A Brit a Day [#903]

Le Jardine d'Eden has made a Tumblr post which pretty much sums up my feelings for Alan Rickman.  Enjoy the pictures she's found.

Here:  http://le-jardine-dueden.tumblr.com/post/32464407994

A Brit a Day [#902]

My gir'friend Donna's birthday is this Thursday, October 4th.  With her in mind, I now put together this super little feast of new-to-me photos of Sir Ken directing the cast and crew of 'Thor.'  He looks as dishy in these pics as I have ever seen him.  He must have been having a blast!

Have a blast on your birthday, Donna!

A Brit a Day [#901]

This gif is from one of the most endearing interview clips ever.  Tom Hiddleston isn't saying hello to some chick, he's saying hello to a crying baby. And guess what?  The baby stops crying.  Of course.  Find the video on Yoututbe if you can.

A Brit a Day [#900]

Oh my, 900 posts [!] and I think I should thank the Brit whose gracious presence on this earth convinced me that this needed to be a daily thing.

Henry Ian Cusick as [classic] Desmond Hume.

A Brit a Day [#899]

Here's a gorgeous picture of Matt Smith contributed by Jacqueline and Samantha.  Long live those awesome tails.  This coat reminds me of a 100-year-old dress peacoat my husband has from the U.S. Naval Academy.

A Brit a Day [#898]

Just a little obsessed with the American elections coming in 6 weeks.  Do you think this guy would have run as a Fascist?  Campaigning for election to higher office on a Fascist platform...I suppose that's oxymoronic.

Not my artwork, but isn't it ever so fine?

A Brit a Day [#897]

I wondered for a bit if the reason why Ben, Moffat, and the show 'Sherlock' walked away empty handed from the Emmys last night was because they nominated the wrong episode.

A Brit a Day [#896]

Alan Rickman has graciously stepped into the wings this morning to make way for a nostalgic photo of his HP cast mates, Emma Watson and Dan Radcliffe.  Emma is seen here in 'The Goblet of Fire' failing miserably at becoming a wallflower.

A Brit a Day [#895]

Even though I would not call myself a Christian, I find the images of Ian Cusick playing Jesus in 'The Gospel of John' quite soothing.  Soothing images for troubled times.  And what is troubling me is the discrepancy between how different American subcultures understand the word 'sorry.'

I am not a Christian, but the culture in which I was raised is Judeo-Christianity.  Based on the values I was given, if someone says to me, for example, "My house was stuck by lightning, and the whole second floor was burned up,"  the first words out of my mouth are likely to be, "I'm so sorry!"  Half the people I would say this to would respond "Why are you sorry?  You didn't strike my house with lightning?"  To which I would stutter through an explanation:  "I guess what I mean to say is 'I'm sorry to hear that your house was struck by lightning,' all the while thinking to myself, 'Jeeeez, isn't it obvious that I know I didn't strike your house with lightning??'

Maybe that example is absurd, but I swear these are basically true stories.  I had a therapist once tell me that I needed to stop apologizing for everything, apparently because I would often say 'I'm sorry' if I didn't understand something she said.  I found that a little offensive, coming from her, actually.  I was just being polite after all.

Try another example.  Friend:  "The hairdresser totally fucked up the color of my hair this time.  I'll probably cut it really short even though I don't want to."
Me:  "I'm sorry."
Friend:  "Why, it isn't your fault, it's the stupid hairdresser's fault."

The point I'm making is that there is a group of people who always see "I'm sorry" as an apology/admission of a personal transgression.  And then there is the other group [me included] who see "I'm sorry" as a statement of empathy.  This is kind of a big deal because this schism is playing out right now on a global scale.  A lot of Americans are sorry that Muslims were offended by a stupid video that went viral recently.  As far as I know, none of those Americans who feel that way are claiming to have done the offending.   It's a sad day when people can't tell someone they are sorry for their predicament without appearing weak or at fault, you know?

I'm not a Christian, but the guy called Jesus that has been illustrated to me through stuff like the movie 'The Gospel of John' actually seems like a superior human being in all his dealings with people.  I'm quite fond of the expression "What Would Jesus Do?"  I'm no expert, but I think Jesus would want to speak to the people of Libya, Egypt, etc. and he would want to say "I'm so sorry that you are going through this amount of rage.  You must feel so much pain."  And I don't think that he would have to explain that he didn't make the video.

A Brit a Day [#894]

This is my new favorite picture of Tom Hiddleston. Someone on tumblr did a nice job editing it.  This picture makes me think of what he must look like when he's combed through his hair right after a shower.  It makes me think of when your boyfriend spends the night in your dorm room and has to wear your robe to the bathroom in the morning.  And maybe your boyfriend isn't a student but a townie you met at a pizza joint across town last semester the time you and your roommate got a craving for garlic bread at 11 o'clock at night.....

A Brit a Day [#893]

Henry Ian Cusick's 5-minutes-on-screen character Udre in the movie "Hitman" fueled reams of some of the best fan fiction I have ever read.  Reading fan fiction has almost taken over my life like a crack addiction. I used to write the stuff, but back in the day, it was fashionable to change the names to protect the innocent--including oneself, from plagerism claims.  Now that original creators have become more forgiving of fans borrowing their characters to assemble their own universes, am I tempted to write more?......Not.....really.

A Brit a Day [#892]

The current season of Doctor Who is in full swing, and it is soooo good.  I humbly thank the cable gods who gave me BBC America On Demand.

A Brit a Day [#891]

A Theatrical Historie of Thomas Hiddleston on One Eight and a Half by Eleven Piece of Paper.  Or whatever the artist [zhiryono via tumblr] calls this brilliant collection of Tom's manifestations in chibi form.  I hope he sees this someday.  It will make him want to hug himself.

A Brit a Day [#890]

One of these things is not like the others...

Benedict Cumberbatch pulls off the SH persona without any of the usual props/headgear.  But to be perfectly honest, so could Jeremy Brett [right center].  Although, I did so enjoy seeing him in Victorian menswear.

A Brit a Day [#889]

Alan Rickman with [I think] director David Yates on one of the most geometrically awesome Harry Potter sets.  He looks so at home there.  I miss my Prof. Snape!

A Brit a Day [#888]

Meet Lauren Fox, author of at least 2 novels and this brilliant short story that I stumbled upon on Salon.com the other day:

http://www.salon.com/2012/09/08/fiction_ongry_by_lauren_fox/

Now here's a huuuuuge stretch--Lauren gets to be Brit of the Day by virtue of being married to a guy from Dublin.  I know that's beyond suspect as Britishness goes, but I just had to get her onto this blog.  After all, this blog started off as a platform for my own short stories a million years ago, and you see how far that got.  People like Lauren remind me that there are enough awesome writers out there, writing about the things that needle at me, that I don't have to add my warbling voice to the many others who are singing the song in tune.

Here is how Lauren describes herself on her website:

I was born in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, into a family full of love, support, and very little grist for the dramatic mill. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a writer, and decided that my best bet was to make stuff up. My first attempts at fiction included a tragic story about a blind Mexican orphan, and a tragic tale about a horse who dies, tragically, in a barn fire. 

 By the time I got to college and enrolled in a few creative writing classes, I learned the adage, “write what you know,” and began churning out stories about the unhappy love lives of young, thin-skinned, near-sighted, sarcastic, curly haired girls. My first published short story, which appeared in a nationally distributed college magazine, used the structure of the game show Jeopardy! to trace the demise of a relationship. (I’ll take ‘the slow erosion of my self-esteem’ for $200, Alex.) I was pleased that I had finally created fiction out of my two favorite pastimes: tv-watching and borderline obsessive pining over unavailable men. 

 After college I moved around a bit, living in Washington, DC and then for a while back in Madison, Wisconsin, bravely conducting field research for my stories about lonely women in their twenties who can’t find a date. In graduate school in Minneapolis, I took a brief detour from fiction and began writing about my family’s history and the Holocaust, which was fun. 

 When I was twenty-six, I met a nice boy from Dublin who put an end to my anthropological studies of loneliness and heartbreak. Luckily, I had gathered enough material to last for a while.

In other words, sisters, she opens her heart and our story spills out.

A Brit a Day [#887]

I dedicate today's Brit, Bill Hazeldine, to my physical therapist, who assures me that whether she's working on a pelvic floor muscle or a bicep, it's all just anatomy.

A Brit a Day [#886]

These three screen caps represent one of my happiest moments as a fangirl ever.  Rapture.

A Brit a Day [#885]

I've said this before in one way or another.  Still and quiet, Matt Smith is down right...well, strange-looking.  But the minute he starts to speak or move around, he becomes one of the sexiest men I've ever seen.

A Brit a Day [#884]

I chose fan art today of a subdued nature, fit for this day of remembrance and service.

Art by seventypercentethanol.

A Brit a Day [#883]

The simple and lovely embellishments to this screen shot from 'The Reichenbach Fall' remind me, once again, of my favorite foreign-language film, 'Wings of Desire.'  We celebrate the 25th anniversary of that cinematic masterpiece this year.

Credit to the artist, not me.

A Brit a Day [#882]

Tonight, here in the States, Kenneth Branaugh will be back as 'Wallander' for Season 3 on PBS.

Prof. Snape insists that you watch it.

A Brit a Day [#881]

Brits of the day, ladies and gentlemen:  fish fingers and custard.

Photo credit to the photographer; plushy credit to the plush-artisan.

A Brit a Day [#880]

My favorite passage from President Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC last night?  When he quoted Abraham Lincoln:

"I have been driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no other place to go."

[Tom Hiddleston as King Henry V, above.]

A Brit a Day [#879]

I, like many a Democrat listening to Bill Clinton's speech at the National Convention, had a Come-to-Jesus moment last night.  Ready or not, we now must hit the trenches.  Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

A Brit a Day [#878]

Nope, I'm not posting pictures from the new season of Doctor Who yet.  I haven't seen it--but Tumblr has pretty much spoiled it for me. :(

A Brit a Day [#877]

It doesn't feel like Tuesday, it feels like The First Day of School.

Here is 'The League of Avenging Gentlemen' by Alassa.

A Brit a Day [#876]

This is fantasy casting from a fellow Tumblrite.  I'm not completely convinced that it shouldn't be the other way around.

A Brit a Day [#875]

My favorite Harry Potter movie posters were always the ones that featured Severus Snape.

A Brit a Day [#874]

In honor of the 2012 Paralympics taking place in London right now, let's reflect on the wonderfulness that is Sir Kenneth Branaugh as he appeared in the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games this summer.