The Squeee

Thank heavens for Google Alerts! Up until now, the only hits on Richard Armitage have been to do with the US politician, but today - gold! The Mirror have an interview with him, signed Vicki Power. Highlights: Ladies, you need to sit down to read this. Because if you don't, you might hurt yourself on the way down! 1. He's looking for "that perfect food-loving woman" - hey, Nat! ;) 2. He uses Skype ! Add me! Add me! Add me! 3. "I’m not particularly alpha. ‘Nourish and nurture’ are my watchwords as opposed to ‘search and destroy’." - SNAP! *swoon* 4. He's off to LA! Americans, your wish has come true! 5. "Unfortunately, my love life is nil." - Plenty of women who'd be more than willing to remedy that... ;) Perhaps I should add "sadly", because it must be quite difficult being famous. You can't be too sure who's wanting you for the person you are, and who wants you just because you're famous. Makes finding th

For those who can - if you're abroad, see if you can access the page - the TVChoice Awards have the longlists open for voting now. From those, I guess there will then be a shortlist to vote on. Why am I telling you this? Because you can go vote for your favourite shows and actors! Specifically, Richard Armitage, Spooks and Strike Back ! Highlights: Best new drama: Chris Ryan’s Strike Back (Sky1), Emma (BBC) Best drama series: Spooks (BBC1) Best actor: Richard Armitage ( Chris Ryan’s Strike Back ) Best actress: Ruth Wilson ( Luther ) Off you go! http://www.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk/awards

Put this in your calendar, everyone: Friday, 11 March 2011 That's when the latest version of Jane Eyre comes out! Or at least that's when it'll have its "platform release in selected cities" ( ComingSoon.net ), whatever the hell that means. Probably the big, fancy premieres, that means the film won't open to the public until a week or two later. Bummer. But at least it's early in the year! Oooh, I wonder if it's worth sneaking off to London and hang around Leicester Square to see if it's a red carpet thing. That'd be... pretty cool.

While trying to find a photo to go with part two of Country Roads , I came across this: It was three stories high . . . a gentleman’s manor-house . . . battlements around the top gave it a picturesque look’ In 1845 Charlotte Brontë stayed at Hathersage vicarage with her friend Ellen Nussey and regularly visited the locally important Eyre family at North Lees Hall.  Charlotte’s letters reveal Hathersage as the village Morton in Jane Eyre (published 1847). The landlord of the George Inn was a Mr Morton at the time Brontë stayed here and she borrowed the Eyre family name for her heroine.  There’s a reference in the novel to ‘Mr Oliver’s needle factory’ in Morton, and there were several needle mills in Hathersage then. The novel’s crenellated Thornfield is clearly based on North Lees Hall. Robert Eyre is said to have built seven houses for seven sons and you can still see North Lees, an impressive Tudor manor just a short pleasant walk from the village.  It is rumou

Part 1 is here: "Country Roads" - a bit of Jane Eyre in the 21st century .While part one was chapter 12 of Jane Eyre , this is chapter 13... sort of. Brontë tells these bits in ~7000 words, I had 2500 in total, so it feels quite rushed and I'm not particularly pleased. I prefer the 2500-word version with all parts put together and rearranged slightly to these 1000-word bits I've posted here. Either way, constructive criticism is appreciated as always. :)

Just saw a trailer for the final two parts of Strike Back , and I'm happy to announce Toby Stephens was in it! In a suit with short hair, grim expression and American accent. With regards to the episode, it seems it's the Americans trying to get rid of people this time... If it's not the Iraqis or the Zimbabwis, it's the Americans, eh? Still, it'll be nice to see Toby back on screen. Talented actor and handsome fellow that he is, although he looks a bit tired on the pic on the left (from an interview in the London Evening Standard, 23 March 2010 ). Maybe his little kiddies keep him awake at night? In the interview, he says, "On TV a lot of stuff isn't well written. You spend a lot of time trying to polish a turd. Whereas in theatre you usually don't have to expend all that energy selling the thing, because the writing is superior." I wonder what he thinks of Strike Back . Does he consider that turd-polishing too, perhaps? Still, as long as

I came across something somewhere yesterday that mentioned the MTV Movie Awards, so I had a look on the website. I signed up to MTV.com to vote a previous year. Last year, was it? Don't remember. This year looks like it's going to be the same. PLEASE can they not just finish making those Twilight movies soon so we can be rid of them once and for all and get voting for something decent?! Last time, the one that annoys me greatly, was the time when the first Twilight movie had come out, and it was nominated in a bunch of categories, of which it won most of them. It was a shambles! I mean, Best Male Performance. Christian Bale was nominated, and I quite like him. Robert Downey Jr was nominated, and he's a superb actor - and I'm not just saying it because he's ridiculously swoonworthy as well - but as in, as an actor, he's freakin' AWESOME! And who won? Zac Efron! Are you KIDDING ME?! Best Villain - now, I approve of that. Heath Ledger won for playing the

Sadly, they're not real... but oh (wo)man, they should be! :D

Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre. Photo by Laurie Sparham, Focus Features, got from an article at USA Today , found through the BrontëBlog . The article also has some comments from the people behind that blog, which is nice to read! :) The photo looks a bit blurry, almost like a painting. Jane looks plain, in a way, but at the same time, very naturally beautiful. And, to be fair, Jane's Rivers cousins think she's beautiful, even if she does not. Still waiting for a picture of Rochester, though! Come on! Gimme gimme gimme!!

Right now you might be wondering where the reviews of parts 3+4 of Strike Back have got to, because HELLO they were on telly YESTERDAY, so where they at?! "There's not much makeup in the army, is there? They only have that nighttime look, and that's a bit slapdash, isn't it?" Well, they're on the DVR. I set it to record as we went out last night (please stop imagining sparkly tops, high heels and loud disco music - it was a comic book and gaming store, and we partook in a 4th Ed D&D Forgotten Realms campaign :P), and as we got back late-ish, didn't have time to see it then. Or, rather, I prioritised sleep as I had to get up today and go to work! Ooo, my plastic pal to have fun with! Today, when we finally got home, there were other scheduled things to watch, namely Legend of the Seeker and Sanctuary on Syfy, of which I only tend to follow the former. (I like Amanda Tapping in the Stargate stuff, but OMG that fake British accent is on par w

May the 4th... "May the Force"... Because of that play on words, this particular date has been known as Star Wars Day by various pun-loving Jedi-wannabes from here to Naboo. I like Star Wars , and like most people, I prefer the original films, where Yoda was a puppet and not an animation. Where Darth Vader had that James Earl Jones voice and put heavy breathers everywhere to shame. I even like the Ewoks! So there! Now, as you might know, an actor a lot of us love and are very devoted to was in one of those new films. He's known to have tried hitting on Keira Knightley in the process (although I personally don't see why anyone would want to - although, to be fair, didn't he mistake her for Natalie Portman?) - so let's recap with a picture of what at least looks to be the most dashing fighter pilot in the galaxy: Mr. Richard Armitage! "So ... d'you come here often?" A more detailed discussion on exactly where you can probably see Richard Armi

They just said on Sky1 that Strike Back will begin with a double episode! :D Also, Female fans (and they are legion; when Armitage, who's single and lives in south-east London, made his romantic debut in North & South , BBC switchboards were jammed with heavy breathing) will just be happy their man spends a good part of Strike Back with his shirt off. (From Reader's Digest , May 2010 - thanks to Maria Grazia for the link!) Shirtless RA!!! Aww, but then we'll be all distracted and won't pay proper attention to the story! Oh well, I'm sure we can all live with that... ;) But - ladies and... probably no gentlemen - let's not forget who else will be struttin' their acting stuff on screen in this production: Cathy Earnshaw '98 (Orla Brady), Edgar Linton '09 (Andrew Lincoln), Miss Taylor/Mrs. Weston '09 (Jodhi May), Friar Tuck "off of" BBC's Robin Hood (David Harewood), that annoying guy in that Spooks episode (Ewen Bremner

Okay, patience isn't really my cuppa tea, so here ya go, the first two parts of the final writing assignment in Creative Writing II, in which I've happened to be writing a modern-day take on Jane Eyre . For the assignment, we had to write no more than 500 words, so this is just a draft. Part one deals with setting, part two with characters and dialogue. Part three has a plot twist ( anyone familiar with JE will know exactly what the twist is from reading the stuff below, and others will probably be able to figure it out anyway ;)), part four is supposed to be a sort of conclusion, but I'm not sure what that's going to be, as I've not come that far yet. The Jane substitute would have been introduced at an earlier stage in the story - as this would not be chapter one of a novel, it would be further in - so that's why she's not described in much detail. Please tell me what you think of it so far - both in terms of story and writing; I love to get feedback

The people we bought the house off had left behind an empty photo frame. Possibly because it was a bit wonky. I finally found a use for it, the other day! :) When the Squeeze and I went to London in mid-March, we popped in to the National Portrait Gallery (I insisted, because I really wanted to see the Brontë portraits in real life). You weren't allowed to take pictures there (boo!), so I had to settle for getting some postcards instead, and the frame came in really useful now - so, from the top: Charlotte Brontë (by George Richmond), Emily Brontë (by Branwell Brontë), the Brontë sisters (also by Branwell), and a self-portrait of Jane Austen. All except the Richmond one were on display at the museum. Maybe that one was as well but we didn't see it. So there you have it, my collection of inspirational female authors! :) Now I just have to figure out where to put it... haha.

What a brilliant day! First of all, the sun's shining and it's spring and that's great. Secondly, it started out well on the train: didn't have time to collect my ticket from the machine, but the conductor didn't force me to pay for a new one - instead I could pick it up from the train station where I got off. Thirdly, and more importantly: Walking from the train station to work, I came across this big billboard on the side of the road, so I just had to stop and take a picture. :D Strike Back is everywhere and it's only eight days to go! (And this is the second attempt at trying to submit blog posts by email.)

Behold! :D First picture* from the forthcoming Jane Eyre adaptation, starring Mia Wasikowska. Now I just want to see a picture of Rochester '11... and preferably one with both of them. Nice bonnet, good "quakerish governess" dress, brooding landscape... So far so good! * Picture by Laurie Sparham, from article in The Times , found through BrontëBlog and re-posted, so to speak.

Last updated: 10 June 2010 Here's an observation. It's all about the hair! Sometimes, you see someone who's gorgeous and then they do something with their hair and all of a sudden they aren't. Or they have such great hair that they're just a bit "oooh". Is it the hair or is it the characters that are being played? It's the hair. Before I had joined the ranks of the Armitage Army, I saw a bit of Spooks 7 with Richard Armitage and thought "meh, prefer him as Gisborne". All in the hair, because I wasn't looking at more than his physical appearance at the time (the re-watch after the fan turning made me look more closely and appreciate the actual character, beyond the looks). Gisborne has decidedly more hair, and I prefer RA with more hair. Like this: Cute. But too short. Makes him look like Daniel Radcliffe! Yes, yes, yes, YES!! *fans herself with the laptop* So let's have a look at some others that spring to mind... Toby Step

On the train back from work, I saw a guy who seriously looked like Sam Neill. He had glasses and reminded me a lot of this piccy here (from Sirens ). Put a smile on my face, that did. Think he got off in Hucknall, so if you look like a '93 Sam Neill in glasses reading this and live in Hucknall - you rock! Pixar/Disney have announced a Monsters Inc. sequel, apparently. Don't really remember the first one, but it was cute...? The One Show 's resident grumpy Brummie Adrian Chiles is defecting to ITV , gasp! How very dares he! Top Gear will be getting a US spin-off. Well done! Top Gear is a brilliant show. I know it's about cars, but why watch it for the motors when the guys are hilarious? Not many people would try to make a rocking chair and a blender from a V8 engine... ;) One American remake that apparently isn't going ahead at the moment is Torchwood , the Doctor Who spin-off. They were making an American version? What on earth for? I mean, the original

Might just make a habit of commenting on the news on Fridays. Kinda fun! ...Even though it's Saturday by the time I write this, as I was catching up on Lost earlier tonight. Speaking of Lost , is Jack growing boobs? Looks like he's starting to compete against Locke in the man-boob arena... This season is a bit confusing still but it's getting there, slowly. Regardless of anything else, how squeeable is Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick)?! I like the character, even though he over-uses "brother". There's something with that accent - shame it's not his natural one. First off is the fab Emma Thompson in the Daily Mail , talking about being a mum, having the same driver as Kate Moss - causing the paparazzi to be very disappointed when the actress appears instead of the supermodel! If I had been a paparazzi, it would be the other way around. What's Kate Moss? Really? Famous for being a junkie and for being too skinny. Meh, I say. How can that compare with the P

Some time ago, I ordered two books by Emma Tennant. The first one came pretty much straight away, the second only arrived yesterday, as it had to come all the way from across the pond. And now what? IT'S THE SAME BLOODY BOOK! It just has two different titles! Okay, so a couple of books at £0.01 (+ £2.75 p&p) each isn't a lot, but it still annoys me. I was looking forward to reading two different books, and instead, I have one book with two different titles and two different covers. Only wanted the one. :( For reference, these are the culprits: The French Dancer's Bastard and Thornfield Hall . The latter has even been published under a third title, Adèle . FFS, pick a title and stick with it!