Legenda 46: Stuff worth reading

[Legenda offers a brief, non-inclusive index of stuff I noticed and enjoyed since the last episode. It doesn’t usually include materials presented on the major fansites, which I love dearly, but which are linked in the sidebar. Because I always forget or just miss stuff, please add additional pieces of interest via link in the comments.]

Ahem! Important announcements.

First: anecdotal reports suggest that a larger portion of the RA fandom than usual got hacked this week. None of us are unhackable, but remember — if you get hacked via an email link, odds are that it will spread throughout your contact lists and put others at risk, so we’re all responsible for helping each other to maintain security. So this is a reminder to be careful with passwords, internet presences, and anything you click on, especially when it’s delivered via email, FB or Twitter. I’m sure everyone knows these things, but just in case, some basic tips:

• Don’t duplicate passwords for different accounts; avoid connecting different accounts (FB and amazon, for example) unless absolutely necessary.
• Give FB as little as little “real” information as possible and don’t send meaningful private information using it, even by private message. (This week FB was accused of inadvertently posting private messages on people’s timelines, although there’s some disagreement about what actually happened.)
• Verify devices with both Google and Facebook — this means you will be notified if someone logs on from a machine other than one of yours.
• Text message users should consider using two-factor verification for Google accounts (explained under “Account Security”) or for FB accounts (under “Account Settings”). The account texts you a PIN for each logon, which expires after usage, meaning no one who has your password can access the account unless they also have the correct PIN.
• Always use an alphanumeric password, with special characters, if possible, which makes casual hacking harder. This is not as hard as it seems — you can do something like interspersing a number that’s important to you with a word that’s important to you. Let’s say — “1947” and “love” could become “1l9o4v7e” and then add a special character like “$” and you’ve got a relatively strong password.
• Use secure sessions to surf the Internet wherever possible.
• Delete dormant email or other accounts you’re not using.

Bookkeeping:

I very much use this blog as a diary of my obsession in its intersection with my life and the ongoing search for flow — so I don’t spend tons of time on housekeeping (fixing typos, link rot). I do, however, try to do what I can to keep the analytical entries readable, especially the ones that illustrate points about Armitage’s acting. So (first) you may notice that some videos linked on this page are changing hosts. If you guessed why, you’d probably be correct. And (second), as the blogosphere changes and some blogs fall dormant, I am moving them to a new sidebar category called “Resting at the Moment.” (Only blogs / sites that are deleted and no longer visible have been totally removed from the sidebar.)

Where are you all going?

Speaking of change! This week’s landmark event for me was bccmee’s announcement that she doesn’t intend to post on her blog any further. All I can say is I’m sad. Until I started reading her blog, I always thought that the graphics / photo editing part of fandom was something elite, for artists and tech freaks, not something the average fan could do. A lot of people started using photoshop because of her. Her blog was the most broadly democratic and participatory of all the Richard Armitage ones I read. So, I’m sad, even if I know life is short and she’s on to other things. She got a much more gracious farewell from Grati.

The hype:

And finally: We also got a few more Hobbit images to enjoy. Fabo presents a video game image of Thorin — breathtaking. Yesterday, as well, Jas alerted us to a new scroll for the film with a new Thorin image. It’s discussed here by Heirs of Durin. Despite those built up eyebrows, he definitely gets the full payoff from the Richard Armitage sclera there! It strikes me that this scroll (along with the new poster that appeared this week) are trying to familiarize us with the faces and identities of the dwarves. I, for one, think that’s a great marketing strategy. I’d been thinking Thorin and all those other guys, but I’m now starting to have visual favorites among the other dwarves and will be able to follow the movie much more easily, I suspect.

RArchive:

• Violet is always a bit postmodern, and I have to admit I don’t totally get this, but I’m glad she’s back!
• thefrencharmitagearmy talks about her tumblr GIF from last week. Why are pictures of suffering, desolate Guy so evocative?
• Mirrored Armitage!
• Could Armitage be Superman?
• An Armitage optical illusion.
• Aretha Franklin ode to Armitage.
• No premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Berlin? (in German). Other premieres set for London (an annual benefit done with the Royal Family) and New York (benefit for AFI). Hard to know whether to make plans.
• Armitage as equilibrium enhancer. This story ends with good news.
• Agzy suggests a new style trend before The Hobbit. And a second one! And a third!
• Bccmee’s wasn’t the only departure this week. Skully says “goodbye” — kind of.
• Advance ticket sales for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey begin Nov. 7.
• Would the dentist be more fun with Armitage? Possibly — but given the success of his own dental maneuvers since 2004, he could also make money advertising for whoever did that work.
• Ania reviews the Polish edition of the Hobbit Annual.
• “Guy of Gisborne in a Tutu and the Gisborne Kitty.” I dare you to click it.

Fanfic:

[A reminder that this section only includes fics I read and enjoyed. This was a slow week b/c of the religious holiday — no time. If you have suggestions I’d love to read them — leave in comments!]

• Finally — and worth every second of the wait — TrudysTattle’s “In Consequence” goes to chapter 16. Scones were never so alluring.
• GB’s “One Last Try” goes to chapter 7. I don’t know which girl I like the way he writes Sir Guy with more — the little one or the big one. So sweet.
• At RAucous: “Hot August Night,” part 1 and part 2. RPF, and likely to become explicit.

Tumblr:

[Ditto on: leave links at tumblr you liked in comments. I have a hard time keeping up with it.]

• A really intriguing graphic.
• The link to all the “Say Nice Things About Detroit” posts (comicbook about encounter between author and Richard Armitage).

OT, collateral attractions, and stuff I think about:

• Didion’s retroactive review of the Branagh “Much Ado About Nothing” (1993). s
• On That Soup. You know how I feel about it. This is the recipe I’d make for my mother this week if I were home.
• Stephen Fry returns to the London stage after 17 years.
• On the prevalence of sock puppet book reviewing (authors pretending to be other parties reviewing their work).
• Twitter fast for Yom Kippur.

~ by Servetus on September 29, 2012.