Off the Wagon

I thought this objectification phase might be passing, and then the Russian site comes with this:

I threw the chair in to give your senses a break.

Uh, yeah. That is all. No, wait! What was I saying about being okay with the maternal feelings? Nix that.

As usual, if you click on the pictures, you can see the big format. :D

edit: and now I remember why I made a Facebook page. It would take something like this to prompt me. LOL!

[Note: for those who don’t know, the images were taken by the photographer David Clerihew. This is the same photographer responsible for the viral video which was posted on Vimeo by Sean Pruen, who is a motion designer/video editor and appears to have worked on the video. I wrote some about the video and Sean a while back and wasn’t sure I could stop. Find it here, here, and here. LOL!

However, I haven’t said anything about David Clerihew. I’ll correct that mistake today. When I first saw the viral video, I went over and looked at his entire site. Fantastic. I love the stark quality to much of his work. I can see why he was selected for Strike Back, but I’m still not sure why the images were never used for promotion. I hope our little highlighting of them in some way is a help. But if Mr.Clerihew has a problem with me putting up those images so a few of us can fangirl over them, I’ll certainly taken them down.]

I Feel Like a Proud Mama

Richard Armitage really did represent the cast at the Powhiri on the opening of filming ‘The Hobbit’, and I really did feel like I was watching my kid make good. Maybe he was right about the maternal feelings, and strangely, that doesn’t feel icky anymore.

edit: video updated with HD

I guess this means I can take the ‘rumors’ tag off my other piece.

[note: Thank you, friend, for sharing this with me. I’m not sure exactly why me, but I hope you know I appreciate it, and I’m so glad we got to see something this quickly.]

For anyone who wants to see the full video, please visit Peter Jackson’s Facebook page.

RichardArmitageNet.Com has the full video and the Powhiri available for download here. There are also screencaps.

As for Richard doing the Hongi, this is about all we see:

This screencap is courtesy of my stash.

Ripples Rippling

The last day or so has been interesting. I’ve received several notes from fellow fans concerned about my becoming disappointed if Richard Armitage never acknowledges my request of a recorded fan message, and I just received another one a few minutes ago. It’s compelled me to make this post.

I want all of you who sent me a note to know that I really appreciate you trying to allay any possible disappointment on my part. But I have to reiterate that I do call my letters “fake fan letters,” and I do that for a reason. They are larks as is this whole blog really, and if RA or any of “his people” ever see them, that’s great. If not, that’s fine too. I also find it intersting that about once a week someone tells me they think he reads my blog, and I was going to write about this phenomenon eventually. I guess today is the day. I’m sure someone somewhere who’s involved with show business and who has a six degrees of separation thing going on with RA has read my blog. But I’m not too worried about Richard Armitage or anyone close to him reading it and no one else should be either.

And my written letters have been so over the top that no one has ever really taken me seriously and never been concerned about what I’ve said to the point of worrying about my well being. But obviously this latest “letter” has provoked concern, and I think I know why. It was the tone of my voice. My voice is naturally very deadpan, which at times has been a stumbling block for me. I was deadpan almost out of the hatch if Mom and Dad are to be believed, and then I spent most of my adult years working in a profession that was highly technical, and well, deadpan was the way we all communicated, and actually the more deadpan the better. The more deadpan, the more gravitas with that bunch.

But deadpan can sometimes equate to seriousness that may not exist. People who don’t really know me do often think I’m serious when I may not be. Couple that with my attempt to sound emotional, and well, it just doesn’t sound very good. I was being extremely emotional for me in that recording! I was working hard to give a cadence to my voice so that it didn’t sound like I was falling asleep and perhaps making all of you fall asleep as well, but I think it just came off sounding needy. And it was hard work! Yet I knew if I did more than one take that it would sound stilted. So I left it as it is, and to some of you it sounds like I’m hinging my entire being on RA making a recording. Fascinating how much our voices send a message even if we don’t intend it, and apparently, I’m woefully in need of some skills. Richard? Richard? Do you hear that? :D Sorry, I couldn’t resist. However all of this has gone down, I think it’s so fitting that my voice should generate such a reaction given the subject of my FanstRAvaganza posts.

Oh, please don’t get me wrong. I would love it if RA got wind of my request (whether he knew it was mine or not) and responded with a recorded message. I would be tickled, and I would hope the whole fandom would be tickled, and it would never be construed as playing favorites. I’ve also gotten those cautions in the last day too. But the only favorite I’ve wanted him to play is with Nat. Yes! I admit that unabashedly. Guilty as sin on that one! LOL! But do we all agree that Nat is special? Yeah, I thought so. However, I think there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell of that or the recording happening and especially not when I consider the request is by someone from a piddly blog like mine. I’m not trying to wallow in self-deprecation to impress any of you by saying that. Frankly, I have no one in my life to impress. SO and I know each other too well to try to impress each other, so I feel no compulsion to impress anyone, and can I tell you it’s a lovely place to be? Okay, I’ll stop on that because I feel a tangent coming on. Just know that I’m a realist.

But also please know that I’ve never aspired to Richard Armitage reading my blog to have fun here. Thank God! LOL! If I really thought Richard Armitage had time to read all of these blogs, and I was expecting him to receive what I’ve said, I would have gotten my feelings hurt a long time ago. But thankfully, I’m just having some fun, and I hope all of you are as well! Additionally, I just don’t get my feelings hurt too often, and certainly not by someone I don’t know. If we’re talking about SO, that’s a whole ‘nother story. He has the ability to raise an eyebrow at times and hurt my feelings. Poor guy. LOL!

I’m not quite sure what I should label this post. I started to title it “Lighten Up, Francis” but felt that would have been too flippant and ultimately demeaning to those who expressed real concern for me, and again I thank all of you for that. So I’ll just leave it by saying please don’t worry, and let’s get back to having some fun. :D

In that interest, I can’t help but do this:

Dear Rich,

Dude, if you ever really do read my blog, please, please know that I’m not pining for you to respond. Really I’m not. Now I realize this may sound like the lady doth protest too much, but well, I don’t know how else to say it.

Net: I like to watch your stuff whether you’re moving or not, and given that, I do hope you have never felt anything here was done at your expense. That aside, uh, well, uh, dammit, man! I’m having a good time, and I hope the specter of your presence never gets in the way.

Phew, there I said it.

Respectfully,

One of your crazy fans, who has enough serious stuff going on elsewhere to seldom want to get close to it here and hopes you understand that. I think you do! Unless my gut is way off, and I don’t think it is.

P.S. Oh, and hopefully, one day soon you will no longer be a faceless blob on Netflix. :D

I’ve got to have a picture! Hmmm. Let me see. What would put us back on track? Oh yeah:

1a1bm

If you click on it, you get the big version. :D

Screencap courtesy of Karima. At least I think this is one of hers.

Netflix, I Really Do Love You, But…

Richard Armitage needs a profile picture. If you’re not sure whom I’m talking about, please know that it’s not the bald guy. I’m talking about this luscious creature:

I already wrote you one love letter but hope you don’t think I’m stalking you. ;-)

And if for some reason I’ve been struck blind about where this picture can be updated on your site, then give me a cyber slap, but please explain to my dense self how to do it. :D

Oh, and I doubt you can use that picture above, but I had to post it. This one from IMDb might work:

P.S. I almost hope you don’t see this ’cause I would have to leash the limerick monster.

Photos courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com and the public domain.

edit: “streaming” limericks from here, and they ping to Twitter as well.

And the Fun

Please click to see list of participating bloggers


Finally, my last FanstRAvaganza post.

So far I’ve talked about Richard’s voice work and shared some excerpts from it but have only hit a few points. Originally, I was going to do some really in-depth pieces about the effects of his voice (don’t worry I cover it later) and a piece about his narration of some documentaries and his voice overs in commercials, and maybe offer to make some ringtones. There is simply not enough time to cover it all in a few pieces, and don’t you think I’ve dragged this FanstRAvaganza thing out long enough? If you are interested in some of those other works, RichardArmitageCentral has an archive here.

The rest of this post won’t really be about Richard’s works but more about some of you, and it’s only fitting my last post includes some very imaginative and funny bloggers. I’ve already talked about bccmee being funny, and if you’ve watched some of her videos, you know how imaginative they are. Yet she says she was never creative before making fanvideos of Richard Armitage?! Having a hard time believing her great imagination kicked in on viewing him, but maybe it did. I know it’s had a dramatic effect on mine. Sadly, due to technical difficulties, I could not get a recording of bccmee, but you can read more about her here and also be sure to read her FanstRAvaganza posts which start here.

Another clever one is Skully, who has been slammed on time a bit lately (I can relate!), so I couldn’t get a recording of her either. If you’ve never read SpooksFanBlog, I hope you will treat yourself! It’s never dull.

Pi is another one who is never dull. Her view of the world and her humor are most closely related to SO‘s. Obviously, I can’t help loving her stuff. I’ve said a time or two how much I like her writing, and I’ll keep saying it until some more of you go over there and read it, and nope, I didn’t get a recording of her either!

Last of the bloggers but absolutely not least (none of them are!) is Traxy of TheSqueee. For this event, she picked a very interesting topic — Richard, An Ordinary Leicestershire Lad. I hope you read her thoughtful and intriguing posts. She says some things I’ve been thinking, and she’s also been a pleasure to read regarding various and sundry subjects which have nothing to do with RA. I did get a recording of her and will admit listening to this one the most. That’s saying something since I’ve enjoyed all of them immensely! (Oh, how easy it is to use exclamation points now.:D)

Yeah, that was maybe a wee bit entertaining. ;-) And for those who may not know it, Traxy had to pay homage to ABBA since she’s from ABBA land. Read more about her here.

Onto some more of you fans who are a delight.

Here’s one of my Twitter pals. Quite a character too:

Isn’t she great?!

Note: interrupting this post for a sermonette short message: this section of my post was going to include several fans who submitted wonderful recordings, but they chickened out. Yeah, that’s what it was, but I understand. Really! I do understand it. When I get further down in this post, I’m not sure that I’m not also going to chicken out. What’s interesting is all of these fans are fairly young, and the only one who had the guts (No taunts; no, I would never taunt anyone.:D) was Sheepa , who will get to reign in solitary splendor unless some of you grow a spine. ;-)

No Radio 4 listener here LOL!

So that makes Sheepa only 16 when she became a fan. Yeah, I can see that. I know another previous 16 year old who really went for him. :D

Thanks, Sheepa. For the rest of you, see how easy that was?

I hope you know that I’m teasing those of you who decided against publishing and certainly respect your right not to publish. But I also hope some of you relent so that I am not the only one who has the privilege of listening to your marvelous recordings.

Moving onto a fan who is a Radio 4 listener:

Final thoughts by Ann Marie:

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com.

My new RAFrenzy header by Karima, who so graciously and beautifully modified my old one after I was hit with a bunch of emails from people wanting to see wet, dirty Guy again. So there you are. :D

edit: The reason I call my letters fake fan letters is I hold little or no hope that Richard Armitage will ever be aware of them. If he is, great. If not, that’s fine too. All I know is I’m having a blast! and wouldn’t it be cool if he recorded the next message?!! Maybe someone who really has his ear can ask him.

Now That I Have Your Attention

I have just a few more things to say before my first anniversary of blogging passes. This was going to be at the end of my last post, but I’m putting it here to ensure it’s read. Not that people skip over posts. No, of course not. :D

So there are a few people I have to thank for being encouraging to me in blogging, writing, just general creativity, and joy.

Heather, Elvira and Angela (aka Spikesbint) were the first people in the RA universe to bring me such pleasure and spark something creative in me. They don’t know that, but it’s true, and I wonder how many people they’ve inspired. It must be legions. Might not be a bad idea for RA to pay them a fee for such great promotion. Oh, I know they do it as a labor of love, but what untold benefits it’s reaped for many of us. Bccmee is another who has challenged my creativity. It’s amazing to me that she was “never creative before” her encounter with RA, and she’s just funny.

For sheer joy, I have to give Iz4blue credit. She is an encourager. It’s just who she is, and that upbeat attitude had a great effect on me. Just when I was about to throw in the towel at six months, she continually made upbeat comments and made jokes, and well, here I am six months later. :D

Pi also gets credit for talking to me about writing and deigning to encourage a hack like me. If some of you haven’t heard me say it, I’m saying it again here. I love her writing and would be glad to read anything she writes — RA or no RA.

Servetus is another one who has been a great encouragement to me. She was one of the reasons I started blogging. I enjoyed reading her blog immensely. It challenged something in me that I had let go dormant. Most of us who blog or comment know that she’s upped the bar on how we approach a subject, and I for one love this. Aside from all of that, she’s just a sweethearted person, and I wish her all the best in the world.

But frankly :D, I would not be doing this blog if it were not for Natalie. She is an inspiration and like Richard Armitage, is obviously a class act. Yes, she’s really as funny and clever and sweet when you talk to her as she appears to be in her blog, and I cannot leave this post without saying that I suspect most (perhaps not all but most) of the current RA bloggers would not exist if not for her. At the time her blog popped up, there had only been one other RA blog to my knowledge. It was run by LuvDemBrooders, but had not been active in awhile. So glad that void was filled by Nat, and I hope Richard Armitage is smart enough (when he’s not too busy) to look at her stuff. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that if he doesn’t, I might think him a fool (ducks). Not sure that I would indeed think him a fool, but I might. :D If he doesn’t look at it, I may really write him a letter. LOL!

Oh, and Nat, I love my Stick Figure Richard t-shirt. Need to get a picture in it.

There are so many other people who have been a delight along the way, but if I named everyone, you would be here quite a while. Suffice to say that I would not be here without so many of you. Thank you so much.

And of course thank you to Richard Armitage, who may never know anything about this blog or any of the rest of us. But does it matter? Yeah, I didn’t think it mattered. :D

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, who has made this process of blogging exponentially easier. Thank you!

Moving Too Fast


Yeah, there’s why I’m blogging.

And time really goes quickly when having so much fun. This time last year seems like a couple of weeks ago when I was over half a day into running this blog. I posted my first piece a few minutes before midnight on April 5th. Didn’t have the courage to do it in the light of day as I wasn’t sure anyone would ever read it, and if they did, would I really want them to? LOL! No, seriously, I knew I was going to have fun with this no matter if only a few of you read it. It’s been much more fun than I conceived, and a little more than a few of you read it. Thank you for that.

So some statistics, which frankly, I’m mostly posting for my own encouragement.

233 published posts and almost that many in draft. I’m most proud of that number. For someone like me to write that much is astounding. I really didn’t think I could do it.

115,519 (avg. of 9627 a month) as of a couple of minutes before midnight on April 5, 2011, and a healthy percentage is unique. But lately I’ve been getting closer to 30,000 hits a month.

Busiest Day:

March 30, 2011 — Doing the Hongi was the featured post.

Not much surprise on this one. LOL!

Top search strings:

rafrenzy
richard armitage
armitage army
richard armitage girlfriend
richard armitage captain america
richard armitage nigella lawson
richard armitage girlfriend 2010

That top one tells me a significant number of you found my blog by word of mouth; otherwise, who in their right mind would type in rafrenzy? Okay, yeah, I know there’s a game by that name but doubt all or most of those searches were done by gamers. I’m surprised at the second string because months ago I inhibited the Google bot. Oh well. Still not up to speed on how to do all of that.

I never thought ‘armitage army’ would end up being one of my top searches, but then I did wax on about it quite a bit. As a result, the blog ended up on the first page of Google when the string ‘richard armitage army’ or any variation was used. That’s when I quickly inhibited Google bot, ’cause I’m fine being on the 18th page. More freedom that way. :D

Man, ‘girlfriend’ is hot! Yep, I knew that would be a top search, but I had no clue how much so. Kick in the head is that I’ve only used the tag ‘girlfriend’ or the word itself in four posts, and the first time used was done just to mess with people. LOL! Amazing, and it’s brought me tons of readers. Sorry I don’t have more about it but doubt I will have much in the future either. I hope those of you who landed here by searching that string were not too disappointed at my lack of coverage.

As for the other two strings, I had no way of anticipating them, but I’m so glad I got lots of hits for Nigella Lawson. I love those posts where she’s mentioned, and surprisingly, it’s only four again.

In case anyone might be wondering, no, I don’t have the ability to see who searched on what. The software is only configured to filter the search strings.

Top referrers:

Armitage Fan Blog
Me+Richard
Twitter
Facebook
C19
Wordpress
Mail
RichardArmitageNet.Com
Spooks Fan Blog
An RA Viewers Perspective

These stats also tell me that most of my traffic is word of mouth with only a little being from searches, i.e., WordPress, Twitter and Facebook being mostly indicative of searches. I didn’t even want to make a Facebook page, and I forget now why I did. Still not a fan of Big Brother Facebook. As for Twitter, that is my only concession to anything high profile, but I’m having so much fun there, I can’t stop. Oh, and thanks to you, Natalie, Servetus, Phoebe, Ali, Skully, and Mulubinba for making my place easier to find. And the ‘Mail’ are subscriptions.

Top Ten Posts:

What Would You Do If You Were Checked Out by Richard Armitage?
Being Richard
I’m Scaring Myself
Doing the Hongi
I’d Have to Shoot Them
Maybe It’s True?
Who the Hell is Richard Armitage?
CW Breaking Out All Over
The King May Have Been Dethroned
Diary of an RA Fan — Part 8 I Sense Trouble

Duh! on the top one. Actually, I’m not sure this one really is a duh. I think this might have something to do with the blogger in question making this known on Twitter and her friends possibly coming over here to check it out. ;-) Interestingly, the common thread running through all but three of these posts is they either concern an interview with Richard Armitage or a sighting of him or both. The only ones that don’t share that have either video clips or pictures that most of you love. Anyone want to guess which RA character is in the pictures? ;-)

Least read post:

The Unlikely Duo

This is a bit of a shocker until I consider this was very early on in the blog. If I did this one today, I’m sure it would be read quite a bit — even if you don’t like Britney Spears.

Post with the most comments:

What Would You Do If You Were Checked Out by Richard Armitage?

Are you surprised? I didn’t think so. :D

Posts with no comments:

Puddle of Goo or Don’t Tell Me The Moon is Shining
The Perfect Symphony
Tangent — If Media Producers Would Just Listen to Me
Waiting on SO
Housekeeping Again
FanstRAvaganza What’s the Big Deal?

The first two posts are two of my favorites. If you don’t read anything in that list, read those. The third post is a tangent I’m deadly serious about, and there will probably be more about that as I go on — whether on this blog or somewhere else. Before I looked this up, I thought this was my first tangent. It was my fourth, and I was surprised how many I’ve done. Thirty four in all. Phew, man, I like to go off topic. The fourth post I wrote strictly for myself. It was a trip down memory lane. I let my kids read that one, but not on this blog. LOL! They always love to hear SO and I reminisce, so they loved this one. The fifth post makes total sense; however, I’ve tried to make even those worth reading. The last one has no comments because I disabled them; otherwise, I think some of you might have ruined some surprises. LOL!

First comment:

“I could have written what you just wrote, practically word for word! I had to look up the word “squee” when I first started reading blogs about him. Now I write one too! See what he makes us do? In nicer terms I call him my muse.” By Phylly

So well put! Oh the things he makes us do. :D Muse indeed.

Oh, and I forgot to look which post had the most “Likes” and now I’m too tired to go find out. Do you really care? I didn’t think so. :D Anyway, I could care less which ones you liked the most. Yes, I really said that. Haven’t you figured out by now that a lot of this stuff I write for myself? Well, I do, but I’m glad so many of you have enjoyed it. Thank you again for that, and a big thank you to those of you who have made yourselves known. What a treat you are!

And a last thank you to DelicateBlossom who was gracious about me uploading her video in one of my first posts but without previous permission. Hopefully, I’ve made that up to her, and in the near future an interview with her since she rarely says much, and some of you might be curious. I know I was. LOL!

Photo courtesy of the Richard Armitage Russian fan site

New banner courtesy of Karima, who gifted me with it a while back. Thank you, Karima.

Note: Yes, I really am going to have a final FanstRAvaganza post, but I’ve been waiting on something. If I don’t get it by tomorrow, I’m posting anyway.

Irresistible Instant Play or Netflix, I Love You

Something is changing with respect to the popularity of Richard Armitage in America (North America to be specific), and yet ‘The Hobbit’ is still almost two years away! I’ve been encountering more and more people who know RA’s name and have seen him in more than one role. Wow. What a change from three years ago! Or even one year ago. But I don’t think it’s due to his being cast in ‘The Hobbit’. At this point ‘The Hobbit’ is only on the radar of those in the movie industry, the LOTR fans, maybe a couple of other fan clubs and us. Everyone else won’t give a rat’s ass about it until we’re a few months or perhaps a few weeks or days from the premiere.

This recent awareness of Richard Armitage mostly comes down to Netflix. They are the only entity who provides us with a steady diet of RA. When I first started watching RA three plus years ago, there was almost nothing available in this country. The only thing I found was ‘North and South’ on Netflix and some documentary about that other guy. Now there are numerous things to watch, and many of them are ‘Instant Play’, and that’s the key.

Numerous friends scattered around the country who regularly watch ‘Instant Play’ have been discovering this “new” actor and just can’t tell me enough about him. Never mind that a couple of those people are the same ones I’ve told about ‘North and South’, ‘Spooks’, ‘Robin Hood’, etc. LOL! Hey, I don’t care how they discovered him; I’m just glad they did. Even my best friend, who at one point would roll her eyes when RA’s name came up, finally watched ‘North and South’ via ‘Instant Play’. Yea, Tammi!!! Of course she loves it and him. I knew she would! And she could have loved him sooner if she had just watched the DVDs I loaned her almost three years ago.

But I guess there really is something seductive about Netflix saying, “Tammi, rate what you’ve seen to reveal suggestions just for youwhile your ass is firmly planted on the couch, and you can merely push a couple of buttons as opposed to getting up and taking the discs out of the case and putting them in the DVD player. LOL! Oh, Netflix has the power! What was I thinking to encourage the viewing of some DVDs loaned from my special collection? I mean here I am Tammi’s best friend, and we love each others’ tastes, but those precious discs just sat on the shelf! In comes Netflix with its heady offering of ‘North and South’ on ‘Instant Play’, and what I could not do for almost three years, they managed in a moment.

Tammi’s conversion occurred last summer, but this phenomenon of Netflix and RA didn’t become evident until last fall. I was going to highlight this sooner but thought it would be boring to you. Yesterday changed that. I was surfing around and found this blogger. It would be interesting to know how long she’s been a fan, and obviously, Netflix is part of her RA love. Maybe sometime she will share how exactly she became a fan, since I’m not quite sure if Netflix did it or just inflamed her some more. However it happened, I never get tired of those stories! Always makes me feel more sane, and dammit, I am sane! :D

In the meantime, as much as I appreciate Netflix being the bearers of so much loveliness, I have a request of them:

To Whom It May Concern at the big host in the sky,

Thank you so much for introducing so many people to Richard Armitage! I can’t tell you how grateful I am. It’s helped my best friend join this wonderful madness with me.

But do you think we could enjoy his loveliness when we do a query on his name? If you would be so kind to give him an avatar, I’m not sure how I would show my appreciation. Maybe send out a few thousand of those trial memberships to my friends.

And if I may suggest, this might be a good picture if you’re not sure which one would be appropriate:

Of course I have no clue about the legalities of using it, but it is the one featured on his IMDb page, so I think it’s okay. But I’ll leave those details to you.

Thank you for any consideration.

Sincerely,
One of Richard’s fans and great Netflix lover :D

P.S. How can we get Strike Back on the list?

Oh, and I would give credit to BBC America and PBS for the rise of RA’s star, but BBCA is sporadic in their love of RA, and PBS hasn’t shown much at all with him? Actually, I remember nothing although I have heard rumors that some regional stations have shown ‘North and South.’ Amazing that the network known for embracing period dramas has been almost a non-player of that mini-series, and it’s been necessary to mount a campaign to bring ‘North and South’ to PBS. Yeah, can you believe that? And I’m not even going to mention A&E beyond this sentence.

Note: FanstRAvaganza will return tomorrow; still waiting on something for now.

edit: Okay, okay, yes, YouTube has been instrumental, but it’s hit or miss there and the programs are usually not complete. For that you need Netflix.

Muse and the Man

How fitting to couple Richard Armitage with one of the best bands of the 21st century! I love the fanvideos, and I have a really soft spot for the ones that feature Muse:

Phew. I think that’s all of them.

I love all of these, but those who know me know which one is near and dear to me. :D

edit: Almost all of these videos can be downloaded from Elvira’s site, RAfanvids.

Figwit Lives Bygosh!

Richard Armitage’s involvement with ‘The Hobbit’ has me feeling a lot better about this blog. Yes, sometimes I get a bit self-conscious about it. Thankfully, I quickly wise up and realize how much fun I’m having. But with my entrance into the world of LOTR, I’m finding I’m a mere novice at obsession. I’m so small time compared to some of these people. Oh, I’ve got nothing on the LOTR fans as I said in a fake fan letter to Peter Jackson, and all the time I’m realizing their ardor just spills out everywhere. Take for example the three second scene of Bret McKenzie in LOTR that’s now spawned all sorts of obsession with his character not to mention obsession with him I’m sure. Reading this made me feel so much better about my repeated examination of RA’s three second spot in Cleopatra. LOL! It’s clear I have not crossed a very important line — starting a website to it. Although he looks hot in the Cleo pictures.

But I do want to make it clear that I’m happy for Bret McKenzie, and it will be interesting to see if he makes it into this latest movie. With the talk circulating about it, I feel confident he will. Whatever happens, he strikes me as an amiable and interesting fellow, and he plays a mean ukulele. :D

Of course all of this has me wondering what will be the fallout result of RA’s involvement in ‘The Hobbit’? Thoughts?

And on another level, is obsession always a bad thing? Surely doesn’t feel like it. :)