Tech is My Boyfriend

Someone mentioned boyfriends.

Tech is one of my passions. Yes, my eye strays from Richard Armitage at times — especially when he pays no attention to me! No pictures or soundbites to drool over! Nothing to fangirl over (absolutely fangirl is a verb. Don’t argue with me; it’s a verb!) But I get a steady stream of cool stuff from tech, which makes me giddy reading about the latest gizmo (can I say gizmo if I’m a techie? I guess I just did). It also makes me feel in ways I never thought I could even in ways Richard has never made me feel. And I love experimenting. Heck, I love breaking things just to see how I can fix them. I have a savior complex which demands I continually fix things. And since I can’t fix Rich, I settle for inanimate objects. No, Rich doesn’t need fixing. At least that I know of, which doesn’t mean I’m ever going to leave him, but if I did leave him, it wouldn’t be for some wild eyed, angst ridden villain who looks good in leather. ;-)

Meanwhile my real boyfriend has been checking out more of Peter Jackson’s works. He recently finished “Heavenly Creatures” which led to quite a discussion of fantasy. He’s also been reading up on the brouhaha over 48fps and launched into a comparison/contrast of Jackson’s and Cameron’s styles including some talk of how it would be fantastic if Jackson could use technology to artistically get inside a character’s head and Cameron doesn’t even know how to get inside a character’s head. This is the quick and dirty since I can’t remember everything SO said, and it’s times like these that make me want to throttle him for not blogging. Countless times I’ve said, “I’ll handle the technical stuff. Just write the pieces!” The man is stubborn.

But back to Richard.

Rich,

I’m starting to get a complex. I mean are you trying to tell me something?! Are my feelings for you wearing you out?! I really will understand if you don’t like my gushing. C’mon, you can tell me. Don’t hold it in until you have to throw a chair out the window. Or are you just saving the good stuff for later? :D

Hopefully, I won’t be so immersed in this that I miss it:


Go ahead; you can click on it.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who would leave you only for a wild eyed, angst ridden villain who looks REALLY good in leather.

P.S. My real boyfriend knows you’re not a threat, but he is a little concerned about tech.

P.P.S. I suppose we’re not going to get another production vlog anytime soon. Gotta wait for the trailer in July huh?

Notice how I’m completely ignoring the Facebook IPO. May it crash and burn (after some of you have made some money of course :D)

May 19, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Geek, Movies, SO, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

Oh Yeah, It’s Cool

But not for the reasons you may think.

Richard Armitage has managed to impress one of the toughest demographics — fan boys. Okay, it was one guy out of the demographic, but I’m running with it. I have encountered enough fan boys over the years to know how picky they can be. My first encounter taught me. He was into monsters and those monsters had to be just so. The right kind of plastic molded to perfection. He went on to become Ivan Stang. Excuse me that’s Reverend Ivan Stang, founder of the Church of the SubGenius. “Ivan” was going to have things his way. LOL!

So our resident fan boy, Eric Vespe, aka Quint from Ain’t It Cool, gave us his report and saw what so many of us see and rave about. How good it was to hear from someone else — and a hard case to boot:

It’s late in the day and the idea is that this is a suitable place to make camp, but Gandalf wants to push on and seek Elrond’s council at Rivendell.

This scene is all about Thorin and my first real chance at seeing Richard Armitage craft a layered performance with the character. Thorin’s a stubborn dwarf, very much a leader, but is smart enough to heed the council of Gandalf.

He is a man torn in this scene. His deep resentment at the elves (he believes they have betrayed his ancestors by not stepping in when they needed their help) pulls him one way, but his respect for Gandalf pulls him the other.

Sir Ian had to be here for this moment since a full performance was required from both men, so he spent the day as he does most days on this movie: standing on a platform a good 2-3 feet off the ground. Peter was getting mostly medium shots and over the shoulders (or beside the shoulder for the shots from Gandalf to Thorin if you want to be anal about it) so there shouldn’t be any need for digital augmentation here.

Armitage does a great job with Thorin’s inner struggle. The look on his face isn’t someone locked into a decision. Gandalf urges him to seek Elrond’s help, for the good of the quest. Instead of playing it like a stone-faced general, Armitage does weigh his options and mostly in reaction to Gandalf’s words, not in his own dialogue.

Read the rest of the report here

But that’s not all. He saw something that most of us don’t get to see often, Richard Armitage as himself, and I would say this is a glowing report:

https://twitter.com/#!/EricVespe/status/200719955501662209

Feelin’ the love!

Thank you, Eric. :) and if you read this, I have a question. Is fan boy two words or one?

May 11, 2012
Categories: Interviews, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 26 Comments

Seeing Red

Those firmly in RA Universe know by now Peter Jackson screened 10 minutes of ‘The Hobbit’ at CinemaCon, and it was ill received by a significant number of attendees. The plan by Warner Bros. was to highlight the potential sea change in movie making with the advent of cameras like the Red Epic. What I found completely predictable, and I’m going to be shocked if Sir Peter and Warners didn’t as well, were the stunned reactions of a bunch of theater owners and some journalists who needed something interesting to write. This gathering was not conducive to appreciation of something highly creative and inventive in film making. It was mostly about the bottom line, about consumption and give it to me now.

After the lean years of movie going and fear of not being in the black, I can understand theater owners not being eager to embrace something that requires them to invest lots of money and must in part be an acquired taste for the public. As for most of the journalists, they did not do their homework as per usual and must hear the same things over and over. For those who did do their homework, they knew Peter Jackson had already made it plain how 48fps will look and for ‘The Hobbit’ film will require some additional work on his part. Check out 5:00 to about 6:45 and especially the part about “grading down.”

For now I’m assuming Peter Jackson was not thrown a bit by the reaction at CinemaCon:

Peter Jackson responds to complaints about ‘The Hobbit’ footage — BREAKING

by Anthony Breznican
Peter Jackson says the negative reaction this week over new technology he’s using to shoot The Hobbit won’t hold him back, and he hopes moviegoers will give it a try and judge for themselves.

“Nobody is going to stop,” he said. “This technology is going to keep evolving.”

He hopes critics of the format will change their minds when they see the finished film.

“At first it’s unusual because you’ve never seen a movie like this before. It’s literally a new experience, but you know, that doesn’t last the entire experience of the film; not by any stretch, after 10 minutes or so,” Jackson tells EW. “That’s a different experience than if you see a fast-cutting montage at a technical presentation.”

So what does he say to people who just decide they don’t like the glossy new look of the format he’s using?

“I can’t say anything,” Jackson acknowledges. “Just like I can’t say anything to someone who doesn’t like fish. You can’t explain why fish tastes great and why they should enjoy it.”

Right now, every second of a motion picture is made up of 24 images, or “frames,” but Jackson is shooting his two Hobbit films at 48 frames per second, which he says creates a more lifelike picture and will make 3-D less of a strain on the eyes.

Read the rest here

As for me, I found the Ain’t It Cool write up on ‘The Hobbit’ screening about the most fair assessment, and I’m willing to wait for the finished product.

I’m also glad I finally got to highlight this vlog. It has been the most fascinating to me so far, but in the autumn I had a few things going on to keep me from giving the piece its due. Oh well, I got a chance to begin now and will have more to say on the subject.

Obviously something interesting happened. :D See you on Tuesday.

April 28, 2012
Categories: Geek, Interviews, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 10 Comments

MrCere, We Are Experiencing a Strange Emotion

I’m finally getting ’round to catching up on my reading of TORn and have discovered Larry D. Curtis (aka MrCere) is an embed on the set of ‘The Hobbit.’ Something ugly flickered in the middle of my being. It was a foreign feeling. One I’ve only felt perhaps two or three times in my life, but one I hope never to experience again, or I may not be responsible for my actions.

From the looks of things here, it might seem I’m jealous of MrCere meeting the cast and in particular, you know who. Nope. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to watch him work! I would love to do that — much more than meet him. C’mon what would I say to him or he would say to me that I couldn’t completely predict? I could write that script. Boring.

But to watch him work?! And the rest of the cast? And Peter Jackson?!! That would be something wonderful. A fantasy! Yes, I’ve had others — mainly where I cook and he talks, but this is my ultimate fantasy of an encounter with Richard Armitage, and Larry’s tweet has inflamed my envy:

https://twitter.com/#!/MrLDC/status/192225794565734400

To hell with sports. No, I don’t mean that but mean it for the moment. :D

I would so love to be a fly on the wall. Yes, I can see it. Me up there:

No, higher:

And maybe a little less obvious:

Looking down on all that creativity!

But then I suppose I would actually need to stand on one of these:

Can a fly really hang out on one those?

Or would I need to morph?

Wondering how Larry Curtis feels about now. Fly or Goat?

Dear Larry,

We are awaiting your report(s). Yes, it is a royal we. When you have as many personas (personae?) as I do, you can become royal too.

Signed,
One of Richard’s fans who may become a boom, a boulder or a horse in the near future. ;-)

P.S. Of course you rate a fake fan letter. *looks coyly*

Screencaps of Hobbit Set vlog from my stash.

April 20, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 19 Comments

The Hobbit Audio Book II

I’ve been thinking Harper Collins is “the powers that be.”  This was my thought yesterday before posting, but I wanted to cover all the bases.  Given the fact they’ve acquired the book rights, I can’t imagine they neglected to obtain rights to the audio book.


April 14, 2011

Attn: Audio Book Procurers
Harper Collins Publishing

Re: The reading of The Hobbit for release in conjunction with ‘The Hobbit’ movies

Dear Sirs or Madams:

Since my last letter to you, I realized I may have been unfair in assuming your interests are purely pecuniary. So I come with an appeal to your humanitarian inclinations, your desire for the greater good.  The beauty of this proposal is it will not only create goodwill of the humanitarian kind, but it will make some so lighthearted and free that their purse strings will be opened wide — among other things.

Do you know what happens to women when Richard Armitage speaks? I will be happy to educate. He’s been known to make them write verse and fantasies, draw and paint pictures, create masterful videos, obviously take up blogging, but most notable has been his ability to make ovaries explode.  Hopefully, I don’t need to put a fine point on that. Suffice to say he puts women in a good mood, and in case it’s not clear by my presence here, he is an addiction and we must get our fix. Yes, I admit that’s what this letter is really about.   We need our fix and would love it if The Hobbit were available to help. Just think what this would do for the greater good to have that many smiling women.

In the meantime, I will be happy to send you samples of Richard’s work. This would be for the Madams since it would probably be lost on you Sirs.

Thank you for considering, and I am sure all of the significant others would thank you as well.

Sincerely,
One of Richard’s fans who hopes you realize I’m teasing — unless you’re seriously considering!

P.S. Pssst, if you are already locked into someone else reading, could you get Richard for something else?  We just want to hear him read.  May I suggest this book which is in the public domain.

cc:

Peter Jackson
United Agents
The Addict List

This one gets the public service tag.

April 14, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit, Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

The Hobbit Audio Book

Talk at TheOneRing about the book ties-ins to ‘The Hobbit’ has trebled my passion for Richard Armitage to read the book! But I fear it will never happen. More than likely the contracts have been signed, and Peter Jackson, or Harper Collins or Middle-Earth Enterprises, or whoever is considered “the powers that be” have selected a more well-known reader. I so want to be wrong about this, but my infernal gut is rather dismal today. So this post is a vent. Or maybe I’m looking for someone with a positive outlook.

If it would make a difference, I would raise an issue on an LOTR site or two. I suspect they would probably dismiss me as nothing but a rabid fan with little or no objectivity. And to that I would ask: have you listened to the man’s voice?!

Oh well, in lieu of pestering the Tolkien fans, maybe a fake fan letter to alleviate my angst?

Dear Sir Peter or Harper Collins or MEE, Anyone with any sense:

The thought of Richard Armitage reading The Hobbit is sheer bliss only to be exceeded by the thought of his reading North and South…………………. Oh, sorry, I blacked out for a moment. Ahem. You really need to know that every book he’s read is wonderful. I may sound like a silly fan who would be happy with his reading of the phone book, but you would be wrong. On second thought, you might be right since I would be willing to pay money to hear that. You read that right. I would pay bucks for that. There might be a few others who feel the same. :D

And you do know more women buy books than men? I’ll give some documentation if you need it. Somehow I think you already know this. But more than that, have you heard the man reading a book? Then what are you waiting for? He is perfect. Yes, I know what I’m talking about, and someone is going to eventually cash in. Why not you and why not now?

Thank you for considering,
One of Richard’s fans who knows what women like and would love to help you make some money more money.

P.S. I realize you may not be the bottom line, Sir Peter, but hope you have some influence in this matter or at the least could have Richard reading some phone book entries in the next vlog. ;-) Surely that wouldn’t violate any contracts or anyone’s privacy — especially if the names are fake. Hmmm. My mind is flooding with the possibilities. Really, I don’t care what you have him say. Just let him say something in the next video!
P.P.S I’ve never written a post script so long, but hell, this is worth it.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of listening to Richard Armitage’s audio work, I have several samples in my FanstRAvaganza pieces from last year including RA doing American, and you can find additional excerpts here and here.

Also, I still have a little stockpile of audiobooks to give away. Some are courtesy of the BBC, and I have to say again how much I appreciate that! Need to get on the giveaway since SO keeps wondering why they’ve been on his desk for over a year.

Note: the wrap-up piece I promised is coming. Since that may be the most important writing I publish on this blog, I want to get it right.

April 13, 2012
Categories: Movies, SO, The Hobbit, Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 49 Comments

My Trip to New York

Unlike my fantasy trip to New Zealand, this one I’m taking, and certainly to try to see ‘The Hobbit’ premiere, and perhaps meet some other fans in the tri-state area. I believe the latter would be as much fun as the premiere! And cliche’ as it sounds, I love New York. No clue how many times I’ve been there. SO and I and the kids even lived there part of one summer. That’s when my children fell in love with it too, and now I have two other very compelling reasons to go there and will go whether there is a premiere or not:


One of the darlings is in her first year living there, and the other darling has been there for almost three years. Normally, I would visit them during the summer since the winters can be miserable. But my girls are going out of town for a big chunk of the summer, and besides, they’re also coming home for a visit. So December it will be!

Dear Richard,

Love you, but I’m not sure I would make a trip on your behalf. Something else fairly compelling would have to be thrown in. Somehow I think you would understand this.

Sincerely,
One of your fans who likes to act crazy but who’s startlingly sane when it comes to expenditures. :D

My final FanstRAVaganza recap coming later today.

March 29, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Movies, SO, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 23 Comments

Who’s Your Boyfriend?

December is going to be here soon. You think I’m nuts? Try processing that Christmas happened over three months ago. Feels like two weeks to me, and if I wait another two weeks, it will be Thanksgiving. That means I need to start getting ready now for ‘The Hobbit’ premiere. I think The Queen and I are going to try to go to NYC for this, but that’s not what this post is about.

You all know how much I love librarians. They hold a special place in my heart and especially sassy librarians, who I waxed on about here, and I’m going to do it again today. But for a very good cause! Richard Armitage is our fantasy boyfriend, and Meg Wood, the sassy librarian in question, runs a blog about fantasy boyfriends. Meg is busy. She’s a librarian at the University of Washington, runs the Boyfriend of the Week blog, her book/movie review blog, supports various noble causes (no, I’m not being snarky), and has a boyfriend of her own. So I’m putting in my bid now for a piece from her oh, sometime between December 15th and February 3rd, 2013. I’ll even pay for her movie ticket. Maybe I’ll throw in dinner as well if Meg will go on the hook for a boyfriend piece about Richard.

This shouldn’t be too difficult since she’s done it before. But that was six years ago and will be almost seven by ‘The Hobbit’ release. It’s time for another one. And if she’s wondering about other background information (DVDs, video clips, interviews or whatever) on RA to catch her up on the last several years of his career, I’m sure some of us can scratch up something for her. :D

It’s Wednesday evening, and I was going to wait until Friday night to publish. That seemed to fit better with the boyfriend theme. But I’m hoping Meg’s not busy on a Wednesday night.

So what say you, Meg? Dinner and a movie for a comparison of RA against your man?

March 28, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 13 Comments

The Year of the Dwarf?

Timeout from my FanstRAvaganza exploration.

I was followed on Twitter by another movie trailer site. I think they know I’m a sucker for these things. So I went over to watch some and came away with the need to post this.

Who woulda thunk one of the hot topics in entertainment this year would be dwarfs? (Or is that dwarves? Damn that Tolkien!) Not that I have any kind of problem with it or that it’s my first encounter with them — I have been a fan of the Roloffs. But I never imagined so much would be coming at us.

The premiere of “Mirror, Mirror” on Friday:

And supposedly ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ in June:

Of course the best is being saved for last since no dwarf before and probably since will be like this (Thank you, Sir Peter. :D):

But I do wonder why this much emphasis on Snow White? I’m sure the producers of those movies are irritated with each other, and I wonder if Peter Jackson is irritated by this as well or if it helps with ‘The Hobbit.’ Yeah, I think about useless stuff like this when I should be doing some paperwork such as the kind needed to file my taxes. See?! See?! why I get so caught up in this useless pastime?! Who in God’s creation wants to do their taxes?! Yep, that’s what I thought. This is much more soothing.

edit: E.B. Darcy reminded me about ‘Once Upon a Time’, which came out last year, and I think may be part of the reason Snow White is getting so much treatment.

March 26, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 9 Comments

Damn! I Want to Go to New Zealand

Never mind Richard Armitage. I was just on one of my favorite sites, Lost at E Minor, and it really got me this pumped up. Gave new meaning to the name New Zealand. Yeah, I’ve got some zeal, baby. The site is running a contest to giveaway some New Zealand products, which might be nice to enter, but that didn’t generate this excitement. Plus, it’s only open to Aussies.

It was the write-up and photos of Wellington:

Cool travel/win a prize pack from the coolest little capital in the world
March 12, 2012 by Zolton

I’m originally from Wellington, New Zealand, so I know first hand what a happening little city it is, from the windswept hills that harbour (did I say harbour? Check Wellington’s out below) cool boutiques, cafes and restaurants, to the bustling downtown area…(the rest here)

Man, someone with some means needs to be bowled over by me and offer to let me grace the Kiwis with my presence. :D

Wonder if Richard Armitage will come back. I wouldn’t.

Photos from the article, which I hope Lost at E Minor will allow me to use in order to promote their contest. LOL!

March 20, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 2 Comments

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