Don’t Freak Out, Twitter Jail is Real

Have you been prohibited for a time from posting on Twitter? With a message like this?

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And it made you feel like this?

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Welcome to Twitter Jail.

By the way, you can also be put in Twitter jail for following and DMs.

You need to remember Twitter does whatever it can to avoid overcapacity — basically saying, WHOA! do you want to bring out the fail whale?!

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Here’s what Twitter says officially about limits on your account. The only confusion is many people put in Twitter jail have never seemed to reach those limits and didn’t even appear to come anywhere near the limits. So what gives?

Two things:

First, the limits are broken down by the hour. So if you post more than 41 tweets in an hour, you could be subject to Twitter jail. Yep, it doesn’t always happen, but it can. If it does happen, it’s usually during Twitter’s peak hours. These are between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. since most tweeting is done by U.S. users. Second, and here’s the really fun part, Twitter can, and does, temporarily reduce these limits at anytime the service is nearing capacity. In fairness to Twitter, the status blog tries to reflect when this is happening. Since the status blog is on another set of servers, you can usually access it even when you can’t access Twitter itself.

Hope this helps those who got freaked out by this but still haven’t experienced it, and especially helps those who just can’t seem to stop tweeting = having too much fun. :D

Pardon Me But, WTF?

This below appeared in my reader last night, and made me shift into overdrive on all sorts of notions about Richard Armitage and his involvement with The Hobbit. LOL!

LOTRO, Movies, MPAA Rate An Extended Version Of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit — June 12, 2013 at 14:30

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have just rated an extended cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Thanks to Melonfarmers for spotting this). This will not come as a major surprise to anyone, as details of this longer version were confirmed by Peter Jackson himself in an interview with Ain’t It Cool last year. What is interesting are the specifics details of the rating, which remains PG-13 for this longer version.

“ Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, frightening images and fleeting nudity”.

Fleeting nudity? That’s curious, to say the least. Exactly who is going to be naked and under what circumstances?

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source

Who is going to be naked?

Now there’s a question.

I thought perhaps I was seeing things, but then I got up this morning, and TORn had a piece in my in-box.

Talk amongst yourself, but I would love to hear your speculation and I can see some of you feverishly clicking on your Photoshop. :D

Note to self: consider creating a WTF category

Dear Sir Peter, Again


Dear Sir Peter,

I’m not going to cop to how many times I’ve watched this new trailer for The Desolation of Smaug, but sufficient to say you have once again sucked me into this Hobbit madness. Hell, man, I wasn’t even paying that much attention to Richard Armitage (no offense, Richard). That’s how serious this is. My latent Ringer doesn’t want to be so latent anymore.

Desolation_of_Smaug_Trailer_screencap

But the dirty secret of my Ringer is I like that you’ve injected something more into Tolkien’s story, because now I have no real clue what exactly is going to happen in the second movie!!!! Yes, I know there’s a confrontation with a dragon, but the somewhat unknown elements that you’ve either taken from other writings or just made them up, gives me a sense this might be a better movie than the first. Hopefully we can keep it this way. So no more dragon. That was almost too much. I don’t want to see anymore of Smaug until December and especially don’t want to hear him. And please, please, please no spoilers on the romance between Kili and Tauriel. Otherwise, I’ll have to make good on my promise.

That’s all for now, and I hope you know it’s my Ringer who is so demanding. As for myself, I could care less as long as you keep the Richard pics coming. :D

Thank you so much for listening.

Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fans who is almost afraid to get her second wind on all things Hobbit

P.S. Since I’m being so candid, yeah, I did look at Richard a little.


Richard_Armitage_Desolation_of_Smaug_Trailer_4a

Here We Go Again — The Desolation of Smaug Trailer

Excellent!

And there was no dragon. Love it! Okay, there wasn’t enough dragon to really be a major spoiler.

And of course, our guy, and be sure to click to enlarge. :D

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Richard_Armitage_Desolation_of_Smaug_Trailer 2

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and some Lee Pace :D

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See it on The Hobbit FB page here

Or you can see it here to easily screencap to your heart’s content:

That was too much fun and a real challenge to my need to stay away from spoilers.

edit: aspect ratio has been corrected on the video, i.e., letterbox markings (black bars) are gone.

Jump Start

For those of us who like long hair, this picture is a must, and if that’s not something that would wake you up, then I don’t know what will:

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[Click to enlarge, and if you don’t do that, what is wrong with you?!!]

For those of you who don’t like longer hair, surely this has made inroads into that thinking! Okay, so it’s the eyes. I admit it. But the hair makes a wonderful frame, along with the shoulders and the chest. :D

You want your own copy of this? Go to RichardArmitageNet and check out the Wallpaper page. Carry on.

Note: originally from a photoshoot at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2006.

And I’m putting this in housekeeping, since I stumbled on it as I was doing some maintenance work. Thank you, mybeckett for the lovely wallpaper, and to Ali for running such a great site.

note: I’ll be getting to Ascroft.

The Word You’re Looking for is Dorktastic

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Can Richard Armitage do anything wrong? Maybe. ;-) But he hasn’t so far, and I love that he’s Mr. Heart Throb yet we can still see his dork. Yeah, it’s dorktastic! (Thank you again, Nat, for turning me onto that word because I really needed it this morning!).

Okay, I’m talking about the Richard on the right in case it’s not clear. He’s a heart throb too! And definitely gets my vote. I think reblogs are how that’s done. Reblogs with lots of commentary. LOL!

Richard,

You’re loveable and Kermit’s loveable although I’ve never thought of Kermit as a heart throb. I guess some people do. It must be his thoughtfulness, which you certainly share, and there is nothing more powerful than a heart throb with a streak of thoughtfulness — no matter what all of those romance novels suggest.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who thought of W.C. Fields on first watching the Go Pop clip, and yet if anyone can pull it off, you can. :D Think John Standring.

note: you gotta see this large. :D Be sure to click on the photo to expand it.

A Flower for Anna

The Queen is planting petunias in her yard in memory of Anna. What a perfectly lovely idea and especially since Anna was very much a lover of flowers and a gardener. In fact, she was interviewed about Middle-Earth flora for the GardenMaine site.

I perused the site for something from New Zealand that I could grow since some of the areas in Colorado are similar. But I have a black thumb and was skittish about planting anything that an idiot couldn’t maintain. I thought perhaps begonias since that had been one of Anna’s Twitter avatars, and thankfully, Janine, prolific writer and gardener and owner of GardenMaine, says begonias are “actually super easy. They don’t require much care, thrive in indirect light and just need to be watered when soil is slightly dried out.” More about them here.

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Janine’s site is a wealth of information, and she is happy to help anyone who is not sure what to plant or how to maintain a plant. Thank you, Janine!

Timeout for a Friend

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I’m somewhat gutted. I just received news that a friend passed away. She was a sweet, articulate person, and these are some of her last words to me and heavily edited for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share them because she had her life and this Richard Armitage thing in perspective:

Dear Lisa,

Thank you so much for your blog. I’ve got lots I want to say to you, but for now this will do.

(snip)

The Richard Armitage thing was and is the part of me that isn’t the responsible, brave, hard working me. It’s the girlish me that’s still there, that loves silliness and sexiness and lovely men.

(snip)

Love,
XXX

I think she would have been fine with this portion of the letter being posted. She’s at rest now but will be sorely missed. And may all of us retain our inner girl!

I will keep her family in my prayers.

The Many Modes of Richard Armitage Fans

I lied — again. I’m getting to the phantom Diary entry after this post.

I understand Servetus has now coined Armitage Objectification Mode (AOM). Why didn’t we think of this before?! It should have been coined years ago, but I’m glad we have it now. :D I mean c’mon, we’ve all objectified Richard Armitage in one form or another. And even though I’ve said I haven’t fantasized about him, I never said I didn’t want to. LOL! I just said I chose not to do it. I’d be a big fat liar if I said I never had the yen. But as to AOM, I’m sure we’re all going to have a field day defining its various levels.

Of course I have to cover Armitage Protection Mode (APM). Posts about it are found here and here if you’re not familiar. It’s to be avoided unless you want to be a killjoy, and there are certainly various levels of APM which deserve their own modes. Armitage Correction Mode, or what I think of as APM Light. This is when someone continually feels the need to correct other fans about Armitage lore, e.g., making sure everyone knows that Guy’s horse is Richie and not Ritchie when no one else (or few; wish I could say no one else) gives a rat’s ass how the name is spelled. Did the show’s creators ever specify? Or APM Exreme which I fondly think of as Armitage Sanctimonious Syndrome (ASS). That’s when someone not only wants to protect Richard Armitage but is utterly self-righteous about it. Utterly here means the person may end up calling the authorities in an attempt to ensure dear Richard’s safety and most important that they (the person and not the authorities) can never be wrong! LOL! Yes, I laughed. I used to pity these people but have come to find them a great source of humor.

Oh, yeah, they’re funny, Rich. As if you need protecting. LOL!

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There is also Armitage Denial Mode (ADM), and its various levels go something like the following. Armitage Denial Mode Extreme — when you’re so far in the closet you won’t even breathe Richard Armitage’s name to another human being and certainly never comment on him in cyber world, yet you may be the first to look at anything posted about our guy. ;-) Armitage Denial Mode (no frills; it just is) — you think Richard Armitage is great and sometimes you deign to express it to another human being with an occasional comment in cyber world. But then you step back and wonder what has come over you?!! Armitage Denial Mode Light — you are very chatty about Richard Armitage and frequently give and take on his abilities and are recognized as a commenter but swear up and down you’re just a casual fan. Of course the remedy to all of these is called Freedom from Armitage Denial Mode — that’s when you finally say to hell with it and get yourself a blog!

note: all of this is predicated on the idea that almost everyone reading this blog is an addict. D

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

Where Do I Start?

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As usual, Richard Armitage’s appearances have gone from such a sparsity to so much to gorge on I feel I have an eating disorder. No, I’m not making light of eating disorders. But seriously now, this feast and famine thing is enough to create an unhealthy appetite. :D At one point the dearth of appearances had me thinking like the proverbial buzzard. And now, I fear I may get sick. But of course that’s never stopped me.

Oh, you read my words about refraining from indulging in more info about the Hobbit movies, and you believed them? I might be able to pull it off (if you believe that, we need to talk more as I have a bridge for sale), but the Hobbit info is not synonymous with Richard Armitage. You thought it was?! You have to be new! Oh my, no way is he just about The Hobbit. Great as that is, may I say I’m glad he has many more performances to recommend him than Thorin Oakenshield. And if you have not seen North and South, do it now! Your inner, misunderstood beauty will thank me. :D

But even if he is just about the Hobbit in this last round of interviews, fans have plenty to savor. Richard still seems to be his intensely charming yet down-to-earth self, who keeps pulling some of us back into his world. As one fan put it to me, “Damn! He’s done it again. I thought I was over this Richard Armitage infatuation, but it’s back in full bloom.” For that person, it was very much about his ability to stay humble and sincere in the face of such great admiration. I’m not sure exactly how he maintains his character, but I can speculate, which if you haven’t been on this blog much is what I sometimes do here and many times in a snarky fashion. Occasionally, I’m serious because Richard deserves it. Today, I’m not quite sure what I’m going to be. Whatever the case, I am certainly feeling a great need to lay on some cheap psychoanalysis of what I’m seeing.

There has to be something that made such an impression on Richard Armitage that he can never shake it as part of his identity. Probably done in childhood as it is with most of us and consisting of those unpleasant experiences that occur which make us believe something negative about ourselves, and we seldom get past it no matter how many positive experiences may come behind it. Too often this kind of molding creates a liability in us which we drag around, but occasionally, someone lets the liability work for them in a healthy way. Since Richard has talked quite a bit about balancing his life, I’d like to think that’s what happened to him. That despite adulation, and many times deserved, his experience can never let him fully accept how we all see him — meaning very handsome, very intelligent and welcome at anyone’s table — and therefore he is able to keep arrogance at bay.

PopcorneTaxiRichardArmitage2

He still retains a bit of gawkiness that most likely occurred when he attained his full height at 14, and he may not realize it just makes him more attractive because it makes him personable. Phew! that combination of looks, brains and being accessible as a human being?! That will pull many a woman (and no doubt some men) into his charm — whether he wants to pull them or not. And of course he has some awareness of this, but the real question is how aware? Yep, that’s the question, baby cakes. Does he pull out the charm when it suits him? Or is he really just being himself? I think he has some ice breakers he relies on, but for the most part, I don’t think someone can fake his kind of earnestness this long.

What I find so refreshing is not just that he can maintain this demeanor, but also that so many appreciate it. That makes this last round of interviews in Australia truly glorious. People really do appreciate his character, and that makes me have such a great feeling about my fellow man and woman. :D

Dear Richard,

You have found the most successful way to combat objectification — people taking you seriously as a person and not just relegating you to a dream lover although I must admit that if someone wants a dream lover, you’re a good one. LOL!

No, I’m not saying you’ve been my dream lover, but I’m not blind and can see you would make a good one, and those women who aspire to someone with your character have good sense as well as good taste.

Okay, enough of that. I just want to say that my jaded self really does appreciate your graciousness to the public. May you never lose whatever it is that allows you this ability.

Maybe staying out the public eye between these interview gigs does help? Yeah, I’m cutting you a break on the feast or famine cycle.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who is definitely sane enough to appreciate a man who is gallant.

Hopefully up next is the post that I’ve had from the beginning of this blog. I have edited that thing so many times, well, it’s embarrassing. So the other day I went back to the original, and I think it’s almost where I want it now.

Candid photos courtesy of Popcorn Taxi.