Hamlette's Soliloquy: Angel

Showing posts with label Angel. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The "Flaming Hot... Five Reasons Why" Tag

Sally Silverscreen of 18 Cinema Lane tagged me with the "Flaming Hot.... Five Reasons Why" tag. Thanks, Sally! You know I do enjoy blog tags :-D

The Rules:

You must add the name of the blog that tagged you AND those of the Thoughts All Sorts and Realweegiemidget Reviews with links to ALL these sites.. and use the natty cat themed picture promoting this post. This picture is found later in this post…
List 5 of your all-time swoon-worthy characters from TV or Film, i.e. crushes/objects of your affection. And do mention the actor or actress who plays them, as you might like James Bond as played by Timothy Dalton and no one else, etc., etc.
Add 5 reasons why you love them, in five sentences.
Link to 5 other bloggers.
Add lovely pictures, gifs or videos of those you selected.
Oh…and post these rules.

Sooooo, I'm going to list these guys in the order in which they arrived in my life. I'll try to keep my gushing to the required 5 sentences ;-)

Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) on Combat! (1962-67)

My beloved Saunders is devastatingly attractive, but in an unconventional way.

A lot of the time, he just looks like a kind of scruffy nobody, especially in still photos (except these, which really do capture his gorgeousness). But when you see him in action, he's mesmerizing.

I think it's the intensity. He's burning so brightly inside that you can't look away, and that inner fire is... unavoidably attractive.

Wolverine/Logan (Hugh Jackman) in the X-men movies

My darling Wolvie is the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice. Except when what he does is very, very nice indeed, and then I fall in love with him even farther.

It's that juxtaposition of feral and tender that makes him so fascinating to me.

Doesn't hurt that Hugh Jackman is unrelentingly handsome, of course. But I loved Wolvie in the comic books before the movies even came out, so Hugh's deliciousness is just a sort of bonus, not what makes me swoon over the character.

Angel (David Boreanaz) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

Is it the pensive face?

The never-ending shoulders?

The classic tall-dark-and-handsome good looks? Those all help a lot, for sure, but once again, it's who Angel IS that weakens my knees. Even if he wasn't played by the achingly gorgeous David Boreanaz, this vampire with a soul who champions the hopeless would still entrance me.

James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) on Lost (2004-2010)

Sawyer is the one guy here that I didn't WANT to love. He starts off the show as a complete loser, and I was convinced I could never like him for approximately two whole episodes... and then, the layers appeared.

Sawyer is more than just a handsome face, scruffy beard, long hair, and delicious Southern accent (and it's real, not fake, nom nom nom). He also reads constantly, is completely devoted to refusing to let anyone ever like him at all, and has an anti-hero complex just begging to be disputed.

And he has dimples -- what more can I say?

Shane (Alan Ladd) in Shane (1953)

One of the things I like best about Alan Ladd's portrayal of Shane is how still and quiet he is.

He never wastes anything: not movement, not words, not a thing. But that means that every glance and smile and line of dialog counts extra.

And Ladd's eloquent eyes, shy smiles, assured movements, and quiet words all combine gloriously in one unforgettable performance. Handsome, magnetic, charismatic, mesmerizing -- no description does him justice in this film.

Well, there you have my five! I'm supposed to tag five bloggers, so I hereby tag:

Chloe the Movie Critic at Movies Meet Their Match

Katie at I'm Charles Baker Harris (And I Can Read)

Phyl at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies

Rebecca at Taking Up Room

Skye at Ink Castles

Play if you want to!

Sunday, October 02, 2022

This Isn't Some Fairy Tale: Angel and Buffy

When people find out one of my favorite fictional characters is a vampire, they tend to give me funny looks. And I don’t blame them. When I was a teen, if you’d told me I was going to become a devoted fan of two shows involving vampires, slayers, and other seemingly scary stuff, I’d have given you the same funny look. After all, shows that feature vampires, demons, and magic… those kinds of shows don’t interest a Christian.

Or so I thought.

My sophomore year of college, all three of my roommates loved a show I’d vaguely heard of: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They tried to explain it to me. I wasn’t interested. More than that, I was a bit suspicious. Like I said, the show sure didn’t sound like something a Christian would watch. Why would they go near it?

Then, I caught a cold a couple weeks into our fall semester. I had to skip my Tuesday evening self-defense class. I was too miserable to do homework. And my roommates gathered in front of the TV to watch the season premiere of that dreadful-sounding vampire show, followed by the series premiere of its new spin-off, Angel. Sick and sleepy, I blearily watched it with them. They spent every ad break explaining things to me so I wouldn’t be so confused. By the end of the two hours, I still wasn’t interested, but the guy playing Angel (David Boreanaz) was tall, dark, and oh-so-handsome. And the shows weren’t as scary or weird as I’d thought. I agreed not to get upset if they watched more episodes in my presence.

The next week, they taped both shows and re-watched them around me later on. I admitted the acting and writing were above-par. And then, episode 3 of Angel arrived. It was funnier than the previous installments, so I paid a bit more attention than I had the week before. In it, two other vampires captured Angel and tortured him for information. My heart still pounds when I remember the first time I watched that scene. One bad guy wanted Angel to tell him what he truly wanted more than anything else in this world. He asked over and over, inflicting more pain with each repetition, and after a bunch of flippant answers, Angel finally admitted that what he desired more than anything was… forgiveness.

I think I forgot to breathe. With one word, Angel had my full and complete attention. By the end of that episode, I was beyond hooked. I needed to know what kind of monster would desire forgiveness. The more I delved into the shows, the more Angel’s character arc fascinated me. An idle wastrel in the 1750s, he succumbed to a woman’s temptations and, instead of a few moments of carnal delight, gained a monstrous immortality. She turned him into a blood-sucking fiend who spent a hundred years terrorizing whoever crossed his path. Then some gypsies cursed him by returning the soul he lost between his death and rising. In the show, the soul contains the conscience, and with that restored, Angel was wracked with guilt over the innumerable atrocities he’d committed.

His journey from there astounded me: his search for redemption, his backsliding, his struggle to change his very being and overcome his desires for blood and destruction. They made Angel a compelling picture of the war within each of us for mastery of our own souls. Sadly for Angel and the other characters on both shows, Christianity in their fictional world is reduced to symbols, stripped of Christ and his saving sacrifice. They can only hope they pile up enough good deeds to appease The Powers That Be. Still, at least both shows talk about souls, about hell and heaven being literal places. They declare that evil is a real thing and put a stake in moral relativity. They even state that no human is good, which is so refreshing in today’s humanistic society that prattles on about people’s inner goodness.

Yes, most of the theology in both shows is off. Angel himself has a major works-righteousness theme going on, with him trying to save enough “innocent” people to make up for all the people he killed, tortured, and tormented when he was evil. There’s a lot of magic in both shows, used for good and evil; I am definitely uncomfortable with that. I also don’t agree with the lifestyle choices characters make, but I appreciate the fact that, more than any other shows I’ve seen in recent history, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel demonstrate over and over again that actions have consequences, that doing the wrong thing will lead you down a dark path, and that doing the right thing might not be easy, but you need to do it anyway.

Once upon a time, the idea of vampires filled me with disgust. Now the memory of that disgust causes me to shake my head. I’m not saying everyone should run out and watch these shows, as they contain adult themes and have other content issues that make them inappropriate for some viewers, but I’m glad I gave them a chance, because they’ve taken me on a beautiful journey, one that has helped me appreciate my own faith and Christian freedom all the more. They gave me Angel, a complex, fascinating character I’ll never tire of studying.

(This post originally appeared in the Halloween 2014 issue of Femnista magazine.)

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The Fandom Favorites Tag

Eva at The Caffeinated Fangirl has created a new tag AND tagged me with it! Which is perfect timing, because I was just hunting through my post drafts to see if I had any unfinished tags to share, and I didn't... but now that doesn't matter, because I have this one to fill out and share :-)

The rules for this are simple:

Compile a list of up to ten of your favorite fandoms. Books, movies, TV shows—you name it!
Tell us about your favorite character in each of those fandoms, along with an explanation of why that character is your favorite. (Your reasoning can be however long or short you’d like it to be.)
Tag however many (or few) friends you’d like to participate.
Feel free to use the tag graphic I created (but you don’t have to).
That’s it. Short and sweet!

This is just the perfect sort of open-ended tag, isn't it?

Okay, so... let's dive into my favorite fandoms, shall we? I've narrowed down my picks to eleven, though that was really hard because I am in and love a LOT of fandoms. But these are all things where I interact with other fans based on our mutual fan-ness, as opposed to being shows/movies/series/authors that I simply am a big fan of. It's the only way I could think of to whittle my list down. (I know the tag says to do ten, but I could not leave any of these off the list and still be happy with myself. Sorry, not sorry.)

I decided to talk about them in alphabetical order by fandom because putting them in order of how much I love them would be kind of emotionally hard, and I don't have the energy today. Now you know.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

favorite character: Angel (David Boreanaz)

I love Angel because he has chosen to focus the rest of his existence on helping others. Yes, he feels he needs to atone for several lifetimes of hurting, maiming, and terrorizing as a soulless vampire, but that's not really what drives him. He has a genuine love for helping the hopeless. And, since the two things I absolutely require in a character to like them, much less love them, are helpfulness and kindness, well, it's not surprising I love Angel. (Doesn't hurt that David Boreanaz is the handsomest man I have ever seen, of course.)

Combat! (1962-67)

favorite character: Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow)

In fact, Sergeant Saunders is my absolute favorite character of all time. In any storytelling medium. Ever. He's tops. Why? Because of his unswerving commitment to doing what's right instead of what's easy, his dedication to preserving life and humanity, and his willingness to put himself in the line of fire to protect others. I wrote this whole post a couple years ago on why he's my favorite, so if you want to know more, check that out ;-)

Jane Austen

favorite character: Anne Elliot from Persuasion

Of all the characters in this post, Anne Elliot is the one I identify the most with. She's steady, calm, quiet, reserved, helpful, kind, stubborn in her own soft way, and tends to be shy and retiring around those she doesn't know or those she isn't fond of. I love that she gets a second chance at happiness, but on her own terms.

Leverage (2008-2012)

favorite character: Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)

Eliot, Eliot, Eliot. He sings, he cooks, he rides horses, he quotes cowboy movies, he punches people really hard, and he will leap into absolutely any dangerous situation in order to protect or rescue a child. In fact, it's probably his protective attitude toward kids that draws me to him the most. Also, he has really good hair.

Fun Fact: Christian Kane also played a regular character on Angel for a few seasons, and he and David Boreanaz are good buddies in real life.

L. M. Montgomery

favorite character: Anne Shirley

I mean, my middle child's middle name is Anne, so that might give you some idea how much I love this girl. Anne Shirley grows up an orphan in a world where orphans are valued a little more than stray animals. Maybe. She is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by family after family who only take her in so they can have free labor to work in their houses and care for their kids. And yet, Anne does not lose her capacity to love, to wonder, to enjoy the world around her, to learn, to grow. She should be stunted emotionally forever, but her inner resilience never wavers. And, when she finally finds her own family to love and be loved by, she blooms and transforms in the most beautifully ways -- and so do they.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

favorite character: Boromir

Honorable, valiant, trustworthy, loyal, kind, courageous, helpful, protective... I can go on a long time coming up with adjectives to describe Boromir. He's got so much responsibility, carrying around the weight of rescuing his people. And yet, he's always looking out for smaller and weaker people -- in the book in particular, he's always making sure the hobbits are taken care of, watched out for, considered. Is he proud? Yes. Is he human? Yes. Does he make mistakes? Yes. But he doesn't hesitate to admit his mistakes, repent of them, ask for forgiveness, and make what atonement he can. My goodness, I love him. I wrote a post on my book blog about him a few years ago if you want to know more about why I love him so much.

Lost (2004-2010)

favorite character: James "Sawyer" Ford

I think I started to love Sawyer because Sawyer did not love himself. In fact, Sawyer spent a big chunk of Lost insisting that he was unlovable, and trying to prove it to everyone around him. Which only made me grab him harder and hold him closer. His transformation from a sweet, traumatized Southern boy who became his own worst nightmare, then gradually discovered he could become a better man after all -- that's absolutely my favorite thing about Lost.

Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle

favorite character: Sherlock Holmes

Whenever the "book boyfriend" question comes up, I always say mine is Sherlock Holmes. He's just so darned awesome at everything! He solves crimes, he catches bad guys, he plays the violin, he infuriates everyone around him, he has the weirdest habits and hobbies, and he just... fascinates me endlessly. I do like several portrayals of him by actors, especially Jeremy Brett (who is practically perfect in the role) and Benedict Cumberbatch, but it's the Sherlock Holmes in my head that is my favorite, the one I see and hear when I read the Canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69)

favorite character: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

Captain Kirk is so many of the things I wanted to be when I was a teen: confident, bold, strong, good-tempered, charming, and did I mention confident? Oh, how I longed for his level of confidence. I still love him now, though not so much because of all the things he is that I'm not, but because I see behind his confidence now, to the guy inside who bears so much responsibility and cares so much for the people he leads. The episodes where he lets his inner worries and fears show a little often become my favorites.

This is the only character on here that I have kind of, sort of met. He's the only one I've been able to personally say "thank you" to someone involving his creation, which is very, very special to me. You can read that story here.

Star Wars

favorite character: Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich)

I've been a Han Solo fan longer than I've been a Harrison Ford fan, if that makes any sense. He's another guy who swaggers around insisting he's a scoundrel, but you know he's actually a super nice guy inside. I love his character arc in the original trilogy, from opportunistic loner to loyal leader. Doesn't hurt that he gets loads and loads of quotable lines, too. I wrote a blog post about why I love Han Solo not long ago, where I expounded on his delightfulness more.

X-Men

favorite character: Wolverine

Yes, I love Hugh Jackman in the role for the movies. But I loved Wolverine for quite a few years before they even started talking about making the first X-Men movie. He made guest appearances in several issues of the Spider-Man Magazine, and I could not get enough of this cigar-chomping, ornery, mean, bossy, lonely sweetheart of a superhero. I do love him in the movies a LOT, but I also love to read the Essential Wolverine comic book compilations (I have the first 5 and need the last 2 yet). He's endlessly wonderful. Because, underneath that extremely unlikable exterior is the kindest and most helpful superhero I have ever found. I even wrote a sonnet about him once.

Things we have learned from this list: Hamlette has a type, and that type is protective warriors. Also, every single person on this list is resilient. They go through sometimes unimaginable and awful things and come through stronger than ever. I'm not sure I ever noticed that second thing before, regarding favorite characters of mine. Interesting!

So, now I get to tag some friends. Hmm. How about Movies Meet Their Match and Phyllis Loves Classic Movies -- and if anyone else wants to do this too, go right ahead!

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Fandom Tag

Eva tagged me with this on Coffee, Classics, and Craziness this week. Thanks, Eva! I was rather wishing for a good tag to do, as a matter of fact.

RULES:

1. Include the graphic somewhere in your post!
2. Answer the questions!
3. Tag two fellow fandom fanatics!

Okay, that's all fun times, so let's go.

(Source)

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of?

Does Robin Hood count? Because I've loved him since I was like three or four. If he doesn't, then the Lone Ranger, as I've loved him since I was seven or eight.

My first really major fandom, though, was Star Trek. I got into Star Trek: The Original Series in my very early teens, and it was the first fandom I was into that I could buy merch for, which was such a thrill. I had Star Trek action figures, t-shirts, model kits to put together, books... and a few favorite episodes on VHS. It was a lovely way to spend my teen years.

Cut from 1993 to 2016 when I got to attend the 50th anniversary Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas with my bff, which was a dream come true :-)

(I'm on the right here.)

Yes, we had costumes. Yes, we had a lot of fun doing action shots! Oh, and our tricorders were actually purses!

(I'm on the left here.)

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy?

The Mandalorian, I think. Which is technically part of the Star Wars fandom. Newest one that's entirely new to me? Hmm. Haven't picked up any brand-new fandoms lately. I guess before Mando, it would have been the '90s TV version of The Magnificent Seven, but even there, it's based on a movie I've loved since my teens.

So the newest-to-me fandom that is TOTALLY new to me that I've gotten into recently (by which I mean like 4 years ago) would be Leverage (2008-2012), which is a supremely fun show about a group of criminals who work together to help people who've been hurt by other criminals. It definitely has a Robin Hood aspect to it, but also that "found family" thing going on that I pretty much always fall for. And it's got all kinds of con artist stuff going on, which always fascinates me. Plus, yeah, Christian Kane and Timothy Hutton definitely were what first drew me to the show.

What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels?

Um, if it doesn't give me all the feels, I'm not into it. For real. I demand many feels. No feels? No fandom for me.

Okay, fine, so one that gives me instant feels, no matter what, and all you have to do is say the show's name for me to be reduced to a puddle of sappy and lovesick nonsense is... Lost. Which is all his fault:

My darling Sawyer, about whom I have waxed eloquent many times. So today, instead of talking about how much I love James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), I'll tell you a little story that will show how well my brother's wife knows me. We went to visit them once, years and years ago when we both lived somewhere other than where we are now. And they were big fans of Lost, so they wanted to show us the first few eps to see if we'd like it too. My s-i-l suggested it to my brother because she thought I'd like the characters a lot. My brother said, "Yeah, but I just can't see Rachel liking Jack." My s-i-l said, "No, no, not Jack. Sawyer."

Um, yeah, she called it. The first couple of eps, I was like, "Why is he so horrible?" and then when I got to ep 8, "Confidence Man," I just gave up and fell for him. Very hard, very fast, very deeply. I've got a weird fondness for con artists anyway, and if you combine that with an authentic Southern accent and a redemption arc, there's no way I won't swoon.

What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours?

Ummmmmm... ummmmmmmmmm... I don't have one? I don't feel guilty about loving any of my fandoms! If they made me feel guilty, I would not be their fan.

What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of?

Yeah, see, but you say 'weird' and I say 'whatever.' I never know what people will consider weird. Is it weird that my favorite TV show ever is a 1960s drama about WWII soldiers? Is it weird that I've written fanfic that crossed that show with one about vampires? I suppose the Buffy/Angel fandom is my weirdest, or maybe it's Lost instead? They're both kind of unusual, maybe?

I do deeply love Angel: The Series. It's my second-favorite TV show ever, and since it's about a vampire who basically becomes a detective and then a crime-fighter and assembles a crew with otherworldly skills to help the hopeless... I guess it counts as weird?

Favorite popular/widely-known fandom?

Either the MCU or Star Wars -- I don't know which one is bigger, or which one I love most. Okay, I probably love Star Wars a little more, simply because I've loved Han Solo for a looooooooong time. And so deeply. Yes, I think I do love him more than Thor. Sorry, Thor. I do love you, honest. Just... I love Han more. Can't help it.

Favorite bookish fandom?

Sherlock Holmes. No question. Sherlock Holmes is my "book boyfriend" and I am not sorry.

(Mine from my Instagram account.)

What do you consider your ‘homebase,’ a fandom you can always come back to?

Combat! (1962-67) always feels like home. No matter how long it's been since I watched an ep. I just watched several last month and it was so wonderful to be back with my best WWII buddies. I've spent so much of my life in that world, writing reams of fanfic and even co-running a fansite for the show called Fruit Salad with my best friend.

No matter how long I've been away, Saunders and the guys will always welcome me back. I love that.

What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it?

Why would I know all about it if I wasn't in the fandom? I don't bother learning all about things if I'm not into them. Who has that kind of time?

I do know a lot more about The Hunger Games than I want to, so I guess that counts? It was so unavoidable for so long, but I'm just not into it. At all.

Which fandom has the best characters?

Probably The Lord of the Rings. Just no end of fantastically nuanced, deep, rich characters.

Name your all-time favorite ship.

Valancy Stirling and Barney Snaith from The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery. I have read it over and over, and their story never fails to absolutely delight me.

(Also from my Instagram)

What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining?

Hmm. Does Errol Flynn count? Because I'm a little bit flirting with the idea of having a spring fling with him, as evidenced by me buying like four or five of his westerns recently. But at the same time, I've already seen half a dozen of his movies, so he's not truly new to me either. I'm considering reading Caraval by Stephanie Garber -- does that count?

That was super fun, and it took me days and days to answer these to my satisfaction :-) Now I'm supposed to tag two people, so I'm tagging Movie Critic at Movies Meet Their Match and Katherine + Grace at Maidens of Green Gables. But if you want to do this tag too, go right ahead! Here are the questions, for your easy copying:

What’s the first fandom you remember becoming a part of?

What’s the newest fandom you’ve come to enjoy?

What’s a fandom guaranteed to give you feels?

What’s a guilty pleasure fandom of yours?

What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve heard of/are a part of?

Favorite popular/widely-known fandom?

Favorite bookish fandom?

What do you consider your ‘homebase,’ a fandom you can always come back to?

What’s a fandom you know all about…but aren’t actually into it?

Which fandom has the best characters?

Name your all-time favorite ship.

What’s a fandom you’re curious about joining?

Monday, September 09, 2019

The Five Songs + Five Characters Tag

Do songs ever remind you of fictional characters? Do fictional characters ever remind you of songs? If so, this tag is for you! If not... read on to see why characters and songs remind me of each other all the time.

Rules:

1. Pick five songs that you relate to fictional characters somehow. They can be characters from books, movies, shows, myths, etc. If you're a writer, they can be your own characters.
2. Share the songs somehow -- embed them in your post or link to them.
3. Explain why those songs connect to those characters for you. Is it lyrics? The melody? What?
4. Tag some friends to play too.

Here are my five! They're in order of how long I've been associating that song with that character.

"With or Without You" performed by U2

reminds me of Angel (David Boreanaz) from Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I first heard this song my sophomore year in college, which is also when I got introduced to the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The two quickly became connected in my mind.

To be perfectly honest, this reminds me of Angel's stormy relationship with Buffy more than only Angel himself. But that's all tied up in who Angel is now, who he used to be, and who he's becoming. Buffy and Angel both suffered a lot for each other, and at each others' hands. Finally, Angel realized that he feels like he can't live without Buffy, but she will be better off without him, and so he really can't live at her side either. He leaves... but he's still waiting for her too, just from a distance. The waiting is painful, but he's willing to endure it.

"Wish You Were Here" performed by the Rednex

reminds me of Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from Lost

I'd known this song for years and years before I started watching Lost. It's one my husband introduced me to after we got married, and I listened to it a lot while writing my first novel.

It makes me think of Sawyer in a really personal way because when I became a fan of Lost, I got very obsessed with the show, and Sawyer in particular. I would count the minutes until my two little kids would go to sleep every afternoon so I could watch as much Lost as possible before they woke up. Whenever I wasn't watching it, I was thinking about it, especially Sawyer, and I would sing this song in my head, about him. Sawyer liked to project this Southern good-ol'-boy vibe a lot of the time, so the "country man" moniker totally fits him. And, yeah, I missed him when I wasn't watching Lost. And sometimes minutes felt like days when I was waiting for my chance to watch the next episode.

(WARNING: THIS SONG HAS THE WORD "h*ll" IN IT REPEATEDLY.)

"Real Love" performed by the Beatles

reminds me of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in Days of Future Past

The first time I went to see Days of Future Past (2014), this song was on the tape (yes, cassette tape) my husband had in the tape deck of the car I drove to the theater. I listened to it over and over that summer because it instantly reminded me of that movie and how happy I was for Wolverine at the end of it. The chorus of "Don't need to be alone/No need to be alone" in particular made me think of him in that film, but also his overall journey over the course of the X-men movies, from total loner to the glue that holds a team/family together, to the guy willing to die to protect others.

"The Sweetheart Tree" by Bobby Darin

reminds me of Jedediah Jones in Dancing and Doughnuts

The first time I heard this song, it gave me images of a very sweet, gentle romance. It's all about finding the sweetheart you've been waiting for, and it's just a soft, lovely song.

Well, I wrote a book last year called Dancing and Doughnuts about Jedediah Jones, a drifting cowhand just looking for a temporary job. He ends up finding love with a girl who's not necessarily looking for love either. And the imagery of magical trees runs all through that book too, because it's a retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." As I wrote that book, I listened to so much of Bobby Darin's music that I ended up dedicating the book to his memory, and I realized during revisions that I'd actually written the sweet, gentle romance that this song always makes me imagine.

"Hurt" performed by Johnny Cash

reminds me of Hamlet in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

I actually did a whole post about this last year, so I won't delve deeply into it here. Basically, I was on my way home from seeing the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Hamlet at the theater when I listened to this song, which I have loved ever since Johnny Cash's version was released in the early 2000s, and I was struck by how much the lyrics related to Hamlet. Hamlet spends a lot of time remembering everything and wishing he didn't, trying to figure out if the pain he feels is helpful or something he wants to end, and pondering what he's become.

Time to tag a few friends! I hereby tap the following bloggers on the shoulder to see if they want to play:

DKoren at Sidewalk Crossings

Eva at Coffee, Classics, and Craziness

Heidi at Along the Brandywine

Katie at I'm Charles Baker Harris (And I Can Read)

Play if you want to! And hey, if you're reading this and want to do this tag, but I didn't name you, go ahead and consider yourself tagged!

Thursday, July 06, 2017

My Ten Favorite TV Shows

How is it that I've never listed off my ten favorite TV shows? I did a list of my ten favorite western TV shows a while back, but not of my favorite shows across all genres. Silly me. Time to fix that. Thank you, Eva, for posting your top ten list and inspiring me to do my own!

1. Combat! (1962-67) American infantrymen battle their way through Normandy after the D-DAY invasion. Some of the very best serious writing I've ever seen on a series, and the acting is top-notch too. The show was so well-respected that movie actors like James Coburn and Lee Marvin asked if they could guest-star on it. I've loved this show for 23 years, and I've written and co-written close to three dozen fanfic stories for it, which I've posted under my "call sign" of White Queen at the fansite my best friend and I maintain, Fruit-Salad.com. Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) is my favorite fictional character of all time. I've got a list of my ten fave eps here.

2. Angel (1999-2004) Angel (David Boreanaz) is a vampire who's been cursed with a soul. Determined to help people for the rest of his time on earth, to make up for all the people he killed when he was evil, Angel sets up what basically is a supernatural detective agency in Los Angeles. I was first drawn to this show because of Angel's search for forgiveness (well, that and Boreanaz' impossibly handsome looks), but I grew to love all the characters, the mystery-of-the-week format that riffed off the film noir and hard-boiled detective stories I loved, and the amazing writing of Joss Whedon and his pals. This is the only other TV show I've ever written fanfic for, and you'll find those stories on Fruit-Salad.com too because I crossed it the show with Combat! for extra fun.

3. The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68) Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) does his best to keep the peace in quiet Mayberry, NC, with the help of a host of amusing friends and family. He's one of the best fictional fathers I've ever encountered, caring alone (he's widowed) for his son Opie (Ronnie Howard) with wisdom, love, and good humor. I've recently introduced my kids to this show, and they love it too now!

4. The Big Valley (1965-69) A wealthy widow (Barbara Stanwyck), her children (Richard Long, Peter Breck, Linda Evans), and her husband's illegitimate son (Lee Majors) have a host of interesting adventures on and around their California ranch. Loads of wonderful guest stars, loads of emotionally engaging stories, and Stanwyck's matriarch is one of my role models.

5. Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69) Starfleet personnel aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise go boldly where no man, woman, or Vulcan has ever gone before as they explore the universe, meet all kinds of interesting aliens, and generally have lots of adventures. I've got a list of my ten fave eps posted here.

6. The Rifleman (1958-63) Widowed rancher Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his young son Mark (Johnny Crawford) spend a lot of time getting into and out of one adventure after another in the little town of North Fork, NM. Most of the time, Lucas ends up having to use his specially modified Winchester repeater to save the day in one way or another. Lots of great guest stars on this one too, like Sammy Davis, Jr., Vic Morrow, Robert Vaughn, and John Carradine. Lucas McCain is probably the other best fictional father I've ever seen, tying with Andy Taylor. He's tough, but kind.

7. Five Mile Creek (1983-85) An American (Jay Kerr) and an Australian (Rod Taylor) team up to start a stage coach line back when Australia was as wild as the American West. Another American (Louise Caire Clark) and another Australian (Liz Burch) start up a way station to feed the stage line's passengers. And then they all have lots of family-friendly adventures, some of them fall in love with each other, and it's just generally fun and sweet and exciting and I love it to bits. Whyyyyyyyyy won't they release seasons 2 and 3 to DVD???

8. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) High school girl Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her friends (aka the Scooby Gang) battle vampires and other monsters while trying to navigate first high school, then college, then adulthood. (Angel is a spin-off from this show.) Joss Whedon's way with characters, dialog, and plot twists elevate this from the mindless schlockfest you might expect to a truly poignant look at life, with many of the monsters standing as metaphors for things we endure while growing up.

9. A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000-02) Reclusive genius Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) and his energetic operative Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton) solve crimes for a host of interesting clients. This show got me started reading Rex Stout's novels that form the basis for the show's scripts, but while the books are set in the decades they were written, from the 1930s to the 1970s, the TV show sits solidly in the late 1940s to early 1950s -- just after WWII. The show as a whole has a sort of "community theatre production" feel to it because they deliberately use the same actors week after week for all the guest characters.

10. Lost (2004-2010) A plane crashes on a mysterious island, and the survivors spend the next six seasons trying to survive, solve mysteries, and get off that island. It is a very odd show, and I wasn't sure I was going to put it on this list, but my deep and abiding love for Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and the fact that I own all six seasons convinced me that yeah, it belongs here.

Interesting patterns here, huh? I seem to really gravitate to shows that either were made in the 1960s or the early 2000s. The only one that doesn't fit that is Five Mile Creek.

Also, I am clearly drawn to shows that involve families. Every single one of these fits that theme! Every show revolves around either a biological family (The Andy Griffith Show, The Rifleman, The Big Valley) or a "found family" of people who forge a family-like unit under the stress of their adventures.

How about you? Do you love any of these shows? Do you have favorites you'd like to share?

Saturday, May 09, 2015

Ten Favorite Screen Characters Tag

Jamie over at Two Blue Eyes tagged me with this a few days ago. I'm supposed to list off my 10 favorite characters from movies or TV, and then tag up to 10 bloggers to do the same. I haven't done one of my lists of ten favorite something-or-others for a long time, so I thought this would be a good addition to that series :-)

These are characters I love on screen, though some of them I also love in the books or comics that inspired them. But I am referring here to particular onscreen incarnations, okay?

1. Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) from Combat! (1962-67). I love so much about Saunders. His courage, his stubbornness, his moral certainty, his compassion -- he's such a nuanced, layered, complex character, and I love him dearly.

2. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) from the X-men movies. Ahh, Wolvie. What can I say? I would love to be Wolvie, to have his swagger, his lack of caring about what other people think, his high level of snarkiness. I'm going to be very sad when Hugh Jackman turns in his claws in a couple of years, as I can't imagine anyone else embodying this character nearly so well. I kind of don't want to see anyone try.

3. Angel (David Boreanaz) from Angel (1999-2004) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have so much sympathy for Angel, with his load of guilt for his past misdeeds, and his burning desire to help people, to atone for all the misery he's caused, to find forgiveness. And I admire him, too, the way he stands back up every time he stumbles. Doesn't give up, this vampire of mine.

4. Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from Lost (2004-2010). I've never been particularly attracted to "bad boys," but I'm fascinated by con artists and Southerners, so I was interested in him from very early in the series. I love how he reinvents himself over and over, but can never actually change who he is inside.

5. Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) from the Granada Television productions (1984-1994). I love Sherlock Holmes in the original stories, and Brett's performance most closely matches the Holmes in my imagination. He's brilliant, brusque, and so impatient, but has a kind heart and a twisty sense of humor.

6. Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) from the Hobbit movies. I rhapsodized here last month about why I love Bard so much, so today I'll just say that I admire his devotion to his family and his determination to protect them.

7. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) from the Avengers movies. I get so annoyed by people who write Thor off as brawny eye candy. He's so much more than that! He's intelligent, but somehow a bit guileless, and he overlooks the faults of people he loves, which is why Loki can trick him so easily. He's loyal, protective, trustworthy, and unselfish.

8. John Reid (Armie Hammer) from The Lone Ranger (2013). John Reid is my doppelganger. Seriously, he is like a male version of me -- I've never found another movie character I identified with quite so closely. I love his blend of naivety, intelligence, bookishness, manliness, and loyalty. He's not at all like the original Lone Ranger character, but I am totally cool with that.

9. John Watson (Martin Freeman) from the BBC's Sherlock (2010--). He's so unendingly nice, isn't he? And he puts up with so much nonsense, not without a growl or two, but still, he's the best friend anyone could ask for.

10. Heath Barkley (Lee Majors) from The Big Valley (1965-69). Heath's one of those characters I want to hug and take care of. He's had a rough life, growing up illegitimate and fatherless. I love how he fits into the Barkley family when he finds them, and yet is always just a little bit "other," never quite feeling secure in his new role as brother and step-son. Of all the characters I love, he's the one who needs the most emotional TLC, though don't get the idea that he's weak or helpless! He can shoot, brawl, and ride with the best of 'em.

Now, I'm supposed to tag 10 bloggers, so here goes:

Carissa
DKoren
Emma
Eowyn
Eva
Heidi
Kara
Karis
Olivia
Sadie

Play if you want to!

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