Yeah, I think it is ’cause things are so hot:
If things get any hotter, we may not survive this drought. :D
Not So Dreaded Housekeeping
Usually I hate housekeeping. I have not been kidding when I’ve said I get bored very easily. That’s why I was such a good fit for IT and new product placement. But it means I hate maintenance, and housekeeping is maintenance. When I first started the blog, I knew there would be maintenance, and so I’ve tried to make it fun, but this time around, I’m really enjoying it. Oh gosh, I cannot believe Richard Armitage has also made me enjoy this. If he could bottle that, he would be a trillionaire.
So what the heck am I talking about? Well, I thought I would group my FanstRAvaganza posts in one place and do a few other things while I was at it. Of course when I do something like that, it means I have to pull up the post, and I sometimes will read them again. Not always as I don’t have the time, but I’ve been listening to the recordings again. What a treat, and I’m certainly not limiting that to Richard Armitage. All of you who have sent me recordings have been such a pleasure to listen to, and there will be more for readers in the following days. I plan to wrap up sometime this weekend if not sooner, but the way things are going, it will probably be this weekend. LOL!
I’m placing all of my FanstRAvaganza posts here so they will be much easier to find and hopefully enjoy.
Until next time, a picture:
Click to enlarge
I thought this one might get your attention, and you can click on it to enlarge. Ohcheemama!! See what I mean about Richard Armitage making housekeeping fun? :D And I received an alert this morning about RA being discussed on a student site. It was rather interesting to “hear” the college girls talking about him and the guys. *smirk* I couldn’t help but think of two college girls near and dear to me. One thinks he’s the hottest thing she has ever seen, and the other one is scared of him but thinks he is very handsome. They’ve never seen this picture. I’m not sure what they would think, but I know if I had a been a college student and happened to see that standing off in front of me, I would be in a daze. Truly. He is that good looking in this picture. Hell, I’m almost in a daze now.
Oh, I have to stop. This picture is probably worthy of another post. Um, yeah, I’ll have to talk about this one again later, and if this is your picture, please let me know. I’ve been saving this one for a long time (couple of years), but I would really like to use it (well, I guess I have). I just like to give proper credit. So let me know!
edit:
Photo courtesy of @kuchinggirl on Twitter, and what a photo it is!
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!]
The Bond Question
The question of whether or not Richard Armitage would make a good James Bond has come up countless times in the fandom, and it happened again the other day with DEZMOND’S poll. I didn’t vote because I’m conflicted, but I want to go on record as saying that he would make a marvelous James Bond. I’ve never doubted it. The question for me is whether or not he should indeed play Bond. I know I would love whatever he chooses, but from the first time I heard the suggestion of him being Bond, I’ve had my reservations.
The character is fairly one-dimensional. At least he is in all the Bond movies I’ve seen, which is all of them except Daniel Craig’s Bond (need to rectify that in the near future). Maybe Craig has changed things up? Somehow I doubt it, and that’s no aspersion on him. It would take a mega star to change up the Broccoli Machine, and then maybe even that wouldn’t happen because the Broccolis are not going to hire anyone who is going to mess with their cash cow. I’m sure their thinking is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That’s a good rule of thumb if it’s only about money. If it’s about art, then there’s no such thing. Well, money is still involved, but hopefully it doesn’t dictate everything. Last time I checked, and again, I haven’t seen Craig’s portrayal, Bond was not about art, and certainly not about any real thought. About as deep as Bond usually gets is sexual innuendo via the liberal use of double entendre. I can watch Sean Connery for that ’cause he does it so well, and really, I don’t want to see RA being a Sean Connery retread although I’m sure he could pull off some great stuff.
But let’s say RA did play Bond. What would that mean for his career? I’m inclined to think it would not bode well. All of the actors who have played Bond including Connery have not done much of note. One reason is most of the actors chosen for the part are not the best actors or even close, and I would bet it’s almost an admission that an actor is second tier to be chosen. I could be wrong about that, but my common sense says this is not considered a plum role if someone thinks of himself as a serious actor. I would hate to see RA in that group.
Another reason for my hesitance is Bond is such a larger than life character (bigger than any actor’s portrayal) that the typecasting which comes with it makes accepting the part maybe a bit daunting later, and especially if the actor plays the part really well as Connery did. Is there any doubt RA would play this well? Ohmygosh, just thinking about him being Bond, well, I need to keep this blog safe for work. Suffice to say that PHWOAR! would probably roll off my tongue so often it would be sore.
All of that aside, the only thing that really gets me excited about RA being this character is imagining how he would deal with the back story, and yes, of course some gratuitous shots for objectification edification. Speaking of which, here is a shot that in my opinion screams James Bond:
And just for comparison purposes:
Oh, heck a few more.
When I saw this…
I quite naturally thought of this…
And when I think of this…
It’s easy to think of this…
Definitely need a cool drink, and maybe I need to speak to Hunkess. I could do with a little celebration of masculinity of this historic Hunkie.
That Sean Connery has got to be one of the sexiest ever! The dude is even sexy as a graying, balding man. Phew!
Photos courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com, Public Domain, and my stash.
What woman could resist someone that manly looking and with that beautiful, deep burr? Oh yeah, Connery has ‘it’, and obviously, so does RA. I think I’ve just convinced myself that Richard should NEVER play Bond. He is the only one I’ve ever thought could eclipse Connery. RA doesn’t need that baggage!
Side note: I think it’s a hoot that Ian Fleming based the “sophisticated persona” of Bond on Hoagy Carmichael. I love Hoagy! Love to play Hoagy, and yeah, his music is sophisticated. But his persona? I’m not seeing it. LOL!
Then again, Wikipedia could just be having us on. I’m not a Bond aficionado so I wouldn’t really know, and I don’t have time nor inclination to become one. I’m doing well to write this blog. Better stop now since I feel a strong urge to go on a tangent about Hoagy.
Oh, what the hell!
One of the all-time great songs, and a real pleasure to play as well as hear:
Another one I love to play:
And by the way, I love 7notemode. He is a helluva player, but then this is my kind of music. If you ever think of me playing anything, this would be it! And maybe a little Brubeck and Duke Ellington as well. :D
Oh, and as much as I love 7notemode, I wanted to post Oscar Peterson playing Skylark but couldn’t find it. Oscar is fantastic. If you’ve never heard him, you’re missing out!
So I’ll Get My Fix Sooner??
According to Ali at RichardArmitageNet.Com, we might not have to wait SO LONG until we see Lucas in action.
4. It is looking more likely that Spooks could air in September this year (last year episode 1 aired on 4 November 2009). As reported on 12 August, Amazon and Play.com have brought the series 8 DVD release date forward to 20 September. Today, thanks to KK, we’ve discovered that the September print edition of the Virgin Media magazine lists Spooks series 9 as one of the programmes starting in September, but there’s no official airdate yet.
I’m not sure if this is more torturous than having to wait until November. Until then, I’ll have to be satisfied with this Ohcheemama picture:
edit:
You have to see this picture in all its glory. It’s here in RichardArmitageNet’s Gallery. I would link directly to the picture, but for the uninitiated, that’s called ‘hotlinking’ and is a no no. So click on the picture and then down below the lower right corner is “original picture.” Click on that then click on the picture that’s loaded to zoom in on it. Wow! It’s something else. You’re missing out if you don’t do this. Do it now! LOL!
Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com
Ohcheemama!
For the uninitiated, that’s translated, “If I were single and within the vicinity of Richard Armitage, I might not be responsible for my actions.” If you look at this picture below, it becomes understandable. That is my idea of handsome!
That look trumps 2007 and 2009 combined! This is definitely a PHWOAR! post. Where’s SO?! LOL!
I’m rethinking this James Bond thing. Is that James Bond above or what?
Also, RA was without a co-presenter. YEA! I don’t know if the BAFTA people finally wised up or if RA was ready to reign in solitary splendor. LOL! Whatever the case, I love that he was alone:
Who got the award? I don’t think I even remember.
Yeah, I hope you have one of those too one day, Richard:
I’ll bet the Crinkle Zone is having a field day with this:
Once again I’m indebted to the ladies at RichardArmitageNet.com and to JJ (not sure who you are, but I could kiss you. :D). The top screencap is from the BAFTA 2010 page there, and I made the other screencaps from a clip so graciously linked on that page. It was clip #3 if anyone is curious.
Ahhh, that bit of fangurling felt good. When I get done drooling over these pictures, I’ll have to find out how Spooks fared.
I hope all of you are having a wonderful day!
edit: I see Spooks didn’t win. Have to look at those pictures again to cheer me up. ;-)
RAFrenzy 