This King really does know how to mack back in the 16th-century.

Director Justin Chadwick’s opulent historical drama stars Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Scarlett Johansson as her sister, Mary — both beautiful, ambitious and vying for the heart of powerful but intemperate King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Though both women are the monarch’s mistresses, only one can become his queen consort — but at what cost?

Remember when you were taught in history class about that guy Henry VIII, and he was ginat, and fat and there was that little picture of him eating the chicken? Well that guy is played by Eric Bana, who does not match any of those characteristics at all. That’s basically all your going to get in this movie.

Now I’m no historical major, but I know a little thing or to about the 16th-century and what events took place. This film basically makes all those factual happenings and romanticize them into something totally unbelievable. Throughout the film I wondered if, if the King is so busy with these two women, who’s controlling what happens with England.

The film felt more of a soap opera than a film. There were moments that just made me want to puke by how overly romantic it was trying to be. And other than this I just felt bored all the way through. Like honestly nothing exciting really happens until the first hour is up and then the real story develops. I zoned out a whole bunch of times even when the stroy came on, and as a whole found this not so interesting.

I also think that this film could’ve really pushed the boundaries a lot more. It was PG-13 and it felt so drawn back by this, that it made its love scenes less romantic cause they were afraid of showing some boobies. Now, I’m not trying to sound perverted or anything, but when you have two beautiful women such as Johansson and Portman, you would expect to see some bodies go around but nothing quite happens in order to get its appeal going.

I liked the set pieces and found this to be very good to look and gaze at. The scenery made me feel placed in this era, and I really did feel in this time-period as this was happening.

Natalie Portman is what really makes this film. Her performance is so good and rich that I actually did believe her as this totally bitchy sister that all she wanted was the fame and fortune as Queen. Bana is misscast and I didn’t find him to be very engaging as a King, and this is what basically threw me off from his character.

Consensus: Portman’s great performance and beautiful set desings, aren’t enough to save The Other Boleyn Girl from a boring story that just felt like a 1 hour and 55 minute soap opera.

3/10=SomeOleBullShiittt!!!!

The movie tie-in cover

It was the original cover of The Other Boleyn Girl which famously started the trend for ‘headless women’ covers for historical novels.  I may be in the minority in not liking that original cover.  It was the colours: I just found them drab and boring.  I far prefer the vibrant emerald green of the movie tie-in cover.  This was the first copy of the book which I bought, and the green helped sell it to me (rather than the Photoshopping, which I’ve seen better done).

The question I want to answer is: why green?  Why not blue, red or yellow?  Why associate Anne Boleyn with the colour green?

Personally, the first thing that comes to mind is the idea of envy and jealousy: the ‘green-eyed jealousy’ and ‘green-eyed monster’ Shakespeare wrote about in The Merchant of Venice.  That’s pretty appropriate to the storyline of TOBG, which is chock full of envy and jealousy in the form of rivalry between Anne and her sister Mary.  Both envy the other at different times, but it is Anne who is portrayed as devoured by envy, consumed by ambition and determination to shove her sister out of the way and get to the top.

The second thing Anne’s green dress made me think of is another woman who dresses in green – a character in one of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair.  When Jill and Eustace meet The Lady of the Green Kirtle on their journey to the land of the giants, they think she is lovely.  But their companion and guide, Puddleglum, is suspicious, and rightly so.  The Lady is a witch, with the power to transform into a serpent, ’shining, and as green as poison.’

Well, Anne Boleyn doesn’t transform into a serpent in the pages of TOBG (don’t want to disappoint anyone who hasn’t read it) but she is shown to resort to witchcraft on more than one occasion.  She also attempts to poison an enemy.  Whether she was really guilty of this or not, it was something of which she was accused.   So again the green dress seems appropriate.

Or at least that’s how a 21st century audience sees it.  Jane Ashelford, discussing the language of colours in the sixteenth century, says that green was then known as ‘the colour of love and joy’ (The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500-1914, London: The National Trust, 1996, revised ed. 2000, p.32).  Why love and joy?  Green was associated with Venus, the goddess of love, who was portrayed rising from green waves, as in Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.  This association continued right through the early modern period (about 1500-1800) and was the reason why women’s bedchambers were so often decorated in green.  One of the best examples is the Green Velvet Bedchamber at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, England.  In 1732 William Kent designed a bed for this room with a gilded double shell against the headcloth (which you can just about glimpse through the curtains in the image below) to represent the shell in which Venus was borne to the shore.  There’s another green-upholstered bedchamber (although the colour has faded badly) at Osterley Park on the outskirts of London.  For this, the State Bedchamber, Robert Adam designed an eight-poster bed as a Temple of Venus in 1775-6 – click through the slide show to see it.

So although the ‘green’ Other Boleyn Girl cover may have been designed with the intention of portraying Anne as less than angelic, I like to think that she and her contemporaries would have seen it quite differently – as a tribute to her beauty and desirability.

The Green Bedchamber, Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Photo by rpbmclean.

Mais uma excelente historia de época….

Adoro filmes de época e A outra não é diferente. O filme é baseado em fatos reais e conta com um elenco de 1ª.

O filme é de 2008 e apesar de não ser tão novo ele merece ser assistido…

Pensei em fazer uma crítica do filme mas como minha cabeça não anda muito boa e eu realmente li uma crítica show, recomendo clicarem no link abaixo e lerem a sinopse do filme

http://www.cranik.com/filme_aoutra.html

Assista ao trailer que é de arrepiar….

Se quiser o torrent:

Naomi Watts

Jennifer Connelly

By Belinda Goldsmith – Reuters

Australian actress Naomi Watts, who starred in “The Ring,” “King Kong” and “Eastern Promises,” is the actress who provides the best return for a film studio, according to a list by Forbes.com.

With cash-strapped studios looking for return on their investments, Forbes.com compiled a list of the 10 actresses who provide the best bang for their buck.

They found actresses who commanded the highest prices, like Angelina Jolie who topped Forbes’ list of the best paid actresses after banking $27 million in a year, were outranked by those earning around $5 million and under for a film.

Watts, 41, topped the list after the analysis found she helped the boxoffice make an estimated $44 for every $1 she was paid for her last three major films.

Rachel McAdams

Jennifer Connelly, star of “”Blood Diamond” and “He’s Just Not That Into You,” came second with her films earning about $41 for each dollar she was paid and Rachel McAdams, of “The Notebook” and this year’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” came third with $30 for every $1 earned.

Fourth was Natalie Portman of the new “Star Wars” movies and “The Other Boleyn Girl” with her films making $28 for every $1 she was paid followed by Meryl Streep who made the top five due to the massive boxoffice success of last year’s “Mamma Mia,” earning $27 for every $1 paid.

Rounding out the 10 were Jennifer Aniston ($26 per $1) while films by Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Hilary Swank all made $23 for every dollar they earned.

Forbes.com said it compiled its list by looking at the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood. To qualify each actress had to have starred in at least three movies in the past five years that opened in more than 500 theatres.

They looked at the star’s estimated earnings, each movie’s estimated budget and boxoffice, DVD and television earnings to figure out an operating income for each movie.

Amazon Specials!

If you enjoy English history and a good novel, you can’t really go wrong with Philippa Gregory. She’s the author of the bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl, and a series of novels that document the Tudor period: The Constant Princess, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen’s Fool and The Virgin’s Lover. I’ve bought all of these books and enjoyed all but one of them immensely.

In attempting to write about Ms. Gregory’s latest novel, The White Queen, I find myself compelled to discuss these earlier works first. If I hadn’t read them, I probably wouldn’t have immediately bought The White Queen the minute I saw it in Barnes and Noble.

If you’ve seen the movie version of The Other Boleyn Girl with Eric Bana, Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johansson but you haven’t read the book, you missed a lot.  The book tells the story of the love affair between Mary Boleyn and Henry VIII that occurred before Henry and Anne Boleyn began their affair. It chronicles the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn’s power at court, the intrigues and challenges that arose from her never-ending struggle to remain in the king’s favor, and the relationship of the two sisters dealing with their feelings for each other and for the same man. Until I read the book, I confess I wasn’t aware that there was another Boleyn girl besides Anne, let alone one who was a much kinder, gentler soul who genuinely loved Henry for himself, in contrast with her driven, ambitious sister. The plot demonstrates the cruel way the two girls were used as pawns by their father and uncle until the entire family paid a terrible price for their scheming.

I read the book first, because I’m such a detail-lover and I don’t want to miss out on anything. Then I watched the movie. Although I liked the movie well enough (and loved the costumes, which were so beautifully done) it lacked the rich plot details that Philippa went to so much trouble to describe in vivid and thoroughly credible language in her original story.

After The Other Boleyn Girl, I became pretty much obsessed with reading everything Philippa had written about this period. I really enjoyed The Boleyn Inheritance, which used an interesting literary device whereby each of three characters: Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard (two of Henry VIII’s wives) and Jane Rochford (Anne and Mary Boleyn’s sister-in-law, married to their brother George) tells their story in the first person. The author masterfully uses this method and intertwines the stories into a cohesive whole. The story deals with the fallout from Henry’s disastrous affair with Anne, and the struggles of these three women to survive the scheming and ambition of the court. Very well done!

Then there was The Constant Princess, which tells the story of Katherine of Aragon, and how a Spanish princess came to be Henry VIII’s first wife. As the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Katherine (or Catalina, as she calls herself) was promised at the age of 3 to England’s Prince Arthur and always knew that her destiny was to be the Queen of England. But at the age of 16, shortly after she marries Arthur, he falls ill. Before he dies, Arthur makes her promise that she will marry his brother Henry. Katherine agrees to this, but in order to become Henry’s wife, she has to persuade everyone that her marriage to Arthur was never consummated. Relying on her steadfast faith, her core lifelong belief that she is destined to rule England as queen, and the sharp mind she inherited from Ferdinand and Isabel, Katherine is able to overcome hardship and adversity to find her destiny and her place in history.

Next up I read the book that became my second favorite–The Other Boleyn Girl being my top favorite–The Queen’s Fool. In this story, Ms. Gregory selects a fictional lead character through whom we meet Elizabeth I and Mary Tudor, two of Henry VIII’s daughters caught in a desperate struggle with each other to rule the kingdom after Henry’s death. Hannah Green is a 14 year-old Jewish girl who has escaped the Spanish inquisition and, with her father, moves to London where they set up a printing shop. But Hannah’s gift of “seeing the future” is noted by Robert Dudley, who brings her to the Tudor court as a “holy fool.” Hannah, who first works for Queen Mary and then Queen Elizabeth, is employed as a spy. She is in constant jeopardy of being exposed as a spy, a Jew, or of being declared a witch and suffering the barbaric consequences of such a judgment in those times. Once again, Ms. Gregory has written a book that immediately draws you in, and paints such a detailed and vivid picture of life in Tudor times that you can almost smell the candle smoke from the pages of the book.

The last book in the Tudor series was The Virgin’s Lover. If you read my opening paragraph carefully, you’ll have noticed I said that I “enjoyed all but one of them immensely.” The Virgin’s Lover is the one I didn’t much care for. This book chronicles the love affair between Elizabeth I and Sir Robert Dudley. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, Dudley is married to his long-suffering wife, Amy. There’s lots of plotting and scheming in the book, as was actually the case in the court of Elizabeth.

My big issue with the story was that I was waiting for the event described on the back cover of the book.  It says: “When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival. Philippa Gregory’s The Virgin’s Lover answers the question about an unsolved crime that has fascinated detectives and historians for centuries.” Well I like a good whodunit, and thought this was going to be a major theme of the book.

After the first hundred pages, with Amy still alive and well, I found myself getting a bit impatient waiting for the dastardly deed to happen. After two hundred pages, I complained to my hubby, Rock that I was getting rather tired of waiting for Amy to get bumped off. I wasn’t really interested in the court intrigue and scheming that had occupied the pages I’d read.

That’s when Amy became a standing joke between Rock and me. Every time he saw me reading the book, he’d ask, “Is she dead yet?” and I’d say, “No, dammit!” This went on for a couple of days, with my frustration level rising. Still alive on page 300… still alive on page 400… There are only 438 pages in the book. Rock could tell I was getting quite pissy about it.  One night he came and found me reading on the sofa and demanded to know, “Isn’t that bitch dead yet?” which made me laugh so hard. In case you’re interested, she dies on page 410, and Philippa Gregory’s “answer” that’s referred to on the back cover, is very short as everything gets wrapped up in the next 28 pages. I was disappointed with this book, but not enough to dampen my curiosity when I saw her next one.

I was in Barnes and Noble two weeks ago when I saw that Ms. Gregory had a new book out, and buying it was a no-brainer for me. This new book, The White Queen, is the first in a series documenting the bitter fighting between the Houses of Lancaster and York, during the rule of the Plantagenets, that became known as the Wars of the Roses. Despite the fact that I’m English, I have never studied that period of history, and I enjoy the fact that, as always with her books, I’m getting a very accurate history lesson along with a rollicking good tale!

This is a broad sweeping of a story with love, action and intrigue galore in its 408 pages. And its atmosphere and feel are that pure Gregory magic that transports you gently but swiftly back to those days, to their simplicity, precariousness and bloodiness. This is a good story, and Ms. Gregory once again uses the first person singular to tell the tale. It is a device that immediately pulls you in as you experience everything through the eyes, ears and heart of the protagonist, Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth is born into the House of Lancaster, but falls in love with Edward of the House of York, and marries him in secret. Eventually, that secret is revealed and she becomes England’s first commoner Queen, married for love. Elizabeth also becomes the mother of the two little princes, Edward and Richard, who are ultimately taken from her and lost to all eternity. To this day, no-one knows what happened to the princes in the Tower of London; Ms. Gregory hazards a guess.

My only criticism of this tale is something over which the author had no control. I found myself becoming quite confused at times about who was who. Here’s the reason. The people in those times showed a remarkable lack of originality in naming their children. First let’s talk about the “Richards.” Elizabeth was married and widowed before marrying Edward. She had two sons by her first marriage: Thomas and Richard Grey. Edward’s brother is also named Richard. Elizabeth and Edward have a son whom they name Richard (so Elizabeth has two sons named Richard, who are half-brothers). Edward’s father was Richard, Duke of York. Okay, you with me so far? Now for the “Edwards.” Elizabeth marries Edward IV. She names her son Edward V. Edward IV’s brother George is married to Isabel Neville, whose sister Anne Neville marries the son of Henry VI and Margaret d’Anjou, and his name is–you guessed it–Edward. For clarification of all this take a look here at the Plantagenet family tree at www.philippagregory.com.

As you can imagine, if you put the book down for a couple of days or if you’re reading when you’re a bit tired and not concentrating, you can be forgiven for getting the Richards or the Edwards mixed up. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Also, I found it tough getting all the relationships figured out because the only family tree that is printed in the book is “The Cousins at War”, whereas the additional trees at philippagregory.com clarify things somewhat. It took me a while to figure out that the characters we meet in The White Queen are on the bottom row. Duh! But would I recommend the book? Oh yes! If you love history and a good tale, you will enjoy it.

How would I rate all of the above books on the Annies Closet Hanger scale?

 The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen’s Fool (5)

 The Boleyn Inheritance, The White Queen (4)

The Constant Princess (3)

The Virgin’s Lover (1)

Following on Becca’s most recent article, Deense has a few thoughts on historical fiction to share.

For those of us with a passion for history, fiction and cinema can be both a joy and a horror. We watch in frustration as facts are thrown by the wayside in order to provide us with what the writers or directors think is a good story. We are caught squealing with glee at small yet perfectly-realised details. There are often highs and lows in each piece and no one is more critical of anything set in the past than those who’ve studied the era.

Historically based novels and movies has seen something of a renaissance in the past half-dozen years. As with any such genre explosion, a good portion of what gets produced can no more claim to be historical than some of Shakespeare’s histories. “Are they set in the past?” Yes. “Do they use the names of once famous and powerful persons? Yes. Do they adhere to the facts?” That’s where things get interesting.

For the purpose of this ramble, I thought it best to make a distinction between period and historical. I define them thus:

Period: Based in a historical setting (though it may have been contemporary when written), these works focus on fictional characters and events, the historical setting merely acting as a backdrop to their lives. Sarah Waters’ or Jane Austen’s works are excellent examples of period pieces.

Historical: Inspired by and focused upon the lives of actual people and/or actual events, but the interpretation of these people and events may be loose. The purpose of these works is to tell the story of someone who once lived and of whom there exists extant factual record.

In many ways the period piece is easier to produce. It’s power is in the details, but the details – not necessarily more easily researched – are difficult to refute. Think of Atonement. The description of Briony on the nursing ward in World War II England was so evocative that it was easy to overlook just how detailed the recounting of it was. What escaped no one was the the stringency of the nurses, the relative primitiveness of their equipment and the stresses on the staff because of it, and the efficacy of the matrons who ran the wards. In all of it an image was created: an image that most could be convinced was not that far off the reality of such a place.

Sarah Waters is another author who excels at the period novel. She manages to capture her historical periods amazingly, all in the details. Her research shows, both in her books set in the 19th century, and in those set during wartime twentieth. It is easy to believe that these people could easily have existed, whilst at the same time imparting a bit more knowledge about that period onto the reader. Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet were both translated onto the small screen, and wonderfully so. They may have lost a bit of the story, they lost none of what made them period.

Is it harder, then to write a historical novel or pen such a movie? That is a question that seems to be too rarely asked. I’m not considering the number of books written of legends, such as Robin Hood or Camelot. Those stand in a world of their own, to be dealt with at another time.

Most recently the fashion seems to be to write about Henry VIII and his wives. If you need to ask who Henry and his wives are, perhaps this is not the article for you. The Other Boleyn Girl. The Tudors. Both in books and on the screen, Tudor and late medieval history seems to be the vogue. What I’ve read and have seen often makes me want to weep.

There are things that I understand. I understand that sex sells and there is a level of glamour that is needed to make something seem appealing. I do have to say that anyone who’s studied the period can tell you that the reality is far more interesting and intriguing than the dumbed down versions we get today. The political intrigue, the power of the Lords, the power of the Church, the fact England was broke, the influence of France, the infighting in the court: it makes for a marvellous story without the abridgements that the fiction seems to give us. But that is why it’s fiction, is it not? It isn’t the truth, but it is using the backdrop of reality. Actual events and people are what we’re taking liberties with for the purpose of entertainment.

Sadly, I would love to leave it there, but I cannot, mostly due to the fact I have heard a number of people I quite like and respect say things like the Tudors, but ‘why did they kill Anne’? These are well educated people, and people I consider my friends. It makes me wonder if those stories of the Titanic test audiences who said the movie would be much better if the ship hadn’t sunk were a joke or actually a reality.

Over and over I find people who’ve read historifiction or seen the movies and suddenly proclaim themselves near-experts on that period. It’s frustrating and infuriating for those of us who have spent countless hours reading into such things and acknowledge that we’ll never become experts. Even if we were to have a massive lottery win and access to every primary document still out there we’d be quite a way off. A little knowledge, however, can be a dangerous thing. To be fair, the historical world isn’t exactly without its own flaws. Bias, assumptions, mad-cap theories and poor research are just some of the factors that can make a non-fiction work as spurious as fiction.

This genre can also inspire a real interest in the past. People go from watching a movie or two or reading a few books on an area and from there pick up histories and documentaries: they take classes or start going to museums. I know that much of my own love of history was inspired by watching these exact sorts of things as a child and teen.

The balance between entertainment and history is a fine line. There is something romantic about historical figures, and as such, they are easy to romanticise. After all, no matter how many extant documents we might have, we will never know what Henry VIII was like personally. Neither will we have concrete evidence about Darwin, nor Robespierre, nor Anthony Blunt. We don’t know what they thought or why they made the decisions they made. Fiction, in many cases, is the only way to fill in the blanks. But fiction is never history, and more and more the line between the two is being blurred.

- Deense

James “Jim” Anthony Sturgess was born on May 16, 1981 London, England and grew up in Farnham, Surrey where he created plays in his attic as a child and would force his neighbours and younger sister to star in them. After discovering his love of performing, he often used it as an excuse to skip class. He was discovered performing in his self written poetry based one-person show “Buzzin” where he was recommended to an actor’s agency back in London. While acting in various television shows and independent films such as I’m Frank Morgan, Hawkins and the three parts of The Quest series, he became a member of a seven member band, named the “Dilated Spies”, which broke up several years ago. Along with his stage and screen career, he has also become known as the voice of radio characters such as his part in the 2005 radio play, Troilus And Cressida. Once the band broke up he began to once again pursue a career in acting. Jim is a former member of The National Youth Music Theatre (1993-1995) and is a graduate of the University of Salford’s School of Media, Music and Performance.

But it was his role as Jude in the 2007 movie Across the Universe that really brought him to the attention of a worldwide audience, with a character reminiscent of a young John Lennon, Jim starred along side Evan Rachel Wood, Bono, Salma Hayek, Eddie Izzard and Joe Cocker. His portrayal of a young man traveling from Liverpool, England, to America in an attempt to seek out his errant father, coupled with his stunning rendition of ten Beatle’s songs was defiantly the vehicle that he needed to propel his career onto the next plain. He called the experience “mind blowing”, that it “changed my life completely.”

In 2008, Jim scored two other major roles with well-established actors and actresses. He portrayed George Boleyn, brother to Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson) Boleyn in the story of the Boleyn sisters who contended for the affection of King Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl. Shortly after, he took the lead as Ben Campbell in 21, the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. His co-stars included Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Bosworth. The $35 million production took in an incredible $134 million dollars worldwide. 21 earned the Best Ensemble Award at the 2008 Show West Awards.

2008 will once again be a busy year for Jim as he stars as Gavin Kossef in Crossing Over, which will see him appearing with Hollywood greats, Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Sean Penn, Cliff Curtiss and Ashley Judd. The movie is set in Los Angeles and the storyline revolves around immigrants from different countries and backgrounds who share a common bond in desperately trying to gain legal status.

Keep your eyes on this one!

Monday night I finally found time to attend a full raid. We started out with 3 groups….not typically a good thing. I don’t know where all our raiders were, but it’s been a low turnout lately. We started in Ykesha’s Inner Sanctum and I was really thinking we were going to be dying over and over, but boy was I wrong. 3 groups one pulled Strange Stalker and one pulled Kultak the Cruel…awesome!

By this time our raid had filled up to 4 groups and we trotted on over to Tomb of the Mad Crusader and wiped on Thet Em Aua with a full raid…not awesome at all. I swear it oftens feel like two steps forward, three steps back with our raid force. It changes so much.

Anyway, I guess that’s the hazards of raiding and I’m just going to leave it at that. I did sign up for tonight’s raid but it looks like another low turnout night for some reason. Where have all the raiders gone?

Sin and I didn’t log on last night, instead we took Shortpants for some checkups and wound up hitting an Irish Pub to eat afterwards. I had a burger filled with Jalapenos and Pepperjack and it was gooooooddd. I also had a beer or two to wash it down with. They were gooooddddd. You know, I am supposed to be on a diet. We went shopping for clothes this weekend and I was depressed. Then, I have 3 beers and a freaking awesome hamburger and start to wonder if it’s really worth being skinny again

I suppose it is. I know. Get off my ass.

We followed the dinner up with a movie, The Other Boleyn Girl. It was interesting, kinda. The girls did well in their parts, but Eric Bana? Nooooooo…. It’s a good thing you were so awesome in Star Trek sir. A good thing.

The week is halfway over! It’s going nice and fast and I can’t wait for the three day weekend. (and Aion open beta!)

Why?!? Because I beat Ysharros to a post !!!  It never fails I get up and that woman is like a ninja. Shes done typed out a novel of a post and had that mother up for an hour before I’ve even sat down at my desk, she must be able to type 1,000gwam lol. So this time when “the boy”  (my youngest son) woke me up at 4am I said, AHA this is my chance!!! So I got up, got myself a glass of OJ, read a few blogs to wake up and here I am at 5:17am on a Wednesday morning. Sad I know, a tad pathetic as well and yet I am humbly amused. <3!

So yesterday was a busy day! We had to take our son “the boy” to the doctor for a hearing test and a heart check up. He got the A’okay! WIN AGAIN! GO US! He was a preemie and he just turned 3 so this was pretty much a final check up type of thing. While we were out Cast of course finds an old Irish Pub that he just has to eat at, haha! Okay I shouldnt say that because I HAD to go too SOOO we went to the Irish pub . They had some kickass food and awesome beer just ask Castillion  /snicker! Cast had a Baja Cajun burger smothered in all sorta goodies served with a side of cole slaw and I had the “Special” which was an open faced turkey sammich with stuffing and mashed potatoes with a side of cranberries. All of which was homemade except for the cranberries, Cast said they tasted “from the can” but those are good too!

We got home around 630′ish played a little baseball with “the boy” and got him to bed around 730′ish. Cast and I decided to take the night off from the computers and watch a chick flick! I WIN AGAIN! So we snuggled up on the couch and watched, “the other Boleyn girl” with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana. Its not like Cast didn’t get his fill of eye candy too ! It was a good movie, nothing to write home about but it was pretty good.

This is the story of Anne Boleyn, told through the eyes of her sister Mary.  As a young girl, Mary finds herself manipulated by her avaricious family to become King Henry VIII’s lover, with an end to usurping Queen Katherine of Aragon.  The Boleyn’s believe that if Mary becomes queen, they will be vastly elevated in terms of wealth and social status.  Even after having two children by Henry, Mary finds his interest in her waning, and sees that he is turning his affections to her sister Anne.  There is no other choice for Mary than to assist Anne in dethroning Queen Katherine.  As she matures, Mary grows tired of the political games played in the royal court, and decides to make her own way in life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The Tudors have never been an exciting subject for me, but Philippa Gregory brings the era to life and makes it fascinating.  It should be remembered that this is a fictionalised account of events, and there are differences between what Mary tells and what current historians believe.  (For example, in the book Mary is portrayed as the younger sister, whereas in fact it is now widely accepted that she was older than Anne.  Also, while in the book there is no doubt that Henry is the father of Mary’s children, in truth it was never known for sure).

Each character is distinct and interesting.  Anne does not come out of this account well; she is portrayed as calculating and ruthless.  Mary is drawn more sympathetically (perhaps not surprising as the book is told from her point of view).  Another major character is their brother George, whose own fate is told in this story, and who is a charming and reckless man, who serves in the royal court.  Henry himself is brought to life as a headstrong, spoilt young man, who is utterly handsome and charming in his youth, but who, during the period which the book spans, becomes bloated and unwell.

The story moves along at a steady pace, and even though I knew the ultimate outcome, I still found myself turning the pages quickly, wanting to know what new developments were around the corner.  I would recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in the Tudors (and if you have no interest, this might be a book to change your mind).  After reading it, I found myself wanting find out more about this fascinating and brutal time in England’s history.

Sunday…a day about which i could have never been able to give a verdict! Sometimes it is my enemy telling me the piece of bad news as the next day is Monday when everything starts at the earliest time and at the fastest speed; other times it is my best friend heralding that i still have some time before throwing myself into the arms of the coming rat race of our routine lives…

Today is Sunday and today is better than previous Sundays because as of 7:10 pm i am writing my 200th post, and which will be about how i spent/am spending my Sunday

I woke up at 10 am which was quite early for me as it was a Sunday morning But i was still feeling quite lazy hence i preferred to stay in bed for a further while. Instead of leaving myself in the hands of sleep angel, i started to read the book (The Other Boleyn Girl), about the end of which i am quite curious. After spending some nice time under the roof of British Kingdom with Hengry and some Boleyn girls, i reminded myself that there was more to do for me apart from dancing in a Ball or participating a dinner with the King himself Therefore, i got out of my warm bed and chose the path to the kitchen.

I always pay a special attention to my Sunday breakfasts, so i prepared a detailed royal one and enjoyed it to the end watching the Simpsons family at the same time. While sipping the last drops of my tea, i adviced myself to move my ass to peform my to-do list for Sunday which was composed of both boring and amusing items.

Following my list, first i cleaned the kitchen, then set up rooms, placed the dried clothes into my closets, and then did some ironing too. And last but not the least cleaned the carpets (athough i hate it ). Considering i had gained a ground, i gave a break and checked my inbox and read some blogs during my rest. Afterwards, i went back to my read and lost myself once again in the conspirations of the majesty.

And then comes the dinner time (i skipped the lunch as i had my breakie at noon already). I turned into a housewife now again trapping myself in the kitchen. I cooked a vegitable dish, some pasta with tomato sauce, some fries, some ‘kofte’, and some salad. It took almost an hour to complete them all, and eating them was just a 5-minute process

Then i spent some time on net to find bollywood movies while sipping from my Turkish coffee. I picked up ‘Bobby’ to watch tonite. Then i made some arrangements regarding my books and magazines to decide what to read next. Then i made a delicious fruit salad composed of banana, grape, fig and walnut and picked up a bollywood magazine to accompany it and now i am here writing this post. Most probably while you are reading this, i will be digesting my yummylicious bowl of fruits

Oh, by the way, let me thank all of my readers for carrying me to this stage (to make me write that many posts) and to keep this place alive by their visits…Thanks everyone!

It is 7:43 pm right now, and what i am going to do during the rest of the day…possibly i will keep reading the book, will see a movie, will write a card for a friend as tomorrow is her birthday (Happy Birthday Jas ), then will prepare my handbag and clothes for tomorrow and lastly will let my conscious to melt away on the laps of sleep angel

Dear Diary…now i know you never believe me without any proof hence this time i brought some evidence with me to witness my entire day

Yeh meri zindagi hai…kya kahe…yeh kuch aisa hai…

My Dear Diary, although you are not as famous as the one of Jane Austen, you are still hiding lots of msytery and merit among your pages, aren’t you?

When i was taking a peek through my blog this morning, it occured to me that i didn’t make any sum up for a quite while and said to myself  “why not now…although not happened too much”…

• Just two weeks ago i left behind a hilarious 3-week summer vacation, the amazing taste of which i still feel on my soul which had taken a deep rest but put into anguish again due to the 1-week of busy schedule at office!  Still, as i always mention here and there, i love to be busy!
• Esential bit of my life, regular visits to Starbucks, is still on its way properly. I was just yesterday at Starbucks and this time i had lemon-flavoured cake with the company of tall-latte. Ah! i just can’t give up on its taste and smell although it means half of my salary is invested in their capital
• Meanwhile, i have maintained to continue my intellectual activities…watching movies (mostly Bollywood) and catching up with my reading wishlist! I have “Kalyug”, “The Last Vampire”, “Luck”, “Kambakt Isqh” at hand yet to see. Any idea on any of them?! By the bye, i started to read “The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory” and “Emma by Jane Austen”. The handsome gentlemen and fabulous ladies of both already won my heart although i am just at the start of both reads. (Let me give you a secret, no one can take the place of Mr. Darcy )
•  These days i am again at trouble in the kitchen. I never say i don’t have the ability to cook but the will! i am just not fond of cooking by any means. Recently, although i spared a lot time for cooking, half of the time was spent on deciding what to cook indeed. So any kind of easy and practical recipe is very welcome here

My dearest Diary, i guess that is all for now. Even if there is to say yet, my still sleepy mood lets me neither to think nor to write…isliye baki baatein baad mein

Love,

Choti

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Sleep Is What You Do When There’s Nothing Else to Do

I’m not inflexible — I can multitask as well as the next Person Who Has Attention Deficit Disorder — but I much prefer to focus on a single project until my butt gets numb or I have to pee. It’s been easier to work this way since I moved my computer into the bedroom and got a cordless keyboard. It blurs the line between working and nonworking, but I don’t mind, because my work is play and my play is work.

Often I work ’round the clock — with maybe one or two brief naps a day — for three days or so, and then I sleep for two days. Thus I am interfering with my circadian rhythms and, according to everything I’ve read on the subject, habitually getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night — ideally, going to bed before 10 p.m. and getting up before 6 a.m. — isn’t just a Good Idea, it’s critical for my health and well-being.

Circadian rhythms, by the way, are ”biological or behavioral functions that vary over the course of a 24-hour day and are synchronized to light/dark daytime cycles and/or sleep” (North Texas Lung & Sleep Clinic).

I don’t like to sleep. There’s always something more interesting to do — books to be read, blogs to be written, web pages to be updated, e-mail to be deleted unread, trees to be hugged, and so forth.

Sleepwalker; image by practicalowl via Flickr

When I’m really sleepy but not ready to stop doing whatever I’m doing, I take a mini-nap. This consists of leaning back on my propped pillows, consciously relaxing from my toes to my scalp, crossing my left arm across my waist, resting my right elbow on the wrist (or thereabouts) of the other arm, and holding my head in my right hand.

I’m not sure that I actually fall asleep, but I make a quick stop in La-La Land, having a coherent, close-to-the-surface dream in which I’m conversing with someone, and I always wake myself up answering that person out loud. I think it’s pretty funny when that happens, but there’s no one to share the humor with — which was not the case, many years ago, when I sat straight up in bed and said, with admirable pluck, “I will not EVER go into real estate!”

The Perfect Work/Sleep Cycle

I am most productive if I work according to a schedule something like this:

• 60 min., work on Project X
• 15 min., pee, start laundry
• 60 min., work on Project X
• 15 min., deal with e-mail unless butt is numb, in which case, vacuum
• 60 min., work on Project X
• 15 min., pee, wash dishes
• 60 min., work on Project X
• 15 min., make phone call have been avoiding
• etc.

Image by R. Motti via Flickr

I use a kitchen timer to stay on schedule. It works better if I use the fifteen minutes to do something physical, such as laundry, because it doesn’t interfere with my concentration as much as, say, dealing with e-mail or updating my church-caretaker-chore calendar and e-mailing it to Sara. This last is such a mundane little task, but very important to both Sara and me, and for reasons I don’t understand, I am three months behind.

I love being awake when most of the world is asleep. One reason is that I don’t need to worry about being distracted by phone calls or visitors, but I think the more important reason is that it’s very slightly naughty to be up past midnight. (I am such a rebel.)

Sleep is sometimes identified as the Fountain of Youth. According to one writer,

sleep deprivation increases circulating levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which promotes fat storage in the midsection. At the same time, sleep deprivation reduces the availability of leptin, a hormone that controls hunger. As a result, sleep deprivation increases appetite and eating, further promoting weight gain. —Bukisa

And this, my friends, is why I keep my bottle of CortiBan Ultra at my bedside. CortiBan Ultra might or might not counteract the stress-hormone-elevation problem, but it makes me feel as if I am Doing Something about it.

English Monarchs: Historical Fiction

My 60 minutes are up, and I am going to use my 15-minute break to read a few pages of the novel in which I  have become engrossed, The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers, by Margaret George, who also wrote The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel and Mary Queen of Scotland & The Isles: A Novel. Having just read several other novels about royalty in medieval England and about the Tudor dynasty (by authors Philippa Gregory and Sharon Kay Penman), I have learned that English kings, whatever their benevolent intentions might have been at their coronations, spent most of their reigns levying taxes and raising money in other ways in order to wage bloody wars in defense of their crowns against would-be usurpers. As often as not, their rivals for the throne were close relatives: uncles, cousins, even brothers.

"The Other Boleyn Girl," Mary Boleyn

It is a mystery to me why anyone wanted to be the king, or the queen, or even to live at court, where there was no privacy, where you had to be exceedingly careful about what you said, and where you lived in drafty castles and ate bad food. In Philippa Gregory’s novel The Other Boleyn Girl, Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary Boleyn — after being manipulated by her family into cuckolding her husband, William Carey, to become the mistress of King Henry VIII (bearing two children by him) — fell in love with a “nobody” after her husband’s death and married him secretly, incurring Anne’s wrath. She and her husband and children were finally allowed to live quietly in the country after Anne’s execution. The “nobody” was William Stafford, and the couple reportedly were devoted to each other and lived quietly and harmoniously until Mary died nine years after their marriage.

NOW… May whoever is on duty bless you and your endeavors —Mary

♦

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Tracklist
1. Opening Titles
2. The Banquet
3. Henry Is Hurt
4. Henry Returns
5. Mary Tends To Henry
6. Going To Court
7. Mary And Henry
8. Anne’s Secret Marriage
9. Anne Is Exiled
10. Mary Is Pregnant
11. Anne Returns
12. Anne Charms Henry
13. Mary In Labor
14. Mary Leaves Court
15. My Sweet Lord
16. Mary Lies For Anne
17. Queen Katherine’s Trial
18. Banished
19. Anne’s Coronation
20. A Baby Girl For Anne
21. Henry Wants A Son
22. Anne Miscarries
23. Anne Conspires
24. Anne And George
25. Guilty
26. The Execution
27. Finale

หากกล่าวถึงคอมโพเซอร์ชื่อ Paul Cantelon แน่นอนว่าไม่ค่อยมีใครรู้จักมากนักเพราะคอมโพเซอร์ชาวอเมริกันคนนี้มักแต่งเพลงให้หนังนอกกระแสเสียมากกว่า (อาทิ Everything is Illuminated, Year of the Fish เป็นต้น) และล่าสุดในปี 2008 กับดนตรีหนังชีวประวัติจอร์จ ดับเบิ้ลยู บุชเรื่อง W. ของผู้กำกับ Oliver Stone
อย่างไรก็ดี Paul Cantelon เป็นคอมโพเซอร์ที่มีความสามารถแต่งเพลงประเภท Contemporary Classic หรือ ดนตรีคลาสสิกสมัยใหม่ ได้ดีพอตัว ดังนั้นการแต่งเพลงให้หนังพีเรียดอย่าง The Other Boleyn Girl ซึ่งย้อนไปสมัยพระเจ้าเฮนรี่ที่ 8 ปกครองอังกฤษก็น่าจะท้าทายความสามารถคอมโพเซอร์หน้าใหม่อย่าง Cantelon ได้อย่างดี
สำหรับดนตรีประกอบ Cantelon เลือกเครื่องดนตรีลักษณะเดียวกับการแต่งดนตรีคลาสสิก คือ ออเคสตร้าบรรเลงแบบนุ่มๆ เน้นเครื่องสายเป็นหลัก เสริมด้วยเปียโนและกีตาร์ในบางเพลง ซึ่งสื่อโทนจากสดใสไปหม่นตามลำดับเหตุการณ์ของหนังได้อย่างดีพอสมควร
Opening Titles คือเพลงเปิดอารมณ์สดใส สื่อความสัมพันธ์อันอบอุ่นของพี่น้อง Boleyn ในช่วงแรกๆของหนังได้อย่างดี ซึ่งในเพลงนี้ได้แนะนำธีมหลักๆที่จะปรากฏอยู่ในเพลงถัดๆด้วย
Henry Is Hurt ด้วยการเล่นเชลโล่เป็นแบ็คกราวน์ส่งผลให้เพลงมีบรรยากาศที่ค่อนข้างอึดอัดใจทีเดียว
Going To Court เพลงสั้นๆเล่นเพอคัสชั่นสร้างความระทึกพองาม Mary And Henry ดนตรีสุดโรแมนติกกับทำนองอันสวยงาม
Anne’s Secret Marriage ยังคงทำนองดนตรีที่สวยงาม แต่แฝงไปด้วยบรรยากาศไม่น่าไว้ใจล้วนๆ
Anne Is Exiled เพลงสุดหม่นกับดนตรีไม่น่าไว้ใจที่สื่อออกมาได้โดดเด่นด้วยการเล่นเพอคัสชั่นในช่วงท้าย
Anne Returns ดนตรีที่ไม่น่าไว้ใจกลับมาอีกครั้งแล้วจึงค่อยๆเพิ่มจังหวะให้ยิ่งใหญ่ในตอนท้าย บ่งบอกว่าการกลับมาของสตรีผู้นี้จะทำให้อะไรหลายอย่างเปลี่ยนไป
Anne Charms Henry แค่ชื่อเพลงก็บอกแล้วว่าเพลงนี้มีดนตรีที่เย้ายวนอารมณ์ไม่ใช่น้อย Mary In Labor เพลงนี้บ่งบอกถึงความสนใจของ Henry ที่หันเหไปหา Anne มากกว่า Mary ที่กำลังคลอดทายาทให้กับพระองค์เสียด้วยซ้ำ กับดนตรีโทนหม่นแฝงความเจ้าเล่ห์ที่สื่อออกมาตั้งแต่ดนตรีสุดหลอนในช่วงกลางเพลง
Banished เป็นเพลงที่มีการเล่นเครื่องสายโดดเด่นที่สุดเพลงหนึ่ง กับดนตรีที่หนักแน่นและระทึกพองาม
Henry Wants A Son เปิดเพลงด้วยเสียงเปียโนสุดคลาสสิค ก่อนที่ดนตรีจะค่อยๆลากตัวเองลงสู่ความมัวหม่น
Anne Miscarries โดดเด่นด้วยการเล่นเครื่องสายที่เน้นไวโอลินในครึ่งแรกตามด้วยดนตรีสุดหม่นในครึ่งหลัง สื่อถึงความวิบัติของตัวละครได้อย่างดี Anne Conspires ดนตรีน่าสะพรึงที่โผล่ๆหายๆตลอดเพลงทำให้เพลงนี้ฟังดูน่ากลัวไม่ใช่เล่น
Anne And George เป็นอีกเพลงที่บรรเลงพวกเครื่องสายอโดยเฉพาะไวโอลินได้อย่างดีเยี่ยม สื่อถึงอารมณ์แห่งความลังเลและรู้สึกผิดในตัวละครในหนัง
The Execution เพลงฉากประหารที่ยาวและมีความโดดเด่นที่สุดในอัลบั้มซึ่งให้อารมณ์ที่หดหู่และสะเทือนใจแต่แฝงความยิ่งใหญ่ไปในตัว เพลงนี้จบลงด้วยทำนองชวนใจหายและเสียงเครื่องเป่าสุดอาลัย (หากใครได้ดูหนังมาก่อนจะรู้ว่าเพลงนี้เข้ากับฉากในหนังมากที่สุด)
ปิดอัลบั้มด้วย Finale เพลงสั้นๆแสนไพเราะด้วยการบรรเลงเพลงธีมในทำนองย้อนกลับกับ Opening Titles ที่อลังการกว่าและแน่นอนว่ายังแฝงความอาลัยต่อเนื่องจากเพลงที่แล้ว
ถือว่าเริ่มต้นได้ดีสำหรับคอมโพเซอร์หน้าใหม่ แม้ความเห็นส่วนตัวของผมยังเห็นว่าดนตรีบางส่วนยังไม่ส่งอารมณ์เท่าที่ควร อย่างไรก็ดี นี่คืองานเพลงที่ฟังได้เพลินๆพอกับการดูหนัง เหมาะอย่างยิ่งสำหรับผู้ที่เริ่มลองฟังเพลงคลาสสิกครับ

Paul Cantelon – The Other Boleyn Girl

http://up2u.in.th/index.php/files/get/3ptJUwliy3/the-other-boleyn-girl.rar
(MP3 / Bitrate 192 kbps)

Genre: Historical

Year of Publication: 2001

Fabulous historical novel set in the court of King Henry VIII. Mary Boleyn attracts the attention of the young king and becomes his mistress; when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king’s mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it’s no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowledge — but here it is told in a way we’ve never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory’s characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills.

DOWNLOAD LINK

http://ifile.it/tfbkpnd

Perhaps one of Philippa Gregory’s best-known novels – due to the recent movie starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johanssen and Eric Bana – this novel tells the story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of the future Elizabeth I.  This novel is about a stormy relationship that ignited into a passion that destroyed the Catholic Church in England and ultimately led to tragedy when King Henry ordered the beheading of his wife Anne.

What was Anne’s crime? Although she was charged with incest and adultery, the real issue may have been her inability to bear Henry a son, and the resulting souring of their relationship.

What is brilliant about this novel is that it is told from the point of view of Anne’s sister Mary, who was one of King Henry’s mistresses before he embarked on an affair with Anne, and thus we are given a very different take not only on Anne, and King Henry, but also Anne’s brother George Boleyn, by someone who knew all these people very well.
–Cynthia Haggard writes short stories, novels and poetry.  During the day, she is a medical writer and owns her own business.  For more on her creative writing, go to spunstories.  For more about her medical writing services, go to clarifyingconcepts.  (c) 2009. All rights reserved.

A spattering of my favorite books & authors.   Two of which have the author’s autograph.  I saw Mr. Hosseini speak with 2 of my friends (Hi Lorraine & LaRae!) a year ago (fascinating!) and my Dad got the Clan of the Cave Bear book signed for me years ago when Ms. Auel was speaking at a local bookstore.  If only Oscar Wilde was still around- he’d be a blast to hear speak!