August 22 biRthdAy

August 22 is a special day in the RA fan community.  Bloggers and vidders are posting tributes, forum members are hosting virtual get togethers, as the Armitage Army comes together for a birthday bash the likes of which haven't been seen since -- last year! (But it's bigger and even better this year!)  This is the third year I have had the honour of sharing this special day with other Armitagemaniacs.  If you are interested, here are the links to my previous posts: 2011 and 2010.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Armitage Day. Don't forget to participate in the Scavenger Hunt which has been cleverly organized by the KRA blog (see banner in the column on the right). There are prizes available too!  And speaking of prizes... I hope you had a chance to take part in the contest on I Want to be a Pin Up's blog.  Each day last week up until today she gave away a new cloth bag which was decorated with an Armitage cartoon character created by a talented new blogger named Gisbornesboy.


It's not that I'm not excited about you-know-who's birthday.. but I wondered who elses' birthday it might be today?  So here is my list of some other of my favourite famous people who share the same birthday as Richard Armitage.

Phylly's Faves Top Ten August 22 Celebrity Birthday list:

10. Richard III of England, 1452-1485

(Oops! August 22 is actually not his birth date but the date of his death on the battlefield at Bosworth Field!)
*Let us now bow our heads for a moment of silence*....

Okay... carry on!

  Since we are such fans we all know that RA is very interested in making a film with a more historically accurate portrayal of this much maligned English monarch.  Many RA fans, as well as historians and monarchists (known as Ricardians) are hopeful that such a project might be possible soon.  If you are interested in this project, please sign the petition here. There will be more information about this all week on the KRA (King Richard Armitage) website as well as some other blogs which Gratiana has cleverly listed in verse at her blog Something About Love.

Phylly's Faves Top Ten Nine August 22 Celebrity Birthday list:


9. Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967
Famous for her ascerbic wit, this writer of short stories, Hollywood screenplays, scathing reviews and pithy poetry is one of the most quotable people of the 20th century.  Does this sound familiar?: "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses".

Her left-wing political interests got her blacklisted during the McCarthyism of the 1950s. Hollywood lost a very talented screenwriter, as she was one of the main writers of "A Star is Born".

I don't know about you, but if this movie was remade again, I could see Richard Armitage playing the main role!


8. Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1908-2004
"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life."

This world famous french photographer started his career as a painter.  He definitely saw the world with an artist's eye even if his tool was not a  brush and paint but a camera with black and white film.  His passion was to find the "definitive moment" in every day life and preserve it for all to see.  His compositions were not carefully arranged but waited patiently for and then captured with his own personal style and meticulous skill.


7. John Lee Hooker, 1917-2001
If you click on his name, the link will take you to a website with a wonderful retrospective of his music.

Next is a video of legendary Bluesman and guitarist, John Lee Hooker singing about a case of the Travellin' Blues.

I wouldn't be surprised if Richard Armitage had a case of travelling blues after flying around the world from England to South Africa to New Zealand and now the United States in such a short space of time!

6. Honor Blackman, 1925

This British actress is known for playing James Bond's sexy secretary Pussy Galore in the movie Goldfinger. She is noted for being the oldest Bond girl, even older than her male lead.  She also starred in the original version of The Avengers as Mrs. Gale, before Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg) joined the show.

Just look at her smirk in this picture.  She can almost smirk as well as a certain actor I know.  A certain actor who would make a wonderful James Bond.




5. Valerie Harper, 1939

She may not look familiar to modern audiences, but back in the 1970s when The Mary Tyler Moore Show was must-see TV, Valerie Harper played Mary's wisecracking neighbour, Rhoda Morgenstern.  She was so popular that she rated a spin-off series simply called Rhoda which lasted a respectable amount of time. (This was back in the day when spin-offs were not very common, and especially not successful ones!)
Rhoda was sassy and tough, a real women's libber back when they were just inventing the term.  But she was also endearing and funny and always entertaining.
Apparently she has a very successful stage career now.  But I miss her face on my TV.


4. Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012

This prolific American writer is known most famously for his science fiction novel Farenheit 451 and short story collection The Martian Chronicles.  Many of his stories were adapted into television screenplays for The Twilight Zone and his own television show Ray Bradbury Theatre.  The story which he credits with making him a true author is called The Lake.  It takes place in his home state of Michigan.

Oh! And speaking of Michigan... isn't that where Richard Armitage is now?  He is starring in as a teacher (yay!) in a Tornado disaster flick, which was tentatively called Category 6, but I believe is now titled Black Sky.

3. Claude Debussy, 1862-1918

This french composer created beautiful works for piano and orchestra.  The Britannica online encyclopedia states that:

He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers of his time aspired.

Isn't it nice that thanks to 19bt80 we have a fanvid of Richard Armitage as the Impressionist  painter Claude Monet set to the music of Claude Debussy?

2. Tori Amos, 1963
A gifted singer / songwriter Tori Amos has been recording and performing her music (classified as Alternative Rock) since the 1980s.  Performing with her piano, she became a solo act in the 1990s has been  nominated for Grammy Awards since 1995.

I found it interesting to note that she wrote the soundtrack music for the 1996 movie Twister that tornado chasing movie starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.

Doesn't it remind you of another tornado movie?  Hmmm?  I've been delighted to read about several fan encounters with RA on the set of this new tornado movie in Michigan.  First there was ItsJSforMe's account on her blog Do I Have a Blog?. Then just tonight I found this account on a Tumblr blog: In Praise of Wickedness. All I can say is - You lucky, lucky ladies!

Now here is Tori Amos singing a song called Birthday. (If I had time I would have made it into an RA fanvid.)


Birthday / by Tori Amos

And the numero uno is...

(you guessed it!)

1. Richard Armitage, 1971