FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL ๐ซ๐๐บ๐ฝ️๐. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
PBS -The Charlie Rose Show, Charlie Rose with cast of Downton Abbey: Jim Carter, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville & Joanne Froggatt, taped December 11, 2012. http://www.hulu.com/watch/434618#i0,p9,d0
PBS and MASTERPIECE bring you a Downton Abbey Cast Panel & Discussion / 8pm ET Dec. 12, 2012. http://youtu.be/YA-6n4d_dMo Downton Abbey Season 3 premieres on MASTERPIECE on PBS on Sunday January 6th at 9 p.m. Eastern. The livestreamed panel was moderated by MASTERPIECE executive producer Rebecca Eaton and feature the following: Gareth Neame..... Co-creator and Executive Producer Hugh Bonneville ... Lord Grantham Jim Carter ... Mr. Carson Rob James-Collier ... Thomas Barrow Joanne Froggatt ... Anna Bates Elizabeth McGovern ... Lady Cora Sophie McShera ... Daisy Mason
uris1 video: Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (SVT's Skavlan, Taped 2012-11-08, aired 2012-11-09). http://youtu.be/0BfqvpdFpCQ
Another guest on the very popular Skavlan show, which is usually taped in Stockholm on Thursday afternoon for airing in Sweden and Norway on Friday nights, but here was done in London, is actress Elizabeth McGovern who of course plays Lady Cora on blog fave Downton Abbey, and whose segment starts at 31:49. In it, McGovern, a member of a band called Sadie and The Hotheads, sings LA Dayshttp://www.svtplay.se/klipp/573109/elizabeth-mcgovern-la-days Lady Cora rocks! Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern on her REAL passion – gigging in pubs with her barnstorming band http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2155918/Downton-Abbeys-Elizabeth-McGovern-REAL-passion--gigging-pubs-barnstorming-band.html McGovern's segment segues into Taylor's at 44:39, which begins with an interesting chat about her life and her own creative process for songwriting and how she uses songs as a way of making sense of the world, with the singing starting after her goodbyes at 54:30.
You can watch the entire show or go to the particular segment via the show's SVT Play website for 43 more days as of today, Saturday. Be sure you click Program 10 at http://www.svtplay.se/skavlan For best viewing, as always, click the opposing arrows in the bottom right corner of the video box for Fullskรคrm, i.e full-screen. My three previous posts on Taylor Swift were a.) November 25, 2011, Taylor Swift shows why she's so beloved by her fans in profile/interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl; Amazing times ten! http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/taylor-swift-shows-why-shes-so-beloved.html
To quote myself, in my concluding pargraph:
FYI: As of five minutes ago, Taylor had 9,399,700 Twitter "Followers." According to the CIA World Factbook, their summer 2011 estimate for the population of Sweden was 9,088,728. So, put another way, imagine the entire population of Sweden, plus, the cities of Denver and St. Louis. THAT is how many people FOLLOW Taylor Swift's tweets. Now that is some perspective you can wrap your arms around!
Years from now, Taylor's fans will still remember that concert in Washington like it just happened: the sounds, the scene, who they were with, what they wore... and they'll remember the lyrics to the songs as if there was never a time in their life that they didn't know them by heart. That's Taylor's genius.
"Wait, what is a weekend?" — Oh, Dowager Countess, if you were present Saturday night at the Television Critics Assn. press tour, you'd surely discover it's the period of time when the cast of "Downton Abbey" lets loose.
Still beaming with an Emmy glow — the show took up residence in the drama category and received a total of 16 nominations — a few of the actors from the popular British series, including newcomer Shirley MacLaine, took the stage and reflected on the show's fame.
A Highclere connection? Yes. Lord Carnavon, Howard Carter's employer, lived at Highclere Castle, where the ITV period drama Downton Abbey has been filmed in part the past three years, and is the home of the two hosts of this next video, the Eighth Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who, to honor the Fifth Earl's efforts, have developed an Egyptian exhibition in their home's basement that the public can visit. Which, regardless of which side of the Atlantic you're on, surely beats having a man cave!
FilmClub UK video: FilmClub member Sally interviews with actor Hugh Bonneville about his acting career and influences. http://youtu.be/j4VhH9Kx248
March 2012 Downton Abbey/Hugh Bonneville odds & ends; but definitely NOT Middlemarch or Middlebrow if you know what I mean
Around 725 GMT Monday morning, I heard Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville on BBC Radio 5 live'sBreakfast -with Rachel Burden and Phil Williams- and heard the fictional Earl of Grantham share some thoughts about the popularity of the series in the U.S. and talk about Shirley MacLaine's role in the upcoming Season Three as Lady Cora's mother, and shooting a long dinner scene with clever verbal wordplay between her and his TV Mother, the the Dowager Countess, Maggie Smith, with Hugh in the middle of the table watching the banter go back and forth. And the thing is, having not only watched the series from the beginning and watched every episode 2-3 times, and having carefully followed what goes on behind-the-scenes, I COULD actually picture that in my head, complete with some traditional SM facial moves we've seen a time or two over the years.
I just love this series! http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01dy1s2/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01dy1s2/5_live_Breakfast_26_03_2012/ The segment starts at 2:22:43, so move the indicator to that spot unless you want to hear the beginning of the three-hour audio clip just for the sake of hearing it. It ends at 2:27:31 It's available for listening to on the BBC website until 9:02AM GMT Mon, 2 Apr 2012
Hugh Bonneville's interview follows a very heart-breaking segment on British govt. funding on dementia, and a woman with a dramatically difficult life raising her teenage son at home while also taking care of a husband with dementia -who's only 53/54- and who is NOT able to care for himself. Just a reminder that no matter how hard your own life may seem to you, there's always someone with much-heavier burdens and responsibilities than you. Bonnevilleis in a comedy series calledTwenty Twelveabout the Olympic deliverance "team" behind the London 2012 Olympics that premieres on BBC 2 on Friday at 10 p.m. Here's a recent video interview on it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17511265
My last two blog posts filled with interesting videos and links about the wonderful Downton Abbey were both on September 19th, 2011, titled Quality writing & acting wins again!
Reminder: In the U.S., the first year of Downton Abbey re-airs on PBS beginning Sunday, December 18th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.
Season 2 of Downton Abbey premieres on PBS on Sunday January 8th, the second day of the NFL Wild Card Weekend, but the second game will be over by the time 9 p.m. rolls around.
PBS Masterpiece video: Downton Abbey: Surviving the Wait for Season Two. Masterpiece's Rebecca Eaton on how to survive until Downton Abbey season two premieres. http://video.pbs.org/video/2156589433
The new CD containing the soundtrack of Season 2 of Downton Abbey produced by John Lunn is at Amazon.co.uk., and this website has a selection of the 19 songs.
If you're in the U.S., I urge you to buy it via Amazoncom UK as an Import, even at $28.68 plus shipping, since according to Amazon's U.S. website, it won't officially be available in the U.S. until December 31st, which is pretty weird given how many people might wish to get it for the holidays. Not so smart marketing there!
Owing to the fact that my last post here had so many Downton Abbey-related videos, and my desire to make sure that this performance by English singer Mary-Jess got the amount of attention it deserved, I'm repeating some of the relevant parts of it so that it's on its own and you can hear this amazing talent, whose personal and professional back-story is pretty damn amazing, if largely unknown outside of England and... China.
Especially for a 21-year old!
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Thanks to my observant friends, loyal confidantes and trend-spotting spies around the world, I got tipped-off to this video and can tell you that TODAY, Sept. 19th, is the first day that you can pre-order the new CD containing the soundtrack of Season 2 of Downton Abbey produced by John Lunn via Amazon.co.uk.
In the U.S., you can also now pre-order it thru the American office of Amazon.com but it comes as an Import and runs $28.68 plus shipping.
The CD will be released September 27th, 2011.
See the British link above to see and hear the selection of songs.
If you can, please click the YouTube link at the bottom of each of these videos and watch it there instead of on the blog, so that you can also see the other songs Mary-Jess has done in the right-hand column.
Plus, we can send those viewing numbers up!
Right now, as of 6:23 p.m. Eastern U.S., the total number of views for the first video is 1,727.
(In my opinion, in this still-shot of the video above, Mary-Jess looks a bit like delightful actress Shiri Appleby, whom we last saw in a guest-starring role last month on USA Network's "Royal Pains," which I always watch.)
ITN's The Showbiz 411 video: Downtown Abbey scores Emmy success, nabs 4 awards, including Best Mini-series, Best Supporting Actress (Dame Maggie Smith), Best Writing and Best Directing at 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, ATAS, telecast on Fox-TV, September 18, 2011. http://youtu.be/YM_g9hxdYMU
Quality writing & acting wins again! Downton Abbey scores 4 at Emmys, as U.S. audiences eagerly awaits Season 2's melodrama amidst WWII on PBS January 8th
I loved everything about this show and saw each episode at least twice -uninterrupted and non-distracted. (Like I was watching game film!)
Already being seen on ITV1 in the U.K., I can't wait for the second season to finally get to PBS!
Just under 15 weeks from yesterday -January 8th!
And if you didn't see it earlier this year, the first year of Downton Abbey re-airs on PBS beginning Sunday, December 18th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific.
Trust me, you will hear about that as you know that PBSwill be mentioning it every five minutes after Thanksgiving, and maybe even do a print ad campaign to create some synergy with the new season starting in January.
Australia's Channel Seven video: The hosts of Better Homes & Gardens went to Highclere Castle where Downton Abbey is filmed to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming Season 2, the amazing castle and meet the very talented cast.
Thanks to my observant friends, loyal confidantes and trend-spotting spies around the world, I got tipped-off to this video and can tell you that TODAY, Sept. 19th, is the first day that you can pre-order the new Decca Music CD containing the soundtrack of Season 2 of Downton Abbey produced by John Lunn,viaAmazon.co.uk.
And it features the series theme, Did I Make The Most of Loving You?, being sung by Mary-Jess, a.k.a. Mary-Jess Leaverland, which I have videos of below.
In the U.S., you can also now pre-order it thru the American office of Amazon.com, but it comes as an Import and runs $28.68 plus shipping.
The CD will be released September 27th, 2011.
See the British link above to see and hear the selection of songs.
Decca Music video: Theme to Downton Abbey (Mary-Jess) 2011.
Thanks to its Emmy win last night, Amazon.com is offering a great deal where you can purchase the Original U.K. Uneditedversion for only $15.49 for over six hours.
