This is just the latest in a long list of serendipities for me since first discovering our fav actor a couple yrs ago. Stared for a few min at the jacket he's wearing above and then realized it's very similar to one I purchased last Winter altho mine is a deep blue color. Something tells me I'll be wearing my jacket far more often than planned until today...
Crinkles...
Lucas mode with beard & wee piece of lint:) will be easily removed..is it some leftover mill fluff?:)
New Showtime Network series called 'Homeland' stars Damien Lewis. He plays a US marine held prisoner by alQaeda for 8yrs(what is it about prison & 8yr sentences:) He returns home but is strongly suspected of having ulterior motives by a female CIA operative. Series promotion provides ep 1...hope it's available to everyone...
Saw it on Twitter: Cancer is hubby, I’m Sagittarius & RA is Leo…my astrology sandwich
Xstrology
#Cancer is one of the best signs to marry because they always try to keep their partner happy. (slightly edited-- it was more specific)
Xstrology
#Sagittarius are known to be intuitive, they tend to rely on their gut instincts
Xstrology
#Leo has such amazing charisma they can easily reach their goal without making an enemy.
Xstrology
#Cancer with there gripping might, will never let go of their loved one no matter what and only want to be cherished in return.
Xstrology
#Sagittarius will give pure passion and nothing less to their loved one, and want patience in return.
Xstrology
#Leo will always show their true and utter love for their loved ones and want understanding in return.
Xstrology
#Cancer's are very flirtatious but are considerate & respectful to their partner.
Xstrology
#Sagittarius will give the world to their love, but can easily snatch it right back if wronged.
Xstrology
#Leo the Lion is a mighty leader and go-getter. They get irritated when they see others being lazy and not living life to the fullest.
RA interview:during one about 4 yrs ago he was asked to describe his romantic history..which of these words did RA not use in his reply? Results follow...
1) Sparing 9 (22%)... 2) Sparse 7 (17%)... 3) Cautious 2 (5%)
4) Scant 7 (17%)...Scant was the only word on the list RA did not use to describe his romantic history
5) Frugal 14 (35%)... 6) Careful 1 (2%)
UPDATE: Just a few brief quotes from new N&S sequel: "he was literally putty in her hands".;.Enrique began to grizzle"(made me pause..grizzly bear came to mind..not same context at all); "tapas"(flashback to Maya);.."unable to stop himself from imagining Mgt holding his child in her arms someday";..Hannah and Mr Whitaker;.."John..spun her around in his arms";.."she saw tears in his eyes...."
Just finished Chpt 6 of a new sequel to North and South titled 'Northern Light 'by Catherine Winchester. IMO, the characters are true to Mrs Gaskell's. The wedding night is sensitively written. Victorians might not approve but IMO the majority of RA fans will. As you know, the famous train station scene was written by a C21 writer, Sandy Welch, who made other changes as well to Mrs Gaskell's novel for the TV adaptation.
NEWS: Thanks to Calexora and Musa's keen eyes we have further details from a woman in NZ who had the pleasure of observing RA and Orlando Bloom 'doing lunch' a few mos ago...
SPOOKS 10 Interview:
Hear Nicola(Ruth) describe watching RA’s brain go into reverse after he was told his character Lucas North was not who he’d seemed to be for two series:
If you like me are not concerned about spoilers(it's only fiction) here are reviews of Spooks ep 2 & Strike Back ep 6. Sounds as though someone bites the dust at the end of Spooks ep 2. Not surprising when you consider writers have only 4 more eps to go to snuff out as many characters as possible before the final curtain. The reviewer at Unpopcult finally begrudgingly found one of the SB eps 'not bad'.
And now, for some whiplash to a couple weeks ago... I tried that salmon/couscous dish that RA spoke of(at least I think it's the one), since I'm a bit of a 'recipe whore'. I love trying out new stuff, and am always on the lookout for a good meal.
Back in 2009, after first watching my Christmas gift ‘North and South’ and then realizing I’d seen heart-thumper Mr Thornton as Guy of Gisborne on bbcA - I did the obligatory internet search - the following was one of the first writeups to pop up….excerpts:
> “Hello, everybody, and welcome to the year 2006 …
.Let's jump right into this week's write-up -- the first official Boyfriend of the Week for 2006. Go team!
It all started about a year ago, I'd say. That's about the time I began to get two or three emails a week from various women all over the world insisting that I get my hands on a copy of a BBC miniseries called North and South. The star, they said, was going to make me weak in the knees. He was perfect Boyfriend material. He was the man of my dreams.
The more emails I got about the series, the more intrigued I became. But, alas, there wasn't much I could do about it -- it was a British TV thing that was simply not available here in the States. Finally, however, after months and months of sighing disappointedly every time I got one of those emails (and replying with, "I'd love to, but I'm IN AMERICA! Land of the free, home of the brave, terrain of the people who do not get the BBC"), the movie hit Netflix. Two disks, four hours total, no sweat. I started part one on a Friday evening around 9pm figuring I'd just watch the first two hours and head for the hay. Suffice it to say I was up WAY past my bedtime that night.
The "perfect Boyfriend"? Understatement of the year! (An exclamation that doesn't carry quite as much weight when it's only a month into 2006, I realize, but that's neither here nor there.)
The man's name is. . .Richard Armitage. The miniseries is. . .a lot like Pride and Prejudice. The upshot is. . .I'm ga-ga over a Brit. Again. ..
The first thing I saw with Richard in it was, of course, the aforementioned North and South. …that's the storyline the movie focuses on, of course -- the proud and haughty Mr. Thornton clashing with the equally proud and stubborn Margaret, with them both ultimately succumbing to their much-resisted mutual crushes.
..Other than this series, though, I was pretty limited in terms of access to Richard's work.
.. I got a package in the mail containing all kinds of awesome stuff. So, here, for your perusing entertainment, is the lowdown on the.. collection, in order of how much I liked each thing, favorites first: Sparkhouse (2002) -- This little miniseries is about two teenagers, Andrew and Carol, who have been madly in love with each other since they were twelve. It's the classic "other side of the tracks" story, as Andrew's upper class parents do everything they can to keep him from seeing the lower class farm girl Carol. Easy to understand, really, given the fact she's an utter lunatic who has a tendency to set their house on fire. But love is blind, and, apparently, it also comes encased in fire retardant asbestos, and so the two decide to run off and elope. The night before their planned nuptials, Carol decides to finally tell Andrew a horrible secret. But the whole thing backfires when it turns out that Andrew is, in short, a total butthead. Aghast and confused, he leaves her at the altar and runs off to college a day later.
… Carol, in the meantime, has lost her father and is about to lose her farm too. Ever practical, except for when she's attacking cars with axes (long story), she makes a decision -- knowing she can't have Andrew, she decides to marry John (played by Richard), the sweet, shy man who worked for her father and who she knows A) is in love with her and B) has some money she can use to keep the farm afloat. John's ecstatic, but also incredibly jealous of Carol's old feelings for Andrew. And Andrew, despite the fact THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT FOR BEING A TOTAL BASTARD, goes ballistic with jealously himself. Commence torturous misery.
As I was watching this series, I spent half my time yelling at Andrew for being such a pansy, half yelling at Carol for not realizing how much better John is, half yelling at John for marrying Carol who is too stupid to realize that Andrew is essentially Ashley Wilkes in a pimpled disguise, and half wondering where my high school math teacher went wrong when it came time to teach me fractions. 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 equals. . . oops.
However, despite all the yelling, or maybe because of it, I absolutely loved Sparkhouse. It's the classic sweeping romantic tragedy with lots of rain, misery, unrequited love, and passion. Truly a delight -- you know, in that sorta-makes-you-want-to-kill-yourself kinda way.
Things learned about Richard: cute in hats, gorgeous in dirty sweaters, lovely with shaggy hair and stubble, makes an unbearably sexy underdog. Wears well the sweet, fumbling, doofus type. Call me head-over-heels.”< [See The Golden Hour and Between the Sheets review below]
(Boyfriend of the Week continued....The Golden Hour (2005)
This was my second favorite of the Richard Armitage things I watched, primarily because it was one of the few that featured him in a starring role. And, even better, it was a medical drama, and anyone who knows me knows I'm a total sucker for those (I'm still watching ER, after all, even though I have no idea why).
"The golden hour" refers to that critical time period after a trauma -- the hour that can separate life from death for a victim. Here, Richard stars as the head of a fleet of helicopter medics and boy, does he ever look great doin' it. I also watched a couple of episodes of two other medical shows (Doctors and Casualty), where Richard had brief guest spots, and I found all three of these very interesting in terms of how different they were from their American counterparts. It appears that medical dramas in England are less about blood, guts, and cracking open chests right on camera, and more about personal relationships, internal or emotional struggles, and other, somewhat deeper stuff. Radically different. Better? In some ways. Not quite as exciting, I would say. But pause for a moment to ponder the significance of this fact -- what does it say about our respective cultures? Also, I confess I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue. This was my favorite line: [said from a medic to a traumatized victim who's just had part of a building fall on his leg] "Your leg looks a bit of a mess, but we'll get it sorted out." I swear, had she next busted out with the Mary Poppins song "A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down," I would not have been at all surprised.
Things learned about Richard: Gives good mouth-to-mouth, manages to look sexy in an orange jumpsuit (no small feat!). Sounds totally dreamy when he says stuff like, "Get a BP, STAT!"
Between the Sheets (2003)
This was another love-based series (those frisky Brits!) featuring Richard in a solid, supporting role. And wow, here's another one that says a lot about the differences in our cultures. Here, our most popular shows focus on murder, blood spatter, and violence. There, it seems to be less about killing people, and more about SEX. I'm not even sure they could get away with showing this series on the FX channel, and I've seen some wild, wild things on Nip/Tuck, ladies and gentlemen. This show, though, is about (of all scandalous things) a sex therapist. During the day, she's counseling an older couple, the wife of which is the classic prude and the husband, the classic philanderer. The therapist gets the woman to begin exploring her own sexuality more, by reading Lady Chatterly's Lover and looking at her naughty bits in the mirror (a la Fried Green Tomatoes). Meanwhile, she working at convincing the husband to begin exploring his sexuality a little bit less. At home, however, things are not all love and rockets. Her partner, played by a clean-cut Richard Armitage, is in the middle of a scandal involving a young, vulnerable woman who is claming he sexually assaulted her. Does our sex therapist believe Richard is innocent? I ain't tellin'. Which is too bad, as most of you guys are Americans who will probably never get to see this show. Nyah nyah, suckahs!
Things learned about Richard: has a great butt, looks good all cleaned up. Annnnnd, I mentioned the butt thing, right? Because, boy howdy, there are a couple scenes in this one where he isn't wearing any pants. Or anything else for that matter. And not only did I not cover my eyes for those scenes like I probably ought to have, but I confess to actually rewinding a couple of them. More. Than. Once. Don't tell my Mom (hi, Mom!). [R: more to come]
Comment Caps from May, 2011:
MsG68 said...
Glad to have you back up and running!
I have never seen this interview! How did I miss that?!
Thank you for posting :)
enjoyed the Snickers revelation (man after my own heart) and the all-night clubbing! Never quite had him down for that...the man is full of surprises.
Musa said...
Snickers Bar for me!…
Thanks for posting the interview, I hadn't seen it before either - not that I've seen all of his interviews. I'm now dreaming of dancing all night with RA in Budapest, or Zermatt, or anywhere he wants to dance...my living room...anywhere :)
I wonder too why he thinks Sophia Loren would battle it out with Kate Moss, wouldn't be for the food! I like the fact he likes older women LOL
Sue said…
I'm not so sure Richard is a neat freak, I think he can be pretty untidy most of the time. The sort of person who would read a script while drinking coffee and eating, ending up with stains all over the paper. (My one pet hate!) I remember a journalist saying that Richard did an interview and when it was time to take some photo's went off to change into a new shirt (it still had the fold marks where the pins and cardboard had held it in place). My guess is that he had no clean shirts to wear and simply bought a new shirt instead of washing and ironing an old one. (Naughty boy!) http://allthingsrarmitage.blogspot.com/2011/05/free-at-last-friday-bloggers.html?showComment=1316847256880#c83477645687930329
Fascinating article follows about the real inhabitants of Highclere Castle(DowntonAbbey) but outrageous conclusion reached by her biographer. Reading the following speculation by him, led me to wonder “does he consider Florence Nightingale to be an arch-manipulator who enjoyed having control over men?”…
EXCERPT: “‘Almina enjoyed looking after invalids,’ explains William Cross.(Biographer)
‘She loved having control over men. She was an arch-manipulator.’
She opened a series of nursing homes in London, but remained incapable of managing her finances: she considered it ‘bad taste’ to send bills to less affluent patients.
A woman after my own heart - missed this Lucas/Jo vid until a few moments ago. An on-screen matchup between those two characters was another one of those situations for an RA character where writers just didn't seem to be tuned into the audiences vibes. Were there any other situations where we felt sorely disappointed with the plot as written - let us count the ways:)
1) Not giving Guy & Marian a brief time together and instead plunging the RH characters into a long-lost brothers storyline. 2) Destroying the heroic character Lucas North for what reason? Last gasp of desperation as the show was winding down to the final curtain? Why did our hero have to be the one branded with the scarlet letter T for traitor? and of course 3) as mentioned above - failure to write romance on or off the grid at least temporarily for the Lucas/Jo characters? C'est la vie...happily there were many character plots that did indeed have our enthusiastic blessing. You win some, you lose some comes to mind:)
Really need a translator BUT American ingenuity instead scurried over to Babelfish to translate the Spanish lyrics to English, because curiosity almost killed the Lucas North fan. If a kind Spanish speaking person reads this, please leave a comment telling me whether this translation is anywhere near the true meaning of the Lucas/Jo background song lyrics above(very doubtful)...Babelfish says:
"Does it look like love? It must be for me. Will you walk or love? That face gives life? It must know how to love and not hide. Does it pretend to be love ? It’s a mystery. You must know how to love."
"Thank you for posting my Lucas/Beth vid :) I really liked the first episode of Spooks 10 and look forward to more, but I missed Lucas so much. Loved going down memory lane with the blog comments :) I need Harry to do MY taxes. I wouldn't mind tax time so much, I would look forward to it. Maybe a romantic dinner while we go through all the paperwork. By Musa"
"I liked the joke Geraldine made about accountants and pencils myself. That would certainly put me off chewing the end of any pencils! Trouble is it also had me imagining Richard as Harry "working it out with a pencil" and I'm not talking arithmetic here! PS: It would be well worth me getting into arrears with my accountant if Harry came to collect them! (My God I might even consider paying his fees in advance!) By Sue"
"Is RA hiding out in NZ? I'm tired of seeing Orlando and Martin Freeman and James Nesbitt out on the town! (Not that I don't like those guys,but really, some equal time!) We need to see Richard out and about! He can't be working 24 hours a day! OK - maybe I'm suffering from RA withdrawal :) by Musa"
From a Sue comment that day…”Richard really does have a wonderfully rich and decidedly sexy voice. I know many fans liken it to Sean Bean, but as I've mentioned before SB's voice conveys the message "I am what I am, like it or lump it" attitude, where Richard's voice conveys something like "I'm a naughty little lad at heart, full of fun and mischief".
Then Musa said...
“I love his voice. Not only because of how deep and beautiful it is, but because of how many layers of emotions he can express just by how he says one single word. Other actors have beautiful voices, but RA's voice has the greatest range and versatility of all I think..”
Comment capture: Angie recently said "I never stop missing Guy.."
There are posts of mine from at least 2yrs ago expressing the amazing resemblance of Daniel Radcliffe to RA...might've even inferred he reminded me of an RA mini-me:) Bccmee's talents bring the comparison to life...
Comment cap: one of our clever commenters responded to the fact Brendan Coyle said in a recent interview that he's ready to marry. Her reaction was "too bad he's well past his sell by date" *chuckle* Then Sue added "By the way I forgot to mention in the post above about GOG's nemesis (his sister Isabella)actress Lara Pulver. She was actually very good in Spooks last night, not over the top like the actress in Strike Back, Amanda Mealing. It looks like a very good meaty role for her."
****
Yet another comment capture: Musa said "It was great to read the inteview with Brendan Coyle. I've been watching him in Larkrise to Candleford lately, my PBS station has been showing the series on Saturdays for a while now. I've liked Brendan in every role I've seen him in. Since we know Julian Fellowes has seen North & South and is obviously a fan, wouldn't it be wonderful if he would write a series or movie for RA! I'm also a fan of Julian Fellowes since seeing him in Sharpe!"
Notes made while watching first ep of the final series of Spooks. Will avoid spoilers.
--Harry repeating "shoot me now" to Lucas on rooftop reminds me of a fav Bugs Bunny cartoon..
--The bloody hand..Yikes!
--didn't I just glimpse "Harvey Oswald" on one of those file papers?
--"debrief" *snigger* forms..pills..leather gloves..hmmmm
--surprised to see black spear-headed wrought-iron fence.."our nanny state outlawed use of those decades ago"
--Harry: "my mistake" Ruth: "someone jammed the guillotine" Ruth:..."wanted forgiveness"
--CIA hdqtrs.."here we go again..another obnoxious agent..well, it is Obama Adm:) afterall"
--Home Secy to Harry:"would it have killed you to pick up a golf club now and then?" Harry's reply: "Yes, it might have"
--"new big boys: China..." oh really? haha..if Americans ever stop buying all their *stuff* it will be turn out the lights for that country - the financial party would be over for them.
--Tariq looks much older..
--Erin(Lara Pulver): "conduct a ghostsweep - leave everything as found"
--found myself admiring her close-fitting narrow jeans & made mental note to buy some jeggings
--Was it Calum or Dimitri's line.."just like we were never here" *hahaha*
--Did Dimitri just say he misses killing people????:O
--As soon as young Russian explained who he was my mind decided the two people in the room were more closely related then it appeared at first blush...dumdedumdum..obviously been watching too many spy dramas
--cute line from cia official to Harry "are you too British for a hug?" and Harry's reply "are you too American for a handshake?"
--Russian reception taking place at Bannon Hall??..now I have to look it up to see if it's an authentic location or fiction..
--ahhh, silver-tongued Harry line: "very glamorous..yes, you'll fit in perfectly"
--At the very moment of most confusion on-screen, after Erin barked an order to other agents, my mind noted "Lara Pulver said RA is a firm friend"..
--made a mental note: "Dimitri's snug fitting long sleeved dark blue tshirt looks same as the one worn by Lucas North....get those yummy pix!" (are they recycling some of LN's wardrobe?:)
--Ruth line: "some say the past is a foreign country" Harry: "One it's difficult to leave.."
Very exciting storyline..enjoyed ep 1 very much. Had the same thought I had when the long running series '24' ended - viewers are insane not to demand a couple more years of such a well-written show. That category of TV show is very scarce....well written that is...
Let's see what the reviewer at Unpopcult picks up on for following 3 shows: Spooks, ep 1; Strike Back ep5; Downton Abbey ep 1..
Er… What happened to all the running and the shooting?
Harry’s been on enforced leave (“At one particularly dark moment, I actually considered gardening” – Heh) since the whole Albany and “Lucas/NotLucas” business, but the Home Secretary wants him back to make friends with the Russians. This poses a problem, as Harry’s already been a bit too friendly with a particular Russian a long time ago, and that particular secret is about ready to bite everyone in the butt.
I just wish it would hurry up about it. After a classically Spooks-style assassination in the first few minutes of the episode, we then had to sit through about forty minutes of staring and glaring, before the action picked up again, and while this type of slow-burning Cold War intrigue can be a great idea, it’s not what we watch Spooks for, is it? I was bored, to be honest.
I do love Harry, but the show is crying out for a Ros or a Lucas to do the high-octane action stuff, while he does the tortured and sardonic manoeuvring in the background, rather than shoving it front and centre. And instead of giving Dimitri, who’s more than up to the task, the chance to step into the shoes of the dearly departed, we’ve got two new characters who aren’t up to much at all. Section Chief Erin is about as exciting as a boiled egg and self-satisfied git Calum is a buffoon. Which doesn’t bode well for the next 5 episodes. What we need is more Demetri, more Tariq, less of the two new no-marks and everything to happen a lot faster, or this one last series is going to be one last series too many.
Couple more interesting comments:
MsG said: "..media has it's downsides as well as it's ups! (RA no less....and blogs for us to have a good ol' natter on)"
Laura comment: “I have a question that maybe y'all can help me clear up. In the "Vicar" Video, at just after 6:03, when Harry is talking about doing the accounts for Geraldine's friends. He leans back on the couch, and says, "Just Owen's to do now..." and right after that, says something that I have not been able to catch. Does anybody else know what it is? It's been driving me nuts for YEARS (which, admittedly, is not a long trip). It happens at 6:06, to be precise…” [Ricrar: Sue stepped in to help]
Teuchter made her first comment..(hope it‘s not her last):
“Lots of reasons to dawdle here and lots of places too! ;) *Blush*”
Happily it was not..today's Teuchter comment responding to Laura's query: Geraldine says "That shouldn't be too difficult" to which Harry replies, "No, except he's told the tax office he's dead!" Hope that helps! Such a cute scene! Isn't Harry just adorable?"
Thx to Musa - here's an interesting article about Brendan Coyle who played Mr Higgins in North and South. In fact, this excerpt explains why the Downton Abbey writer was inspired to write Brendan's role in that period drama: "EXCERPT: The thing is, in the flesh Brendan is, well… he’s Mr Bates – stoical but broodingly passionate and very sexy. Julian Fellowes wrote the character for Brendan after he saw him in the 2004 BBC series North And South because, he has said, he knew ‘he had the capacity to suggest a character’s bitterness and painful past without doing too much to indicate it’.
