The Squeee

We interrupt the regular broadcast of FanstRAvaganza 2 in order to have a rant about some mucking fuppets I just came across online and want to scream about for a bit. If you're the sort of person whose religious prejudices get in the way of, oh I dunno, education , you should really give this post a miss, or you're likely to be tremendously offended. Don't say I didn't warn you. The first one, Jane Eyre: Oblivious or Needy? tries to make some kind of point of Jane being oblivious for not realising there was something shady going on at Thornefield. "No one can be that oblivious" it says, and also goes on to claim that Jane was needy for ... St. John wanting to marry her? Does not compute? How can Jane be blamed for being needy when it's not as if she encouraged St. John's attentions and in fact, when he asked her to marry him, she flat out refused? If she was needy, surely she would have accepted his proposal and ignored his jibe about her being ma...

Hello and welcome to the second annual FanstRAvaganza - a week-long festival of everything to do with Richard Armitage. There are a number of participating bloggers with the most amazing Richard Armitage fanblogs (or, like this one, it's not an RA fanblog per se , just that he happens to be an often recurring topic) - see below - and we'll be discussing a lot of Richard Armitage over the coming week. If you're here, you've arrived at a blog called The Squeee . It's run by myself (Traxy, hello! *waves*) and is normally a place of film and book reviews and stuff like that, when I'm not busy fangirling over Richard Armitage or Jane Eyre , or a number of other things. My topic for this year is: An Ordinary Leicestershire Lad I'm not going to post about Guy of Gisborne, Claude Monet, Harry Kennedy, John Thornton, John Porter, John Standring, John Mulligan, John Bateman, (yeah he has done a crapload of roles where he's been using his dad's name, bless...

Originally posted 3 April 2010 on a different blog. Another hand-written draft. This was written shortly after having watched some of the 2006 adaptation, so I felt as if Rochester's voice was coming through loud and clear for the first time, because it was as if I could hear him speak, telling his story, and me being there to write it down. It was rather pleasurable, really. :) And yes, it's back to first person, because it felt like the most natural way to write Rochester. I suppose I should tell you of how I came in possession of the litthe French girl, but in order to do so, I must first introduce her mother. Céline Varens, a danseuse at the Paris opera, where I happened to be taking in a fine performance one night. It was the day before New Year's Eve, the event spectacular, yet I can no longer recall the subject of the performance. There was this young woman among the dancers - everything so perfect, just what I was after. Her dark eyes mesmerised me; I could no...

Originally posted 3 April 2010 on a different blog. (Another handwritten draft, but this time, I've corrected a couple of places where I had left out some words. Here, I'm trying out a third-person narrative. Which didn't feel quite right either, as it happens...) Black like night the birds in the nests on top of the roof of Thornfield Hall. They had been told many times they were not allowed up there, but when you're an invincible youth, you don't always heed warnings from those of superior age. A boy appeared through the hatch from the attics below, his hair as black as the rooks in their nests.    "Come on, Edward! You're not scared are you?"    From below, the voice of a younger boy was heard: "Mamma said we were not to go up there. You should come down."    "Mamma is in Millcote all day, she will never find out. Unless you tell her. If you keep quiet, all will be well. Do you not wish to see the view from up here? All this ...

Originally posted 25 January 2010 on a different blog. Wow, that header sounds like a 50s/60s band! :) Work has begun on a second scene, set in Edward Rochester's childhood, where we get to meet not only him but also his older brother Rowland. From what I can tell, there's no names given for their parents, nor does it say what the age difference between the brothers is, or indeed what Rowland eventually died of. This means, I suppose, I'm at liberty to make these things up as I go along, which is both exciting and scary. I want to be following Charlotte Brontë's original text as closely as possible, so if I do come across a reference that actually mentions these things, I'll go by the book. Now, I don't think there are that many years between the boys. Doubt it's more than five. Haven't exactly decided on what, but on the other hand, I haven't even decided how old Edward is supposed to be in the scene, or exactly what happened, but I have an in...

Originally posted 25 January 2010 on a different blog. Edward is about 38 in the book, so that means he got married at 23, which I think explains a lot. He was still very young, and it explains why he was so quick to become besotted with Bertha Mason, even though he was never allowed to be on his own with her until they were married. He thought he was in love because she was so beautiful. It's a heavy burden to lay on a young person, forcing him to marry someone who it turns out is known to be insane, as insanity runs in the family. Do I think Edward was in the wrong for bringing Bertha to England? No, I think he was mistaken. To be perfectly honest, I think he should've dumped her back on Jamaica and gone back to England alone; however, I understand why he did it. He's not an awful person, he has a big heart, and even though he technically can't stand her, she is his wife, and as such, he feels obliged to take care of her. After all, they are married. Perhaps he se...

Originally posted 23 January 2010 on a different blog. I recently read that new writers often find third person narrative to be very difficult, because they are more accustomed to first person, and writing things from their own perspective rather than someone else's. While this might be true in some cases, perhaps a lot, it is not true for me. I struggle with it immensely. It's uncomfortable and weird. Most of the stories I have ever written, regardless of which age I was at the time, have been in third person, either in the mind of one character or switching between them, or omnipotent. This whole "I", "me" and "my" business feels unnatural, somehow. Not sure why. Okay, blogging and letters and that sort of thing I have no issue with writing in the first person (obviously), but stories are a problem. It doesn't flow as easily. There might be many reasons for it. First of all, I'm definitely more used to third person narratives, but eve...

Originally posted 23 January 2010 on a different blog. Handwritten draft, exactly as it was written on paper, so no corrections more than the ones on the paper itself. Just typing it down makes me want to change stuff around, add things, remove repetitions, and realise that there are a few instances of where the text gets rather confusing, or even goes to innuendo town...

I was curious to find out if there was going to be a third series of Horrible Histories , so I asked tweeting actors Laurence Rickard (@ Lazbotron ) and Ben Willbond (@ benwillbond ) about it, and one of them was kind enough to confirm it : @the_squeee Thank you please. Series 3 should be appearing on TVs some time in May. HOORAY! Can't wait! :D Thank you so much for answering the question, Mr. Rickard! In fact, thank you for just responding at all! First time I've ever had a response from a celeb tweeter, so I'm all tingly now. Yeah, I'm silly like that, sorry, but it just made my day. Laurence Rickard responded to my tweet. Squeee! "Stay calmer when you want to harm a llama, call a llama farmer!" Oh, and a P.S. Series 2 of Horrible Histories is available for pre-order from Amazon UK . It's released 2 May 2011. So yay for that as well! :D

I was trying to find the UK retailer which I knew used to stock the dress I wore for our wedding, but apparently they don't stock it any more. I came across this photo: That leather looks kinda Guy of Gisborne-y to me! I'm trying to find the ruddy outfit, but the only item I can find is this one, and it's just for the hat ! (£71.86 but it's real leather!) If only there was the whole outfit for sale, we could have made a proper comparison ... and then promptly taken the measurements of our husbands, fiancés, boyfriends or other kind of partners and put in an order! But, alas. You'll have to do some more of that glaring you're so good at, Guy! Yeah, that'll show 'em!

I don't quite know what the spy theme is all about, but Thomas Anders in a tux - hey, that works for me. ;) Besides, it gives me something to look at while I'm waiting for Strong to be released in Germany because I'm not keen on paying £40 for the Russian version of the album. (I know it comes with a DVD but it's not like it's got a whole lot on it, you know?) And there's STILL no release date for it! It's been out like a whole YEAR in Russia now and Stay With Me is the new single, apparently. Ph33r my hacking skillz for embedding this video without it actually having an embedding link! (It's you and me, Tariq!) The song? Yeah, 's awight. The video ... yeah, err, looks shiny but I don't really know where the whole James Bond thing came from? And if we're talking spies, then I prefer talking about Spooks , because of who's in it, or who used to be in it. Yeah ... Him. Now that's a thought ... Thomas Anders and Lucas North...

Well, at least if you would be so kind to vote for me, that is! ;) TalkTalk Tales is the contest, and it's about reading an excerpt from a well-known and loved children's book, or as they put it: "Our nationwide hunt for Britain's best amateur storyteller." I started by reading all the excerpts aloud to myself, and then chose the one I found most fun to read. It so happened to be Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. (I wasn't confident enough in my pirate singing.) Anyway, you can go and have a listen to my entry, and if you like it, please vote generously. :)

Can't believe it's taken us this bloody long to go and see the nearest hall/mansion/castle/thingy! Have lived in Nottingham for 6½ years now, pretty much, and the Saturday just gone saw our first ever visit to Wollaton Hall. Which is pretty inexcusable, considering the move we did about a year ago brought us closer to it than we were before, and yet ... nothing. Not until Relatives came to our side of town for a stroll in the park with Baby Nephew. Here's our chance! Let's go! Nottingham's Downton Abbey We did just go for a stroll around the park, and the wind was rather on the cold side and it wasn't a terribly pleasant day for a walk, but at least it didn't rain. It also gave us the impetus to go back when the weather's warmer. Wollaton Hall was built in the 1580s for Sir Francis Willoughby and should not be confused with Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, which is a replica of this one, apparently. The replica has been used as a filming loc...

One of the blogs I follow, because it's a brilliant place to get updates on anything to do with the Brontës or their works, is the BrontëBlog . They don't just post about upcoming movie or TV adaptations, they also tell you about things like books about the Brontës, new editions of their books and - crucially when you've set yourself the nigh impossible task of reading everything to do with Jane Eyre - upcoming novels by modern authors who have done their takes on the classical story. Today, I spotted a few upcoming novels and on closer inspection, they are all to do with Jane Eyre , yay! Here's a chronological rundown:

If you thought Charlotte Brontë only wrote Jane Eyre , you are mistaken. Her second published book was Shirley , and good ol' BBC have made an adaptation in six parts of it. For radio, not TV. Oh well, you can't have everything. If I understand the website correctly, it was first broadcast in September 2007, so it's not actually new new. Part one was broadcast this morning at 10 am (thanks for the tip, BrontëBlog !) and part two is tomorrow at 10 am, and the rest follow at the same time in the rest of the working week, with the final two parts next Monday and Tuesday. Linkage: Charlotte Brontë's Shirley on BBC Radio 7 - part 1 is available on BBC iPlayer for 7 days.

There is a lot about having to look slim for the camera and all that, but actually, my preferred man is one that has a bit of meat on him. Not too skinny, not too muscly, not too morbidly obese, but you know, a happy medium. Richard Armitage isn't too muscly, for instance. However, with there being a lot of skinny blokes out there, I feel we should also recognise that there are a number of heavier blokes out there who also deserve some appreciation for their looks (they're already getting kudos for their talents), but a lot of the time might get over-looked because of their size. So here are a few that have it goin' on, and who definitely aren't stick insects! :) In no particular order, aside from alphabetical:

Excuse me while I go squeee for a bit. These are in chronological order from when they appear in the book. 1. "When will I meet Miss Fairfax?"

Recently, at the British Comedy Awards, there was this kids TV show that won an award for Best Sketch Show! So I decided to check it out. And HOLY MOLY it's AWESOME! Horrible Histories on CBBC! Why is it awesome? Because it's about history and that's always a good thing, and that's just for starters. It's also fun, and very informative while being very playful. It's a history lesson made irresistible. Sure, I already like history as a subject, but this never fails to engage you. And there are songs and everything! And (admittedly) the stars are cute too, and they do sometimes wear cravats! ;) But mainly because it's a hoot to watch. So sit down, and let the history lesson commence! They really need to bring out an album with all of their songs! :D More: Wikipedia , IMDb , Amazon UK , official Horrible Histories website on CBBC

Thanks to MG at FLY HIGH! for the link! :) Here's a first look at the trailer for the upcoming Captain America movie. Richard Armitage is in it, but blink and you miss him (ca 00:23). Are you looking forward to this as well? Are you a comic book to film fan or just a fan of Richard Armitage or one of the other actors?

For the upcoming Richard Armitage FanstRAvaganza , my topic is going to be to delve more into the man behind the actor, to try and figure out why we're so drawn to him. Aside from talents and good looks, how come many of us can't read an interview with him without going completely potty and fancy him even more? What's up with that? Why are we so infatuated with this ordinary Leicestershire lad? I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions when it comes to interviews he's done where he talks about himself. I don't mean really personal stuff (like that one where he's lured into talking about how he lost his virginity and stuff like that) but you know, where he talks about having a BMW but would prefer an old, bashed up car; where he talks about food, sports, hobbies, DIY and all that sort of thing. Are there any articles that you've read that have stood out in particular for you that you can give as suggestions for me to have a closer look at? :) P.S. We...