at. all! Workholic?  Yes, please and ...Thanks a lot!!!!

 I read the interview linked above from BBC Press Office. Richard says:" The tattoos also help me avoid the "gratuitous torso shot" as they take about two hours to put on, so "getting my kit off" has to be carefully planned!!!" This said,  I can avoid watching this upcoming new series of Spooks. Joking! But we deserve at least a few but very, very hot shirtless scenes! Maybe without tattoos. Since Lucas met Maya before his Russian period  .... Awwww! Let's go on hoping. Fingers crossed.

This fact makes me nervous, hysterical. Yes! I have itchy feet: Lucas running, Lucas  in cuffs, Lucas after an explosion , Lucas being chased (shot?) in the street and,  moreover , only few TORSO SHOTS?! Gratuitous?! What do you mean, Richard? We are all there exclusively to admire Lucas's shirtless hotness! I'll be edgy and anxious  and nail-biting all the time but I'll watch it, be sure! The more I read this interview, the more  I  feel something really, really bad is going to happen. I smell disappointment. Just look at Lucas's look in that promo pic: petrifying, icey stare. My darling Gizzie was a lamb if compared! I want MY Lucas back! Who's this man investigating about his own past? What is he searching for? He's the new section-D boss but ... will we have enough time and occasions to  enjoy the fact and celebrate? That's what I fear and foresee! I'd better shut-up! I'm talking too much and I feel I'm on the brink of ... bad language and ... giving out too many spoilers! Yeppeeeee!!!! Two weeks more or less and it'll be SPOOKS TIME, well, LUCAS TIME again!!!

BYE!

Your Reddie.

NEW INTERVIEW AND NEW GIVEAWAY ON MY JA BOOK CLUB

My guest on" Talking Jane Austen"at My Jane Austen Book Club is author C. Allyn Pierson. My interview is divided into two parts and there will be 2 giveaways of autographed books, one today and the other one next week! 

 "And This Our Life, Chronicles of the Darcy Family" was C. Allyn Pierson 's first sequel of Pride and Prejudice. It has been purchased by Sourcebooks and a revised version was released on  September 1. It's  titled "Mr. Darcy's Little Sister." This revised version concentrates on Georgiana Darcy's story and, in addition, contains an exciting new plot line. The original "ATOL" will still be available until January 1, 2010, when it will be withdrawn from circulation. 

"Mr. Darcy's Little Sister" is available for preorder  on http://www.amazon.com/ 

and http://www.barnesandnoble.com./ But if you are lucky enough, you can win one of the autographed copies  on My Jane Austen Book Club, leaving your comments and e-mail address there.  

CLICK & ENJOY! 

AUTHOR GUEST POST: JENNIFER BECTON PRESENTS HER CHARLOTTE COLLINS

 To celebrate the release of her first novel, CHARLOTTE COLLINS, Jennifer Becton introduces her heroine and work herself. If you like reading Austen sequels, you'd  be happy to know about this new continuation of Pride and Prejudice which tells the story of Charlotte Lucas after her marriage to  Mr Collins. You still have few hours to win a signed copy of this book. Read my interview with Jennifer Becton on My Jane Austen Book Club.  Leave your comment and e-mail address there and good luck! But ... hurry up! Tonight  I'll announce the name of the winner.

Now here's to you Jennifer Becton!

"When I first began reading Jane Austen sequels, I was absolutely thrilled by the concept. Modern writers got to ask a few simple questions—What happened next in Pride and Prejudice? Or what if something different had occurred?—and then write the answers themselves. I loved reading other people’s interpretations of what happened to Elizabeth and Darcy and, in some cases, their children. But as time passed, I looked for books about characters other than the Darcys, and much to my disappointment, I found few, none of which were about minor characters.

Surely, I was not the only Janeite who wanted to read a sequel about someone other than the Darcys and their progeny. Austen created so many vibrant, interesting characters, and certainly, some of them deserved to be plucked from relative obscurity and given the chance to be the hero or heroine of their own romantic tale. So when I decided to write my own novel, I chose to tell the story I’d always wanted to read: a Jane Austen sequel about someone new. I asked myself this question: What happened to Charlotte Collins?

To me, Charlotte called out for the chance to make a different matrimonial decision, and I had to give it to her. Even Jane Austen herself said, “I consider everybody as having a right to marry once in their lives for love, if they can.” My goal was to allow Charlotte to grow and change based on her circumstances at the end of Pride and Prejudice. She had chosen a marriage of convenience to a simpering dolt, and afterward, she had observed the truth of love in the marriages of Jane and Elizabeth. From there, I wanted to bring her back to the philosophical point where she started and allow her the chance to make a different decision. In order to do that, she had to lose everything: her husband, her child, her friend, and the independence she had so greatly desired. Only then would Charlotte be able to open herself to new possibilities.

 

When Mr. Collins dies, finally relieving everyone of his tedious conversation, Charlotte must work feverishly to secure her income and home. She gives no further thought to the prospect of love until her flighty sister Maria begs her to act as her chaperone in place of their ailing parents. Hoping to prevent Maria from also entering an unhappy union, Charlotte agrees, and they are quickly thrust into a world of country dances, dinner parties, and marriageable gentlemen.

But when an unprincipled gentleman compromises Charlotte’s reputation, her romantic thoughts disappear at the prospect of losing her independence. As she struggles to extricate herself from her slander, her situation reveals both the nature of each gentleman and of true love."

Charlotte Collins is available at www.jenniferbecton.com and through www.amazon.com as both a paperback ($9.99 US) and an e-book ($4.99 US). Read the prologue here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36261956/Charlotte-Collins-Prologue. I look forward to hearing from readers and hearing your thoughts about Charlotte’s fate.