Bollywood Emma

http://movies.iexplorehere.com/news/1488/Sonam-Kapoor-to-Play-the-Role-of-Emma.html

The project has started to take shape with Sonam Kapoor playing the lead alongside Abhay Deol and newcomer Arunoday Singh. The film will be directed by Rajshree Ojha.”

Cindy’s Birthday Tea

This past weekend, I went back down to OC for my friend Cindy’s birthday. It was a wonderful few days! For her party, a group of us went to the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano, the same place Cindy and I went back on November 1. Here are a couple of photos from the event…

Cindy and Kali at tea
Cindy and Kali in Edwardian costume at the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano on February 7, 2009.
Cindy, Kali, and Haydee at tea
Cindy, Kali, and Haydee at tea.

Cindy wore a mid-Edwardian dress she made herself. I wore my 1912 tea/luncheon gown (made by Tracie) and the 1911ish “Lunardi revival” hat I’d put together for the GBACG “My Fair Lady” event last August.

Link: Adipositivity…

The Adipositivity Project is an interesting photographic exercise, dedicated to showing the beauty of the “fat” female form. Check out this month’s Valentine-themed photos…

http://www.adipositivity.com/

More on the “new” BBC Emma plus drama…

According to the following report, production will begin this spring.  No word on casting…

Here!

Also, Heartbreak Productions is presenting their dramatization of Emma throughout the UK  in February, March, and this summer…

Winter/Spring Dates

Waltz your way through picnics, parties and posh frocks in this classic Regency rom-com.

After a winter tour throughout UK theatres, this brilliantly conceived rom-com classic bursts vibrantly in to the open air. Dip into the gossip and squabbles, grapple with the riddles, blunders and misunderstandings and finally, revel in the glorious romance of this delightful and charming story from the masters of classic adaptations.

Famed for incisive wit and social commentary, Emma is also about the complexities of imagination versus reality and the overriding power of love and affection.

A clever, rich, bored and “slightly” spoiled young woman, Emma throws herself in to the perils of mis-matchmaking in this world-renowned and well-loved Regency rom-com. Emma is Jane Austen’s most realistic heroine trying to do her very best and, in true Austen fashion, getting it very wrong!

Live music, dance and audience interaction will abound as – from the engaging yet exasperating Emma to the sympathetic yet quintessential bore, Miss Bates – the multi-talented cast recreate the rich and varied personalities of some of the most vibrant characters from English literature and bring them vividly to life. “

More…

Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Events

I’m not a news service, but as I learn stuff, I post it. Right now, there are several Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary merchandise events planned for Disneyland in 2009.   There’s a June pin event, an August cocktail event and product signing with Shag, and a September “Wedding”-themed merch event.

Plan your involvement soon; the September anniversary event begins registering on January 20.  It appears to borrow the general format (and pricing philosophy, puke) of the old Haunted Mansion Holiday dinner weekends (snooze) and plays to the new Constance/black widow bride angle (snooze-puke-choke). It falls on 9/9, a month after the actual anniversary, and on a thursday freaking night to boot.  Boo.

The Josh Agle cocktail events occur on the real 40th anniversary weekend.

More information at DisneyGallery.com.

Introducing…

Storied, our brand new roleplay and writing workshop.

We’re still working out the bugs (and I’ll be retemplating it once the semester’s over), but it’s generally ready to go. Consider this a beta testing phase. 🙂

http://storied.strangegirl.com/

Have a happy holiday season, everyone!

New Emma in 2009?

I heard it from Laurel Ann who heard it from Austenblog who heard it from several other people who heard it from someone else entirely (ha!) that there may be a new Emma adaptation in the works from the BBC.  Supposedly, screenwriter Sandy Welch is responsible for the four-part script.

More…

Fun in OC: My new 1880 gown

A new gown! Or is it? Actually, it’s a new variation on an old theme of mine: Winona Ryder’s Newport archery ensemble from Martin Scorsese’s 1993 Age of Innocence adaptation.

Ensemble from the film.
Ensemble from the film.

The ensemble is fiercely cute, with little faux pannier-looking things radiating out over the hips from a shirred panel on the skirtfront and layers of eyelet ruffles cascading down the skirt.  It’s a little reminiscent of the gown on the left in this French fashion plate from the early 1880s:

Natural Form Eyelet
Early 1880s natural form gowns.

My friend Tracie Arnold of Past & Present Creations made the fresh iteration of my original, beloved version of this gorgeous natural-form era ivy dress.  The first dress – constructed by Victoria Riddenour, hand-embroidered by me, and photographed beautifully by Lani Teshima – had become too small to even THINK about wearing.

I wore the new ensemble to San Juan Capistrano on Halloween weekend, where my pal Cindy and I had tea and generally caroused around the old town area.  Cindy wore a beautiful, embroidered black velvet ball gown that she’d made for Bat’s Day.

Kali in 1880s natural form eyelet ensemble, photographed by Cindy
Kali in 1880s natural form eyelet ensemble, photographed by Cindy.
Kali and Cindy in old San Juan Capistrano
Kali and Cindy in old San Juan Capistrano.

Outfit notes: The straw skimmer is a Victoria Riddenour original.  My corset is Denise Nadine‘s late Victorian “Nettie” style.  I made the combination undergarment (which you can’t see) from Truly Victorian’s 1876 combination pattern (TV105).  My garnet earrings are from Lacis.