Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

The New Movie Beowulf is set to break Friday here in the States and the world premiere was recently done in Britain. Angelina and Brad showed up for the premiere and Angelina had a slight problem with her leather pants in that they split a little in the back. Brad showed his chivalry by helping her cover it up.

I don’t want to make a big deal out of the split in her pants but I do want to say something about the body language here. It just seems to me to be very caring and very respectful. I really think this couple is solid. Brad is respectful yet protective. Bravo on your chivalry Brad. Sometimes the smallest of acts say the most.

Angelina plays Grendel’s Mother in the movie and is called “The Water Demon”. You have probably seen some of these quite revealing scenes. She told people magazine that she was surprised by how vulnerable she felt at watching these scenes even though it was computer generated graphics. I have this video if you want to see it.

Here is my favorite clip. It really gives you a sense of the epic fantasy of the movie and the history of the hero in our psyche. Here’s a quote by Beowulf “We swam for five days neck and neck. I was conserving my strength for the final stretch when this storm blew up. And with it came Sea Monsters.” Just freaking great! I Love it!

Anyway there is a massive amount of new stuff breaking about the movie including new trailers and some great fan mixed videos to sound tracks. I have put more stuff together for you to watch including some videos like: “Grendel Attacks Mead Hall”, “Dragon Attacks Castle”, “Meet the Water Demon”, and a few more. Check out the page of videos I have put together for you here New Beowulf Videos

Enjoy some of the movie now - Get the Beowulf Podcast

No need for you to strap on your sword, jump in the warboat and travel half way across the world to experience some of the modern storytelling aspects of Beowulf and the making of the movie. You can enjoy the official Beowulf Podcast.

It is an ongoing podcast and over the course of the next several weeks they are going to be interviewing the cast, director and writers. Here is a schedule of guests:

1) Introduction Episode - 8/13
2) John Malkovich - 8/20
3) Robin Wright-Penn - 8/27
* week of 9/3 no episode due to Labor Day
4) Steve Starkey - 9/10
5) Anthony Hopkins - 9/17
6) Crispin Glover - 9/24
* week of 10/1 debut new trailer with Apple.com
7) Brendan Gleeson - 10/8
8) Doug Chiang - 10/15
9) Roger Avary & Neil Gaiman - 10/22
10 Ray Winstone - 10/29
11) Angelina Jolie - 11/5
12) Robert Zemeckis - 11/12
Here is the podcast link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=262082826

Note: If you don’t have the iTunes player you will be taken to a download link. Just download the software and then when the choice comes up to go to your library or the itunes store select the iTunes store. (There is no cost here, nothing to buy). Then click on the podcast button on the left of the screen and beowulf will come right up. You can listen to any of the installments that have been broadcast and can sign  up for the feed so you get the new installments as they are made. Take a few minutes and slay this Grendel of technology.

If you want to learn more here are some resources for you:

• The Official Beowulf Movie Website (Has lots of free stuff including a game you can play)
• Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition) (Book) A modern and really good book available at amazon. The bilingual edition means it is both in modern English and old English
• The iTunes Podcast:  http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=262082826
• Beowulf MySpace Page

This movie is looking like it is going to be something really special and I have a lot more materials coming for you both on this blog and on some of my websites. Check out the podcast and the website and check back with me again real soon.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Yesterday was a big football day and everything revolved around the Patriots game but we still scheduled a meeting of the mead club and we made our first adventure into the world of exotic and flavored meads. Before the game and then a bit during half time we mixed up four batches of mead and they look really promising. I think they are going to be quite delicious.

The four gallon sizes in the front of the picture are the new batches and from left to right they are Sweet Raspberry Mead, Vanilla Metheglyn, Pumpkin Mead, and Ancient Orange. The assortment of colors really give an autumn feel to the meadery.

We used a variety of different yeasts including one batch with Fleischmann’s yeast which can be bought in any grocery store. That particular batch is bubbling away which tells us that the yeast is very active and quick to grow.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The History Channel Special “The Lost Book of Nostradamus” was the number one show on cable television Sunday night. It topped the ratings! If you saw the show you no doubt was shocked by some of the stuff. If you didn’t see the show you still have a chance to see it again. The History Channel will be showing it again on Nov 3 at 5pm. Hop on over to the History Channel to learn more

I have written some in-depth coverage of the show here on my blog. Here is the link to read my post on The Lost Book

Popularity: 34% [?]