Today is Colin Firth’s 58th birthday, and I’m celebrating with these…
First off, Colin’s wife Livia recently posted a selfie on her Instagram stories of her, a friend and Colin on a boat in Venice during this year’s Venice Film Festival and I took a quick screenshot…
Secondly, I recently came across this following image of Colin in a ‘Pusheen’ suit. It’s apparently been around for a while and is a photoshopped image that was originally an image in Colin’s movie Gambit. I don’t know who made this, but I love it (and I have a sneaking suspicion he’d love it too if he knew about this)!
And finally, today I was alerted to a Colin Firth fan video that really made me smile wide because, yes, it really shows how I too love Colin. So, I’m sharing it here in celebration…
And a video celebrating Colin’s smile, which really can’t be celebrated enough…
Happy Birthday, Colin Firth!! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world, I’m so very happy I get to appreciate you so very much. I wish you many many happy returns! 🙂
Luckily not everything has been doom and gloom of late – to cheer me up from depressing world news there have been some Tall Dark Handsome people to really enjoy looking at!
Starting off with Richard Armitage and a second short video interview about the Wolverine podcast (I mentioned the first one on blog here). I still haven’t listened to Wolverine because of reasons, but the behind the scenes still looks good.
In the other post, I put many images of Richard talking with his hands, which is fascinating to look at, here are a few more screencaps I made from this second interview. He doesn’t only talk with hands, he talks with fists as well!
And he’s expressive when moving around (click on images to enlarge)…
The most evocative shot that I really fell for was this following one of him. In the first video we’d seen a close-up of him on the floor. This time we get the full body shot of him sitting on the floor, with legs pulled up, one crossed over the other. The other guy on the couch is watching him be the picture of focus and concentration, with Richard lost in his Wolverine world on the tablet; I just love that…
Here, a closer look…
I really like those boots too!
Moving from one tall, dark, handsome man to the next: Colin Firth and his wife Livia were at the recent Met Gala. They are embroiled in a legal battle with Livia’s ex-lover right now but they have been forming a united front lately and are going everywhere together, including the gala. They looked very handsome and very elegant!
I especially loved this profile shot of them, with Colin’s hand resting lightly on his wife’s back!
I really hope they get through this difficult time well together…
Speaking of the Met Gala, I have seen pictures here and there of people all dressed up in the Catholic theme of the gala. I don’t intend to show all those images here, except for the dress of one person, that really struck me. Zendaya, who did such an awesome job in the part of Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman, came looking like Joan of Arc. I found it a stunning look!
She certainly looked tall dark and handsome and gorgeous and should there be a new Joan of Arc movie in the works somewhere, I recommend they look to Zendaya for the title role!
Speaking of tall dark handsome and The Greatest Showman: on his instagram Hugh Jackman posted a lovely pic of him and his wife Deb all dressed up, ready to go to the Met Gala…
He’s also been promoting his ethical coffee company called ‘Laughing Man‘.
And finally, nothing to do with the Met Gala, but all to do with tall dark and handsome and making me smile: Pierce Brosnan who shared some lovely images on his instagram in the past few days. First, he shared a picture of himself with full beard for a role he has been playing. The man ages so beautifully, he’s become even more interesting to look at over the past decade or so! Anyway, I find him drop dead gorgeous here…
… and then he shared a picture of himself with his paintings. I have seen paintings of his in the past before and I really like his colourful style! He’s pretty good at it. He has painted since 1987 since his first wife started fighting ovarian cancer (she died a few years later). The painting has apparently been very therapeutic for him and he still loves doing it…
Apparently he is running out of storage space for his paintings…
If he needs space, I wouldn’t mind a Pierce Brosnan painting donation for my living room! Interesting to look at and the colours can lift my spirits… 🙂
It’s no secret that I am also a Colin Firth fan and, from afar, I always loved seeing his apparent rock solid marriage to his wife Livia.
In recent days, however, it has emerged that the marriage is not as rock solid as it seemed… The Firths have accused a former friend of Livia’s of stalking and yesterday an official statement was made. According to the statement the Firths had briefly separated in private and during that time, from the summer of 2015 till end of spring 2016, Livia apparently had an affair with the man who is allegedly now stalking them. Colin and Livia reunited again after that time.
I was scrolling back on blog here, to see where I was gushing over their marriage, like in this post in 2015 or in this post, when their marriage apparently was already very rocky. At the time when I posted pictures of them in Cannes in 2016, Livia was still in that affair, although it ended soon after. I always thought they looked happy and comfortable with each other, but this goes to show that not all that glitters is gold. People can look very happy together in public and be not so happy in private…
Every marriage has its ups and downs, I know that, but ultimately I always hope that most of the time couples are actually happy together. So yes, it breaks my heart reading all this. I don’t know why their marriage was rocky, I don’t know what their issues are (and I don’t need to know), but I do like that they seem to want to work at it. I do wish all the best for Colin and Livia and I hope they can come through this stronger than ever!
My life is not nearly as dramatic as all this but by golly, am I glad that it is not held up under a microscope like that…
Herba, on her Unkraut vergeht nicht… oder doch? blog, has nominated me for The Mystery Blogger Award. Thank you for thinking of me, Herba! You can read her contribution to the award (in German) here.
So, what is The Mystery Blogger Award? I didn’t know how it works either, but here are the rules and here is the logo that goes with it:
About The Mystery Blogger Award:
This is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates, it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging and they do it with so much love and passion.
Okoto Enigma is the creator of the award. To motivate the Blogger please do visit her blog.
The Rules of the Award:
– Put the award logo/image on your blog.
– List the rules.
– Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
– Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
– Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
– You have to nominate 10 – 20 people.
– Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
– Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)
– Share a link to your best post(s).
My responses to 3 things about myself:
Hmmm, 3 things about myself… I could say many things, but I have said a lot of things about myself on blog before so I had to think a bit about what I maybe haven’t said before. Not quite sure if these things are totally new, but hopefully these 3 things about me are somewhat newish…
1. I never drink coffee, I just do not like it, not even when it’s a tiny bit of coffee with a lot of milk! For years when I went to my parents’ house my dad would always offer, “Esther, do you want a cup of coffee?” It was this little joke between us because I would always say, “Nope, I still hate it!” I do love tea, though, especially herbal teas.
2. I come from a large family, I am number 6 of 8 children. Half of my brothers and sisters are adopted (two of Palestinian and two of Ethiopian descent). Kids just sort of happened to appear on our doorstep, due to social projects my mother was involved in when we lived in Israel in my youth, and my parents just kept the kids who were alone in the world and adopted them later. 🙂 I have always loved our large, colourful family, warts and all. When I was a pre-teen I read a book called The Family Nobody Wanted about a couple that ends up adopting 12 children of different ethnic backgrounds and I really identified with that, as it was close to my own family experience as well! I still have that book.
All of this made me want to have 8-12 children myself and I wanted to adopt most of them! That idea quickly changed, however, when I got children of my own. I love them, I love having them in my life, but I couldn’t imagine juggling 8 or, God forbid, 12 children on a daily basis! And adoption in The Netherlands? So much more complicated, so many rules, such a long waiting period (up to 5 years!) and more expensive than the way my parents were able to do it in the 1970s… So yeah, I’m just very happy with my 2 kids now and enjoy having a lot of siblings, some of whom look nothing like me.
3. I am NOT a morning person, I prefer to not go to bed before 1 am. It’s a real struggle getting to bed at around 11 pm on work nights.
Responses to the 5 questions Herba posed:
1. Do you have a phobia?
Yep, spiders!!! I can tolerate mice and snakes and scorpions but I can not do spiders!
2. Are you working in your dream job?
There’s a huge problem with this question: I don’t know what my dream job is! What I want to do changes all the time. Sometimes I want to be a kick ass social worker or children’s psychologist, sometimes I want to be a writer, or a web designer, or I want to go back to librarianship which is what I trained for (after trying psychology and English as fields of study first). I’ve wanted to be a teacher and a translator, I have wanted to be a journalist or a stills photographer on a TV or film set, I have wanted to be an aid worker in a developing country. What I can say is that I always look for jobs in a social field and so far, to my great satisfaction, I have worked for government, education and development aid organizations. Right now I have an IT-related job for an organization that provides healthcare and educational advice for children and youngsters and I very much enjoy it. That doesn’t stop me from still envisioning other career paths, though.
3. As a child, did you have a favourite book, a favourite movie or tv series, and a favourite singer or music group? What are your current 3 favourites?
Favourite book, that I read when I was about 9 or so, was a simplified children’s version of Jane Eyre and the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Favourite TV series was Little House on the Prairie and I loved the first movie I remember seeing in the cinema, a Cinderella movie called The Slipper and the Rose.
I’m not sure I had a favourite singer or group as a kid. I do remember loving ABBA songs and I liked Boney M. My absolute favourite song was Ma Baker by Boney M:
Current favourites:
Favourite book: Jane Eyre is still up there, along with Jane Austen’s books Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, but I think I’d have to go with To Kill a Mockingbird as my favourite. I still remember reading it for the first time, it was almost like a religious experience, it spoke to my very being.
Favourite movie – I love so so many but I think my all time favourite still is Roman Holiday. Favourite TV series: I love so many, I couldn’t just pick one. Latest obsession is Suits.
4. If you could walk in someone else’s shoes for 24 hours, who would it be and why would it be that person specifically?
I had no idea what to answer here so I asked Mr Esther who he thought I’d like to be for a day. He immediately shot out a reply: Colin Firth’s wife! And, oh my goodness, he is right! The man knows me well. 🙂 Livia Firth is smart and socially very conscious, she’s an Eco warrior with her own consulting firm through which she tries to make the fashion world a more fair place and, extremely importantly, she’s married to Colin Firth! So, yes, I wouldn’t mind being Livia Firth for a day and I know exactly on which day as well: I want to be Livia with Colin Firth on Oscar night! They had a great Oscar night in 2011 when Colin won the Oscar for The King’s Speech. They got all dressed up together (click on images to enlarge)…
… and looked quite lovey-dovey and had fun on the red carpet together…
Actor Colin Firth, right, arrives with wife Livia Giuggioli before the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
… Colin kissed Livia when his Oscar win was announced. Ah, to be on the receiving end of Colin’s kiss..
… and Livia and Colin had fun together after the win…
HOLLYWOOD, CA – FEBRUARY 27: Actor Colin Firth (L), winner of the award for Best Actgor in a Leading Role for ‘The King’s Speech’, and wife Livia Giuggioli attend the Governors Ball on February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
So, I’d like to be either Livia on Oscar night, or I wouldn’t mind being Richard Armitage’s make up artist Tami Lane on The Hobbit for a day, specifically this day when these pictures were taken…
5. McDonald’s or Burger King?
I’m not really a fan of either. I think there are more McDonald’s than Burger Kings here in The Netherlands. I never go to Burger King, I think I can count on one hand the amount of times in my life that I’ve entered a Burger King. I do go to McDonald’s and the reason for that is not the food (I rarely eat anything there) but I do love the milkshakes! So, I choose McDonald’s for the milkshakes. Mr. Esther likes the coffee there.
Mystery Blogger nominations and my 5 questions
Nominating others is always a tough one. I’ll just throw a few names out there, but feel free to ignore or jump in, whichever! And if your name isn’t here but you’re inspired to answer, please feel free to!
So, the nominations first (trying to not nominate anyone already nominated by Herba):
Your favourite genre of book or movie? Name 3 examples of each.
Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life and who should play your partner? (If you don’t have a partner, you can make up a mystery one! Even if you do have a partner, you can make up a mystery one. 🙂 )
Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight, or night? Please explain why.
First, I had the joy of new Richard Armitage pictures to drool over on Sunday morning, now I come across an abundance of Colin Firth images taken at the Kingsman 2 premiere last night in London! I just picked a few to post here, like Colin arriving with his wife Livia…
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
… and posing with Livia…
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18:Colin Firth and Livia Firth attend the ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ World Premiere held at Odeon Leicester Square on September 18, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
… and posing on his own…
Image ref 9066368BD. Copyright Rex Shutterstock No reproduction without permission. Please see http://www.rexfeatures.com for more information.
Image ref 9066462M. Copyright Rex Shutterstock No reproduction without permission. Please see http://www.rexfeatures.com for more information.
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
… also looking very handsome mid-stride…
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
… and posing with the cast; I just love the little Colin Firth / Mark Strong hug…
Image ref 9066419BJ. Copyright Rex Shutterstock No reproduction without permission. Please see http://www.rexfeatures.com for more information.
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
He is also always gracious signing things and posing with fans…
And he’s expressive when moving around (click on images to enlarge)…
I really hope they get through this difficult time well together…
The Book of Esther 