The Squeee

If you've ever wanted a very short summary of everything Sam Neill has ever been in, this is it! Not every single thing, I admit, but I'm working on that! :) And by this, I would like to wish the man a very happy birthday! Happy birthday, Mr. Neill, hope you have a great one, with plenty of that fabulous wine of yours, and may your orchards prosper! (And no more of them earthquakes we read about hitting the South Island!) Ah, sweet fangirly wallpaper! An A-Z summary of everything Sam Neill has ever been in* * according to IMDb A Cry in the Dark (1988) Sam in shorts. With a camera. Angel (2007) Sam as a literary agent. Attack Force Z (1982) Sam in a canoe. Bicentennial Man (1999) Sam with robot. Blood of Others, the (1984) Sam as a nazi. Brush-Off, the (2004) Sam directed. Children of the Revolution (1996) Sam is a communist. Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) Sam in New Zealand. Country Life (1994) Sam in a barn. Crusoe (2008-20

A work colleague was speaking to someone called Lucas, and when he had hung up, I said "I would've been SOOO impressed if that Lucas was Lucas North from MI5!" He looked at me and replied, "Why? Who's that?" - he obviously doesn't watch Spooks , but as he said he used to once upon a time, I let him know that it starts again on Monday, 20 September 2010, at 21:00 / 9pm. Series nine! Already! Woohoo! R.I.P. Ros Myers :( And here's the BBC blurb about episode 9.1: Reeling after the explosion at the hotel, Section D are left considering the sacrifices they make as spies. But they are soon back in action, tracking Somalian AQ terrorist Abib on a boat from Tangier. When it becomes clear that the boat is carrying a lethal load, the team fear it is headed to Plymouth for the launch of the newest addition to the royal navy's fleet. But is the real target elsewhere, and is it too late to find the UK source of the plan? Lucas's own faith is

Part 4: South Wingfield The final stop on the journey before heading home was to be Wingfield Manor in South Wingfield. It's a bit further south than all the other places we'd been to during the day, so would make a good stop on the way back home to Nottingham. Getting to South Wingfield wasn't a problem. There were roadsigns. We could even see the ruins from the road. How to get to Wingfield Manor, however, was another matter. There were no roadsigns at all. We couldn't find a place to stop to take pictures either, so had to go in a big circle back and see if we could find a place the second time around. The first time, when we had reached the post code for the hall according to the website, all we saw was a road saying that wasn't a public road to the manor so sod off. It was a lot clearer than the Hathersage "satnav users, this is a private road, y'all, just so you know" to say the least. I looked with timorous joy towards a stately house: I

Chatsworth As we were leaving North Lees Hall, a man in the car next to us suggested popping to the church for another interesting historical building to view, and there's the grave of Robin Hood's buddy Little John to view as well. By the time we actually reached Hathersage, we couldn't be bothered trying to navigate those narrow streets in order to find the church, and as we both felt like a pit stop would be a good idea, we decided to skip it and press on. The satnav got instructions to take us to South Wingfield via Matlock Bath, and on the way, we spotted a sign for the Chatsworth Farm Shop. As a sister-in-law had mentioned some kind of speciality tea she had only been able to find there, and we said we'd be going to Chatsworth for a visit at some point and would we mind awfully having a look for it and buy some for her. We didn't mind at all, and as we saw the sign, stopped by for said pit stop. Hills as far as the eye can see.

Hathersage Driving through some narrow roads, made worse because of parked cars on the side of it, meaning that there really was only space for one car to pass at a time, we followed the satnav to the post code for North Lees Hall, i.e. S32 1BR. The Heritage site had said to "turn into Coggers Lane" in Hathersage, which was a road sign we never saw, so eventually, up on one of the hills, we came to a turn-off where the friendly female voice said we should "go left". It had a sign informing satnav users that it was a private road. Private and unpaved. We thought that as the Hall is rented out as holiday accomodation, that might be it (not that any other signs said "North Lees Hall this way", but we hadn't seen any down in Hathersage either). They might just not want people using it as a through road or something. There have been stories in the news about very small towns that have had a lot of lorry traffic going through all of a sudden, because of

Our little outing to go and see North Lees Hall turned into a big sightseeing tour of Derbyshire, from which we managed to return unscathed. Not that rural Derbyshire is full of crooks (like, for instance, the fictional county of Midsomer - where you're either a murder victim, witness, suspect or an actual murderer), but rather because it's full of very steep hills and very narrow roads. You might say north Derbyshire is breathtaking ... for all the wrong reasons! Bakewell We began the tour in Bakewell (passing Haddon Hall on the way). Bakewell is a town famous for their eponymous tarts and puddings, which are more or less full of almonds. I have made Bakewell tarts before and last week, I also tried making a Bakewell pudding, following the Hairy Bikers' recipe . Now we were back, to check out the original stuff. We did just that before we went to Haddon Hall last summer, and now we were trying to find the same place. Having just got ourselves a nice pasty each, the r

One of the country houses that litter the countryside on this little island that I'd love to visit is Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. And last Friday, had the day off and went to see it! Or, rather, we went to the Chatsworth Country Fair. It was a big show, located in the grounds of the house (the park?) but entry to the house and gardens wasn't included - and as the show was big, we were too busy walking around there to go to the house itself. The Squeeze has promised we'll go back and see the house properly at some point. Chatsworth House - Pemberley '05 I got a proper belt so my trousers won't keep falling down and a proper whittling knife (by Mora of Sweden - oh the irony!) and had a look at plenty of dog things (not that we have a dog), lots of tweed and Australian leather hats. Another thing was the animals - ferret racing, for instance. Got to pet a very relaxed little ferret (they're super-cute). There was also a falconry display, but we didn't

For those who are inclined to look at old buildings, a bunch of them will be open next weekend. Amongst those, North Lees Hall in Hathersage (Derbyshire). Thursday and Friday by appointment, open 10-16 Saturday and Sunday. One thing I didn't realise until ... yesterday is that North Lees Hall is actually not just some country house you can go visit whenever you like. It's a holiday cottage. Rent-a-castle or perhaps rather rent-a-manor. Which means, the only time you can see the place on the inside is on one of these open days - unless you want to cough up £455 for a three-night stay in the winter (low season), or a whole lot more during the summer months. The place does sleep six, though, so if you're a few people, you can always stay together for a few nights and share the cost. Wouldn't it be fun to get six Jane Eyre -ites together for a weekend at the place that inspired Thornfield? :) Anyway. This realisation, i.e. it's open day or I won't get to see it

I thought the new adaptation of Jane Eyre was going to premiere at the Venice Film Festival now in September, but after scanning the films on show and the schedules, I can't find it. So I believe rumours of the film showing up in broad daylight at this year's Venice Film Festival have been greatly exaggerated. We still have to wait until March of next year ... *sigh* The only thing to whet our appetites so far have been a few tweets from NY Times (?) Catherine Mayer (@catherine_mayer), namely these: Watched the rough cut of forthcoming Jane Eyre movie. I think Mr Rochester will do for Michael Fassbender what Mr Darcy did for Colin Firth Hoho wow , is all I have to say, in a Father Dougal type way. Splendid, can't wait!

BBC Four have done a press release regarding the schedule for the autumn 2010 / winter 2011 season. And I'm thrilled! Delighted! Amazed! As happy as can be! 1. There's the first ever filmed adaptation of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency . It might not have been made clear here just yet, but I'm a huge fan of Douglas Adams and Dirk Gently is one of those things that tend to get over-looked because of the vastly more successful Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Dirk Gently! On the telly! :D Holistic detective Dirk Gently, as played by Harry Enfield in the 2007 BBC radio production 2. They're also adapting not one but TWO of DH Lawrence's novels! Hooray! Women in Love and The Rainbow , which are combined somehow, apparently, and will star Rosamund Pike. DH Lawrence! Now, how's that for timing? :D

Oh this new-fangled technology ... ;) You may add me if you like! It's a public profile, so to speak ... The real one shall be kept private for now. Traxy Thornfield Create your badge

I can't believe it's been a year already! There are some posts that were posted pre-24 August 2009 but that's because I imported them from another blog, as I thought they fitted better here than there. (Had a bit of a re-structure a while back.) Nooo, today - a year ago - The Squeee was created with the very first post, Fangirls Anonymous . Aww. Began writing here because I never really got into blogging, just like I can't get into writing a diary, because unlike the masses, I really don't think my life is interesting enough to share with the world. If I wrote about things instead of writing letters to friends and family with little updates on what's going on in my life here in the UK, that's one thing. But umm, it also wouldn't be interesting. Then there's the thing about having an actual topic for blogging, which I haven't had - it's always been a bit "I hate my job" or the odd thought that has struck me, or something that&#

'Appy birfday, mi duck! :) (...Hot dang, I love this picture!) Celebrating his 39th birthday today - it's our favourite actor, Mr. Richard Armitage! I know he's not reading this and he's not likely to ever come across this message, but still - Happy birthday! Hope you have a wonderful, happy and successful year. Thank you so much for all your hard work on screen (and off - not envious of the rigorous SAS training!), it has given so many of us not just plenty of things to talk about, but to watch and enjoy. Thank you for all your past work as well - it has brought many new friends from all over the world. Now, if you want to leave a birthday message for him, you can do so at RichardArmitageNet . :) I think they actually forward them to him somehow, while any birthday messages posted on here won't be. Just so you know! If you want to send him a gift, please remember that he has asked his fans not to do so. He has everything he needs already, and while he's

This is too awesome for words. Big Firefly shoutout in Castle - Nathan Fillion dressing up as a "space cowboy" for Halloween. Because he happens to like the costume. And so he should, I love Mal's clothes! Heck, I love Firefly full stop!

I know the article "Mr. Rochester is a Creep: A List" by Edan Lepucki is just plain linkbait, and that by posting about it here, The Millions is/are (whatever) getting linklove, but I'll ignore that for now. As a "somewhat" obsessive Jane Eyre fan and definite "Team Rochester" member, my temper has been roused and will not be settled will less than a passionate rebuttal. While the webcomic that the article links to is one I've seen before and used to have as a wallpaper on my computer (although it completely ignores the fact that Anne wrote more than just Tenant ), calling two of the finest authors of the English language "deeply weird" is not on! Charlotte and Emily weren't weird. Heathcliff, fine - asshole, psychopath, creepy and duplicitous are all words that can be used to describe him. I can think of a few more to add to the list as well. But Rochester?! (The author hasn't read Wide Sargasso Sea yet - it's going to

Season 4 of Dexter has started on FX in the UK and again, I'm wondering why the hell I put myself through it. Not from the perspective of ew it's gory or anything, but because it's bloody painful to watch! It's a constant cringefest of fearing someone's going to Find Out about his Dark Passenger. Considering Dexter got married and Rita was preggers at the end of season 3, baby Harrison has plopped out and is causing the usual sleep deprivation. What do you do with a sleep-deprived serial killer? It's a recipe for disaster for sure. He's going to get caught and it's going to be agonising to watch. "My daddy kills people!" "Yes I do, but only bad people, Junior." Season 4 seems to like featuring a naked John Lithgow. Not what I expected to see, nor anything I wanted to see, to be honest. On the plus side - Quinn has that boyish-yet-manly look about him (oh! Suits you sir!) and Lundy has returned. I still remember season 2, when h

"Da shvedanya, Mish Karenina ... The name'sh Wronski, count Wronski. And you do have a lishenshe to shwoon." For the love of all things ancient – look at what cropped up on BBC News today! An adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina has been re-discovered in the BBC archives and will be released on DVD in September. First broadcast in early November 1961, the Russian drama featured a young Sean Connery and Claire Bloom – who starred together in Bond flick Dr. No a year later apparently. No cravat on the picture, but Sean Connery in a uniform – oooh. Source: Sean Connery BBC period drama rediscovered Publish Post

Congratulations to Belgium and New Zealand! Came across this - yay for Google Alerts! :) DRG have confirmed that leading broadcasters TVNZ in New Zealand and VRT in Belgium have both acquired DRG's new primetime drama. VRT And TVNZ Secure DRG's New Drama 'Vexed' - UK Film and Television News Although my alert is for Jane Eyre , it came up because the article mentioned the previous productions of Mr. Stephens.

Went into town on Saturday, and as we were passing one of those wonderful discount bookshops, I went in to see if they had anything of interest. They did: a whole shelf of Wordsworth Classics! So I helped myself to these ones: Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence The Plumed Serpent by DH Lawrence The Virgin and the Gipsy & Other Stories by DH Lawrence Guess my reading list for the DH Lawrence Challenge just expanded! :)

Ahh, Toby Stephens back on the screen! I've also seen two interviews with him about Vexed, which premiered on the BBC earlier tonight. For instance, in the Daily Post North Wales , he says: "I don’t want to do the same thing over and over again. Vexed was a great opportunity for me to do something different and if the fans of Rochester don’t like it, they can tune out after 10 minutes." Which sounds a bit wrong taken out of context, admittedly, but read the original and it'll make sense. :) According to the Sunday Express , he really enjoyed playing the role. So how was it? Fab! Toby Stephens was a hoot - especially enjoyed his pleading with the murderer toward the end, where the murderer said "see you on the other side" and he pointed out that what if there is no other side? Made me laugh out loud. Oh yes, and at the time, he was only in his underwear, might be worth pointing out. Hellooooooooooooo nurse! Before that, he was wearing a dark green t