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“I just saw her. They say you can’t believe in love at first sight, but you can because I thought she was just absolutely scrummy, like a really big cream cake.”

Because they were both young and nervous “about certain things,” said Whiting, “it’s only obvious that we grabbed hold of each other to say ‘Well, if we’re drowning, I’ve got a friend here.”’

Whiting maintains you have to be a very good actor to “act anything. But what you can’t act is love and desire. What’s why when people go and see the movie, they’re quite charmed because they can actually see they fancied each other — if you know what I mean.”

“Romeo & Juliet” struck a chord with audiences when it opened during the 1960s youthquake.

“I think one of the major reasons this film was such a success is because you have two young actors at the center of it,” said TCM and Filmstruck host Alicia Malone. “Olivia Hussey was 15 and Leonard Whiting was 17. They were very much close to the ages of the actual Romeo and Juliet. I think it brought the young audiences into the cinema to see Shakespeare when they may not have beforehand. It feels very fresh, very authentic. Also, with Zeffirelli shooting on location [in Italy] adds another layer of authenticity.”

Prior to the Zeffirelli’s adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy, the best-known version was MGM’s lavish production starring 34-year-old Norma Shearer and 43-year-old Leslie Howard as the supposedly young star-crossed lovers. John Barrymore, then 54, played Mercutio. You could practically hear Howard’s joint creak as he climbed Juliet’s balcony.

Much more believable was the 1954 British version starring Laurence Harvey, then in his late 20s, and a 20-year-old newcomer named Susan Shantell who never made another movie.

But the Zefferelli film, noted Malone, captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s. “The story is very much a counter-culture story,” said Malone. “It [paralleled] what was happening at the time. It’s about love and about not doing what people tell you to do. It’s a story about two teenagers going against the establishment. I think it really spoke to audiences at the time. But it’s amazing when you watch it now. It’s hard to believe that 50 years [have passed].”

Much like audiences who couldn’t get enough of Kate and Leo in 1997’s “Titanic,” moviegoers kept returning to see “Romeo & Juliet.” Henry Mancini’s instrumental recording of Nino Rota’s “Love Theme,” aka “A Time for Us,” became a No. 1 pop hit in 1969.

“Romeo & Juliet” earned four Oscar nominations including best film and director and won for Pasqualino De Santis’ lush cinematography and Danilo Donati’s exquisite costumes.

“It didn’t appear that these actors were wearing costumes that didn’t suit them,” said Malone. “It seemed to fit with their bodies and the way they moved. It was all very natural and beautiful. The colors were amazing.”

The film also had its share of controversy, because of Hussey and Whiting’s nude love scene. Though nudity was commonplace in European films, the scene was frowned upon by some in U.S. at the time.

“Nobody my age had done that before,” said Hussey, who turned 16 during filming. She added that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.”

Both were already working actors when they were cast.

“Everyone thinks they were so young they probably didn’t realize what they were doing,” said Hussey. “But we were very aware. We both came from drama schools and when you work, you take your work very seriously.”

Before production began, the two worked very hard practicing proper Shakespearean English — Whiting had a strong Cockney accent and Hussey, who was born in Argentina, spoke with a lilt.

“We started with a dialogue coach two or three hours a day,” Hussey said. “But when shooting was about to begin, we were doing six hours a day on vocabulary because it was Shakespeare.”

Though she noted that Zeffirelli could be very temperamental, Hussey describes him as a “genius. He just brought things to life. That’s what I loved about Franco. He hired always the most perfect person to do the role, which ever role it was. And then he let that actor do what they felt.”

Whiting had never been to Italy before the production started. “To be young and go to Italy and to be chauffeur-driven everywhere and to be taken to the best restaurants. It was like learning to love. Italy for me is absolutely heaven because I remember it as if it was yesterday — all those golden days in the beautiful light.”

After the film was released, they both lived their lives in a fishbowl.

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The revolution will not be televised - it will be Tiktok’d

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Love it!!!

2.13 | 6.07

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Evil people, sad for our country that fascists are running for government positions.

With people like this on the ballot, I can’t see myself ever voting for a Republican again.

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Brianna was a Rainbow Baby

A Baby Born after a Miscarriage or Loss of a Baby is Referred to as a Rainbow baby. Today we remember All babies born Sleeping, or we’ve Carried but Never met, those we’ve Held but couldn’t take Home, Reblog if You or Someone you know has Suffered the Loss of a Baby. The majority Won’t do it, because unlike Cancer, Miscarriage, Still Birth and SIDS is still a Taboo subject. Break the Silence. In Memory of all Angels too Perfect for Earth ❤😇 and All the Babies that are Born Sleeping or Don’t make it Home. 😇

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Dearest wise and wonderful Gotham, This may be my first ever question sent to you outside of DM! I have been discussing with some of our friends the significance of the "Nemo me impune lacessit" flag shown during the trailer. Latin nerd that I am, I know the translation - No one provokes me with impunity - or - No one can harm me unpunished. But how do you think it relate to "our" story? As far as I know, it does now show up in the books. I have a few theories but am curious for your take on it.

Hiya Hildy!

You’re right in that this is not in the Books at all - which makes it that much more interesting.

You may not remember that we have seen this flag before - on the wall of Reverend Wakefield’s manse in 02x01 (thanks to @bonnie-wee-swordsman for the sleuthing help!)

…as well as this gorgeous shot of the flag during a flashback (flashforward?) in 01x05:

Now, we know that the Reverend is an amateur historian - and has the best collection of Jacobite books in the Highlands.

So - what does it all mean?

Well - I did some research and turns out “Nemo me impune lacessit” was the Stuart motto.

(I’ll ignore how I don’t think this motto applies to Bonnie Prince Chuck in the slightest, or at least in the version of him portrayed in Outlander. Because he certainly harmed plenty of people…and didn’t quite get punished for it…)

But it’s also a motto for Jamie. Nobody can harm him, or those he loves, and get away with it. He exacts revenge - and enjoys himself while doing it. c.f. Claire’s rescue in ABOSAA, the duel with BJR in DiA, what he does for Claire at the end of MOBY, etc.

And of course it’s a motto for Claire. Nobody harms her and goes unpunished. Not Frank, for emotional unavailability. Not Jamie, for forcing her back through the stones and living as half a person for 20 years as a consequence. Not any of the men who make advances on her throughout the Books. Not time itself.

More than anything - it’s the motto of who Jamie and Claire are together. Scotland is such a core part of who they are as individuals, and who they are together. Moreover, they protect and defend each other. They do literally *anything* for each other: lie, cheat, steal, kill, give their bodies to others, starve, withstand unimaginable emotional anguish – all for the sake of the other person. Nothing can harm their union - their love - and all things that try to damage it undergo severe consequences.

I so enjoy knowing that the flag is in the Reverend’s manse as a backdrop while Claire (and Roger, and Brianna) search for Jamie. A physical reminder of what once was, and what will be again.

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Black cats are lucky. (via leahweissmuller)

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Any updates on wally?

I mean you had two in a week you insatiable gremlins but FINE yes okay have some pictures of Wally going boat shopping

I call this one "Draw me like one of your French buoys"

This is the one where he fell asleep and they towed him away and hooked him up to an anchor, but taken before he fell asleep. Seems to be enjoying the sun.

Here he is trying to use a ladder (spoilers this was not successful)

He actually decided this one was too small.

But so far, you're thinking, these are all just charming images of a rascal! Elanor, you cry, you describe this beast as a criminal! A ruffian! A ne'er-do-well nereid! How can he be any of those things?

Well, let me show you, Anon. Let me show you.

Here he is commandeering a fishing vessel, thus STEALING the LIVELIHOODS of those HARD WORKING FISHERS

But British fishers mostly voted Brexit, so maybe you aren't sympathetic. Well, fair enough. But what would you say if I told you that he's back to his old tricks again vis-a-vis BLOCKING EMERGENCY SERVICES

THIS IS AN AMBULANCE BOAT, WALLY

GET DOWN THIS INSTANT

And finally, if his theft of a working ambulance weren't enough, here he is capsizing another boat. JUST LIKE he did in Tenby.

I warned you all. I warned you all he was up to no good. I warned you all this is an obstinate demon youth in need of an ASBO. But no, none of you listened. You fools. You played right into his flippers.

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RIP...

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There was a time when almost every rural British family who kept bees followed a strange tradition.

Whenever there was a death in the family, someone had to go out to the hives and tell the bees of the terrible loss that had befallen the family.

Failing to do so often resulted in further losses such as the bees leaving the hive, or not producing enough honey or even dying.

Traditionally, the bees were kept abreast of not only deaths but all important family matters including births, marriages, and long absence due to journeys. If the bees were not told, all sorts of calamities were thought to happen. This peculiar custom is known as “telling the bees”.

The practice of telling the bees may have its origins in Celtic mythology that held that bees were the link between our world and the spirit world. So if you had any message that you wished to pass to someone who was dead, all you had to do was tell the bees and they would pass along the message.

The typical way to tell the bees was for the head of the household, or “goodwife of the house” to go out to the hives, knock gently to get the attention of the bees, and then softly murmur in a doleful tune the solemn news.

Little rhymes developed over the centuries specific to a particular region. In Nottinghamshire, the wife of the dead was heard singing quietly in front of the hive,

“The master's dead, but don't you go; Your mistress will be a good mistress to you.”

In Germany, a similar couplet was heard,

“Little bee, our lord is dead; Leave me not in my distress”.

But the relationship between bees and humans goes beyond superstition. It’s a fact, that bees help humans survive. 70 of the top 100 crop species that feed 90% of the human population rely on bees for pollination.

Without them, these plants would cease to exist and with it all animals that eat those plants. This can have a cascading effect that would ripple catastrophically up the food chain.

Losing a beehive is much worse than losing a supply of honey. The consequences are life threatening.

The act of telling the bees emphasizes this deep connection humans share with the insect.

Art: The Bee Friend, a painting by Hans Thoma (1839–1924)

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This is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. Oh happy day!

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