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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Aug 21 2014, 4:01pm
Post #1 of 28
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On the eve of Richard Armitage's birthday
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I offer this to his fans...
Yes, it starts out as a #kitten post on tumblr but then some wise and wonderful RA fan in the comments got to thinking...
Tumblr magic
Enjoy! 
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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Avandel
Half-elven
Aug 21 2014, 11:03pm
Post #3 of 28
(748 views)
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the good things in life...
Posted this before, but "discovering Richard Armitage" via the Hobbit will always be a favorite memory - idly reading about the "casting controversy" (since it had been a lousy year and I certainly hadn't been paying attention to the "casting controversy" or any entertainment in general), and indifferently clicking an article link and seeing a version of this:
And having my jaw hit the floor. All the mythology and folklore books I had ever read, and all the images I had ever had of these beings seemed to come to life. Plus, I knew Thorin, I'd read the Hobbit - one of the Hobbit "garden gnomes". LOL I remember flipping back and forth between the image and the article, reading more closely and with some considerable energy, and *cough* thinking the "protesting" Hobbit fans were nuts    .
This:
or at best:
vs. THAT? My whole life changed. And I had only vaguely even heard of Richard Armitage.....
So...since then, we have discovered, among other RA things:
Which since has been bought and handed out to the family, to rave reviews . Not to mention discovering a talent that it is, for me, a rare joy to listen to, to hear thoughts from, in that I rarely pay much attention to actors. I can never see, most of the time, why anything they have to say is more important than anyone else's thoughts. But listening to Richard is always, always fascinating. He reminds me of our slow-moving southern streams, all sunlight and calm and gentle water on the surface, but underneath there are deep currents and eddies swirling waters. RA seems wonderful as a person, just the kind of person you'd love to share a bottle of wine with on a summer evening, and just talk. And I wish him all the best and glad he is having a good year with much success (if an exhausting year!)
Posted before I am sure, but out of all his interviews love the Popcorn taxi interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVvR4S7Jys4
And re Thorin, from an article:
Armitage first heard about The Hobbit after Sir Peter Jackson contacted the actor's agent. Jackson asked if Armitage could read for the part of Thorin. "I thought, first of all, I'm six foot two [1.8 metres] and Thorin's an old guy. Maybe they want me to read it for a general audition.
"But then when I read what they'd done with the audition speech I realised that they were looking for something quite different. They needed someone who could play a warrior, who could play a young Thorin and old Thorin and also to bring the idea of somebody who could return to his full potential to become a king. That's when I sat down with Peter and we talked through the journey and the arc of the character – and then they offered it to me. I had to pick myself up off the floor."
Due to the long shoot, Armitage says he had to then juggle other acting projects so he could spend a long time in New Zealand. He was determined to do it, even when there were several months when The Hobbit was in limbo due to the machinations involving the studios. "I just couldn't watch somebody else playing this role that had nearly been mine. I had to play him. I had to do it– and at that point the film wasn't green lit.
It's a sorrow *sigh* for me - and to many 'round the world - as the glorious ride of these films winds up. I suspect there is more that RA would like to do with his career, and suspect - as he has already commented - he'll be talking about Thorin for a long time. Because while looking back think that those who knew of RA (not me!!!) probably accepted he would do a good-to-great job, IMO as I've learned about his voice work and commitment and just watching the films, RA has given us IMO a Thorin for the ages - "the complex, wildly charismatic" dwarf leader.
So I'm gonna repost this widely-distributed Thorin image, 'coz IMO it is one of the most beautiful images I have ever seen, and was originally tweeted in honor of Richard's birthday. Richard talks about being able to know a character through the eyes, and certainly think this is the case here, as well as with the "blue image" of Thorin.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD!!! And welcome to the U.S., I for one hope you love it here .
"If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together" - Thorin, The Desolation of Smaug.
Thorinitis: Just that smokey barbecue sizzle on a bed of hot embers on a chill autumn night voice making you do things.
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Kim
Valinor
Aug 22 2014, 5:14am
Post #4 of 28
(726 views)
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That's quite an idea to ponder, isn't it? 
Happy birthday to Richard!
“Will you follow me, one last time?”
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Kim
Valinor
Aug 22 2014, 5:16am
Post #5 of 28
(717 views)
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Great post Avandel, thanks! :-) //
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“Will you follow me, one last time?”
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Elanor of Rohan
Lorien
Aug 22 2014, 9:16am
Post #6 of 28
(720 views)
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And he's been just nominated for the Ice Bucket Challenge
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a moment many of us had been waiting for since this challenges started...
Who will Richard nominate (by the way Luke Evans nominated Sir Ian!!)?
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Aug 22 2014, 11:47am
Post #7 of 28
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Kind of like a birthday present for all of us!
__________________
If this is to end in barrels, then we will all shampoo together.
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Aug 22 2014, 1:56pm
Post #8 of 28
(706 views)
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And thank you for understanding the gist of the post without me having to be *coughobvious* about it. 
If that thing did work, I would shake his hand, wish him well on his birthday and thank him for the hours of smiles, tears and everything in between I've enjoyed through his work.
May his (dwarf) beard grow ever longer.
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Aug 22 2014, 2:07pm
Post #9 of 28
(697 views)
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Man, I wish I could pull Richard out of the computer like that!!!
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Aug 22 2014, 2:08pm
Post #10 of 28
(697 views)
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"Will you look back at me, one last time?" Squeeeeeeeee!!!!!
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Brethil
Half-elven
Aug 22 2014, 3:14pm
Post #11 of 28
(686 views)
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And many happy returns to Richard. I do so enjoy his work and he seems to be a really lovely person.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 22 2014, 4:19pm
Post #13 of 28
(691 views)
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Many happy returns of the day, Richard!
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And for those who are interested in such things, he joined Twitter last night. His first post: him blowing out the candle on a cupcake.
His second, a few hours later, was something about needing a table for 9,000 and a bigger cake...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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cats16
Half-elven
Aug 22 2014, 8:38pm
Post #14 of 28
(668 views)
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He seems like such a wonderful person. Many happy returns for our Company's leader.
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Dwarewien
Rohan
Aug 22 2014, 9:55pm
Post #15 of 28
(664 views)
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Silly me, I forgot to wish Richard a Happy Birthday...
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though it wasn't technically his birthday yet (perhaps in England), so I guess it's okay to do so now. Looks like we're a year and three days apart again (I'm still amazed at how close in age we are, and born on the same day of the week, since my birthday was also on a Friday. Probably because both June and September have 30 days, so you lose two days, so perhaps that's why July 25th and August 22nd always fall on the same day of the week).
Hope you have a great day. I would bake you a cake, but I wouldn't know where to send it (cookies are probably a better bet, since there's a good chance they would make it to their destination in one piece. Cake or cupcakes? Not so much).
And thanks for the info Derwyn, now can somebody show me how to get my tweets to end up in the proper place instead of just in my profile (this is why I don't use Twitter much, even though I've had an account for a while. Longer than Facebook, to tell you the honest truth)?
Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long-forgotten gold.
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Aug 23 2014, 6:48pm
Post #16 of 28
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That's a lovely post, Avandel!
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I think that RA had a great birthday and used it to make people happy. First, he joined Twitter and, in an article about it in The Huffington Post, he said he had finally done this to highlight his charities and to thank his fans after all the support they had given him over the years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...ge-jo_b_5698000.html
Then he went on stage and gave his all in another great performance in The Crucible. During the play, someone in the FRONT ROW, which is right on the stage, was seen TEXTING and the oldest actor there at the time who was playing Giles Corey (wonderful performance) gave her a put-down whilst still in character. Good for him! I bet that gave RA a laugh afterwards:
Ciara Bergin (@ciara_l_b)
2014-08-23 14:01
The Crucible last night also contained the most seamless takedown ever (in character) of audience member, texting, in front row.
Michaela Servetus (@servetusra)
2014-08-23 14:54
@ciara_l_b what happened?
Ciara Bergin (@ciara_l_b)
2014-08-23 15:06
@servetusra court scene, William Gaunt ranting at the crowd, then turned and pointed directly at her. Guy playing guard also tutted at her
There have been so many mobiles going off - once, three separate mobiles went off one after the other - and in a separate case, the person actually ANSWERED - that it must give the actors some satisfaction when a naughty person is cornered like this, LOL!
Then, after the play, he went as usual, to meet the queue at the stage door. He wasn't dressed casually but in a 3-piece suit, much to everyone's surprise. This is when he announced that he was going to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for 3 charities: his Twitter account obviously came into good use on its first day. He sat down and three of the young cast tipped a bucket of ice water over him.
Now, I don't know how many got the joke but other actors have been doing this in a thin white T-shirt so that the water shows up all their abs. I don't know if everyone is aware of the expression but, if you do something in your 'birthday suit', then you do it naked, LOL. One step further, don't you think? And he certainly did it in his birthday suit!
Then he returned to his Twitter feed. Now, this surprised me because he said he would never go on Twitter and that he was hopeless at such technology anyway. But, he seemed to have got it under control, doing a lot of retweeting even and giving publicity to his film, Into the Storm. And I'm sure that this might be one reason why he was persuaded to take it on. I hope that he has some good news about new jobs for us in the near future.
And then he finally went to sleep, quoting a line from a Kate Bush song:
"Let me be weak, let me sleep, and dream of sheep".
Interestingly, the song is about a drowning woman in the middle of the ocean. Is this something to do with his fear of water and the Ice Bucket Challenge?
He now has about 21,000 followers after only two days. You'll be pleased to know that he has listed who he is following and one of them is TORn.
I thought that, like most other actors, his page would be boring, only listing the odd bit of information. But, I think his might prove to be quite entertaining. Today, just minutes before the afternoon performance when he also has to perform in the evening too, he put up a photo of all the medication he uses to keep sore throats and colds at bay. I had wondered, LOL.
Here is his Twitter page where you will find this photo and a video of the Challenge. Have fun!
https://twitter.com/RCArmitage
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Aug 23 2014, 11:08pm
Post #17 of 28
(652 views)
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Richard and Martin did that showtime bit back for AUJ where both of them asked each other "do you get twitter" and both of them said "no". Richard caved first. My bet is Martin will never cave. I laughed yesterday when I signed on and saw RA had a twitter account because of that interview.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 24 2014, 12:17am
Post #18 of 28
(639 views)
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with the two of them asking each other the questions!
No, Martin's PR people have probably forbidden him from ever going on Twitter, because every tweet would probably have at least one, as they say, "f-bomb"...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Aug 24 2014, 2:38am
Post #19 of 28
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There's one quote out there already from Amanda (not sure if it's true or not) where she told him he couldn't have twitter because of the things he says. He would say all kinds of crabby, politically incorrect things that would get him in trouble in a hot hurry.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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Avandel
Half-elven
Aug 26 2014, 2:00am
Post #20 of 28
(619 views)
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And I just checked - over 26,000 Twitter followers.
I actually think - being private myself especially online - that Twitter as the same attraction for RA as it does for me - you can reach a lot of people, post images, but you can control stuff much more than FB. It's the compromise for us folks who DON'T want to FB re all its security issues and maybe it's too much, so Twitter is a nice compromise without being full e-mail.
Think Twitter is a great medium for entertainers and anyone in the public eye who wants to reach out or let fans know they matter, but doesn't need the deluge/stalkers/FB hassle.
I'm glad he's Tweeting! Yeah!
"If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together" - Thorin, The Desolation of Smaug.
Thorinitis: Just that smokey barbecue sizzle on a bed of hot embers on a chill autumn night voice making you do things.
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Aug 26 2014, 7:41pm
Post #21 of 28
(611 views)
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and even quite useful. We've discovered that he is doing a photoshoot for The Hobbit on Wednesday morning and he has started a silly competition connected with his beard. Today, Tuesday, we have also discovered that he is in the studio with Pure New Zealand, doubtless filming a travel advert for them to go with the release of the EE or Hobbit3.
Richard Armitage ‏@rcarmitage 22m
@purenewzealand enjoying working in the studio with you guys today. Makes me miss NZ.
He has also tweeted details of all his charities and thanked people for their contributions:
Richard Armitage @RCArmitage · Aug 25
You take my breath away....all of you. Hadn't even finished my sentence before the donations started. Thank you.
And then, 30 minutes before last night's performance, he tweeted the bad news: that night's production had been cancelled. All that the theatre could offer was a refund and a free drink in the bar since the production is otherwise sold out. There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth, let me tell you, especially from all those poor people who had flown from halfway around the world to see just this play.
RA came into the bar to apologise and chat with people which helped a bit. A school party who had been dragged to see the play, felt that they had got a good deal after they met him.
Tonight everything is OK and the theatre claims that it was an electrical fault, although suspicions are that the roof suffered a leak in torrential rain yesterday.
Isn't this Twitter fun, LOL?!
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Dwarewien
Rohan
Aug 26 2014, 8:44pm
Post #22 of 28
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Can someone show me how to use Twitter?
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because that's why I don't use it much. I don't know how to get my tweets to show up in the proper place (though they show up in my profile, but nowhere else)? Do I have to include the hash tag or what? I have both a Facebook and Twitter account, and I think Facebook is more useful when you have to post a longer comment, since Twitter only gives you about 90 characters or so. On one of the birthday threads on The Hobbit Facebook page for example, somebody asked why they couldn't pre-order the DVD for the Extended Edition for DoS. I replied that it will only be a Walmart Exclusive. I guess I'm not the only one that can't afford to upgrade (though I'm hoping to by November). Though my username on Facebook is similar to TORN (except it's all lower case and all one word. Though I don't mind if it's displayed elsewhere, I don't like to use my real name as usernames. Too dangerous), my username on Twitter is seamistress (I've had the account since April 2009, and if it's not related to a particular fandom, I just use general usernames, mostly related to the ocean). I see that one of RA's followers (or responders, I didn't really look, since I would have to be logged on first) has the same avatar as I'm now using on TORN (in contrast, my Twitter profile picture is a bunch of kitties in a basket, and my header is the same picture as the one on Thorin Oakenshield.net, but in color. I made it on the official Hobbit site before they changed it over to BoFA). As for the security issues? The only personal information I have on Facebook is my real name, birthdate and gender. I left my location out, and the only location I put in my Twitter profile is my country.
Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To find our long-forgotten gold.
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Aug 26 2014, 9:02pm
Post #23 of 28
(601 views)
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I hope someone answers your questions
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because I would quite like to know these things too. I don't belong to Twitter - I just follow a few feeds. But, perhaps now that RA has joined, I might be tempted.
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Ham_Sammy
Tol Eressea
Aug 27 2014, 2:09am
Post #24 of 28
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will show up on your own profile timeline
on the timeline of anyone that follows you
on a hashtag that you put on your tweet
on the page of anyone you @
so yes if you want your tweets for instance to show up on a RA hashtag you would need to do #RichardArmitage or #RA or #RAbirthday or whatever hashtag you are trying to tweet. In general you put the hashtag after your comment. And yes, it's only 120characters and can be annoying because honestlyl you really can't say much.
Thank you for your questions, now go sod off and do something useful - Martin Freeman Twitter chat 3/1/13
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Yes, it is, isn't it.
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