Masquerade 4

 

Bram Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 in Clontarf Ireland, and attended Trinity College in Dublin. He died on 20 April 1912 aged 64, in London.

 

Mostly remembered for the gothic horror novel "Dracula", which became the classic that many other horror novels were compared against and it spawned countless film and television versions. 

Stoker was inspired by places he had visited and holidayed in.

Near Cruden in Scotland is 'Slain's Castle' seen on a foggy morning the ruins have all the elements for a horror tale. 

 Slain's Castle was the source material for Dracula's Castle. Stoker visited the area staying at the hotel from 1892 till 1910 and began writing "Dracula" there in 1895. He describes its octagonal room in the novel. 

But truly many of its rooms with bricked up doorways, long narrow passageways and circular towers of spiral stairs lend themselves to the eerie and mysterious.

Especially the underground cellar-room of very crypt-like storage niches.

The other important Stoker "Dracula" location is Whitby on the Yorkshire coast. Again Stoker stayed here, and gained inspiration from the wreck of the ship Dimitry/Dimitri which did run aground below Whitby's East Cliff. Atop the cliff stands the stark ruins of Whitby Abbey and the churchyard of St Marys. 

Another inspiring location, deemed possible, is the grave of Lucy Westenra (the friend of Mina who becomes a vampiress) believed to be in London at Highgate Cemetery - the sun rises over Hampstead Heath, where Lucy was buried.

Highgate Cemetery has been utilised many times as a location for both books and film.

All hauntingly beautiful and spectral.

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Thirds 

I’ve encountered elements of Sir Walter Scott three times.

Firstly at the Wallace National Monument in Stirling, secondly at Scott’s View between Melrose and Dryburgh, and finally at Scott’s burial place at Dryburgh Abbey.

Scott’s bust in the Hall of Heroes at the National Monument 

Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh on 15 August 1771. As a child he was raised listening to the stories of the people and histories of the Scottish Borders, a voracious reader he enjoyed historical, romantic, poetical and prose works. Walter also explored his natural environment, developing a lifelong appreciation of the natural beauty of the countryside and its role in the struggles of the Scottish people.

‘Scott’s View’ Lookout overlooking the River Tweed valley

His early life laid the basis for his poems and novels. His best remember poem "The Lady of the Loch" of Ellen Douglas. While among the favourites of his novels are "Rob Roy", "Ivanhoe" and "The Waverley novels. all heavily influenced by his Scottish heritage.

The Scott Chapel at Dryburgh

Sir Walter Scott died at his home Abbotsford near Melrose on 21 September 1832 and was buried with other members of his family in a chapel of Dryburgh Abbey. It was said that as the funeral procession passed his favourite lookout, his horse paused for one final time.

Masquerade 2

 

A second bite.

Dublin and Trinity College are both associated with literature.

It is the home of the Long Room - the grand library with its barrel vaulted ceiling and shelves of historic Irish literature bookended with busts of literary greats. The room has been an inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts, and used as the Jedi Library in "Star Wars".

The most famous book at Trinity though is "The Book of Kells", the Medieval monastic manuscript of the four gospels. Transcribed on the island of Iona, it was transported to Kells for safety and later gifted to Trinity.

Oliver Goldsmith’s statue in a poppy field beside the main entrance to Trinity College. Oliver was born in Lissoy County Westmeath. He studied at Trinity as did his brother Henry. A writer and poet, he is best known for his novel “The Vicar of Wakefield”.

Always known for its strong musical traditions Ireland has supported many musical forms from folk to rock, and one of her sons Phil Lynott, the lead singer of Thin Lizzy, and the voice of the parson on Jefff Wayne’s musical version of “The War of the Worlds”.

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Our first stop - London, home to many literary references/places, here are just a few in Highgate Cemetery.

I still remember the demand for library copies of Alan Sillitoe’s “Loneliness of the long distance runner”, he was born in 1928 and died in 2010 and his headstone is in Highgate East Cemetery.

The headstone of author Alan Sillitoe

 Douglas Adams most famous for the Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy series. People who visit leave pens, plus some ‘42’ references (Deepthought’s answer to the ultimate question) & there was also a towel, now somewhat weathered. 

Highgate is also the resting place of Mary Ann Evan’s, known more famously as George Eliot. She was a female novelist of the Victorian era who wrote “The Mill on the Floss”, “Silas Marner”, “Adam Bede” and more.

Masquerade

While the Bibliophile blog has been in recess for some time, now is an ideal opportunity to bring it out of semi-retirement, masquerading as a literary travel blog.

Hopefully In the next few posts will be some photographs and a small amount of information on locations real & imagined as seen in books and films & tv.

Posts will be authored in the field on a phone - so no levels of sophistication or formatting, and subject to varying or non-existent connectivity.

Stay tuned...

For Australia Day 2021

 Great ad, watch for all the little vignette stories...and the last scene

 

"Australia 2031. Our once united nation has been divided by the great state walls. Only Aussie lamb has the power to break down the borders and reunite the states together around a lamb barbie. Because what unites us is more delicious than what divides us. Share The Lamb."

Last bus stop

Here is a postscript to the blog post I did on "Into the wild" and Chris McCandless aka Alex Supertramp, back in 2014. 
If you're unaware of the story, check out either Jon Krakauer's book or the movie.

The Supertramp bus

And why a postscript? Because the bus Chris sheltered in has been moved, actually airlifted, (link to UNILAD post of airlift) removed from Denali and placed in a storage facility as authorities decide what to do with it.
Authorities said it had become an infamously popular hiking destination over the years with many of the hikers requiring rescuing, and multiple deaths.

On route, (from Facebook)

Just like Chris' story this has provoked polarising comment, from those who saw trekking into the bus site as a pilgrimage, and those who saw it in that location as a danger to the unprepared.

The safest thing to do - is read the book or watch the movie.

The R.R.R. Tricycle

This was a highly requested film, back in the days when film meant a 16mm film reel. 
In fact I was surprised to read that the film was created in 1981, it seemed to have a 70s look & feel to it (the book was published in 1978).

This is 'The remarkable riderless runaway tricycle' by Bruce McMillan. 

It began as a picture story in which a tricycle, whose young owner distractedly abandons it, ends up in a dump, but escapes and careens around town evading adult humans in a series of humorous hi-jinks and then returns, at last, to its downcast young owner.

Then Evergreen Productions made it into this 10 minute film. Enjoy.

Your circuits dead, there's something wrong...

The other night I watched the DVD "The Martian" starring Matt Damon, a sci-fi adventure film with touches of humour, and some great atmospheric shots.

During a U.S. manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after an intense storm hits and he is left behind believed dead by his crew, as they abort the mission and return to Earth. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet.

Trapped in the mission's habitat, with only insufficient meager supplies and some humble spuds, he (‘a biologist not a real scientist’) must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist, and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Watney's own potato famine

Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crew-mates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission.

As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to champion for Watney's safe return - to ‘Bring him home’.

The Mars long-range scenes were shot in the Jordanian desert at Wadi Rum. The habitat and surrounds were shot inside the Korda Studios in Budapest, Hungary.

The "cloak-and-dagger" meeting to propose the Rich Purnell Manoeuvre is dubbed Project Elrond after the Council of Elrond in the "Lord of the Rings" series. In the scene concerning Project Elrond, Teddy Sanders (the Head of NASA, played by Jeff Daniels) quips that he wants his Codename to be Glorfindel. When this name is questioned, the first character to explain the connection is Mitch Henderson, played by Sean Bean, who played Boromir in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and was present during said council.

Author Andy Weir originally wrote the novel as a serial on his blog, then a Kindle title, publishing and film deals.

With regards the music in the film , the soundtrack to the film is "Bring him home" from Les Miserables.The soundtrack also quotes the ping at the beginning of “Echoes” by Pink Floyd.

When Mark digs up the Radioisotope Thermometric Generator (RTG) to provide warmth to the interior of the Rover, he plays an appropriate selection from Commander Lewis's dreaded disco collection - "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. 
Other song titles also pull directly from the action “Rock the boat”, “Don’t leave me this way”, and “I will survive”. Bowie’s “Starman” was a must, but they could also have played his “Space Oddity”.

Moments in the film are reminiscent of the classic "2001: A Space Odyssey", the sling-shot manoeuvre has appeared in several movies, and the duct tape on the helmet visor => “MacGyver”.

Another great Ridley Scott venture into space, and wonderfully portrayed by Matt Damon with just the right amount of larrikin.

Classic book to tv animation

I missed the lead up to this one. The BBC has made a Bottersnikes & Gumbles tv series. I read all of S.A. Wakefield’s books, and have a paperback copy of the first – “Bottersnikes and Gumbles”.

Bottersnikes and Gumbles are fictitious creatures in a series of children's books by Australian author S.A. Wakefield and illustrator Desmond Digby (who died in April this year, Wakefield died in 2009). Four books were published between 1967 and 1989. The series is a classic of Australian children's literature.

Deep in the bush live some very strange creatures ...

Bottersnikes live in rubbish heaps along dusty roadsides in the lonely Australian bush. They have green wrinkly skin, cheese grater noses and long, pointed ears that go red when they are angry. Which is most of the time.

Giggling Gumbles live in the bush, too. They are cheerful little creatures who can be squashed into all sorts of shapes, but cannot pop back into their proper shape unless helped. This makes the friendly Gumbles useful to the lazy Bottersnikes, who have some very nasty plans ...

The Bottersnikes may have some tricks up their sleeves, but so do the resourceful Gumbles.
The battle has begun!

The Bottersnike King & Gumble Tink

The animated tv series is by the BBC (yes British not Australian) and the Seven Network and has it’s own webpage with videos, the character bios, and an ‘About’ page which includes a ‘making of’ clip.

The major difference in the animated series from the books is that while the stories recounted conflicts between the lazy, destructive Bottersnikes and good-natured, hardworking Gumbles. The two species were intended to represent opposing attitudes towards the environment; those who destroy the bush, and those who clean it up, this is missing from the new stories. Inspiration for the original stories came from the emerging environmental movement in the 1970s.

Chank the sneaky 2-I-C to the King

Read the complete adventures of the Bottersnikes & Gumbles, and watch the premiere on 7Two on 22nd December at 7:30am.

Lights - Camera - Lego!

There are few toys as timeless and iconic as the humble LEGO block. However, in the 55 years since the LEGO block was born, another industry has created thousands of iconic images that we’ve grown to know and love.

What better way to celebrate the motion picture industry than by recreating some of these recognisable images in LEGO form?

Charlton Heston drives some static horses in 'Ben Hur'

'The Matrix' complete with water-wall effect

In ‘Brick Flicks : 60 iconic movie scenes and posters to make from Lego’ by Warren Elsmore, the author has recreated 60 famous movies from one of the earliest colour films - ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939), right up to the computer-generated imagery of ‘The Life of Pi’ (2012). The journey takes us through action, comedy, drama, science fiction and more as we celebrate the versatility of the LEGO palette. 
Each film brings its own challenges to create an image that is instantly recognisable. In some instances, the author has chosen to use a scene from the film itself and in some cases the movie poster itself is the ‘main protagonist’. Either way, the image brings back memories – or perhaps triggers a desire to expand your own film collection!

Check out this YouTube clip, especially the ‘Dr No’ and ‘The Shining’ ones (the Lego face does look like Jack Nicholson).

Yes - 'My heart will go on' , 'Titanic'

The full-colour photography is accompanied by a commentary and interesting facts on the movie, how the scenes were made, and step-by-step instructions for constructing some of the smaller projects yourself at home.

Warren Elsmore is an adult fan of LEGO, he's been in love with the little plastic brick since the age of four, and now lives out many people’s dream of earning a living playing with Lego!

Orson Welles' classic 'Citizen Kane'

Into this

This is one story which passed me by and I’ve only just discovered it – ‘Into the wild’ Jon Krakauer’s retelling of Chris McCandless’ tale.
 

I enjoyed Jon’s storytelling style in ‘Into thin air’, and have to admit it was the same with ‘Into the wild’ (do you see a theme here?). I was reading the library’s ebook version and I found it hard to put down, I’d get a few minutes and start reading, was at the hairdressers and peering at it via the small phone screen – and this was despite already knowing the ending! It wasn’t enough though, after reading the book I had to check out the film. Sean Penn directed the movie version which is based on Jon's book and told in a series of flashbacks.

It is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless played by Emile Hirsch.The film is beautifully shot, and I liked the concept of utilising the words from Chris' postcards on the screen.

The Plot: When he graduated in May 1990, Christopher had rejected the trappings of his conventional life – cutting up his credit cards and ID, donating his college fund savings ($24,000) to Oxfam, and instead he sets out to experience life in the wilderness – without telling anyone, in fact masquerading his activities.

Chris’ old yellow Datsun is caught in a flash flood, so he just abandons it. He burns his last money, begins hitchhiking, and assumes the name: Alexander Supertramp. As Alex he encounters different people who take him in (and listen to his philosophy on life). But he keeps moving on, captivated with the idea of going north to Alaska.

In April 1992, Chris arrives in a remote area of the Denali National Park in Alaska, and sets up camp in an abandoned bus used by hunters. At first, he is content with the isolation, the beauty of nature, and the thrill of living off the land.

Months later, he encounters difficulties, life becomes harder and he becomes less discerning. As his supply of rice (his staple) begins to run out, he realises that the nature he wants to experience is also harsh and uncaring and unrelenting, and he decides to return to civilisation, his family and friends. But, the stream he had crossed before the Spring melt is now a torrent and uncrossable (at least from where he is standing).

Seemly doomed, he returns to the bus, now as a prisoner no longer in control of his fate and reliant on help from the outside. Forced to gather and eat roots& berries, he apparently confuses two similar plants and suffers from an inability to digest food and wastes away. He writes a farewell to the world and crawls into his sleeping bag to die. Two weeks later, his body is found by groups of moose hunters.

When the events happened it caused a flood of comments which polarised people who considered him a free spirit, and those who considered him an unprepared innocent abroad. Similarities have since been drawn with Timothy Treadwell who was killed by a bear in 2003.

But concentrating on Jon’s telling of the story, some is supposition on what caused Chris to eat the seeds, what truly motivated him etc. There is also a chapter on Jon’s experiences climbing the Devil’s Thumb illustrating the parallels between his early life and Chris’. Jon investigated the story, he spoke with Chris' family and the people he had met on his travels.

In the resulting book, Jon seeks to examine and explain the obsession which leads some people to explore the outer limits of self, leave civilisation behind and seek enlightenment through solitude and contact with nature.

I have to admit amongst a whole host of thoughts I was left wondering, would it have ended differently if Chris had not found the bus refuge, would his experience have been curtailed if he wasn't cocooned by the added physical security provided by the bus' living conditions, and headed home sooner?? We'll never know.

Out of this world books

A collection sci-fi/adventure film books passed my desk today.

Pacific Rim : Man, Machines & Monsters chronicles the production of the film with stunning concept art, captivating photography, and cast and crew descriptions of the shoot.

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, start rising from the sea, a war begins that will take millions in lives and consume humanity’s resources for years. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special weapon is devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, that are piloted by an international crew of soldiers in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. But even the Jaegers prove nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, two unlikely heroes:- a washed-up former pilot and an untested trainee - team up to pilot a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger on a mission to halt the mounting apocalypse. The book chronicles the production of the film with stunning concept art, captivating photography, and cast and crew descriptions of the shoot.

Terminator vault : the complete story behind the making of the ‘Terminator’ and ‘Terminator 2: Judgment day’ presented in a slip case it has a number of pockets of ephemera through its pages.

Born out of James Cameron's fever dream, the relentless Terminator has become a cinematic juggernaut. The original ground-breaking film, The Terminator, and its mighty sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, not only assured the blockbuster career of their director but also turned their star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, into an icon. Movies about the dark side of humanity's love affair with technology, they redefined the boundaries between science fiction, horror and action, and set astonishing new standards for special effects.

The vault brings to light the stories behind the landmark films drawing on interviews with James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other cast members. There are storyboards, rare photos of the miniatures, diagrams

And from the giant of sci-fi  comes The making of Star Wars : the definitive story behind the original film : based on the lost interviews from the official Lucasfilm archives.

George Lucas spent almost 10 years bringing his dream project to life: a ground-breaking space fantasy movie - a swashbuckling sci-fi saga inspired by vintage Flash Gordon serials, classic American westerns, and mythological heroes. Its original title: The Star Wars. The rest is history. Yet its production is a story as entertaining and exciting as the film itself. Now, recounted in the words of those who were there, it is finally being told, for the first time. During the years 1975 to 1978, over 50 interviews were conducted with key members of the cast and crew. Remarkably these interviews have sat, undisturbed, in the Lucasfilm Archives for three decades. Until now. The interviews are fresh, candid and - above all - more accurate than many other reported accounts.

Now linking Star War with the last book is Harrison Ford - he stars in both. Based on the best-selling novel, "Ender's Game" Jed Alger's Ender's Game : inside the world of an epic adventure tells the thrilling story of the fight to save the world from a devastating future. I remember reading "Enders Game" (which became the first of the Ender Wiggins series) years ago. In this official companion volume, the behind-the-scenes world of the film are brought into stunning focus. Packed with in-depth interviews, removable posters and army badges, stunning concept art, unparalleled access to the visual effects archives at Digital Domain, and countless full-colour images, this insightful insider's view of the making of "Ender's Game" will bring fans closer into the world of the movie, following cast and crew as it is brought to dazzling life.  
Like the films they portray these coffee-table books are bigger than life, bright and flashly, full of impossibilities, and a wonderful introduction to the films themselves.

Wow weekend

On the weekend, I had a chance to tick a couple of boxes

Kattemingga's church

I'd come across a Pinterest photo of 'Old church in fog, Kattemingga, Victoria, Australia', was intrigued didn't know Kattemingga - so Internet search = it is in central Victoria just south of Newbury. 

The grounds of Kattemingga Lodge

Kattemingga Lodge is a 150 acre farm, with a accommodation, AND a film-set used for 'The Man from Snowy River', 'Ponderosa', 'The Mole', and a number of commercials - I had to visit!
The farm/lodge is currently operated by Nola & Gary Whitehouse and who have been there for 35 years, but as Nola is about to turn 72, they have decided to retire, having sold the property to a Buddhist retreat, so the future of the film-set buildings is uncertain (and my recording of them imperative).

The main street of the film-set

With all the planning of a military campaign, I stayed Friday night at the Lodge overlooking this - 

Then up before the crack of dawn

And cycle off to take lots of photos

 

The buildings are falling into decline, but were constructed as complete structures, not just facades, with the interiors also being used for shooting

 

The Hotel being a bit more up-market than the saloon, and still with a couple of props on location.

 

 

 

 

 

  I whiled away some hours wandering around and through the set, then took off to satisfy yearns for caches, bridges, cemeteries...more on that next post.