You will never live this one down, Rich.
Kerm
Me + Richard Armitage
a frequently irreverent and occasionally cerebral feuilleton of richard armitage studies
Charities Richard Armitage has supported [click this photo]
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- C19
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- IHEARTARMITAGE
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- Richard Armitage Fanfiction Archiv
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- RichardArmitageNet.com
- RichardArmitageOnline
- The Armitage Army
- The Richard Armitage Daily
Me + Richard Armitage 
Just makes me love him more! 🙂
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I adore him. Nothing to add.
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Nice interview too. Love him showing her how to walk as a dwarf! LOL
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I love how RA was hiding his eyes and muttering “Oh God” before the host showed him the drawing 🙂 It was the same expression on his face here in Toronto on the interview where the host showed him the fanvid with the speedo… I would give anything to know if he’s entered his name into Tumblr (of which I’m addicted to) Cheers!
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I can totally imagine his mortified expression as he goes through the Richard Armitage tag
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Yeah! But I would also like to think he’d find the Tumblr stuff hilarious and full of ardent, unabashed admiration… I guess we’ll never know, unless someone asks him at the next fan q&a…. (Toronto! Toronto! Pleeeease)
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I think it would be very much in his interest not to admit how he really feels about that stuff, if he reads it. 🙂
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I thought it was interesting that Armitage basically put Kermit in a wrestling hold.
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Lol! But he did it gently 😉
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This was the best thing that happened to me today.He is just too lovable!
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Rich is cuter than Kermit
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Which of these dolls is real? 🙂
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I was waiting for a chorus of “It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Green.”
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you could totally see Kermit being Armitage’s alter ego.
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One of the all time best songs ever !!!
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also very appropriate in this setting.
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RA is so cute!
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I loved this! And I loved his reaction to the Fraggle picture. I just wished they’d showed us the finished “shot” of him with Kermit the Frog. They cut too soon. :} Thank you for capping it so we could have it forever. Mwah!!
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maybe we’ll see that later …
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We will see ..in many quises ..for our entertainment
He is so lovable…suddenly,I feel like crying..just like sweet Bechep.
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Now Richard needs to sing Rainbow Connection with Kermit. Or better yet have Kermit interview Richard on Sesame Street.
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A man with a cowlick and a muppet – what more could you ask for?
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a beanie with a little propeller on top? 🙂
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I loved that interview, he was adorable, the girl’s face when he grabbed her hips!!!
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And my, does he look like a man who knows just how to hold a girl’s hips! 😉
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all that dancing 🙂
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Im sorry but I was appalled by this interview! I couldnt even finish watching it. I’m embarrassed to be an Australian. Those interviewers were shocking. Richard handled it with his usual grace and charm but I’m disgusted. I found them disrespectful, stupid and immature. And now I will climb down off my soap box 🙂
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it’s an interesting observation. I guess in my little corner of the world we think of Australians as somewhat “out there” or “relaxed” anyway, so it didn’t seem odd to me. And they *are* a lot younger than him, aren’t they? — possibly almost two decades …
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Well yes Australians are generally known for being relaxed.But there is a difference between being relaxed and disrespectful. I thought Richard looked quite uncomfortable. Maybe it got better, like I said, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it all. And even though they are young, surely they should still be professional?
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I didn’t know about the context. But the fact that he seemed to have his shoes off suggested to me that the interview was supposed to be v. informal?
I also spend my days w/18-24 year olds and I’ve seen worse …
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Well I seem to be the only one who feels this way about the interview. Glad you all enjoyed it. I think things like this add to that whole perception of Australians being a bit stupid.
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“I can’t be bothered about idiot interviewers anymore” is a bit better description of my reaction. My ambivalence about the beginning of the segment is in the title (not sure if I will write more about it) — but the thing is, for years Armitage fans (including ones of longer duration than me) would wait for weeks / months for press and get almost nothing and then get two column inches in which he said something about his favorite tv show or something. So from that perspective we’re just drowning in information right now and enjoying it and sometimes there’s a price to pay depending on the audience the interview is headed for. I don’t know about the venue, but maybe their audience wants to know this kind of thing. This is by far not the worst interview he’s ever been forced to give. So it may just be a longer term perspective coming from me / us.
W/r/t Australians — do people think they’re stupid? The negative stereotypes I might have about Australians don’t involve stupidity.
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Yes I have seen worse interviews, I guess because it is done by Australians, it has me cringing. I found several interviewers here unprofessional, including the one that I was privileged to sit in on. They kept asking him questions and then butting in to add their own comments it happened on a radio interview too.
Not sure about some of the other perceptions of Australians but stupidity is definitely one I have heard many times!
We are not all like that!
I think I may be in a bad mood today…
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my candidate for most annoying was an interview back around 2006 or so in which he had to honk on a horn the number of times he liked a particular song he was listening to. 🙂
I think you finally got to meet your crush in person (yay!) and he turned out to be the person you wanted him to be and so now you want to protect him a little from stupidity and you’re also thinking a bit more about how you and others might have come across to him during his visit. Nothing wrong with any of that. Shows you care!
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Good Grief I haven’t seen that one!
yes maybe you’re right. I would dearly love to protect him *Ahem* I do feel quite strange about the whole experience, I could not go on Twitter or any Blogs yesterday -every time I looked at him or read about him I just wanted to cry (weird right!?)
I think I need to go and give myself a good talking to and snap myself out of this melancholoy. BUT, unike some Australian interviewers, I certainly won’t interupt myself!
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After a rush of euphoria like that, it would surprising if you weren’t just a little down. it’s the experience of a lifetime and you need time to process it! Very few people can experience a rush like that more than just a few times in their lives. In other words, I wouldn’t call it melancholy. So give it time. Write about what it was like to see him and what it felt like afterwards and what it feels like now and if/how you see the world or the fandom differently now. I’d be interested to know all of those things.
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I will do that very thing oh wise one! 🙂 It may take me a few days though – Im still bursting into tears at the sight of him!
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sorry — that did sound a little avuncular. I was trying for sympathetic and overshot.
and hey, burst into tears. He has that effect on me too from time to time.
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No I didnt meant it in a bad way – you are very wise. I should definitley write it all down and thank you for being sympathetic
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Hugs!
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I think your melancholy may have something to do with having had such a fantastic “top of the mountain” or maybe a “cloud 9” experience when you met Richard that now that you have come down the emotions you experienced have taken a toll on you.
BTW having met Australians both in their home country and getting to know some very well here in Canada, the last thing I would *ever* call them is stupid! In fact I can honestly say I have never heard them being described that way. They are wonderfully warm and friendly and I love being with them. Having “met” some of you through blogs and emails I have to say it only makes me wish I could meet you all in RL! 🙂
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Ah thanks, I would love to meet so many of you in RL. What an awesome time we would have!! 🙂
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Can’t wait to hear you describe your own experience of the day at some stage, bechep! I know it will be an interesting, insightful, thought-inducing read, and I can understand why you are not yet ready to do it. Committing things to “paper” makes it so final, so over, so done. You need to let it wallow a bit, I suppose 🙂
As for the interview you were present at: I thought you were both very gracious and dignified as fans in the studio, so well done. The interviewers, particularly the male interviewer, do not really get a medal from me. First of all your man did not even get RA’s character’s name right (Thorin OAKshield, anyone?). It was evident that he had not seen the film and was merely pretending because he had to promote it. I hate that kind of thing – it is just embarrassing, and much more disrespectful than actually admitting one hasn’t seen the film. I also felt that they interrupted RA too much. Well, just another day at the studio for them, I guess.
Anyway, hope to read your impressions at some point.
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One thing that most of us tend not to think of in evaluating these interviewers is that for the core audiences of those shows, the guest is not the point. They watch the show because they like the *host*. So it’s in the interest of those hosts to develop their own individual styles which causes their core audience to return to them, approve, etc. As much as for us it’s about learning about Armitage or his current projects, it’s not about that for the vast majority of the viewers who watch them daily or at least regularly.
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Fair point. I never thought about that because I do not follow any TV show regularly. But the hosts are stars in their own right.
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You are certainly not alone Bechep (hugs btw – i hope you are feeling less teary today?) – i was embarrassed by this interview too. There are so many wonderful things about this country but the media isn’t one of them. It seems to cater to the lowest common denominator and when placed on the world stage, it’s cringe worthy for us.
My observations – other than the constant interruption and inane chatter that you’ve already pointed out was about body language.
Why was the male interviewer sitting on the arm of the chair? It’s just not good form to position yourself above someone you are talking to (unless you feel insecure about how good looking and clever and masculine they are and feel the need to try and dominate them, that is 😉 )
Possibly because of her colleague outing her as a huge fan, the girl seemed really embarrassed and didn’t seem able to make eye contact with RA for long. She could have sat in a position where she was turned towards RA, which would have been more attentive and encouraging for RA.
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Thank goodness it’s not just me! I was appalled that the male interviewer was sitting on the back of the chair. It was not professional. The media in this country really needs to take some notes about how things are done on an international stage. Like you said, unfortunately they cater for lowest branches of society ( as does the so called “entertainment” program’s – I mean Celebrity Splash? Really?)
Feeling much better today thanks! 🙂 I did a very small blog post last night.
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I actually just double checked and he *does* have his shoes/boots on! 😉 You can just see a bit of the heel of it on the leg that he has tucked under him!
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aha, good spotting, Teuchter!
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Most interviewers don’t meet my standards for asking good questions, listening to the answers, treating the interviewee thoughtfully, acceptable manners, and so on. Nationality of the interviewer is no indicator of quality or lack thereof. I cringed when this one opened with the male of the pair sitting on the sofaback with his shoes on the seat. I don’t care what nationality he was; would you do that in your mother’s house, and if you did, what would she say? I cringed further at the thing with the stuffed toys, but marveled at how Richard endured, how gently he held the frog. It made me want to see him enjoy playing with his own children and their stuffed toys, just like Cbeebies did.
So, Bechep, don’t feel that we imagine that Aussies are uncouth idiots; we may think that about interviewers, but not because they’re Australian!
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Wow, you thought he was holding the frog gently? 🙂 I was reminded of his hold on the prison guard in Strike Back 1.4. I know he was trying to copy the original fan art.
I think we have to keep in mind that we’re not the audience. The host is sitting on the sofa in that odd way because he’s part of a generation that either finds that cool or normal attractive.
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Yeah, I thought he was holding the frog gently because the comparisons I have with the way some grown men take hold of toys *ugh*
True, we’re not the audience for these shows. I’ll not be buying what their advertisers peddle; I won’t be contributing to their ratings.
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I would like to point out i hold duel British/Australian citizenship. This means when an Australian is being an idiot, i am British and when the British do something terrible, i am Australian. Seem entirely reasonable.
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Totally 🙂 I spent a third of my adult life in TX and was only ever a Texan when it suited me 🙂
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Hahaha, Bolly! Well, I’m on my way towards dual American / British citizenship if I continue working here in London.
I still solidly consider myself in the ‘American’ camp (I see myself as very similar to these young hosts inside) even while I may disguise it well enough on the outside.
I grew up south of Seattle, went to college outside of Boston and have worked in Washington, DC, NYC, San Francisco and Chicago – so at times when people ask me where I’m from in the US, I even have a hard time responding! 😉
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The interview here was a strange mix of delightful and embarrassing, I think. I can see why bechep is particularly scathing about it – I would probably feel stronger if it involved someone from my two nationalities – but the positives outshine the negatives. Yeah, the whole “I am so cool that I am sitting on the armrest of the sofa” was a bit silly. The female interviewer was very evidently smitten with and in awe of RA (“Tolkien fan” my arse – she was a RA fan, too embarrassed to admit that – but, hey, we know what that feels like, don’t we?) I loudly groaned together with RA when the interviewer started his intro into the “fanart” – thank goodness it turned out to be something so cute and funny. As for the dwarf walk lesson – if RA doesn’t want to incite his fans’ imagination, he really needs to avoid such spontaneous touchy-feely outbursts. Myohmy, I literally gasped out loud there. Ooops – I should comment that on the other post, not here.
All in all: nothing new learnt from the Q&As, but certainly found something to like in this interview.
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I’ll wait to see if you did comment there 🙂
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OK, you didn’t comment over there. To me, that interaction outlined that it appears that it just didn’t occur to him to be careful — like it just never crossed his mind that she’d be thinking, here’s this big handsome guy about to touch my hips. He was going to show her how to walk like a dwarf and so he did that. that’s what continues to fascinate about him — that he really seems to remain somewhat oblivious to his own charms, even after the last six months where it cannot have been lost on him.
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Or maybe it’s just the age old battle of ‘how you see yourself’ vs. ‘how others see you’? He has to find an equitable balance between these two forces that he can live with after all – and my guess is his instincts still drive from the former, even as he acknowledges a degree of his professional success will depend on the latter.
That said, I don’t think the young audience watching these two interviewers would think much of his actions, particularly. 🙂
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Yes, quite adorable, actually. Another sign of normal human-ness.
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Wow. Super late here with my comments – but I had no problems with this interview at all. In fact, it was refreshing how unstaged and filled with youthful energy it was!!
For a few minutes, it almost seemed like a surreal dream of watching Richard Armitage being interviewed by Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar of “Wayne’s World” fame?? 😀
It also never occurred to me to be culturally offended by the interviewers – as I am West Coast US raised and this pair pretty much sums up the very relaxed and off-the-cuff style of the Pacific Northwest. 😉
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I thought, “oh, college students. I recognize them” 🙂
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Exactly – I may have gone one step further, thinking – “Oh, college students. Look how adorbs they are!!” 🙂
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if you want that reaction from me, you have to show me your vid in late August / early September 🙂
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Ahhh, it’s true. I should have caveated my earlier comment by saying (because I don’t have to work with them?).
But the Red Fraggle and Kermit bit at the beginning – that itself earns 5 stars for this duo. Pure solid gold. Kermit = platinum even. 🙂
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There was something oddly transfixing about the Red Fraggle / Thorin art — I posted it here on blog when it appeared and I don’t post all that much fan art. I couldn’t explain it at the time. I wouldn’t have called it “cute,” precisely.
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[…] dwarf gift calendar, looked at Thorin fan art without cringing (too much, anyway), hugged a Kermit the Frog doll, and let a fan touch his beard. All the while, he appeared convincingly to enjoy himself with an […]
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Armitage takes Australia: Goodbye to “precious” Richard? | Me + Richard Armitage said this on May 8, 2013 at 8:40 pm |