What’s Your Take on Kony 2012?

I get all sorts of notices on Vimeo, and a little over a week ago, there was a notice about something called Kony 2012. I watched it, and I had questions and have asked them of the sources I have in Uganda, but I didn’t get a chance to come back to the internet about this until a few days ago. Thursday I came back to query and realized the video was on YouTube as of Monday and already had tens of millions of hits. As I’m typing this, the video has almost 66 million hits.

Since I want to hear what you think, I’m not going to tell you my thoughts so far, but this is what SO and I have been discussing for the last two days:

More info on it below, but I hope you watch the video first if you haven’t seen it and don’t know anything. I’m really curious about your reaction before you hear all the rhetoric.

Source

Source

Source in response to this Source.

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

And Another Source

March 10, 2012
Categories: SO, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

Lovely Facilitator

I’ve been talking about the wonders of technology, and specifically what it can do for us. This invention has me thinking all sorts of possibilities for keeping my Richard Armitage obsession well fed but not in plain sight:



Facial Recognition Billboard Only Lets Women See The Full Ad
By Yi Chen on February 21, 2012

A new kind of outdoor advertisement is being trialled on Oxford Street in London’s West End. The interactive advertisement uses a high-definition camera to scan pedestrians and identify their gender before showing a specific ad. The built-in system has a 90 per cent accuracy rate in analyzing a person’s facial features and determining if they’re a male or female.

Read the rest here

I need one of these devices in several rooms of my home, and when I walk near, I see something like this:

But it would have to be sophisticated enough that when SO walks near, he would see this:

which would ensure he asks no questions about the awkward looking contraptions spread throughout the house.

And maybe there’s a workaround for Servetus’ difficulty:

https://twitter.com/#!/ServetusRA/status/174607695729532928

The sensing unit mounted on the lectern with the display on the back wall behind the students? And perhaps with rotating images of Richard Armitage so she would not become dazed by her ogling. But of course if the students happen to look, they would see this:

The only downside I foresee is the students becoming confused by her spontaneous diagramming of Luther’s pants?

RA screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com. Other images in the public domain.

February 29, 2012
Categories: Geek, Robin Hood, SO . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 12 Comments

Project 365

I’ve blown that. LOL! But hey, I’ve been observing some of the bigger bloggers who are doing the project, and they’ve blown it too. Made me feel a little better. Maybe I misunderstood the goal was a post everyday (actually all but one day since this is a leap year), and really, the goal is to be thinking everyday about posting, which means, I am so gooooooood! I’m in clover on that. This friggin’ blog is in my thoughts a lot. Definitely think about it at least once a day.

For those reading, I hope you have a warm fuzzy that I’m thinking about posts for you. For you, dammit! :D No, I’ve got nothing else tonight. Must rest up for tomorrow.

In the meantime, I was just reading again the “What Would You Do If You Were Checked Out by Richard Armitage” post, and my friends, the best part of that is the comment section. SO is sitting across the room from me, and I was laughing so hard he finally said, “What the heck is going on?” Of course I couldn’t explain it. No, I wouldn’t explain it.

Oh, one last thing. I’ve finally gotten SO to watch ‘North and South’. It’s only taken me four years, but hey, I’m pretty pumped about it. We’re halfway through it, and maybe we’ll finish it tonight. No promises though. But please send happy thoughts my way as SO takes in John Thornton’s glory. :D

A picture to put you in the mood:

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com

February 20, 2012
Categories: North and South, SO . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

Meeting Richard

Tammi, my close friend whom I’ve talked about on blog here and here (with her permission, and yes, that’s her real name although I gave her the option of a fake name, and she said run with the original. phew), has said to me several times recently, “Wouldn’t it be great if you met Richard Armitage?!” My feeling about it is, no, it probably wouldn’t. This occurred to me when Heather was sharing her experience. Don’t get me wrong. I am glad for Heather; it felt like my child making good on something. How wonderful for her to realize a dream of five years! But my dream is far different.

I would want a chat with him that would last at least a few weeks non-stop. But my real fantasy (yes, I’m admitting to a fantasy about Richard Armitage) is him sitting in my den discussing various subjects with SO and with me as spectator. Two interesting men having wonderful discussions about topics that fascinate me? Umm, I might get lightheaded if I think about it for long. RA is so intriguing, but honestly, after knowing SO for more than two decades, he’s still an enigma to me, and what I really love about him (among many other things) is his ability to bring out the interesting in others. Can you imagine RA being more interesting? It could happen if he were to sit with SO, who could get at what RA thinks and what he likes, and I would marvel at what RA would willingly reveal in the discussion, and I don’t mean any sordid details but rather something probably to do with his view of the world and what he would love to see and how he thinks art reflects that or should and thinking more outside the box than even he is accustomed to doing. I’m always amazed at how SO can evoke this from others, and they love him for it. Maybe because they usually feel hopeful after a discussion with him.


And since my den and kitchen sort of make up one giant room, I would get to cook all the foods I think RA would love and I know SO loves while I listen to them plumbing the mysteries of the universe and creating new ones. Some chicken flautas with sour cream and guacamole, rice and beans and definitely some hand made flour tortillas cooked on my cast iron griddle to complement. Grilled shrimp, asparagus on the side and some homemade yeast rolls. Smothered steak with mashed potatoes and steamed, whole green beans with a little butter and garlic, and maybe some bread pudding with brandy (recipe from the Southern Living cookbook). Yeah, I can see myself cooking away while savoring their conversation. This would be heaven. And now that Tammi is coming along nicely as an RA Addict, I might invite her to help me cook. :D

Maybe when the discussion lulls, we could take RA to our local ski “hill” and let him schuss and slalom with some of the world class athletes who frequent the slopes around here. We might even get him to take on the ski jump — at night when it really gets fun.

But an actual meeting with him wouldn’t be like Heather’s where she had something to discuss with him. Mine would consist of manifesting a gibbering idiot while trying to get out the terribly original, “Oh, I love your work.” Nope, that wouldn’t be satisfying at all, and frankly, I would feel like a ditz while it was happening and later. Yes, I’m proud, and if I’m going to even think about meeting RA, it’s going to be one heck of a fantasy.

However, if I ever get anywhere near him in the flesh, I’ll just settle for ogling him from a distance close enough to assess the condition of his skin. :D

Promotional still courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

February 11, 2012
Categories: SO . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 24 Comments

Having a Little Trouble Here

January 31, 2012


This is where I spent a chunk of the day, and it was very productive. Many questions were answered, and SO and I left this place with a wonderful sense of peace. Part of me wanted to post something more about the experience, but I found it too big to confine to this post or this blog, so I’m skipping it.

My fallback plan was to run with one of the many posts I have in draft (upwards of 300 pieces of writing), but as I was scanning them, nothing really jumped at me. Looking for inspiration, I made the supreme mistake of reading Servetus’ latest series. Oh, I’m not down on the series but rather my timing. How foolish to think I could read those posts and write a response by the seat of my pants. 3,000 to 4,000 words later, I called it quits for the night and came here to at least write something to keep in step with my commitment to Project 365.

Who knows when I’ll finish my thoughts on John Thornton, and who he thinks he is, but for now, I’m tired and going to bed. Night all.

January 31, 2012
Categories: North and South, SO . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 1 Comment

The Truth is Out

Dear Richard,

You love food and I love food. Oh, heck, we’re both eaters like Nigella (yeah, I know it was the chunk of chocolate cake that had you salivating), but well, I just need to talk about food because really that’s what I want to talk about! And the truth is every time I talk about it, I get all sorts of attention, and man, I need lots of attention — especially about food. Why didn’t I realize that is what I need to soothe my savage breast? See even my metaphors are about food. I was thinking about egg fried rice with chicken breast when I said that. And I’m so relieved I can talk so freely about this since the web already knows.

It all started with the cookedturkey.jpeg. Google knew I had a thing for it, and was so kind to make that the top image for cooked turkey, and it brought me loads of people to read about you! Karma, baby, karma. How do I know? You let something slip in your last message to the fans. And now I know, and of course Google knows you put those dumbbells down and ate some turkey!

As if that weren’t grand enough, this morning WordPress has me featured in their food topic which used yesterday’s piece. I sort of reblogged a recipe from Warm Vanilla Sugar, who’s probably getting some odd traffic about now. But I’m glad. It’s an excellent site, and I should know since I’ve spent a lot of time there. You need to make a visit.

As long as I’m revealing all my secrets, I might as well confess this is my favorite picture of you:


[click for something extra]

When you bit into that sausage, I became a fan for life! I AM NOT kidding about this. And you made that sausage look so good. Every time I think about it, I have to eat some. The first time I saw ‘Sparkhouse’, I did my usual with your work and watched it several more times. SO finally said after a couple of weeks, “You know I love bratwurst, but could we have a break for a few weeks?” Oh, you don’t know SO? Let’s keep it that way. He’s not as into food as you and I. Although if the subject of barbeque comes up, don’t even bother bringing it up. He is particular about his bbq.

Oh, I’m loving this, and now that my secret is out (that this is really a food blog), I will be writing about food and you much more often.

Signed,
unnuvvoorcwazyfans (Phew! That Johnsonville was good! )

P.S. I know Peter Jackson is right there with us on this. Good times. Good times.

You can thank WordPress and this snark facilitator and foodie for the post.

Screencap is mine

Note to fellow bloggers: the food tag is powerful.

January 30, 2012
Categories: SO, Sparkhouse . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments

Diary of an RA Fan — Part 28 Battling the Free Fall

See Diary Part 27 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.

Entry — a few weeks later, November 2008:

All of this reflection is wearing me out. I knew instinctively why I didn’t ever want to write my thoughts. But SO said I would benefit?! Oh yeah, I can see that. What was the point again? To wallow in all the things that dissatisfy me? A few weeks ago I did think it was a good thing. Now I’ll have to eventually burn this so the kids won’t see it. And I had thought this might be something for them. LOL! No way in hell.

Later:

I’m still watching Spooks. Five shows in, and this last was one of the best. Richard Armitage, you are something else. And I just thought you couldn’t top your sexiness as Guy of Gisborne. Wrong. Still so sexy while in all that lovely turmoil. Oh, that turmoil looked that good. I’m also still trying to figure out how you can look so weak and yet masculine at the same time.


Still amazed that no one I know has ever heard of him! No, I’m wrong. Pat had heard of him. She immediately responded when I put the Guy video on my Facebook wall, but then she asked me not to talk about it on FB. What is she so afraid of? Tammi just laughed when I put up the video. She’s just like SO who laughs at most things. But the truth is she thinks I’m nuts and frequently, gently tells me I’m having a little mid-life breakdown. I don’t appear to listen, but I think she’s right. I sound like an idiot, and my mind is kicked into overdrive, and that’s saying something since I’ve always had difficulty falling asleep because my mind WILL NOT SLOW DOWN! The doctors keep trying to hang me with bi-polar, but I refuse to accept it. If they were ever successful in labeling me, it would be a bit of hell to ever again be taken seriously. But something is wrong, and I can’t ignore the fact there are several in my family who are diagnosed with it.

Mom has never been diagnosed, but if she’s not bi-polar, I’m wondering what makes her so “eccentric.” Oh heck, she’s classic. Super, super highs and then terrible, terrible lows. Last summer she was too sick to be anything but a nice, steady calm, and it allowed me to con myself into believing some fantasy about how she is. Usually she is such a roller coaster ride, I don’t think I was bored once as a child. There was a buzz always permeating the house. I used to drown it out with tv. Mom used something else to make it stop.

What was I thinking to get excited about a long trip with her to a place far, faraway. Auntie Mame on the set of Spooks? I need to be afraid, and I would be, but I really do want to go to England, and I swear it has nothing to do with Richard Armitage. I want to see all of the “family” places Mom wants to show me. Yeah, I’m itching to hear about Great Grandfather Abraham and all he achieved. Somehow that will edify.

But I’m not going to stop with this Richard Armitage thing; it soothes me. I’m going to keep at it. And I think I’m over my concern about objectifying him too much ’cause I know I am objectifying him — some. When I think of really objectifying a man, I don’t think of someone like him. I think of someone like Hrithik Roshan. He is an object waiting happen. No, even him I can’t fully objectify. I saw an interview, and he was so earnest about making it as a serious actor that my heart went out to him. He is beautiful, and I’m sure no one can get around that in his presence, but how do you make it as a serious actor when you look like that?! I hope he’s successful. What am I saying? I don’t even know these people, but it’s much easier for me to say something like that than to examine what I want.

I watched Dhoom2 again the other night. What a crazy movie. The old phrase about a kaleidoscope is apt. And as with everything else, it piqued my curiosity. I’m now intensely wondering what the Indian people are really like.

Present day:

I have come to really appreciate Hrithik Roshan but have to admit his extreme good looks did make me assume something about him that was unfair. More on this in another post.

RA screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

Hrithik Roshan screencap is mine.

January 28, 2012
Categories: SO, Spooks . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 18 Comments

My Trip to New Zealand

No, I’m not going, but I dream about it. The next few months might be a good time to go since Peter Jackson and company will be back shooting in the next few days:

Peter Jackson Cuts Sundance Short; Returns to New Zealand for ‘Hobbit’
Details here

Wonder if SO would feel funny about me being gone for several weeks to get that bottle of wine.

edit: I got this piece of news via a Tweet from Violet at The Framework Blog. If you have not read that blog, do it. She always makes me laugh, and that’s dear in this ferocious world.

January 24, 2012
Categories: Movies, SO, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 17 Comments

Encounters of the Misty Kind

It has to be apparent I love technology and have a special fondness for the Web. But it’s not just because it feeds this info junkie’s habit, it’s also for the people I’ve met. From the first time I participated in a bulletin board using 80 byte files that were appended and all in lovely monochrome display, I’ve been hooked on communicating with people who had a shared interest and wanted to talk about it, to offer some knowledge or glean some knowledge from others. For those who have never participated in something like that, they usually don’t get it. They usually don’t understand that it’s possible to form relationships where you are edified by others whom you never see or hear. I do hate that I can’t hear your voices, and that’s the chief reason I wanted to do voice as my subject for last year’s FanstRAvaganza. I’m deeply affected by what I hear. Much more than by what I see.

But even if I have never heard your voice, I am affected by what many of you have typed into your keyboards, and I’ve come to know some of you and know you’re real people with real lives which have highs and lows. I never forget that when I’m online. So when one of you goes away and there’s no clue as to where you went, it leaves a hole where you used to be. I’m never quite sure what to do with that. Part of me thinks I should adopt society’s demeanor and throw you away and move on, but I’ll never be able to do that, because I don’t want to do that.

Years ago I participated in a forum and one of the members who became an online buddy was a gentleman named Fred. He was a delight and had such wisdom. Everyone on that site loved him, and then one day Fred stopped talking, and for months we wondered what happened. Only one of the forum members had ever talked to Fred offline, and he offered to find out what he could. It was a long time before that member got a response and came back to tell us that Fred had died and his family sent us a message. I’m so glad they did that, and whether Fred really died or not (I’ll never know the truth of that), he was dead to us, and we could mourn him and not just throw him away in our minds.

That incident had such an effect on me that I’ve left instructions with my will that in the event anything happens to me, SO is to get online and say goodbye. When I told him about that, I thought he would laugh, but to his credit, he understands relationships whether online or not and knows how very important it is to gain closure. I’ve now worked with countless people who have experienced death of a loved one, and closure is imperative. If someone can’t say goodbye, they’re never over it. In the case of being online, I think it’s as important for the one leaving cyber space to say goodbye as it is for those left behind. So I hope our friend will at least give herself a chance to say it’s been fun, but I’ve got to go, and take care.

More thoughts on this later and in regard to Richard Armitage and his relationship with fans in cyber space and beyond. For now a close up of a fan’s encounter with RA:


[click to enlarge]

Spooks behind the scenes candid shot courtesy of KuchingGirl

January 21, 2012
Categories: Fandom, SO, Spooks . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 20 Comments

Tintin Looks Interesting

I’m contemplating seeing this movie. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a movie theater, and it would be nice to get out of the house. SO was talking about taking our eleven year old to see it, and my extreme eagerness was duly noted with a look askance that said, “What is going on?” My look back, “Nothing. I just thought _________ might love this movie, and it is the holiday season. Maybe we can go on opening night?”

I refuse to believe Richard Armitage is corrupting my reputation. What is it to me that I’ve watched the cheesy Robin Hood, then more cheesy Captain America, and now… But I’m doing it so my kid will have some entertainment, and I’m sure she would love the trailers:

Promo courtesy of TheOneRing.Net

December 14, 2011
Categories: Movies, SO, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

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