RA Blog Reunion! (2020 Pandemic Edition)

I am so glad I still check Twitter occasionally, otherwise I never would have seen Nat's tweet about wanting to set up a reunion of Richard Armitage bloggers from way back when!
Nat was my first contact with the RA fandom.  At the RichardArmitage Fan Blog, she got me hooked pretty good!  I couldn't resist her humour and musings on what the heck was going on with this crazy obsession we shared.  She must be most famous for drawing and later making videos about Stick-Figure Richard!

I miss you guys too!  While there are still quite a few newer blogs around, (I could never keep up with them all!), there is only one of the original RA blogs still around that pulled me into the whole blog world.  Well, maybe one more too, but I am speaking of course of Servetus of Me and Richard Armitage. When I speak of Servetus in my personal world - usually to my husband - I refer to her as "my professor friend".  Not that we are actually real-life friends -- sadly, I have never met her. But she has been kind enough to donate books to the libraries that I have worked in. As well, I follow her on Facebook in my real-life persona, so I feel like I know her.

Even with the fake nose I am hotter than ever!

I am still a huge fan of Richard Armitage, but I guess after he starred in The Hobbit movie series, I figured he didn't need me to toot his horn anymore.  After all, he was practically famous now.

The proof was that when I started with my interest in this actor, if you Googled his name, you got a picture of a very unattractive, balding American politician.  Now, the internet is studded with the very attractive face of this extremely talented and drop-dead gorgeous British actor.
When I first saw Richard in the wonderful mini series North and South, I couldn't believe that he wasn't as famous as so many other good looking British actors.  Why has no one else (who hadn't seen North and South) even heard of him?  It was an outrage!  Part of my purpose in blogging, besides connecting with other like-minded bloggers, was to give him the attention he deserved.
Now, I doubt very much that my little blog (with its quite small list of subscribers) really had anything to do him gaining fame.  But it made me feel better to write about him, and post pictures of him and poke fun at myself for my crazy obsession.

Hello, fan gurlz! Welcome aboard!

So what have I been doing since I stopped blogging?  By the way, I never really intended to stop blogging, it just happened.  I got lazy. I didn't have the need anymore.  It didn't help that almost everyone had switched blogging platforms from Blogger to Word Press. I tried to work with Word Press but it is definitely not as easy.  So I found it more difficult to comment on the Word Press blogs that sprang up exponentially as RA got more famous.  Spooks (or M1-5, as it was known in North America) helped with that!


Yes, well I can't say I have been doing anything really exciting since my last blog post.  I am still a Library technician in a school library, but sadly, I had to move up from elementary to secondary to keep the same working hours. It has been a steep learning curve and I was grateful for all the skills I acquired while blogging. I miss those little people and I miss reading picture books to them. I have been reading much more Young Adult books lately to try and connect with the older crowd.

Yup! It's Guy of Gisborne!

I have been spending waaaay too much time on my phone and iPad playing stupid games.  One of the ones I am addicted to is The Sims FreePlay.  When I was playing The Sims on my computer years ago, I was able to create a Sim with the same face as RA.  But I lost all that when we got an update.  So the Freeplay version does not give you the same ability to import a picture to make a face resemble a real person.   This was the best I could do,  Who is this good looking guy?


But the best news I have to report is that one of my life goals has finally been accomplished - and it only took a world-wide pandemic and some pointed use of guilt to achieve. I need to preface this story with the fact that my poor husband, who recently retired, injured himself while preparing to paint our kitchen.  He tore his Achilles tendon and was unable to get around without crutches or me to drive him places.  We had a quiet birthday for him unfortunately, as the accident happened the day before his birthday at the end of February. When my birthday rolled around we were about a week into the quarantine and he was feeling badly that he hadn't been able to buy me a present and spoil me like he usually does.  I really didn't mind, I had been feeling bad about not having a nice party for him last month, and besides -- I had another plan.

It's about time you looked this way, buddy!

I announced that the best present he could give me was to watch North and South with me!  I had previously tricked him into watching Castlevania, and he had enjoyed that!  Also we watched The Stranger when it finally came to Netflix and I didn't have to twist his arm too much.  So we watched all four episodes and he grudgingly had to admit that it was very well done.  (I knew he would like it!) Although he maintains he was more interested in the labour dispute than the romance, I could tell he was getting worried when Henry was making the moves on Margaret!

So that is it for now folks!  Thank you again to Nat and all who are participating in this reunion and thanks to all who visit here now and forever, until this blog disappears into the netherland or wherever blogs go to die...

Singin' in the RAin

Has it been raining much where you are?  This summer my little area of the world has had twice as much rain as usual.  So I might as well grab my umbrella and enjoy it! 

Singing in the Rain is a great song.  I sing it a lot.  Maybe not every time it rains, but definitely if I am in a happy mood!

 

Richard Armitage and Gene Kelly have something in common. Their birthdays are one day and 59 years apart. Richard Armitage's is Aug. 22, 1971 and Gene Kelly's is Aug. 23, 1912.

Gene Kelly started his entertainment career as a dancer, as did Richard Armitage.
Kelly's energetic and masculine style helped to revolutionize the movie musicals in the 1940s and 50s.  Although Mr. Armitage gave up his dance career to concentrate on acting, his graceful manner of movement is  evident in every role he plays.

 Gene Kelly dances in mid air while Richard Armitage attains air while running 

Although I would dearly love to see Richard Armitage sing and dance, we at least got to see him wet in last summer's tornado moviefest Into the Storm.

photo courtesy of RichardArmitagenet.com

Today it is once again Armitage Day in fandom of Richard Armitage.  I woiuld like to take this opportunity to wish Mr. Armitage a very happy 44th birthday.  May he delight us with his performances for many more years to come.

Herding cats!

Why is it that I find the background of this picture so fascinating?

Final ADR for@TheHobbitMovie @WBPicturesID @wetafx @wetaworkshop can't believe what I've just seen utterly gobsmacked pic.twitter.com/x2VMtikBmM
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) September 18, 2014

Well, of course I love the main part of the picture!  It's a SELFIE by none other than Richard-freaking-Armitage!!

But those cats on the wall in the background?  I can't help thinking....  Is it a hidden message?
Is he playing cat and mouse with us?  That ginger cat folk art painting looks very familiar to me.  Does it have any other significance?  Could it be sort of a visual apologia to all us cat-loving RA fans for his infamous dog preferential statement? Does he even look remorseful?

Let's look at those background items more closely...

#1 is very familiar, in fact I thought I once had this same picture as a ceramic tile that I used as a trivet until it broke.  But after searching google images for quite some time I have not been able to find out anything about it.  But I did find a picture of my old trivet (and it wasn't the same at all!).  If anyone has any information about this cat painting - I would be very interested!

I did however, find plenty of other very interesting pictures of orange tabby cats. My favourites were the ones inserted into famous paintings over at Fatcatart blog -- especially (because of my fondness for Monet paintings) this one:

#2 appears to be a Felix the Cat clock.

Here is a still from the animated film Felix the Cat in Hollywood (1923)

#3 (The Hidden picture) is the real problem.

Luckily, I was able to find this picture of the same room where the picture is visible.

Note the Felix the Cat clock has moved.  In this picture it is just over the girl's shoulder. 

The little figurine between the cat painting and the now visible blue matted photo looks like a cat playing a musical instrument.

From Soundtrack's' Facebook Page

The photo of the figurine is very blurry but it does appear to be a cat playing a bass violin, or could it be -- a cello?  Hmmm... Curious and curiouser...RA fans know that Richard has been known to play the cello.

The above photo on the right is more of a mystery. It appears to be a handsome man playing an instrument which I have come to believe is called a Vibraphone.  My first impression of the blurry picture was that it was of Elvis (the King) but since my research didn't turn up any evidence that Elvis ever played a vibraphone, I had to look for other options. The best looking vibraphone player I could find was this man Tito Puente, otherwise known as the Mambo King.

Even though RA is also known by his Hobbit film character's nickname of the King Under the Mountain, I knew I was grasping at straws here...  I really didn't think his hairline looked correct, and besides where was the cat reference?!!  I was going to go with the fact that Jazz musicians are also known as Hepcats... but I wasn't fooling myself.  So I kept looking for another good looking vibraphone player.

Finally I came up with this man, Terry Gibbs.

His hairline looked spot on, and when I researched his music 

this album fairly sprang up and dug its claws into me!

There's that orange cat again!

Even more strange... this album was released the year I was born (1961). 

I have no idea what all this means but it seems that somebody around here must be some crazy cat!

Before you give up on me have a listen to the cool vibes of
 Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco playing 

Please Send Me Someone to Love

That orange kitty has found someone to love!

Manip from Richard Armitage with Cats Tumblr

Happy Armitage Day!

Is Richard Armitage on Twitter?  I'm not 100% convinced but this certainly looks like him!

Guess what day it is today? pic.twitter.com/GpzqGyOZTM
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) August 21, 2014

Yes, it is really August 22!  But this was posted in UK time which is 6 hours ahead of me (that is why the date stamp is incorrect).

So... I was thinking about what was going on in England that day 43 years ago when little Richie came in to the world.  Oh sure, there was probably a lot on the news and depressing stuff like that, but what I'd like to remember is what was playing on the radio!  I looked up UK hits from 1971, and during the month of August it was this song that was the big hit. Even though I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable pop music fan, I had never heard of I'm Still Waiting, by the former Supreme - Diana Ross. Apparently it was huge in Europe and didn't even register on the charts in North America.  I have to admit I didn't really like it at first, but after repeated listenings it is growing on me.

This is a nice recording here, but I wanted to include this UK concert footage to show how popular this song is with her fans.

I'm Still Waiting / Diana Ross
 
As the lyrics go:

"Little girl, please don't wait for me

Wait patiently for love

Some day it will surely come

Oh, little girl, please don't wait for me

Wait patiently for love

Some day it will surely come"

And I'm still waiting

Read more: Diana Ross - I'm Still Waiting Lyrics | MetroLyrics

It made me wonder if there is someone waiting for Mr. Armitage, or if he is waiting for someone... I guess I'm just a romantic at heart, but I wish that everyone will some day find someone to share their love.

Holy shirt!

Nathan Kress, who stars as one of the sons of Richard Armitage's character in the soon to be released summer block-buster disaster flick "Into the Storm", has just tweeted this photo.

And RA Army, eat your hearts out. #RichardArmitage #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/XJG6LCJ2Uo
— NB Nathan Kress (@NBNathanKress) July 25, 2014

Believe me, my heart is chewed to bits!!!

How does this man look so good dirty?
 
I won't be able to make it to theatres on the August 8th opening weekend, as our local Music festival is on then.  But the next weekend, nothing will stop me from heading to Winnipeg to enjoy it in all its big screen glory (better late than never).

 

And here is a great review by a fellow Armitage fan who was lucky to get to see this film previewed at ComicCon.
Read Kathy's review here

Everybody's crazy about this sharp dressed man!

I know this sweet little video will show up on almost every RA blog, and I do try to be a bit different but ....  I just have to have this video on my blog!  I can't stop watching it!!!

How can I resist?

Richard Armitage Esquire Magazine Photo Shoot / Directed by Blair Getz Mezibov

And now, I must thank Gratiana Lovelace for posting this on her Facebook page as hers was the first post I noticed.  Her link was to another Facebook page which was posted by Fernanda Matias who shared it from RA Bulgaria.  Also RAfandreamer later posted the link to this video on Youtube which was uploaded by Kathleen  Evans.  Great team work, eh?  Go RArmy!

But before I leave... one last lingering look!

Happy!

The colour Yellow makes me happy.  Balloons make me happy. Books make me happy -- even just the thought of books!  Reading books, talking about books, showing books, owning books, looking at books, yes. Books make me happy.

Here are a couple of my favourite children's book characters by Roger Hargreaves (England's 2nd bestselling author of the last decade -- after J.K. Rowling as reported by The Guardian in 2009).

Funnily enough, they are both yellow and balloon-shaped.

May I present: Mr. Happy and Little Miss Sunshine!








As readers of this blog can attest, I also love pictures of a certain actor (especially those rare shots of him smiling)...  So when I find a picture of said actor reading a book and smiling!... BINGO!  All systems are GO!

Richard Armitage performing the audio book Hamlet 
adapted by A. J. Hartley, and David Hewson for Audible.

Music also makes me happy...

This is a song which I sing to myself quite a bit when I need a little cheering up.
I really like this version sung by (not only) June Carter, of the Carter Family fame but with the bonus of her husband Johnny Cash and their daughter Carlene.

Keep on the Sunny Side (Blenkhorn and Entwistle)



I remember this next song from my childhood and it brings back many happy memories.
I didn't realize until recently that it was written by Marvin Hamlisch.
I saw a documentary about him a couple of months ago.
He certainly knew how to make himself happy.  He gave up a promising career as a classical pianist to write music for Broadway plays and soundtracks for films. 
He met Barbara Streisand when she was performing Funny Girl on stage, and later worked with her when he wrote the sound track for the movie The Way We Were.  He also worked with Woody Allen for the sound track of his movie Bananas.
He earned many awards over his lifetime, but better even than that -- he enjoyed his work,
which was essentially - entertaining the public (making people happy).

Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows (by Marvin Hamlisch)

Notice that singer Lesley Gore is wearing yellow?
And yes, that song is so sweet it could rot your teeth.


Here is my favourite summer camp song:

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops,
Oh what a world it would be...
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah-ah, ah, ah, ah-ah, ah, ah-ah!
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops,
Oh what a world it would be!

That really would rot your teeth!


Then there were those delightfully crazy yellow minions from the Despicable Me film and its sequel.
They certainly made me happy -- hilariously so!

I didn't realize there were so many animated short films about these critters!
Here is one where they are fighting over a banana.



Despicable Me 2 had such an upbeat song (which should have won the best song Oscar instead of that overwrought outpouring from Frozen! --Don't hit me!)
I know the song has been overplayed on the airwaves but I'm not sick of it yet.  I love the Youtube version with Pharrell Williams in it, but I can't resist this version either.

Richard Armitage -- HAPPY / by Crystal Chandlyre



Lately, it makes me very happy to read so many stage door fan encounters with Richard Armitage as he plays the role of John Proctor in the Old Vic's production of The Crucible. There is even a blog which collects all those experiences!  http://thecrucibleexperience.wordpress.com/
and a Facebook page called 'Richard Armitage in The Crucible' Appreciation Page
The play has been getting rave reviews from critics, regular theatre attendees and fans alike.
I thank Servetus @ Me + Richard Armitage blog and Perry @ Armitage Agonistes blog for keeping the fans up-to-date with the flurry of tweets, instagram pictures and Tumblr posts after each performance.
This is one of my favourite bloggers reactions to seeing The Crucible:  Maria Grazia @Fly High .

Judi, who blogs at Confessions of a Watcher  imagines Richard Armitage's feelings about the opening night success of his current play: The Crucible at London's the Old Vic in a lovely story called Happiness: http://www.jagrant.com/watcher/happiness/


Yes folks, Richard Armitage has come a long way
from his long ago (but never-to-be forgotten) stage role as a dancing banana!

 Forgive me if I resurrect one of my old videos!
Well, I'm no Bccmee -- but he's yellow! (That's all I'm sayin')...

Have a Happy Easter!

Sorry I don't have much to say lately.  But I couldn't let this opportunity go by without wishing all you RA Well Wishers a very Happy Easter! (And any other holiday you celebrate right now!)

I couldn't resist some silly Rabbit trix!

Lately we seem to have a lot to celebrate with the news about Richard's latest film Urban and the Shed Crew - an adaptation of the autobiographical book by Bernard Hare.  I finally decided to order it, and am impatiently awaiting its arrival.  I wonder if it is going to be sold out soon?

Fans who are lucky enough to be able to get to England next summer are very excited about Richard's upcoming stage role at The Old Vic as John Proctor in The Crucible.

I am very grateful for all the new pictures that are getting tweeted from Richard's latest appearance at Wonder Con to promote Into the Storm.

In the past I have had a bit more to say on the Easter theme.  Here are a few links to a couple of my past seasonal blog posts, when I was a bit more prolific:

Last year I examined some of Richard Armitage's character portrayals in Good Egg, Bad Egg.
In 2010, I focused on baskets as an Easter theme.

I'm Back, and Fourth!

Hello out there.  I've been hibernating quite a bit this winter.  Winter in my part of the world this year was long, extremely cold and relentless.  But since it is now officially spring, and I have recently actually witnessed some melting snow out there, I have decided to come out of hiding.

At least I was allowed a brief respite on a trip to Arizona for March Break last week.  I stayed in sunny, warm Phoenix and shocked everyone except my 13 year old nephew by diving into their unheated pool!  To me it was like my first swim of the season in our local lake, only that would be in late June or early July (weather dependent). The water temperature was gasp-worthy, but necessary to my raison d'etre.  I simply cannot sit beside water if I can be in it instead.

A sure-fire way to make me cranky is to lead me around, getting me overheated and even sweaty and then show me a lovely pool of water or pristine lake and not let me go into the water.  This has happened to me on at least two occasions and it was not pretty.

The most memorable of these was when I was a leader of our Pathfinder unit (the next level up from Girl Guides) back when my daughter was a tween. The older girls in the group were in grade 9 (the High School) and our annual camping trip coincided with the High School Prom.  The girls wanted to go to the dance but I talked them into going to the camp instead as the hosts had promised us the girls would earn their canoeing badges as they had some canoeing instructors booked for the day.  As it turned out, the canoe trip fell through as the instructors backed out at the last minute and a compass activity was the replacement.  Since our group had already done a fair bit of compass work this did not go over very well.  It was a very hot day for late May and as it had been a dry spring, the woods were dusty and the trails hard packed.  The only thing that kept us going was the promise of a swim in the river at the end of our ordeal. 

So there we were finally in our swimming gear, lined up at the beach at 7:00 pm after a long, tiring and frustrating day, waiting for the life guards to arrive.  Adults who swim are not enough any more, trained life guards must be utilized according to the latest policies.  After standing around for 10 minutes, I finally decided to wade ankle deep into the water to cool my hot, tired feet.  This was not allowed, I was told by one of the supervisors.  Even though I explained that I was only going in as far as my ankles, this person suggested that I was being a bad example to the girls! 

That was when I said it. It was only two words and I've never said it to anyone before or since or with more feeling.  What two words?  Very calmly, and in a low voice, I fixed her a determined stare and said, "Bite me!"

She looked at me for a minute, then walked away, leaving me blissfully soaking my feet until the life guards finally showed up several minutes later. Meow? Or, since cats don't seem to like water, maybe I should say Woof! instead. :)

Perhaps I am so partial to water because my birthday is World Water Day on March 22nd.





Photo modified from the Clickonline interview

My actual Blogiversary was March 19th.  Here are my previous posts:

 My third year - 2013, my second year - 2012, my first year, 2011.



Because I can...

Thank you Getty Images!

And thanks very much to Guylty for the heads up on this new development on
celebrity picture sharing in the blogosphere.

 Richard Armitage (Dec. 9, 2013)
@ 'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug' German Premiere

 

Warmest Wishes for Christmas

I found a lovely Christmas wallpaper on Tumblr by Anna on Richard Armitage Poland Fanpage.

And here is my contribution...

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful, safe and peaceful holiday season.

November, Revisited.

I apologise for neglecting my blogging duties lately.  It's not that I haven't had ideas, I just lack the energy to put it all down in some kind of logical manner. November's weather was very gloomy, and winter has set in for the season.  I was considering whether I wanted to do a Remembrance Day post, but the Sunday before the date, we were invited out for dinner so that meant if I wanted to write something I would be up most of the night.  Then that night we heard the news that there was a plane crash at our local airport.  This was something that had never happened here before.  Sure, there were sometimes accidents with float planes, but never a passenger plane.  With sick hearts, we went to bed knowing that in our small area, it was a certainty that we would know at least one person who died in that crash.  We learned the names of the victims the next day.  There were three local people who were killed, as well as the pilot, and copilot.  Miraculously there had been 2 survivors.
That was a dreadful time of mourning for our town.

The other thing that has been occupying my every waking moment was getting ready to transfer to another elementary school library in our area.  It was very bittersweet to say good bye to such a wonderful group of students and teachers.  It was hard work trying to tie up all the loose ends I had built up over the dozen or so years I had been at that school. But I received such a fabulous send-off in a school wide assembly - it was truly overwhelming.  I am still going through all the lovely notes and drawings I received from the students.

The other preoccupation around here lately has been antics of Toronto's mayor.  It is a Canadian truism that everybody hates Toronto (except Torontonians).  While some might think that it is a western Canadian thing --  I can assure you that Northern Ontario has a much bigger grudge.  So of course we can delight in the world wide mockery that Rob Ford has made of his city!  Almost every day there he was on the news making an even bigger ass of himself than the day before!  My favourite comedians didn't have any trouble coming up with something to say- they just basically needed to repeat his quotes.  I love the look on Stephen Colbert's face after Ford's last infamous quote.

But as always, Rick Mercer manages to bring everything into perspective.

I was dying to write something about this ridiculous excuse for a public figure, but I have tried not to be too political on this blog, although it has been difficult at times.  Why did I wish to reign in my very strong opinions? -- Just that I had no wish to offend anyone.  So imagine how thrilled I was when I read Richard Armitage's statements in the New York Moves article!  Nothing he said really surprised me, but I was glad that he had the courage to share his opinions.  Since he is a British citizen, it isn't hard to believe that he would be pro gun control and pro National Health Care. Most Canadians would also agree. (Not too sure about Rob Ford, though!)

Well, with all this talk about guns and Rob Ford, I can't help thinking about one of my favourite songs from Elton John's fabulous "Rock of the Westies" album.

These lyrics in particular:

Like a child when his toys have been stepped on

That's how it all seemed to me

I burst the bubble that both of us lived in

And I'm damned if I'll ever get rid of this guilt that I feel

And if looks could kill then I'd be a dead man

Your friends and mine don't call no more

Hell, I thought it was best but now I feel branded

Breaking up's sometimes like breaking the law

Breaking up's sometimes like breaking the law

And I feel like a bullet in the gun of Robert Ford

I'm low as a paid assassin is

You know I'm cold as a hired sword

I'm so ashamed can't we patch it up

You know I can't think straight no more

You make me feel like a bullet honey in the gun of Robert Ford

I Feel Like a Bullet (in the gun of Robert Ford /Elton John

I really couldn't resist this!

I've been meaning to post something for ages...  There is nothing like a good belly laugh to finally get me motivated!

Voice-over Switch: The Hobbit / North & South / by Buchjj

Thanks to fellow RA well-wisher Teresa Armitage, 

who posted this on The RA Friends Network Facebook page.

Killer in the corn

What makes a cornfield so scary?  Last year I posted about scarecrows, but sometimes a field can be spooky looking even without the scarecrow.

 In Season 6, episode 12 of Bones, Dr. Brennan and FBI agent Booth discover
a grisly murder in a cornfield.

Recently I had the pleasure of hearing Brock Zeman perform  a crowd favourite,
his spooky song: "Killer in the Corn"


If you click on his name it will bring up his touring schedule.  He may be coming to a place near you!


In the Alice Sebold's novel, The Lovely Bones the main character, 14 year old Susie is murdered in a cornfield and she tells the story from her perspective as her soul lingers nearby her family while they try to cope with her loss.  Here is an excerpt of the first chapter which describes what happened to her.  (It is quite graphic so don't read it if it might disturb you.)

Saorise Ronan stars as Susie Salmon in The Lovely Bones

A film adaptation was made from the book in 2009 and was directed by Peter Jackson.  (It just happens to be his birthday today! ) Here is an interview with Jackson where he discusses the movie.

Director Peter Jackson has just wrapped up filming of his 3 part adaptation of The Hobbit, starring Martin Freeman as hobbit Bilbo Baggins and none other than Richard Armitage as the heroic dwarven leader Thorin Oakenshield.  There have been many interviews since part 1, An Unexpected Journey hit theatres last December.  Part 2, The Desolation of Smaug will be this Christmas season's offering.  The interview I would like to feature here was a film screening, and an interview session from Sydney, Australia known as Popcorn Taxi.

View the photo gallery here!

There are quite a few videos of this interview on Youtube and even on the Popcorn Taxi site, but I like that they also have the transcript here.
I have enjoyed listening to this interview more than once, but this time it was this quote which stood out for me.  When asked if he considered himself a "method actor", here was his response:

We were always told, ‘Don’t bring the character to you, go to the character’. I always preferred leaving lots of myself outside the room and exploring the world through the eyes and the body and the mind of a different person who is ultimately better than you are. Even if they’re a mass murderer, they’re infinitely more interesting than you are. People talk about The Method, or whatever. I don’t think I’m a Method actor. I have a method but I don’t believe you have to be a mass murderer to play a mass murderer.

So there you go.  Thankfully, Richard Armitage is definitely NOT the killer in the corn!
(I know I'll sleep better tonight!...)

Thanksgiving Time

We've been having some lovely fall weather lately, nothing like last year!  I only wish it could last longer.  But some strong winds keep blowing away that glorious golden foliage.  My back door (which needs replacing) keeps banging open and shut and it startles me every time.  This is also the time I am cleaning up our cabin to close it for the dreaded winter!

The song Four Strong Winds keeps running through my mind.  My favourite version is sung by Neil Young with Nicolette Larson from his Comes a Time album (1978).  This album is not only one of my favourite Neil Young albums, but also one of my all-time favourite albums period!

I found this video of the title song from the album.  The video seems to suit this season quite well.

I love Neil Young songs, but mixed with the harmonies of Nicolette Larson - it is so good it makes the hairs stand up on the top of my head!  I love to sing -- I used to be in a church choir, very small but we had some very good male voices and we were able to do 4 part harmony.  Sometimes, when I was singing and I hit a certain note, it mixed with the other voices I was hearing and gave me a buzz like a micro-second eargasm!  Have you noticed I love harmony?

But wait, now I'm off on a tangent -- this was supposed to be my Thanksgiving post.  I guess I get bored doing similar posts every year.  What else can I say?  Here was my post in 2010, my first year of blogging, where I attempted to explain our Canadian tradition of Thanksgiving:
It's Thanksgiving in Canada.
The next year I was lucky enough to be able to share a Gizzy cartoon, especially made for Thanksgiving by a fellow Armitagemaniac who is much more talented than I! :
Give Thanks for Gizzy!

So while Canada celebrates our Thanksgiving Day, I hope Armitage fans around the world have seen this wonderful video from Morrighan's Muse.  She has just celebrated her first anniversary as a fan of Richard Armitage.

Thank You Richard Armitage / by Morrighan Muse

Tomorrow I'll be baking some pumpkin pies and 

taking them over to my sister's house for our big turkey feast!

This is the best I could muster from my limited graphic skills, 

thanks to a couple of great free apps on my iPad.

In a whirl!

Richard Armitage fans have been impatiently awaiting news of his "Tornado movie".  Originally referred to as Category 6, then listed on IMDb.com as Black Sky, it is now in post-production after various delays and possibly another title change - (Into the Storm).

A few lucky fans were able to meet Richard when he was on set in Michigan last summer. You can see some of the pictures on the RA Central gallery. Fan pictures here!

Graphic by blogger JTisforme from DoIHaveaBlog? 

Although we were hoping to see Richard Armitage 
in theatres during the summer of 2013, 
we should be very grateful he wasn't in 
this tornado film that came out this summer...

Sharknado Trailer

Whoah!  Flying sharks?  Is this why CGI was invented?  I seriously doubt that this film could take a real bite out of the box office. Because unless it fits into the "so bad it's good" category --  it looks like it really bites!

Anyway, that's what I thought when I stopped laughing!

Awhile ago, I was so desperate for new pictures from this film that I resorted to making this one!

It was an ill wind...

But producer Todd Garner has been active on Twitter sharing a picture now and then. Have a look at this page at RACentral to see all his tweets.

This is one just tweeted tonight. 

I like it!

I really love this gif by Bccmee

(She's on Tumblr now!)

RA drops keep falling on his head

which of course, has me singing this song

I'm a sucker for lyrics like this:

But there's one thing, I know

The blues they send to meet me

Won't defeat me.

It won't be long 

'till happiness steps up to greet me.

So, I'll just have to be patient and wait for the darn movie to get released.  But it sure doesn't help to be tormented like this!:

Musical greetings for Armitage Day

Although this blog's main preoccupation is my favourite actor, Richard Armitage, the second most interest (if you go by the tag cloud on the right sidebar) is music.  So I thought it would make sense to have a musical birthday celebration of his favourite bands.

Awhile ago I was reading a post over at Ancient Armitage (one of the newer blogs I've discovered thanks to Servetus @ Me + Richard Armitage) where Obscura (the blogger) discusses an interview where Richard names a few bands he likes.
The interview is by Aubry D'Arminio from 2008, so his musical tastes have undoubtedly changed since then.

What’s your favorite music group? At the moment I’m really into Coldplay just because that last album was so good. But I’m really into Keane and Radiohead. The Feeling are great at the moment, I really like that band.

I have previously posted quite a large collection of RA fanvids done to Coldplay songs.  I was thrilled to find them, as I really love that band's sound.  But I was not as familiar with the other two groups mentioned.  So, of course I needed to see if there were any fanvids set to those band's tunes!

Bingo! Lovely fanvidders never disappoint me. I especially love the lyric to the following song "You Don't See Me" which seems appropriate to this fandom:

Oh, truly we are a fortunate few, who turn on your axis, revolve around you

Read more: Keane - You Don't See Me Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

Richard Armitage Fan Video / by Luigina Ongarato

music by Keane: "You Don't See Me"

The lyrics to this next Keane song are so heartfelt and seem somehow very appropriate for RA.

Hamburg Song /by Luigina Ongarato



And here is the only fanvid I could find with a song by Radiohead.


Guy/Marian Exit Music Robin Hood fan video / by tsora17
Radiohead : Exit Music (For a Film)


Also I am glad he mentioned the name of the band The Feeling because (I'd never heard of them and) they were responsible for the song, Fill My Little World, which was the song they played right after Harry Kennedy and Geraldine Granger said their vows at the end of The Vicar of Dibley!

Here is a link to a clip, (I believe it will start at the beginning of the song).
The Feeling, Fill My Little World (The Vicar of Dibley)
If you wish to watch more of that clip just start it back at the beginning.

In one of his many interviews after the success of The Hobbit movie, Richard Armitage happened to mention that he enjoyed the music of Goyte.  How excited he must have been to be one of the presenters at Australia's Aria Awards where he was able to hand over the Best Pop Release to none other than Goyte!

ARIA Awards 2012 - Best Pop Release - Gotye / video by Bccmee

Last month fanvidder candy varty put Goyte's big hit together with some clips of RA's interviews and here is what she came up with!

Richard Armitage Fanvid ~Somebody That I Used To Know / by candy varty

I really appreciate all the fanvidders out there.  I hope everyone enjoyed Armitage Day.  I have only watched 2 new birthday videos so far and they are both excellent!  In case you missed it - this was a fabulous birthday surprise.... Bccmee is back!!  Check out her fabulous video here!