upstairs, downstairs

Where some may not look forward to the doldrums of January ... after the holidays, and usually when winter has set in and the cold nips. But I always looked forward to being tucked into my mother's couch after a delicious Sunday supper, glass of wine in hand, and a something new on Masterpiece Theater.  Just two years ago, 8 o'clock came and we entered into the world of Downton Abbey. Certainly we had heard of it, but other than the title and a few glimpses of it in PBS previews, we didn't know anything of it. And so the magic began.

Last week, the first episode of season three began. And with all of the press and spoilers and interviews and specials, it just felt a lot different. It wasn't a surprise. Oh sure, I loved the opening, and Shirley McLaine is a treasure, but ... it's become the blockbuster. It isn't the little engine that could, it is HUGE.  I'm not that keen on the blockbusters. I'd rather have the little gems ...

Tom Stoppard in fancy dress.

Which brings me to Upstairs, Downstairs. Season two came in the mail this week. And I've spent the last couple of evenings entrenched in the world of 165 Eaton Place. I've never seen the original series, and I should check it out. The new series is very stylized. If I were to compare it to Downton Abbey, I would have to say that is more intimate. For one, the house is in London where life is a lot different than life in the country. And the fortune isn't at issue. I am particularly drawn to the actor who portrays the man of house, Sir Hallam Holland. Man, he is so handsome. His name is Tom Stoppard ... I don't remember seeing him in anything else, but he has quite a resume. And for what it's worth, his father is the English playwright, Tom Stoppard. On screen, his eyes shine brilliantly. His intensity jumps out of the TV and right into me. He works in the foreign office, and in season two, the war draws closer and the seriousness of the clash with Hitler is realized.

Tom Stoppard in his hat!

Another character that I really like in this series is the Duke of Kent, the King's younger brother. He and Sir Holland are close confidantes. He's quite the dandy, and played rather gayly. Very interesting. So I checked the Duke of Kent out, and apparently he was really quite the party boy. And was involved in illicit liaisons with persons of both sexes, famous or not. It is said that he had an affair with Noel Coward. The two of them, the Duke and Holland, are often seated in a fine room with martini in hand, chatting, and listening to Billie Holliday. It's quite romantic. And I've wondered if Sir Holland hasn't only had an affair with his sister-in-law, but his the Duke of Kent as well.

Ah, I will be tucked in and watching Downton Abbey tomorrow evening, but no one on that show wears a hat like my man Holland. What it is about that? I suppose because we see it so seldom anymore. I know one man who wears a hat. I think that I like him best when he's got it on. So dashing. I can just imagine ... oh darling! oh no! don't take the chapeau off.

don johnson?

Rolling Stone January 17, 2013

Boy, he's lookin' good.

I never watched Miami Vice or Nash Bridges. Or anything that he's acted in, but I know of him of course. And now he's in the new Tarantino's new movie, but I probably won't see that either. Not my kind of thing.

The article was a wash too ... drugs, babes, excess. Same ole, same ole.

But one thing that I did appreciate is when he told the writer, "See, I always figured it's be like what John Huston says in Chinatown: 'Old buildings and whores get respectable if they hang around long enough.' And that's what I was doing, hanging around, like an old building or a whore."

Yeah, I'm thinking that Don's the whore. I don't whether he's respectable or not, but he's easin' in to himself pretty darn good. ooofff.

go notre dame!

my dad ... sometime in the '80's

Football was big in my house growing up. My dad worked a 6-day week, so we didn't have college football going on Saturdays, but on Sunday! The NFL ruled our day. We didn't only, or rather my dad, watch the Bears; I was aware of other teams as well. Most memorable to me were the Vikings, the Steelers, and the Cowboys. I'm not even sure why those teams stick out in my memory, but they do.

The most tragic thing that ever happened in our family as far as football is concerned is that in the year that the Bears actually won the Super Bowl, 1985, my dad was being prepped for surgery and missed the game! That was a cruel joke on him ... his beloved monsters of the midway in the big show, and he was down for the count.

Now Mr. Minogue across the street, he was the Notre Dame fan. He didn't work on Saturdays. And if he wasn't at the game in South Bend, you could hear screaming at the television from across the street as he watched his beloved Fighing Irish team. Oh how he would bellow! I imagine that he is a very happy man this weekend as his team prepares to play in the National Championship team against Alabama. I imagine him laying on the couch, eating his pretzels, and drinking Diet Rite Cola ... yelling at the game.

At Christmas, I was looking through an old box of pictures and found this one of my dad wearing a Notre Dame t-shirt. It is fitting that on this eve of the big game, I share it with you. Go Irish!

another happy harry new year

Tatler November 2012

oops ... I was going to give you a little Harry for the New Year! Cheers ; )

another Great Expectations

UK Elle December 2012

I had forgotten that another version of Charles Dickens' classic tale, Great Expectations, was set to be released. The other was the BBC adaptation that was available stateside last spring. It was a wonderful 3-part telling of the story with a very spooky portrayal of Miss Havisham by Gillian Anderson. She played her very neurotically. I bought the series and have viewed it several times. The mood of the piece is very bewitching.

Aha! but this feature length version stars Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. I can't wait to catch a glimpse of Helena ... she plays creepy so divinely. I just saw her last week in Les Miserables, and honestly, she was one of my favorites! How could she not be ... she just lets herself go. Her measure is enormous and she's always so cheekily strange. And what is to say about Ralph Fiennes? Brilliant. I just happened to catch a bit of the Goblet of Fire this week, and he was more than I could have ever imagined for 'he that shall not be named.'

This film was released in Britain in November, and from everything that I could find on it coming here, it's not. I can't really believe that, and I will have to make do with another treat that I read about in this issue of UK Elle ... a novel, Miss Havisham, written by Ronald Frame. It is an imagining of Miss Havisham's life before she was left at the altar. I put in an order for it ... and with good faith will follow up the read of it with a review. I liked the treatment of Wild Sargasso Sea as a prelude to Jane Eyre ... so I expect to be as delighted with this telling. If you haven't read Wild Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, I would recommend it. It was good to meet Mrs. Rochester before she became the madwoman in the attic! She wasn't mad at all in Rhys' hands ... she was the product of a racist, sexist system which isn't much different now, I suspect.

happy new year 2013

UK Vogue December 2012

Happy New Year! It's been a while since I've last posted ... been a bit busy with the holidays and writing poetry. But back in the saddle again.

I saw this great end of year music list in UK Vogue and rather prefer it to the standard 'top 100' of the year that I would listen to, especially as a teen. Naturally, a lot of the list is Brit-centric ... #2 is the National Anthem as it was the Jubilee year for Queen Elizabeth and the Olympics were hosted there. Funny, I was in England during the Olympics and every time that their anthem played, I had to remind myself that they weren't playing America the Beautiful. oops.

 I find it interesting that the Clash came in at #13 ... London Calling. I didn't hear it once played on any BBC radio as I knocked around in my car hire. Perhaps they didn't want an un-punk band to land in the number 13 spot ... unlucky as it may be. But I love the Clash, so cheers! And #20 reminded me that I needed to download a little Spice Girls for my ITunes library. They made the line-up for having performed in the closing ceremonies, and Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous-fabulousness has written a musical, Viva Forever!, using the power of the spice and their flirty, empowering girl-power themed pop anthems. I also appreciate that Pussy Riot made the list at #24 ... for Putin Lights Up The Fires. I think that we all need to write an anti-Putin song ... who is that guy?! I just watched Doctor Zhivago last night and wondered how Russia has changed at all in all of these years. Putin was all over it.

I wonder what I would put on my list of 30 for 2012? I would have to have a hard think on that. Short list, I would include anything from Jack White's Blunderbuss. That album was a constant in my ear for probably four months. Then I moved on to the Broadway cast album of Once. That didn't play as long ... but it got a work out. I've since moved on to Bruno Mars' new record ... I LOVE Locked Out of Heaven. And I like Muse's one song that I can't ever seem to name. It's been a quiet year for me musically. Oh, it's always a constant, but other than the above, I can't put my finger on what else stood out or that I played way too much!

Here's hoping that 2013 sees a lot more of repeat 'cause this is so damn good.