Anonymity, April Challenge, and Richard Armitage

A2Z-BADGE-0002014-small_zps8300775cThis is my first post for the 2014 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. Therefore, some people who are not Richard Armitage fans will be dropping by to check me out. This post is for them.

Hello! and welcome to my fun place. Mostly this is a humorous site, and occasionally I pontificate about various subjects. You thought it was all about some chap named Richard Armitage? That’s some of it. And right about now if you are wondering who in the heck is Richard Armitage? He is this guy:

Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit; you can get a thumbnail of his work here.

06hobbit-pg-horizontal

Richard is a muse, if you will. He and more so his fans prompted me to enter the blogosphere as a writer who documents something other than vacation pictures and an occasional rant about current events. That’s mostly what I did before I entered this space, and I did it with my real identity. It was not fun. I was inhibited and unimaginative and so careful about my words that it would have taken aeons to develop a voice and certainly to be interesting. The specter of screwing up was the biggest obstacle, and so I removed that by throwing off the shackles of my identity and flying free with my thoughts. And yes, I do some fangirling, but I’ll try to keep that at a minimum during this month. No promises about Sunday.

See you tomorrow.

April 1, 2014
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 10 Comments

Go Ahead and Buy Macbeth

I’m talking to myself, but then A.J. Hartley has us all in a stir with his news this evening, and I had to purchase his Macbeth. I bought the audio book as well. It’s performed by Alan Cumming, and so far it sounds great. I have high hopes of it being worth it to the end. As for Alan, in short he is interesting. Go here if you want to check him out.

514SOJylF9L._SL500_AA300_PIaudible,BottomRight,13,73_AA300_I hate to admit it, but my first thought of him was as the bad guy in Spy Kids. That tells you where my head’s been the last 15 years. I’m going to forget all of that this evening and listen to an adaptation of my favorite Shakespearean play, and a role I long to to see Richard Armitage perform on stage at some point.

Oh, and if you own a Kindle, in the U.S. you can borrow the book and add on the Audible version via Whisper Sync for only $4.99. Not a bad deal.

Okay, I bought this too while I was at it.

Back to listening.

February 22, 2014
Categories: Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

RA’s Diary — Gluteal Dreams

Whenever I think of Richard Armitage these days, I mostly think what he may be doing about his career. I also remember he’s a sly one at times as he was when he was shooting Captain America. No one knew about that until he was in the middle of it, and I chuckled to myself at the time and then I wrote this:


RA’s Diary

Entry — On Location with Captain America

The afternoon before my shoot:

I finally got to Manchester and met with the production people. It was fantastic to be back on a movie set. Much different from “Frozen.” So much has changed in just a few years, and this picture has some serious money behind it. When I was younger, I’m not sure I cared about that, but now? I understand the importance of capitalizing these things after all of the legwork I’ve done on Richard III. I will definitely be taking notes. Wonder what Dad would think of a comic book version of RIII? No, no, I could never do that, but damn that would be funny. Visions of Monty Python run through my head.

My only real irritation right now is the potential for a gaggle of women to show up on the fringes of the set. Please God don’t let that happen. I already have too many friends trying to take the mickey out of me about that, and it’s hard to be taken seriously when a bunch of middle-aged women indulging their fantasies are standing around. And I just want to work without having to be cordial. But I will be polite if need be because it’s my middle name. I’ve certainly had that beat into my head. As it is the hair on the back of my neck was on end at one point when I was standing in the street getting instructions about my shoot tomorrow. Thankfully, I saw no women and only a couple of guys taking video from their cameras. I almost hate video cameras.

20100921-video1-620x414-captainamerica-hobbsy
[click to enlarge]

The next evening:

One of those guys put video on YouTube, and there I am in the middle of it. I tried to make myself smaller when I caught them in my peripheral vision, but I’ve never been able to scrunch down enough to hide. What was I thinking? And I felt like I was 16 again and couldn’t decide between embracing my size and wanting to be invisible. Even if I could have made myself shorter, I guess my arse is recognizable and some make a study of it. There is that one blogger who goes on about my thighs, which I guess are part of my arse, and yeah, when I wore black leather there were a lot of flattering comments. Maybe it’s not so bad, and I didn’t really mind my prison scene or my boiler suit scene. That did make me feel good for a while, and of course there was my scene with Julie. But those were my naked arse and not my covered arse. Shit! Why did I have to wear that stupid jacket? I need some long coats and a few more hats.

Sorry but I had to get inside Richard’s head again. It helps me stay in touch with my X chromosomes.

For some who have no sense of humor or who are action fans, YES, this is a fake entry.

Disclaimer:

At no time in the writing of this entry did I imagine I was really speaking for Richard Armitage nor did I deceive myself into thinking I really know his thoughts. Therefore, there is no need to involve his agent or publicist in what is supposed to be humorous. Of course I realize tone on the net is not always properly conveyed, and hey, I’m not a writer (I just have lots of crap I want to say), so I’m not taking the chance of being misconstrued.

Have a nice day. :D

Note: I’m blaming my lack of inhibition about posting this on my cold medicine and having just read James Franco’s Actor’s Anonymous. ;p

Photo courtesy of Hobbsy and his video from whence the photo was taken, if you’re interested. :D

February 21, 2014
Categories: Captain America, Fandom, Movies . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 24 Comments

Who Needs a Valentine…

Valentine’s Day happened, and I had the response I usually do which is no response. But the first year I was married, I became self-conscious about not celebrating Valentine’s. That was before I learned SO refused to be put in a box. Originally I thought it was a cop out on his part as most guys don’t like Valentine’s. But it turned out he was more romantic than I was.

And along the way I’ve figured out I’m not really sure how this love thing is to be done. I just know how SO and I have done it, and I’m satisfied with it. I’m satisfied with this man who has been charming, funny, witty and kind, and also gotten me out of my doldrums and self-centeredness on so many occasions. If he had not done that, I know I would have missed out on so many good times. Like the times afforded by his company who would give him a new car every couple of years, and he got to select it, and conservative me never would have picked this car, but SO did:

403622-large

and off we went down the highways and byways and always with a song to begin. This one:

The first time he put on that song, I rolled my eyes. He laughed and said, “Lighten up!” I did and quickly realized that song has the ability to put me in a mood which shouts, “Anything good can happen today!”

He followed that song with this one below, and while it was playing, he would usually look over at me and grin, which was actually a leer, and I would receive his message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEEzbFxEbB8

As I got into what we were doing, I began to have my favorites for the road. First was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNDA_DPy3oM

And this:

SO also had his favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7bbgsyzKc

And this one which is pretty much an anthem for SO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4IrM9P-zcs

Oh, yeah, and:

Before we knew it, we were up to three 90 minute tapes. We wore those tapes out going to San Francisco for July 4th, Washington D.C. for New Year’s, Florida for President’s Day, and many other trips. Some during holidays and some not. The best ones were spontaneous. We would have a few days off, get in the car, just start driving, and see where it took us. One time we ended up near Canada but didn’t have time to go across the border. We did that another time. And that may not sound like much, but we lived in Texas at the time.

SO went on to pick some other really cool vehicles while he worked for that company, and I have fond memories of all of them but mostly of him sitting in them.

Today I was remembering these things as I’ve done so many times, and I asked myself, “Who needs a Valentine when you have all of this?” I surely don’t and have not missed it.

No Richard Armitage segue other than to say:

Richard,

I hope you can find someone whom you can live, laugh and love with. It is sweet.

Signed,
A Crazy Fan who’s not that crazy about Valentine’s

I made a playlist of some of our road songs. They’re in no particular order but the first two, and it’s certainly not all of them. SO reminded me of a few I had forgotten. But I was too lazy to add them and leave you with a sampling indicative of our tastes.

edit: this post is in no way a commentary on the Valentine’s love being spread amongst fans. I think that’s great! :) This post is a response to myself. I’ve bitched about so much in life that I wanted to bask in something I should be ridiculously grateful for.

February 15, 2014
Categories: Musicilove, SO, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

Being a Pseudonym

February 9, 2014

It’s interesting being a pseudonym because no matter what, you’re still you.

With respect to RAFrenzy, this is me, and yes, I’ve toyed with being the “other me,” but then I am the other me when I’m here. What you see is what you get. There is no difference (a rose by any other name…;-)

If I ever thought there was a difference, my friends who knew me before I started this place have disabused me of that notion by laughing when they’ve read this blog and said, “That is so you.”

And what do they mean by that? I take very little seriously, and myself most of all. Oh, sure I take some things seriously about life and myself, but it’s my belief that way too much is made out of most things. Have I lapsed into being pompous and taken myself way too seriously on occasion? Oh yeah. I’m human aren’t I? Last time I checked I was, but I try to remember I’m not God and don’t make perfect choices.

I do try to correct my poor choices as quickly as I can, and one way is to laugh at myself. If I can do that, I can laugh in general. And laughter really is good medicine.

Please notice I don’t mean ridicule — the laughter designed to create pain. Granted, there is sometimes a thin line between ridicule and just the joy of laughing, and when it is crossed, there is usually misery. But happy people do not want to create misery. Maybe put out some snark sometimes when they see something that is just utter bullshit (as opposed to regular bullshit)? You bet. But to try to do harm to someone? No, that’s what miserable people do.

And if I don’t know anything else about this RAFrenzy thing, I do know one thing — I am not here to be miserable. :D

No picture with this post. I’m too lazy this morning to find one that would fit, and dare I say, I’m on my way to church. Yeah, I know that bugs some of you, but oh well. I can’t be someone I’m not, and I do believe in God (a very specific one at that), and He loves me bad language and all.

Maybe after I’ve heard a lesson this morning, my mind will be more clear and I can select a good pic.

February 9, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 21 Comments

While I’m Being So Blunt, Some Further Thoughts or Oh the Places You’ll Go II

Are you in need of some mirth? No, make that belly laughs to the point of almost being sick (yes, I’m being serious about this — when I’m not laughing so hard I literally — yes, I mean actually — can’t type), then visit a certain gay gossip site.

Over the course of this blog’s life and especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had people send me notes in regard to that site, and they go something like this, “Unreal what they say over there,” or “I can’t believe what I read,” or “They’re nuts.” And aren’t we glad? I know I am.

Whenever I’ve gone to that site, I’ve laughed my ass off. Actually, I wish it could make me laugh my ass off and then I would happily pay them a fortune. All I know is I’m laughing so hard that it ought to do something earth shaking. But usually it just makes my family wonder what drug I’ve taken. The other night I was laughing hysterically, and SO, who was on the other side of the house, finally yelled, “What’s so funny?!” I was literally (damn there’s that word again) almost busting a gut, and there were tears in my eyes, and I was just rolling around with every nerve ending on my body being tickled. When I heard that question, I began to compose myself, and it did feel like coming off of a high. Once I was calmed down enough to think straight, I thought, “I need to go to that site more often ’cause it’s way better than any nitrous oxide.”

And the thread which put me over the top?

Stars no one thinks are gay but you

When I started reading, I was thinking, yeah, that person seems gay. Uh huh, yeah that person too. Oh yeah, definitely that person. But then I see this:

Vince Vaughn

Nah, I’m not feelin’ that one.

Then further down:

Jimmy Stewart

No, I don’t think so.

Then a gimme:

George Bush

Moving on from the wiseass, I read:

Harrison Ford

No way! UNLESS Harrison Ford really can act!

I start to giggle on that one.

I read on:

Jerry Seinfeld

Yeah, this I can see. Not because Jerry is gay but because he doesn’t seem like a guy who wants to be crossways with anyone, so he may even love being on the list. I can hear Jerry now, “When I’m gay, these are things I do……, but I’m not gay — at least not today. Catch me tomorrow.”

wenn5438451__oPt

I started to have a deeper throated chuckle at this point, and then it started to get serious:

Jim Henson

The poster thought he really died of aids.

Another poster agreed.

Someone took exception:

It was pneumonia, bitches.

(No, I’m not making this up.)

Anyway, I’m trying not to belly laugh at this point — no offense to Jim Henson’s memory.

Then someone really got into the spirit of the topic and posted this:

Julie Andrews

Martha Stewart

Ronald Reagan

Carol Burnett

Troy Aikman

Christopher Reeves

That’s when I fell off the bed laughing. SO was concerned and wanted to see what I was reading. Then he started laughing too and we ended up comprising our own list of those who no one thinks are gay “but you.” So glad for the “but you.” There’s some sort of comfort in it.

Okay, so maybe there is a question mark about Christopher Reeves.

If you decide to make your own list, there is a proviso. It must include someone worth being on the list. Let me put a fine point on that, if a person is good looking or extremely charismatic or highly successful, they are gay. If someone is ugly or a loser, they are straight mother f*ckers. ;-) Yeah, I’m puttin’ that wink there for the people who have no humor.

I gotta go back to that site. May have to make another visit today. I need something to take away the bad taste of that hellaciously long meeting from yesterday (yes, it’s still with me and impacting my schedule today), and a bunch of mouthy queens might do the trick.

For those guys at the gossip site, love ya, and hope you don’t mind this “frau” having a chuckle or two at your expense. Hey, we’re all anonymous, so it shouldn’t matter. :D

note: new tag – Oh the places you’ll go. I should have done that tag a long time ago! Need to go back and tag some old posts with that one.

January 24, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

A Little More About the Pinter/Proust Reading

I’ve been talking to Armitage Besotted about the Pinter/Proust reading (which I will henceforth call “the reading”). But first a little background. I’ve gotten to know Armitage Besotted well enough over the last several months that I think we can damn near finish each other’s sentences. But mostly we laugh a lot. I love that! I hope we can keep it up for a long, long time.

So about “the reading,” I was talking to Armitage Besotted about what went down and knowing what I now know of her chutzpah and humor, I believe this account, which I’ve sprinkled with my commentary:

Me: Did you at least get to meet Richard Armitage and talk to him?

Besotted: Hell, yes — I’m the one who got him to come out and greet us! Well, I’m not sure I’m solely responsible, but I’m taking full credit.

Me: ROFLOL!! What?!

Besotted: We were waiting in the lobby afterwards, because someone saw on Twitter (apparently, the source of all authoritative info now) that there was going to be a “reception.” Not quite. The “reception” was an invitation-only thing in a closed-off room for people who put up the money for the play.

Many of the fangirls were ready to give up and go home at that point. Geez, people, you need me to show you how to grow New York balls. I accept this self-appointed role for the fandom going forward, by the way.

Me: Teach me! Teach me! LOL!

Besotted: Let me finish! So I craned my neck to look in the reception room and saw a cocktail-party-like setup. Knowing Armitage hates that kind of crap, I thought to myself, I bet he would rather come out in the lobby and talk to fans if he knew we were here.

So I went back into the theater to see if there was anyone who might have backstage access. I chatted up a woman who was hanging around. I asked her if she would deliver a message to Richard Armitage, and she smiled and said “Yes,” so I said “Would you tell him that there are some fans out front who would love to meet him? 5 minutes. That’s all it will take, and we will not behave like assholes.” She laughed, and I said, “Please repeat that verbatim.”

10 minutes later, he came out!

I had positioned myself right at the door to the party room, so I had first shot at him. He had a bit of an I’m-ready-to-be-assaulted-now flustered look on his face, so I figured “he wants someone to take charge” (everyone does, this is the first lesson in assigning yourself the I’m-in-charge job), so I called out “Mr. Armitage, we would like to meet you over here.” He came over to me and my group.

I shook his hand and said, “Thank you for everything,” and I can’t even tell you what he said. He was in “rope line” mode — eyes darting around, murmuring niceties on auto pilot (“Awww, thank you,” “Oh this is nice,” or whatever), right hand hovering with pen. I wasn’t shoving a camera at him or following the formula, and I swear he was thinking, “Where’s your poster? Where’s your book?” Ha ha ha!

He stayed for 30 or 40 minutes, talked to everyone there and posed for pictures. He was very gracious. (And gorgeous. So gorgeous to look at for 30 minutes. Sigh.)

Notallwhowanderarelost2 reminded me of the best part in her post — there were no paid autograph seekers pushing posters over other peoples’ heads, no professional photographers, no people yelling “Richard! Richard! Look over here!”

Have you seen that 3-minute clip from the LA premiere where he just stands there posing, cycling through his various smiles, while photographers shout, SHOUT directions at him? It makes me cringe. I don’t know how performers resist rolling their eyes at that nonsense, but they have to or there would be pictures out there of them rolling their eyes. (Now that’s a performance.)

There was excited hubub, naturally, but it wasn’t overly loud and everyone behaved nicely. The fans helped each other with moving to the front of the line, taking photos, etc.

I’m proud of us New Yorkers. As promised, we did not behave like assholes, and a good time was had by all.

I wonder how quickly Richard Armitage will become a New Yawker? :D

January 19, 2014
Categories: Fandom, Stage Productions . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 23 Comments

Playing Catch Up!

I missed some #RAflash posts and thankfully people have sent me notes to ensure I get them posted. If I have not acknowledged your note, please know that I have not seen it or somehow it didn’t get to me. But if you want, send me another one. If you haven’t sent a note, doing so will help me!

In the meantime, I will be looking on tumblr more diligently and in my email on both RAFrenzy and RAflash. If you do decide to send a note about having a post placed on RAflash, it’s better if you send it to that site’s email: raflasheventATgmailDOTcom.

Maybe sometime in all of this I will get my own post done for the event. For now, it’s just a joy to read yours!

Take care, and I look forward to your notes.

January 19, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: Leave a comment

The Flash Fan Event

SomethingFine

I see that some bloggers are already starting to post for the Flash Fan Event: I See Something Fine. Hopefully, most of you reading this will be aware of those posts because you are a regular reader. You may also find the posts via the #RAflash hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, tumblr, and wherever else someone wants to use the tag.

But never fear if you missed something. I will be putting up the website RAflash.com at 10:00am my time (UTC+7 or 12:00pm EST) which will aggregate the posts, or attempt to aggregate the posts. LOL!

Yes, I’m doing all of this by the seat of my pants as usual, but do you care? I didn’t think so. The point is for all of us to have fun and bask in what it is we find so ethralling, and my part in it is to provide an easy way for you to do that! This first day might be a little rocky, but trust me things will get easier as we go along.

Business end of this thing coming next, so if you’re just a reader and don’t care how we’re going to get these posts to you, stop reading now! :D

If you want to put a post on the wall of the raflash site, send me a link to your post via rafrenzyATgmailDOTcom and put FINE POST in the subject line. I get a lot of mail, so please put that in the subject line, so I can easily query and do not miss any requests. If your post includes an image, I will use the first one shown as a thumbnail for the wall of posts I’m preparing. If you’ve seen the site, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you’ll quickly understand after you see it.

If you do not have an image in your post, then you can send an image along with your post link, or send a link to an image you like, or I’ll decide for you. It would help me a lot if I didn’t have to decide for you, so pick an image you love and send it to me! For the most part, it doesn’t matter what size. Just don’t send anything that’s less than 250 x 250, and no, it does not have to be square!

For now I’m manually putting up links to your posts and committing to do that at least once per day from the 13th through the 20th. I will try to put up links I receive more than once per day, but once is all I can commit to doing. If I can get my plug-in to work, I’ll get this thing going dynamically. Okay, I promise not to throw any more tech jargon on you if I can help it. Just send me your link!

If you have any questions, please send an email to that same address with the same subject line as above.

Thank you for your participation!
Frenz

January 13, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 8 Comments

I Saw Something Fine — Flash Fan Event

DOS2-11

Beginning Monday, several bloggers (and maybe some guest bloggers) are participating in a Flash Fan Event (running January 13 to 19) in which they will highlight in a post (or maybe two) what they see in Richard Armitage that is so compelling. The point of this exercise is to exhibit our enthusiasm as fans by refocusing our attention on what is fine. Obviously, it cannot be covered comprehensively for some of us. Again, it should just be covering an aspect or two. Also, if you want to highlight a previously published piece which covers the topic, do it.

Please note if this becomes something that drags you down to prepare, you’re missing the point. It’s not about having the perfect words. It’s about exhibiting your enthusiasm as a fan.

Badges with the tagline: I Saw Something Fine will be provided, or you can make your own, but in a show of solidarity as a fandom, it would be helpful to include those words in any banner or badge you make. Also, I’ll assist anyone who needs help with positioning badges on your site and making them clickable if you desire, i.e., making them link to another page.

Unless someone comes up with something better, I’m floating the hashtag #RAflash. Also, please note Facebook, Tumbler and Pinterest use hashtags. It’s not just a Twitter thing.

I will try to aggregate the posts somewhere. Perhaps on the Fanstra.com site. I’ll figure that out as I go, and just so you know, yes, this is spontaneous, so all aspects are not nailed down other than time, subject and there will be graphics.

If you want to read more about the thinking on all of this, you can see my original post with edits as well as my follow-on post, and this includes the comments on both posts.

Hope to see your thoughts about what is fine!

January 11, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 11 Comments

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