Tudoring Myself

I've always been fascinated with The Tudors- not admiring, mind you, just amazed that so many cataclysmic changes came about because Henry couldn't manage to sire a son with Catherine of Aragon. My guess is that a break with the Catholic Church would have happened regardless, but not then, and not that way. How would the world be different if he had? Or if any of the Tudors had been more prone to the Y chromosome ( their only choices in the family were Mary, Elizabeth, Mary of Scotland, Lady Jane Grey...)(and we know what happened to the last two).

The latest fascination with Henry, et al, was triggered by watching the first 2 seasons of The Tudors ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758790/ ), which played fast and loose with a lot of the history (including keeping Henry young and buff long past his young/buff expiration date), but which also made me sympathetic enough with Anne Boleyn to cry just a bit at her execution.

I went from there to Anne of a Thousand Days ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064030/ )- where Richard Burton made a much more historically accurate Henry, and Genvieve Bujold a totally unbelievable Anne (with 60's hair, regardless of historical era). One thing these fictional accounts all agree on: Thomas Boleyn was a monster- willing to sacrifice three of his children for his own financial gain. That and C of A rocked the unibrow.


Blockbuster bundled Anne M with Mary Queen of Scots ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067402/

) , which I am watching now, starring a very young and beautiful Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson. I'm not very far into it, but it's good.

I also have A Man for All Seasons ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060665/) on hand, which, at least as far as the cast list goes, tells the story of Henry and Thomas Moore without mentioning Anne at all.

And coming, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066714/ ) which is a BBC mini series from 1970.

And what am I doing as I watch all of the Tudor excesses? Finishing Orion's Socks (which do not want to photograph well- maybe those colors confuse the autofocus), and starting a pair of mitered cuff socks from Twisted Playful leftover yarns. I decided, a little late in the game, that I want a new pair of socks for each day of the Sock Summit- despite the fact that Portland in August is absolutely not wool sock weather. I already have 2 pairs done (the Entrelac socks, and Orion's), I'll have the mitered cuff socks done before we leave on vacation in less than 2 weeks, and that just leaves one more pair to knit, which I can do on the road. I haven't knit this many pairs for me in a row since I first gave myself permission to spend money on sock yarn. I have to say that I'm enjoying it enormously.

Side note: I'm having a hard time getting links to copy/paste correctly, and I have never been able to embed the links properly. sorry