Hump Day Hottie: Henry Cavill

Since today is Groundhog Day, the day that Punxtamey Phil is supposed to pop out of his hole, and then tell the world whether or not we will have six more weeks of godawful winter, I thought we could use something hot to look at.  This week's piece of British Beefcake is Henry Cavill, who played Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk in the Showtime series The Tudors, and as far as I'm concerned the only reason to watch that horrible series.

Henry hails from the island of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, that sit midway between France and England.  His father is a stockbroker and he attended Stowe boarding school.  Recently Henry was cast as Superman, following in the footsteps of Christopher Reeve (totally hot) and Brandon Routh (not so much).  The film, to be directed by Zach Snyder who gave the world 300, should put Henry over the top if it's successful. But this isn't Henry's first time at the Hollywood table. He was up for James Bond before Daniel Craig snatched the role. Stephanie Meyers also wanted him desperately to play Edward Cullen before the producers didn't think he could cut it anymore as a teenager.

Superman is my least favorite superhero (I much prefer Batman), but I will go to see the film to see how Henry fills out the tights!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Winter Solstice!

I'm off to the movies tomorrow to see The Spirit and then over to a friend's house for holiday cheer and lots of wine.

It's raining here in New York today so I leave you with this lovely image of Daniel Craig to keep everyone warm and toasty for the holidays.

Quantum of Daniel Craig

So Quantum of Solace made $70MM over the weekend, the best Bond opening ever. There's talk that the movie may make more money than the last Bond film, Casino Royale, which made more money than any Bond film ever. So much for all those people who thought that Daniel Craig would tank as James Bond.

If you want a good review of the film, head over to Hope Tarr's blog here. My five minute review is that while I loved it, I'm looking forward to seeing him lighten up just a little in the next film. Not a return to the crazy gadgets and silly quips, but just Bond having a little fun while chasing after criminables.

But still he does make for a great, tortured hero as Hope so rightly points out and he looks awesome in a tux. And man can this dude kick some serious ass!

Happy Birthday Gerard Butler

Happy Birthday to the hottest Phantom of the Opera in history, Gerard Butler. He's 39 years young, and smoking. He even made Hilary Swank tolerable in P.S. I Love You! That's a miracle, let me tell you. And one of many reasons to visit Glasgow. Seriously, if I could find a guy half as hot as he is, I would be a happy girl.

Some fun facts about Gerard courtesy of People Magazine:


1. When he first read the script for Phantom of the Opera, Gerard Butler cried. "I was wiping the tears off," he told reporters in 2003. "It really touched me in an incredible way."


2. For 300, Gerard Butler was completely clean-shaven for his tiny loincloth. "I only did that because I was told to! Manscaping and all of that is not my thing. I'm more of the Clint Eastwood kind of guy," he told PEOPLE.

3. Gerard Butler's best move on women is the pickup line, "Have you seen 300?"


4. When Gerard Butler was featured in PEOPLE's 2004 Sexiest Man Alive issue, he said of the honor: "When I'm 80 and sagging all over, I can tell my grandkids, 'Look, when I was a lad, PEOPLE magazine thought I was sexy!'"

5. Gerard Butler regrets wearing "really wide-flared pants" and "trousers that zip up the side" in his youth. "I've made some gross misjudgments," he told In Style of his fashion don'ts.

Sigh, now I'm going to have to listen to the soundtrack of Phantom when I get home tonight.

Weekend Update

I'm still gathering my thoughts and getting over the jet lag from the Conference (yes, I know it was a week ago, but I'm getting old). I've been working on two non-fiction proposals, trying to find the disk that has my novella on it, and doing research my historical YA. Oh and slowly easing back into my ballroom dancing classes.

Saturday was our monthly RWA meeting. This month we concentrated on critiques, primarily because its August and there is typically no one around at the meetings. About 6 people read at the meeting which was great, but in the future, I think we are going to have to tell people that they have about 20 minutes tops so that we can get everyone in and give them the attention that they need. People in the chapter are writing some really groovy stuff that I can't wait to hear more of which I think is fabulous.

Sunday, I met Liz Maverick and Stacey Agdern at Starbucks to do a little writing before we headed over to the movie theater to meet Leanna to see Bottle Shock. Liz and I discussed the fact that movies in New York now are $12.00, which we both felt was obscene particularly when watching an independent movie that cost $1,000,000 and couldn't get a deal after Sundance. We decided that there should be a sliding scale of movie prices. Blockbusters should be $12.00, but foreign films, and independent films should be cheaper. If the movie was made in someone's backyard with one camera, I shouldn't have to pay $12.00 to see it.

So how was Bottle Shock? Eh, it was okay. Alan Rickman was wonderful as usual. Chris Pine's hair though was so Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High that it bugged the heck out of me. And I had a real problem with the love interest banging both Chris Pine and Freddy Rodriguez, who I thought was by far the cooler dude. It did however make me want to drink a glass of wine, which Leanna, Stacey and I did after the movie. We went to this wine bar Wine and Roses. The Upper West Side is lousy with wine bars and Wine & Roses I have to say is one of the priciest of the bunch. Good wine though and I really liked my smoked salmon appetizer, but I could have bought the bottle of wine for what they charged for a glass.

I was intrigued by one of the previews, The Women, which is a remake of an old 1939 movie with Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell and Paulette Goddard, which in itself was based on the Broadway play by Clare Boothe Luce. I've seen the original film and I saw the Broadway revival a few years ago with Cynthia Nixon. What struck me about the preview was how contemporary the story seemed. You know that old saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same? Well men still cheat, and women still need their friends, even the ones who comfort you and then stab you in the back.

The dude with the long hair and the attitude is the actor Toby Stephens as Rochester in the most recent version of Jane Eyre. Interesting that they darkened his hair for the role, since I suppose a ginger Rochester wouldn't fly. Anywho, he is now going to be playing Prince John in the next series of Robin Hood, clearly an attempt to get more women to watch this show since Robin Hood himself is clearly not a draw. I don't think I've met a woman who watches this show for anyone other than Richard Armitage as Sir Guy of Gisbourne or Keith Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Now that Toby is going joining the show, I might actually have to watch this, particularly now that they've gotten rid of the most annoying Maid Marian on the planet. Seriously how many times did RA as Sir Guy sexily tell her to stay put, because he was trying to save her, only to have her run off and do something stupid? Like running off to join Robin Hood?

Come on, hot guy in leather pants, or wimpy guy who can barely grow a beard and lives in the forest? I don't know about anyone else, but my choice would have been Sir Guy, which is the whole problem with this series. When you want Robin Hood to disappear, and evil to win, the writers might have to go back to the drawing board (or hire a new actor to play Robin.)

Moral Ambiguity - So Hot!

It was recently announced a few months ago that the delicious Richard Armitage would be joining the 7th series of Spooks (which is shown in the States as MI-5) this coming fall. Hallelujah, finally Richard will be in an awesome show, instead of the piece of crap that is Robin Hood. Unfortunately it won't be shown in the States until probably 2009. Boo!

Of course the news has all my friends who have joined the North and South cult very happy. As my friend Liz Maverick said, 'Moral Ambiguity is so hot!'

At least it is when Richard Armitage plays it! His Guy of Gisbourne, along with Keith Allen's Sheriff of Nottingham, is the only good thing about Robin Hood. How can you not find a man, who is evil but still sensitive when it comes to the woman he loves, hot? Its one of the reasons why his performance as John Thornton in North and South has struck such a chord with women.

John Thornton is hard, because he needs to be, to run the mill in northern England. His family has already suffered one reversal of fortune, and it was up to John to change all that, to be able to provide for his mother, and his sister. He has to make hard choices, hiring scabs when the workers go on strike. But his love for Margaret Hale, leads him to discover that it is possible to be an effective businessman, while having some compassion for his workers. They struggle to understand each others position, to overcome their prejudices (sound familiar?). In fact, like Darcy in Pride & Prejudice, Thornton finds himself falling in love with Margaret, even though he's not sure he even likes her. The proposal scene in North and South will break your heart.

And now we get to see RA in MI-5, which is an amazing show that everyone should watch, even though he's not in it yet. Right now, it stars Rupert Penry-Jones, who played Captain Wentworth in the recent version of Persuasion, as Adam Carter. Before that it starred Matthew Macfadyen (who later played Darcy) as Tom Quinn. If only they had cast Richard Armitage in the recent spate of Jane Austen adaptations, it would have been a trifecta! The very lovely Peter Firth, who was so good in Equus and Amadeus on Broadway, plays the leader of MI-5.

This show is kind of like Alias, but MI-5 is actually real, unlike the agency that Sydney worked for that was some kind of CIA splinter group. The missions are also more realistic as well. No one swans off every week wearing skimpy costumes and wigs. MI-5 is the agency in Britain that deals with counter-intelligence. According to Wikipedia, its remit includes the protection of British parliamentary democracy and economic interests, counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, and counter-espionage. Whew!

If you loved Alias, and miss the thrill of espionage every week, you'll love this show more, because the story-lines are sort of like Law & Order, ripped from the headlines. If you haven't seen it, BBC America shows it Wednesdays at 9 pm. Also, the first four series are on DVD, so go out and rent them.

Deeper Dating?

I've been single for awhile now since ex-sweetie pie and I broke up and frankly I'm getting a little tired of it. Although I'm very independent, and have no problems spending time by myself (I'll even go eat in restaurants by myself), I prefer to be part of a couple. How very retro of me I know. However, I hate dating. Hate it with a passion. I've read books that say that you should enjoy the dating process, think of it like shopping. The problem is I have a much easier time finding clothes that I like and that fit me than I do finding a man.

I've tried on-line dating but who really has the time to surf through all the profiles with out of date pictures and lame come-ons? I even tried eharmony for six months and I kept getting matched with people who lived in Montana not to mention like Papua New Guinea. How was that supposed to work out exactly? After awhile I just got tired of exchanging emails with guys that went nowhere. No I dropped all the services that I was paying for and decided to take a breather from the whole dating experience.

Recently, in an effort to get over my deep feelings for cutie-pie author, I decided it was time to get back on the horse again so to speak, but I wasn't willing to go back to Internet dating. No siree. So I signed up for something called Deeper Dating at the 92nd St. Y. I figured why not, at the least I would have something to blog about besides shoes and Richard Armitage. Deeper Dating bills itself as a chance to experience going 'deep' with a potential mate. In reality, what it really turns out to be is speed dating but with a twist. Instead of chatting with your 'date' for 8 minutes or 3 minutes or however long, you get 50 seconds to answer a question that is posed by the host. Seriously. Questions ran the gamut from 'What would you do if you suddenly had $500' to 'Talk about something fun that happened to you in the last month.'

Try boiling that down to 50 seconds! At first we were divided up into 6 smaller groups and we would go around the circle answering the question. Then we all got into one big circle and we had a minute to talk about something we enjoy in front of everyone. Then we broke into two long rows of chairs, men on one side, women on the other. The host would ask a question and then first the men or the women would answer and then vice-versa. Then the women would move down one chair like some kind of dating musical chairs.

I found the whole process rather frustrating. 50 seconds isn't a whole lot of time to really get to know someone even with the whole question thing. The only questions that I found pertinent were the what kind of relationship are you looking for, and what constitutes your ideal relationship. That was great for getting me to define in my head what it is that I really want, so that was helpful. However, I was shocked that one of the guys in my group had just broken up with a year long relationship two weeks prior and he was already at a dating event. Dude, that's cold.

What was interesting was that there were more men than women at the event which is unheard of, especially in New York. Apparently women are planners, and men tend to show up at the last minute because they had nothing else better to do that night (what no sports event on TV?). So like 10 guys showed up at the last minute. The host, who created this whole Deeper Dating thing, told us that we would have a better chance at meeting someone at an event like this or volunteering than in a saloon. Saloon? What is this 1895? Who calls it a saloon? Seriously, saloons are places with dancing girls doing the can-can, where the bad guy walks in with his posse and has a shoot-out with the sheriff on Gunsmoke. People in 2008 go to bars.

Afterwards, we were to go up to people that we found interesting and give them slips of paper with our number. The other person was to say thank you and take the paper. That was kind of daunting but I did it. I figured what the hell and so what if I never heard from these guys? I already knew that none of them were really my 'forever' person as the host called it. But I decided that I would be open and give out my email addy to a few guys (no way was I actually giving out a phone number).

So far, I've actually heard from one of my dudes. I figure I have nothing to lose by actually going out with him. After all I can practice my 'dating' skills on him!

Wish me luck,

EKM

The Fine Art of Improvisation

It's Monday morning, the sun is shining, its warm out and I'm stuck inside at work when I want to be outside playing. So instead, I'm looking at pictures of Richard Armitage instead and typing up the ten handwritten pages of chapter 10 that I wrote last week.

It's also Cinco de Mayo today, which according to Wikipedia, is a regional holiday commemorating the victory of the Mexican forces against the French during the Battle of Puebla in 1852. The Emperor of the French, Napoleon III had put the Archduke Maximillien (brother of Franz Josef) on the throne as Emperor of Mexico (also see the movie Juarez with Paul Muni, Bette Davis as crazy Carlotta and Brian Aherne as Max). Which is another excuse for me to drink margaritas today after work with my friends. Viva La Revolution!

As for improvisation, I've come to think of life as one big improvisation. No matter what you think or plan to have happen, something else comes up, and you have to improvise. Take for instance, our chapter brunch on Saturday. We were supposed to have a private room, but we didn't, so we improvised with our speaker so that we could hear her while the rest of the people were dining at PJ Clarke's.

Which leads me to the great experience I had on Saturday at the Philoctetes Center. I talk about this place so often, people must be getting bored, but its had a major impact on my life since I've been attending roundtables. And not just because of cutie-pie author. This past weekend, the program was Cross-Cultural Improvisation. Three women, three very different backgrounds, and three different instruments came together to create some of the most beautiful music. It just made me want to get up and dance and improvise with them. And as anyone who saw my stellar performance piece to Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart at the New Jersey Conference last October knows it doesn't take much to get me up and dancing!

Geetha Ramanathan Bennett played an instrument called a veena that I confused with a sitar becausae I'm stupid about world music. Jane Ira Bloom played soprano saxophone (I have a thing for the saxophone which explains my crush on Jimmy Sommers) and Min Xiao-Fen plays the Chinese pipa which is also an instrument that kind of looks like a weird guitar. They were accompanied by Frank Bennett on the mrdangham (South Indian drum). Poor guy had to sit on the floor in an uncomfortable position for like 2 hours while they played.

Oh and one of the cooler things was Min Xiao-Fen had created this really groovy wall hanging on black silk with red writing that was the word dragon in Chinese in different ways. Since I was born in the year of the dragon (wood dragon to be precise), I found that most interesting. I've always been drawn to dragons, its why I love Katie Macalister's Dragon Sept books so much when I couldn't tolerate some of her other stories. Also the Dragon is one of the luckiest signs to be born under in the Chinese zodiac.

They all had such interesting stories about their instruments and how they came to play them, and the types of music they learned in their native countries. But somehow it all came together, these three disparate instruments in harmony that was just breath-taking. Geetha Ramanathan Bennett told a wonderful story about being shy when it came to singing until she met her husband and then she practised because she wanted to mesmerize him with her voice so that he would marry her. I wish I could do the same thing with my dancing for cutie-pie author.

Anyway, my point and I do have one, is that you wouldn't think that these three women could improvise together as well as they do. And improvising can be a wonderful thing. Relationships also involve a certain amount of improvisation. Just when you think that you know what is going on, they can take a turn, and you just have to go with it. No matter how hard you map out the scene in your head, the other person will never say the things that you thought that they would in your scenario (plus they may have their own scenario), so you have to improvise. You can't control relationships, except in fiction, and sometimes not even then!

It can take your work to another level. If you don't get stuck into thinking that something has to happen a certain way, if you can let your mind free, you can let your imagination soar in wonderful ways. You just have to let go and that's the thing I think that people get weirded out by. I think we're all control freaks in a strange way.

When I was acting, I used to hate to improv. Give me a script in my hand and I'm fine. No script and I get anxious. But somehow, I would manage, if I just checked my brain at the door and just let whatever came into my head come out of my mouth on stage or in an improv in class.

Sometimes I think you have to do that in writing to. Know where the story is going, but just improv the scene. If necessary, get some friends together, tell them the situation and let them act it out. You'll be amazed and what you might actually get out of it.

Thanks for reading,

EKM

Holy Granola Batman!

Wow, Marchana, the only woman of color, on The Bachelor has made it to top six contestants on this show, and already the hating has begun (sorry I couldn't find a better picture on the ABC web-site, this is from last week when she got a fat lip playing rugby). The comments have run the gamut to 'he had to pick her or be called racist' to how unattractive some people find her. Here is a quick recap of what happened. Matt, Marchana and Holly had a dinner date at Matt's 'bachelor' pad. There was a rose on the line, one girl was going to have to go home immediately after the date. Can I just say how sucky this whole idea is? I've hated it ever since they started it back during Travis Dork's days.

Anywhoo, Holly is telling Matt exactly what she thinks he wants to hear. Stuff like 'Oh I was just thinking about moving to London before I met you,' and 'I could be happy on a deserted island as long as I was with you.' Seriously, do women really think that a man wants to hear crap like that? No wonder I'm still single. Meanwhile Marchana impressed Matt by actually being mature and telling him that she was there to take a risk on love. The upshot is that Matt kept Marchana and the rest of the girls freaked out because it meant that no one was guaranteed a rose, no matter how well their date or one on one time went.

Of course, next week's previews indicate that Marchana turns into Omarosa and gives her impression of the 'angry black woman,' which means that her days might be numbered. Which would be a shame, because I think that Matt actually likes her and is intrigued by her. While she likes him and wants to get to know him better, she doesn't seem to be giving him any kind of party line. And she hasn't either sung for him, showed off her breasts, done handsprings, or bitten open a tin can. All of which makes her tops in my book.

And I missed my Kristi on Dancing with the Stars because my stupid Time Warner Cable DVR crapped out and I had to reboot which cancelled the taping. So I'm going to have to watch her and Jason Taylor's performances on that little tiny screen on line.

EKM

Mad about Byron

I admit it, I have a little crush on George Gordon, Lord Byron, which is a little weird being that he's dead and all. But if you've seen portraits of him, the guy is definitely crush-worthy and he wrote poetry. In fact, one could say that Byron was the Rock and Roll poet of The Regency, all brooding, and sensitive, apart from the whole bisexuality thing. Oh, and the incest thing, but that just adds to his charm and his legend. He's the quintessential bad boy that you can't stay away from, although your friends keep warning you about him.

So imagine how excited I was to learn that the BBC had done a 3 hour miniseries starring Jonny Lee Miller of Trainspotting and Angelina Jolie fame (he was husband no. 1, she had his name written in blood on her shirt when they got married. Don't ask). I ordered it from Netflix and sat down last night with some sushi to watch.

Sigh! Umm, his hair was nice.

Seriously folks that's the best I can say about this miniseries. Johnny Lee Miller may be cute but he's no Lord Byron. He's too much of a lightweight for the role, both acting wise and vocally, but he sure is pretty. That's about it. I do give the writers kudos for going with the Bryon and his sister were lovers theory, although I could probably have done without the extended sex scenes. I mean, dude, he's doing his sister, we don't really need to see it.

And I did feel sorry for Annabella Milbanke who makes that classic mistake most women make of thinking that they can change a man or that they can heal him through their love. Boy did she ever learn. I loved Vanessa Redgrave who played Lady Melbourne, one of Byron's patrons and the mother-in-law to Lady Caroline Lamb, one of Byron's mistresses (see my other blog Scandalous Women if you want the poop on that relationship), but I didn't like the actress who played Caroline Lamb. She was crazy but I don't think she was quite that outwardly crazy.

So one great big disappointment on the Byron front. I'm trying to think of another actor who could have played the part better. Gabriel Bryne was pretty good in Gothic, although the movie was a complete and utter disaster. Perhaps Toby Stephens would have been better, he was a good Rochester in the most recent BBC version of Jane Eyre.

Thanks for reading,

EKM