Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
I do hope you had a splendid Christmas, and it turned out exactly as you wanted it. You did didnt you? Mine was very, very nice. Family, friends, relaxation and far, far too much food and champagne. My gym will not know what has hit it come tomorrow.
Thank you for the cards, Christmas emails and general good wishes my lovelies, aww makes me all warm inside. x
So, the preparations for the move to London are going well. Its probably not the best time to move, when services keep closing for festive holidays but thats the way it has worked out. Hey ho. (or should that be ‘hey ho ho ho’?)
I am getting booked up already for the short time I have left in Devon so please get in touch asap if you have an idea about a final tryst in sunny Plymouth. Otherwise it will be off to London for you young man. (Do I sound like a pantomime dame? ha)
Its usually around about now that I reflect on the past year and regale you with tales of strange requests, silly texters and all that malarky. I am happy to report that I cant remember any naughtiness (of the ‘Oh do me a favour!’ variety) having occurred, well not much and nothing worth noting here – horray! it must be because I took my phone number off my site. I still get the odd (very odd) boy calling me at stupid o’clock of course – usually around about 3am – is that when all the nutters wake up? Anyway, they go on my ‘do not answer, EVER list’ which sits warningly on my phone. The problem is that my address book has run out of space! Eeek, if you know a solution, pray tell. I have filled my sim card and my phone now. So no strange requests, no totally untoward nonsense and a fully bloated address book. There is a moral in there somewhere :)
Now then, my New Year’s celebrations involve travelling a little way out of Devon and getting dressed up in a party frock. I will be partaking in ‘tripping the light fantastic’ and definitely shaking a wicked hoof. Ohh I do hope the roads will be nice and dry and clear. I have a few trips planned for 2010 but not nearly as crazy as 2009 was in terms of travelling. I fully intend to really get to know London, experience it properly. I am already getting to know it you know. The removal man was asking a couple of questions like, ‘Is it near xxx?’ and (this is me showing off) I said ‘Oh no its nearer to xxx’ Who’d have thought it?, me knowing a little about London geography! Mind you, I know where the best restaurants are, where to get the best Sunday Champagne Brunch and where the poshest hotels are. Oh yes, I have my priorities firmly on the right hand side, my friend ;)
I sincerely hope you have a fabulous new years eve and lets wish for a brighter year for many people, especially you and yours. See you in 2010, Cheers! x
PS Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions, I found them nestled away in some cosy corner of the net – have a look you may find one you can use :)
- Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my nightdress. Instead, I will move my computer into the bedroom.
- I will no longer waste my time reliving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future.
- I will not bore my boss by with the same excuse for taking leaves. I will think of some more excuses.
- I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.
- I will avoid taking a bath whenever possible and conserve more water.
- Assure my lawyer that I will never again show up drunk at a custody hearing.
- I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly….
- I will try to figure out why I *really* need nine e-mail addresses.
- I will stop sending e-mails to my wife (husband).
- I resolve to work with neglected children — my own.
- I will stop sending e-mail, ICQ, Instant Messages and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.
- I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet. This, of course, will be hard to estimate since I’m not a clock watcher.
- I will read the manual… just as soon as I can find it.
- I will think of a password other than “password.”
- I will not tell the same story at every get together.
- I won’t worry so much.
- I will cut my hair.
- I will grow my hair.
- I will stop considering other people’s feelings when they so obviously don’t consider mine – if that unwashed fellow sits next to me again, I’ll tell him he stinks!
- I will be more imaginative.
- I will not hang around girls – they think you love them and that sucks.
- I will not ring the stewardess button on airplanes just to get her phone number.
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
I was taken to a lovely restaurant for my birthday. I cannot divulge where it was or indeed who the chef was but it was one I have wanted to go to for quite a while.
I had the taster menu. Only 7 courses. ‘Oh you greedy mare!’ you cry. Nooooo. These things, these courses are delicate, intricate little creatures – works of art in fact. You only get a little morsel and then you are done. I like it like that though. It means I can try lots of tastes. Fantastic.
So, what I wanted to tell you about was the wines. Now, you know I only like certain wines dont you? Usually anything from the Loire Valley in a shade of pale is always going to delight me. Oh and anything beginning with a C and ending with an E with a bit of a fizz in between, of course :)
Now I know that certain wines are meant to go with certain foods, yes, yes, yes of course who doesnt? I kind of left that behind years ago though declaring, ‘Well I like what I like and I will drink what I like with what I like!’ ‘And anyway, champagne goes with anything (except fish and chips) huh!’
But this taster menu, I chose the accompanying wines with it didnt I. I have never done that before, with a taster menu. But you have to try it dont you?, especially on one’s birthday. Do you know what? It was incredible. The lady Sommelier was amazing. Each wine (and there were 7!) was perfect for each course. Oh I am in awe of them now. What a skill, to be able to choose the perfect, absolutely perfect accompaniment to any dish. That is so clever.
These were wines that I would never, ever have chosen. You cant drink the whole glass full, I couldnt but maybe you can? All in all a perfect delight and a wonderful drive back with a beautiful star-lit sky. Yes, a very happy birthday x
Oh and I just received a very special gift from a gent travelling over from France. A beautiful bottle of wine, perfect with cheese apparently. Cant wait to try it!
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Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Mr D told me over a very fine lunch a little while ago that his aunt had been a Courtesan. Yes. Here is the story ( I know he wont mind me relating this, as at the time I gasped, ‘I feel a blog post coming on!’ as he was telling me and he laughed ‘Blog away!’ )
So, this was a lady who became very wealthy by virtue of her talents, but that is not the point. She had only a few well chosen suitors who took care of her handsomely and in return? Well, in return she made their lives easier, more passionate and also made them in turn very, very wealthy. How so? I hear you ask.
Apparently, she was the supreme hostess. She hosted the most magnificent dinners for the movers and shakers in this gentleman’s industry. She never actually ate at her dinner parties (Oh I dont like that idea!) because she wanted to ensure that she was totally attentive to all of her guests. She was fragrant, amenable and charming. These dinners were the catalyst for deals and mergers and hence made the gentleman in question very comfortable. Never underestimate the power of food, Dear Reader, or indeed the power of a talented woman ;)
I loved this story and I wish I had known her – I bet she had a tale to tell – like me ;) My lips are sealed though just like hers. x
Southwest Escort
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Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Do you? Do you Twitter? You are either going to nod in agreement or think I am totally mad. I have been on Twitter for a while, its one of those crazy social online networking things where you think ‘Oh why not?’ I havent thought about it for ages but lately I have been getting lots of emails saying that I have new ‘followers’ . Dont follow me!, I dont where I am going and I may lead you astray!! hahaha
No, actually followers are people who keep up with what you are saying on your Twitter page. (Thank you for following me! x) You can post ‘Tweets’ one sentence posts that tell people what you are up to. Mine are mainly updates of my blog posts. Take a look, join the party, add me to yours! x
http://twitter.com/rhiacharles
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Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
There’s a new courtesan movie about to be released that I definitely have to see, here’s the synopsis…
Summary
Set in the luxurious demi-monde of pre First World War Paris, Chéri is the story of the love affair between the beautiful retired courtesan Léa (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Chéri (Rupert Friend) the son of her old colleague and rival, Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates).
Léa has educated the spoilt and callow boy in the ways of love, but after six years Madame Peloux has secretly arranged a marriage between Chéri and Edmée (Felicity Jones), daughter of another rich courtesan.
As the inevitable moment of parting approaches, Léa and Chéri try to come to terms with their imminent separation, but the roots of their life of ease and pleasure reach deeper than even they imagine and they begin to understand, too late, how much they mean to one another.
Release Dates
Germany | February 10, 2009 (Berlin Film Festival)
France, Belgium and Switzerland (French) | April 8, 2009
Italy | April 30, 2009
UK | May 8, 2009
USA | June 26, 2009
Australia | July 23, 2009
Switzerland (German) | August 27, 2009
Spain | November 6, 2009
Filming Locations
Biarritz (France), Paris (France), Cologne (Germany) and London (UK)
More HERE
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
Have a delicious one won’t you?
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Saturday, February 7th, 2009
It happens to all of us…at least where it snows….
So I was driving to a date yesterday and
this dick in a truck pulls out in front of me……..
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
Oh yes I did! My site went down yesterday and in the process I lost a couple of blog posts. Boo! A slight hitch whilst changing servers but I am back – Hurray! Have you guessed that I have seen far too many pantomines in my time?
Anyway, I went down but I am now back up and breathing fresh air again hehehe. Thank you so much to all the kind gents who phoned, sent texts and emails to let me know of my temporary cyber demise – very much appreciated. Big kisses to you xxxx
An even bigger kiss to the fella who can retrieve the lost posts….
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Sunday, January 18th, 2009
Oh no! Tony Hart has died. You remember him dont you? Now, I am no artist but even I wanted to create a masterpiece from whatever Tony told me I could do. The point is, this guy was an inspiratation, and a gentle fella too. That is what came across if you watched his programmes. I liked him – a lot. 83, is that decent age to die? Yes I think so. I was once told I would live til 92 – me being me, I want to stretch that – shall we shall 100 then? :)
Here is his obituary…
Tony Hart, who has died aged 83, used his immense creative range to sow the seeds of artistic interest in generations of children as a presenter of several hugely popular and long-running television series.
Whether using paints, clay, textiles, foodstuffs or a cast-off object of almost any description, Hart had the magical ability to produce competent, entertaining pieces of work at impressive speed and in an unpatronising fashion. His avuncular, mildly eccentric manner made him the ideal host for children of all ages; indeed, at the height of one of his popularity in the mid 1980s, Hart’s request that viewers send in their own pictures to exhibit in “The Galleryâ€, a large wall showcasing their efforts, generated 6,000 submissions a week.
In a television career which spanned more than fifty years, the majority of them spent on the screen wearing his trademark cravat, Hart demonstrated artistic techniques both elementary and advanced while never forgetting his motto “Show them don’t tell themâ€.
Norman Anthony Hart was born at Maidstone on October 15 1925. His father was a local government official whose own artistic leanings were actively discouraged by his parents; his mother was an amateur singer. Their mutual devotion to the arts meant that they adopted a liberal attitude to their children’s careers. “My father always said to me don’t work in an office,†Hart once recalled. “So not working in an office became very important to me.â€
After attending a London choir school with Dickensian attitudes to discipline (beatings routinely took place on Sundays), and then Clayesmore in Dorset, the seventeen year old Hart applied to be an air gunner with the RAF. A minor eye defect prevented him being assigned flying duties, however, so he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the Indian Army instead, training for a commission with the 1st Gurkha Rifles. It was throughout his four years in India that Hart first nurtured serious ideas of becoming a professional painter: dazzled by the colours and patterns of the subcontinent, he spent much of his off-duty periods at an art school in Madras.
Following India’s independence in 1947, Hart returned to England and took up a place at the Maidstone College of Art, from which he graduated in 1950. He then moved to London where he worked briefly as a window display artist at a department store on Oxford Street before turning his hand to freelance graphics work for cinema, television and newspapers. He was happy to paint murals on restaurant walls in return for free meals.
A chance meeting with a television producer at a party in 1952 resulted in a BBC interview which took place over lunch. At the end of the meal Hart was called on to demonstrate his draughtsmanship by drawing a picture of a fish on the napkin which accompanied his coffee. The deftness of this sketch was enough to secure him a job.
Initially he worked on an early Eamonn Andrews show, before advancing to the position of graphics artist on the Tonight programme. Soon after he was engaged as resident artist on the children’s show Saturday Special. He stayed on it for two years before moving to another programme for the young, Playbox, which ran until 1959.
Throughout this time Hart also worked on the original Blue Peter programmes, the first of which was broadcast in October 1958. In the weekly transmissions he told and illustrated stories, invariably about a little white elephant called Packi. His loose involvement with Blue Peter continued into the 1960s with the creation of the galleon which became the programme’s well-known logo . Aware of Blue Peter’s enormous popularity, Hart asked for a penny for every time his design was used. His request was turned down and he was paid a flat fee of £100 instead.
Stints on Ask Your Dad, Disney Wonderland and Stories in Pictures followed, and led to Hart’s first appearance on the long-running puppet programme Titch and Quackers, in which he operated the latter. Then, in 1964, came his breakthrough programme, Vision On.
Originally screened for the deaf, Vision On was a milestone in children’s television and gave a platform to Hart’s natural vivacity. Whether drawing a huge profile on an empty beach with the wheel-tracks of a motorcycle or making a 180ft picture of a tractor on a Sussex hillside using 144 roller towels, this quirky and sometimes surreal programme soon successfully stretched the boundaries of every child’s imagination – regardless of their ability to hear.
Vision On ran for over twelve years and introduced the world not only to “The Gallery†, but also to the groundbreaking talents of artists Peter Lord and David Sproxton, the former of whom went on to co-create the Wallace and Gromit series. By the time Vision On ended in 1977 it was being screened around the world and Hart’s genial manner was winning international acclaim.
The following year, Hart was given his first solo vehicle, Take Hart. It too was an instant success whose overwhelming attraction lay in the presenter’s inclusive approach and positive attitude at the drawing board.
Hart’s desire to encourage by example and by humour meant work of all standards appeared on the wall of “The Gallery†– from children as young as four to that of older teenagers. It was during this series that Morph, a six inch Plasticine figure created by Lord and Sproxton, was born.
As his name suggests, Morph was capable of extraordinary and amusing feats of metamorphosis.
The cleverness of his creation was that the seemingly unintelligible language he spoke in fact made perfect sense and he and Hart could converse with each other. Morph was later joined in his adventures by his irascible friend Chas and a host of other miniature creations. Morph was granted two series of his own in the early 1980s and continues to enjoy enormous popularity.
Tony Hart was awarded his first BAFTA for the series in 1984. Unaware that he had won, he did not attend the ceremony because his wife, Jean, had not been invited to it with him. It was only as he sat at home watching the BAFTAs on television that he realised he should have been there, a fact that always amused him.
Hart Beat, a variation on the same theme as Take Hart, followed. It ran between 1985 and 1994 and continued to show “The Gallery†and to chart the fortunes of Morph. Mr Bennett, an accident-prone caretaker, was introduced as a character to add some comedy value. Hart was also helped over the course of these shows by a series of young female artists.
Throughout the 1990s Hart continued to present other television programmes, the most recent of which include Morph TV and Smart Hart.
In 1998 he was awarded a second BAFTA, in this case a lifetime achievement award acknowledging his contribution to children’s television.
Tony Hart was active in a large number of charities throughout his life. Among the beneficiaries of his efforts was the Gurkha Welfare Trust to which Hart donated pictures which were later auctioned for “substantial†amounts of money.
Hart once described himself as “a loner who can’t wait to get back to my squirrel’s nestâ€, referring to his cottage in Shamley Green, deep in the Surrey countryside, where he lived for many years. In the years after his retirement in 2001, his health began to fail and he suffered two strokes, which robbed him of the use of his hands. In an interview in 2006 he described no longer being able to draw and paint as “the greatest cross I have to bearâ€.
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Sunday, January 18th, 2009
Cora Pearl (1835– 8 July 1886) was a famous courtesan of the 19th century French demimonde, born Emma Elizabeth Crouch.
Early life
Her date and place of birth are disputed, as she was believed to have forged her birth certificate, giving the date as 23 February 1842, and the place as Caroline Place, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, though it is more likely that she was born in London in 1835, and the family moved to Plymouth about 1837. Her father was the cellist and composer Frederick Nicholls Crouch. Pearl had inherited enough musical talent to perform the role of Cupid in an 1867 production of Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld.
Life as a courtesan
While she was still trying to find her way in London, Pearl became involved in a life of prostitution, and happened to meet several reasonably wealthy men who were interested in becoming involved with her for more than just an evening’s amusement. These men needed little convincing, as their main concern was an involvement with a woman who was pretty, and who could be socially acceptable, intelligent, witty and discreet. This was her doorway into life as a courtesan. She became the mistress of Robert Bignell, the proprietor of the Argyll Rooms. Together they visited Paris, a place she fell in love with so much that she refused to return to London with Bignell. In Paris she adopted the name of Cora Pearl, and embarked on a theatrical career, but was more successful for the sex appeal she exhibited than any other talents. Cora had learned excellent manners at the convent school she had attended in her youth, which helped her appeal to wealthy men. Cora’s theatrical reputation quickly began to spread, and it was not long before several rich and powerful men of France were involved with her romantically. Although she had little money, she began wearing dresses by Charles Worth and Laferriere with the idea that her appearance of wealth would attract wealthy men to her, and she was right. Victor Massena, the Duke of Rivoli, became her first major benefactor around this time. However, while with him, she developed a serious gambling habit, and after bailing her out financially one too many times, the Duke ended their affair. But she developed new benefactors, including some of the richest, most powerful men in Europe. A skilled craftsman of the time earned between two and four francs a day, she earned 5,000 a night. Her extravagant income allowed her to perform acts such as dancing nude on a carpet of orchids and then bathing before her dinner guests in a silver tub full of champagne, and no one seemed bothered by her Cockney French, or her frank self interest. According to Duc de Grammont-Caderousse, “If the Fréres Provençaux served an omlette with diamonds in it, Cora would be there every night.” Her lovers included, Prince Willem of Orange, son of King William III of the Netherlands; Prince Achille Murat, grandson of Joachim Murat; and the Duc de Morny, Napoleon III’s half-brother. Morny, described by one historian as “a taller, handsomer edition of the Emperor,” has been said to be the most intelligent and distinguished of her lovers, with an insatiable sexual appetite. As mistress of the Emperor’s brother, she felt important enough to rent the little Chateau de Beausejour on the banks of the Loiret outside Orleans in 1864, where she spent a small fortune entertaining. A few years after Morny’s premature death in 1865, Cora became the mistress to Prince Napoleon, cousin to Emperor Napoleon III. He bought her two homes in Paris and supported her financially until 1874.
Gambling, scandal and downfall
Pearl’s activities had earned her great wealth. By the late 1860s, she owned several houses, stables, the finest wardrobe and extravagant jewellery. British accounts reported that one bill for lingerie from a supplier in Paris came to more than £18,000. Pearl’s lifestyle did have a cost. One wealthy man, Alexandre Duval, harassed her constantly, never ceasing in his attempts to manipulate her. He threw large sums of money at her, and was extremely jealous of her involvement with other men. Her attempts at ending the relationship were unsuccessful. When she finally was able to end the affair, he came to her home, produced a gun and shot himself on her doorstep. (Duval was severely injured, but survived.) Pearl did not summon for help, nor contact the authorities. Instead, she retreated into her house, and went to sleep. Rumours of the incident spread quickly, and abruptly ended her theatre career. She fled to London, thinking that a change of scene might improve her spirits and her reputation, only to find that rumour had traveled faster than her ship. Her attempts at continuing her career as a courtesan in London were unsuccessful, as few men of wealth wanted to have her as an acquaintance. Returning to Paris, Pearl was dismayed to find that much had changed. The admirers of the past were gone. A new conservatism prevailed, and like London, no wealthy men would take her on. Her gambling habit continued, and she soon learned that shopkeepers and casinos expected to be paid promptly, one of the life skills Pearl had never mastered. However, she no longer had a wealthy benefactor to pick up the debt. In desperation, around 1876 she began to sell her possessions, first slowly, then ever faster, and returned from time to time to a life in prostitution. She lived in relative comfort for ten years despite her rising debt. By 1886, desperately ill with intestinal cancer, Pearl was forced to move to a shabby rooming house, where she died in poverty and virtually without anyone taking notice.
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