Third Armitage Thanksgiving
Somewhat late last night I realized that I’d forgotten all about my traditional Armitage Thanksgiving vid. The first one, “Armitage thanks,” is here, along with some comments on what this holiday means to me. The second, a sort of tongue-in-cheek take on the ubiquitous song, “Simple Gifts,” is here; it was created while I was struggling with coming down in my “place just right.”
This year I was feeling soppier, possibly because I spent so much time reading about Armitage’s early career this week. I had almost no time to spend on this, so there are no fancy effects — just some clips I love that remind me about the nature of giving, and some heartfelt, thankful sentiment. (Resolution is low because I am uploaded on a bad wireless connection. I’ll upload a better one eventually.)
The thing I am probably most thankful for at this very second is the ceasefire yesterday in Gaza, even if it’s only temporary, even if it’s only day without children dying. I hope that all the people celebrating are having a wonderful holiday. If you are sad this Thanksgiving, I pray for your sadness to be relieved in due season. I decided to stay in town, and I’ve been roped into a charitable activity by the students in my advanced seminar. I’m so proud of them — both for sharing their holiday with the least of these, and for seeing past the professor, Servetus, to invite the person behind her to join them. I haven’t asked what we’re serving (and eating), but I assume it’s turkey with the usual trimmings.
I haven’t done anything like this on Thanksgiving since I was a college student myself, which makes me wonder: is it possible that twenty-year-olds will save the world? We can only hope. As much as they frustrate me some days, I’m thankful for them, too.
***
[I haven’t had a chance to look yet, but looks like discussion is going on strong at Guylty’s post, a new *ooof*, just below. Check it out!]
Me + Richard Armitage 
A safe and happy Thanksgiving to all!
LikeLike
Indeed. Gun season in the north.
LikeLike
Oh yes, the official color of Thanksgiving is blaze orange in these parts 🙂 So far so good I believe. I hadn’t watched the new video before I commented- not so smart phone doesn’t always load them – very nice. (Dorky hat – definitely 🙂 )
LikeLike
happy deer harvest 🙂
LikeLike
Servetus, I’ve said it before, and many Armitage admirers out there will agree, that we are so very grateful that you are part of our RA family. Things just wouldn’t be the same without you and I don’t think you hear this often enough!
I’m happy your students could see past the professor, because they’d be missing out on knowing more about one hell of a complex, supportive and fascinating person 🙂
I’d also like to take this chance to mention how thankful I am to RA. Not for being so sexy or fascinating per sa, but for attracting the absolute best group of people any fandom could wish for! 🙂
LikeLike
Aaaw, thanks, AgzyM.
I think Armitage has great fans, too. People who have led extremely interesting lives and had many different kinds of experiences and are fun to talk to.
LikeLike
I, too, am so grateful for the ceasefire and wish it would go on endlessly. I know…not realistic.
Don’t give up on those 20 year olds. 🙂 My 3 actually turned out smart, mature and kind once they got past themselves! They will suprise you everytime.
Although I haven’t been around much lately, I was to glad to read that your mom is doing better. That’s a huge blessing! Thanksgiving blessings to all of you!
LikeLike
ceasefire=yeah. All I can do is pray, so I do that.
Thanks for the good wishes; it is a blessing. I hope you and your now-much-older-than-twenty-year-old kids and families had a great day.
LikeLike
Being British, Thanksgiving has a habit of passing me by without me giving it the slightest bit of attention, but this caught my eye. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the video that drew my attention and I really love it. I always hope that RA knows how grateful his fans are for him…well…just being him…and all that that brings.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours xx
LikeLike
The comments section in The Guardian was full of complaints about the paper covering a US holiday — and I kind of agree. Why should care? I’m thrilled that you loved the bid, though. We are grateful. And since so many people write, I am sure he knows. Thanks for the good wishes.
LikeLike
As always a great video, and the sentiments were spot on. I have now been around the RA world for a year (I was just a rather sad lonely RA fan on my own since North and South!) and it has enriched my life in so many ways. I have come across a wonderful group of women and man who feel as I do about this unique actor. Another one being I have learnt the meaning of so many words that I did not know existed let alone used and that is down to you! I have read most of your posts going way back, I treated it like a book (maybe that could be your next project!) I left school at 17 having been advised that I would not pass my A levels so went to work from the age of 18 having gone to secretarial college. I know that my education is woefully short but now at the age of 40 I am starting to learn new things and hope to (one day) show that I could have passed those pesky exams. I am thankful to you Servetus for making me want to read beyond my comfort zone.
I am thankful for all the good things that have happened this year and I look forward to next month and all that will bring for all of us.
xxx
LikeLike
Aaaw, Rosiepig — glad I’m good for your vocabulary 🙂
As far as education goes, if you want to know, you will learn what fascinates you; I am really convinced of that, so I hope you will jump right in and chase down the stuff that intrigues you. Degrees aren’t everything; education is wasted on many of the college students I teach because they don’t know why they are there; but knowledge — well, I always figure it’s better to know than not to know.
Thanks for the kind wishes.
LikeLike
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your students, Servetus, and to all who read this. May the blessings of caritas flow both ways. I am thankful to all those who have laid down their arms and said, “No, not today”, because I hope it will make it easier to say it again and have others learn to do it, too.
I love the video! It echoes what I feel so well.
LikeLike
I’m not optimistic but I know that the only way to stop war is for people to say, as you put it, “not me, not today.” We can pray. Thanks for the compliment.
LikeLike
Thank you for the lovely video. And Happy Thanksgiving to you.
LikeLike
Thanks — and Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.
LikeLike
Happy Thanksgiving to you! And thank you for the great video.
LikeLike
Thanks for the compliment, Ania, I hope you had a great day!
LikeLike
Servetus, at the risk of overwhelming myself with utter cheesiness with this comment, I am going to say I am thankful this year for the United States of America – (not the least of which) for having a National Holiday devoted to ‘Gratitude and Thanks’ – in the finding of kinship between cultures so vastly different, yet interdependent (if one is to believe the folklore of Pilgrims & Native Americans…)
This is my first Thanksgiving back in the US in 3 years and while I spent much of it on a plane today (secretly, I am also thankful for planes) – the fact that I was so lovingly invited into so many homes to celebrate the day with virtual strangers – just reminds me how wonderfully strong the identity bond of the country is to this holiday.
I’ve also been thinking recently of those little lines, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. As a grow older (soon, leaving my 30s!) I can only grow more humble to all that has come before me, and be hopeful (as you have stated) for those who are coming after me.
Oh yeah, and that actor in the second half of your blog title – I’m still thankful curiosity about him brought me to your blog and allowed me to discover this very creative, supportive and technically savvy on-line community. 😉
LikeLike
I rarely think much about the U.S. when I’m here — I’m always provoked to think about it from elsewhere. Because nerves have been *so* raw lately here, I also wanted to step back and say, no matter how angry I’ve spent much of the year feeling about politics, no matter all its faults, the US is an amazing place and has given me an amazing amount. And Americans can be truly wonderful people.
re: the actor, well, you were never going to be a core fan 🙂 but we’re really glad you’re here, too.
LikeLike
Is true. It’s so much easier to observe my appreciation for the US while, you know, not actually LIVING in the country for most of the year (including being subjected to any of the recent political campaigning). 😉
Thanksgiving is still a very special US holiday for me -and I simply noticed the difference even more being in-country for it this year.
Yeah – if I wasn’t working in London, I’m pretty sure I’d have no idea who the names Armitage, Fassbender, or Hiddleston even referred to. 😉
LikeLike
I wrote about this on July 4th a few years ago — because I had spent something like 13 July 4ths in a row o/s of the US and it does make you think. I am really bruised after the election and I think most people who really care about the political situation are — the level of invective paid for by all the parties to the election was simply unparalleled in my lifetime. And there are two three issues I’ve been totally radicalized on, that I will never see the same way again, because of stuff that’s been said. It makes me pessimistic about the future.
I love Thanksgiving (see link #1 in this post) — in addition to all those reasons, I was thinking yesterday morning that the fact that everyone was hunting meant in our house anyway that there was no alcohol in the system. It helps a lot.
LikeLike
Yeah. The July 4th I can understand – because it’s a bit of a patriotic holiday – and I think you linked a very thoughtful article in one of those previous July 4th posts highlighting the complicated psychological impacts of growing up in an oppressor nation (countries are forever celebrating their independence FROM the UK, it seems).
I think ‘hunting’ is also a bit of a regional foreign concept to me. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest – perhaps ‘fishing’ and clam digs and oyster beds prevailed in my ‘game and wildlife’ consciousness?? 😉
I’m glad that it has a positive connotation for you in the above context, however.
LikeLike
Don’t they hunt in W WA?
LikeLike
I don’t think so – certainly not enough to make a dent in cultural awareness via consumer purchases. Haven’t seen ‘hunting clothes’ offered in many stores in Western Washington – and don’t see much of it at Costco either. 🙂
I think as a culture, W Washington probably leans more towards: caffeine (SBUX), hi-tech (MSFT, AMZN, BA), & outdoor sporting goods (REI).
Growing up, as I mentioned, ‘Game & Wildlife’ brought salmon, Alaskan King Crab, and other seafood delights to mind. 🙂
LikeLike
I once temped for a firm in W WA that sold hunting and expedition gear, and most customers were not local.
LikeLike
Ooooh, I should also caveat by mentioning I’ve lived mostly in the ‘urban areas’ of the States I’ve lived in in the US!! 😀
LikeLike
sorry — I meant, and did not write, E WA. The part of the state that borders with Idaho? I have a friend who teaches at a university around there and it seems much more … rural.
LikeLike
OMC, Servetus, what a brilliant vid. I am – not only because I am living in Europe – mostly unaware of Thanksgiving, but your vid really touched me. I felt the stirrings of tears at the end of it. Must be getting old and sentimental, hahaha. Obviously loved the little a*** references in the clip.
LikeLike
Damn, forgot to mention that I was thrilled to see that mini-clip from Richard’s spear-carrying days. Never knew any video evidence existed from that time. Likewise, I have never seen all of his Ultimate Force efforts. Has ayone ever edited the whole story arc of Capt Ian Macalwain (?) into one clip, possibly similar to that Between the Sheets clip?
LikeLike
afaik, no fan has videotape of Armitage on stage. The “spear carrying” clip comes from the DVD of the RSC Macbeth (1999), which was a shortened version of that production shot for television, and you can buy it on amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000DCXXS?ie=UTF8&tag=richarmionli-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B0000DCXXS
There used to be a version on YT but it looks like the channel got closed for copyright infringement claims. I would say if you don’t love Macbeth you should borrow this from a library. There’s not that much of him. You can also see clips here: http://richardarmitageonline.com/macbeth-rsc/macbeth-videoclips.html
re: Ultimate force, there are YT clips from the same fan who put BTS there. I’m not sure if they are exhaustive as I didn’t watch them that way — I actually bought the UF DVDs and watched the first two series.
LikeLike
Thanks. You are obviously falling prey to Irish sentimentality 🙂 The average German would find this video totally overdone 🙂
LikeLike
Happy Thanksgiving to you , your students, and to your family, Servetus!
PS:Beautiful vid…now why I’m crying?
LikeLike
Aaaw. thanks. Crying: because Poles are also sentimental?
LikeLike
Yes, I think we are 🙂
LikeLike
I haven’t read i all (and I have yet to see your last 2 Thanksgiving posts), but the video was wonderful! 😀
LikeLike
Thanks — I’m glad if it spoke to you.
LikeLike
I’m another for whom Thanksgiving would have passed by unnoticed but for this post. But it made me think of all that i have to be grateful for – and above all, how blessed i am to live without fear. It was not always thus and i needed that nudge to stop and think…
So thank you Servetus for your post and for the gorgeous vid – i tried to find it on Youtube to save onto my phone for regulate ‘affirmations’ but i couldn’t locate it. Hints?
PS: So it wasn’t just me that thought that cap was the dorkiest thing ever!
LikeLike
Thanks, bollyknickers — here’s the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqZJDMHPLGo
It probably never hurts to be thankful. I had a lot of reminders of that recently.
dorkiness: no, a lot of fans were aghast that he’d wear a hat like that. I thought it was sweet, but in a very dorky way. In his defense I will state that it was *Belstaff*, like the leather jacket he was wearing.
LikeLike
Late to the party, but wanted to say how much I loved the video. I teared up watching it. As a rule, I don’t like the americanization of our culture but this is one holiday I wouldn’t mind having. 🙂 All too often we Hungarians tend to forget how much there is to be thankful for.
LikeLike
thanks, Judit. Watch out, we’ll soon have you celebrating Fourth of July 🙂
LikeLike
[…] therapy. The same students as last year called me up, so I spent this morning and midday doing what I did last year. I’m spending the afternoon in my favorite café, keeping my favorite baristas — who […]
LikeLike
Thanksgiving 2013, scattered thoughts | Me + Richard Armitage said this on November 28, 2013 at 8:03 pm |
[…] discomfort for this most American of U.S. holidays); 2011 and a Thanksgiving / John Porter fantasy; 2012 (when I was thankful for the ceasefire in Gaza); 2013 (when I was still drowning in […]
LikeLike
Fourth Thanksgiving in this city, fifth on this blog and maybe things are finally calming down? | Me + Richard Armitage said this on November 27, 2014 at 11:21 pm |
[…] from previous Thanksgivings are here: 2014 (includes the Armitage Thanksgiving vids), 2013, 2012, 2011, […]
LikeLike
Three Thanksgivings I spent in Germany | Me + Richard Armitage said this on November 26, 2015 at 10:07 pm |