Festival of Secret Crushes/Loves…

He was born Pierce Brendan Brosnan on the 16th of May, 1953, in Navan, County Meath. Popularly known as An Uaimh, it’s about 30 miles north-west of Dublin, just inland from Drogheda. His father, Thomas, was a carpenter who left mother, May before Pierce was a year old. Needing a career to support her son, May travelled to London to train as a nurse, leaving young Pierce with her parents. Sadly, when he was 6, both grandparents died, so he was moved on to stay with relatives. He recalls spending lots of time in his aunt’s pub, feeling lonely and abandoned. “But maybe that’s where the acting comes from”, he says “from spending so much time alone with your thoughts”.

Pierce was enrolled at Elliott Comprehensive, and here it was rough.Though six feet tall by the age of 11, he was still bullied for being Irish – Irish was, in fact, his nickname. Painfully aware of his difference, he schooled himself in the London accent, becoming more of a Cockney than a Navan country-boy. Having to study his peers, copy their movements and voices, would stand him in good stead later.

YUP, I am talking about him! The video is an ad he did and it short, sharp and shows his good looks too so swell. Some more recent background on Pierce Brosnan:

He is an Irish actor and producer best known for portraying James Bond in four films from 1995 to 2002: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Since leaving the role, Brosnan has gone on to star in films such as Evelyn and Seraphim Falls. In 1996, he also formed, along with Beau St. Clair, a Los Angeles-based production company named Irish DreamTime. His current projects include Butterfly on a Wheel, Mamma Mia! and The Thomas Crown Affair 2.

On September 23, 2004, Brosnan became a naturalized citizen of the United States, but he has retained his Irish citizenship. Brosnan has said that “my Irishness is in everything I do. It’s the spirit of who I am, as a man, an actor, a father. It’s where I come from.” (Wikipedia)

Brosnan was asked by a fan if it annoyed him when people get his nationality confused. He said: “It amuses me in some respects that they should confuse me with an Englishman when I’m dyed-in-the-wool, born and bred Irishman…I don’t necessarily fly under any flag. But no, it doesn’t bother me.”

Brosnan also raises money for charitable causes through sales of his paintings. He trained early on as an artist, but later shifted to theatre; during his first wife’s terminal illness, he withdrew from acting to be with her and took up painting again for therapeutic reasons, producing colorful landscapes and family portraits. He has continued painting since then, using spare time on set and at home. Profits from sales of giclée prints of his works are given to a trust to benefit “environmental, children’s and women’s health charities.” Here is the link to the online Gallery of his paintings.

 

This was my entry on Wednesday – part of the Festival of Secret Loves/Crushes @ Vinod’s great page! There are some excellent posts on the subject, so do have a lookie!

DO JOIN US with Your tale of crushes/loves kept secret up to now…

Dishy or what? lol – Riihele xx

Bonus:
PIC of The Day of PIERCE!!

Sources:

Pierce Brosnan official site
Tiscali.co.uk
Wikipedia
You Tube

(My) Fashion Trendsetters: AUDREY HEPBURN

“My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn
by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses,
and the little sleeveless dresses.”

Audrey Hepburn quote

Here is a You Tube Tribute to Audrey Hepburn:

“There was something in her smile, in her eyes, in her timeless and natural elegance…” Here is such fabulous photos of her in Retro Hairstyles has this fabulous photo of Audrey Hepburn

Those of you who have been following my blogs know that I was/am rather lively of myself like jumping off moving trains, jumping off a ski jump and such things; in other words not so ladylike, eh?!! Well, let me tell you that, when I was in my early to mid-teens I started to collect pictures off the magazines with styles of fashions, clothes and so on for many years. Then in my late teens I went through my collection of pics and put aside the ones which still appealed to me at that stage. And guess what, my preferred style in fashion was LADYLIKE!! I remember saying to my Mum: “Ooh if I only was older so that I could wear it!” Mom’s reaction: rolling her eyes, actually!

Audrey Hepburn has been on my list of fashion trendsetters always and I still think that she is elegance and chic personified. Remember the entry I did some weeks ago called “The Little Black Dress @ 81” where I mentioned about that famous dress designed by Givenchy specially for Audrey Hepburn and which was worn by Audrey on the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Apparently, the Fashion House of Givenchy bought it back ‘home’ so to say, I read in an article. Interesting.

The article ”Going Lightly For Pearls” states that ‘Coco Chanel made pearls chic in the 1920’s and Audrey made them glamorous again four decades later. Pearls have been worn in both jewelry and clothing since antiquity, but until recently they were the province of the very rich. Sumptuary laws in ancient Rome as well as certain kingdoms of Europe into the 17th century prevented the lower social classes from wearing pearls. It wasn’t until the modern pearl cultivation industry took off in the 1900s that the lovely orbs became an affordable luxury.’

”Hepburn is famous for the poem “Time Tested Beauty Tips”, which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, “For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day”, and, “For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.” The poem is popularly attributed to her, but it was in fact written by Sam Levenson. (Wikipedia)

Audrey Hepburn to this day is a beauty and fashion icon. She has often been called one of the most beautiful women of all time. Her fashion styles also continue to be popular among women.Contrary to her recent image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it. She preferred casual, comfortable clothes. In addition, she never considered herself to be very attractive.(Wikipedia)

She said in a 1959 interview, “you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly… you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn’t conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive.”(Wikipedia)

Despite her stardom, Hepburn retained her humility. She preferred a more quiet living with family and nature. She lived in houses, not mansions, and she loved to garden.

“You can always tell what kind of a person a man really thinks you are by the earrings he gives you”

Audrey Hepburn quote

Tis for now. Riihele xx

SABRINA THE MOVIE (1954)
AUDREY HEPBURN CHILDREN’S FUND
A WONDERFUL PHOTO OF AUDREY HEPBURN AND GRACE KELLY IN THIS SITE
http://www.monroegallery.com/detail.cfm?id=616.
TRENDS FOR 2007/2008

ARISTOCATS – The NOBLE CATS

This is one of the very favourite children’s videos that I love since
I first met these noble Aristocats through my children when they were small.
I particularly like this part of the film where all three kittens:
Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse barge in through the cat-flap,
and what Marie says about ‘Ladies’!!

“The Aristocats is a 1970 animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions. The twentieth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the story revolves around a family of aristocratic cats, and how an alley cat acquaintance helps prevent a butler from kidnapping them to gain his mistress’ fortune. This film is noted for being the last film to be approved by Walt Disney himself; he died in 1966, while the film was still in early production. It was originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on December 11, 1970.

Set in Paris, France in the year 1910, this is the story about a mother cat named Duchess and her three kittens: her cute daughter Marie, and her two sons Berlioz and Toulouse. The mother cat faces many obstacles raising her children. They live in the mansion of retired opera singer Adelaide Bonfamille, along with her evil butler Edgar who has a big nose, Frou Frou the horse, and Roquefort the mouse, who is a good friend of the cats. ” (Wikipedia)

The title is a pun on the word aristocrats.

Tis for now. Rii xx

Incidents and Such Like ~ Train

The hard thing about travelling by train in some countries is the fact that the stops are not announced beforehand, in advance, but one has to figure them out by oneself. We were happily chugging along in this train between Edinburgh and Glasgow when we in our intensive nattering forgot all about keeping track of the stations and their names. Then we were in a station and just about to move along when we suddenly discovered that this particular station was our one to get off the train where somebody had come to collect us. It was also getting late and soon it would be dark.

Oy vey! What to do? There was only a couple of seconds for quick thinking and then I said to her:

“Let’s jump off the train! We are in the last carriage we can do it!
We will just chuck off the bags and then jump ourselves!”

So we did to the utter amazement of the rest of the people in the carrriage. The train was getting on in speed and there was not a second to waste.

First went all our luggage to the side of the track and then ourselves with no harm to either of us.

So far so good.

Then, we heard as we were clambering up the side of the track to the road on the top, this fiercely angry Scottish voice booming loudly over the whole station area:

 

“THE TWO GIRRRLLS,
THAT JUMPED
OFF THE TRAIN:
COME HERE
IMMEDIATELY!!”

Well that was us, of course.

‘We are not going there!‘, was our joint decision.

The angry voice got absolutely hopping mad and continued with the same words over and over again.The train had stopped. To our good luck nobody was looking up at the road where we were walking along, as we had to make our way back to the station to meet this person collecting us. He was more astonished than we in our bumping into him OUTSIDE the station than what we were, I must say!

He said:

“What are you doing out here? I thought that I would meet you inside the station.”

We just pointed out to him that livid voice ringing in the area still calling us to go the stationmaster that it is us that had jumped off the train and that we were not going to go to see anybody! He had a good chuckle about the incident and told us to hurry into his car and that we better head off the area double quick!!

Tis for now. Riihele xx.

The PS.
of this incident was that we had to get tickets to go on to Liverpool to meet the gang and ‘how to’ was the dilemma in this poky little station where everybody knew everybody?!

The chap that did the chauffering for us told us ‘to keep very low profile’ and that he would go the station to buy the tickets and hand them over to us.
And so he did. We were only too glad to see the back of that place and head off to other adventures!

Who Wears the Prada? – Movie Review

Photo and the makeover of the Red Shoe by Riihele.

I think that them heels go so well with what I am going to talk about today. I have used the other variation on this theme before in here. I do not go often to the cinema because there are just so very few films that interest me, even though they are being constantly churned out of the movie mills of Hollywood by the lorry-load each day! Then when I heard about and saw the Red Heels for this film, I was intrigued to go and see for meself what the story was all about. Here is the Official web site of the Prada. Feel free to drool…

The film is based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger who graduated from Cornell University. Her first novel ‘The Devil Wears Prada‘ was published in 2003 and became a huge success on the bestseller list of The New York Times for weeks. It has been published in twenty-seven countries. Here is an excerpt about the book in The Devil Wears Prada Home page at the Random House Publisher’s:

Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

I did not read the book but went to see the film ‘cold’ without knowing that much about it except that there were Meryl Streep – playing the part of Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway – the PA – in the leading roles. This is what is said about the film by a critique in The New York Observer:

”The Devil Wears Prada” is the first classy, elegant and really entertaining film of 2006. It’s about the phony, pretentious, insanely overpriced, death-rattle world of what is laughably called fashion, and the magazines that market what’s left of it to a fan base of gullible consumers who can’t afford it and don’t need it in the first place.”

Right at the beginning of the film I was nearly hyperventilating recalling my own time as a PA to a fashion designer and the demands that were put on Andrea, the character, echoing my own experiences in real life! This part, I must say, I was totally unprepared for. I kept thinking: ‘I know, I know, that’s the way IT IS!’

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to plaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. (The Official Web site.)

Bingo!

As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul. (The Official Web site.)

Don’t say!

Having got over the hyperventilating I was able to enjoy the movie and really liked how good Meryl Streep is in her acting as always. Did not warm up to Anne Hathaway that much, I must confess. Have not analyzed yet as to ‘why’ – just tis so. The best part of the film for me is the scene where ‘Andrea’ is taken into this massive room that is brimmingly full of the best and the most fabulous designs of every kind, style and make of shoes, clothes, accessories, to get her into the right, chic look!! Whooaaa…….Let me in!!

I read that the book will be made into a sitcom to be released in 2007 – yes, great as it should be very good and interesting in a sitcom version, as the dialogue is not the forte of this film, neither is the plot as there isn’t any.Tis the clothes that take the lead so to speak and the lavish style of living in contrast to Andrea’s plain home life.

Do I recommend the film? Yes, most certainly. I will get the DVD and watch it again, again and yet again, because I think that the film might improve with closer acquaintance.

Go and have a lookie for yourself – and do tell me what you think about it, please.

Tis for now. Riihele xx.