X marks the spot - On the Jake Gyllenhaal treasure trail

I'm glad to see that all that research in the smugglers inns and pirate bays of Cornwall has paid off - for tonight we are on a quest for treasure! But I cannot take credit for the choice for today's post. The first WDW poll (on favoured Jake Gyllenhaal bits) has closed, the votes have been counted and verified, and now we gather for the result.*




There was drama: a recount was demanded after Jake's chest gathered votes in the closing hours, but we can now declare Jake's Tum and associated treasure trail the winner, just 2% ahead of the chest and 4% ahead of arms and derriere. Perhaps not surprisingly, Jake's back was last, which is no reflection on the back but more a realisation that it is difficult to look at Jake's back and face at the same time. In the coming hours and days, no doubt, serious analysis will ensue to determine what these results will mean for us in the longterm. Thanks to every one of you who took the time to vote!





Jake's treasure trail is rarely spoken of without hushed tones - its place in Gyllendom is almost legendary, perhaps even reaching the heights of the ages-old obsession of what scent Jake wears. Fortunately, Jake loves to show it and others like to show it for him. It's a win-win situation.





But the tummy is even more than the treasure trail.




Let us hope that Jake never has to face the day that Ashton Kutcher once had to face - the actor had to wax his treasure trail (and chest) in order to look like his stunt double. If Jake has to have stunt doubles, may they be hairy.





*No expenses were claimed during the democratic process, except for a pack of rich tea biscuits, which kept me fortified while writing multiple posts for several eventualities (I didn't do a feet post...).



Includes pictures by IHJ.

Empire magazine scan, a surfer's paradise and Maggie filming in London

I can tell I'm back home from my brief visit to Cornwall because I have sunburn down the right side of my body from having sat in traffic jams for 6 hours. And I still have sand in my socks. As promised, I've now been able to scan the Empire magazine page for Prince of Persia and Jake Gyllenhaal. Most of it, you'll know now but click on it and it'll be embiggened.


Before I left Cornwall, I spent a very hot and sandy morning in Bude, which has some serious surf and some serious surfers. It also has a surf school, reminding me of something and someone...









Meanwhile, Maggie is in England at the moment. She's filming Nanny McPhee - a curiosity, if ever there was one - in London and in Shepperton Studios to the south of the river. Maggie has quite a look in the film, as you'll see from these photos.





And a final reminder...

There is about 20 hours left to vote in our poll of Jake's bits (see the sidebar). Take your pick!

Includes pictures from IHJ, WDW and links.

A sunny Cornish Interlude - All good things...

A gratuitously off topic post today, largely because Jake Gyllenhaal is not in Cornwall, even though he'd love it... May my sunburnt nose serve as a beacon for all travellers.



The Eden Project



No jellyfish were injured during the making of this post.





Back on topic later! Time to hit the road and get back home.

Empire: Jake 'has to be able to take his clothes off and look good!' - and a Cornish Interlude

The July issue of Empire magazine hit the shops today. I don't have access to a scanner at the moment and so, to illustrate the article, please find instead pictures from Port Isaac in Cornwall. Brits may recognise this beautiful village and harbour as the setting for Doc Martin. I recommend the fish and chips, set off by the brass band that walks through the steep streets followed by a crowd that can't quite believe what it's seeing.


'Anyone who's even spent five minutes toying with Prince of Persia's source material - Jordan Mechner's 2003 remake of his own 1989 Atari game - will have an inkling of the physical challenges that await Jake Gyllenhaal as its titular royal, Dastan. Before anyone outside of France has even heard the word 'parkour', the pixelled Prince was running along vertical surfaces, divinf across spiked pits, ducking under mechanical swinging blades... Ramparts, dungeons and elaborate, Indiana-Jonesian deathtraps were all his playground.



Although not if director Mike Newell is playing. 'I did actually once manage to get him three steps horizontally along a wall before he fell off', chuckles Newell... 'Big afternoon that was!''... Not only will it feature a wealth of acrobatic action as Dastan takes on shadowy assassin cult The Hanssansin in a fantasised sixth-century Persia, key to the plot is The Dagger of Time, a magical weapon/MacGuffin that allows its wielder to reverse time. In this advernture, Newell assures us much is at stake.'


''This isn't just kind of kiss kiss, bang bang,' he insists. 'Not at all. It's like a sort of superheated, superactioned Noah story. It's what happens when the gods get angry and get so fed up with human beings they want to rub them out and start all over again. But then - and I can't remember where exactly this comes from, even though I used to know the Bible off by heart because I heard it six days a week when I was younger! - there is this wonderful line which says: 'So long as there is just this one man, you can't kill us all'...'


'Of course, that 'one man' requires special qualities, qualities which Newell believe Gyllenhaal possesses in abundance. 'He has to be able to ride. He has to be able to fight. He has to be able to take his clothes off and look good!' Gyllenhaal, meanwhile, seems happy with taking on such a legendary destiny. 'I'm always fascinated with these kinds of stories of the hero's journey,' he says. 'You're playing a legitimate hero, you know? I think it's an honour to do that.''


I was rather taken by the name of this tea shop...


Includes pictures from WDW and Empire.