Tangent — What Color is the Sky?

So Rupert Murdoch finally has the paywalls up completely on the Times. I’ve been reading about this coming event for quite a while now. It’s my understanding that Murdoch based part of his decision on another paper he owns that requires paid subscriptions for online reading — The Wall Street Journal. The only problem with his thinking is that the Wall Street Journal targets a much smaller audience, provides information more difficult to obtain and the readers have more means to pay. It can’t be said enough that the Times stuff is easily available elsewhere unless the Times has one helluva editorial team, which is doubtful. So I’m not sure what Murdoch is thinking to compare the two papers.

Perhaps he’s not thinking, since it’s also my understanding that he personally does not use the internet. ROFLOL!!! Wait. I think he’s almost 80. Okay, that explains it. Wait, my 70 something year old mother has an iPhone and accesses the internet with it, and yes, to get her news. As if that’s not enough, so do my almost 80 year old mother-in-law and father-in-law, so no, age doesn’t explain it. He must be on another planet ’cause the color of the sky in his world is not the same as the rest of us, and apparently he’s as unrealistic as Prince, who I already thought was crazy. Oh wait, I meant the artist formerly known as Prince. No, I’m wrong, he’s back to Prince. Whatever, I’m not talking about the royals:

…”The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

The rest of the interview.

Alrighty then. Those devices in our hands are really just a figment of our imaginations and will soon disappear. I don’t think ol’ Rupe thinks those devices are going away, but just like Prince, he thinks he can create a scarcity where none exists. But of course the devil’s advocate rears his head and has me remembering that Rupert and Prince are friggin’ geniuses, and sometimes we think geniuses are crazy — especially when they see something the rest of us can’t. This is going to drive me crazy until I know these paywalls fail. Then again, I understand they might be necessary. If so, it’s going to be sad to see the golden era of information coming to an end.

In the meantime, I love how one of the frequent commenters at Tech Dirt put it:

Hephaestus said:

He will fail. Will it get me laid? will it make me money? is it required for work? his paper doesnt match any of those so its a fail, and few if any will pay for it.

I hope you’re right, Heph.

July 5, 2010
Categories: Geek, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 1 Comment

Ahem

June 21, 2010

Well, I’ve pondered the weekend activities, which consisted of reading some non-graphic real fic about Richard Armitage, and have decided that yes, I am a bit uncomfortable with examining Richard Armitage quite so much when it’s not obviously humorous hence my post of yesterday. I guess that’s the reason I put up that post. Whether any of you were uncomfortable with the real fic, I was. I would hate it if someone examined me that closely, and sadly, some people have tried. But I will not be examined like that unless I deign to drop my proverbial pants and bend over, which I probably am not going to do in this lifetime. And I’m not sure Rich’s real pants dropping qualifies as an invitation to exam him with such scrutiny, and even if I could rationalize that it does, I don’t want to take him up on it. Sometimes people think they want to almost completely expose themselves in the quest to be understood, but really, that’s not the best way, so I won’t be going down that path in trying to understand Richard Armitage, or candidly, I’ll try not to go there.

Oh, hey, I’ve probably had all kinds of thoughts about him like I read this weekend and more besides, but I’m not so sure I want to go there so deeply with this blog. Go there? Yes, I will go there, but not smacking quite so much of reality. This is supposed to be fluff with only a little serious thrown in. I keep telling myself it’s only fluff with a little serious thrown in. Check. I think I’ve got it.

So I might touch on some serious things here, but I spend plenty of time examining serious things to the nth degree in my real life (I don’t like that term “real life” because I consider messing about on the internet as part of my real life. I haven’t quite compartmentalized it to the point I can call it an alternate reality, not seriously anyway. I’ve got to change “real life” to something else; hmmm. “offline life”? no, that sounds dead, and that life is teeming with so many wonderful and yes, sometimes terrible things that would never allow it to be called dead. I will have to think about a good term since I just don’t have one this morning. My clever machine is on the fritz right now. I’ve been reading too much German, which is quite a feat since I don’t really understand much of it. Is there any wonder why my brain is fried? And isn’t this a helluva parenthetical statement? I’ve just placed it here to see how long I could make it. Of course I’m doing it for that reason), I don’t need to do that here. Having given you this sort of diatribe, I’d like to go back to my insane self even though it’s not an alternate reality. I really am partially insane in my “real life.” Besides, the insane me is much more fun. Trust me it’s more fun.

Before I get off of this, I have to say: People, you are nosey! I put up an article about RA, in the comments section no less, and my hit count goes nuts. Yes, I know it’s due to the article. I can see what you’re doing. MUHAHAHAHA. No, I can’t see that much of what you’re doing only some keys you might hit. Yes, I’m nosey too — mostly about this RA thing — and it’s such a puzzle to me. I ask myself why a lot, and I have no good answer except that shallowly, yes, I’m shallow, very shallow at times I’m afraid, I like looking at those pictures of RA in his articles, and like the rest of the drooling masses who hang on his words, I want to hear what he thinks.

This is what confounds me, and yes, it’s one of the big reasons I’m anonymous. It’s embarrassing for someone as circumspect as I am. I’m dripping with circumspection, and for most of my life, I haven’t given a rat’s ass about what a celebrity/actor thought. Not even John Lennon. Well maybe a little and maybe I did care a little about what Kurt Cobain thought and sometimes what Daniel Day-Lewis thought and yes, a little bit of Kevin Spacey. But with John Lennon I heard so much about what he thought that I didn’t have a chance to get curious. Oh, well, I’ll never know now, and truthfully, although I love biographies and absolutely love to hear what people think and why, I guess I’ve consigned most (not all but most) actors to the stupid file so they rarely merit much attention beyond their performances. I have done this because most of the time they say stupid things to the public, and no, I don’t think RA is stupid. For cryin’ out loud, isn’t it apparent from this blog that I don’t think that? If not, then I really am a horrible writer.

Certainly, I am curious about what he is going to do next in terms of roles and even more what makes him choose those roles. See I can’t help it. He really does fascinate me and especially his chameleon quality. He’s kind of a male Meryl Streep only better looking and certainly sexier because I have never been attracted to Meryl Streep. Oh, I love her as an actress and think she is the best female actor (no question in my mind about that!), but she’s not my type.

Note:

After successively posting two pieces alternating between bravado and self-consciousness (on several levels), I need a damn good picture, but I’m not sure which one would be better than in yesterday’s post or even equal it. That is still my favorite RA picture. PHWOAR! Can any top it?

Need to get back to my Diary because I really do think it will help me figure out what the hell has happened to me, and no, I don’t consider it dropping my pants. Hey, my fascination with Richard Armitage is just a small portion of my messed up thinking. Did I just admit it’s messed up thinking to be this fascinated with a celebrity? ;-)

June 21, 2010
Categories: Fandom, PHWOAR! . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 11 Comments

Two Months of Insanity?

I have a confession to make. This blog was my bright idea to burn myself out on all things RA. I wanted to have fun while I was doing that and hoped all of you would have fun as well. But I was pretty sure I wouldn’t want to do this after a few weeks and figured when I got into my third month, it would begin to lose its appeal. Usually things begin to bore me pretty quickly, and I detest being bored. I refuse to be bored. But there’s no sign of that for me. That’s one of the things that’s fascinating about RA. He has never bored me. But then he’s not all there is to this.

Thankfully, all of you, the fans, come with him, and you also keep me plugged into this wonderful madness. I know we’ve had fun fangurling for a few days, and hopefully, we’ll all do that again sometime. But if that’s all we ever did, I would have been gone a long time ago, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have started a blog. Maybe all fandoms (hate that word by the way; can we come up with another one?) are as interesting as this one. I’m having a hard time believing that. Do I sound proud?

Earlier I read a comment about aversion therapy on Servetus’ blog and had to chuckle. What started out as a little aversion therapy for me has turned into immersion therapy. How could it be aversion therapy? I was the kid at school who would have rather been beaten with a big stick than write something. Give me a page of math problems any day over writing even a couple of paragraphs. Once I started writing the blog, I knew I would have to keep it up a bit, which of course meant writing. I figured that alone would turn me off. But now I look forward to writing. I can’t wait to get at it, and the ideas just won’t stop. Don’t worry. I’m not going to bore you with everything I’ve written or plan to write. But this exercise has served to really get me writing, which SO has literally begged me to do for years and may come to regret. LOL!

For now I’ve decided this blog is one of the sanest things I’ve ever done.

Richard Armitage attends the Philips British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) at London Palladium on June 6, 2010 in London, England.

Yeah, I sort of know how you feel, Rich.

Candid shot courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

June 8, 2010
Categories: Fandom, SO . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

I Keep Waffling on This

But this thing with RA’s interviews and the incessant questioning and teasing about the Army he receives and the thought we’ll have to hear that crap again just won’t leave me alone. I really really don’t want to hear it again, and even though I’m not big on sending him a fan letter myself, I was wondering if maybe I could steal Nat’s idea of a group fan letter. Not exactly like hers. That is unique and special, and I don’t want to duplicate it at all but merely the idea of several people sending a letter together. Really I’m not even thinking of a letter but of something like a petition in the form of military orders where we tell him we don’t want to hear about the Army again! and he’s not allowed to talk about it! LOL!

It could be from the Armitage Army (Rogue Branch), and maybe we can attach our names (real, internet, whatever name you want as long as it’s not vulgar) and have some ranks listed beside them. Maybe you could also list your country and we can make this an international order. Not sure what group I would pattern that after. But there’s only one problem for me. I don’t know what orders look or sound like. Well, now that I think of it I guess it doesn’t have to be anything really authentic looking. See that’s my anal side. Gotta nitpick stuff. I don’t want to nitpick this but rather have a good time with it. If you have any ideas, bring ’em on. Comment or send me an email. You can click on the link on the left sidebar near the bottom labeled “Contact me” if you want to email; otherwise, comment away.

Screencap courtesy of my stash. This one’s for you, Elvira. I know you love that beanie.

June 1, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Interviews . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 41 Comments

Richard Coming to America — maybe

May 29, 2010

After listening to the latest RA interview, I have to respond. I mean I would bust a gut or something (don’t you love our expressions in America?) if I didn’t respond.

Richard,

I doubt I’m ever going to write you a letter. Isn’t this blog enough? :D

What I want you to know is that we’re so ready for you in America. If you come sniffing around at the end of this year, we have lots of lovely places to ski.

Oh, and aren’t you glad you have a group who is smart enough to help you out? They know how to run web-sites and make videos. Damn, if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t know about you. Lucky you. ;-)

But seriously, man, we have to find another word for you to use than “middle-aged,” and I hope you know that not everyone is middle-aged. You actually have quite a few young fans. Yes, they’re mostly young women, but hey, young women prompt young men to spend money at the movies, and most women BUY the DVDs. LOL!

I do want to thank you for giving some of us a sop with the “quite well-educated” part. I’m not sure I fit in that heady crowd. Just not that into period dramas, but there are plenty who are. I’m more of a mutt. A cunning mutt, but a mutt none the less. But for you, hey, I can gut it up and watch a few high brow pieces.

So Strike Back was a nice change. Just hope you can lean on the writers so they don’t screw up the ride with too much introspection.

And Richard, if you ever do read this, I sometimes wonder if you think of your words like pebbles going into a pond. You can almost see, well, heck you can see the ripple effect of what you say. What you may not realize is how much fun it is to be a ripple.

Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans

P.S. I don’t know how crazy the fans are here compared to the U.K., i.e., not sure we send chocolate panties, but most here like chocolate and we’re a really practical bunch. So maybe you’ll get some chocolate you can actually eat.

Wow, that felt good writing to Richard. Thanks for inspiring me, Nat. I may have to can the Diary and start writing more fan letters. No, no, even if they’re fake fan letters, I still can’t really cut loose like I can in my Diary. ;-)

For the rest of you who haven’t heard the interview with David Stephenson of the Sunday Express, listen here:

Or get your own copy here.

Oh, oh, wait. I was almost going to post this without my gratuitous pic. Don’t know where my head is today but obviously it’s not on drooling.

Even momma would be proud of that picture.

edit: Richard eventually did make it to America.

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com and audio courtesy of RichardArmitageCentral.

May 29, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Interviews, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 21 Comments

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