Jake Gyllenhaal at the Lucille Lortel Awards and out and about in NYC. Plus a WDW Spring Interlude

Last night (5 May), the Lucille Lortel Awards took place at New York University's Skirball Center. Jake Gyllenhaal had a nomination for his role in If There Is.... but although he didn't win, the next best thing happened. Jake presented an award to his young co-star in the play, Annie Funke, who was hailed as best featured access for her role. Details here. One suspects Jake was very proud indeed.

Meanwhile, Jake has been seen out and about across NYC over the last few days. He was spotted out for a walk on 2 May with End of Watch co-star America Ferrera, who was also at the Lucille Lortel Awards, before later catching up with Marcus Mumford (photos here).America also attended the Lucille Lortel Awards. Later that evening, Jake attended The Great Gatsby after party with its leading lady Carey Mulligan (and wife of Marcus). Good to hear that also sitting at the same table was another co-star of Jake's, Tobey Maguire. This was the place to be. What a shame I live in Oxford and couldn't make it...

On 3 May, Jake was seen out for a walk with his mum Naomi.

Not all potential new movie news is good news. It turns out that we (and I would argue Jake) had a lucky escape. We hear this week that Jake was considered for a role in The Hangover, as was Lindsay Lohan. Takes a deep breath and exhales in relief. It was not meant to be.

Thanks very much to IHJ for the pics! There are plenty more there.

WDW Interlude

Finally, after the most horrible summer and winter on record, Spring has arrived in the UK! We've had two weeks of warm sunshine now and while more snow should not be ruled out it has meant that I've been escaping the four walls of work and home for the glorious, hay fevery countryside. Time for an interlude...

The Rollright Stones

The Roman villa hidden in the woods of Gloucestershire

Spring at the Cotswold Wildlife Park

 

May Day in Oxford

Spring in Avebury

Now you see me...

And now you don't.

You can never have enough Jake Gyllenhaal audiobooks - first Great Gatsby and now Ducklings!

A quick update today to remind you that Jake Gyllenhaal's reading of The Great Gatsby is available today to listen to. No longer will commuting be a pain, now the longer the drive the better. Who needs to learn a foreign language when instead you can fill your car journey with Jake's well-formed vowels?

The audio book - all 4 hours and 49 minutes of it - is available from Audible.com. You can listen to snippets here. In the UK, you can download it from Amazon. The CD will be available on 7 May to buy if you want something tangible to keep.

However, if the Great Gatsby is not to your taste and you fancy something a little less....human, then you are in luck! It would appear that Jake has caught the narrating bug and has managed to combine it with a healthy interest in ducks. Jake is also narrating for the nook three kiddie books by Robert McClusky: Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine. Admittedly only one is about ducks but I like ducks. Of course, Jake once very nearly appeared in Howard the Duck but his mother wouldn't let him (sensible woman). Thanks for Gyllencrazy for the tweet!

Jake Gyllenhaal records audiobook of The Great Gatsby to accompany the movie release starring friend Carey Mulligan

It is no secret that Jake Gyllenhaal is a treat for the senses. Not only for our eyes (obviously) and noses (less obviously), but also for our ears. Just as well we have two of them. Earlier this month, we had a sniff of rumour that Jake had recorded an audiobook using his voice. It turns out that this rumour had legs - Jake has indeed recorded an audiobook and it's nothing less than one of my favourite books The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, recorded for Audible.

This is designed to accompany the latest Hollywood dramatisation of the novel which stars Leo DiCaprio and Jake's good friend and Brothers' co-star Carey Mulligan. We don't forget that Jake even celebrated Carey's wedding to Marcus Mumford in wellies in a barn in Somerset last year. Surely recording an audiobook for her film is the least Jake could do.

I have just heard (thanks Susan!) that Tobey Maguire is also in The Great Gatsby and that Jake May be reading his part of Nick Carraway ('a Midwesterner turned New York salesman')! When we say that it's a small world, it really is...

The recording is available to buy for your digital device on 9 April (I'm assuming that 04-09-13 is written the American way...) and one hopes that it will also work on this side of the pond. The unfortunate news is that the novel is only 115 pages long and not the length of the 1086 edition of Doomsday. But 115 pages is better than nothing and maybe all my ears can cope with before my eardrums explode with the pressure of the excitement.

Pic source: ebay and thanks to Susan for the perfume information! Scans from IHJ.