The Hobbit - Forgiving and Forgiveness

With my last post, I was rather harsh with my critique of the religious aspect of "The Hobbit", as it is written and composed by J.R.R. Tolkien.
I hold that grudge for a while now and was really astonished to find the book such a recommended literature for moral guidance of young teens, when in my opinion it did not give one single useful instruction or aspect to find a way in my own life.

The Hobbit film in comparison, made lots of the non-existent background in the story perceptible, the characters understandable, though still, their life is quite far apart from our daily experiences.
I would like to have seen my last boss, if I had taken up a sword and held him at bay, when his demands became strange and unreasonable.
Perhaps such a cave like Golum's would work for him?
What a pleasant idea that is ;o) - Just joking! I am really a rather nice person, or at least I thought to be, till I went in to see the film.
Yes, not the film, but what transpired before it began, changed my mind about myself a great bit.
I was forgiven by the person, who I wronged, but the difficult part is inside myself.
I have not forgiven myself for acting in such a way.

As this now had quite some time to grow and nag inside of me, I turned it around, observed and analysed it from all sides and still came out with no solution.
But the nagging inside of me brought me to combine two things together, which brought me to new answers, even if not to the solution of my initial problem.
Like Servetus on her blog so wonderfully describes seeing parallels in RA's roles with one's own life as a very helpful method to understand more of one's own problems.
And that I did ... - though the past cannot be changed, whatever the intentions or resolutions come up with.

But now to the answers and no more about my unchangeable problem:

What, if Thorin Oakenshield had regrets about the past, even if they were only small ones', like a bad word to his ill/mad grandfather or not obeying his father in a little thing, before the dragon Smaug came and captured their land?
He would not, if he were anything like me, be able to ever let go of the past in that case.
I remember my faults of when I was 4 years old, especially when I am down and depressed and then I have nightmares about them all combined or separately, just how they can strike me best.
How much more must a lost land, unprotected and dead grandfather and lost father bind Thorin Oakenshield to his past, must haunt him in nightmares, must nag at him with questions of what if's?

We only had glimpses into this depths in RA's eyes. I am looking forward to more of it in the future parts, to the abyss he will reveal on the further journey, to the fight outside and within himself, that makes him such a great character, though a very hard role to play. I have the highest respect for Richard Armitage that he took this character to such heights and took his haunted background up to full extent.

This for me is also the element, where the film starts with much more depths than the a bit funny Thorin Oakenshield of the book, always getting into a mess whenever he commands, could ever hope to have.
This is where I am exceedingly thankful, that this material got into the able hands of Sir Peter Jackson and his team, who made this a story with a moral, though enjoyably not in an instructive, but in a very entertaining and interesting way.

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A behind the scenes footage about "The Hobbit" I enjoyed very much, but which contains many (!) SPOILERS:



Collider.com (04.12.2012): 20 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Footage from the Making of THE HOBBIT by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub

Merry Christmas and Thank You to all my Fandom Friends ...

Fandom changed in the last year......
Some of my fandom friends have retired from fandom, for different reasons, others still hold strong.
I remember all my friends especially at this time of the year and enclose them in my prayers, my well wishes and include them in my good thoughts and hopes for the new year to come.

Have happy, relaxed and enjoyable holidays 

and wonderful Christmas days !

May the New Year be full of joy for you!

Thorin & A Lot More

[ CONTAINS "The Hobbit" SPOILERS ! ]

Before I start with this article, I must add that I neither can, nor intend to do a full review about "The Hobbit".
The article is completely based on my personal experience watching the film (3D 48frs) and so far seeing it one time only (though I would like to see it numerous more times).

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What got me started with my ramblings, musings and just letting my thought drift off on various subjects, was

Gratiana Lovelace on Facebook (16.12.12), who asked the following questions:

1)  Most favourite and least favourite moments?
2)  What surprised you about "The Hobbit"?
3)  If you were the director, is there anything you would do differently and why?

Those questions got me to think, what I would answer and in the following got me started on my more in depths analysis of the film experience.

The easy part was, what I like most:

1. The heroic appearance and behaviour of Thorin Oakenshield at the beginning, setting his 'royal' and 'worthy' background for the rest of the story.
   (As I find Thorin a rather comic and involuntary funny and not to be taken serious leader in the book, I was surprised by this valuable characterisation of Thorin Oakenshield in the film.)
   
   What - strangely and surprisingly for me - I like least about "The Hobbit", is the embracing at the end, though I appreciate the way it is done. (I come back to it in point 3, though I am not sure, I would make it any better with my interference.)
   
2. Really surprised I was, that well halfway through the film, suddenly somebody seemd to start snoring next to me in the audience. It took some more strange sounds to alert me, that suddenly I became aware of the new surround sound, which really made you believe you were sitting in the middle of the action. - So no real snoring ;o) How could one fall asleep while watching that wonderful film?
   
3. What I would make differently if I could (and knew what I was doing in such a complex surrounding like the filming of "The Hobbit") is:
   In the embracing scene between Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, I would take away some of the prosthetic layers on Thorin's face.
   Here is the only moment I really got annoyed with the mask, while in all other scenes, I was quite happy, what emotions RA could transmit though having his face heavily covered.
   I know he wants to portray a stony faced warrior in that scene breaking down with emotion, but still, I would like to see that (or rather more of that).
   [Perhaps, I did not get a too good look at this scene during the first watching, because I was much too surprised that Thorin Oakenshield would really get emotional and embrace Bilbo. I must have a closer look the next time.]

What I, with answering those questions, did not mention so far is, the most impressive moment, where all the technology and image density made complete sense to me, was the moment the eagles flew like the rulers of the world.
I want to see this again, each layer of the feathers, each movement, the landscape and enjoy this freedom and heavenly peace all over again.

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One thing I was astonished about in other reviews about "The Hobbit" was that the time spent in Rivendell was seen as too long.
I did not have that impression at all. May be because I only saw the first part of "Lord of the Rings" and wanted to explore each well crafted detail of this setting to full extent and would like to, like Mr. Armitage told he did before starting filming, go through the created set, see and discover each crafted piece, see the drafts and models for it and how they turned into the end result of this beautiful stage.

The other reason why I saw this sequence completely appropriate in its timing and slowing down of the pace is, because this so well shows the different mentality of hectic and active dwarves who grab the opportunity when it comes and stumble into danger, which they can't control or oversee and where they might not be able to stop in time. They are forceful and fierce warriors.

In contrast, the elves are thoughtful, don't speak before they heavily evaluated each aspect and think they are the better people for it. So, in a way arrogant in their presumed nobility, which allows them to live their life in comfortable, comfort enjoying pace.
In comparison, the dwarves have no sense for these comforts (except their own food) and no patience with the slow pace of the elves, which in the end brings Thorin Oakenshield to leave them with his men and not await any long thought through resolution or compromise the elves might have come up with at the end.
Thorin wants to act, not discuss and debate his quest.

I find especially that change of the tempo of the film very well composed and each moment at Rivendell showed one different aspect, why elves and dwarves just don't get along too well.
Especially the debates I found quite amusing, imagining what Thorin would have done if he would have been allowed to join the discussions and little mind fights.

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Further Points:

Initiated by RA's interpretation and connecting the dwarves to the Jewish race, I followed the thought through further and found parallels to other parts of societies / peoples in "The Hobbit", which make sense, but seem so flattened out, that I won't mention them, as in most aspects, they are not overly favourable or a positive or even hopeful interpretation of the world.

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What I could not appreciate in full, are the cave scenes of "The Hobbit".
They are full of action (like an action game) and considering my slow eyes go into emergency mode - that means, they reduce the image to movement impressions and when there is lots of movement at the same time, just reduce the input of information further.
So to appreciate any of the realistic special effects and the part of the actors here, means for me to having to see this part many more times.
Once is not nearly enough, but just a blur in my memory, though at the time I was impressed by the detail all this movement still reached on screen.

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The one thing lots of J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis (Narnia) interpretations don't mention, that they were not happy or hopeful interpreters of their time. This is the reason why I so much appreciate RA's reference to WWI as background for Tolkien to write this story.
Thorin is no hero, neither is the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, but they struggle to make sense of a world around them, which makes no sense.
They try to fight for their little space to make a living and have a 'home', each in their own way and ideology.
The motive of small men thrown out into an unfriendly world they can't influence, but which means gravest danger, allows them to become heroes or to fail, for no ulterior motive or no goal or sense in life.

This also is part of the reason, why I never liked either "Lord of the Rings", "The Hobbit", nore the "Narnia Chronicles", when I read them.
They have no goal or sense of promise of redemption, but are just brutal fights for their own right.
No goal of redemption, doing right by some measure of morality (which does not exist or at least not in a way one would expect in the writing of either author, who are seen as leading Christian literature for teens).
No bravery (though doing what is necessary could be rated in that way, but I don't, as all characters are pushed into their position and just act and react upon it and not out of a conscious sense of bravery and trying to be strong or do the 'right' thing, but doing what must be done).
No reflection upon the morality or rightfulness of their doing, just puppets in a greater game they have no means to understand.

This is the reason, why I find the connection to WWI so important, to the sense of inevitability, of helplessness, of having to do what must be done.

When I think back of reports about the wars from my family, that so much resembles their experience of the time, thought they stood at the opposite side of J.R.R. Tolkien and his friends.

The worst critique I have for the two authors, I combined even before I knew they were friends, is:
Their writing has no hope, no goal, no change for the better, just a respite from the worst, a delay from the winning of unclear, hateful, yet not legitimized or legally banned bad forces for some time longer.

This hopelessness, the never changing ritual of fight of the good against the bad forces, makes me avoid the authors, though I see their writing in a way as a time document.
They depress me enormously and make me search the more for a reason for life, for joy, for rightful and good behaviour, beside a just temporarily appearing wizzard / lion, giving sense like a doctrine or a 'deus ex machina' from the Antiquity.

I don't believe in such a haughty, self-obsessed position of G*d, but in a loving, caring and freedom loving G*d, having a reason for each single one of us.
So my outlook to life is much more hopeful, much friendlier, much more joyful, than either J.R.R. Tolkien's or C.S. Lewis' could ever be.
I hate the spreading of depression and giving it an almost religious meaning, prolonging and manifesting a for me hateful image of G*d.
In principle, I do think we can make things better in future, not making the same mistakes all over again like I see it in those authors' work. (Not that we do make things better, but at least that we get the G*d given option and not follow a pre-set path of fate, that repeats itself over and over again.)
J.R.R. Tolkine and C.S.Lewis give me no hope, that except for a daily fight between good and evil forces, nothing will ever change, just the participants of the fight, not the attitude, not the fierceness, nothing ... forever ... till the last day of creation and the end of time.

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P.S.:
Just perhaps need to explain, that all the fuss in J.R.R. Tolkien's work as well as the Narnia Chronicles with lots of pretended ulterior motives like brotherhood, loyalty, honor, 'religious believe' in something, to build a forceful army and strong fighting unit, for me are just absolutely empty and senseless motives, created to get the story along, but not in a way to build a hopeful future or religious mind system upon. So therefore I always, even when I read the "Narnia Chronicles" and "Lord of the Rings" years ago and discovered that they were the recommended literature for a Christian youth, found them dangerously violent in the name of an empty believe system.
They explain nothing and build nothing in a creative, hopeful, understanding and future building way.

Yes, he indeed is ...

Yesterday, I spoke about Mr. Armitage as a miracle.
Now, after seeing "The Hobbit" and the late interviews with him about it, I can definitely say, he is.

Richard Armitage interviewed in London (YouTube - RACentral, 12.12.12), predicts my reaction to seeing the film (at about [3:00]):

It ["The Hobbit" film by Sir Peter Jackson] will make you want to come back and see it again.

Seeing it once is not nearly enough.
I want to see the film again and again and again to grab every little and lovingly created detail of the film. It is so much a world of its own - and you know, I don't really like J.R.R. Tolkien's story of "The Hobbit", but I very much like, what Sir Peter Jackson made of it.

I won't reveal anything about Thorin or the story now, when some of you did not yet have a chance to see the film so far, but can reveal that I have not been left down in my high expectations and entirely love the first part.
Too long? Whoever said or implied that, did not get the grip of the story. Every second is well worth it and it ended much too soon for my liking.
What I don't like about J.R.R. Tolkiens story, gets a sense, a connection and is embedded in its background, to make it a round and sound story with full grown characters, which - sorry J.R.R.Tolkien fans - it is not in the author's version.

I can also report and assure you, I had no sign of motion sickness during the eintire film! (Saw it in 48fr 3D) And I must admit, I am heavily plagued with it and mostly remember places we visited in my childhood because of ... (I won't get into any more details ;o)

IngeD3 posted a wonderful report about her seeing "The Hobbit" here. (Without spoilers, so can safely be read, even if you have not seen the film yet.)

So have fun with "The Hobbit" and if you like, share your own experiences with me.

Mr. Armitage is a Miracle !

Almost one year ago, I wrote something, which came back to me in a clash, when I read a late interview with Mr. Armitage about his role as Thorin Oakenshield in "The Hobbit".

You know, I especially admire his singing as revealed in the trailer published on December 21st 2011. New video of the song published by The1neRing on YouTube:


RA's comment about what he intended and what image he had in his mind when singing this song, attracted my closest attention:


RA was asked the following question in the L'Ecran Fantastique Interview, 24.11.2012:
Which are your favourite Thorin moments that we will get to see in this first episode?

[...] this song all the Dwarves sing together in front of Bilbo is a moment of fervour almost religious in nature, which marks the beginning of their quest towards the Blue (sic - Misty) Mountains. When I recorded this song, I imagined it had been sung to Thorin time and time again when he was still a little baby in his crib, and that it also aroused a strong emotional identification amongst the other Dwarves. [...] It's a very beautiful sequence.
(Quoted after Lexie171170's translation for RichardArmitageNet.com) 

Why especially this quote, when in his latest interviews, RA might have told lots of more spectacular things?

Because for me it holds the quintessence of what makes Mr. Armitage so singular and for me so important in my life. For me, this small comment shows the greatness of RA's talent.

If you compare my comment about what I experienced in reaction to RA singing this song at the end of my last year's christmas wish post, you will understand, that the similarity of the projected image just hit me like a thunderbolt.


How can he send me such an intense picture with his voice alone - and not with his normal speaking voice, but with the limited, because strongly regulated, repertoire of his singing voice?
How can he, as actor, tell a whole story with his voice alone?


I had the image of a child in the crib in my mind, while hearing him sing this song.

And I think I have mentioned, I am not the most visual of persons, as my eyes are rather lazy and build pictures comparably slow and rudimentary.
So you will understand, that I was quite stunned, when Mr. Armitage in the interview revealed this image, which seemed to come right out of my head ;o)

This marks a really great actor
and was the most stunning fan-experience for me.
The effect of the song, whenever I hear it, is devastating on all my senses and this song alone will guarantee that the evening of seeing "The Hobbit" today, is well spent.
(I still hope, Sir Peter Jackson will consider a separate production of songs accompanying the marketing of "The Hobbit": "The History of the Dwarves, sung by their king Thorin Oakenshield, i.e. Richard Armitage).


I gladly spend the day, celebrating such a wonderful actor.
As I have mentioned, I don't care if the film is good (the only thing I hope is, that I will not suffer motion thickness like I did in the 3D "Ring of Fire" production, of which I was not even able to see 1/3, but it will not stop me from hearing the song in super - what is it called? - surround quality ;o) ).

I go to celebrate Mr. Armitage today !

Cheers and I hope you all can join in on the celebrations soon !!!

Source: http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1902/1902616gzigibv9ox.jpg

Happy RA-Day celebrations to you all!

CD and The Hobbit Premiere

EDITED: Sorry, the full replay is no longer available, but only a one minute teaser. Please look for Interviews with Mr. Armitage at the YouTube Channel of RichardArmitageNet.com !

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After a long while, I am converted The Hobbit follower and even stayed up tonight, to see the premiere event live. Here is the event in replay, if you did not have a chance to see or access it live:

Enjoy the dashingly handsome RA (I never before called him so, but he is devastatingly so on the red carpet) ;o)

Two Years and ...

Two years and not a little bit wiser?

I thought about comparing me now with me in the age of two years, but except from fears I hade, I do not have an all too close rememberance of that time. As I don't want to bring up my fears from back then - they are enough during nightmares - and, as far as I know, I do not even have a picture from myself in that age, that is not so adequate for this special moment of two years of admiRAtion.


So I dismissed my first approach to two years of blogging, as I thought that does not really cover it all.

Perhaps it can describe me (at least the "not a little bit wiser" part)  ;o)
but surely not my magnifold experiences in and with fandom.

Two years and lots of RA ?

No, that surely can't be. It was not nearly enough for my taste ;o)

Two years and ... lots of experiences ?

That surely gets closer to the point now.


The two years brought me a wide variety of experiences, lovely contacts and friends and a dear advisor and confidant, who's opinion I value very much and would not have had the least chance to meet without fandom. (I hope you know who you are. I don't want to openly name you here.)


I am so very grateful for the experiences of the last two years,
the growing confidence,
the feeling of togetherness,
the feeling of being whole and right where and how I am,
the experience of support and helpfulness,
the friendship that makes this whole experience and effort of blogging worthwhile.

Thank you for being there and being the supportive and interested friends you are !!!

Let's celebrate together with RA:

John Mulligan celebrates with us ;o)
Screencap from "Drowning not Waving" (Moving on) -
  Source: RANet.com (edited)

The Hobbit & Zazzle & Charity

Now I have figured out, that referral fees for "The Hobbit" and other products in the Zazzle shop are possible, not only the CDoart-products.
I set the link up to enable referral income, which, like RichardArmitageNet.com's Amazon-links, will accumulate income for Mr. Armitage's suggested charities.

If you would like to buy "The Hobbit" products or other products from Zazzle, please consider using the following referral links (remain constantly available in the left sidebar):

Direct shop links:

The Hobbit

Lord of the Rings

CDoart

In the menu or via the main Zazzle logo on those special shop-sites you can swith to the whole product assortment of Zazzle. Income for charity will be gained from all Zazzle-sales, not only the theme-shops.
All referral income will go to Mr. Armitage's suggested charities.

Thank you for all your help!

King Richard & Magic

King Richard magically appeared again this year, in the media and hopefully also for real, when the mtDNA can confirm the archaeological find.

But what has King Richard III, who is magic, especially in combination with Mr. Armitage and his intended project of a film, to do with magic?

Servetus researches this in a week of pure magic:

King Richard Magic Week 2012

See her first post, analysing the question: Was Richard III really threatened by witchcraft?

New Suggestion for King Richard III ...

If the English towns can't decide where to bury King Richard III, I would suggest some neutral ground.
Perhaps Bavaria?
You smile? - Believe me, it really would have some points in its favour, e.g.

• it has rough climate, which is associated with the English north,

• the people are naturally grumpy, which also is said to be part of the Northern mentality of England,

• Bavaria has lovely catholic churches enough to chose from

• it is neutral ground, as King Richard had no bad experiences, enmities or betraials from Bavarians whatsoever

• and in addition, Bavarians nowadays love their Kings, even when they had their bad sides as well

• Bavarians only revolted and rose up, when their kings tried to swap or sell them or the kings had 'affairs de coeur' outside their marriage, so King Richard is at no danger at all here.

Füssen - Artificial lake in front of Castle Neuschwanstein

King Richard really could feel at home in Bavaria and relax.

As both towns, Leicester and York temporarily were against King Richard and his family, Bavaria, which never opposed him, but together with the emperor even sent some soldiers to his aid, really could start a 'rescue party' ;o)


I sit back and am curiously watching the escalating fight with now a new party.  (I must extend my rose analogy somehow, as now there are Westminster, York, Leicester and Worksop, fighting more or less for the king.)

In my opinion the whole fighting has one really good side, it keeps King Richard III at the top of the news, when otherwise the interest would have gone down, till the results of the mtDNA research come in. So it is an excellent marketing technique for our 'forgotten' king under a carpark and seems like he has his hands in it somehow.

But regarding otherworldly and magical influences, we will hear more soon ...
After all, Halloween is fast approaching ;o)

Roses and Spam

Did I ever pretend that I understand the internet?

Lately, I encounter a flood of Spam comments here, not about any word closely spammy, but no, because of the word 'roses'.

If roses would go by any other name, ...

The spammers even, as far as I can make out, come from one single country, where roses do not grow easily, but need a lot of artificial watering and protection.
Do they want to clear the field for their glass house flowers and instruct spammers to do the dirty work to later be able to flood the market?
Whatever the reasons, it still is strange and bothersome. But right now, this country, otherwise not or only accidentally appearing in my visitors list, suddenly jumped to place one of my visitors statistics.

So what is to do, to get the spamers in check? Avoid the word roses? No!


On the contrary, I like roses, especially the old and wild ones. I even have two roses with a name and the smell of the rose du Resht just is .... a dream ...

Rose de Malmaison

Rose du Resht

New War of the Roses...

... only this time, there are three roses involved.
Should this tell us somehow, that there is a freemasons' conspiracy behind this all?

Even "Spooks" visually brought in the topic in connection to politics, by placing the Home Secretary William Towers (= Simon Russell Beale) in front of a freemasons window with different significant symbols.

York for sure is the white rose,
Leicester might take over the red rose from Lancaster, as it is where the victor placed King Richard III,
but what colour would the third rose have?

If we follow the freemasons symbolism, it has to be a pink rose.

The underlying symbolism behind the three roses:

White = The beginning, the birth, the start into life, the purity, the innocence
Pink = the life itself, its joys, as well as worries and burdens, the mixture of light and darkness in reality
Red = the death, the ending, the resolution to it all, the fulfillment

These are only a few of the potential readings of these symbols, but I don't want to give you a lecture about the freemasons roses, but about the new War of the Roses.

Leicester, York and Westminster (London) are fighting over King Richard III.

Leicester = red
York = white
London = pink

In a poll on KRA you now can chose freely where you would see the fitting resting place for King Richard III. As supporters of King Richard III, we have discovered our king long before politicians and the marketing departments of the tourism industry.

Read more about the positive and negative aspects of each location and the background of the poll on KRA.

Only the best place for King Richard !


P.S.: My opinion on a state funeral. He has endured so much already, he will bear this with good grace as well ;o)

Laboratories and Their Historical Reliability

The last week(s) were a wonderful row of discoveries.
For me, though lots of work tried to overthrow me, this time was phenomenally interesting.

Richard III - Cardiff Castle
Source: Flickr (Leo Reynolds)

For me Philippa Langley, the major force behind the whole developments around King Richard III, brought back a strong optimism with her message:

Believe in your dreams!

Now it is up to laboratories to prove, if the found human remains really belong to King Richard III.
But...

Has there always to be a 'but' for CDoart?

Yes, and even a large one,
as the laboratory can only research our expectations.

That means, expectations and research in two directions,

• first premisse is, that Mr. Michael Ibsen really is a relative in the female line of King Richard III

• and second, that the human remains, as connected to Mr. Ibsen with the mtDNA, belong to King Richard III.

As it is, even if the laboratorial research would not prove the connection, I would not entirely see the possibility gone, that the found human remains still belong to King Richard III.
As a matter of fact, the female line in general is a very badly documented one, the more the research of Dr. Ashdown-Hill (interview on KRA here) is immensely impressive to me.
Females did not inherit the main estates or were seen as main heirs and so documentation except for marriages, often is quite scarce. Also, un-recorded adoptions of relatives' siblings were not uncommon, especially in the non-inheriting female line.
To gap 17 generations, a reliable female line can have various sources of disruption.

So in my view, it would be absolutely miraculous, if the laboratorial research would confirm the archaeological and historical indications.


Though the research of the mitochondrial DNA in general is technically a reliable one, there are enough factors which might cause errors, that I would not put my entire trust in it, should it result in no match. I see it more as one piece in a puzzle, not the whole solution of this already far grown picture.

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Special Reading Tip:

Fitzg - Canada and King Richard III - Fitzg wonderfully describes her reactions and musings to yesterday's discoveries on the KingRichardArmitage website!

Leporello at a Loss...

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... or why Leporello would not do as servant for King Richard III.

Leporello, the servant of Don Juan, had to register all the love interests of his master.
You say, King Richard III was monogamous and was faithful to his wife?

Admittedly, the known love interests of King Richard III most likely would not even fill one page, much less an endless page like in a leporello folded book.
So why do I compare King Richard III to Don Juan and even say, Leporello would not even be able to keep book?

Because King Richard III has over 900 supporters by now !

Imagine the folded book of Leporello trying to keep track of that number.
Either he would need to have an excessively small handwriting, good indexing, to find the required names again, or he would need our website KingRichardArmitage, to cope with us all - us supporters of King Richard Armitage and our film petition.

We also intend to grow further.
What would Leporello invent, or would he just swap his booklet for an iPhone or computer, to register all of us signers of the petition?
I had problems imagining the servant of Don Juan with an iPhone ;o) but modern theatre performances surely will invent something to cope and bridge the understanding gap for the problems he had with registering all the amorous interests of Don Juan for today's theatre goers.

Fortunately we don't have such problems with the Petition for King Richard Armitage and the film about King Richard III by Richard Armitage. We can bridge the time gap of over 500 years.

Thank you for all your support 

and please do not stop spreading the word about it further !

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King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 7)


Guest of the day is the Richard III Foundation, Inc. with wonderful articles, which shed more light on the character of King Richard III, which, with the few reliable resources is no easy research. But Joe Ann Ricca, founder of the Richard III Foundation, did a great job with that and packed it in wonderfully readable articles. See for yourself:

• About the Boar Badge of King Richard III 

• About his friend Francis Viscount Lovell

Did you have a go with the Scavenger Hunt yet? Servetus' gives tips and hints on her blog Here are some examples.


Phylly's discovery - Sing along with the ballad of King Richard III.

Holbein and King Richard III - Art and History

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Some time ago I stumbled upon a website, which from the dates given, already seems to be in place for quite a while.
This site is so filled with information that after a few days I had forgotten most of them. So, I always wanted to go back to this page and closer read the content and discern the credibility of this information.

I still did not come to a conclusion, how far I trust the given information, or how far I think it is possible to get information out of hints in a picture to such an extent
Still, I want to present this website to you anyway, as it is so rich in detail and deserves a closer look and is an entertaining and informative read for everyone interested in King Richard III and his surroundings.

The thought provoking re-interpretation of most facts about and around King Richard III, the speculation about motives of persons around King Richard and of himself, are so daring and provoking, that they deserve a closer look.

So here comes the website: www.holbeinartworks.org about the research by Jack Leslau

The analyzed image is:

Portrait of the More family by Hans Holbein the Younger

I am quite curious what you think about this website, the image and the interpretation and to what conclusions and further hints you come through this website.

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King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 6)

Blogger of the day is Fitzg with her blog post about Leicestershire and its influence on Richard Armitage on the KRA-website.

Did you have a look at Servetus' blog, to get tips and hints about the Scavenger Hunt of the KRA Week? Here are some more.


Phylly's discovery - Sing along with the ballad of King Richard III.

Germans Everywhere? - Even without a functioning Tourism Industry

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Last Wednesday, the 22nd of August 2012, a man who had influenced me while growing up, in my beliefs and the true value of lived charity and friendlyness, died. He was very old, so you can't say it was unexpected, but thinking and remembering the good times and wonderful events we had attended and where we had often met, I remembered a quote, because I will ever remember this man with great fondness. His encouraging nature and care for others created an atmosphere of friendliness and with this he could set the tone in a whole town. You see, I am still impressed by this person's achievements.
The quote I remembered, mentions 'a great heart' and this, not only because of his passing away on the same day as King Richard III reminded me of the king and let me also think about what King Richard III as a person would have been like or what he missed out on because of his loss at Bosworth.

Now here the quote I refer to:

"...three fingers taller than myself...also much more lean; he had delicate arms and legs, also a great heart..." - Nicholas von Poppelau, Diary,1484 (Quoted after: www.richard111.com)

Nicholas von Poppelau (also written Popplau), a Silesian Knight working for the Emperor Friedrich III, traveled Europe and its important courts. In the year 1484, he came to England, on his tour and here he traveled north, to meet the king. First of all, he had already visited other European courts to compare King Richard III's court with, because of his previous journeys. Second he is assumed to have written down his reports from his notes during the journey, after his return home in the years 1485 and 1486. So his opinion must still have been the same, after seeing the courts in Spain and Paris. What he tells about the king, lies in stark contrast to what we otherwise know about King Richard III.

Nicholas von Poppelau tells about the king that he was musically interested - in such a way, that the choir and mass Nicholas von Poppelau heard at his court, was among the best he had ever heard and he was full of praise for the musicality of the king.

He also writes, that King Richard was 3 fingers larger than himself (who as knight can't have been too small for the time). So no trace of the hunchbacked, deformed and belittled king, who was envious and angry, because he could not compare with the impressive brother, King Edward IV. Though he describes King Richard III as larger, but skinnyer than himself.

Nicholas von Poppelau clearly was impressed from the openness, piety and entire behaviour of the king and praised Richard III for his clear head.

Nicholas von Poppelau's travel report is a good source, as for one, it shows that 'Germans' can be found everywhere, even before a working tourism industry. And for another, he comes to England at a critical time, during his reign as king of England in May 1484.
He also is invaluable, as in his role as independent visitor, (working for the Emperor, but neither for the Lancastrian or Yorkist side) he neither has interests in the Lancastrian or Yorkist point of view and so is an outside report about happenings and the conduct of the 'maligned' king. His report therefore does not have the goal to either promote or disgrace King Richard III. He most likely was there, to gain support and favourable opinion for the emperor in search for allies.

So Nicholas von Poppelau certainly is a source worth examining closer.
There are articles about Nicholas von Poppelaus diary I could not get hold of so far, but those would certainly  be an interesting read. (Noted for later detective work ;o)

So far a wonderful resource was:
Dr. David Hipshon's work: "Richard III and the Death of Chivalry"

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King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 5)

Blogger of the day is Fabo Laktuko at her blog WhiteRose: Sincere and Simple Thoughts (you may guess twice, what the white rose stands for). Fabo Laktuko is an experienced film-commentator and goes into analysis, which directors could possibly support Mr. Armitage in his filming project "King Richard III".

Did you have a look at Servetus' blog, to get tips and hints about the Scavenger Hint of the KRA Week? Here are some more for day 5.
And Servetus in her unique way analyses King Richard III's thumbs in comparison to Mr. Armitage's and their decisiveness in battle ;o)

Bosworth 1485 - by Mike Ingram

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King  Richard III - from a military perspective

Again, you will say, but this time, I have a real reading tip for you:

In a very sound research, with an abundance of additional information, war techniques, military strategy, knightly equipment and knowledge of the time are described in a fluent and captivating way
This praised book is the newly published work by

Mike Ingram "Bosworth 1485" (2012).


 
(Available as print book and as Kindle version, so both are linked in for your convenience. You know, earnings go to RA's charities. You can also buy via RichardArmitageNet.com, to earn affiliate fees for the charities there.)

The expertise of Mike Ingram about battle techniques is so rich that the he can knowlegeably use the newest research results of the year 2010, to overthrow a lot of long established battle believes about Bosworth, e.g. taking place at Albion Hill, and lighthandedly can rewrite the battle story of Bosworth. The latest research and findings of relics from soldiers, the boar badge, believed to be a sign from the armour of members of the royal guard of King Richard, now make an entirely new location and structure of the battle likely.

The additional information given in this handy and compact book, are so detailed and informative, that one gets sucked into the book at any place one starts to read.
For example, did you know that for some gunpowder making procedures in the 15th century the urine of wine drinkers was needed? (I am sure all the passengers found me to be a bit crazy, when I encountered that detail in an open train compartment ;o)
If you want to know more about the armour of the knights, the way they bound their armour parts or the knowledge about the battle area at Bosworth, reveal that the author has first hand knowledge about the location himself. He is an expert for battle techniques, not only late Medieval battles, but also can compare them to modern ones'. This makes his explanations the more understandable for modern readers.

Mike Ingram also holds guided tours from time to time and shows the area and explains the advantages and disadvantages of each position, either for Richard III and Henry Tudor and their armies. Between the video of the year 1994 (presented here) and the research work done by Mike Ingram, it becomes clear that years of research and extensive findings lie between those two studies.

The research work is wonderfully up to date and for anyone interested in the Battle of Bosworth, I can only recommend the book by Mike Ingram as obligatory material. Really a read worth its time and a remaining source for details about the battle and last days of King Richard III and first days of the reign of Henry VII.

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Last two hours to join in !

TV-Documentation about King Richard III needs our help TODAY!

Please comment today, to support a filming of a documentation about King Richard III. Take 2 minutes and voice your opinion on Saturday 25th of August, 2012 (U.K. time) to convince Channel 4 that it is a necessary endeavour and lots of people are already waiting for a documentation about King Richard III and his life, which will take into account all the new research results and finally bring some of the mis-constructions about this English king to an end.

You can put your comment here, to show your support:
http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us

Thank you !!!

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King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 4)

Blogger of the day is Servetus at her blog Me+Richard Armitage with a witty article about King Richard III's story. (Pssst..., I must reveal something. - She had 1.000.000 clicks on her blog lately and that really is a reason to celebRAte ;o)

Did you have a look at Servetus' blog post how to Spend our Money! ?
Servetus' analysis of a KRA-fangirl's mind is one further example of her exceptional examinations! - Richard III won’t make me squee. Right?
And I must also reveal, Servetus gives tips and hints in her latest post to help with solving the quiz questions.

The Last Days of Richard III

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One of the newer researches about King Richard III which really impressed me, was
"The Last Days of Richard III" by Dr. Ashdown-Hill (2010)


 
 (Available as print book and as Kindle version, so both are linked in for your convenience. You know, earnings go to RA's charities. You can also buy via RichardArmitageNet.com, to earn affiliate fees for the charities there.)


More than the title says and being a detailed and interesting to read account of the last days in King Richard III's life and the motives and personal interests surrounding him, the book also reveals informative details about the burrial place of King Richard III.
This was the reason, that some time ago, when we got the Archaeology Appeal about the planned digging in Leicester, I took this book out and started reading again.
What impresses me with the research work by Dr. Ashdown-Hill, is the readable conclusions and density of information he reveals in his publications. So this work "The Last Days of Richard III" is no exception and far more information is given than a mere day to day account and research into King Richard III's last moves. Reasons, motives, plots, different concurring interests and a wide variety of persons influenicing the last moves, are drawn together and create a vivid image of the happenings before, during and after the Battle of Bosworth.

More details about the book are also on the KRA website. Here also the very interesting DNA analysis is mentioned, which has a major role to being able to discover King Richard III's burrial place in the planned archaeological diggin in Leicester.

The KRA website will keep us updated here about the digging.
I can't wait for news ;o)

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TV-Documentation about King Richard III needs our help TODAY!

Please comment today, to support a filming of a documentation about King Richard III. Take 2 minutes and voice your opinion on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of August, 2012 (U.K. time) to convince Channel 4 that it is a necessary endeavour and lots of people are already waiting for a documentation about King Richard III and his life, which will take into account all the new research results and finally bring some of the mis-constructions about this English king to an end.

You can put your comment here, to show your support:
http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us

Thank you !!!

---

King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 3)

Blogger of the day is Maria Grazia at Fly High! with a review about a novel "Some Touch of Pity" by Rhoda Edwards, depicting King Richard III's story.

Did you have a look at Servetus' blog how to Spend our Money! ?
Servetus' analysis of a KRA-fangirl's mind is one further example of her exceptional examinations! - Richard III won’t make me squee. Right?

Wars of the Roses - King Richard III on DVD

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The banner of my home-village cunningly resembles the logo of one side of the warring families. Unfortunately for me, the 'wrong' side, though - to my great relief - in early depictions, it did not always have this colour ;o)
But the resemblance is so great and for a small village so unlikely to invent such a special and detailed rose drawing, which has no similarity to any other in the region, that it was even speculated, that someone from England might have emigrated here and brought the special way to draw the rose with him. So as a child, I did not see the Wars of the Roses as such a far distant battle, as my own village, though hundreds of kilometres away, might have been involved in it.
I doubted that 'invented' legend, but found roses very fascinating none the less.

In my late search for news and information about King Richard III, I stumbled upon a video about the "Wars of the Roses", which quoted Polydore Vergil (Anglican History) on its cover and this way immidiately had my full interest:

"King Richard alone was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies."

The DVD presents King Richard III and the entire battle story of the Wars of the Roses from a military perspective:



"Wars of the Roses, Blood, Treachery and Cold Steel" (1994) 
Produced & directed by Bob Carruthers,
Narrator: Brian Blessed
Crowell Productions Ltd. 1994

What disappointed me a bit, was the depiction of the battle scenes. Re-enactors playing the believed events at the battle is one thing, on a documentation, I had expected a bit more location shots and detail. That can be because of my hightened expectation. So I was disappointed that the sole focus was the military perspective upon the "Wars of the Roses" and all other motives behind the military activities were not brought into closer focus or even mentioned in the interview parts of the film.

War as a form of spreading itself, certainly at that time has a good foundation in arguments, at a time, where soldiers often were not fighting for the cause they believed in, but for those who could pay them the most money. Soldiers previously fighting in France and now out of work, needed a new working area, but as an argument for the long lasting fights, it is not even a main reason for the wars, as the nobility, responsible for the dispute, did not draw especially into account to create reasons to keep their soldiers employed.
 What on the other hand was impressively shown in the film, was the helebard and the new battle power of foot soldiers. So all in all, I found the time watching the video well spent and a short and handy overview of all the major battles and scirmishes of the "Wars of the Roses".
The bonus material like images and quiz do not really add much to the experience of the DVD, as they are much too short to give a complete or summarising impression. And the research status still is 1994, this means, Albion Hill is seen as the area of the Battle of Bosworth, though new research found the more likely place of the deadly battle of King Richard III. But this does not have a central position in the arguments of the video and so I just want to mention this in a side-note and otherwise recommend the video as a quick introduction into the long series of battles and the fighting techniques.

If one wants to know more about reasons, developments and persons involved in the long going dispute, deeper research and studies have to follow after this video.

In the next days I will collect some more reading tips and information to give you a deeper impression and more details about the magnifold reasons, intrigues, betrayals and different kinds of interests influencing this long going battle between two lines of one family and cumulating in the Battle of Bosworth, where King Richard III died (22th August 1485).
 

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TV-Documentation about King Richard III needs our help!

Please support a filming of a documentation about King Richard III together with me. Take 2 minutes and voice your opinion on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of August, 2012 (U.K. time) to convince Channel 4 that it is a necessary endeavour and lots of people are already waiting for a documentation about King Richard III and his life, which will take into account all the new research results and finally bring some of the mis-constructions about this English king to an end.

You can put your comment here, to show your support:
http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us

Thank you !!!

---

King Richard Week 2012 with the daily Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the event week.
(KRA Week 2012 News - Day 2)

Blogger of the day is Phylly at Phylly's Faves with a very special Birthday list ;o)

Have a look at Servetus' blog to get an idea how to Spend our Money!

Happy Birthday to our King of Fandom

Happy Birthday to our King of hearts, fandom and the dwarves!

Source: http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1902/1902616gzigibv9ox.jpg

Celebrations have already started in London and now slowly spread around the world ;o)


What can be my part in the cake (King Richard Armitage Week 2012) for Mr. Armitage's birthday?

Though Black Forrest Cherry Cake is my favourite, a digital version of it presumably does not taste all too well.

So I went on and raked my brain.
What better thing to do for me, than to search for King Richard III?
And where better way to start my detective work than at his last days of life?

As the research about the trough found in Leicester some years ago most certainly was not the coffin King Richard III was burried in, the search for his burrial place goes on, as our Search for King Richard page on the KRA-website shows.


Here a video report from the year 2008 (The One Show 17.11.08 - Put on YouTube by unsworthsugden) about the securing of the artifact at that time believed to be the coffin of King Richard III:




The video in my opinion makes it so evidently clear, that the research done in the meantime makes further research and an archaeological search for the remains of King Richard III necessary.

So my quest during this King Richard III Week 2012 will be, to accumulate information about the last days of King Richard III and some of the newer research, shedding light on the possible fate and whereabouts of King Richard III's burrial place and about King Richard III himself.


I hope you will enjoy the journey and virtually search with me around Bosworth and the last days of King Richard III !

---

TV-Documentation about King Richard III needs our help!

Please support a filming of a documentation about King Richard III together with me. Take 2 minutes and voice your opinion on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of August, 2012 (U.K. time) to convince Channel 4 that it is a necessary endeavour and lots of people are already waiting for a documentation about King Richard III and his life, which will take into account all the new research results and finally bring some of the mis-constructions about this English king to an end.

You can put your comment here, to show your support:
http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us

Thank you !!!

---

King Richard Week 2012 has started today!
Quiz questions for the scavenger hunt during the week can be found here!

First blogger of the day is Gratiana Lovelace with Melissa the Mouse.

Have a look at Servetus' 41 reasons why Mr. Armitage is extraordinary.

King Richard Armitage Week 2012 - Announcement

King Richard Armitage Week 2012 will begin coming Wednesday.
Only two more days to prepare for this wonderful historic and fan-cy event.

And I am so busy that I till now did not even have time to declare my participation on my own blog, leave alone announce the event or talk about the wonderful participating bloggers here.

Tztztz..., CDoart! -  That needs to change immediately ;o)

Here now, the announcement and the wonderful bloggers who will join me in the event:

• Phylly3 (Phylly's Faves)

• Fabo Laktuko (White Rose: Sincere and Simple Thoughts) 

• Fitzg (on the KingRichardArmitage website)

• Gratiana Lovelace (Something About Love)

• Maria Grazia (Fly High!) 

• Servetus (Me + Richard Armitage)

• We also have a wonderful special guest, the 
  Richard III Foundation, Inc.,
  who will join in with an article during the week and sponsors a price for the scavenger hunt. - So, don't miss the quiz questions, published each day of the event week!

This year, we have a bit of a different approach than last year. Bloggers will post, from fandom to historic, like last year, but instead of the series of interviews, we have articles and news from all kind of perspectives (More will be revealed on Wednesday ;o)
Over the whole week, we will post hints for a scavenger hunt, to determine our King Richard Armitage Champion 2012!
(Don't worry, we leave you enough time - till 3rd of September, 2012 - to hunt for the solution and enter the quiz to get a chance to win one of the wonderful prices.)


I wish you lots of fun, wonderful celebrations and a magnificent day and KRA-Championship 2012!

A Re-Invention of Identity

Either "The Hobbit" or RA himself has changed RA.
It is hard to tell, if hard PR-training or the whole experience with "The Hobbit" caused the latest change, but there at ComicCon, I had the impression that a new RA appeared once again.
He no longer is John Porter, whom he even brought back to Spooks at the beginning of series 9, and he certainly no longer is Guy of Gisborne or John Thornton, not even the RA of those times.

The mature, self-confident man is new. What remains the same, is the overwhelming good humour and friendliness, so vividly twinkling in his eyes.

How should one ever fall out of fandom, with such an addictive actor?
How can one possibly resist the mischief lurking in his eyes?

Picture from the HitFix interview at ComicCon by Katie Hasty
More details, the video and my favourite quote are here at KRA

I certainly can't resist ;o)
whatever the latest developments in fandom are or do or show.


For me, the one character trait I admire over all else in others is, what I found so rich in my mother.
She is the loveliest woman in my life, not only because she is my mother, but I also see it in her interactions with other people.
She even has and ever had a good word about her enemies. You could now ask, when she is that good, why does she have enemies (and she had quite numerous ones during the time I grew up).
But enemies (and bullies or mean spirited people or however you want to call them) don't need a reason to be mean. They are strong against someone who is not like them, as mean spirited and as vile as they are. They feel strong, by discrediting someone else, by building themselves up in comparison to someone else they intentionally disgrace for their own pleasure, by putting stones in their 'object's' way, just for their own narrow-minded entertainment.

You see, I know all the interactions and expressions of meanness, as I had experienced enough of it, just because I came into the shooting line of the mean people trying to hit my mother.

I won't ever defend or give space to any attempt of meanness - and why I write that here - I also will eradicate and immediately delete any attempt of being mean or vile or harmful to either another fan or RA immediately and without hesitation here on this blog.

I at the same time want to stress, every fan open for the wonder of the exceptional beauty of the RA-fandom is welcome here.

Though, with a sad eye, I recognise, that the vile comments on i*m*d*b took their toll and already changed the tone among friends in the fandom. I won't participate and I won't take sides.

I just come back to the motto of my headline and perhaps we as fans can join RA and re-invent our identity after the latest struggles and become a loving, caring and loveable group of witty and funny RArmy girls again, who embrace each other in their differences and don't try to become a fan-police, where there is no necessity for it.


I certainly don't like certain parts of the fandom. I resist from involving myself in them and won't give them more attention than they deserve.
I can't stand certain discussions about RA, just because I just don't need them to be a fan or find his acting wonderful and cherish every appearance of him on screen. I admire his work, love what he does, feverishly await what he intends to do and support him to ease his way to do whatever he wants to do in the future.

That is my credo of fandom.
 

Loyalty & Honor & Trust & Camaraderie

Loyalty and honour and trust and camaraderie. I think those themes are contemporary.

Today, I intentionally quote RA from one of his latest interviews at the ComicCon 2012 (KRA article about HitFix interview). This event in itself gives the quote a special meaning, though I am sure it was not intended that way and hopefully RA was not and will not become aware of the background I refer to.

I must admit, the appearing crisis before the ComicCon shook my believe in the fandom immensely and I am still not entirely sure how to react to those happenings.

From the words in the headline, I especially want to emphasise "TRUST" among fellow fans, as it is the basis of friendship, of camaraderie, of loyalty and only if those aspects are intact, can lead to honour.

My trust is a bit shaken now and I still feel not as comfortable as I felt before those happenings.
As I have such a lot of battlefields around me already, I certainly won't make my blog one more.
Not because I don't think it worth the effort, but because it would entirely contradict the intention of the blog.
It became clear to me that my blog is so much a part of me and is about myself, that I just will never defend or fight for myself or my blog. I am, that should be argument enough.
To defend my position, would already mean a statement forced upon me, not of my own choice, but in reaction to someone else's agenda, an agenda I certainly don't agree with, as it is prejudiced by economical and overcome perceptions and expectations, by someone who does not even try to understand my or other fans' positions, but still tries to limit our search for explanations and reasons for a singular (or collective) experience, which is not put out there on blogs to seek corrective input, but is a statement of fact, an observation of a personal experience of RA-fandom and as such incorrigible.


P.S.: At first I had thought about drawing back with my blog. But I see that this would give the wrong impression and would cut me off an important part of my life and my creativity. I also would be a puppet in the game of someone else and that entirely would not do for me. Though I still gave myself till the 12th of December to entirely decide how to secure my back and cope with the new developments.

P.P.S.: I am very glad, that the original comment, which a fellow fan pointed out on i*m*d*b (otherwise I would never have found it), now is gone from the site. (I intentionally write that name wrong, as I don't want accidental clicks on my blog. I have enough because of once mentioning R*T*L.) And I must explain, I use RA, as it is a non-search engine optimised, but still generally understandable form of the actor's name, who's attention to detail I admire.