You are the bomb. First it was housekeeping you made me enjoy, and now grammar?! I can’t stand this much bliss. I may expire if you send any more missives. But no, no, no, don’t let that stop you. I love them, and thank you for obliging the anal-retentive aspect of the fandom.
Signed,
One of your crazy fans who’s having a blast with you and your fans. :D
…to all of you, and to those who are sick or down or who cannot make sense of what this world is all about, the Lord came to us and still does today. My thankfulness for that is beyond words.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that these messages are like events which become fixtures in time usually throwing my mundane life into sharp relief such as “I was munching popcorn and watching Monday Night Football when news of Lennon’s death…” Okay, so my example is morbid. What do you expect in the middle of the night? By the way, I was wiping the mouth of a puking child when the message came, and now I’m going back to bed and maybe sleep late tomorrow, er, later today.
Sincerely,
One of your bleary eyed fans who has a grin on her face
P.S. The message was lovely, and I may actually break down and request an autographed picture from you. Yes, so easy to say at this time of night.
For seven years, Richard Armitage has sent messages to his fans, and we love him for it.
message Message from Richard Armitage, 24th December 2011
Dear All,
So my feet are finally on UK soil, back in Blighty, nose to tail traffic and the usual Heathrow drizzle. But it’s good to be home for Christmas. I think the jet lag might give me a sneaky glimpse of Santa this year as I am wide awake at 2am!
It’s been one of the most memorable years I have ever experienced, the big birthday (which I tried to ignore, by sleeping through it!) and the privilege to be in NZ working on The Hobbit has make this year unforgettable. The places we have been to and the things we have seen, have surpassed all my expectations. I was very choked up as the plane left Wellington on Weds, it really has become home and to all my new friends there and my old friends here I would like to raise a glass for the festive season.
Thank you for the continuing support which you all lend as part of our community of ‘friends’, it really has an impact on me personally, I feel very much supported and I hope that waiting for the film isn’t too frustrating. I haven’t quite had the time to attend to all the signed photos that people were requesting as Christmas gifts for family and friends and I apologise for dissappointing them, I will get on the case as soon as I can.
I think next year will be like that last turn of the corner when you think you have reached the summit, only to find you are miles from the top and the climb is even steeper, but we are gearing up for an exciting ride. I even might step off the treadmill and put my dumb bells down briefly to scoff some turkey on 25th!!
Thank you all for the continued generosity on the Just Giving pages which in total comes to more than £14,000.
I would like to say Happy Christmas to everyone who drops in to catch up on the news and further across our online ‘party’ of friends, have a great holiday, and a cracking New Year. Just think this time next year, we’ll all be crossed eyed from all the 3D movies we will have watched, and by 2013, technology will have advanced so much, we won’t even have to go the the cinema, it will be transmitted directly into our imagination by a WIFI/Bluetooth microchip which we will have all had installed into our Hypothalamusesl! (Hypothalami?)
Enjoy the typos!
Peace and goodwill (and I really mean that, be willingly good, extra good, extra peaceful and extra forgiving)
RA
I’m sure we’ll have a field day parsing this! :D
See RichardArmitageOnline.com for the original and thank Annette for always being there to receive theses lovely messages.
Hobbiton! What a wonderful tribute to Tolkien and a magnificent playground for Peter Jackson and his crew. I became tickled at witnessing the descriptions of the village and couldn’t help thinking it a massive toy. But I mean no disrespect. I envy Sir Peter’s ability to do what he loves and bring such affirmation and adulation to a place he adores — New Zealand. And who wouldn’t love what we’ve seen? It’s lush and yet firm — the velvet rolling hills and jagged mountains peeking through at times and then overwhelming to remind of their solidarity and unrelenting pursuit of the sky. How many places on earth have those qualities? It’s a special place. And it struck me that those qualities are often manifest in Richard Armitage. It’s almost as if this place was made for him.
…Waiting for Richard Armitage to give us a message. I still think it would be cool if he did a verbal, and no, I won’t be disappointed if he doesn’t. But wouldn’t that be cool? Seriously? Oh well, maybe next year. :D
A picture for your trouble in coming over here. It just never gets old, and as usual you can click to enlarge:
Screencap from my stash
edit: if you’re new to Richard Armitage, I hope that photo might somehow inspire you to stop and consider what’s going on in New Zealand and give them some help.
In the middle of typing a post about the charities Richard Armitage supports, charity in general, and how things are too often forgotten after an event has passed, this news popped up in my browser:
Violent’ 5.8 quake in Christchurch
There has been a large earthquake in Christchurch this afternoon. The quake was described as “violent” by Herald reporter Jarrod Booker who was in his home when the quake hit.
It was quickly followed by at least four strong aftershocks. Geonet said the quake measured 5.8 on the Richter Scale, at a depth of just 8km. It struck just off the coast of Christchurch, under Pegasus Bay, at 1.58pm.
There have been several strong aftershocks following the initial quake.
Damage from the quake is unknown, but it was felt as far away as Mosgiel near Dunedin.
Christchurch International Airport is being evacuated.
Newstalk ZB said police are reporting one person injured, but they expect more.
After you’re done reading that article, consider giving to those people who have been hit hard three times this year. There is the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and the Red Cross, and those are just for starters.
When I first started this site, I submitted an instruction to the Google bot to crawl (aka poll) my site only occasionally. Google sent a canned response that they didn’t have to abide by it. Mostly they have respected my request, but something changed about two weeks ago. For the first time ‘rafrenzy’ was not the top search string, and that string being at the top made it obvious I was mostly found by word of mouth. But now the search engines are running about four to one compared to my other referrals and ‘rafrenzy’ is far down the list. If you could see my stats list, it would be obvious more and more are curious about this Richard Armitage who is playing Thorin Oakenshield. What else am I to conclude if a piddly blog like mine and one that has tried to remain under the radar can be generating so many hits lately? Let me put it this way. If I keep going at this rate, I will be getting what amounts to 45,000 to 60,000 hits a month. And I know Nat and Servetus generate much more not to mention all of the other blogs in RA Universe (see the ‘Addict List’ or ‘Tumblr’). Yeah, something has happened.
If you’re new and wanting to know what Richard Armitage really looks like under that beard and armor, a little treat for you so you don’t have to scour this site for such goodness, and you can click to enlarge or snaffle. :D
oh heck! another one,
Usually I say something like Ohcheemama! when I see this. Some people say PHWOAR! or maybe Squeee! If you’re not sure, you’ll have to come along and learn the fine art of appreciating Richard in all his glory. Well, maybe not all of his glory. I do keep this blog safe for work.
I wonder when I’ll tire of publishing these pictures?
Screencap courtesy of the amazing Karima and candid shot courtesy of JJ via RichardArmitageNet.Com.
Who knew the dwarves singing would be absolutely wondrous by evoking such a keen sense of adventure? It’s telling how the song pervades my spirit and immediately demands an identification with 13 guys from a fictional place. At less than one minute, I’m hooked and ready to go with them. Bravo! Peter Jackson and Howard Shore and Tolkien of course! Bravo! But then comes the let down that the wait will be a year. Thankfully, a few things are occurring to alleviate the withdrawal. I’m reading Tolkien. Read The Hobbit again a few months ago, and pictured Richard Armitage marvelously as Thorin. Thank you again, Peter Jackson! I’m also starting the trilogy and heck, I’ve purchased all of Tolkien’s works including the non-fiction (more on that later) and some of it in more than one format. Several are duplicated on my Kindle. Yes, sometimes I really am insane. Oh, and I’ve purchased this as well as reading lots of excellent sites which give literary analysis of Tolkien.
As if that weren’t enough, I’ve downloaded Over the Misty Mountains Cold (a longer version) to my iPod where I will listen to it until I have learned every measure and their dynamics, and hopefully, get tired of it and then grow to love it again before the movie is released. And I found this video of it on YouTube. Phew, is it fun to surf around today! If you haven’t tried it, go for it. Lots of interesting things to read and watch about ‘The Hobbit.’ Good thing I’m on vacation. Just don’t get caught up on stuff like this as I did.
Tolkien obviously loved music, and his passion abounds even now. He’s inspired countless others with his sense of the epic. Here’s another site I found surfing around awhile back. Wonderful! And be sure to check out the last guy on the list. He and his band are an old favorite — Tolkien inspired songs or not. If you don’t know him, check this out, and I’ll stop there as I feel a tangent coming on. Yeah, I know some of you remember that song. :D
In the meantime, here is an mp3 version for those who need a regular fix.
Is this a fake fan letter? Yes, since I won’t be sending it to the man. But it is sincere.
Dear Sir Peter,
You have great taste and should be commended for it. I know many others more important have said as much, but I had to say it too. There are so many things lacking in taste, lacking in good judgment. So many things that leave me dissatisfied. But you came with your good judgment about quality, and I feel wonderfully refreshed. Every detail of that trailer was perfectly done, and thank you for recognizing that Richard Armitage belonged there. Many of his fans have long recognized he is quality, and it’s such a joy to know someone of your position recognizes it as well.
And may I say as someone who has been a fairly tepid Tolkien fan, you are pulling me into that madness. I was not prepared to go willingly, but I find myself continually wanting to delve in deeper to the point I may become proficient in Sindarin.
Guren glassui,
One of Richard’s fans, who is not as crazy as she appears and fast becoming appreciative of Middle-Earth
P.S. My apologies for not observing the proper protocol before when I called you a mere Mr. :D
RAFrenzy 