Timeout for Queensland

Despite the fun I have with Richard Armitage and all of you, sometimes it’s not appropriate. Today is one of those days, and I’m taking a timeout to focus on something more important.

The monsoon flooding in Queensland, Australia captured my attention awhile back, and in recent days, I’ve begun to realize the magnitude of the situation. A blogger I follow gave a great overview of what’s going on so that those of us outside that part of the world can gain some perspective:

Rain and devastation
Firstly thank you so much for all the emails received from the wonderful people who were concerned, and wanted to make sure we were ok. I also received lots of phone calls from friends to check up on us. It’s heart warming to know that we are in the thoughts of so many people. We are fine. It’s not even remotely bad here compared to the rest of Queensland.

I started this post on Monday ready for Tuesday Tidbits. I went to bed on Monday night oblivious to the terrible devastation to lives and property in the Lockyer Valley and Toowoomba west of Brisbane. I woke up yesterday morning to see the absolutely terrible disaster and horrendous situation these people had to endure. After the initial disbelief of what happened there I spent the rest of the day yesterday quite teary as I have friends whose family live in Toowoomba and then seeing the flooding that happened between here and Brisbane, another place where people I know live, it was all just a bit too much.
Fortunately everyone I know and their friends and family are all safe.

I am sure you have all seen on TV the footage of all the damage. It now means that 75% of the state of Queensland has now been affected by flooding. To put it into perspective, Queensland is twice the size of Texas, and the state covers a quarter of the Australian land mass.

Read more of Marg’s account here.

There are also some RA bloggers closer to the situation:

Mulubinba

Skully

Mesmered

Ragtag

Please let me know if I left someone out.

This post is to help remind me and anyone else who needs it to keep all of these people in our thoughts and prayers, and hopefully, some of our thoughts and prayers will open some pocketbooks.

Some places to help financially:

QLD Premier’s Flood Appeal

Red Cross of Australia

And I understand from Mulubinba that Roger Federer also has a fundraising event which begins on Sunday, or today in Australia. Since my Lear Jet is in the shop, I can’t make this one, and I’m confident a few others reading this can’t make it either. I’m sure the Red Cross will still be able to take your money. :D But for those who can make it, this ought to be a good one. The match where Nadal defeated Federer for the Grand Slam just might be the most exciting one I’ve ever seen! And I understand they will rematch in this.

January 15, 2011
Categories: Timeout . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 8 Comments

Oprah Envy — SPOILERS

A spoiler about Spooks Series 9. Of course if you’re reading this blog, you probably already know, but I’m not taking any chances.

I’ve never watched much Oprah Winfrey. Probably seen that show five maybe six times, but I would have to be under a rock somewhere not to know about her “Favorite Things.” For those who may not know about Oprah, she is a mega star here in the States. She has a talk show which has been on about 25 years (can’t remember exactly), and she is so massively popular that I think at one point she could have run for president and won. During the holidays, she has these giveaway shows called “My Favorite Things,” and this year is her farewell. I understand that it’s been highly emotional, but I’m hard pressed to think how much more emotional it could be than in the past. Recipients are usually weeping while Oprah stands there grinning like a Cheshire cat as they receive their gifts. That’s what’s shown on the news, and my jaded self has mostly thought of this as an ego trip for Oprah.

But maybe I was wrong. If I had that kind of money, I would certainly give some of it away. It would thrill me to do that since it’s a pleasure to make people feel good. At times I wish I were rich just so I could give to people more than I’m able to do normally. Today is one of those days. I really wish I were rich enough to pay everyone’s way to see Richard Armitage in The Rover. That would be such a blast. And no, we have no further word on it other than this tweet from our initial source of info, the English Touring Theatre:

https://twitter.com/#!/ETTtweet/status/9241191426035712

In lieu of giving any of you a trip to The Rover, I do have something planned for Christmas, but I’m not quite ready to reveal it. In the meantime, bear with me as I post a couple of more diary entries that frankly, I just need to get out of the way (picture me with my tongue hanging out), and of course I need to still mourn Lucas of Series 7 at least a few more days.

It pains me to look at that picture and think of the destruction of that wonderful character! I’m not so much thinking of him becoming a bad guy as the ruining of such an interesting character. That was just shot to hell. Sorry for this slip up. I really am trying not to be negative about any of RA’s jobs! But you may not think that after you read my next diary entry. Then again, it was just something I had to get out.

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com and me.

November 30, 2010
Categories: PHWOAR!, Spoilers, Spooks, Stage Productions . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 32 Comments

Some Refreshment Before The Drought

Richard Armitage is at the Old Vic Theatre today where he’s participating in an annual charity event to raise funds for the arts. He’s part of a troupe of actors performing in the 24 Hour Plays. I heard about these years ago when they started on Broadway, and it’s always been my plan to go. The dynamic of these plays sounds fantastic. The goal is to write, direct, rehearse and perform six one-act plays within 24 hours. The Old Vic Theatre has a channel on YouTube, and I was able to see a little of what goes on:

I’ve always been fascinated with creativity under pressure and would love to be a fly on the wall during the preparation for these plays. It would be wonderful to watch them coming together, and of course I would love to see the finished product. For those of us who aren’t going, there is still a way for us to see something. Ali at RichardArmitageNet.Com will be providing some clips from The Culture Show, which will recap the highlights this Thursday, 11/25. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ali.

In the meantime I will try to keep my feelings of extreme jealousy for a certain Twitter user in check. If I were in London, her ticket might not have been safe. But she soothes my terrible feelings with updates that will stave off my thirst for a while. :D

And on a related note, I LOVE the music on the 24HourPlays website. B.B. King (or someone who sounds a lot like him) is never a bad choice. Unfortunately, I think the site is just for this side of the pond. C’mon, the Brits need a site too, guys!!

edit:

Maybe a certain Twitter user will give us a report of her activities tonight. :D Stay tuned. I’ll be sure to let you know where it can be found. Good chance it will be on RichardArmitageNet.Com, so you can certainly be checking there as well.

November 21, 2010
Categories: Stage Productions . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 27 Comments

Christmas in July

Alert: there is nothing flippant about this post. Well, almost nothing.

It's a hot day where I am. A little snow right now sounds good, and believe me when I say that's quite a statement from me who is all caught up on snow for a few years. Nevertheless, I could use a little Christmastime weather for a couple of hours as I gear up for a fundraiser I've been participating in for a number of years.

The goal is to raise funds for an organization that helps people in Uganda. The original mission was to help children abandoned by their prostitute mothers. It has grown into help for the mothers as well, but help in a way that keeps giving. They are taught how to start their own businesses so they can get off the street, and it's working. The program was started by a woman I know who went to Uganda to do a bit of mission work for her church. She never came back. Well, we do see her a few times a year, but mostly she lives in Uganda and has even adopted a Ugandan child who is precious!

All of this has made me think of others who promote charitable causes. So in honor of Richard Armitage's encouragement to direct our giving to those in need instead of to him, I come with this post. Please note this is not designed to solicit donations for the Ugandan mission but rather to respect the requests of Richard Armitage.

For those not familiar with RA's comments about giving, he has talked about it in his messages to fans. His latest message (December 2009) has made it very easy for people to donate:

Dear Friends,

Its that time of year again and I wanted to extend my goodwill and best wishes to you all. It has been a busy, rather difficult year for all of us, and coming to the end of a decade is a great time to think and gather strength for the next one.

Thank you for the continued support, which has been offered to me this year, I hope that I can continue to ‘carve a path’ which is both exciting, diverse and honorable to this crazy art form.

Thank you all, also, for the wonderful gifts which I have finally received after my travels abroad. I will eventually give thanks by letter. I do however, wish to ask, especially at this time of year, and this particular year, as I look at the small mountain of carefully chosen gifts purchased with those hard earned pennies; wracked with guilt when I think of the potential that your collective generosity could provide for those who have much less than I do; for you to pause and consider. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all your support and kind words, these are gifts enough, and I would like to recommend two other charities which I have chosen to support this year in addition to Barnardo’s and Shelter. I would like to recommend Childline and The Salvation Army, as potential recipients of a small offering.

I have also set up a page at http://www.justgiving.com if you go to the site and enter my name, you can chose from the 4 charities I have mentioned, and give a small donation, anonomously, if you like or with a message. I hope this makes it a little easier and more fun.

I hope the Christmas spirit runs high through all the families gathering together, and for those who are alone, to enjoy the simplicity of a day when the our corner of the world stops for a few hours. Yes there is only one left!!!

Drink, be Merry, be kind, be thankful.

I wish everyone joy for Christmas, and hope for a happy 2010.

With love
Richard

Richard’s Just Giving Pages:

Childline

Barnardo’s

Shelter

The Salvation Army

Oh, sure it sounds easy for him to say since he’s not hurting financially, but the man does not have to say anything. I commend him for taking the time to do that and doing it in a way that’s personal. There is nothing like personal contact. It makes both the initiator and the recipient better people.

Letter courtesy of RichardArmitageOnline.com and Richard Armitage of course.

To read RA’s other messages go here.

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

edit: I probably should have said this earlier, but oh well, I’m saying it now. Having worked for quite a few years in philanthropic endeavors with various organizations, I know how tough the middle of the year can be for them. At Christmas there is a festive mood that fosters a sense of goodwill and prompts people to share. In July not so much. So even though I know times are tough for a lot of people, I think it’s helpful to have a reminder that there are probably others who are in more need than us. Thanks for listening.

July 2, 2010
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 2 Comments

Tangent — Words Mean Something Don’t They?

When you join WordPress, you’re automatically subscribed to a blog. That’s fine, and for the most part I’ve enjoyed reading it. But I sometimes let the posts stack up. That was the case the last few weeks. When I finally got around to reading them this week, there was one about “Congratulations to Our ‘Bloggers Who Really Count.'” It was a little blurb about the WordPress bloggers who made a list compiled by the Timesonline.

I have already been fighting off guilt for writing this blog, so I did not want to read the full list. Just the mention of it made me gut check what I’m doing here. Then I read Mulubinba’s post about RA’s charitable bent, and my guilt for spending a little bit of time writing fluff was full blown. Uh, you do know this blog is fluff with a little introspection thrown in? Maybe I’ve been watching too many action shows, so I felt like I had to just tell you that instead of hoping my writing was good enough that you already get it.

Back to self-flagellation. I finally worked up my courage to read that Times piece, and the altruism dripping from the page is almost non-existent. Most of the blogs are about trends from technology to fashion. How does that really make a difference? To someone’s boot time? Or their boots? Maybe if I’d had a little help with my shoes early on, I wouldn’t have worn so many 2-1/2 inch heels, and my mood would have been better, and my relationship with SO would have been better. I know for a fact he got more sex once I went to running shoes with almost all of my outfits. These days I’m mostly in Tevas or Chacos, and they make my mood even better than the running shoes. I wonder if a study has been done on the correlation of wearing comfortable shoes before 40 to a healthy sex life; if not, someone needs to do one. It might be a shot at the Nobel.

But I was all wrong in my thinking. This article is not about making a difference. See how my mind works. That’s what I inferred. I thought something that really counts would be about a blogger who is dealing with people who are starving or dealing with people who have no roof over their heads or have to endure some other kinds of abuse or dealing with any number of things that make this place a much better world for mankind or animals in general. It wasn’t that kind of counting but more the numerical kind like counting fans or money or some sort of hipster scale being tipped.

For bullshit masquerading as beneficence, I could have just read my horoscope today:

Your horoscope for May 19, 2010
Do things with passion today to take care of any detective work that needs to be done, _____ [this is where they put in my first name so I feel like it’s really my personal horoscope]. You will find that high-tech devices and new fangled gadgets will aid in whatever sort of work you are engaged in today. Embrace technology and new ways and attitudes toward the world. Adopt a humanitarian approach toward whatever issues you have in your life that require closure.

And you just thought I was going to talk about JP’s identity crisis. Well, if I can write something that interests me let alone you, I’ll post.

Screencap courtesy of RobinHood2006.com

May 19, 2010
Categories: SO, Tangents . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 8 Comments

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