Twitter, the Pithy Maker

March 4, 2011

It’s amazing what Richard Armitage has prompted me to do. Well, he and some others.

I’ve been neglecting my blog lately but not really. Been doing something that will just make this blog better (picture me with a type of grin that even I’m not crude earthy enough to describe here). Of course I’ve been hanging out on Twitter, which harvested all sorts of guilt from me when I first started. But I think I’m almost over that; however, not quite or this post probably wouldn’t exist (yes, I have a sentence with but and however). What’s great is that I can rationalize anything if I want — can’t we all?

Seriously, the limitation of 140 characters on Twitter is helping me cut out the fat, and with someone like me who too often feels compelled to explain every cussed move I’m making, this is a good thing. You don’t want to read all of that, and I don’t either, and on Twitter, you can’t. Well, you can with Twitlonger and some other services. I just feel like I’ve failed when I have to go to Twitlonger, and really I feel my eyes start to shutter when I begin to read explanations that go on and on and well, aren’t funny and surely aren’t uh, pithy. But the best part of this pithy machine, aka Twitter, is that I now have a great explanation for SO (whose middle name is Pith) as to why I like to spend time there. Thankfully, he has noticed it in my writing, and now I can say, “See, see, this is a good thing.”

Recently though I will admit I’ve been like all the other dreaded onlookers on Twitter who are observing the destruction of Charlie Sheen. The guy set a Guiness Record for the quickest amassing of one million plus followers, and I know his secret. It’s not that he’s a famous wreck; there have been other famous wrecks on Twitter who didn’t get his kind of attention. It’s that on his way to hell, he’s pithy, and that naturally makes for a sensation on Twitter. Very sad but true. Not being funny here. More about Charlie later in another tangent. Yes, I get on a roll with these things, and it’s hard to stop. Anyone who has enough opinions for at least four people cannot help but get on tangents, and really, I would explode if I didn’t, so it’s a good thing. :D Need to slap myself for explaining that, but hey, I’m trying to fill out this paragraph so it’s more than a few sentences. If I wrote better, then I could write only three sentences, and you would be so wowed you wouldn’t care that it’s a short paragraph. See why I need to cut out the fat?

Where was I?

Yeah, Twitter is great for making me think about what I’m actually communicating, and I’ve had to take some risks in running something out there even if it wasn’t quite clear to the recipient. But I have a caution on that, which most thinking people will already know, but hey, I’m a thinking person, and I got carried away on Twitter, and you can too. So take note. I’m going to blame the cold medicine for my mistake, but really, if I’m honest, I had a shabby moment. So here’s the caution: if you’re going to be pithy and say something really sarcastic (key word is really), do it with someone who already knows you and gets your humor. I made the mistake of doing it with someone who didn’t know squat about me, and I got blocked. Yes, I was blocked by someone. I didn’t know it until a couple of weeks later, but man, it stung, and the worst part of it is that the person probably thought I was serious. Sadly, when you’re blocked, you can’t contact the person. I even thought about contacting them through another id to apologize, but that smacks too much of stalking. So I didn’t. I’m now chalking this up as a pitfall of getting up to speed on Twitter. See how easy it is to rationalize?

And now that Twitter almost has me at fighting weight on the pith, I may run a few laps to get ready for the big leagues on Tumblr.

Dropping some of the mask:

I can hear the wheels turning in the heads of some of you who are probably around my age. You have this notion that Twitter lowers your ability to be articulate because it just appears to be a lot of gibberish. I’m sure it can facilitate some gibberish. Ohmygosh, can it facilitate gibberish! But I don’t believe it does arbitrarily. It’s just a tool and up to each of us how we may use it. I’m choosing to experiment with it, and no, it’s not all as RAFrenzy. And you may ask why am I really messing about on Twitter? To make this the greatest blog since napkins were created? Or to simply deal with idle time? Maybe to be cute? LOL! I do think it will help this blog, but honestly, I have very little idle time and lost all hope of being cute years ago. Not being funny again. I have almost no idle time in my life, and I don’t want any. What I’m doing is learning the language of the future. Scratch that. It’s not the language of the future; it’s already here. It is the language my kids understand, and I want to understand it as well. Oh, I make them speak my language too, but it’s only fair that I learn how their generation communicates. That is enough to compel me to get in the flow of this.

edit: I guess WordPress hiccuped on me. This above is now my final post, but what posted before was not. Arrgh! That kind of stuff drives me nuts.

March 4, 2011
Categories: SO, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 21 Comments

At It Again

It’s been hard to get back into the RA universe this week. Certainly, it’s not Richard Armitage. No, it could never be due to him. He is utterly fascinating all the time. In fact, that’s the beauty of having him caught on tape — he can be whatever I want him to be anytime, anywhere. But sometimes real life just won’t let me fanatasize incessantly about him. Did I say fantasize? No, I would never do that. At least not while I’m asleep. I want to be awake so I can get the most out of it, but damn, SO and the kids just won’t stop being who they are to let me do it! So I was in a tizzy pondering my abilities for fantasy about RA (yes, when you’re a rabid fan, you think about heady stuff like that) — at the least trying to work up that perpetual glow fans get when they’ve been wowed by himself’s abilities.

What I really needed was a little Armitage fix. I just couldn’t do it to myself since the curse of taking something fun and making it convoluted complex was riding me hard. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it. I opened my in-box, and there was a little treat waiting. It was almost as if the laws of attraction really do work. Less than a minute later I was back thinking of angst about life and love in an enjoyable way, and before I could think too much, I was loading up various slide shows (oh, sometimes there are some slide shows that my heart can barely handle for the thrill; I force myself to look at them anyway. :D), and well, my fingers were itching to unleash all of my bullshit on you again.

The little treat I received is packed with goodies to find. So despite its length, you make up for it by watching over and over to mine them. Picture me with glazed eyes and a wonderful glow this morning. :D

Enjoy:

February 26, 2011
Categories: Fanvids, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 19 Comments

Timeout for New Zealand

Last time I had a timeout was for something devastating in Queensland, Australia. I’m sorry to say that this is something devastating as well. Since Richard Armitage is in New Zealand, I am probably more aware of what’s going on there than I would be. However my sensitivity came about, my thoughts and prayers are with those in Christchurch who have experienced a significant earthquake.

And it is a testament to our present age that I and many others could learn so quickly about this through first Twitter and then YouTube. I hope that speedy knowledge will help facilitate aid to those people.

I don’t know what’s going on in NZ, but I saw this video not long after the quake, and it looks pretty bad:

There are reports that people are possibly trapped under the rubble.

edit: Sadly, death’s have been confirmed.

I will update with any information about sending aid.

For those looking for friends and loved ones, Google has set up an application to help.

Update: here is a link to TheOneRing.Net’s piece about helping those in New Zealand.

February 21, 2011
Categories: Timeout . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 22 Comments

Tangent — Micro Expressions and Beyond

Sorry to inflict my geek moment on you, but I can’t help myself, and if you’re into screencapping Richard Armitage, this might be of interest.

Last spring I was reading about an HD cinematic camera which could shoot frame rates at 100 times the usual. So what does all of this mean and why should you care? There are things that can now be seen which before could only be consistently captured with scopes (decidedly less detail than a camera) or speculated with mathematics, and usually that is so abstract for most as to be inconceivable and therefore blown off. But enter the Phantom Flex, and thankfully, as of a few weeks ago, there is now some fantastic video to show exactly how precise this camera can be.

I realize some may not be that impressed with this, but that’s because you have probably not watched much slow motion video. Most of it is a lot more blurry than this video above, so the detail in this is amazing. For any of you who have made screencaps, you know how frustrating it can be to fight the blur. Can you imagine the screen capture ability with this kind of video?! Mind boggling. It captures such detail that it’s like seeing the forbidden. Should be interesting to see what is unearthed from coming films.

And Richard Armitage just thought we had him under a magnifying glass. LOL!

If you haven’t already done it, watch that video in full screen mode.

And if you’re not a geek, I’ll throw in a picture to make reading this worth your time.

The guy who started it all:

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com

February 21, 2011
Categories: Geek, North and South, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments

I Ate a Twinkie Today

There is actually something that can distract me from Richard Armitage watching. Yes, I know that’s a shameful thing to admit, but there it is. Son (aka the son of SO) has me running all over the country to help him check out potential schools. I have never worked so hard nor been so tired except maybe when I gave birth to said Son. I refresh myself with the thought that he will have several years of schooling possibly paid by someone other than dear old Mom and Dad. Oh, that sounds like a cop out? You have obviously never had to deal with a kid who is maniacal about participating in an activity. Yes, that’s what I thought — no clue about what a huge drain it is on time and other resources, which means I have paid in advance for this “privilege” of someone else paying for Son’s schooling. LOL! The years of driving to his events are enough to scare most sane people.

And now come the recruiters. What a learning curve this has been, and son is getting a marvelous education in card playing. He, who was taught to let his yes mean yes and his no mean no, was innocent about recruiters. I’m happy to say he is a quick study and has learned very fast which cards to play and which to hold. On his own he now has the two schools of his choice up to paying for almost everything. I’m observing in amusement as he might actually get them to pay for all of it. No matter what happens, he’s parlaying this into much more than I ever dreamed of during the years I was watching him work out before and after school, often say no to his friends when they wanted to hang out, eat his precision diet with carb loading on certain days of the week, drink untold amounts of water, monitor the competition, spend what seemed like man years studying the best ways to improve his abilities, and certainly, perform his sport. Ahh! this last is quite a thing to behold, but his ability at the non-answer is fast eclipsing it. In celebration of his new found negotiating skills and our diet not needing to be quite so strict around here in future, I renewed an acquaintance with highly processed, sugary foods.

Since this isn’t a tangent piece (although it borders on one), the inevitable tie in:

Perhaps Richard Armitage was right when he said some of his fans are motherly. Although I don’t feel in the least motherly towards him (the thought is icky), I must admit I have at times thought of his mother and wondered if she has felt about her son as I’m feeling about mine right now. What was it like for her to watch her child immerse himself so completely in something he loved? Was there a niggling thought he may actually want to pursue a career with such a potentially fickle fate? Was she scared about her son making deals only to perhaps find himself hurt and the dream dying? Or did she focus on his wonderful discipline and tenacity to pursue something so difficult for most others to attain? Did she some days get a pang of fear and want to talk him out of it and on other days seek to move heaven and earth to see that he got a chance? I did read somewhere she took a job so he could attend Pattison’s College in Coventry. I also wonder how many performances she saw or perhaps even helped with before her son was ever on anyone’s radar. Did she ever think it would come to this? And when it did, how did she celebrate?

I hope you indulged in more than a Twinkie, Mrs. Armitage.

A picture of Richard in his early twenties and on the verge of entering the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA).

For those just stumbling on this site, yes, the guy in my banner picture is the same.

Photo courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com

February 19, 2011
Categories: Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 62 Comments

Beard Me

I am so digging Richard Armitage in a beard. But then I love beards on men. SO has a beard, and I’ve never gotten tired of it. It took me a few years to convince him to grow one, but after he did, his reaction was, “Wow, you really like my beard!! What happened to that other woman? … Yeah, maybe I’ll keep the beard. LOL!” Of course not all women like facial hair on men, and some are actually turned off by it, but c’mon, doesn’t RA in a beard challenge that notion for some of you? It’s hard to believe that some who have hated beards aren’t now saying, “Yowza!” and some, “Ocheemama!”

I know I want to touch it, and this is coming from someone who has yet to have a dream or fantasy about RA. This might change things. LOL! No, it probably won’t. I’m just that much of a control freak and head over heels in love with SO to the point I can’t even bring myself to fantasize about another man, but Richard’s beard is a strong temptation. I’m sure everything in its vicinity is feeling the same. :D

Honestly, I’m hoping he wears his own hair for the Hobbit. Somehow I doubt that’s going to happen, but he may be more into method acting than I think he is. The only downside for him is he really would not be able to hide behind his beard in public. But then can this guy hide? Oh, maybe he’s been able to do so up ’til now, but it’s going to get harder and harder, and if I know anything about the American public, he really won’t be able to do it if he spends much time here. We’re just absurd that way. Plus, women here have an absolute love affair with the English accent from a man, and when it’s someone like RA, oh man, Colin Firth is going to be a pup compared to this guy. Even Gerard Butler, who I have to admit is mighty fine and has a wonderful Scottish accent, will not be able to hold RA a candle if the women of the American public ever catch onto him.

Earlier I said to someone that he is a sexy beast in this press conference, and I’m sticking by those words. None of that negates the sensitive artist. I just see it as another facet of the same wonderfully complex person. If he were just the artist with the sensitive mouth, frankly, I would become bored. Just as if he were nothing but a sexy beast in a beard. Too much of any of it is BORING. Thankfully, RA is both and so much more. And of course my current infatuation is not just about the beard because I have no inclination to touch Aidan Turner’s! :D

Candid shot courtesy of Richard Armitage’s Beard blog. [Note: alas, the original tumblr is gone. Thankfully, I had the good sense to archive it the day after this post. Enjoy!]

February 15, 2011
Categories: Interviews, Movies, PHWOAR!, SO . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 70 Comments

CW Breaking Out All Over

Sheez I’m gone for one day and an epidemic occurs from this Hobbit Press Conference. But who can blame anyone for being afflicted with Celebrity Worship when the object of our adoration easily makes us break out in a sweat. Even some of the Tolkien fans, who seem to be above that sort of thing, were affected:

Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas. He walked into the conference with a kind of testosterone charged lope. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble holding the audience’s attention.

Complete article here.

Uh huh, his “testosterone charged lope,” among other things ;-), is going to hold some attention, and he’s just getting started. LOL! Yeah, I was right — won’t know what hit ’em, and some of these people are just getting a little taste of what’s coming.

All of that aside, I love that he’s just a guy here:

The “guy” almost jumps out of the video and grabs me. Loving this. Yet it seems this “guy” has been hiding. Before when Richard has been interviewed, we’ve mostly seen the sensitive artist, whose tacit message to women was, “I’m a little boy in a man’s body and my inner child hears you and understands.” :D But now he’s revealed a man for all of us to rhapsodize over! ………………………………………………………………. Excuse me I had to put myself back in my chair. All I know is I was fairly smitten by what I saw, and I’ve become rather jaded about these things. I thought. I take heart in the fact that no woman in her right mind could withstand that!

Seriously, it was evident the little boy was almost completely submerged by the man when even the talk about his first time on stage as an elf could not conjure it. The man was firmly in place. However, I wonder if the boy isn’t sensing the new tidal wave of affection that’s coming and shrinks from it. What else am I to make of this picture? LOL!

I feel a letter coming on. Oh, hell yes, this demands a fake fan letter.

Dear Richard:

You’re in my prayers, my friend. You think this Army thing is overwhelming? Get ready. That’s going to seem like a walk in the park. You keep coupling that stare with eyelids at half mast and deep voice with your “testosterone charged lope,” you will not have a moment’s peace.

I’ve long thought that if you catch on in America, you are going to go off the charts, but with ‘The Hobbit’ appealing to a worldwide audience, Ohmygosh! just thinking about this is… I can’t process it.

Back to my prayers for you and especially strong ones when I think that you will not be able to hide behind a beard as some actors are wont to do.

Signed,
One of Your Crazy Fans Who is Almost Fearful for You :D

The journey of the Beard continues.

February 11, 2011
Categories: Interviews, Movies, PHWOAR! . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 101 Comments

Tangent — Say It Ain’t So, Pete

[Note: No, there will be nothing about Richard Armitage in this piece, but sometimes I just can’t help but talk about other things]

AOL (America Online) is that company which almost everyone in America has used as an ISP (Internet Service Provider) — thanks to those CDs that were littered across America’s mailboxes and practically pressed on us when we went to Wal-Mart or Target or even the grocery store. If it weren’t for AOL, America would not have become accustomed so quickly to the joys of surfing the web. But as other ISPs, who did not sink their hooks into our systems quite so much, came into existence and had the means to provide high speed services such as DSL or Cable at a cheaper price, AOL went on the wane.

However, they should never be counted out. They have managed to stay afloat, and now they are once again on an acquisition frenzy. I’m fascinated with what they’re doing. Unless they know something the rest of us don’t, I’m thinking they’re nuts. And now Mashable.com might be one of their pickings? Tomorrow Mashable is announcing something major, and I’m wondering if they will make this list. And if you don’t know about Mashable, well, then I haven’t done a very good job of public service while you’ve been reading this blog. :D

To know about Mashable, you have to know about Pete Cashmore, its founder and CEO. Other than being one of the hottest geeks around,

Pete has built an information empire majoring on the power of social media, and all beginning when he was 19 and blogging from his bedroom in Scotland. If Pete says something or Mashable says something, it often sends a wave through the media community. If AOL gets hold of that? Oh man, I don’t know what I think at this point. My gut is screaming, “No, no, no and no!” But maybe I’m wrong. I’m always willing to be wrong. It’s just that AOL is so pedestrian, and I have a hard time thinking they’re going to go places that Pete has taken the rest of us. I don’t see it.

But hey, if Pete does sell, I don’t blame him. He is young enough at 25 to do many more things. I just hate to see the establishment get hold of Mashable. Bummer.

February 7, 2011
Categories: Geek, Rumors, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 8 Comments

Captain America Trailer, or Yes, I’ve Finally Gone Nuts


Heather’s download link — HD video.

Richard Armitage at 22 seconds, and I mean only at 22 seconds. So all of this for a one second shot. LOL! But I’m having a blast. I may breakdown and buy some fancy software yet. :D No, no, someone needs to slap me. I DO NOT need another diversion. LOL!

I snaffled a copy of the 1080i size, so the caps would be good quality, but bccmee has a great one without watermark:

I even stumbled across this kid while I was surfing YouTube:

He gives a pretty good run down on the history of Captain America movies.

Check out his channel. He is a hoot, but I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his bio. Check out “books”.

I throw him in because this is Richard’s audience for this movie, or at least the majority of the audience.

February 6, 2011
Categories: Captain America, Geek, Movies . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 42 Comments

Getting Up To Speed on The Hobbit

If you already know all about ‘The Hobbit’ production, then certainly skip this post. But if you want to get up to speed on what’s going on, learn some about the characters and story itself, and maybe have a little fun, then a quick and easy way to do it is watching Rebekah of the Hobbitin5 YouTube Channel, or Hi 5.

Broadcasts are every Friday. This is the most recent:

I have developed a soft spot for Rebekah. Whoever thought to have her do these broadcasts was using his/her head. She is bright and perfect for a novice like me. I actually look forward to watching her! And she inspired me to go over and look around on TheOneRing site. Mulubinba’s posts about Thorin Oakenshield (great stuff by the way) had also piqued my curiosity in the site, but I had still been hesitant to go look as quite frankly my prejudice kept me from it. I thought entering that world would be daunting and just too much work, and my Richard Armitage watching is a respite from my real work, so I certainly didn’t want to pursue anything that felt like work. I was wrong. I’ve enjoyed my time on the site and will continue to read it. I’m also now rereading The Hobbit and will reread the trilogy as well. This is something I never thought to do, but I guess I’m becoming enthralled with Middle Earth, and who knows? I may become a Tolkienologist yet.

Before I forget, be sure to check out Rebekah’s t-shirt from the second broadcast. :D

February 4, 2011
Categories: Movies . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

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