Where To Now For Richard Armitage?

It’s a wrap for ‘The Hobbit’ filming! Other than heading to Comic-Con, I wonder if Richard Armitage will get in some skiing. Oh maybe free styling somewhere around Ruapehu:

Wait!

Dear Rich,

Forget I said that. We can’t have you breaking a leg before Comic-Con. We’re all beside ourselves to see you up there where you belong — onstage before a bunch of screaming fans. Be sure to take some Tylenol.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans, who knows what it’s like to break a leg and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Ugh.

July 5, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

Um Yeah, It’s Thorin

What was I saying about getting bored staring at the same picture? I lied. Richard Armitage is Thorin so deliciously in this picture, and you know I’m strongly affected when I use language like that. When have I ever used words like deliciously? Yep, I thought so. Never. And this might be the only time. ;-)

[click to enlarge]

But then I guess this isn’t exactly the same picture is it. Daria has done some magic on it! And for more of her magic, check out her DeviantArt profile or her tumblr.

The highlights on his face and hair make me think I could find him on a beach somewhere but obviously without all the leather. :D

Original scan provided from Ali’s wonderful iPad. :D And can be seen in a larger format at RichardArmitageNet.Com

July 4, 2012
Categories: Fandom, PHWOAR!, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 30 Comments

Fandwarfing, A Reality

Fandwarfing* hasn’t made sense to me until today. The photos of Richard Armitage as a dwarf, frankly, didn’t look like a dwarf. He has always looked like himself in stature — rather large. But ‘Entertainment Weekly’ has a new raft of photos from ‘The Hobbit,’ and one of RA actually gives the appearance of a dwarf. And I find, I quite like it. I guess “dwarves” really can be sexy:


[click to enlarge]

You can see the rest of the photos including couple of more with RA on the EW site here.

* a term coined by Calexora to express the hysteria which goes on when seeing the little people and more especially one little people. :D

Photoshop excellence by Heather

July 2, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 16 Comments

Is This Normal?

My sane self keeps rearing its ugly head. It’s been in control for almost two weeks now and has prompted me to organize my basement. I always said if I was organizing the basement, I didn’t have enough to do. Actually, it’s more serious than that. With the fires that have been raging around me (some way too close for comfort), it dawned on my slow self that if a fire hit, I needed to be ready.

Not being one bit funny now. I’ve actually been participating in efforts designed to help those who have been devastated by the fires. Some of it is to provide places to stay even a few hours away as I am. And it’s been painful to hear of their loss. I can do no less than help them any way possible.

Perhaps you can help as well — with your finances if not with your time and other resources. Red Cross is always a good choice for helping, but the Salvation Army has been consistently on the ground in this situation, and there are other groups helping. I’ll send along information if you’re interested.

And thank you for anything you can do including your prayers.

July 2, 2012
Categories: Timeout . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 2 Comments

Richard Armitage Confirmed at Comic-Con

TheOneRingnet came through again! They have confirmed ‘The Hobbit’ cast, including Richard Armitage, will indeed be at Comic-Con.

I hope this settles it for some of you. :D


This is a great photo, but someone needs to talk to TORn about a more recent one.

Promo still courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

June 28, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

Timeout for Colorado

Note for new readers: I occasionally take timeout from the fun to acknowledge something serious occurring.

I live in the glorious state of Colorado. I love it here where my children have grown and where SO and I have made wonderful friends. Today, many of those friends are in some sort of shelter after being evacuated from their homes over the last few days. The evacuation is occurring up and down the I-25 corridor but mostly west of the Colorado Springs area at the moment. 32,000 people have been evacuated.

[photo near Manitou Springs, Colorado]

We are sending help and certainly sending prayers.

And the rest of the state is tense about what new fires may come due to the very dry conditions all over. I live to the west of Colorado Springs, and usually the river here is cresting about this time, and it’s not unusual for it to threaten to overflow its banks. But this year, I can walk in the river with the water up to my knees, and only in a few cases above my knees. The wheat crop here, which is usually significant, doesn’t exist. Farmers are plowing under what they had planted. Ranchers who hay in August are in the middle getting what little crop they have harvested now. I can’t tell you how odd it is to see haying in June. Lawns and decorative foliage are also looking pretty brittle which is certainly of little importance unless it feeds a fire.

Last evening we had a dry storm (clouds threatening rain but only giving lightening). I stood on my front porch and watched the dark clouds do nothing but create fear they would spark a blaze. And the interminable waiting for some relief has created a tension in town that I’ve never experienced even in the worst winter weather. Everyone feels helpless, and yet this is nothing to what our neighbors to the east are experiencing and again, we hope to help. But maybe some of you can help as well. This is all happening so quickly, I only have this info about helping so far. I will keep you posted, and thanks for anything you can do.

June 27, 2012
Categories: Timeout . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 21 Comments

Barney Stubble

Perhaps I’ve threatened to quit blogging one too many times. Let me assure those who sent me notes. I’m not quitting. I’ve just been busy and had toons on my mind lately. Blame it on the notion of Comic-Con which has me boning up on all things that make fanboys lose sleep. Of course after yesterday, I may blog about Richard Armitage for another five years. No, even I couldn’t talk about him that much.

Then I see something like this:

and chuckle at the thoughts which fly through my head. There wasn’t an urge to number the stubble but rather name the ones under his chin who have lived with him and seen all manner of things. Oh my Barney has gotten an eyeful, and what oh what has Barney endured? There’s a story. :D

Some of you are thinking, “Barney is not an elegant enough name for Richard’s stubble,” and maybe you’re right, but such is the pitfall of having Comic-Con as a filter for the next few weeks and for which RA is responsible.

And with all this talk of defection in recent weeks, I have a confession. I have become a Tolkien fan, which was not in my plans. Quite awhile back I started reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings for the second time. My first reading was at the ages of 14 and 15 and read in part because my guy friends were all reading them, and I wanted to know what was so intriguing. Their discussions also made it obvious my education was not as well-rounded as it should have been. So mostly my curiosity and pride were at work as the impetus, and any satisfaction was clinical. This time around I was just reading for enjoyment, for the wonder of it. And obviously I did enjoy them, but in the middle of all that reading, I began partaking of Tolkien’s essays and letters and fell in love with him.

Yeah, there he is. Can you see my grin?

In particular the ability and encouragement to fantasize in a way that’s edifying makes him irresistible. And that is the point isn’t it? To be edified. That may sound odd coming from the author of a blog like this one (or maybe not), but there has been something edifying about the process here. Oh, sometimes it gets boring. Yes, there it is. Sometimes I get bored with all of this. How many times can you look at the same photo of someone?

But what I’ve been trying to say in my diary entries is how I’ve become utterly obsessed with what words can do and how I came to give myself permission to explore that. As a reader, I’ve always adored others’ abilities to handle words, but I never thought to articulate the wild thoughts in my head. I was a geek and a musician who loved to spend countless hours solving a problem or playing with notes. Playing with the phrasing in a musical piece. But to do something similar with words? No, I could never do that. It was left for the few who mysteriously had some sort of gift. My imagination would have to remain locked up and privy only to me. I was good in math and had better pursue it or something related to it since I didn’t have the “gift.”

If I get the courage worked up enough, I’ll continue the entries. Mostly, I have to forget that you’re all here. It’s only when I post as musing to myself that I can really proceed. Thankfully, I realized before I started this blog that it doesn’t matter if what I say here is perfectly lucid or smacks of great ability. It’s something and better than nothing, and most important that I’ve let myself go to a much freer place. Tolkien is a balm in this respect. I plan to take out his words and review them when I’m feeling the infection of performance mentality, and I love this quote no matter how incessantly it’s been used nor how hackneyed it’s become to some of you. It aptly sums up my presence here:

“…Not all those who wander are lost…” — PPS in a letter from Gandalf to Frodo, Fellowship of the Ring

Thank God for post scripts.

About now you might be thinking, “This blog is your wild thoughts?” No, but it has helped to keep me thinking what happens when you communicate with others in written form. My wandering here has helped me get through writing a book, and if someone had told me a few years ago that I would write a book other than a technical how-to, I would have laughed hysterically. And now I’m halfway through a novel.

But all of this is a preface to a question, really.

Can I have two infatuations? :D

June 25, 2012
Categories: The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 10 Comments

What a Night!

A report from a local in New Zealand:

I travelled to Wellington to see Ian McKellen’s one man show in support of a theatre in Christchurch which miraculously survived the big quake but the 10,000 after shocks has left the building needing a lot of expensive repair. My sister lives in Wellington so I was staying with her and she was coming to the show with me. There were rumours that the cast of the Hobbit would attend but I tried not to get my hopes up.

We arrived at the theatre and positioned ourselves on the stairs so we could see who was arriving. First we saw Martin Freeman and shortly thereafter Richard Armitage. He had a quiet demeanour and although he greeted some friends was left alone by the people in the lobby. He has a bit more hair on top, dark, and the beard is as we have seen before, perhaps a bit bushier. I think he was wearing the Spooks series 8 jacket – the one with leather trim along the raised collar. He was also wearing a thick black long sleeved Tshirt and black jeans. He took his seat a few rows back from the rest of the cast which seemed to include most of the kiwis, and Aidan Turner, Billy Connolly, James Nesbitt and Luke Evans. I was in the circle and couldn’t actually see him from my seat.

The show started and it was a magical show. It was definitely an audience who knew their Shakespeare and of course NZers are as fond of Sir Ian as he is of NZ. The first half of the show began with a passage from The Hobbit, and then he talked about JRR Tolkein and previous Hobbit productions, and wielded his sword which is very large and very beautiful. He then admitted that there are 2 versions of the sword, an aluminum one for fighting and a heavier one for ceremonial occasions. The audience was then invited to ask him any questions they liked, and it was a very merry story telling session until intermission.

Spotted RA again (it is helpful that he is tall) but he did not stay in the lobby long.There were a lot of people in the lobby, and I was feeling rather shy myself, so didn’t approach him.

The 2nd half of the show was all about Shakespeare with soliloquies from a number of plays. The audience loved it and there were some spellbinding moments.

AND THEN he invited the Hobbit cast on stage. I’m sure you can guess who waited at the back of the queue as they all climbed the stairs to the stage, and there was quite a number. RA was holding a collection bucket, as were other cast members and I started to get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Members of the audience were then also invited on stage and Ian gave them some instructions we could not hear. What he was telling them to do was to fall down as if dead at a particular point in the next speech, which is what they all did. I took a video with my pretty poor camera which is now on You Tube. The One Ring Site has one with better audio, and the bows at the end, but mine has lightly more RA:

And then the show ended. We headed out to the lobby, and there were members of the cast with buckets collecting but no sign of RA. Luke Evans, James Nesbitt and Aidan Turner I spotted, but where was RA? After a bit of waiting we decided he must still be in the theatre stalls area, and headed in there. There was a large queue waiting to talk to Martin Freeman but only about half a dozen talking to RA. He was chatting to an expat English family while they all took photos with him. And then it was my turn. Summoning my courage I asked him if he would sign my book, a copy of The Hobbit of course. He said “Good book” and I said I had thought I should read it before the film came out. He asked me my name, and then said he would also put his character’s name after his signature in the book (being an unassuming chap he thought I wouldn’t already know-as if!). I asked if he had enjoyed his time in NZ, and he said he loved New Zealand. I said that I really enjoyed his performances and he said “oh bless you”. I then asked how much longer he would be Thorin and he said about a month. At this point (and yes, I did make a donation in the bucket while all this was going on) I was too shy to ask for a photo, but I was so thrilled to have had a short conversation with him that it felt like an imposition to ask him for a photo as well as the autograph. I wished him good luck with the rest of the filming, and moved on.

I think he may be very tired as they near the end of filming as he was very still. There was not an ounce of “movie star” in his manner. I wouldn’t say he was shy, but certainly not someone to push himself forward.

NZfanofRA

Thank you NZfan!

I feel the urge to start making grand pronouncements about this wonderful fellow we’ve all decided to follow, but I’ll try to refrain for now. Maybe our friend in New Zealand will be so kind as to fill us in on some things if we ask nicely. :D

June 23, 2012
Categories: Interviews, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 49 Comments

Rescue Mission Aborted

Richard Armitage is alive and well. Not sure he can speak, but he can move. :D

note: I’m posting this for all of you who are still not on Twitter.

The video below was taken at Ian McKellen’s one man show which has been raising funds for Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal.

Once again, RA is almost hidden. Watch how he moves to the back. Some of that is conditioning from being tall. I have a daughter who is 5’8″ and a dancer. She was always up stage unless featured as I would bet he was. But he has long since left dancing and the stage. Hmmm.

For a long time I have believed his humility was part real and part effected, but I’m beginning to believe that he really is a bit shy. Considerate of fans but shy when not performing. Edit: shy is not the best word; reticent is more apropos.

My son is a performer, and at the risk of sounding biased (when has that ever stopped me), he is very good. He’s been known to draw crowds from 50 miles around. Might not sound like much, but it’s big deal in our parts. SO and I have continually encouraged him to also hone his public speaking skills, and he has resisted.

He finally said to me, “Mom, you don’t get it.”

I asked, “What don’t I get?”

“It’s easy to play characters. It’s another matter to play myself.”

Thanks again to RichardArmitageNet.com for the heads up and all the great work you do!

June 23, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Movies, SO, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 28 Comments

Pressing Matters

This is an acknowledgment of a fellow blogger and future Richard Armitage fan, who woke up on Tuesday and found her blog had been “Freshly Pressed.” When I saw her post today, I was not the least surprised she was selected, and I know if you visit her blog, you will agree. So Congratulations, S.L. Hoffman, aka Eagle Eyed Editor! I look forward to more.

A picture to encourage her to watch ‘North and South’:

Shameless, I know, but she can thank me later.

June 22, 2012
Categories: North and South . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 5 Comments

« Previous Page — Previous page Next page — Next Page »