RA Pocket Shrine 135/? – Annual Easter Roundup

/ April 11, 2017

Not only did I get the go-ahead from Herba re. posting my contribution to her and die Pö’s monthly community challenge, but something else occurred today which puts me into the proper Easter mood. Totally unexpected, an Easter package arrived at my doorstep. Sender: Hariclea. The first thing that appeared when I opened the envelope, were two bags of Easter chocolates. A carefully wrapped present was decorated with bunny stickers, but even though Easter Sunday is still four days away, I could not resist opening the pressie.

I’m glad I did because the contents are absolutely perfect for upgrading my existing and rather plain Easter arrangement. So the little bunny candle is joining the Easter egg candles on my candelabra. Quite the “bunny cock of the walk”. And the pendants and felt deco pieces were exactly the perfect, tiny scale to adorn the candle holder.

So cute!!! Thank you, Hari xx. I totally did not expect that, and I love having these little decorations now on my sitting room mantle. They are in my line of vision as I type, and they remind me of you! 🙂

So, now that I am in proper Easter mood, it is time to reveal my contribution to Herba’s challenge. “Do something… with the Easter Bunny”. Herba was already wondering who I am combining with the Easter bunny. There may be a hint on the cover of the RAPS…

Fresh, yellow spring feel? Those washi tape strips can be pulled off by the recipient. So, who is going on an egg-hunt?

Sourced from Pinterest

It’s the king of the farmyard, silent but strong John Standring. His speciality is rounding up sheep. He’s really got the technique down to a tee (see right)… 🐑 👨🏼‍🌾 👏🏻

Seriously, though. I have to go on a little tangent for this scenario. This was one of the scenes in Sparkhouse that really caused a good bit of mirth when I first saw the series. Every time I see it, I get the irrepressible urge to go “tuck-tuck-tuck-tuuuuuuck”. 😂 Not that I am a serious connoisseur of shepherding techniques, but Mr Standring seems to employ a rather unorthodox approach to herding here. Could it be that he has honed his skills in the hen-house? He seems ready to take off there, fluttering around the flock. Well, he is quite the cock of run. 

His creator, uber-talented Brit actor Richard A. from rural H. undoubtedly has done his homework and researched his subject with the kind of tenacious care that he applies to all of his characters. As this was purportedly his first ever method-acted role, we can be sure that these are state-of-the-art sheep management methods, Northern England, ca. 2002.

But back to the shrine. Note that John Standring has called in his American cousin, Daniel M., to help with this year’s annual Easter Bunny Roundup. Danny may be a city kid, but he is a natural when it comes to dealing with chicks and bunnies… So is their mutual second cousin once removed, Francis ‘Dolly the Sheep’ Dolarhyde, btw, as evidenced here.

Moving on. After all that ribbing, teasing and pulling of overall-clad legs, let’s give dear John a bit of admiration space:

A sweet soul, indeed, with a very sweet, innocent smile. No further comment necessary.

So that’s my first inaugural Easter RAPS. I hope the shrine does dear John justice. He has now moved up to 5 shrines in the RAPS stats. Well deserved…

As for the shrine I previewed in my last post – the public has spoken. Consensus was that I should only reveal the shrine once the recipient has safely received the RAPS. The good news is, it is already on its way… Let’s hope the mail service will not take forever!

 

 

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97 thoughts on “RA Pocket Shrine 135/? – Annual Easter Roundup”

  3. Oh! Oh! Oh! I love the bunny! Where do you find these precious little items? Love Standring and Miller too. Everybody needs a Standring in their lives. He can gather my eggs any time.

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    • A little light relief. In tune with the season. Plus, yes, the flowery background. I realised I had a huge stash of those fabric pieces, and I really wanted to make use of it…

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  8. EInfach großartig!!! Danke fürs Mitmachen und den Lacher des Morgens! JS sieht wirklich aus, als würde er Hühner vor sich hertreiben. Hoffentlich haben ihm das die Schafe nicht übel genommen *kicher*

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  10. A sweet shrine to match the season! I had to chuckle at the “tuck, tuck” scene. Did you notice how his hands flutter while he is directing the sheep? Like he’s helping them along with a pat on their rear ends 🙂

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    • Hehe, the hands are exactly what prompted my “tuck tuck tuck” comment. It’s just too funny. I have never seen our sheep-farming cousins herd their flock like that… Inverted jazz hands?

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  11. Shrine is so lovely – John deserves this 😀
    Can’t say much more because that ‘tuck-tuck-tuck’ image of you won’t let me *rofl*

    p.s. sweet gift!

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  12. OMG i nearly dropped my phone at his sheep herding! Those fluttering hands as if the sheep could fly or something :-p So sweet! You know i never saw JS? Maybe it is high time i downloaded it onto my mobile phone and watched it on journey home and back.. JS – the… erm.. ‘sheep-flutterer’?
    So glad Royal Mail delivered timely, much better KPIs than around Xmas LOL Hopefully all Easter post will make it timely to destinations.

    Love those little bunnies 🙂

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    • What? You haven’t watched it yet? Yes, you definitely have to see it. Or you could just shorten the whole thing and watch all 42 minutes of Standring on YT. Mind you, the whole story is quite good.
      And thank you once again – I owe you a proper thank you by mail! xx

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                • Against type? I don’t think he had a type back then. 2002 – early days. No one knew yet that he would grow into the man who would cause entire web forums to crash 😉

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                    • I don’t think those two things are separate, though, and I think he was making reasonable assumptions based on previous experiences. On stage, he’d played the young Baker, who was supposed to be handsome / dashing; in drama school, he’d been Felix in the Normal Heart who is quite goodlooking; he had played Jez in Use me as your cardigan, where he plays the “tempter” role. He was cast in Casualty and Doctors as handsome young doctors (either the arrogant, or the nice, type); he’d done that random film role probably because he looked good in the tuxedo and had the floppy haircut; even keeping in mind that he’s reporting from several years later, his next two roles were Lee Preston and Paul Andrews and in both the beauty of his body is an important part of the role. Really the only other TV role he had before N&S where his good looks were irrelevant was Ultimate Force.

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                    • Thanks for giving me the context – I didn’t really have the timeline properly sorted. It all makes sense now – from playing the dashing, often cad-ish young man, he managed to get a part as a man who is meant to be unappealing at first sight. (Although they needed someone who would eventually scrub up well – the hairdresser scene).

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                    • That’s the part of his career I’ve thought in most detail about. I need to get back to that project soon. But given the preoccupation with this theme even in his interviews from 2004-2010, including for roles where his appearance is not that important, e.g., Monet (due to constant questions from the press that are due not only to fan enthusiasm but, I think, also due to his repeated casting in roles where his visual appeal was central [Guy, Harry, and as he said himself in 2009, Lucas]), I think it might have been a question for him from early on.

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                    • It probably also has a lot to do with his own view of himself, or self-worth. Getting a part because of looks may not be quite as satisfying as getting a part because of one’s skills…

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                    • well, we know that he believed he was cast as Preston because of his appearance (his boots) based on what the director said to him, and that the script description of the character made him feel insecure about his appearance in turn (did gym to get “picture perfect abs” and avoid appearing like a “lard bucket”). We can ask whether his statements on this topic reflect joking, deflection / self-deprecation / desire not to boast about his talent, or true concern with the issue, but it would seem strange to continue giving those answers if there weren’t some substance there or if it was somehow coming only from him and not from outside / things that had been said to him. It’s not like it’s exactly self-effacing to hint that one’s been cast on the basis of one’s looks, either.

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                    • We’ll never know… And I confess, I am more interested in whether and how his own view of himself has changed or not, over the years. But again – we’ll never know…

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                    • Here you and I part ways definitively, I guess — because I still believe in the (professional historian’s) project of sifting and examining sources, method, criticism, and so on. I don’t believe we know everything, but neither do we know nothing.

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                    • Hehe, note that I said “more interested”. Doesn’t mean I am “not interested” ;-). The historic perspective is always worth-while. By “we’ll never know” I really meant to express my impression that he will never disclose such insights explicitly. Implicitly, we might find out…

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                    • I just think this is like any other historical project, that’s all. There’s data that’s more or less reliable, conclusions that are more or less plausible, interpretive methods that are more or less responsible, and so on. I also know after all these years that what a historical actor actually says about himself (in whatever venue) is only one part of the story. I’m not confident that even if I were somehow closer to Armitage and were able to ask him these questions directly that his statements would be all that reliable on their own. I might or might not believe what he said. Everything’s a piece of a picture.

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                    • Hm. I suppose he was talking about his looks?
                      BTW – it’s such a pleasure to read an old interview again. Somehow it feels more candid than what we read nowadays.

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  14. Bekommt die Hasenkerze an Ostern denn auch einen Satz heiße Ohren?

    Ich stelle bei dem RAPS wieder einmal fest, dass die Zugabe eines niedlichen Viechs immer gut ist. *gg*

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  15. It seems all who have seen Standring have such a soft spot for him. Juxtaposed against all the sexy roles, he is all love, sweetness, devotion, dedication, and patience. His physical beauty is hidden, then he slowly blossoms into a handsome, confident man. 💖

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  18. Oh, lovely shrine! And wow on all the goodies from, Hari, so sweet! LOL at the sheep herding gif. I’d never paid that close attention to Mr. A’s shepherding skills before… 🙂 🙂

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  19. Ich brauche auch jemanden der sooo gut aussieht der mit mir die Ostereier sucht. Meine Kinder haben bis 12 Uhr geschlafen und dann das Osterlamm aufgefuttert 🙂 So ein netter Schäfer (zuerst allerdings zum Friseur) käme mir gerade recht 🙂
    Happy easter für Euch alle ❤

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