#Sandy Welch

[adobongsiopao]

Photo op of Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens as Jane and Mr. Rochester in "Jane Eyre" 2006 version.

[ljones41]

"OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" (1998) - Second Review

"OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" (1998) Second Review

Several years ago, I had written a review of "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", the BBC's 1998 adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1865 novel. Needless to say, my opinion of it proved to be mixed. But after numerous re-watches of the four-part miniseries, I came to the conclusion that my views had undergone a tremendous change . . . as the following new review will convey.

During my recent re-watch of "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", I continued to find it a complicated tale. It featured at least four subplots (and not three, as I had originally assumed). And they all stemmed from the alleged death of John Harmon, the estranged heir to a fortune created by his father, a former collector from London's rubbish. "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" began with a solicitor named Mortimer Lightwood informing the circumstances on the death of his late client and the details of Mr. Harmon Sr.'s will to his aunt and a group of listeners at a London society party. According to Lightwood, Mr. Harmon made his fortune from London's rubbish. The terms of his will stipulated that his fortune should go to John, returning to Britain after years spent abroad. The will allowed John to inherit his father's money on the condition that he marry a woman he has never met, Miss Bella Wilfer. However, Lightwood received news that John Harmon's body had been found in the Thames River. He and his close friend, Eugene Wrayburn, head toward the river to identify the body. And it was this sequence that led to the following subplots:

*Mr. Harmon's employees, Nicodemus and Henrietta Boffin inherit the Harmon fortune and take Bella Wilfer on as a ward/companion to compensate for her loss, following John Harmon's "death".

*John Harmon fakes his death and assumes the identity of John Rokesmith, the Boffins' social secretary, in order to ascertain Bella Wilfer's character.

*Gaffer Hexam, the waterman and scavenger who found Harmon's "body", ends being accused of murdering "Harmon" by Hexam's duplicitous former partner, Roger "Rogue" Riderhood.

*While accompanying his friend, Mortimer Lightwood, to identify Harmon's body, Eugene Wrayburn meets and falls in love with Hexam's daughter, Lizzie.

*Bradley Headstone, the schoolmaster of Charley Hexam, Lizzie's younger brother, develops a romantic, yet violent obsession with Lizzie and a deep hatred of Eugene.

*Mr. Boffin hires a ballad-seller with a wooden leg named Silas Wegg to read for him. When he finds Harmon's will in one of the Harmon dust piles, Wegg schemes with a taxidermist named Mr. Venus to blackmail the newly rich dustman.

*Mr. and Mrs. Lammle, a society couple who had married each other for money and discovered that neither had any, plot to swindle Mr. Boffin of his money.

I have experienced a handful of movies, novels and television shows in which disparate subplots eventually form into one main narrative. A major example of this was the 2002 novel and its 2008 movie adaptation, "MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA". But I cannot recall any form of fiction in which a particular narrative divides into a series of subplots from one main action or character. When I first saw "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", I found this narrative device not only original, but rather disconcerting.

The problem I initially had with "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" was that I only enjoyed only one major subplot - the bizarre "love triangle" between Eugene Wrayburn, Lizzie Hexam and Bradley Headstone. I cannot deny that I found it very interesting and very tense. Yet another re-watch of the miniseries made me aware of the mistakes I had made in judgment. One, my views of the miniseries' other subplots turned out to be more interesting than I had initially assumed. It finally occurred to me how wealth, greed and/or class played major roles in Dickens' story. The Harmon fortune had attracted greedy types like Silas Wegg and the Lammles. Even Bella Wilfer was willing to use the Boffins to find a wealthy husband within London's high society. Gaffar Hexam's discovery of the fake John Harmon's body and the reward he had received led his greedy and jealous former partner to accuse him of murder.

John's deception also exposed a good deal of class bigotry in this tale. Upper-class types like Lady Tippins seemed appalled at the idea of lower-class citizens like the Boffins inheriting a large fortune. She seemed to harbor this attitude that attorney Mortimer Lightwood should automatically take control of the Harmon fortune. As the Boffins' protégé, Bella initially regarded John as beneath her, due to his position as the Boffins' social secretary, John Rokesmith. Class bigotry practically reeked throughout the love triangle between Lizzie, Eugene and Bradley. Despite being in love with Lizzie, the upper-class Eugene seemed more wiling to view her as a potential mistress, instead of a wife. Bradley Headstone, who came from the same class as Lizzie, seemed more than willing to marry her. Yet, he also regarded her as being socially beneath him, due to her lack of education. He seemed to believe Lizzie should be grateful to marry him and reacted with surprise when she rejected his offer. And Eugene not only regarded Bradley as a romantic rival, but also as a man who was socially beneath him. The miniseries ended with Mortimer Lightwood attending a society party aboard a River Thames steamer. He and a shy man named Mr. Tremlow defended a particular marriage that crossed class lines, despite the other partygoers' disapproval and contempt. This ending is one of the main reasons I truly enjoy this adaptation of Dickens' novel. I found it emotionally satisfying, yet very poignant.

Sandy Welch made some changes in Dickens' narrative. Instead of pursuing heiress Georgiana Podsnap and attempting to trap her into marriage with fortune hunter Fascinating Fledgby, Alfred and Sophia Lammles set their sights on the Boffins' money. Welch's screenplay had excluded Fledgby altogether, along with his moneylending business. These changes made sense to me, considering the Lammles' arc with Fledgby and Miss Podsnap had nothing to do with John Harmon or his fortune. The Lammles met a nameless heiress (a stand-in for Georgiana Podsnap?) at a rail station near the end, as they boarded a train for Dover and the English Channel. Due to Welch's erasure of the Fledgby character, she reduced Mr. Riah's character as a close friend of both Lizzie and her friend, dollmaker Jenny Wren. Mr. Riah only played a role by helping Lizzie find a job outside of London.

It seemed a pity that Welch had eliminated the Fledgby character and his arc with Mr. Riah. It would have given the miniseries a peek into Victorian anti-Semitism, something the novel managed to achieve on a small scale. But as I had pointed out - Fledgby and Mr. Riah's arc had no connection to John Harmon, his fortune and his deception. To understand what I am trying to say, let me clarify. All of the other arcs in "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" either began with Mr. Harmon Sr.'s will or with John Harmon's actions following his arrival in London. The former's will led John to create and participate in his deception in order to judge Bella. If Mr. Harmon had not made that condition for John to marry Bella in order to inherit his fortune, chances are John would have never conceived his deception. He would have never been attacked by the man he had recruited to impersonate him. Hexam would have never found the impersonator's body and found himself falsely accused of murder by his former partner.

Even if Mr. Harmon's will had not changed, John could have simply adhered to and inherit his father's fortune, leading to a possible loveless marriage to Bella. With no body to find, Mortimer and especially Eugene would have never met Lizzie. As Charly Hexam's tutor, Bradley Headstone probably would have met Lizzie and fallen in love with her anyway. But I believe she still would have rejected him. It is possible the Lammles would have focused their attention on John. But I suspect they would have very little success in befriending him. If John had immediately inherited his father's fortune, the Boffins would have inherited one of the Harmons' dust piles. Does this mean Mr. Boffin would have hired Wegg as his reader anyway? I wonder.

I cannot deny that "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" did such an excellent job in exploring the effects of wealth, greed and class in Victorian London. All or most of the subplots seemed to flow from John Harmon and his decision to fake his death. Like the River Thames that flows through southern England and London. Is it any wonder that Dickens had decided to set his novel along the river - even outside of London? The story began with Lizzie and and her father scavenging along the Thames and ended on that lovely moment when both Mortimer and a shy man named Mr. Tremlow defended a recent marriage that crossed class lines at a society party aboard a steamer on the river.

As for the production values for "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", I still remain impressed as ever. David Odd's cinematography still strikes me as colorful and epic. I am not surprised that he had received a BAFTA Award nomination for his work. Malcolm Thornton won a BAFTA Award for the miniseries' excellent production designs. His recreation of mid-19th century London and the River Thames struck me as colorful, well-detailed and just outstanding. Mike O'Neil had earned a BAFTA nomination for his costume designs. A part of me wish he had won. I still find them beautiful and a near reflection of Britain in the 1860s, as shown in the images below:

My opinion of "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" may have improved over the years, but I still have a few issues with it. One of those issues remained John Harmon's deception regarding his identity - namely how it affected Bella Wilfer. I still find it problematic that John did not reveal his true identity to her, until a few months after their wedding. And I found Bella's lack of hostility toward his revelation implausible. Although I found Silas Wegg's attempt to blackmail Mr. Boffin interesting, I found his constant complaints about his target and plotting with Mr. Venus rather irritating after two episodes or so.

The performances featured in the 1998 miniseries more than satisfied me. I found Harmon's gradual love for Bella very interesting to watch, thanks to Steven Mackintosh's subtle performance. And Anna Friel did a great job in developing Bella Wilfur from a materialistic and ambitious young woman, to one for whom love and morality meant more to her than material wealth. "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" also featured excellent performances from Peter Vaughn and Pam Ferris as the Boffins, Kenneth Cranham as Silas Wegg, Margaret Tyzack as the imperious Tippins, and Dominic Mafham as Mortimer Lightwood. The miniseries also featured first-rate supporting performances from the likes of David Schofield as the no-nonsense Gaffer Hexam, Anthony Calf and Doon Mackichan as the Lammles, Paul Bailey as Charley Hexam, Peter Wight as Mr. Wilfer, Cyril Sharps as the kindly Mr. Riah, Linda Bassett as pub owner Abby Potterson, Edna Doré as the kindly, yet proud Betty Higden; and Robert Lang as the reserved and shy Mr. Tremlow, whom I believe provided one of the best moments in the series.

But there seemed to be performances that I believe stood above the others. Timothy Spall gave one of his more subtle performances as the enigmatic taxidermist Mr. Venus, who found himself drawn reluctantly in Wegg's scheming. Some have complained that Katy Murphy had been too old, as a thirty-something actress, to portray dollmaker Jenny Wren, a character in her late teen or early 20s. But the other two actresses I have seen portray Jenny were either 30 or older, so I do not understand the complaint. And Murphy did such an excellent job in conveying Jenny's emotional, yet blunt personality. I thought David Bradley did a superb job in his portrayal of the sly, yet malevolent waterman, Rogue Riderhood. Unlike other actors in the role, he did not succumb to occasional histrionics.

In my previous review of "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", I had accused David Morrissey of engaging in histrionics in his portrayal of the violently jealous headmaster, Bradley Headstone. I had been wrong. Morrissey only did it once in a scene that featured Lizzie Hexam's rejection of his marriage proposal. Otherwise, I thought the actor gave a brilliant performance. One would think portraying the reserved Lizzie Hexam would be a walk in the park for any actress. Yet, I believe Keeley Hawes took the portrayal to another level by not only conveying Lizzie's dislike of Headstone, and her wariness toward Eugene Wrayburn's feelings for her; but also her streak of insecurity that led her to doubt her worthiness for someone like Eugene. I had earlier accuse the actress of being unable of to express Lizzie's true feelings for Eugene until the last episode. But I forgot that Hawes did convey moments of attraction toward Eugene. And in portraying a reserved character like Lizzie, she did an effective job of conveying the character's penchant for keeping such feelings closely to her chest. I have said this before and I will say it again - I believe Paul McGann gave the best performance in "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", for his portrayal of the ambiguous Eugene Wrayburn. If one closely observe the character, he is not exactly a nice man. At least most of the time. McGann did a beautiful job in his portrayal of the indolent, yet patronizing attorney; conveying both the negative and surprisingly, the character's positive traits. And thanks to McGann's performance, one could see Eugene's struggle between his love for Lizzie and his wariness over her class.

Do I still believe "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" was flawed? Well . . . I point out a few. As I had stated in my previous review, the 1864-65 novel is not considered among Charles Dickens' best works. But my opinion of the 1998 adaptation certainly has improved a great deal over the years. Screenwriter Sandy Welch and director Julian Farino did excellent jobs in translating Dickens' tale to the television screen. And the production not only featured first-rate work from the crew, but also superb performances from an excellent cast led by Steven Mackintosh. If I must be honest, not only has my opinion of "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" improved over the years, I now consider it one of the best adaptations of any of Dickens' works.

[addictivecontradiction]

Jane Eyre, 2006

[blogjaneeyre]

[charlottebartlett]

Hello, Mr. Elton... err... Blake Ritson.

[ancientrimer]

jane eyre (2006) would be so good if it was good it’s crazy. in the last bits of episode four where the dialogue is the most similar to the text of jane eyre it’s so so good and it really underlines how capable ruth wilson and toby stephens are of playing these characters when they’re given a script that actually adheres to the characterisations from the book instead of whatever the rest of it was

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:

Lale Andersen

Marian Anderson

Signe Toly Anderson

Julie Andrews

LaVerne Andrews

Maxene Andrews

Patty Andrews

Ann-Margret

Joan Armatrading

Dorothy Ashby

Joan Baez

Pearl Bailey

Belle Baker

Josephine Baker

LaVern Baker

Florence Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Eileen Barton

Fontella Bass

Shirley Bassey

Maggie Bell

Lola Beltran

Ivy Benson

Gladys Bentley

Jane Birkin

Cilla Black

Ronee Blakley

Teresa Brewer

Anne Briggs

Ruth Brown

Joyce Bryant

Vashti Bunyan

Kate Bush

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Blanche Calloway

Wendy Carlos

Cathy Carr

Raffaella Carra

Diahann Carroll

Karen Carpenter

June Carter Cash

Charo

Cher

Meg Christian

Gigliola Cinquetti

Petula Clark

Merry Clayton

Patsy Cline

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Judy Collins

Alice Coltrane

Betty Comden

Barbara Cook

Rita Coolidge

Gal Costa

Ida Cox

Karen Dalton

Marie-Louise Damien

Betty Davis

Jinx Dawson

Doris Day

Blossom Dearie

Kiki Dee

Lucienne Delyle

Sandy Denny

Jackie DeShannon

Gwen Dickey

Marlene Dietrich

Marie-France Dufour

Julie Driscoll

Yvonne Elliman

Cass Elliot

Maureen Evans

Agnetha Faeltskog

Marianne Faithfull

Mimi Farina

Max Feldman

Gracie Fields

Ella Fitzgerald

Roberta Flack

Lita Ford

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

France Gall

Judy Garland

Crystal Gayle

Gloria Gaynor

Bobbie Gentry

Astrud Gilberto

Donna Jean Godchaux

Lesley Gore

Eydie Gorme

Margo Guryan

Sheila Guyse

Nina Hagen

Francoise Hardy

Emmylou Harris

Debbie Harry

Annie Haslam

Billie Holiday

Mary Hopkin

Lena Horne

Helen Humes

Betty Hutton

Janis Ian

Mahalia Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Etta James

Joan Jett

Bessie Jones

Etta Jones

Gloria Jones

Grace Jones

Shirley Jones

Tamiko Jones

Janis Joplin

Barbara Keith

Carole King

Eartha Kitt

Chaka Khan

Hildegard Knef

Gladys Knight

Sonja Kristina

Patti Labelle

Cleo Laine

Nicolette Larson

Daliah Lavi

Vicky Leandros

Peggy Lee

Rita Lee

Alis Lesley

Barbara Lewis

Abbey Lincoln

Melba Liston

Julie London

Darlene Love

Lulu

Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Barbara Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Vera Lynn

Siw Malmkvist

Lata Mangeshkar

Linda McCartney

Kate McGarrigle

Christie McVie

Bette Midler

Jean Millington

June Millington

Liza Minnelli

Carmen Miranda

Joni Mitchell

Liz Mitchell

Marion Montgomery

Lee Morse

Nana Mouskouri

Anne Murray

Wenche Myhre

Holly Near

Olivia Newton-John

Stevie Nicks

Nico

Laura Nyro

Virginia O’Brien

Odetta

Yoko Ono

Shirley Owens

Patti Page

Dolly Parton

Freda Payne

Michelle Phillips

Edith Piaf

Ruth Pointer

Leontyne Price

Suzi Quatro

Gertrude Rainey

Bonnie Raitt

Carline Ray

Helen Reddy

Della Reese

Martha Reeves

June Richmond

Jeannie C. Riley

Minnie Riperton

Jean Ritchie

Chita Rivera

Clara Rockmore

Linda Ronstadt

Marianne Rosenberg

Diana Ross

Anna Russell

Melanie Safka

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Samantha Sang

Pattie Santos

Hazel Scott

Doreen Shaffer

Jackie Shane

Marlena Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Dinah Shore

Judee Sill

Carly Simon

Nina Simone

Nancy Sinatra

Siouxsie Sioux

Grace Slick

Bessie Smith

Mamie Smith

Patti Smith

Ethel Smyth

Mercedes Sosa

Ronnie Spector

Dusty Springfield

Mavis Staples

Candi Staton

Barbra Streisand

Poly Styrene

Maxine Sullivan

Donna Summer

Pat Suzuki

Norma Tanega

Tammi Terrell

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Big Mama Thornton

Mary Travers

Moe Tucker

Tina Turner

Twiggy

Bonnie Tyler

Sylvia Tyson

Sarah Vaughan

Sylvie Vartan

Mariska Veres

Akiko Wada

Claire Waldoff

Jennifer Warnes

Dee Dee Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dinah Washington

Ethel Waters

Elisabeth Welch

Kitty Wells

Mary Wells

Juliane Werding

Tina Weymouth

Cris Williamson

Ann Wilson

Mary Wilson

Nancy Wilson

Anna Mae Winburn

Syreeta Wright

Tammy Wynette

Nan Wynn

Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!

If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.

[milkandcookies-222]

My Webkinz Collection: Part 2

Fireburst, Chessie, Sandy, Chuckles, Luna, Glacier, Snuffles, Hoppity, and Welch's ❤

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin at 150

Well, it happened again: you wasted more than a few perfectly good hours in my dumpster bin of a record collection. We've arrived at post #150 so let's recap the nonsense that's occurred since we hit 100 back in early summer:

There was some serious Shakey action. We spent six different posts on Neil Young's incomparable Zuma, ranging from the record's sonic relationship with my parents' antique vacuum, to its most bleak, altered, brutal, kaleidoscopic and yearning moments.

Young's Trans merited nearly as deep a dive. We started with an epic teenage tale before declaring it the best of all midlife crisis records. I took a pause to vent my fury regarding Neil's current doings and then went fairly deeply into the record's thematic implications for my own biography, and for Neil's.

What's more, I complained about everything on the Archives 3 sampler that does not sound like a demo by The Cure, identified Hitchhiker as a core part of Young's incredible legacy, cursed Stephen Stills yet again, waxed poetic and personal about Silver and Gold, recommended Prairie Wind for laxative adverts, voted against Cranky, Silly and Nasty's American Dream, got tipsy and blissful while listening to Tuscaloosa in paradise and demanded answers about my missing copy of Hawks and Doves.

And then my Cousin Kris died. I did what I could to celebrate his passing and his incomparable legacy by offering up my own essential songs list and through an appreciation of his best work with Rita.

(Now that Kris is heavenward, busy guffawing with Leonard Cohen, two perfectly reformed drunks in a heavenly choir, Prairewolf has vaulted to the pinnacle of my family's current musical achievement.)

While we're at it, here's a wonderful slice of Kris's second best work with Rita. Why isn't this song being covered by all our current divas from Adele to Chappell Roan as we speak?

Maybe it's because no one could ever sing anything like Kris and Rita...

(J.D. Souther's passing was noted as well. But comparing Souther to Kristofferson is like... well, it's not even worthy of a metaphor.)

What else happened on our way to 150?

I initiated yet to be consummated renassainces for Edie Brickell, Carly Simon, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ry Cooder and Michael Penn. Indeed, Carly Simon merited two posts. That's right, Carly Simon!

Also, the ladies' fierce penchant for Paul Simon merited wonder.

Linda Thompson was feted as well as Tom Waits' 70's persona. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' most obscure track was deemed equal to their latest weeper. Willie Nelson's 615th buddy record garnered praise, as did Lucinda William's Tom Petty tribute. Both records are good, but neither holds a candle to Dogs on the Run or the Woods Bands' long lost and churning pop nugget.

Sandy Denny remained a Dollar Bin fixation, of course. She sang the hell out of a few murder ballads, as well as her own greatest hit and a few Jackson C. Frank tunes, Plus she was way over my head in 1993 and put Led Zeppelin to shame.

What lies ahead, you ask? Well, for one thing, we've got to get serious and dedicate ourselves to a whole bunch more Joni Mitchell Mondays.

But before we begin the quest to 200 let's revel for a moment in my Dodgers' stirring pennant victory; Randy Newman sings everything, and this song most especially, ironically. But for the next week or so I'm just gonna act like everyone at Dodger Stadium and pretend that I don't know any better...

P.S. Stephen Stills Really Sucks.

P.P.S. Please vote! And if you can't vote for Kamala, write in Woody Guthrie.

[rastronomicals]

7:10 PM EDT October 7, 2024:

Fleetwood Mac - "Hypnotized" From the album Mystery to Me (October 15, 1973)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

Truth be told, Fleetwood Mac and I have never really seen eye to eye. When I was growing up, at a time when Rumours was ubiquitous, the teenage metalhead and/or prog freak I purposely molded myself into wasn't part of their demographic. Not even close. And now that I more closely match that (older, white, politically liberal?) demographic, the ship that might have once done the soft California rock thing for me has long since sailed.

I may not hate them, but--with the one exception I'm getting to in my typically slow fashion--Fleetwood Mac's influence on my listening habits has been next to nil. "Rhiannon" and "Don't Stop" and the rest of the Mac's massive seventies radio hits have been like neutrinos, all around me, unavoidable, yet so wispy and insubstantial that they've passed through me inert and whole, colliding with nothing of myself, reacting with nothing at all I keep internal.

Words are funny things. Rotate them a quarter turn, and all their nuance changes. I dismiss Fleetwood Mac by saying they're "insubtantial," but 90 degrees away from insubstantial is "ethereal," and ethereal can produce a very nice feeling indeed.

"Hypnotized" is, I think, Fleetwood Mac rotated their own quarter turn.

It's the same kind of story That seems to come down from long ago Two friends having coffee together When something flies by their window It might be out on that lawn Which is wide, at least half of a playing field Because there's no explaining what your imagination Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream They got me hypnotized

Now it's not a meaningless question To ask if they've been and gone I remember a talk about North Carolina and a strange, strange pond You see the sides were like glass In the thick of a forest without a road And if any man's hand ever made that land Then i think it would've showed

Seems like a dream They got me hypnotized

They say there's a place down in Mexico Where a man can fly over mountains and hills And he don't need an airplane or some kind of engine And he never will Now you know it's a meaningless question To ask if those stories are right 'cause what matters most if the feeling You get when you're hypnotized

Seems like a dream They got me hypnotized

Cadres of English blues fans and Peter Green cultists probably curse the name of Bob Welch for the band's detour into Yacht Rock after Welch arrived.

Fine. But to me, Welch's standing as one of the seventies' premier songwriters is cemented by this song and this song alone. And if it's Yacht Rock so be it. Van Morrison and Stevie Nicks and scores of Druid metal acts have attempted to shine a light Into the Mystic, but none, I think, have illuminated that foggy inconstant world quote so well as "Hypnotized."

what matters most if the feeling You get when you're hypnotized

Hell, there are books written on the subject that don't get it so right. I don't truly believe that Don Juan ever levitated or that space aliens created a lake in the Carolina woods or that a Mothman flew over Point Pleasant or that malign spirits ever crept over the sandy floors of the Chase Vaults.

But there's a little dreamy fugue we all enter when just thinking about these fantastical and sadly unreal things, isn't there? If these things are not real, at least they can give us this wonderful, fleetingly-grasped, dreamy fugue state.

What's remarkable about "Hypnotized," its music, its lyrics, is it's another transport in.

The fugue, the trance, it's just like the daydream reverie you feel when Bob Welch's atmospheric guitar fills fly by. It's just like the slightly unreal shimmer that Mick Fleetwood's triple-time beats can bring to things, and it's just like the mysterious soft keen of Welch's and McVie's voices combining, just slightly offtune, just slightly outside the sad and boring reality we're all forced to inhabit.

RIP Bob Welch

Fleetwood Mac rotated their quarter turn

[lands-of-fantasy]

Emma

Classic and loose adaptions from 1972, 1995, 1996 (x2), 2009, 2013, 2020

The fourth of Jane Austen’s novels, first published in 1815, has had many adaptions over the years. The ones pictured above are detailed below:

Emma (1972 Miniseries)

6 episodes x 45min Written by Denis Constanduros, directed by John Glenister

Starring Doran Godwin as Emma Woodhouse, John Carson as Mr. George Knightley, Debbie Bowen as Harriet Smith, Timothy Peters as Mr. Philip Elton, Robert East as Frank Churchill,  Ania Marson as Jane Fairfax, among others

Clueless (1995 Film)

Loose adaption set in modern Beverly Hills, USA Written and directed by Amy Heckerling

Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz (Emma), Paul Rudd as Josh Lucas (Knightley), Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport, Brittany Murphy as Tai Frasier (Harriet), Jeremy Sisto as Elton Tiscia, Justin Walker as Christian Stovitz (Frank), among others

Emma (1996 Film)

Written and directed by Douglas McGrath

Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma Woodhouse, Jeremy Northam as Mr. George Knightley, Toni Collette as Harriet Smith, Alan Cumming as Philip Elton, Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill, Polly Walker as Jane Fairfax, among others

Emma (1996 TV Film)

Written by Andrew Davies, directed by Diarmuid Lawrence

Kate Beckinsale as Emma Woodhouse, Mark Strong as Mr. George Knightley, Samantha Morton as Harriet Smith, Dominic Rowan as Mr. Philip Elton, Raymond Coulthard as Frank Churchill, Olivia Williams as Jane Fairfax, among others

Emma (2009 Miniseries)

4 episodes x 58min Written by Sandy Welch, directed by Jim O'Hanlon

Starring Romola Garai as Emma Woodhouse, Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. George Knightley, Louise Dylan as Harriet Smith, Michael Gambon as Mr. Henry Woodhouse, Blake Ritson as Mr. Philip Elton, Rupert Evans as Frank Churchill, Laura Pyper��as Jane Fairfax, Jefferson Hall as Robert Martin, among others

Emma Approved (2013-14 Webseries)

95 episodes x 4-8min, available on Youtube Loose adaption set in modern US, told in a vlog format

Created by Bernie Su, from Pemberley Digital

Starring Joanna Sotomura as Emma Woodhouse, Brent Bailey as Alex Knightley, Dayeanne Hutton as Harriet Smith, James Brent Isaacs as Bobby Martin, Paul Stuart as James Elton, Stephen A. Chang as Frank Churchill, Tyra Colar as Jane Fairfax, among others

While the series is a follow-up to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, it stands on its own.

Emma (2020 Film)

Written by Eleanor Catton, directed by Autumn de Wilde

Anya Taylor-Joy as Emma Woodhouse, Johnny Flynn as Mr. George Knightley, Mia Goth as Harriet Smith, Bill Nighy as Mr, Woodhouse, Josh O'Connor as Mr. Philip Elton, Callum Turner as Frank Churchill, Amber Anderson as Jane Fairfax, among others

*****

Personal favorite: 2009 But also: 1996 (Theatrical Film), Emma Approved

P.S.: 2020′s pretty popular, from what I’ve seen. I’ve enjoyed it myself, but it’s not among my favorite.

[adobongsiopao]

Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage in "North and South" 2004 version.

[silverfoxstole]

There aren’t many promo photos from Sweet Revenge out there, but I found some.

I always think of this as an Our Mutual Friend reunion as it was written by Sandy Welch and produced by Catherine Wearing, starred Paul, Pam Ferris and Steven Mackintosh and was directed by David Morrissey.

[addictivecontradiction]

Jane Eyre, 2006

[blogjaneeyre]

[fischerfrey]

If they had a kid meme, harker & jesper and darby & ivan ❤️

Name: Maeve Ursula Greenaway

Gender: female (she/her)

General appearance: light brown hair, blue eyes, average height

Personality: book smart, honest, hard-working, focused, driven, reckless, reserved, practical

Special talents: flying, wizard chess and gobstones (games in general)

Who they like better: Harker

Who they take after more: Harker

Personal headcanon:

She's a Gryffindor and plays Quidditch as a chaser. Eldest of the siblings. Protective of her brothers, eldest sister syndrome. Maeve and her brothers are adopted. As the eldest, Maeve remembers their birth-parents the best.

Face Claim: Olivia Scott Welch

Name: Cole Rafael Greenaway

Gender: male (he/him)

General appearance: brown hair, green eyes, kind of short

Personality: flirty, charming, out-going, arrogant, protective, resourceful

Special talents: dancing, duelling

Who they like better: Harker

Who they take after more: Jesper

Personal headcanon:

Slytherin, middle child. Teases his younger brother constantly but will fight you if you tease him. Legilimens.

Face Claim: Tyler Lawrence Gray

Name: Hilary Jaren Greenaway

Gender: male (he/him)

General appearance: sandy blond hair, blue eyes, tall

Personality: awkward, sensitive, irritable, loyal to his loved ones, suspicious of others, introverted

Special talents: knows a lot about music, can play drums, athletic

Who they like better: Harker

Who they take after more: Harker

Personal headcanon:

Hufflepuff. Plays Quidditch as a beater. Doesn't do that well academically, has dyslexia.

Face Claim: Adrian Öjvindsson

Name: Riot Travis Rosen

Gender: male (he/him)

General appearance: dark, curly hair, brown eyes, very tall

Personality: rebellious, cocky, critical, witty, intelligent, skeptical, compassionate

Special talents: conversation, impressing people

Who they like better: Both

Who they take after more: Ivan

Personal headcanon:

Slytherin. Passionate about politics. Popular in school, is friendly but can be judgemental. Better at theoretical subjects than practical subjects. Younger twin.

Face Claim: Archie Madekwe

Name: Rhyme Maddox Rosen

Gender: female (she/her)

General appearance: dark, curly hair, brown eyes, average height

Personality: aloof, independent, adaptale, genuine, funny, creative

Special talents: singing

Who they like better: Darby

Who they take after more: Ivan

Personal headcanon:

Ravenclaw. Likes music a lot. She's not super popular in school but has her own circle of friends. Older twin.

Face Claim: Taylor Russell