Richard Armitage: the Ne Plus Ultra of Celeb Crushes

The word for the day is NE PLUS ULTRA (noun) the ultimate or perfect example of something. From the Latin, literally, “not further beyond. “

For me, Richard Armitage is the ne plus ultra in terms of a great celebrity crush.  He’s charismatic, gracious, sweet, good-humored, modest–a true gentleman who is good to his fans.  He’s intelligent and insightful. He’s so very, very talented and versatile in that talent. And, oh yeah, he’s tall, fit, beautiful and incredibly sexy, while still maintaining that boy-next-door vibe that is so endearing.

Richard Armitage: my own lovely ne plus ultra.

What’s not to love? Link to fan’s wonderful RA meeting

http://c19.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cat6&action=display&thread=58768&page=2

If you haven’t seen this wonderful story of an RA encounter with a fan at the actors’ trailers for his new movie (and seen the pix!) here’s a link to thread at C19. A big thank you to Nadia and to Judit for sending me the photos and story after I could not get access to Armitage Army (where it is also posted).  I am not posting the photos here publicly-we don’t have an all-clear to do that yet.

The account seems to reaffirm our impression that RA is a genuinely nice guy who, contrary to what some may preach, actually enjoys meeting fans. He not only agrees to meet with the fan, he comes out in a joking mood, agrees to a photo, he offers to pose for additional photos taken by his assistant and gives the fan a big ol’ hug.

He certainly looks slim and fit as reported by RAlover, and his  face is just as lovely as ever out from under the whiskers. And if my eyes don’t deceive me, his hair appears to be close to the texture and color it was with John Standring after his makeover.  

Finally, the much-hoped for close-up look at RA post-beard–a lovely report from one very happy fan. 😀

Surprises, a super series and smiling dwarfs

It’s just shy of midnight here and I really should be asleep. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in several days. But here I am, still awake, my mind buzzing even as my eyelids grow heavy. I have things I am excited about.

Remember my previous reference to a possible collaboration between fedoralady and gisbornesboy? Well, we’ve both gotten some other things out of the way and we are discussing our project again.  I think we are both pretty chuffed about the prospect.  And don’t forget about the week of one-of-a-kind goodies featuring Gisby’s wonderful artwork over at Agzy’s blog in anticipation of Armitage Day!

Tonight, I completed  my own birthday surprise for Armitage Day. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did creating it once it is unveiled. As I told Seb, nothing fancy but definitely fun.  And who knows? Maybe the Sloth Fiction boys will weigh in on the occasion, too, before the big day arrives . . .

As recommended by a blog reader, I have started watching the BBC 18th century period drama Garrow’s Law. I watched the first two series last night and today (four eps of each) and was tempted to watch the third series tonight but didn’t want to stay up until 2 p.m. (I swear, I swear I am going to turn out these lights before then).

 

This is an excellent series–intelligent and involving scripts based in part on archives from the Old Bailey; compelling performances, attention to detail in costumes and sets. As a friend said, it’s a great mixture of fact and fiction. More on this show later. Something that tickled me was the prominence of a rather unscrupulous thief-taker–an individual paid to find and return stolen articles to their rightful owners–in two of the episodes. There’s a roguish thief-taker in my novel, too.   I have also watched several films–ranging from bittersweet comedy-dramas to one so dark and  harrowing I shall never forget it–and will discuss them later.

 

Andrew Buchan, Lyndsey Marshal and Alun Armstrong, stars of Garrow’s Law.
photo courtesy of enchantedserenityperiodfilms@blogspot.com

 

Tomorrow–well, tomorrow I have a special luncheon date. That’s all I can say for now, other than that I am really, truly looking forward to it.  So I will be away from the computer for a while tomorrow, as I also have some much-needed shopping for necessities to do.

 

This morning, I ran across a Comic-Con wrap on Reelz and my patience in watching it was rewarded when at the end, I caught the snippet of an interview with RA. One of the most memorable moments in the shooting schedule, he said, was the “gloriously sunny day” the dwarfs spent in those barrels. “There wasn’t a dwarf who didn’t have a smile on his face.” And that made me smile.

At least one of those smiling dwarfs was tossing fish that day.  Cheeky devil!

 

 

 

Necking with Sgt. Porter

I find myself thinking of Richard’s throat. Long, slender, elegant, with that rather irresistible Adam’s-apple (for me, anyway) and that tempting hollow at its base.  I just don’t care for the looks of a short, thick, squatty neck on a man ( apologies to all short-necked gentlemen, I realize it is not your fault, just the roll of genetic dice).  

And with his various outfits for the role, we get some wonderful glimpses of Richard’s splendid, swan-like throat in his role as Sgt. John Porter. That fantasy/dream sequence with Danni? *thud*

Of course, there is a great deal more in terms of both physicality and character to appreciate about Portah–but our space and time are limited,dear readers.

It’s just a week away . . .

Armitage Day, that is. Richard Armitage’s 41st birthday, to be exact. All sorts of lovely little surprises seem to be afoot in anticipation of his special day. The celebration is already underway at Agzy’s site with a great collaboration between Agzy and Sebastian, aka Gisbornesboy.

http://iwanttobeapinup.wordpress.com

 

 

 

The chaRActers are anticipating their Creator’s big day, too–

 

 

 

More to come.

You can leave your hat on . . .

I love this jaunty little cap. And his expressions here.

I love hats. There’s a reason I am called fedoralady, you know. The above GIF features photos of Richard in that little charcoal cap, the only time I can recall seeing him in headgear outside of a role. Do you have a favorite ChaRActer in a Hat look? (or cap, beret, headscarf . . .)  Here are a few examples–

Sand & sweat cannot obscure his beauty

When I was in high school, my art teacher, Priscilla, had a reproduction of an ancient Greek sculpture of a man’s head that we drew in class. It was to help prepare us to draw portraits. We drew that head from every angle: the front, the back, the profile, and the last, the trickiest, was the three-quarter view. Those of you who have studied art will know what I mean.   Because she stored the head in a coffeemaker box, we called it “Mr. Coffee.”

Looking at these screencaps from the SBviral vid, I am somehow reminded of Mr. Coffee. The sculpted planes of that face, the strong nose and jawline. Classical beauty with, in Mr. A’s case, a delightful asymmetry.  And the sand and sweat and dirt can’t diminish it. In a way, they simply emphasize it all the more.

Oh, I do love your three-quarter view, Mr. Armitage.  Even better than Mr. Coffee’s.

One intense minute

A post by gisbornesboy trying to locate the source of a particular GIF led me to this entry. Even if you’ve never seen Strike Back, don’t intend to watch Strike Back or simply haven’t visited this particular video in a while, you owe it to yourself to take only one minute and watch this, trust me.
It’s the SB Viral test video made by seanographic.co.uk.
Sean shot the video footage while a promotional photo shoot for SB was talking place. I swear, I can almost feel that gritty sand on my own skin. The earth tones, the sound effects, the editing and Richard’s brilliant acting all add up to one INTENSE minute. The video impacted me so strongly, I ended up writing a ficlet based on the video called Captive not to mention the fanart and GIFs based on it.

This fanart is based on one of the photos taken during the shoot that coincided with the viral vid shoot. A very powerful image.

RA sighting? . . . what do you think?

In case you missed it, this tweet showed up today and Frenz posted it at her blog. This gentleman is working on RA’s as yet unnamed tornado movie project. Does anyone on that lower monitor look familiar to you? (And will anyone else be glad when they come up with a name for the film?) Discuss (ooh, I feel like a teacher again).

https://twitter.com/Todd_Garner/status/235139394993000449

Here by popular demand . . .

Well, judging by various comments made recently on the blog, a lot of us seem to like this particular This Morning interview Richard shot to promote Spooks. Whether it’s the healthy glow of his complexion, the humor and intelligence in those eyes, the engaging smiles and laughter, or the way that pulled-back hairstyle (to hide his Guy S3 mane) beautifully showcases those strong masculine features–he’s a stunner in my book.

But wait, there’s more . . .

This is one of my favorites. We get the bonus of the beautiful hand with the beautiful face.

Mixed Bag o’ Character GIFs for Monday

I thought I had lost a good chunk of one of my novel’s chapters tonight. Thankfully, it was retrieved (albeit with several changes and some additions missing).  I popped in my earbuds and started playing my 50 classics album (a steal from iTunes) downloaded to the Kindle Fire while I sorted things out. Crisis averted.  Cellos make me think of Mr. A.  This is good.

The missing text scenario is the kind of thing that happens when you’re tired and stressed and that condition known as Fibromyalgia Fog overwhelms you.  Concentration becomes very difficult and I can’t remember some of the simplest things. This annoys me to no end as people used to know me as practically a freakin’ walkin’ Encyclopedia Britannica.

Tomorrow is, however, another day. 

Anyway, I made several GIFs last night featuring various characters and here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

Back on the grid . . . fancy some chips?

(I really, really wish we had gotten more of Lucas and Adam. Great onscreen chemistry between the actors and they looked just great together onscreen, too–the dark and fair-haired hunks)

Bloody knackered and still the sexiest thing alive.

Oh, Mr. Mulligan, you are very bad but you do have a certain–something.

 

The Dark Side has never looked better. OH, that smirk . . .

Ten Things I Learned from “This Year’s Love”

Last night I finally got around to watching This Year’s Love. It’s the 1999 Indie film that provided Richard Armitage’s screen debut in a very small but memorable role as the delightfully named “Smug Man at Party.”  Richard’s character obviously finds tattoo artist Danny (Henshall) completely out of place at  the posh party his partner Sophie (Jennifer Ehle) the rich rebel, has him attend.

Richard looking very handsome and suitably smug, given his role, with two unidentified actors in a scene from This Year’s Love.

 
Here’s the link to the snippet from the film that features Richard:

The film has a strong ensemble cast led by Jennifer Ehle and Douglas Henshall and a great soundtrack. It follows the misadventures of six young people in Camdentown, London as they keep searching for Mr. or Miss Right.  It’s funny but also quite painful in parts, not unlike real life, I suppose. It’s an interesting film and worth seeing even without RA’s film debut.

Now, here’s a list of things I learned while watching the film:

1. Don’t let your new husband find out you cheated on him with a friend’s husband on your wedding day. It doesn’t bode well for the future.
2. Never get drunk with a tattoo artist and let him tattoo your bum. It doesn’t bode well for the future.
3. Never get involved with a womanizing artist who never washes his hair. It doesn’t—hey, you get the idea.
4. Lizzie Bennett with long blonde dreadlocks and tattoos but still speaking posh is slightly disconcerting.
 5. Either have an excellent ear for Scottish accents or use the subtitles if you want to understand a large portion of the dialogue spoken by Douglas Henshall and Dougray Scott, or, as I like to think of them, the Two Dougies. (Fortunately, I have the former.)
6. It’s a heck of a lot better than Cleopatra (not that most things aren’t), but you don’t get to see Richard’s legs.  *sigh*
7. I sometimes miss Richard’s floppy hair. Reminds me of Harry and early Guy. *sigh*
 8. “The cast of Trainspotting gate-crashing Four Weddings and a Funeral” is a pretty apt description of the film. Posh mixed with squalor. Humor mixed with despair and tragedy.
9. Kathy Burke is a wonderful actress. I think I had only seen her on a chat show prior to watching this film.
10. Richard Armitage has always looked just swell in a tux.

I love men in black leather . . . (and plaid)

 

 

And now, ladies & gents, some Armitage Yum

 

 

Sweetie John for a Sunday Afternoon

 

John Standring: a lovely fellow, indeed. Terribly shy and more than a little awkard,  yet steadfast and honorable, another character who loves with all his heart and soul. Whether sporting that curly mop, watchcap and coveralls or his wedding suit and new ‘do, those heavenly blue eyes, sweet, sweet smile and that sweet spirit make him hard to resist.

And I love a good makeover scene, too.