Todd Garner is a character but my kind of character. :D
Richard Armitage as the Oklahoma Teacher Dude in Black Sky:
Photo courtesy of Todd Garner of course.
Fiat, It’s What’s For Dinner
Disclaimer: this post is not about a political party but about something much bigger.
It seems the White House is not satisfied with the defeat of SOPA and PIPA:
There Is No Need For A Cybersecurity Executive Order
Since the collapse of the Congressional attempt to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 there has been mounting pressure for the Obama Administration to “do something”, that something being the imposition of a regulatory regime to protect critical infrastructure. But the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 failed because it was fatally flawed.On Friday, Federal News Radio reported that they had obtained a copy of a proposed Executive Order that would attempt, through executive fiat – as Steve Bucci at the Heritage Foundation terms it– to impose most of the measures called for by Senators Lieberman and Collins.
Bucci raises an important point:
“[Regulation] is exactly the wrong approach for dealing with a fast-moving and incredibly dynamic field like cybersecurity. Give hackers—whether working for themselves or for another nation-state—a static standard, and they will waltz around it and have their way with the target entity.”
Congress has gone through several dozen cybersecurity bills in the last three years, not to mention the failed attempt to pass a data breach law which dates back to 2005. Even as they revise and re-write, there have been dramatic changes in the defensive posture of our critical infrastructure providers. Effective changes.
Let’s look at the proposed Executive Order as revealed by Federal news Radio. There are ten sections of the draft. Most of them call for nebulous voluntary information sharing or requirements that DHS create frameworks within three months. I can just see the scramble that will occur, and the watered down frameworks that will result, after multiple extensions to the due date are granted.
Read the rest here
I have many thoughts about this issue. I’ll spare you most of them. But I will say that it’s interesting how there is no hue and cry from the mainstream press over this potentially far reaching access to private information, and especially when I consider the righteous indignation exhibited when the Bush administration obtained phone records without a narrowly defined court order.
And for the record (again), I have not been a fan of the Homeland Security Act from its beginning. Sadly, Homeland will probably surf my site since I’ve said this, and it wouldn’t be the first time. Shaking my head as I write this because I know others who have experienced the same but feel skittish to talk about it. What the hell is our country coming to?
Sinjoor and some others are proposing an activity for our autumn leisure time. I’m game. :D
edit: I can’t type today. Gone to get some work done; catch you all later.
“Five hundred years after he died on the field of battle, Richard is still a figure of controversy and his story still fascinates and casts a spell. Betrayed in life by his allies, Richard was betrayed in death by history. Leaving no heir, his reputation was like his corps: left to his enemies, mutilated beyond recognition.
Filled with the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and lore of daily life, the rigors and risks of Court politics, the passions and infidelities of the high-born, and the touching concerns of very real men and women, The Sunne in Splendourbrings to life this gifted man whose greatest sin, perhaps, was that he held principles too firm for the times he lived in and loved too deeply to survive love’s loss.” thus ends the jacket of the book.
The Sunne in Splendour is one of those epic novels the size of…
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Cooling Down
Something to take the edge off after that hefty bout of fangirling Wednesday.
Possibly my favorite jazz pianist:
In this one below, I love how Bill Evans closed his eyes while he was playing. Classic Bill Evans. Check out the bass player Red Mitchell too. It’s the best way to play. Notes are something to be felt, and sometimes embracing the instrument really is almost like falling onto it, yet it cradles you.
Another one:
This is the stuff of my childhood. My dad was a bass player (both bass violin and bass guitar). 40+ years of playing gigs, and it wasn’t uncommon for my mother and me to go with him. I literally spent my youth in places like Village Vanguard. It took growing up to realize most kids are not hanging at jazz joints when they’re ten. These are just some of the things I finally got freed up enough to write about.
Oh heck, one more and with Bill explaining a little of the trio the first couple of minutes or so:
I’m not sure if this post should get the Richard Armitage tag. My CWS must be on the wane, ’cause I don’t have a good sense if this is his thing or not. :D Okay, yeah, he’s cool enough to like it. ;-)
Advanced Fangirling
I asked the other day if you are really a fan of Richard Armitage? This is a test to see if you are really, really a fan of Richard Armitage.
Yesterday this picture was posted on Twitter: 
And immediately a fan spotted him. At first I didn’t believe it, but I had to go into Advanced Fangirling to determine it was really him. Advanced mode is when I break out Photoshop and feel the urge to draw arrows. I didn’t quite get to the arrows, but I couldn’t resist the urge to blow this thing up, and yes, he’s in the middle of the pic.
Now I’m really scaring myself that I know that. It’s the way he’s holding his arms out from his torso, and obviously those are his hands. This is worse than the Cats video. LOL!
And now Todd Garner must think we’re all nuts, and you know what? I don’t blame him. ;D
edit: Okay, you all forced me to resort to arrows. His head, which doesn’t show, would be to the right of the black spot. The upper green arrow points to his hand, and the lower green arrow points to his leg. Hope this helps. LOL!
second edit: this one is for the really, really blind among you. :D
third edit: for comparison purposes (thanks, Kaprekar); assuming you can actually see him in the other pic:
Black Sky pic courtesy of Todd Garner; Spooks screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com
Action Figure Time — Thorin’s Available
Are you one of those Richard Armitage geeks who has an action figure collection? Yeah, well, so am I and admit it freely! Don’t ask how many I own. I won’t admit to that. :D
Doesn’t look exactly like RA but neither does Little Guy, and that never stopped some of us.
If you would like a Thorin, then check out the post at TheOneRingnet
Nailing Oklahoma
We’ve been rippling over Richard Armitage in Black Sky and Todd Garner giving us some clues about how Richard will sound. He is definitely doing an American accent with the character being from Oklahoma. But how will he play it?
He could effect a General American accent, and no one would think anything of it. But if he does try to sound like an Okie, I think he will have an easier time than sounding like oh, let’s say a New Yorker because the patterns of his British speech are more closely related to Southern speech. Granted Okie isn’t pure Southern, but it’s close enough. The only other consideration for him would be effecting Good Ol’ Boy. :D
To wit:
James Garner (no relation to Todd that I’m aware), a master at Good Ol’ Boy. A scene from Support Your Local Sheriff, one of my favorite movies:
Johnny Bench seething about Pete Rose and good for emulating Good Ol’ Boy anger:
Who better than the Mick for an iconic Good Ol’ Boy sound, and if you don’t listen to this one, you are missing out:
However Richard Armitage sounds in Black Sky, I know it’s going to be good. I completely trust his instincts and intelligence to pull it off.
It’s All Good
What a pleasure to speak with Todd Garner, Producer on Black Sky, about his new movie and about Richard Armitage, whom he says is “thoughtful and smart.” This should come as little surprise to fans since Richard has received praise from quite a few professionals during his career. Mostly due to his zeal to ensure the story is paramount and his character a perfect complement. His habit of writing character biographies has become almost legendary among fans and has prompted some to ask if he is a writer in the making. Garner thinks he is already there, “He’s an amazing actor but also a terrific writer even though he wouldn’t say that. He has come up with great moments not only for himself and others but for the movie. In fact we just finished shooting a moment he came up with that might be in the trailer.”
Black Sky is the story of a group of people in the midst of the worst tornado in recorded U.S. history. Richard plays a teacher caught up in finding his teenage son in the storm, and his preparation for the role could not be more perfect:
The moment when [the character biography] comes alive is when that research turns into the character, and that character goes out into the big wide world and collides with other characters (often the facets created in the biography are designed to cause chaos when this happens, like planting a few explosions inside the character).
Richard Armitage, Vulpes Libris interview.
Although Garner could not reveal much about the plot, it will be fascinating to see with which characters Richard collides whether people or the elements. And his reaction to Richard’s work on set seems to confirm that whatever the collisions, they are impressive, “He brings a great realism and weight to the movie that we wanted when we were casting. There is so much going on technically and with the story. It’s chaotic as it’s supposed to be since it’s a disaster movie. But it’s great to have an actor who in the midst of all of the chaos has complete control and still makes incredibly smart and surprising choices in his acting.” As for Richard’s speech, he will play an American from Oklahoma, and according to Todd, “He’s nailing the accent.”
Garner has also been impressed with Richard’s fans, “They seem very thoughtful, great and just cool. And it’s been fun. It’s a new experience for me since most of the people I’ve interacted with are comedians and fans of comedians.” He certainly didn’t seem to be the least bothered by fans coming to the set and explained, “Every movie with a star who’s beloved and with the internet making location shooting so well known, whether a Nicholas Cage movie, or a Tom Cruise movie, or a Kevin James movie, has fans who come to the set, and actors are for the most part grateful. Richard certainly feels that way and is happy to oblige. He’s a wonderful person who is very real and very giving and charming and hasn’t been put off by this at all. And everyone has been very respectful.” With the cast and crew working very hard on this movie, the only thing expected of the fans is to continue that respect, and I feel confident we will.
Regarding new pictures, Todd asks that we be patient with him and those working on the publicity for the movie who are trying to be thoughtful and intelligent about it. But it will probably be about two weeks when we get another photo. Considering how engaged he’s been so far, there should be no worries.
Todd Garner has served as producer on several well known movies such as Anger Management and Thirteen Going on 30. His next movie Here Comes the Boom starring Kevin James is due for release early October.
Photos courtesy of Todd Garner
Beautiful Pictures from The Hobbit Book Tie-In
There are some new pictures which are high resolution scans from The Hobbit book tie-in. To learn more and see more scans, check it out at TheOneRingnet.
Tangent — In Other News, Burning Man is On This Week
Burning Man fascinates me. Years ago SO and I talked about going. We never made it, but it’s still intriguing. And all the supposed mystical, weird, drugged out “hippy shit” aside, I would just love to go and watch. Yeah, I’m that curious. If you don’t know what Burning Man is, I don’t really know either except vicariously. A write-up here to explain it a little more and one which I’ve saved for the last three years.
I have much more to say about Burning Man, but it won’t be on this blog.
RAFrenzy 