A Brit a Day [#8]

This post can go either way: A fictional Captain Hook, or the real actor, Jason. I'm fond of them both. I've loved Captain Hook since Disney days, but the real attachment began when I worked backstage on a stage poduction of Peter Pan.

A Brit a Day [#7]

Davy Jones was my first crush. I was 7 or 8, so I used the absolutely youngest picture I could find of him.

A Brit a Day [#6]

Here are two Brits for the price of one. On the left is Dominic Monaghan--he's from Manchester. On the right is Henry Ian Cusick--of the Daily--and he is Scottish. In the middle is Emilie deRavin--she's an Aussie and a girl, so I'm afraid she doesn't count. All are in the cast of 'Lost.' What I love about this picture is that it is a picture of people having their picture taken, and it really did turn out much better than the picture that was taken.

A Brit a Day [#5]

James Blunt: I understand that he may be a bit of a twit in real life, but how can you not fall for a guy who leads British forces into Kosovo during the UN peacekeeping mission--or something like that--then turns around and grows his hair and beard out and sings 'You're Beautiful' in the rain?
This picture is from around the time that his first album spent 20 years at the top of the UK charts, his album called.....what was it called?

A Brit a Day [#4]

Eddie Argos is the frontman for the band Art Brut. This crush broke all the rules: Eddie and I are actually friends now in real life. Eddie's mother and I were born the same year exactly two months apart. What a day of reckoning it is when you realize you are old enough to be your crush's mother. My own mother is a lot like me and understands that it doesn't really matter when all you're doing is appreciating a lovely man. My mom likes to say, "I ain't dead yet."

A Brit a Day [#3]

Another fan of Alan Rickman has described him as 'Sex On Legs.' I would describe Professor Severus Snape as 'Sex-On-Legs-With-The-Apparent-Ability-To-Fly-Without-Benefit-Of-A-Broom.' Professor Snape and I have a lot of history. Kind of like Prozac. He is a very safe crush as he is a fictional character. Alan Rickman, on the other hand, is very real. But we'll talk about him another day.

A Brit a Day [#2]

I love this picture of Daniel Radcliffe. It is from the period of time between No. 4 and 5 of the Harry Potter movies. It looks as though it was taken through the crook of somebody's arm.

A Brit a Day [that's all we ask]

I've been inspired to start a series of posts, using my vast collection of digital pictures of yummy British men, by my discovery of a Live Journal Community called "Henry Ian Daily." If you want to know what "Henry Ian Daily" is about, Google it and read up. I'm too embarrassed to tell you about it here. I have a predilection for crushes on unobtainable members of the opposite sex--a much more benign pasttime than having crushes on obtainable ones. The advent of the internet and image searching has made these crushes more than possible, it makes them mandatory.

So hats off to the girls over at "Henry Ian Daily." I hope they know that I am emulating them as the noblest sign of my affection. I'm getting "A Brit A Day" off to a rousing start with one of the best--Jason Isaacs, best known as Lucius Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movies and as Captain Hook in this century's "Peter Pan." Here he is in the 2002 romantic comedy "Passionada."

Yum.

Images from a life of silence, part 2

These images [above] are from Essex County Trilogy, a series of graphic novels by Jeff Lemire. Jeff grew up in a tiny town in the farmlands of Canada.

Now, this image is by James Castle. He grew up in a tiny town in the farmlands of Idaho in the first three-quarters of the twentieth century. The similarities of their upbringings may end there. I've met Jeff Lemire and he is as articulate in life as he is on the page. James Castle never aquired language in any ususal since of the word. Read his biography by clicking on the article from the Wall Street Journal at the top of this post. He would have never seen a cell phone tower, the modern object that most resembles the mysterious structures in this drawing. His loving yet lonely depictions of his world seem to come from the same human space as Jeff's. I think in the past I would have called that human space a 'spiritual narrative' or something, but Castle had no knowledge of narratives. Try to imagine taming, containing, and cataloging these visions without words or any personal experience of them.

Imagine being seduced by a blank piece of paper. Probably the one other thing these two had in common.

"Ann, Ann, Ann: don't force me to list what separates me from Britney Spears"

Do you love Ann Patchett? I love Ann Patchett. She wrote "Bel Canto." Here's a link to an interview she did with "Eat, Pray, Love" author Elizabeth Gilbert in today's Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703558004574582411800110766.html

Images from a life of silence, part 1

--James Castle (1899-1977)