Just a quick one today 🙂
I have so many other posts, some inspired by that mega conversation we had a few days ago, all floating around in my head, in need of constructing and scheduling.
They are coming, along with a mini tutorial and a post/message I want to dedicate to an online friend who’s struggling.
This post was inspired by an exchange I had with Morrighansmuse regarding what we watch when we need to find some beauty to counterbalance the blues or some drama you may inevitably be dragged into.
Morrighan mentioned that Thorin was her go-to, and I can see why he would be, although I hope she might elaborates on the topic more in future.
Yesterday I needed to catch my equilibrium and take my mind off things, so I started with a few documentaries, but they didn’t engage me.
Then I thought surely The Forsyte Saga would do the trick, but I just couldn’t focus fully and Damian Lewis’ Soames deserves my full attention 😉
I found myself reaching for an oldie but goody.
Out came my trusted North and South DVD.
Isn’t there a limited to the amount of times you can watch it and be mesmerized by Mr Thornton?
How can I still find little details that captivate me.
I don’t know how you do it but, Mr Thornton, you make any bad day so much better 🙂
So, what is your go-to viewing when things just aren’t going your way and you need a pick-me-up?
What lightens your mood when the dark clouds above your head don’t want to dissipate?
Talking about things that are an immediate boost in happy feels, anyone up for one of these?
I’ve tried to find the author of this beauty, but to no avail.
Whoever you are, you’ve created something that most RA fans desperately want and producers/companies don’t want to supply us with.
Update: Just found out it was Jonia who visualised my dream!
Please check out the whole post as she’s come up with many other wonderful suggestions!
I Want to be a Pin Up 
Strike Back. However badly things are going, Porter will always make it better.
Having said that, i’m feeling a bit sad because Mr bolly is away for nearly three weeks (and he’s currently flying from Sydney to London which always makes me jittery) so i have downloaded series 7 of Spooks – which i have only seen once, and that was before i was entranced by Armitage.
Porter really is comforting, but that’s because he handles difficult situations for a living. Same with Lucas. What a compliment to your Mr B. You’re action man is off on his travels, so you have to resort to fictional heroes to fill the void 🙂
BTW, I guess I should never marry because I always enjoyed it when the BF travelled. I got to be home alone and it was like a mini holiday for me. Guess that isn’t love when you’re happy to see your partner go 😉
Well i’m not being entirely romantic. We have three teenagers, a large simple minded dog and an old house that bits fall off almost constantly so it’s nice to have another grown up on side.
Well, BF was useless with DIY and stuff, so if a light bulb needed changing, I’d be the one doing it anyway 😉
Having said that, my dad would travel a lot when I saw growing up and things always waited to go wrong till the day after he left. I hope that won’t be your experience, and look on the bright side- surely there’s going to be some souvenir for you when the hubby comes back 😉
That is true. 😉
The train scene of North and South is always my feelgood go-to viewing in bad times. Can’t be beaten for escapist tenderness.
Porter is good foe everything else, though 😉 As is Lucas, though you sometimes have to be feeling quite strong yourself to cope with his sadness.
Oo, the thought of watching Series 7 Spooks for the first time since being entranced – that has to be good! 😉 So much wonderful stuff in that series. Even if I do just spend most of the time wanting to hug him and make it all better.
Oh yes – the station scene in N&S is just about the best 10 minute quick fix a girl could ask for.
I actually like the “dark” period in N&S more, maybe because the colouring suited Richard so well 😉
Don’t get me wrong, the train scene is beautiful and they really ended the series on a wonderful note, but I like Thornton in the Milton environment.
Lucas in s7 is painful to watch, but maybe there’s a sense that if he can function after what happened to him, you can really get through anything. I like s8 plotline even more and I actually think s9 is the perfect environment for Richard to stretch his acting legs. I know it’s farfetched and thy take Lucas/John to such a disturbing place, but acting-wise, it gave RA the chance to build a character that was slowly falling to pieces. I find it very engaging 🙂
I am like you, Agzy. I love the dark, coal-ash-tinted London and how good Thornton/Richard looks in it. Sometimes the sunshine-bright of Helston was so vibrant it seemed unreal, like many romantic costume dramas (romcosdras?!) often do…but I still love them. 🙂
Even though I find Harry much too sweet for my liking (Sir Guy is my favourite chaRActer), when I need a boost, I look at VoD. It’s probably the innocence and the complete absence of any negative association that draws me to Harry Kennedy. The wide smiles and the forthright flirting.
Harry doesn’t have a mean bone in his body and the fact that he falls for a woman who is older and not the perfect 10, but who has a good heart and a wicked sense of humour makes him even more likeable. I wonder if Dawn French had anything to do with casting RA for the part? I don’t think she was a producer on VoD, so probably not, but would she have chosen him anyway as the vicar’s true love?
I always thought that she *did* have a say in it. Well, at least she is quoted somewhere as saying that she wanted someone “absolutely gorgeous” for the role. And that, of course, effectively only left Richard *haha*
Absolutely gorgeous? Well, check! Now I’m imagining Dawn French and a casting couch and my mind should definitely not go there 😉
I remember seeing an interview with Dawn French and got the impression she had some say in RA’s casting. She certainly seemed pleased anyway. She said she made him practice the kissing scenes a lot and that he didn’t seem to mind!
Best. Job. Ever! You get paid to make out with a beautiful man! I’m started to rethink my career choices 😉
*ooof*. Casting couch… And that extra snogging practice that Dawn insisted on…
North & South and VoD for me. The first when I’m depressed (well, more than my usual, that is) and the second when I’m angry. They always do the trick. Some Porter if I need a kick in my ass 😉
An Armitage part to fit every mood! I wonder what this new twister project will be good for. Is it wrong of me to hope there may be juicy romantic/sexy sub-plot to cater for when we feel… fruity? 😉
oh… let’s hope! We need “that” sub plot in the tornado movie… I don’t know what to expect from it. He should act like a common man turned hero to save son and teenagers in peril. Not sure about my feelings. And the waiting is a bit too long for my sanity 😉 We need some RA news, some pic, something!
I think it’s all coming very soon. They’ll probably start raising his profile in the press more in October just before the Smaug onslaught in November and December.
I miss TV Richard though. The process was so immediate and you always got a whole series packed with RA episodes.
yep, I don’t know why but I’d really like to see RA doing some TV again. Probably because I’m a bit scared of what Hollywood and the Big Film Industry can do to him 😦 and probably also because I don’t see many exciting movie projects around at the moment
I have to admit I’m off movies for now. I think the quality of TV shows is so high that 2h of a film doesn’t really cut it for me. Maybe these feeling are also due to some disappointing movie choices, especially that they were supposed to be very good. They left me feeling a bit Ehhh…
LUCAS!!!!!!
Um, so, Spooks -_-
Even now that Armi has thrown hot dwarf king Thorin into the mix, the hot spy is still my go-to guy. ♥♡
****
I need to catch up with your other posts, Agzy – I’ve been so crap/busy/ill/crap again…. but I look forward to catching up on what I’ve been missing over here 😉
Xx
Hey Darling! I’ve been wandering what you were up to! I don’t like the sound of “crap” and I hope things are better now.
BTW, it seems that after Thorin madness Lucas is experiencing a bit of a revival among RA admirers, and seeing that be look buuuuutiful in it, I can’t complain 🙂
Lucas is stunning indeed. My love for him has been tainted by S09. I can’t gather myself from it. I want to remind it as Lucas. I believe in Lucas North.
I really understand when people say that, I just like to see Richard unravel the Lucas character like an old jumper, thread by thread. And which other character on Spooks had a whole season to exit the show? Usually it’s: boom, you’re gone, next character please… I think the Lucas /John story is a compliment to Richard’s acting abilities.
Absolutely, but I’d like a more sound story. I mean, the plot has more holes than a net… However yes, he could show all his acting skill while ripping our hearts. I hate how they got rid of Jo and Ros.
Their endings were ridiculous, especially poor Ros. She deserved so much more!
Hey!
Aye, things are settling down…I’ve just been busy with work stuff, and a tad useless with keeping up with things…plus I’ve had a horrid allergic reaction to some eye drops (my face swelled up to the point where I thought it might burst! O_O). So that was fun! ;P
Ah, YEY for Lucas!!
He is one B E A UUUUUUTIFUL spy! ^-^
I might have to go watch him do a bit of running in his tight jeans now… Mmmm!
Xx
That sounds terrible! I’m allergic to penicillin and my face was so swollen after a doctor prescribed me some antibiotics I couldn’t leave the house. Do you know what ingredient caused the swelling so you can avoid it in future?
On a positive note. Lucas + tight jeans. Yes please.
Jeepers!! Yeah, I’ve been wearing big sunglasses when I’ve had to leave the house to go to eye casualty etc, but other than that I’ve stayed at home-I looked like an old Chinese woman 2 days ago (not that I have anything against old Chinese women, I just don’t usually resemble one…)
Apparently it was the preservatives in the drops that caused it! So I’ve got preservative free ones now, plus steroid drops for the swelling. I have hamster cheeks today, but it is going down…
Lucas + tight jeans just makes me go all giddy. Armi should do some modeling for Levi or whoever. Can you imagine the ad campaigns? *swoooon*
😉
Xx
Oh dear, you were one of THOSE people who wears shades indoors and after dark 😉 Maybe next time I won’t be so quick to judge a Chinese looking elderly woman for pulling a Paris Hilton LOL! How long has your face been swollen? It sound like the perfect (if not a tad extreme) way to iron out those wrinkles 😉
Haha! Yes, generally people who wear sunglasses indoors make me tut ;P But it was either wear them or scare anyone and everyone who crossed my path o_o
It swelled up to this level of crazy on Wednesday night, then was lots worse by Thursday morning…
Would you believe that the doctor I saw at eye casualty was tall and rather pretty..and wore glasses when I came back the next day (I’m a fool for a handsome chap in glasses!) Meanwhile, I looked absolutely hideous!! >_<
Xx
LOL, both my dogs vet and my dentist are tall, dark handsome, sexy and funny. I’m the only person in the world who comes back from root canal work with a smile on my numb face 🙂 And yes, both occasionally wear glasses.
I don’t get it, if you’re not using the eye drops then why is it still swelling? Should it stop flaring up by now? Maybe your doctor needs stronger lenses to identify the problem better? Or maybe he has a crush on you and isn’t helping in hope you’ll come back? 😉
Ah, I’ve come across a rather beautiful Australian vet…he was only working at my vets temporary, but oh my, he was yummy! In almost wanted to think of an excuse to take my cat back the next day!
Handsome face at the dentist though…Ooh, that’d make me look forward to my check ups… 😉
Oh, it was the first eye drops that caused the swelling, the ones my gp gave me. I’d originally gone to doc’s with bloodshot/mildly swollen eyes, told it was an infection, given ointment stuff, which cleared it up. Eyes however puffed up again the next week, so I went back and was told it’s probably “just allergies” and was sent away with allergy drops… it was the preservatives in those I was (ironically) allergic to! That’s when my face ballooned…and that’s how I came to meet hot tall doc! Swelling is going down now, will take a few days for me to look “normal” again. Oh, how I wish he had a crush on me! Unless he likes girls who look(ed) like Quasimodo though, I think it’s unlikely. ..*sigh*
Xx
I love N&S (of course), but particularly the latter stages where Thornton starts to ‘unwrap’- the cravat coming off, the sleeves rolled up. The time he spends talking to Higgins and the young boy reveals the side of himself he couldn’t let show before, and it’s lovely to watch.
OT- I’m sitting here at home in Sydney watching your mob play my mob in Davis Cup tennis in Warsaw!
LOL! Hate to spoil things, but your mob will win 😉
The world is a bizarre place and I don’t know why I find this little piece of information really cute 🙂
Re Thornton’s unravelling, it’s wonderful when the cravat is untied, the jacket too. It’s so symbolic of the character shedding that uptight attitude an allows himself to show a human, although perhaps weaker and less in control side. I always get a hoot from Thornton talking to the boy. It makes me think he’d make a wonderful father 🙂
Scenes with the boy and Higgins are my fave ones. Because RA and Coyle are incredible actors and were perfect together and because I really love how their symbolic relationship is depicted in the tv series. Those two very stubborn men must swallow their pride in the name of love: of a woman or children it doesn’t matter. Love is what permit them to understand each other to the point they like and respect each other. And I’m glad is Higgins to tell John about Margaret’s brother. My personal idea is that he knew and wanted to help both of them. Because he has grown fond of both and wanted to see them happy together. Ok I’m a hopeless romantic old girl 😛
I can’t help but to heart every character Coyle has played that I’ve seen. He just has that gentle giant air about him which is strange because I don’t know if he is in fact gentle, and he’s certainly no giant 😉 I disliked Higgins in the book (and couldn’t understand a thing he was saying), so to turn that part into a character that’s so likeable in N&S series just proves what a great actor he is. And cute too, in that teddy bear way 😉
imho every character has been enhanced in tv series. Bess is so annoying in the book and so moving in the tv film. I find N&S one of the very rare cases in which the tv/movie cover is really better than the book. The scene with Thornton punching Stevens is perfect to justify Margaret’s contempt for John, while in the book we don’t understand why she is so disgusted by him. Great move by the screen-players. Not to talk of the very last scene 😉 Everything is perfect in N&S, from the cast to the music, from editing (that profile of Thornton at the end of episode 1!) to the costumes. Perfection, period. Can’t get enough of it.
I dare never really admit it but I have to agree that for me the series is so much better than the book. The only complain I have is that they edited the proposal scene and cut stuff out so it’s a bit disjointed. I wish they had left it the way we see it in special features. That was such a powerful scene, both actors did a great job and I think it should have left it uncut!
Don’t get me started on the music. I have the soundtrack and listen to it ever so often. I even have Seba / Gisborne’s Boy playing the theme melody on the piano 🙂
Totally agree on everything! The proposal scene is perfect in the long version, don’t know why they cut it. And the music run constantly in my car while driving 😉 I also downloaded the score of the main theme and tried to play it on my piano!
That’s what Seba did, he just played it by ear, recorded it and sent it my way 🙂
Everyone involved in this project did such a wonderful job and it all came together. I think even the producers were surprised how good it ended up being 😉
That happens when people love the projects are involved into and have great professionalism. I bet nobody would have thought we could still be here talking about it after 10 years from original airing. Sadly it was never broadcasted in Italy 😦 Can’t understand why.
The N&S soundtrack is on repeat in my car too, micra! I decided today that I needed to give it a rest and loaded in Lords of the North for something totally different. 😉
I couldn’t drive and listen to LOtN. I was in spasms crying mid way when THAT terrible thing happened, at other times I’m crying with laughter. I’d be a danger on the road 😉
First time I listened to THAT terrible thing happening (I’m assuming we’re talking about the same terrible thing LOL!) I wasn’t in the car. Lots of tears, so just as well. 🙂
Here- have a couple of loveable fools for you Saturday enjoyment!
LOL! It’s what I tell my sister: They’re lucky they’re pretty!
W moim przypadku wszystko zależy od tego co było przyczyną czarnych chmur. Mam moje trzy koła ratunkowe. Pan Thornton ( i jego zasady) jest moim lekiem na całe zło, ale i słodki Harry też potrafi być pomocny [zwłaszcza kiedy się oświadcz] 😉 a trzecim jest Lucas, pomimo, że nie jest moją ulubioną postacią, to patrzenie na niego zawsze uwalnia mnie od nawet najbardziej natrętnej myśli…
No to śpiewamy Ryśkowi że “Jesteś lekiem na całe zło…”. Gdyby jescze chłopina usłyszał i zrozumiał!
To tzry bardzo popularne postaci kojąc skołatane nerwy, a jednak Łukaszek różni się znacząca od pozostałych dwóch. To chyba wszystko przez te ciasne portki i urocze kurtki i płaszczyki 😉
Harry really makes me smile, but when I need a pick-me-up I go for Porter. he’s just so capable & determined, nothing stops him 🙂
Harry to make me smile and really feel good about life; Porter when I am in need of support and Thorin to help me disappear into another world for a bit.
I absolutely agree with the last two. Seeing Porter smashing things and bashing bad guys can help in certain cases. 😉 And for disappearing – absolutely Thorin! I haven’t seen the Vicar of Dibley, but when I’m sad, the best character to go to is Lucas. I don’t know why, but somehow he has a calm, soothing aura.
John Thornton and North and South are my go to for beauty also, and not just because it was my introduction to Richard. But THAT CD COVER! That nearly sent me into orbit. If only that would happen.
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Harry and The Vicar of Dibley, and the train station scene from North and South for when I need a pick me up. I hardly watch any current television – with so much reality stuff on (don’t have pay tv) there’s not a lot that interests me, so I continually rotate through my RA collection. At the moment it’s Spooks S7 and last night I watched The Hobbit again. I never tire of watching Richard’s performances, I confess that’s probably all I watch most of the time…the fast forward button gets a work out through the non-RA scenes. 😉
I’m so ashamed to admit that I sometime fast forward non RA scenes in N&S which is a shame because the whole thing makes for great viewing. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish the Hale’s would wrap up their chitchat a little faster so we can move on to the Thornton’s. We get it, you’re better than everyone, moral high ground bla bla, south-good, north-bad…
And back to the cravat… or even better, to the non-cravat 😉
Ah yes, the non-cravat…my favourite scenes in N&S, train station included of course….non-cravat and delightful kisses *sigh*
Fast forwarding or not depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m quite happy to sit through the whole show, that’s happening with Spooks at the moment. Robin Hood though, I ff through all the time. Why waste precious viewing time on Robin and the gang when I can look at Guy?! 😉
Oh good. I’m glad I’m not the only one! I get a bit fed up with Bess wheezing away too.
O! Nieszczęsna!!! Przyśpieszasz “North and South”!? “Robin Hooda” można a wręcz należy przyspieszać! 🙂 ale nie wolno się śpieszyć z Panem Thorntonem…trzeba czekać jak na szpilkach na kolejna scene, na kolejne spojrzenie Thorntona…na ściągnięcie krawata…na podwiniecie rekawów koszuli…na na na na …juz mi lepiej:) Kiedy sprawy za lasem sie komplikują a strachy wyłazą z kazdego kata to słucham Ryszarda…jego głos mnie uspokaja..ale nie usypia.
Nie mogę Robina Kaptura przyspieszać bo analizuję jego process łysienia od odcinka do odcinka 😉
😀 pewnie wolałabys nie wiedzieć..ale posmarkałam sie ze smiechu…bom chora,zakatarzona i gardło mnie boli…ale ty jestes lepsza od aspiryny!
Lepsza i tańcza od aspiryny. Mam to nawet wpisane w CV pod Umiejętności obok kłamstwa o tym że umiem obsługiwać Exela i znam podstawy niemieckiego i rosyjskiego…
A gdzie to się tak latało że gardło boli zamiast siedzieć w domu mężowi obiady gotować i skarpety cerować?
Yeah, I’m a N&S-girl (almost SQUEED when I saw the heavenly beauty of the cover of an audiobook called „North & South“ read by Richard Armitage….Oh my… Thought a dream have come true!!!) Therefore whenever I need a bit of an emotional uplift I indulge myself with JT…..
But prob more often than I watch RA in a film, for an immediate boost (as you call it Agzy) I re-read parts from different fan-fictons as e.g. Khandys „In the Bleak Midwinter“ or as it is called in her Kindle-version „Weathering the storm“ or various Porter, Lucas or Guy stories. They can be soooooo comforting!!!!!
N&S works perfectly for me!! Since I saw it for the first time I began to share my “love” for it with some friends who like period trama. It’s now my perfet gift for birthdays, Christmas, etc.!! 😉