10/12/2010

RA FRIDAY - MOODY ME & BROODING MR THORNTON : WHAT ABOUT THE THIRD WISH FOR CHRISTMAS?

My mood these days? Festive, you say? Since Christmas is near?!? Not a bit. As usual at this time of the year I'm rather stressed (end of term) and melancholic. My mind is in fervent prayer that it passes soon with me unhurt. The older I grow the more ardently I wish I can skip Christmas and all the related duties. I can't explain why and when it started but here I am bluntly confessing  my awful sin with no sign of repentance or regret. What does RA with his sorrowful  piercing stare (above) have to do with that?  Mmm, actually, not much. Though, as soon as Spooks 9 finished , I started experiencing a sense of loss as if I was mourning someone. I reacted bravely and strongly at first, but once the initial shock vanished I started  feeling a terrible sense of void. The idea of waiting for months (many!) to see RA at work again and in something I'm not interested in  very much ( Captain America, The Hobbit) makes me incredibly sad (withdrawal symptoms?). Is this why I chose these bleak  images from North and South ep. 3? No, actually no. Truth is  my RA post today should focus on my latest trip to Hamsptead (London) to visit St John's. It is the church where they shot Mrs Hale's funeral and Fanny Thornton's wedding. You can see RA/JT sitting on the grey bench staring at Margaret on the left above and silly me smiling blissedly because I was sitting on the same bench ( below ).



 In my hands I've got our notes taken from Annette's site,  since we wanted to be sure we found the church and the right seat inside it of course! We immediately recognized the facade though the doors had been painted in red and entering it was impossible not to recognize the odd shape and colour of the benches. The light and colours were less stern than I had imagined , there was someone playing the organ   and the place was so peaceful.
From the TV series

From our London trip

 

 We spent some time inside trying to notice every little detail we could and then walked outside in the churchyard where we knew there was one of Jane Austen's aunts buried as well as  English Romantic painter John Constable. There was a stage in front of the altar, the parish drama club was going to stage "An Ideal Husband " by Oscar Wilde.

Mr Bell: "Can you see those ladies down there?
Do you think they are looking for you , Mr Thornton?"
"Who? Italian ladies? What are they doing here?"
"Oh! Miss Hale!
Could you save me from those Italian ladies, please?
Could you shield me as you did at Marlborough Mills?"

LOL! I needed to exorcize  my blue mood with a good laugh! Come on, silly me! It's true,  Christmas is coming and  I don't like most of the stuff connected to the upcoming  holiday time but ... I might .. ask Santa for a special gift!  A very special one!
No! No, no, no! What are you giggling at or  thinking of? No naughty wishes! I swear! Mine  is simple, plain and ... innocent. LOL!
Since I've read this lovely report of a magic night on Feigned Mischief blog,  I've started longing for seeing this  with my own eyes: " ... prancing on stage, lifting his long lithe legs effortlessly, swirling his lustrous thick jet black hair as if he was the star of a new Pantene male advert! Didn’t know RA can do comedy! He was hilarious! He then goes to Debbie and they start a dance routine that left the audience practically in stitches. I remember reading that he studied dance in LAMDA so this must be all second nature to him". 


This would be the perfect Christmas gift to me! I might even forget or bear the fact that it was  Christmas! Who might  have recorded those magic moments, “The 24 Hour Plays” at the Old Vic on 21 November?  Do you think the organizers at the theatre did any recording of the event? Let's start a campaign to ask them to distribute a DVD of the plays to raise money for charity. They said they got £121,395! What about getting more then by selling a DVD of the event? I was thinking of something like  the "Bring North and South to PBS" campaign. Are you ready? Can we have any chance to be satisfied? I'd give any sum to get a copy. What about you?
Suggestions for a perfect RA weekend:

1. Read the awesome Gisborne fan fiction at Mesmered's BlogThe Sheriff's Collector.  (I love it!)
2. Start thinking about a Christmas RA gift to ask from your friends ( The lovely man in person is too much, believe me! But dreams cost nothing... ) 
3. Find a way to support MG in the campaign to get a DVD of "The 24 Hours Plays". She needs help!
4. Look at the picture below from time to time, cuddle yourself a bit and try to forget troubles and pains. Grant yourself the sweetest daydreams!


Have a very lovely weekend, you all!


10 comments:

Mystica said...

Your lovely weekend started early!

Maria Grazia said...

@Mystica
It'll be Saturday in half an hour here! I really hope the weekend will be lovely for all of us!

Anonymous said...

I'll support your campaign to get the DVD of the theatre night released MG.
Greta idea, all the better for charity. The kind of thing that we should all be doing in this world of ours.

For what its worth, I feel the same about Christmas, could be that my children are no longer youngsters and as yet I have no grandchildren, only grand-dogs. And they're happy whatever day it is! Christmas, Easter, RA's birthday . . . makes no difference!

Maria Grazia said...

@mesmered
Yes! Maybe Christmas makes sense if there are children or if you are a child. I love ordinary days much more. Especially ordinary holidays! I can't imagine what Christmas can be like with hot weather. Can I escape to you next year? Christmas in Tasmania...that would be incredibly new to me and I might even like it!
Hugs.MG

Musa said...

Great idea! Count me in for the release of the "24 Hour Play DVD". Anything I can do, count me in. Thank you for sharing your trip to St. John's.

I am looking forward to The Hobbit because I liked the Lord of the Rings movies. But I think (hope) that both Captain America and The Hobbit will lead to more choices for RA to be able to make the movies or TV projects that he wants, and his fans want to see him in.

Maria Grazia said...

@Musa
I'm thinking of a way to convey our request to the Old Vic. Any good suggestion would be much appreciated. I'll let you know soon, however.
As for The Hobbit, I'm sure it'll be the right occasion for Richard to get to even greater goals. I've never seen one of the other movies taken from Tolkien's novels but I'm going to read The Hobbit soon and, of course, I'll watch the movie. Not so sure I'll like it but RA has alredy done miracles with me. I came to watch and even like Strike Back! I would have never seen it if he hadn't been in it.
Thanks for your support, Musa!

bccmee said...

The Old Vic Gala DVD sounds like a lovely idea! Whoever contacts the powers-that-be can cite some of the sales figures generated by Richard Armitage's audiobooks which sell at much greater rates than others. I would totally buy this DVD and wish I had been in London to see it live.

Maria Grazia said...

@bccmee
I wish I had been there too! I was in London just 4 days after the event.
But the DVD would be a perfect Christmas gift for me.
I'll go on thinking of an effective way to contact the powers-that-be...
Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I want that DVD too:) PLEASE santa I´ve been nice:)

Maria Grazia said...

@alfie
OK! Let's write to Santa then...all of us! Maybe he will help!