RA’s Diary — Gluteal Dreams

Whenever I think of Richard Armitage these days, I mostly think what he may be doing about his career. I also remember he’s a sly one at times as he was when he was shooting Captain America. No one knew about that until he was in the middle of it, and I chuckled to myself at the time and then I wrote this:


RA’s Diary

Entry — On Location with Captain America

The afternoon before my shoot:

I finally got to Manchester and met with the production people. It was fantastic to be back on a movie set. Much different from “Frozen.” So much has changed in just a few years, and this picture has some serious money behind it. When I was younger, I’m not sure I cared about that, but now? I understand the importance of capitalizing these things after all of the legwork I’ve done on Richard III. I will definitely be taking notes. Wonder what Dad would think of a comic book version of RIII? No, no, I could never do that, but damn that would be funny. Visions of Monty Python run through my head.

My only real irritation right now is the potential for a gaggle of women to show up on the fringes of the set. Please God don’t let that happen. I already have too many friends trying to take the mickey out of me about that, and it’s hard to be taken seriously when a bunch of middle-aged women indulging their fantasies are standing around. And I just want to work without having to be cordial. But I will be polite if need be because it’s my middle name. I’ve certainly had that beat into my head. As it is the hair on the back of my neck was on end at one point when I was standing in the street getting instructions about my shoot tomorrow. Thankfully, I saw no women and only a couple of guys taking video from their cameras. I almost hate video cameras.

20100921-video1-620x414-captainamerica-hobbsy
[click to enlarge]

The next evening:

One of those guys put video on YouTube, and there I am in the middle of it. I tried to make myself smaller when I caught them in my peripheral vision, but I’ve never been able to scrunch down enough to hide. What was I thinking? And I felt like I was 16 again and couldn’t decide between embracing my size and wanting to be invisible. Even if I could have made myself shorter, I guess my arse is recognizable and some make a study of it. There is that one blogger who goes on about my thighs, which I guess are part of my arse, and yeah, when I wore black leather there were a lot of flattering comments. Maybe it’s not so bad, and I didn’t really mind my prison scene or my boiler suit scene. That did make me feel good for a while, and of course there was my scene with Julie. But those were my naked arse and not my covered arse. Shit! Why did I have to wear that stupid jacket? I need some long coats and a few more hats.

Sorry but I had to get inside Richard’s head again. It helps me stay in touch with my X chromosomes.

For some who have no sense of humor or who are action fans, YES, this is a fake entry.

Disclaimer:

At no time in the writing of this entry did I imagine I was really speaking for Richard Armitage nor did I deceive myself into thinking I really know his thoughts. Therefore, there is no need to involve his agent or publicist in what is supposed to be humorous. Of course I realize tone on the net is not always properly conveyed, and hey, I’m not a writer (I just have lots of crap I want to say), so I’m not taking the chance of being misconstrued.

Have a nice day. :D

Note: I’m blaming my lack of inhibition about posting this on my cold medicine and having just read James Franco’s Actor’s Anonymous. ;p

Photo courtesy of Hobbsy and his video from whence the photo was taken, if you’re interested. :D

What a Year for Richard Armitage

With the release of ‘Captain America’ where he only had a few lines, he was still on the promotional tour. This seemed to be the first tangible sign that his star was really on the rise from ‘The Hobbit.’ Despite all of it, I’m still flabbergasted that Peter Jackson selected him. Of course this has nothing to do with RA’s abilities and everything to do with my taste almost never matching what the masses like. And then for him to end with such a great ranking on IMDb! Phew! The wave he’s been riding will no doubt go for another year and more. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Yeah, I know we don’t really know him. I’m talking about his public persona, which is damn fine. :D

This post obviously has nothing new in it, but I have to exult.

And I have to share this wallpaper made by Tanni Tanni even if some of you have already seen it. It sums up the mood:

Click to enlarge and then save.

Going With My Gut — Spoilers

Spoilers for Strike Back 2

Regular readers among you know how I feel about my gut and should know it’s for good reason. Do I need to remind about Porter’s demise? :D And if I were more eloquent, “gut” would become a beautiful euphemism. Alas, I’m confined to earthy, and being a bit earthy has usually served me well, so to hell with eloquence.

Several weeks ago I suggested a plan and thought a good time to execute it would be sometime between July 22nd (the opening of ‘Captain America’) and August 22nd (near the debut of ‘Strike Back 2’ and you know whose birthday). However, I’m having some reservations. This is not an appeasement of those firmly in Armitage Protection Mode (aka APM). I would still like to try for the trending, and I’m full of details and instructions about the goodness that can be Twitter if done right and most importantly at the right time.

The desire for the project started with the imminent release of ‘Captain America’ and my getting pumped at the potential swell of new fans in RA Universe. Still pumped about that, but I’ve had doubts about the effect of ‘Strike Back’ Series 2. It hasn’t been a good sign that it was airing on Cinemax, which after dark is little better than a porn network and commonly known as Skinemax in the U.S. Nevertheless, I was still open to trying to trend RA’s name simply because he has such an ability to take pulp and turn it into something fine. I have been hoping that would happen with SB2, but one man can only do so much, and it’s especially difficult when he isn’t given much to do. Hearing from friends and fellow RA lovers who have seen the first episode, the show could be boiled down to one word: crap. Several have told me, “Don’t bother.” I may not.

Oh, who am I kidding?! I’m going to watch it if only the first 20 minutes which include RA. No, wait! I understand there’s some of him in the second episode as well, so I’ll watch some of that too. And none of this would be a problem for me as a longtime admirer who has his other performances in my head to sustain me through whatever lameness is in Strike Back 2. But would I want to highlight on Twitter, which is notoriously short on explanation, something lame for new fans still taking their first impressions of RA?

Even if all of this hadn’t been enough to hold me back, I’m firmly in check by knowledge of the recent poll debacle. People, c’mon! ROFLOL! This is not espionage, and if the Anglophenia blog were simply some brash American site, then maybe the siege for Richard would be okay. Scratch that. It wouldn’t be okay. (I can’t help but think of my friend Hunkess, who has put up with all sorts of garbage to bring us all those Hunkie polls. She had to get her whip out at one point.)

Now I would be lying to say I’m above trying to vote more than once on a poll on a given day. Some of the fun is figuring out how to do this. ;-) And bloggers who put up these polls and don’t realize this can be a common response from readers of celebrity polls, perhaps need to learn the lesson, but somehow I doubt that’s really necessary. That aside, how embarrassing for us fans that the blog brought it to light (must be an Alan Rickman fan running things over there. LOL!! Yes, I’m kidding. Lighten up, people. :D ). NET: no way I would follow this with a Twitter campaign.

The capper is the news of ‘Spooks’ being canceled. I don’t want to draw more attention to that for new fans. Again, I’m talking about drawing attention without explanation, which would be the case for most on Twitter. Of course if they read my blog ;-), they’ll get plenty of explanation.

Do I sound like I have APM? Maybe a little. :D

If you’ve made it this far and you’re not thoroughly pissed off at me, hang with me for the rest, and oh! by the way, you British fans, note I didn’t say pissed. I’ve been recently schooled in some fine points of British earthiness:

…when you’re angry and upset, you’re “pissed off”, not “pissed”! As an Australian, I speak and spell more the way the English do, so I have an advantage, I think! If you’re going to adopt any English slang, it is better to use their exact expressions rather than adjust them, if you want to be easily understood in an international forum. “Pissed” actually means “drunk”. OK, English lesson over and done!!. I am just “having a go at you” or “taking the mickey out of you”, so please don’t take me seriously. — Kathryn

I will never misuse that word again! :D And don’t tell my family, but I probably need the mickey taken out of me on a regular basis.

Okay, so how to end this? Ooooh, I know just the thing:

Dear Richard,

I love your performances so much. Oh, you weren’t sure about that? Oh my man, you don’t think I would do a blog for just anyone? I’m not that kind of girl.

But I hope you meant it when you said you don’t read about yourself on the internet, and God forbid anyone tells you. From what I can tell about you so far, you would probably be embarrassed by this last week’s activity. So just stay away if you think you might get your knickers in a twist.;-)

And I really, really hope you or anyone even remotely connected to you never reads this blog! If that happened, I would probably want to crawl under a rock despite being anonymous. But I couldn’t stay away; I’ve missed cutting up.*

Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans who at times needs this craziness to deal with the sanity of life. :D

P.S. Maybe I won’t be thrilled with SB2 when I finally watch it, but hey, I put up a new background in honor of your performances as John Porter.

*For those readers not familiar with this American idiom, it means joking and/or teasing.

Watch someone take me seriously about cheating at Anglophenia never mind that I set a record for emoticons in this post. :D

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, and as usual, click to enlarge.

I Gots Thoughts

Oh, yeah, I have lots of thoughts about all that’s been going on the last several days in RA Universe — movie premieres, killer photos, and more good stuff from “The Hobbit” set. More on this later. I’m so busy this week that I seriously am almost cross-eyed, but I will weigh in at some point. You know I will.

But one thing before I go. #1 daughter regularly frequents this movie theater:

Since she wasn’t going to be anywhere around at the time, I didn’t have the heart to tell her Richard Armitage would be there on Wednesday evening. She was so bummed when she found out. I hope he goes back to New York sometime!

One of my daughter’s favorite RA pictures:

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com.

edit: Oops I meant to add that I’m updating the Who’s Richard Armitage? page as it’s in serious need of some treatment. :D

Thorin Oakenshield as You’ve Never Seen Him

Okay, the title is for the new fans as I’m sure many of you others (that sounds better than ‘old fans’) have already seen these pictures. For the new fans, you can see him animated at Who is Richard Armitage? If you are feeling the hunger to investigate further, there are lots of good Places to Get a Fix. If you are already into full blown addiction and need to “commiserate,” of course you can get plenty of that here, but I’m far from the only place as there are many blogs on The Addict List. And if you’re on a phone and can’t easily access my About page, then go here — might make you feel better if you’re feeling a little funny right now.

But onto really important matters. :D

If I were single and there were someone like this who is intelligent and doesn’t just look the part?

It would be a serious temptation to my good sense. Oh heck, I would be addled, and I remember when I was addled by someone.

As if that’s not enough, consider the physical Richard Armitage:

Watching the workout segment in the recent Hobbit production video from Peter Jackson created a powerful flash back of seeing SO for the first time. He was in a ragged golf shirt and jeans. Although he could afford better clothes, he was on the go so much of the time that he loved how those ragged clothes “breathed.” The golf shirt was truly awful, but I was still dazed by him. He has always been very fit looking, and he was quite the athlete. He walked around our college campus, and I seriously did swoon. Before we started dating, I would squirrel myself in a seat unseen on the football field/track and watch him work out. He didn’t know I was already in love with him. Then after we were together, I used to run stands with him and much later told him, “You had to know it was love, baby, since no one in her right mind would do that unless they were training for the Olympics.” I loved looking at him, and especially his legs. He’s always had the most beautifully muscled legs and back and shoulders, and I’ll stop. But one last thing. The most compelling part of SO is his mind. He is clever and after all of our years together, he is still interesting; still keeps me on my toes. Yes, there have been times I have wanted to wring his neck, but it was never enough to eclipse the force that he is and remains, and seriously, I marvel at that. I’ve said this before on this blog, and I couldn’t help saying it again. Today, I was looking at SO at a task, and I was addled again. Sadly, I see so many people bored with their SOs, and I feel for them.

Still have that golf shirt.

Dear Richard,

Thank you for just being you, and thanks for serving as a catalyst for such lovely memories. Hope you don’t mind that I used you that way, but hey, if you’re going to be objectified, I can’t think of a better way.

Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans gone to look for her SO. :)

P.S. I have never understood why so many fans refer to you as slim. Oh, you are fine (more than fine), but you are not a little guy such that words like ‘slim’ are apt descriptions. Far from it.

Promo still for Captain America from Life and screencaps from “The Hobbit” set are mine.

Now That’s What I’m Talkin’ About

No Ringo Starr here:

Phew, those shades are growing on me, and I even like the tie now. :D

Obviously, this shot came from Heather’s stash. Her encounter and DiL’s will be up on RichardArmitageNet.Com with more pictures! LOL!

And I’ve learned a new word from Iz4blue — “squeegasm” Oh, yeah, that’s going in the lexicon.

Welcome to America, Richard

He looks like Ringo Starr in this one:

Isn’t this red carpet how people from other places picture America?

And yet ironically, is the rest of America like this?

I hope somewhere along RA’s travels in my country that he actually gets to have some meaningful conversations with people outside of Hollywood.

Dear Richard,

Please don’t judge the rest of us by the plastic you encounter in Hollywood. Although I do know you met two real people on the red carpet. They’re wonderful, and the tall one might be single.

But psst, I think you’re a New York kind of guy, so I hope you get to go there or revisit there. If you do go, I know a great little Italian restaurant in the Village, which you would love. :D

Signed,

One of your fans who has her heart in New York and Flyover country

Okay, so New York isn’t like the rest of the country either. LOL!

Love the song but disagree with Billy about the Rockies. He just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It gets in your blood like New York.

One more photo, and I love the subliminal flag in it. He looks like something hit him in this one:

Photos courtesy of Cesta. Gallery of her photos and others can be found on RichardArmitageNet.Com. Be sure to check them out. These above are far from the best shots of the bunch.

Is It Just Me?

I became giddy seeing Richard Armitage in my country. Someone please, please slap me ’cause I feel really silly right now. On second thought never mind. It just feels good that he was in LA even if he was sweltering:

Love the arrow. :D

I hope Heather got to go to the Red Carpet for Captain America. For those who don’t know, Heather is a fan extraordinaire, and I have a soft spot for her because she’s a good hearted person, and she’s the one who turned me onto RA. LOL!

Heather, I so hope you got to finally see Richard in the flesh!

And some video for those who haven’t watched the AP Live interview:

For the Marvel interview, you can watch it here. RA in the first several minutes.

On the Red Capet with Richard Armitage

I’ve now watched several clips of Richard Armitage on the red carpet for various events, and I love that he is still so thoughtful. That just makes him even more appealing. Phew, a thinking man who looks like this:

Red Carpet Screencap from @izabelanna on Twitter.

bccmee also has some great screencaps here.

edit:

The Marvel Interview:

The AP Interview:

I’m sure bccmee will soon have up closed captioning on the video that’s difficult to hear. If you go to her blog, she already has up the transcripts.

From Cats to Dwarfs — New Interview

A new interview with Richard Armitage is in Project Magazine (issue #8), but you can only get it on iPad. He talks about playing a Nazi. Makes me want to check out the biography he mentions and a whole lot more. :D Thankfully, for those us who haven’t bought an iPad yet, RichardArmitageNet.Com has just uploaded, and you can find it here.

A few of my favorite photos from the interview:

Last image courtesy of Iz4blue.