I Haven’t Been On For the Ride

It’s occurred to me that my thrill factor has been pretty low with regard to Spooks Series 9. Lately my attention has been diverted by other things in my life. Maybe that’s an excuse for why I’m just not as into Series 9 as I was all the other series of Spooks. I’m not sure. But in fairness to Richard Armitage and to the other wonderful cast members of Spooks, I’m going to watch Episodes 1-7 again before next Monday’s finale. Then perhaps I will be infected with what many of you are infected with — enthralling anticipation of Episode 8. And I so want to be infected with that. I really do want to be on the ride.

In the meantime, I hope some of you can bear with me and my less than gushy response to Lucas North. I will say this, I’m not alone in what I’m thinking amongst the fandom. Several fans have told me privately they’re not that into Lucas and would rather see him in stills than animated. Wow. I’m not quite that down on him, but it made me feel less of a “traitor” to hear that. LOL!

But I have to agree with them that he looks mighty fine in stills, and I noticed that Servetus and I made some of the same screencaps. At the risk of merely objectifying Richard Armitage, I could not pass up the chance to capture that jawline. Phew!

I mean c’mon that should elicit a response from most women. Notice I didn’t say “all.” I realize there are a few women who would not find him attractive. They have to be in the minority, and they might be dead. LOL!

I wonder how many women would not be moved by this coming at them:

Screencaps are mine.

Kool-Aid Anyone?

I finally posted my diary entry on ‘Between the Sheets’ (BTS) and granted, it was mostly a rant. I have many more thoughts about a lot of things including more on BTS. Heck, I have so many thoughts about so many things I probably couldn’t help but start a blog. I just wish I had the guts to publish more, and thankfully, all of my thoughts are not of Richard Armitage. Fascinating as he is, that would be dull indeed. But I must admit that I went through a period in my viewing of RA’s acting where I wondered more about him as a person and what motivated him. I am a human being who is intensely curious about many things not the least of which are people, so I couldn’t help but go there, and I still go there from time to time. Some of my diary entries tend to explore that a little more than others, and those entries are probably too candid for publication. I will attempt to edit them so they’re respectful but not so respectful they’re boring.

However I edit them, I do not want to lose my honest voice, but I would be lying if I said it’s not a temptation to do just that out of fear my thoughts might generate ill will. This is probably based on the experience that people do not like you if you disagree with them or say something even a little bit critical. I, on the other hand, almost love it when people disagree with me or criticize. It can make things very interesting, and it’s certainly when I learn the most. Perhaps this is a pitfall of being reared in a very antagonistic household where I could never make a statement without being compelled to defend it. The usual reaction to a declaration was, “I understand you think that, but why?” It was always why and a tendency to try to poke holes in what I was saying, so now I’m cursed to continue asking questions, but hopefully I don’t descend into ad hominem. Whatever the case, when someone questions my stance or flat out disagrees, I feel more at home. LOL!

And I have long since realized Richard Armitage was not conditioned to be a fighter as I’ve been. He’s more of a “lover,” or at least gives that appearance, and many of his fans appear to be like him, which puts me at odds with quite a few of them, and yep, I knew that when I started the blog. Apparently, I wasn’t daunted, and even though I tend toward antagonistic and snarky, I hope I have some courtesy.

I need a picture after that long-winded preface to coming entries:

series742a

If you want to see this picture in all its glory, click on it, and then zoom in. I feel like a little more objectification than usual. Maybe reviewing BTS brought that on. I encourage you to zoom in on this picture just to look at his mouth. I’ve made a big deal out of his jawline, but I’m not sure I could really tell you what I think of his mouth. Not ready to be quite that candid. LOL!

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, and I can’t thank them enough for doing all that they do.

The King May Have Been Dethroned

Or maybe a serious coup attempted.

I love this picture:

and I think it is the best picture of RA. King in my mind. I mean who could look at that and not have some reaction to it even if they have never seen him in any roles? Oh, someone dead? Yeah, that’s about it.

But I may have seen the one that can give it serious competition, and I wish someone who has something to do with the “Captain America” movie read my piddly blog. They could see how good RA looks in the picture below. Since the movie is being made by Hollywood, of course looks are the primary consideration. We know RA can act in anything, but does he have the look for a part in that movie? Oh, baby, yes!

A big thanks to Kaprekar for this photo. I was going to just add it to another post, but it deserves its own:

I need a new tag: PHWOAR!2

second edit: and I forgot to mark the jawline tag for this entry! Yes, you can click on that tag and look at all of the lovely profile shots in this blog, or most of them anyway. That’s my public service gene at work, so I just can’t help but think of these things for the edification of all of us. ;-) Thanks, fitzg for reminding me.

By the way, that second picture is an edit of a Robin Hood promo picture found on RichardArmitageNet.Com

More Strike Back Love — SPOILERS

Yeah, I guess there are some spoilers.

DelicateBlossom has outdone herself. I love this video, and no, I don’t love every RA video. I don’t dislike any of them. I actually like a lot of them and really appreciate the effort. But I don’t love all of them. I love this one. DB said in her comments that she had fun making it, and it shows.

She nails the feeling of the show. Love the ending!

I also noticed in her comments that she has been sitting on that song for a year. It was worth it.

Oh, and it’s already up at RAfanvids, so I got my HD big format copy, and that kind of definition is spoiling me. LOL!

Something Kinda Weird

I can’t stop watching Heather’s video. RA has definitely brought out any latent OCD tendencies I have. LOL! I don’t even want to think about how many times I’ve watched this one.

What’s so compelling about it is Heather has some wonderful close-ups of which some weren’t necessarily close-ups in the show, but she was so kind to make them close-ups for us!

I’ve now captured some of those so I could show the great shots of his eyes. Here are a few:

His eyes are not blue nor are they blue with a little green in them. They’re also not green. His eyes are gray, which have a tendency to look blue or green at times, but really they’re gray. I have thought this for a while, but Heather’s shots in the video make it very clear. I’m familiar with these eyes because my dad had the same eyes. They have a tendency to lighten with age. That’s exactly what happened with my dad and probably will with RA.

But here’s the weird part. A year or so ago I was reading an interview of RA’s, and one of the little SOs was reading over my shoulder, and said, “Ohmygosh! Mom, I finally figured out who Richard Armitage looks like!” I cut my eyes at her and said, “I didn’t know you were even trying to figure that out.” She jumped up and ran into the living room and came back with something that she thrust in my hands. It was a picture of my dad when he was young. I started laughing until I really looked at the picture, and as nuts as it sounds, it’s true that RA favors my family. He has the same color eyes as my dad and grandfather and my uncle, and they’re set the same way. His nose and upper lip are identical to my dad’s. To top it off his head shape and neck are also the same. His body type and size is also like my dad’s. My dad was a great big man who had been tall and gangly when he was younger. But mostly it’s the eyes, nose and upper lip coupled with that head shape that look so much like my dad. He really could pass for one of my relatives, and no, I don’t think of my dad when I look at RA. LOL! As if that weren’t enough, I introduced my mother to the works of RA a couple of months later, and she said the same thing. Oh, she just loves Richard Armitage! All of this effectively cut off any thought of ever fantasizing about him. Thanks, Mom. LOL!

There must be something about those English genes because even though my dad’s family has not lived in England in several centuries, the people where my dad’s family came from look a lot like my dad. Dad visited there on several occasions and had his picture taken with lots of locals. The ones who have his surname by blood look like him. There’s one picture of my dad with a father and son who were younger than him, and it looks like three generations of the same family.

But back to RA. LOL! If all those pictures above weren’t enough, I have a slideshow too. :D

How Does Someone Get This Gig?

Or why did I go to college? When I could have become a make-up artist and been so, so satisfied.

I’m just throwing this one in below ’cause I like it! The bicep might have something to do with it.

See more behind the scenes pictures here.

What makes a bunch of prissy period drama lovers become action fans?

THIS:

No, I don’t think every period drama lover is prissy, since I are one now. But I do find it funny that many of us who hardly ever watch something like Strike Back cannot wait for it to get here! I even read the book. Hope Chris Ryan is proud.

Oh, and, I saw video of the premiere over at RichardArmitageNet.com and have to share it. Here’s a screencap below. Love that profile! You can watch here or get your own copy here.

edit: For those of you who read this entry earlier, yes, I did have the video loaded on my page. But it was not syncing right, so I canned it and put up a link and a screencap instead.

If you want to download your own copy of any promo clips or screencaps of Strike Back, go to this page on RichardArmitageNet.com, which is run by Wendy and Ali. Along with Annette, who runs RichardArmitageOnline.com, they make up what I think of as the triumviRAte. You want to know anything about RA’s career, go to one or both of those sites. You will not be disappointed, and be sure to sign their guestbook!

Screencap is mine. I had to capture that profile.

Woman is always looking for a shoulder to put her head on

[note on Mencken below]

Per tyme4t’s request.

Here’s the best “shoulder” pic I could come up with (great jawline pic too; check out others here). Oh, there are other shoulder pics, but I thought I would just run the best one out there first. At least the one I think is the best. Feel free to disabuse me of the notion. :D

John_Porter_Dani

Continuing rationalization:

One of the first things I noticed about RA is his ability to use his shoulders and back to convey a message. Oh, yeah, actors can shrug to convey some emotions, but he goes way beyond that. I lost count of the times Guy used his shoulders with one of the most stunning times being when he flinches as Friar Tuck tries to comfort him (S3Ep1). I can’t watch that scene without being very moved by the grief and pain and just utter self hatred radiating from Guy’s shoulders alone — since we can’t really see his face. Wonderfully done scene!

Guy_Gisborne_shoulders

Guy_Gisborne_shoulders_2

Note: The quote in the title is from H.L. Mencken’s In Defense of Women. I didn’t like it the first time I read it — a long time ago. Not sure what I would think of it now. I do agree with that particular quote though — to some degree. Most of the women I know (young or old), love it when they actually meet a man. Men are few and far between, and it can be a rush to encounter one. Most women are drawn to that and want to rely on them. Notice I didn’t say male, but that I’m actually referring to someone who is a man — worthy to lean on but not lessening a woman’s worth by being so.

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com and RobinHood2006.com

RAddicts-R-Us

So I’ve been sharing these diary entries in an attempt to show how someone descends into this madness, and I’m only just beginning. I have never spent as much time on something frivolous as I have this fangirling (is that a word?) over Richard Armitage. But of course I’m doing this as a public service, so that the rest of you don’t feel like such nuts. ;-)

I promise to throw in more media even if it’s something you’ve seen a thousand times. Can we look at these pictures enough?

I said I love his jawline, and this is where it started, and if you don’t know which picture is under the link, then you’re not really a fan of RA. LOL!

A few more for your pleasure:

Guy_Gisborne_wooing_Marian

Yes, I flipped that one.

Harry_Kennedy_wooing_Geraldine

John_Standring_Carol

Lucas_North_Suit

John_Porter_beret

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.ComCom, RobinHood2006.com and my own stash.