Richard Armitage really did represent the cast at the Powhiri on the opening of filming ‘The Hobbit’, and I really did feel like I was watching my kid make good. Maybe he was right about the maternal feelings, and strangely, that doesn’t feel icky anymore.
edit: video updated with HD
I guess this means I can take the ‘rumors’ tag off my other piece.
[note: Thank you, friend, for sharing this with me. I’m not sure exactly why me, but I hope you know I appreciate it, and I’m so glad we got to see something this quickly.]
The last day or so has been interesting. I’ve received several notes from fellow fans concerned about my becoming disappointed if Richard Armitage never acknowledges my request of a recorded fan message, and I just received another one a few minutes ago. It’s compelled me to make this post.
I want all of you who sent me a note to know that I really appreciate you trying to allay any possible disappointment on my part. But I have to reiterate that I do call my letters “fake fan letters,” and I do that for a reason. They are larks as is this whole blog really, and if RA or any of “his people” ever see them, that’s great. If not, that’s fine too. I also find it intersting that about once a week someone tells me they think he reads my blog, and I was going to write about this phenomenon eventually. I guess today is the day. I’m sure someone somewhere who’s involved with show business and who has a six degrees of separation thing going on with RA has read my blog. But I’m not too worried about Richard Armitage or anyone close to him reading it and no one else should be either.
And my written letters have been so over the top that no one has ever really taken me seriously and never been concerned about what I’ve said to the point of worrying about my well being. But obviously this latest “letter” has provoked concern, and I think I know why. It was the tone of my voice. My voice is naturally very deadpan, which at times has been a stumbling block for me. I was deadpan almost out of the hatch if Mom and Dad are to be believed, and then I spent most of my adult years working in a profession that was highly technical, and well, deadpan was the way we all communicated, and actually the more deadpan the better. The more deadpan, the more gravitas with that bunch.
But deadpan can sometimes equate to seriousness that may not exist. People who don’t really know me do often think I’m serious when I may not be. Couple that with my attempt to sound emotional, and well, it just doesn’t sound very good. I was being extremely emotional for me in that recording! I was working hard to give a cadence to my voice so that it didn’t sound like I was falling asleep and perhaps making all of you fall asleep as well, but I think it just came off sounding needy. And it was hard work! Yet I knew if I did more than one take that it would sound stilted. So I left it as it is, and to some of you it sounds like I’m hinging my entire being on RA making a recording. Fascinating how much our voices send a message even if we don’t intend it, and apparently, I’m woefully in need of some skills. Richard? Richard? Do you hear that? :D Sorry, I couldn’t resist. However all of this has gone down, I think it’s so fitting that my voice should generate such a reaction given the subject of my FanstRAvaganza posts.
Oh, please don’t get me wrong. I would love it if RA got wind of my request (whether he knew it was mine or not) and responded with a recorded message. I would be tickled, and I would hope the whole fandom would be tickled, and it would never be construed as playing favorites. I’ve also gotten those cautions in the last day too. But the only favorite I’ve wanted him to play is with Nat. Yes! I admit that unabashedly. Guilty as sin on that one! LOL! But do we all agree that Nat is special? Yeah, I thought so. However, I think there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell of that or the recording happening and especially not when I consider the request is by someone from a piddly blog like mine. I’m not trying to wallow in self-deprecation to impress any of you by saying that. Frankly, I have no one in my life to impress. SO and I know each other too well to try to impress each other, so I feel no compulsion to impress anyone, and can I tell you it’s a lovely place to be? Okay, I’ll stop on that because I feel a tangent coming on. Just know that I’m a realist.
But also please know that I’ve never aspired to Richard Armitage reading my blog to have fun here. Thank God! LOL! If I really thought Richard Armitage had time to read all of these blogs, and I was expecting him to receive what I’ve said, I would have gotten my feelings hurt a long time ago. But thankfully, I’m just having some fun, and I hope all of you are as well! Additionally, I just don’t get my feelings hurt too often, and certainly not by someone I don’t know. If we’re talking about SO, that’s a whole ‘nother story. He has the ability to raise an eyebrow at times and hurt my feelings. Poor guy. LOL!
I’m not quite sure what I should label this post. I started to title it “Lighten Up, Francis” but felt that would have been too flippant and ultimately demeaning to those who expressed real concern for me, and again I thank all of you for that. So I’ll just leave it by saying please don’t worry, and let’s get back to having some fun. :D
In that interest, I can’t help but do this:
Dear Rich,
Dude, if you ever really do read my blog, please, please know that I’m not pining for you to respond. Really I’m not. Now I realize this may sound like the lady doth protest too much, but well, I don’t know how else to say it.
Net: I like to watch your stuff whether you’re moving or not, and given that, I do hope you have never felt anything here was done at your expense. That aside, uh, well, uh, dammit, man! I’m having a good time, and I hope the specter of your presence never gets in the way.
Phew, there I said it.
Respectfully,
One of your crazy fans, who has enough serious stuff going on elsewhere to seldom want to get close to it here and hopes you understand that. I think you do! Unless my gut is way off, and I don’t think it is.
P.S. Oh, and hopefully, one day soon you will no longer be a faceless blob on Netflix. :D
I’ve got to have a picture! Hmmm. Let me see. What would put us back on track? Oh yeah:
If you click on it, you get the big version. :D
Screencap courtesy of Karima. At least I think this is one of hers.
Richard Armitage needs a profile picture. If you’re not sure whom I’m talking about, please know that it’s not the bald guy. I’m talking about this luscious creature:
I already wrote you one love letter but hope you don’t think I’m stalking you. ;-)
And if for some reason I’ve been struck blind about where this picture can be updated on your site, then give me a cyber slap, but please explain to my dense self how to do it. :D
Oh, and I doubt you can use that picture above, but I had to post it. This one from IMDb might work:
P.S. I almost hope you don’t see this ’cause I would have to leash the limerick monster.
Please click to see list of participating bloggers
Finally, my last FanstRAvaganza post.
So far I’ve talked about Richard’s voice work and shared some excerpts from it but have only hit a few points. Originally, I was going to do some really in-depth pieces about the effects of his voice (don’t worry I cover it later) and a piece about his narration of some documentaries and his voice overs in commercials, and maybe offer to make some ringtones. There is simply not enough time to cover it all in a few pieces, and don’t you think I’ve dragged this FanstRAvaganza thing out long enough? If you are interested in some of those other works, RichardArmitageCentral has an archive here.
The rest of this post won’t really be about Richard’s works but more about some of you, and it’s only fitting my last post includes some very imaginative and funny bloggers. I’ve already talked about bccmee being funny, and if you’ve watched some of her videos, you know how imaginative they are. Yet she says she was never creative before making fanvideos of Richard Armitage?! Having a hard time believing her great imagination kicked in on viewing him, but maybe it did. I know it’s had a dramatic effect on mine. Sadly, due to technical difficulties, I could not get a recording of bccmee, but you can read more about her here and also be sure to read her FanstRAvaganza posts which start here.
Another clever one is Skully, who has been slammed on time a bit lately (I can relate!), so I couldn’t get a recording of her either. If you’ve never read SpooksFanBlog, I hope you will treat yourself! It’s never dull.
Pi is another one who is never dull. Her view of the world and her humor are most closely related to SO‘s. Obviously, I can’t help loving her stuff. I’ve said a time or two how much I like her writing, and I’ll keep saying it until some more of you go over there and read it, and nope, I didn’t get a recording of her either!
Last of the bloggers but absolutely not least (none of them are!) is Traxy of TheSqueee. For this event, she picked a very interesting topic — Richard, An Ordinary Leicestershire Lad. I hope you read her thoughtful and intriguing posts. She says some things I’ve been thinking, and she’s also been a pleasure to read regarding various and sundry subjects which have nothing to do with RA. I did get a recording of her and will admit listening to this one the most. That’s saying something since I’ve enjoyed all of them immensely! (Oh, how easy it is to use exclamation points now.:D)
Yeah, that was maybe a wee bit entertaining. ;-) And for those who may not know it, Traxy had to pay homage to ABBA since she’s from ABBA land. Read more about her here.
Onto some more of you fans who are a delight.
Here’s one of my Twitter pals. Quite a character too:
Isn’t she great?!
Note: interrupting this post for a sermonette short message: this section of my post was going to include several fans who submitted wonderful recordings, but they chickened out. Yeah, that’s what it was, but I understand. Really! I do understand it. When I get further down in this post, I’m not sure that I’m not also going to chicken out. What’s interesting is all of these fans are fairly young, and the only one who had the guts (No taunts; no, I would never taunt anyone.:D) was Sheepa , who will get to reign in solitary splendor unless some of you grow a spine. ;-)
No Radio 4 listener here LOL!
So that makes Sheepa only 16 when she became a fan. Yeah, I can see that. I know another previous 16 year old who really went for him. :D
Thanks, Sheepa. For the rest of you, see how easy that was?
I hope you know that I’m teasing those of you who decided against publishing and certainly respect your right not to publish. But I also hope some of you relent so that I am not the only one who has the privilege of listening to your marvelous recordings.
My new RAFrenzy header by Karima, who so graciously and beautifully modified my old one after I was hit with a bunch of emails from people wanting to see wet, dirty Guy again. So there you are. :D
edit: The reason I call my letters fake fan letters is I hold little or no hope that Richard Armitage will ever be aware of them. If he is, great. If not, that’s fine too. All I know is I’m having a blast! and wouldn’t it be cool if he recorded the next message?!! Maybe someone who really has his ear can ask him.
I have just a few more things to say before my first anniversary of blogging passes. This was going to be at the end of my last post, but I’m putting it here to ensure it’s read. Not that people skip over posts. No, of course not. :D
So there are a few people I have to thank for being encouraging to me in blogging, writing, just general creativity, and joy.
Heather, Elvira and Angela (aka Spikesbint) were the first people in the RA universe to bring me such pleasure and spark something creative in me. They don’t know that, but it’s true, and I wonder how many people they’ve inspired. It must be legions. Might not be a bad idea for RA to pay them a fee for such great promotion. Oh, I know they do it as a labor of love, but what untold benefits it’s reaped for many of us. Bccmee is another who has challenged my creativity. It’s amazing to me that she was “never creative before” her encounter with RA, and she’s just funny.
For sheer joy, I have to give Iz4blue credit. She is an encourager. It’s just who she is, and that upbeat attitude had a great effect on me. Just when I was about to throw in the towel at six months, she continually made upbeat comments and made jokes, and well, here I am six months later. :D
Pi also gets credit for talking to me about writing and deigning to encourage a hack like me. If some of you haven’t heard me say it, I’m saying it again here. I love her writing and would be glad to read anything she writes — RA or no RA.
Servetus is another one who has been a great encouragement to me. She was one of the reasons I started blogging. I enjoyed reading her blog immensely. It challenged something in me that I had let go dormant. Most of us who blog or comment know that she’s upped the bar on how we approach a subject, and I for one love this. Aside from all of that, she’s just a sweethearted person, and I wish her all the best in the world.
But frankly :D, I would not be doing this blog if it were not for Natalie. She is an inspiration and like Richard Armitage, is obviously a class act. Yes, she’s really as funny and clever and sweet when you talk to her as she appears to be in her blog, and I cannot leave this post without saying that I suspect most (perhaps not all but most) of the current RA bloggers would not exist if not for her. At the time her blog popped up, there had only been one other RA blog to my knowledge. It was run by LuvDemBrooders, but had not been active in awhile. So glad that void was filled by Nat, and I hope Richard Armitage is smart enough (when he’s not too busy) to look at her stuff. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that if he doesn’t, I might think him a fool (ducks). Not sure that I would indeed think him a fool, but I might. :D If he doesn’t look at it, I may really write him a letter. LOL!
Oh, and Nat, I love my Stick Figure Richard t-shirt. Need to get a picture in it.
There are so many other people who have been a delight along the way, but if I named everyone, you would be here quite a while. Suffice to say that I would not be here without so many of you. Thank you so much.
And of course thank you to Richard Armitage, who may never know anything about this blog or any of the rest of us. But does it matter? Yeah, I didn’t think it mattered. :D
Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, who has made this process of blogging exponentially easier. Thank you!
And time really goes quickly when having so much fun. This time last year seems like a couple of weeks ago when I was over half a day into running this blog. I posted my first piece a few minutes before midnight on April 5th. Didn’t have the courage to do it in the light of day as I wasn’t sure anyone would ever read it, and if they did, would I really want them to? LOL! No, seriously, I knew I was going to have fun with this no matter if only a few of you read it. It’s been much more fun than I conceived, and a little more than a few of you read it. Thank you for that.
So some statistics, which frankly, I’m mostly posting for my own encouragement.
233 published posts and almost that many in draft. I’m most proud of that number. For someone like me to write that much is astounding. I really didn’t think I could do it.
115,519 (avg. of 9627 a month) as of a couple of minutes before midnight on April 5, 2011, and a healthy percentage is unique. But lately I’ve been getting closer to 30,000 hits a month.
rafrenzy
richard armitage
armitage army
richard armitage girlfriend
richard armitage captain america
richard armitage nigella lawson
richard armitage girlfriend 2010
That top one tells me a significant number of you found my blog by word of mouth; otherwise, who in their right mind would type in rafrenzy? Okay, yeah, I know there’s a game by that name but doubt all or most of those searches were done by gamers. I’m surprised at the second string because months ago I inhibited the Google bot. Oh well. Still not up to speed on how to do all of that.
I never thought ‘armitage army’ would end up being one of my top searches, but then I did wax on about it quite a bit. As a result, the blog ended up on the first page of Google when the string ‘richard armitage army’ or any variation was used. That’s when I quickly inhibited Google bot, ’cause I’m fine being on the 18th page. More freedom that way. :D
Man, ‘girlfriend’ is hot! Yep, I knew that would be a top search, but I had no clue how much so. Kick in the head is that I’ve only used the tag ‘girlfriend’ or the word itself in four posts, and the first time used was done just to mess with people. LOL! Amazing, and it’s brought me tons of readers. Sorry I don’t have more about it but doubt I will have much in the future either. I hope those of you who landed here by searching that string were not too disappointed at my lack of coverage.
As for the other two strings, I had no way of anticipating them, but I’m so glad I got lots of hits for Nigella Lawson. I love those posts where she’s mentioned, and surprisingly, it’s only four again.
In case anyone might be wondering, no, I don’t have the ability to see who searched on what. The software is only configured to filter the search strings.
These stats also tell me that most of my traffic is word of mouth with only a little being from searches, i.e., WordPress, Twitter and Facebook being mostly indicative of searches. I didn’t even want to make a Facebook page, and I forget now why I did. Still not a fan of Big Brother Facebook. As for Twitter, that is my only concession to anything high profile, but I’m having so much fun there, I can’t stop. Oh, and thanks to you, Natalie, Servetus, Phoebe, Ali, Skully, and Mulubinba for making my place easier to find. And the ‘Mail’ are subscriptions.
Duh! on the top one. Actually, I’m not sure this one really is a duh. I think this might have something to do with the blogger in question making this known on Twitter and her friends possibly coming over here to check it out. ;-) Interestingly, the common thread running through all but three of these posts is they either concern an interview with Richard Armitage or a sighting of him or both. The only ones that don’t share that have either video clips or pictures that most of you love. Anyone want to guess which RA character is in the pictures? ;-)
This is a bit of a shocker until I consider this was very early on in the blog. If I did this one today, I’m sure it would be read quite a bit — even if you don’t like Britney Spears.
The first two posts are two of my favorites. If you don’t read anything in that list, read those. The third post is a tangent I’m deadly serious about, and there will probably be more about that as I go on — whether on this blog or somewhere else. Before I looked this up, I thought this was my first tangent. It was my fourth, and I was surprised how many I’ve done. Thirty four in all. Phew, man, I like to go off topic. The fourth post I wrote strictly for myself. It was a trip down memory lane. I let my kids read that one, but not on this blog. LOL! They always love to hear SO and I reminisce, so they loved this one. The fifth post makes total sense; however, I’ve tried to make even those worth reading. The last one has no comments because I disabled them; otherwise, I think some of you might have ruined some surprises. LOL!
First comment:
“I could have written what you just wrote, practically word for word! I had to look up the word “squee” when I first started reading blogs about him. Now I write one too! See what he makes us do? In nicer terms I call him my muse.” By Phylly
So well put! Oh the things he makes us do. :D Muse indeed.
Oh, and I forgot to look which post had the most “Likes” and now I’m too tired to go find out. Do you really care? I didn’t think so. :D Anyway, I could care less which ones you liked the most. Yes, I really said that. Haven’t you figured out by now that a lot of this stuff I write for myself? Well, I do, but I’m glad so many of you have enjoyed it. Thank you again for that, and a big thank you to those of you who have made yourselves known. What a treat you are!
And a last thank you to DelicateBlossom who was gracious about me uploading her video in one of my first posts but without previous permission. Hopefully, I’ve made that up to her, and in the near future an interview with her since she rarely says much, and some of you might be curious. I know I was. LOL!
Photo courtesy of the Richard Armitage Russian fan site
New banner courtesy of Karima, who gifted me with it a while back. Thank you, Karima.
Note: Yes, I really am going to have a final FanstRAvaganza post, but I’ve been waiting on something. If I don’t get it by tomorrow, I’m posting anyway.
Something is changing with respect to the popularity of Richard Armitage in America (North America to be specific), and yet ‘The Hobbit’ is still almost two years away! I’ve been encountering more and more people who know RA’s name and have seen him in more than one role. Wow. What a change from three years ago! Or even one year ago. But I don’t think it’s due to his being cast in ‘The Hobbit’. At this point ‘The Hobbit’ is only on the radar of those in the movie industry, the LOTR fans, maybe a couple of other fan clubs and us. Everyone else won’t give a rat’s ass about it until we’re a few months or perhaps a few weeks or days from the premiere.
This recent awareness of Richard Armitage mostly comes down to Netflix. They are the only entity who provides us with a steady diet of RA. When I first started watching RA three plus years ago, there was almost nothing available in this country. The only thing I found was ‘North and South’ on Netflix and some documentary about that other guy. Now there are numerous things to watch, and many of them are ‘Instant Play’, and that’s the key.
Numerous friends scattered around the country who regularly watch ‘Instant Play’ have been discovering this “new” actor and just can’t tell me enough about him. Never mind that a couple of those people are the same ones I’ve told about ‘North and South’, ‘Spooks’, ‘Robin Hood’, etc. LOL! Hey, I don’t care how they discovered him; I’m just glad they did. Even my best friend, who at one point would roll her eyes when RA’s name came up, finally watched ‘North and South’ via ‘Instant Play’. Yea, Tammi!!! Of course she loves it and him. I knew she would! And she could have loved him sooner if she had just watched the DVDs I loaned her almost three years ago.
But I guess there really is something seductive about Netflix saying, “Tammi, rate what you’ve seen to reveal suggestions just for you” while your ass is firmly planted on the couch, and you can merely push a couple of buttons as opposed to getting up and taking the discs out of the case and putting them in the DVD player. LOL! Oh, Netflix has the power! What was I thinking to encourage the viewing of some DVDs loaned from my special collection? I mean here I am Tammi’s best friend, and we love each others’ tastes, but those precious discs just sat on the shelf! In comes Netflix with its heady offering of ‘North and South’ on ‘Instant Play’, and what I could not do for almost three years, they managed in a moment.
Tammi’s conversion occurred last summer, but this phenomenon of Netflix and RA didn’t become evident until last fall. I was going to highlight this sooner but thought it would be boring to you. Yesterday changed that. I was surfing around and found this blogger. It would be interesting to know how long she’s been a fan, and obviously, Netflix is part of her RA love. Maybe sometime she will share how exactly she became a fan, since I’m not quite sure if Netflix did it or just inflamed her some more. However it happened, I never get tired of those stories! Always makes me feel more sane, and dammit, I am sane! :D
In the meantime, as much as I appreciate Netflix being the bearers of so much loveliness, I have a request of them:
To Whom It May Concern at the big host in the sky,
Thank you so much for introducing so many people to Richard Armitage! I can’t tell you how grateful I am. It’s helped my best friend join this wonderful madness with me.
But do you think we could enjoy his loveliness when we do a query on his name? If you would be so kind to give him an avatar, I’m not sure how I would show my appreciation. Maybe send out a few thousand of those trial memberships to my friends.
And if I may suggest, this might be a good picture if you’re not sure which one would be appropriate:
Of course I have no clue about the legalities of using it, but it is the one featured on his IMDb page, so I think it’s okay. But I’ll leave those details to you.
Thank you for any consideration.
Sincerely,
One of Richard’s fans and great Netflix lover :D
P.S. How can we get Strike Back on the list?
Oh, and I would give credit to BBC America and PBS for the rise of RA’s star, but BBCA is sporadic in their love of RA, and PBS hasn’t shown much at all with him? Actually, I remember nothing although I have heard rumors that some regional stations have shown ‘North and South.’ Amazing that the network known for embracing period dramas has been almost a non-player of that mini-series, and it’s been necessary to mount a campaign to bring ‘North and South’ to PBS. Yeah, can you believe that? And I’m not even going to mention A&E beyond this sentence.
Note: FanstRAvaganza will return tomorrow; still waiting on something for now.
edit: Okay, okay, yes, YouTube has been instrumental, but it’s hit or miss there and the programs are usually not complete. For that you need Netflix.
How fitting to couple Richard Armitage with one of the best bands of the 21st century! I love the fanvideos, and I have a really soft spot for the ones that feature Muse:
Phew. I think that’s all of them.
I love all of these, but those who know me know which one is near and dear to me. :D
edit: Almost all of these videos can be downloaded from Elvira’s site, RAfanvids.
Please click to see list of participating bloggers
Over the last two years, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know some of you beyond your public comments, and that has been one of the greatest parts of being a fan of Richard Armitage. Yes, I keep saying this, but it can’t be said enough! Let me put it like this. I’m thrilled that I jumped into this madness known as the RA fandom. What awesome, awesome people so many of you are, and now it’s my pleasure to share someone with the rest of you whom you may not know much about even if you’ve seen her comments here or there. Oh, and sometime in the near future you’ll be the recipient of some fun I have planned, which I could not have done without her help. I now think of her as a “partner in crime” ;-), Kaprekar.
So, Kap, have to ask you the requisite question. How did you become a fan?
I first saw Richard Armitage when he was revealed at the beginning of Spooks Series 7. ‘North and South’ completely passed me by, which is strange for me as I usually make an effort to watch new period dramas. It may have been something to do with having a six month old baby at the time! I had rather different priorities!
I watched the whole series and thought he was interesting and quite good looking. The series was a definite return to form, but other than that he made no particular impression on me. Roll on a year, and shortly before Spooks 8 started to air, I was searching YouTube for some clips of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’ and lo and behold, here was this ‘North and South’ thing popping up all the time. Eventually I watched one of the clips and was soon watching the whole thing on YouTube. I guess once I realised that the tall dark and handsome cotton mill owner John Thornton was the same actor as the mysterious Lucas North in Spooks, I decided I needed to investigate further…
It didn’t take me too long to find these strange things called “fanvids” on YouTube, and I also found references to something called the “Armitage Army” and from one of the fanvids, Sexy Back, a reference to something else called C19. So I joined that forum, but found it rather overwhelming, and I couldn’t seem to find the ‘North and South’ board (very strange!). It was several weeks before I went back to investigate properly. In the meantime I watched the rest of Spooks 8, and between that and ‘North and South’ (now bought on DVD), I was a goner!
Those fanvids really should come with a warning. LOL! I wonder how much the fan community has heightened your interest since then?
It’s definitely heightened my interest. I joined several forums, C19 is my favourite, perhaps because I joined it first. It’s a wonderful community of ladies that is simply one of the best places I have ever found on the internet. I’ve also ventured onto blogs and Twitter, and I still find it astounding that there is so much activity out there about this one actor…I mean how many blogs are there that post regularly about him – ten? fifteen?
It was about fifteen or so at last count, but I think it’s increased since FanstRAvaganza started. LOL! Sorry to keep laughing, but well, I really am laughing. I can’t help it as it’s always fun to hear how others bite the dust. :D But what do you think about Twitter’s part in all of this?
Twitter has also been an enormously rewarding experience for me, in terms of reaching out to other fans. But with all these social networking opportunities, you get out what you put in, and sometimes I find it very hard to find the time to do everything I want to do, and go everywhere I want to go, as often as I want to. That may not make much sense!
It makes perfect sense!
Changing the subject a bit. I understand you play the piano and the flute. Is that still a significant part of your life?
I am a pianist first and foremost, and I played regularly up until we had to give our piano back to the person it belonged to a couple of years ago! Sad day! But I am working on getting my daughter to learn, so we will have to get something in that case. I learned the flute at school, so that is more “in the past” but it enabled me to play in orchestras and ensembles which was a fun thing to do. I was never good enough to play either the piano or flute professionally though, or even consider going to music college. I won’t admit to exactly how many years I have been playing the piano, but it’s a few decades!! I think I read that Richard played the flute too!
Yep, he does! Or did. I’m not sure where he stands with that now. Would be lovely to know.
I have to ask what are your favorite kinds of music? I don’t even care if it’s RA related. It’s always something I want to know from everyone!
When I was a child I listened to classical music almost exclusively – I think that is just what we had on in our house. I also used to record myself playing the piano and listen to that. In fact I was just reminded that I also used to record myself reading poems when I was a child. When I went away to boarding school, I began to listen to pop and rock music, the popular bands of the 80s such as The Police, and Duran Duran, and Madness (showing my age there!) just what was in the charts, and I explored music past and present from there. I became a massive fan of Prince in the late 80s. I have also become a fan of the music from musicals e.g. Oklahoma and Singing in the Rain.
But from the time I left university and started work, I lost touch with new music and tended to listen to my old stuff. It’s only recently (and completely down to my interest in Richard and the fan videos I have watched I may say) that I have started to listen to new(ish) music again, and I am finding it as interesting as exploring the music of the 60s and 70s in my youth. Muse is one example, but I am really still exploring.
I also understand that you take acting classes. I would love to hear about that! And of course how it may have changed your views of or helped you appreciate more the work that’s done by Richard Armitage.
I started taking the class about a year ago. It’s just a local acting workshop with about 10–15 regular participants. I joined because I wanted to develop my inter-personal and communication skills more for the sake of my work than anything else, and I have found business communications courses either not very useful or not able to meet my needs. But I think I may have missed my calling, because I find it just the most interesting and fun thing to do! It’s also really hard! Everything that you say or do during a scene has to be thought about beforehand. And there are so many things to think about – from basic stuff like making sure that you are facing the audience, and that they can see your face, to harder things like thinking about your character and what they are thinking about and wanting in a particular scene, say.
What is particularly interesting and surprising to me is the amount of improvisation involved in acting (or developing as an actor), and how it starts off being terrifying but then, after you get used to it, it becomes something that is really enjoyable and something that you just have to throw yourself into. Also it’s often what you are doing when you have no lines at all to say that reveals most about your character. It feels like teetering on the precipice of something – you feel like you are going to go over the edge but you just manage to stay on. I also think it’s important to keep trying different ways of doing the same thing and not be afraid to do something where you feel foolish – in fact you have to commit – because faking it just doesn’t work.
This is making me appreciate RA’s work slightly differently (and similarly the work of other actors), in that I am becoming more aware of the work that must have gone into any given scene and that there are usually several ways in which to play a scene, and the choices that the actors and the director made have a big impact on the final result. But it’s early days for me still, and I am learning all the time, I am just beginning to really appreciate how powerful it can be to slow down, and pause and find special moments when you connect with another character.
In that vein, has being a fan had an effect on your general creativity?
Well, I don’t do graphics or fanvids or write fanfiction or anything like that…so I can’t lay claim to being more creative in those respects. But being a fan has led to a reigniting of my love of reading, something that I haven’t been unable to indulge myself in so much since starting a family. Reading North and South, Heyer, Bernard Cornwell and also fanfic has made me remember all those feelings I had when I found good books for the first time. I was not a Heyer fan before listening to the audio books, I tried a couple as a teenager, but they always seemed to be very lightweight reads, and I gave up quickly. I think I should have stuck with it, because I realise now how some of them are gems in their own right, though the language is quite…interesting at times…and they are essentially light reads. But since listening to Sylvester and Venetia, more particularly, I have picked up a few others and am working my way through – but there are lots of them I have to say! Will take me quite a while.
Ah yes, the audio books. LOL! As you know, I’m covering RA’s voice work, so I’m really curious what is your favorite?
For audio work as a whole I would have to say the ‘Words and Music’ poems, particularly Preludes by T. S. Eliot.
I have listened to them hundreds of times, literally. They are like spoken songs to me. Aside from the lovely, earthy, gravelly voice, I suppose I like them so much because of the pacing and rhythm of his reading and because of the beautiful expression and meaning that he uses in every word like when he says “flickered” you can just imagine the light flickering on the ceiling. And when he says “short, square fingers stuffing pipes” I see it happening, in my mind.
But for audio books, my favourite would be The Lords of the North.
Oh my! It’s definitely my favorite too, and I defy anyone to listen to even a few minutes of it and not come away wanting to listen to the whole thing and in spite of it being about a very violent period of history. Listening to it turned me into an audio book lover. There is only one problem. I’m spoiled to his narration. He has set a high standard for me, and now I want to hear him reading countless books. Is there anything in particular you would love to hear him read?
Well of course I would love Richard to read North and South. Wouldn’t we all? But I have more or less accepted that this will never happen. So I would personally love to hear Richard read The Hobbit, and I have not given up hope that this might happen. Of course the obvious person to read that audiobook would be Martin Freeman, and he has done audio books before (e.g. he read a version of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, another movie he starred in), but…you never know…I live in hope.
I’m with you, and maybe he should read the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy! We may have to start a campaign. :D
You know I’ve shared others’ recordings of what they think of RA and how he’s affected them. I’m happy you agreed to share yours as well:
Kap is married with two young children and obviously hails from the UK where she still lives.
For those who listened to the excerpt of Lords of the North and are now curious to listen to the entire book, or if you already love it and would just like to have your own audio book or an additional book, I have two to give away. The books are courtesy of AudioGo (BBC Audio Books) and rules for the giveaway are found here. Good luck! :)
Richard Armitage’s involvement with ‘The Hobbit’ has me feeling a lot better about this blog. Yes, sometimes I get a bit self-conscious about it. Thankfully, I quickly wise up and realize how much fun I’m having. But with my entrance into the world of LOTR, I’m finding I’m a mere novice at obsession. I’m so small time compared to some of these people. Oh, I’ve got nothing on the LOTR fans as I said in a fake fan letter to Peter Jackson, and all the time I’m realizing their ardor just spills out everywhere. Take for example the three second scene of Bret McKenzie in LOTR that’s now spawned all sorts of obsession with his character not to mention obsession with him I’m sure. Reading this made me feel so much better about my repeated examination of RA’s three second spot in Cleopatra. LOL! It’s clear I have not crossed a very important line — starting a website to it. Although he looks hot in the Cleo pictures.
But I do want to make it clear that I’m happy for Bret McKenzie, and it will be interesting to see if he makes it into this latest movie. With the talk circulating about it, I feel confident he will. Whatever happens, he strikes me as an amiable and interesting fellow, and he plays a mean ukulele. :D
Of course all of this has me wondering what will be the fallout result of RA’s involvement in ‘The Hobbit’? Thoughts?
And on another level, is obsession always a bad thing? Surely doesn’t feel like it. :)
RAFrenzy 
