More than a couple of people have mentioned that I should do Cabana Boys from across the pond, specifically from the various BBC shows. Now, I don't pretend to know all of the shows, but I have a more than passing familiarity with a few and with the lovely boys who populate said shows, so, why not?

One of my first favorites was lovely, lovely Lloyd Owen. I first decided I loved the gorgeous eyes and equally gorgeous speaking voice when he played Young Indy's father on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Imagine my glee when he showed up on BBC Scotland's Monarch of the Glen as long-lost bastard brother Paul. Seemed like people were mostly hot for Archie (Alastair Mackenzie) but oh no, I liked Paul. What's not to like?

As Henry Jones, Sr. & a shot from Monarch.


( Let's swim across the pond, shall we? )

( And because Dr. Who/Torchwood have their own special category of pretty, a separate cut for them )

And just to leave you with one of my favorite shots of pretty... John and James.



ION, I'm guest blogging today over at Romancing the Blog on how a book's birth can be compared to the gestation period of the elephant. Seriously. No, I'm not just a little loopy these days.

Do you hear that? That... sound? Or lack thereof? For the first time in two weeks I am completely alone in my own home, aside from my pets. The first week was Spring Break, of course, and then the second week was the recovery from Spring Break, whereupon the Diva and the Boy were both sick, the Diva for the whole week, poor lamb.

Didn't stop me from practically shoving them out the door this morning. "No, seriously, you are HEALTHY. Go!"

At any rate, I'm in the mood for nurturing Cabana Boys. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm an animal lover. We have my beautiful dogs, lovely Mooshu and silly Jasmine, and Jack-Jack, the cat.



So what does this have to do with nurturing Cabana Boys? Well, I figure any boy who loves the critters will make a good, nurturing Cabana Boy. Strangely, I couldn't find pictures of Boys with cats. I popped it into a Google Search and this is what I came up with:



Yeah, uh, definitely not what we want.

ETA: Saved by hilleviw Hot guys with kitties do exist! The very lovely banjo virtuoso, Bela Fleck and Animal.



Now, about those puppies...

Look at that—any boy who cuddles a puppy like that...



Then there's Orlando and his pretty puppies on a beach walk. He brought at least one of the puppies home from Morocco, I think it was, when he was filming Kingdom of Heaven.



( It's not just about the puppies )

Now, about those Brazilians...

I've made no secret of my Rodrigo-love. I mean, what's not to love, right? The eyes, the hair, the smile, the fact that he looks amazing lounging in a bathtub...*le sigh*




*ahem* Sorry. Went off to my Happy Place. But I tell you, you'd think that Rodrigo would be an exception, right? I mean, how many men can there be like that? Apparently, in Brazil, they practically grow on trees.

( Seriously, what's in the water there? )

I think this is going to require more research. What do you guys think? Road trip to Ipanema?

Just sort of all over the place... because I can. Perhaps next week I'll have a theme again but right now, I'm too tired and just wanna admire the pretty.

Lessee... People en Español's 50 Más Bellos issue just came out and there are some nice specimens in there and some that were omitted. This one, William Levy, caught my eye. Nice Cuban boy...




And Cristián made the list this year




Of course, being me, I wouldn't mind if there were certain repeats every year. Like Chayanne



Jaime Camil



Alejandro Fernández...



Yeah... sorry... went off into my Happy Place.

Hm... let's move on, shall we?

( More Boyz behind the cut to spare those who'd rather move along )

And I have no idea who this is, outside of his name, Alejandro López, but I will be finding out more. Oh yes, I will... Oh, I found out one other fact. He's my age. Oh my.

Yeah, we're just pretty much going to go for straight up, random pretty that I found in my forays around the 'net.

Wonder what Jude's been up to?



So I'm being shameless—sue me. Whatever anyone may think, the boy's cut.



And has pretty...




EYES.

Pervs. I knew what you were thinking. But tell me it's not true.


( More Spring Break goodness behind the cut )


Finally, for my darling Cindy who sent me a gigantic all caps sort of email, this lovely Boy, Chris Winters, won the Mr. Romance 2008 at Romantic Times this past week. Cindy was especially thrilled since during the reenactment of romance novel covers, he was her cover model, depicting her hero. So she kind of had a personal investment—besides, she said he was just plain nice. If Cindy says you're nice, Chris, then you're okay by us around these parts.




*sigh*

Now more laundry. If only the boyz were around to help with that...

Hello?

*echoes around empty blog*

We were told this was the place to be?

Anyone...?







Think we should just wait?

Um... bueno Barbara sent me to sing and dance for you. She said I was much more entertaining than she is at the moment...

Hm... hello? Is anyone out there?

Perhaps we should simply proceed as if things are... normal.

This is Barb we're talking about.

Well... fine. We should simply proceed as if she's here, then. Happy?

Happy has nothing to do with it. I'm just trying for precision. You know how she is.

True. Well let's get started then.

Hello, everyone. As two of Barb's most favored Cabana Boys



we've taken it upon ourselves to announce that she's currently buried under deadline—

And don't forget worried about mucking up the revisions to high heaven and back.

I wasn't going to say that. Now she's really going to be mad.

Pffft. I'll just lounge in the tub and wait for her. She can never stay mad at me when I lounge in the tub.



Only if you're waiting with chocolate. Or a cocktail.

Heh. You said cocktail.

Act your age, for God's sake.

Oh, so terrifying, Mr. Dressed All in Black



Would you quite bollocksing around and let's get on with it?

Fine. How about we go with dressed in black as a theme then?

Fine. We and the Boys have decided that in Barb's absence, we'll voluntarily put ourselves out there for your enjoyment. *glares* Don't say a word

Wasn't about to.

We'd hate for her to worry that she's letting everyone down. So without further ado, boys...

( A veritable parade of Cabana Boys in Black )

Do you think that's enough?

Is it ever, with this crowd?

Well, it will just have to do. The rest of the boys have gone into hiding.

Cowards.

Hey, wait!

What?



Just have to have the last word, don't you?

What? I'm in black! You're just jealous. She likes me best.

You just keep dreaming that, Brazilian boy.

Today's Cabana Boys are going to be All About the fabulous, fantastic, and über-talented Carrie Jones aka carriejones

Why? Because Grover Loves Carrie.



And because John Wayne told us to.

Darn tootin' I did, little lady.




(If you read Carrie's blog with any regularity, you'll understand that Grover and John Wayne are regular visitors.)

All the love is, in part, because Carrie's fabulous and also because Carrie's running for the Maine State Legislature and she's that rarest of creatures—a grass-roots candidate who is impassioned about doing the best for her state. The kind of person who used to run for office because they genuinely cared.

So I think today, in honor of Carrie, we'll go with a retro sort of vibe. What do y'all think?



How about George and Brad in full Rat Pack mode?



While we're at it, what about the original Rat Pack?



( More celebratory Boyz behind the cut )

So boys, what we say we raise our glasses in toast to Carrie?



That's not a glass!



Oy... Carrie, you'll have to excuse the boys. They're very excited to be celebrating the fabulousness that's YOU!




*MWAH*

I started out feeling rather random, but a theme emerged and I just ran with it.

We know I'm a sucker for the pretty eyes already, so mock me and move along, k?



I did say pretty eyes, right?



What? His eyes are pretty!



So are his.



( We'll keep going with the pretty eyes. Just 'cause. )

And dude, who cares what color his eyes are. Seriously.

In honor of the day, we'll at least start out with a nice Irish Boy. Or three or four... more... I'm not picky.

One of my original favorite Irish Men, Liam.



And one of the prettiest of the new lot, Jonathan. And His Sword.



( It's not corned beef that's behind the cut. )

Okay, so he's Scottish, but I gotta ask—who knew that James McAvoy, sweet adorable looking James McAvoy:



Was hiding this under his shirt?



Lucky wife. Lucky, lucky wife.

Finally, Dancing With the Stars kicks off tonight and I'm guessing that once the viewers get a load of Jason Taylor, they won't care how he dances. I'm predicting a lot of wifebeater and shirtless shots during rehearsal.

Erm, one boy in particular. For the beauteous ladystarblade her Boy of choice:


Why yes, I'm beckoning you with one glance...



Sit a while in the garden. We can play footsie.



Come on in, the water's fine.

New week and the boyz are gonna help me get going on these revisions. Inspiration, if you will.

I'll start with my ultimate bad boy, whom I shamelessly swiped from Carrie Lofty. Rumor had it that lovely Christian and Johnny Depp were wandering around her hometown and she couldn't even manage to nab them long enough for cloning. Sheesh. Anyhow, I forgave her because she posted this and it made me squooshy inside.



le sigh

How about another?



Found this pretty of Ewan that I hadn't seen before



Carrie and I were also carrying on a conversation of the unique pretty of Burn Gorman, who plays Owen on the BBC's Torchwood. Seriously, seriously unique looking man with cheekbones of the cut glass variety.



I have what the Hub seems to think is an odd habit of having the police procedural shows on in the background when I'm in our bedroom reading. (Well, that, or HGTV.) I mean, yes, they're formulaic as hell—which is what makes them perfect for putting on in the background and lately, they've added some very nice pretty, so it's not like it's a hardship or anything. I mean, look—

Linus Roache



Jeremy Sisto



Pretty, pretty Adam Beach



Now, I've been waiting for this show to start since I first saw the previews last spring—New Amsterdam. First off, the premise: 400 year old immortal who's not a vampire? I'm all over that. Who'll finally become mortal again once he finds "the one who will make him grow old?" Double on the all over that. And in the first two episodes, I love how they didn't make him this selfless martyr type who's been just this side of a monk while waiting for "the one." He's clearly lived and loved and had deep and meaningful relationships, each time hoping they're the one. There are some great twists on this story. And the immortal?

Pretty, pretty Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. So his American accent slips from time to time. We can forgive him, can't we? I think so.



Today, we begin revisions. :-)

Have a call scheduled this morning with Lovely Editor on proposed revisions for Carmen. So I'm gonna spoil myself with the boyz. (And all the rest of y'all too, it should go without sayin'...)

We'll start out with yesterday's Boy:



Apparently, the Wolverine sequel hath begun shooting. You know what this means, right? Right. Ripped Hugh Jackman. Yes, in this I freely admit I'm as shallow as the next girl.



ETA: Look at what the lovely and darling Carrie Lofty shared with us! And in keeping with the theme, even! She's a peach, that one!



I'm sensing a theme emerging. Dampened Cabana Boys. Works for me.



( For more on the theme... )

Oh shucky darn. Look at that. Our first Cabana Boy pic didn't fit in with the theme. We'll have to fix that straightaway, won't we?



*deep sigh*

There. I think I can face a talk with my editor now.

Perhaps a little distracted, but she should understand, right?

Right.

We'll start with a couple of vacation themed boyz, shall we?


Cristián, a few drinks please?



And you know, Adrien's a mystery to me—sometimes he photographs like an absolute horror (and who doesn't—it's what makes him refreshingly real) and at other times, it's like, WHOA. And who in hairy heck knew he was hiding THIS six-pack behind the shirts?? Jeeeeez.



I'm adding Fabián, the artist who painted my beautiful flamenco portrait from one post down because, well, look at him. Why shouldn't I add him?



Moving on to the Oscar boyz, Javier... he's another, like Adrien, who can photograph horribly and then, WHAMMO, he hits you with a look. For the SPN girls, doesn't he look like he could be JDM's swarthier, Latin cousin?



The thinking woman's chew toy. Carrie Lofty and I are going to take turns kissy-facing Jon. Just 'cause. All the rest of y'all, line forms to the left.



Which brings me to the Affleck boys and seriously? How adorable are they? Casey really turning in some tour de force performances this year, one of them directed by big bro and of course, with Ben, I love that he's risen above the "Bennifer" nonsense and has turned into family guy and really seems to be finding his stride again, artistically speaking.



Which actually brings me to my final Boy and a video treat. Talent always gets my attention. A wicked sense of humor and knowing not to take yourself too seriously? Totally seals the deal and I'm pretty much yours for life.



Yep, my last Cabana Boy of the day is Josh Groban, who also celebrated a birthday yesterday and who participated in the absolutely HILARIOUS retaliation video, "I'm F*cking Ben Affleck" that Jimmy Kimmel premiered on his post-Oscar telecast. (It was retaliation for his girlfriend, Sarah Silverman's, video "I'm F*cking Matt Damon" that she gave to Jimmy as a gift for his Fifth Anniversary celebration show.) Anyhow, while the Matt Damon vid was hysterical, this is freakin' brilliance. Check out the list of cameos and try not to cringe when Macy Gray sings. And yes, the cake delivery guy is exactly who you think it is.

WARNING, this is not completely work safe and at the very least, you're likely to snorfle something up your nose.

That said, enjoy!

Been watching all the Oscar movies on TCM, hence I now have a yen for Cabana Boys of yesteryear. Lots of lovely boyz (and men) of a certain vintage. Lots of pictures, so let's get on with it, shall we?

Couldn't get a whole lot prettier than Rock, back in the day...



It's so much nicer to remember Marlon like this and not in Godfather mode, right? Right.



The beauty of the vintage Cabana Boys is that the age rather nicely, dontcha think, Paul?



( There's a lot more in the cabana... come on in. )

Finally, one of my very, very favorites, again showing how they can age soooo well.



And probably the ultimate Cabana Boy in his day, Warren:

May have gotten caught up in stuff yesterday, but trust me, I didn't forget. It's just that da boyz deserve their own moment in the sun, dontcha think?

And with that in mind and considering I made y'all wait an extra day, I went pretty much strictly (and unapologetically) beefcake today.

We'll start slow... (wouldn't want sartorias to hyperventilate right off the bat)



Now, that we've eased into things...



( It gets even better... I promise )

And one last one of Jaime to ease us out of the heat. Provided you want to be eased...

Heh. Heh heh... Don't mind me. I'm still a little giddy.

We'll just get on with it and it's going to be incredibly random today because I'm, you know, a little giddy...

A little Adam Baldwin, because he's just so fun as Casey on Chuck




Mm... black leather, black and white. So, so pretty...



Okay, it's a tour poster, but holy cats! The man makes the charro look sooooo hot.



Apparently, his name is Nacho Figueras, he's Argentine, and he plays polo. Hm.



And the Sooper Speshul Cabana Boy today... come on, Eli!

Need lots of them today, to fetch and carry, since I tweaked the very devil out of my back trying to get Jasmine out the door at six this morning before she hurked all over my new carpet. I really wish she'd quit eating... stuff.

Anyhoo, we'll start with a SAG Awards Cabana Boy, because man, you've got to have brass ones to not only pull off this outfit, look good in it, and admit you chose it because you want to honor your home country's (Argentina) soccer team.

GOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL, Viggo!



( There be Cabana Boys Here )

Ah, Gerard, Gerard, Gerard.



And never let it be said I don't pay attention...

Just 'cause.

The other night I caught a rerun of this season's opening episode of Law & Order. It's not anything I watch regularly but I have a habit of putting on any of the procedural shows when I'm in my room working. Background noise. But I actually paid attention to this episode—first, the plot was really rather good and second, have you seen the cast changes? I mean, first, they have Jesse L. Martin, who's been there for ages and who is just like Denzel in that he keeps getting hotter with every year.



( Look and see who they've added, plus even more cabana boy goodness )

That's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll be a blog hoppin' ho again—I'll post a link. Y'all can come mock me for being a big geek.

This is in honor of my beloved Mad Men taking home the Golden Globes for Best Drama Series and Best Lead Actor for Jon Hamm. We're gonna do period Cabana Boys again. (And how how lame was that "press conference" thing last night? I was denied Pretty Dresses and Men in Formalwear, dammit!)

Moving along...

Although admittedly, I'm going to cheat right off the bat with the first one—this is Tony Head as Giles, but in the tweed, he looks so 1930s English Country Gentleman, doesn't he?



Let's see, what else? I had promised susanw that the next time I did this, I'd do Sean Bean as Sharpe, so here you go—he does look lovely, if I do say so m'self.



( There's plenty of period dress goodness behind the cut, I promise )


And back from under the cut, because they so deserve it, my Mad Men boys, Jon, John, and Vincent.





Maybe later or tomorrow I'll do a post on gowns I wish I'd seen at the Globes.

Hey, producers, getcher heads out of unmentionable places and FIX this already!

The rugrats are back in school, thank the gods and little fishes. I love their company and they're actually great kids to have around for extended periods of time, mostly because I've long instilled this practice of not depending on me to be their sole source for entertainment. However, even if they're busy doing their thing, they're still here and I don't have the sense of being on my own.

At any rate, they are back in school, the Hub is back at work, and I'm here, trying to figure out how to get going on my new project. I think Cabana Boys will help, don't you?

Today's selection is chosen with friends in mind. At dinner on Saturday, pix_kristin and I squeed happily over our shared love of Chuck, so our first cabana boy is the adorable Zachary Levi:



And for cupcake_goth, MCR's Gerard Way. Wasn't quite sure if she preferred dark or light, so I just brought in one of each.



(stroppy_baggage is rolling his eyes about now, isn't he?)

For the CP, since a day without Jensen is a day without sunshine. I know you prefer him all dark and broody, pet, but look at what nice teeth he has!



A longtime crush who just had a birthday and is looking quite lovely for 41, SG Atlantis' Joe Flanigan:



And since I tend to be a bit behind the curve, I'm only just discovering Pretty Boy Ian Somerhalder. Thing is, though, I think I'm discovering him at just the right time, since I think he's going to become one of the character avatars for the next YA project.



Now, off to make a list of things I need to do. Like, remember to get a color cartridge for my printer and, you know, paper...