Now that I think about it, it makes sense that Henry VIII (also known to Googlers as “Henry teh 8) was addicted to love. It was in his genes! The corpulent lady-killer was a descendant of notorious 14th-century lovers: John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt wasn’t called that because he was rexi.He…
book club
Book Club: Empress Matilda, Part III
Pretend you’re hearing that TV announcer voice: “Previously, on Wendy Brandes Jewelry….” Now go read these: Book Club: Empress Matilda, Part I Book Club: Empress Matilda, Part II You’re finally ready for the last episode of the Empress Matilda chronicles. As I’ve said, Matilda was a real fighter. That’s why the necklace I designed for…
Book Club: Empress Matilda, Part II
Time to get back to my 12th century friend, Empress Matilda. As I explained in my first post on Matilda, she was the rightful heir to her father, Henry I of England, but upon her father’s death in 1135, Matilda’s throne was usurped by her less-competent cousin Stephen. The obstreperous English barons rallied to Stephen’s…
Book Club: Empress Matilda, Part I
Greetings from Paris! Did you think Thursday Book Club was gone forever? Au contraire, mes freres! I haven’t been slacking; I’ve been working like a chien to bring you a good post. Yep, I’ve been working this hard. I previously mentioned the English Civil War of the 1600s. If you search online for English Civil…
Thursday Book Club: Gypsy Rose Lee
Eric Idle, the author of the Monty Python musical Spamalot, recently changed the show’s lyrics to take out a reference to Britney Spears. “Because we don’t laugh at sad people,” he explained. Now, for accuracy’s sake, he might want to change the lines about the joys of musical theater sung by Spamalot’s timid Sir Robin:…
Thursday Book Club: Lady Jane Grey
Infamous New York Post headline from 1982 If only the New York Post had been around in 16th century England! Imagine what the ink-stained wretches at Ye Olde Tabloid would have done with the story of Lady Jane Grey, the headless teen queen whose reign was as brief as the love between Dennis Rodman and…
Patti LuPone Post From Jan. 26*
Patti LuPone in Evita back in the day As I mentioned on my wrongly-blocked-by-Google blog, Patti LuPone is one of my obsessions. So today is a happy day, my peeps! I have tickets to see Patti (again) in Gypsy. The show has moved to Broadway! Get your tickets at telecharge.com. If you go, keep an…
What Is This?
Eek! Is there yet another Wendy Brandes prowling around? I assure you I have nothing to do with this. Separately, it’s Thursday, yet there’s no Thursday Book Club. I’ve decided I won’t do the book club every Thursday, just on occasional Thursdays. I’m reading a lot of books simultaneously, and I’d rather take my time…
Thursday Book Club: Empress Wu, Part II
Welcome back to the increasingly erratic Thursday Book Club! In my last real Book Club post, I discussed Empress Wu, the only woman in the history of China to be called “emperor” during her lifetime. Since then, I’ve done a couple of fake Book Club post about Christopher Walken’s ass and books I bought while…
Book Club: Shopping Under the Influence
I was determined to get back into my royal lady book posts today, but I seem to have misplaced the Empress Wu novel that I was working on. Plus, I’m feeling a bit flu-ish, which has sapped me of the energy necessary to tear through the house on a mad search for Empress Wu, especially…