There’s a nice selection of behind-the-scenes photos from Emma 4‘s Chilham location posted at the Republic of Pemberley. They provide a nice preview of some of the costuming!
Bunny Costume, ca. 1966…
From the CBC archives, a look at life in the Playboy Bunny outfit…
Emma 2 Soundtrack Notes
I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the Emma Adaptations Pages recently, which means I’ve rediscovered quite a bit of content. After over twelve years, there’s a ton of stuff about which I’ve entirely forgotten. Worse, much of it is sorely in need of revision. My perspective has changed a TON since 1997; seriously, a lot of the crap I wrote back then screams “21 and dumb” – you know, kinda like Emma herself. Or maybe just clueless, which is also apropos.
Anyway, here’s my little review of the Emma 2 soundtrack, circa 1997 with additions circa 2007. You can read the full article, which includes soundclips, here.
The Emma2 score (runs Runs 42’53”) – composed, orchestrated, and produced by Rachel Portman – is a breathtaking example of musical storytelling.
The main theme is a romantic, bittersweet, and haunting motive, airy and distant, which takes us back to a time and place when life was quiet and cheerful, if not completely happy. It at once encompasses the universality of Austen’s work and themes in its broad, sweeping strings, while at the same time capturing the intimate essence of snug, country community in its gentle woodwinds, harp, and quartet components. “Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on,” Austen once wrote.
Other themes, most notably the forbodingly driving horns and strings of the “Elton’s Rejection” and “Emma Insults Miss Bates” themes, bring home the very pressing and real horror of Emma’s blind mistakes in contrast to the gentle propriety of the main theme. Paired with the melancholy variation of the Main motive which follows it in “Miss Bates” and “Mr. Knightley Returns,” this “Blunder” Theme comes to signify both her anxious revelations and their wretched aftermath.
“The Dance” also perfectly parallels the emotions played out on-screen. As Mr. Knightley rescues the partnerless Harriet, the small sound of the dancehall ensemble is magnified into a glorious, fully-symphonic triumph.
You can buy this soundtrack through Amazon.com. If you order through this link, we will get a portion of the proceeds. You can get the piano sheet music for the End Titles and Frank Churchill Arrives in a collection of Austen film music (Emma2,S&S, P&P2, and Persuasion). It’s available from Faber Music for about five bucks a set. ISBN 0 571 51793 5.
A fun note – The End Titles track is included in the queue area music loop for the Soarin’ attraction at Walt Disney World’s Epcot park. The piece is not, however, included in the Condor Flats or Soarin’ Over California queue area loops at Disney’s California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.
Disney Theme Park Audio: Adventureland Veranda and George Bruns
Updated: See part two of this saga here!
Okay kids.
Awhile ago I bought an old, rare-ish LP of Hawaiian string exotica arranged by famed Disney composer (and traditional jazz trombonist and tubaist) George Bruns. This is the guy who wrote the tune part of “Pirates Life for Me” (X Atencio wrote the lyrics). The album’s called “Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii,” and it includes several tracks from the later Adventureland Veranda restaurant area loop at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom (I know of two different loops playing in that location; this material is from the second incarnation, ca. 1980s-1993). The title track – “Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii,” one of three tracks on the album that are original Bruns compositions – was actually featured in the International Gardens area loop at the 1964-65 World’s Fair’s Ford Pavilion (You can buy a copy of the “Walt Disney at the World’s Fair” CD set, which includes the fair version of the piece, here).
I’m not sure if the “Moonlight Time” track actually made the Adventureland Veranda (update: it did), but if you remember hearing it playing in situ, please tell me. So far, I’ve IDed a grand total of three songs from the album as AV area loop definites. If you know more, TELL ME. 😀 If you have even crappy snippets of live audio from your vaycay videos, pleeeease let me know!
I’ve bolded the three tracks that I know were used. Side one, tracks 2 and 3 apparently ran in order in the AV loop.
Side One:
1. South Sea Island Magic
2. Hawaiian Paradise (the tailend of this track shows up at the beginning of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkYXoCgXqwA)
3. Moonlight and Shadows (it’s the track that comprises the bulk of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkYXoCgXqwA)
4. To You, Sweetheart, Aloha
5. Paradise Isle
6. Song of Old Hawaii
Side Two:
1. Blue Hawaii (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZEBkZUb0uw – the piece in the video is obviously Blue Hawaii, even if it doesn’t match the album version…but it seems to)
2. Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii (seems identical to the Ford Pavilion/International Gardens version released on the WF box set…no clue if the track was ever part of the AV loop)
3. Sweet Leilani
4. Aloha Nui Hawaii
5. My Tane
6. Ka Pua (The Flower)
Anyway, you can download my full album rip as a torrent via Mousebits.com, here. For individual tracks, see this torrent.
Groovy Adventureland Veranda area loop links:
- Kali’s/AprilDecember’s Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii album adventure, Part 2
- Michael Sweeney’s Adventureland Veranda area loop v.2 tracklist
- Mike Lee’s Adventureland Veranda page, including a live recording of the v.2 area loop in situ
- Full “Moonlight Time” album on Youtube care of Foxxy
- Kali’s rip of of Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii (split track torrent) at Mousebits.com
- Kali’s rip of Moonlight Time in Old Hawaii (full album file torrent) at Mousebits.com
Have fun!
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 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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Paid Link/Ad and Review Policy
I get lots of email requesting ad link exchanges/sales and product/service reviews, so I felt it was time to officially present my policy on the matter to save us all time and hassle.
1. No one-sided link requests. I will only free-link resources which I either personally endorse or feel provide useful, pertinent content to my visitors. Sometimes I will do a link exchange, but only if the site in question meets the above criteria and maintains a reasonably visible link back to Strangegirl.com. Despite my best efforts to present truly useful outside links, I cannot personally guarantee the quality of any outgoing link presented on my site. This is particularly true as time passes (sites disappear, change, &c.).
2. I do not link dating sites, random online communities (unless I have had good firsthand experiences with the communities in question), link farms, or sites that go beyond my general PG-13 comfort level. This goes for paid links as well as free ones. That said, sometimes Google Ads serves up some oddities. While I try to weed out Google adlinks that don’t meet my standards, the nature of the AdSense beast is unpredictable. For that reason, don’t use the Google Ads you see on my site as a measure of your potential success.
2. In general, I do not free-link commercial sites. On occasion, I will free-link a commercial site that I feel has significant free content OR has provided me with excellent service, but this is relatively rare. Don’t ask for it.
3. I don’t buy content and guest blogging is limited to people I specifically ask to contribute.
4. I will mark any paid advertisements (including links) appearing on my site. This usually means that I’ll provide some sort of sponsorship proviso for the sake of my visitors, as well as a rel=nofollow link tag attribute for the sake of Googlebot.
5. All linking and ad agreements are unique. Rates, placement, and other agreement elements will vary with circumstances.
6. I reserve the right to remove links, paid or otherwise, that point to content which I feel is offensive (to me or my site visitors), fraudulent, dangerous (e.g. points to sites infested with malware, &c.), and the like. Remaining time on the agreement will not be refunded.
7. I will not update your ads. Make sure you submit correct code, copy, and imagery to me upon our initial agreement or at renewal time. Occasionally, a well-meaning adbuyer may have good reason to ask for an update; I will consider each of those requests on a case-by-case basis.
8. If you’re interested in providing goods or services for review, get in touch. Please note that items/services reviewed must meet the theme requirements of my site. Anything related to Jane Austen (particularly Emma), vintage fashion, vintage decor, pinup, and the like is most likely to appeal to my readers. Please note that I will state somewhere in my review that the items/services were provided to me for free (or, under rare circumstances, at a significant discount) for the purpose of review. While I strive for positivity on my blog, my reviews will be honest. In the rare circumstance that goods or services provided for review do not meet basic quality standards, I may opt not to publish a review. This is to the advantage of the item/service provider. Finally, I cannot return items presented for review.
9. I reserve the right to change and add to my policy – without notice – as time goes on.
Thank you.
If you want to buy an ad on any of my websites, please get in touch. Describe the ads you’d like to place. Remember to include specific URLs and precise information about your budget.
For Austenprose: Regency costuming in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey adaptations
As part of her “Go Gothic!” tribute to Northanger Abbey, my friend Laurel Ann invited me to do a light look at the costuming in the 1986 and 2007 television adaptations of the novel.
Anyway, I hope people enjoy it.