December 30, 2010

Richard Armitage--NZ Ski Report + Beethoven With An Edge + Back to the Future:N&S Interview + New Years Kisses + Does He Remind You of RA Poll + Richard Armitage RAndom Pix in Review + New N&S Vid



Do believe I've stumbled upon a new addiction--notice however that he wasn't placed in the top position*cough*;)  Don't know anything about him other than he managed to improve on that which one would think it would be impossible to do--reserving final judgement pending further research..


                                                                        hover,,,hover....


Flashback to New Years 2010
This new vid seems rather somber for New Year's Eve, but as twitter Lucas recently reminded us as he wiggled his furry hobbit feet(rather than furless dwarf feet:) the best spy ever is only on sabbatical.  He'll be reincarnated as MiddleEarth's almost 5ft tall dwarf, Thorin Oakinshield..




                              
Spy Game by manipenni05
                                 Appears someone really enjoyed his wassailing as promised;)

When I heard the words "he lived on a page for 150yrs," I was firmly hooked. Great interview giving Richard's thoughts and feelings about North and South(by HeathDances)
North and South vid 'Halo' by missdorrit93..






In a comment below, Sue said that Brit actor Luke Roberts reminds her of RA.  Took a look at the photos available at the link she provided, and reached the conclusion that Luke's eyes now and then seem to reflect expressions similar to Richard's.  Apparently Mr Roberts stars in an afternoon 'story' as a doctor -- peeked at an excerpt on youtube and did not find his style of acting mindful of RA's in that particular clip.  In the on-going quest to discern if Luke & Richard are similar in any other way, found the following interview from a morning show.  Here are a couple photos and the interview - do you find Luke Roberts reminds you of RA?  Please give your answer in the latest poll...


Thank you Sue, for the link to NZ ski information.  No doubt we know who will, in the not to distant future(if not already:) be enjoying a downhill run -- perhaps at Porters?...really! see below pic:
 New Zealand: Seriously Fine Skiing, Riding In The Southern Alps -
The Southern Alps of New Zealand provide some seriously fine skiing and boarding with five hundred kilometres of mountain ranges splitting the South Island from north to south like a spine. The majority of the commercial ski fields are found around the alpine tourist resort town of Queenstown, which sits on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and is more suited to the Swiss Alps than antipodean lands.

Four commercial fields sit within driving distance of Queenstown.
Broken River, Temple Basin, Porters, and Cheeseman are all worth a look.
http://www.onthesnow.co.uk/new-zealand/skireport.html#

December 26, 2010

Conquering World One Woman at a Time:Anne Rice Again:) + Rare Richard Armitage Photos + New LN vid: 'Would You' by JulietD001 + PhotoRAma



The Anne Rice Chronicles:)

>December 29th, 2010

Anne Rice is always being asked, seemingly more and more, about who she would cast in the ‘Vampire Chronicles’ NOW.  She posted her ideas an hour ago.
“Who is my dream Lestat for a future movie? Without doubt, Richard Armitage.”<

Someone then posted this pic and Ms Rice added the following comment:

>Anne Rice:  December 29, 2010 at 4:06 PM

“Don’t I have a great eye, indeed! And you scored a great picture
of Richard Armitage. Bravo on that.”<

[R: interesting remark on her part - do believe, however, that there are quite a few others who discovered her Lestat long before she did :) meowwwwwww;]




Today on FB Anne Rice was asked who she'd choose to play her vampire Lestat and she again replied Richard Armitage.  Woman is displaying all the classic symptoms, isn't she;)


Great Russian RA website posted at twitter:
ForoRArmitage fororichardarmitage
#RichardArmitage 2005 pics (photographer Richard Cannon). Thanks to http://armitage-online.ucoz.ru/: http://bit.ly/hmsHWl  
 
One above is yummy..hair slightly longer than ideal - minutiae, I know, have always over-critiqued myself & home as well [must be visually addicted, if that's possible] -  intensely focusing on visual impact must start at some point in an actor's career to become an annoyingly necessary excercise.  More minutiae..didn't he look  underweight in one below, which is from 1995 (a year after N&S)





Happy New Year Vid by siouxsiesioux100...

                 
                                            What a cute New Year baby...:)


Phew! We're all wassailed out...guests on their way home on a snowy, blustery night.  Won't rest easy until we know everyone is home safe and sound.

Tomorrow will be time to plan for the New Year.  It will be an especially interesting one for us because our fav football team is in one of the bowl games.

Hope everyone had a merry christmas, happy holiday or joyous festivus:)  Search comedian 'Jerry Seinfeld' to discover an explanation for the last. 
****
Never know what interesting item you'll find on twitter.  Noticed 3 tweets from someone in AU.   First one said "I'm about to watch the BBC series North and South"...2nd tweet: "Richard Armitage is a babe"...3rd tweet:  I'm in love with Richard Armitage...feel like a schoolgirl"  (another female down:) 

Tweeter has a blog where she posted a friend's wedding photos(which she had taken).  Turns out the friend sewed not only her own bridal dress but also all her attendants.  Sewed mine -- it isn't strapless, like the following - mainly because if it had been, the only thought running through my head on my wedding day would've been "is this top still where it should be":)  Isn't it amazing how lovely a wedding party can look(although budget friendly) if one or more participants take a few sewing lessons...

December 24, 2010

Richard Armitage Christmas Greeting to Supporters Everywhere(sincere thanks to Annette for hosting it-link below) + Wassail Origins + New Christmas Vid by Phylly3 + An RA Holiday by elvirasweeney




24th December 2010


Dear One and All,

Its that time again, time to get together, eat drink and be merry. 'WASSAIL'. I will be doing quite a lot of wassailing in the next 48 hours make no mistake. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you again for all your support this year, for the kind gifts and kind words which have been bestowed on me. Thank you also for all your generous donations placed on 'just giving.com', over the four charities; Childline, Barnardos, Shelter and The Salvation Army you have donated over £8000, and in a year when we are all tightening our belts, thats pretty amazing.

I haven't been as attentive as I would like this year, either on line, by letter or in person; but in a zeigeist of information overload, I am enjoying the silence, and as Oscar Wilde once pointed out:

"I am but too conscious of the fact that we are born in an age when only the dull are treated seriously, and I live in terror of not being misunderstood"

So in a brief moment of terror I succomb, to wish everyone a really thoroughly Merry Christmas. 2010 has been a challenge and next 365 days look like another 'mountain' to climb. I know I say it every Dec 24th, but please 'take a little and give a lot', and resolve to do it better next year, you know I don't just mean Christmas.

Thanks to Annette for sharing this message on her wonderful site. Thank you to all the other who work so hard on their site's all over the world. This is for all of you.

Have a wonderful Christmas, holiday or whatever you are celebrating and Love and luck for 2011....yikes!

Richard

PS. I apologise in advance for next year as there may be a slight delay with the return of signed photos and thank you notes; as I may be spending some time on the other side of the planet, possibly wearing a beard.

http://www.richardarmitageonline.com/

Post from 09 Christmas season:  Who will you kiss under the mistletoe?

Wassail research..say that 5Xs really rapidly:)  Sort of like Bugs Bunny's nemesis Elmer Fudd (who has an adorable lisp) saying "you wascally wabbit."

Anyhoo, holiday schedule change #100 = guests will not be arriving 'til the morrow...wassail research is making me wax poetic;)  (We're finally getting to enjoy all the Christmas Eve shows that we've missed every other year, since it's usually our time for wassailing.) 

Wikipedia's take on the origins of the word and tradition..
You can blame Sue for awakening this wassail curiosity :) she commented that there was an orchard wassail tradition of which I'd never heard one iota. (need to look up origins of that strange word next;) [Update: Definition of IOTA

1: the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet
2: an infinitesimal amount : jot
 Origin:  Latin, from Greek iōta, of Semitic origin]

Continued from original remarks:   I do believe we should designate Sue as the RA universe's official orchard wassail queen(see below).  She did mention a particular fondness for holiday cider - will approach her to learn if she's willing to accept the title:) Believe we know who she'd ask to be her king..don't we?
In a comment below I'd groped around for lyrics from the only Christmas carol I can recall that mentions wassail--drew a few blanks but the first search result came to the rescue...

From Wikipedia:  >The practice has its roots in the middle ages as a reciprocal exchange between the feudal lords and their peasants as a form of recipient initiated charitable giving, to be distinguished from begging. This point is made in the song "Here We Come A-Wassailing", when the wassailers inform the lord of the house that
"we are not daily beggars that beg from door to door but we are friendly neighbours whom you have seen before."
The lord of the manor would give food and drink to the peasants in exchange for their blessing and goodwill, i.e...

"Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you
a Happy New Year"

... which would be given in the form of the song being sung. Wassailing is the background practice against which an English carol such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" dating back to sixteenth century England, can be made sense of.[3] The carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy puddings'.[4]

Although wassailing is often described in innocuous and sometimes nostalgic terms, the practice in England has not always been considered so innocent. Wassailing was associated with rowdy bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbours and demand free food and drink in a trick-or-treat fashion. If the householder refused, he was usually cursed, and occasionally his house was vandalized. The example of the exchange is seen in their demand for "figgy pudding" and "good cheer", i.e., the wassail beverage, without which the wassailers in the song will not leave; "We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here."[4]

 The Orchard-Visiting Wassail  -  In the cider-producing West of England (primarily the counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) wassailing also refers to drinking (and singing) the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive.

An old rhyme goes: “Wassaile the trees, that they may beare / You many a Plum and many a Peare: / For more or lesse fruits they will bring, / As you do give them Wassailing.”

The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.{"England In Particular", Common Ground 2007} The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song and/or a processional tune to be played/sung from one orchard to the next, the wassail Queen will then be lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year)<  http://www.wyrdwords.vispa.com/heathenry/wassailing/index.html



Christmas treat 'I Wish You Love' to RA fans by ThePhylly3..

December 21, 2010

Merry Christmas! + Richard Armitage Showreels by elvirasweeney + Tribute to JT + Guy Artistry + James Bond Poll(w/current results) + New Pix + RA on Ice(Olympic flashback) + Jonny Moseley's 5th Week



                                

                                                   Showreels I & II by elvirasweeney
            
           

                                   North & South: Tribute to John Thornton by gsbohn..
Dezz at Hollywood Spy has done it - 'it' refers to his latest poll, which asks who should be the next James Bond.  Need he ask? really? Look at the photo above or below and remind yourself of the deep dulcet tones of Richard's voice - not to mention the way his other attributes fill out Bond-like suits. The last reason of course should have been mentioned first - his superb acting ability (apparently felt that goes without saying but must remember to say anyway)  There are at least a half doz listed in the poll including one of my fav American actors - Jeffrey Donovan, star of Burn Notice.  Really felt a bit sad about voting for RA and not Jeffrey (the latter might even be a long lost cousin:) Donovan is one of our Co Cork family surnames) although, in truth - despite the fact he's a powerful actor, Jeffrey's speaking voice lacks the same surround-sound timbre of Richard's. 
Anyway, RA fans - get ye to Dezz's site asap to vote in his new Bond poll..scroll..
Peeked at latest results - the vote count has doubled since yesterday and the results make it clear which fans live by the motto "vote early and often" :)...not really, because Dezz takes the opposite approach - one vote per 'puter...Jason Statham 0 (0%)  Gerard Butler 19 (16%)  Rupert P.Jones 9 (7%)
Julian McMahon 3 (2%)  Richard Armitage 73 (63%)  Jeffrey Donovan 3 (2%)  Colin Farrell 3 (2%)Clive Owen 5 (4%)LATEST:Richard Armitage 110 (63%) - 12/27:Richard Armitage 189 (64%)




Artists impressions of GRR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga.  About half way through, you'll see the red priestess and with her (holding sword over head..later on a white horse) is the rightful King of Westeros - Stannis Baratheon.  She convinces him that she can help retrieve his throne.  He's Lord of Dragonstone -  Stannis is the role Musa and I feel would be perfect for RA.  He's described as partially bald, but does wear his crown a great deal, and as we know from past experience - even totally bald would evidently not be a problem for Richard.  Reaction: Us :(  Him :)
                                

Lovely Christmas gift tweeted today by richardarmitagenet.com - few new pix...
Even twitter Lucas is somewhat in the Christmas spirit..in his own way.. 




Must be some sort of distraction this week :) Entirely forgot Jonny Moseley's 5th wk until now...


Let's get it on the ice, baby.. http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/XWmTIbizvQZt33bu