Hooray, I have work. But before I start on my translation, there is another hooray. A sign of life from Mr A. It popped up late last night, and like everyone else I have to say that it is just lovely to see a clip of him right now.
Thoughts:
Focussing on the *most* important part first (…), the #RomanticHeroHair is still there. Well, I guess the hairdressers are in lockdown in the UK, too. Interestingly, more than a month since UV was taken off stage, Mr A is showing no signs of grey (or otherwise natural hair colour) roots. How does he do that when hair grows about 1.25cm per month? L’Oréal? He’s certainly worth it.
Contrary to what others have said, I actually think his hair looks freshly washed – feathery and unstyled. Just like – come out of the shower, rigorously rubbed hair dry with a towel, went about his day. And I love the look. It wouldn’t do for the red carpet, or for the stage (although Astrov doesn’t exactly strike me as a regular groomer, either), but now, during lockdown, that’s all that is needed. Especially for Mr Low Maintenance. Also, it’s not just the look that is cute. Despite his own admission that he is vain, I actually think it has an adorable lack of vanity about it. It’s certainly something relatable, in these times.
The stripy shirt – oh Richard. I mean, sure, it looks nice, but *eeek* I am feeling hypnotised! It looks like it has a life of its own. Maybe its a hundred thousand fangirls virtually stroking his chest underneath that shirt?In case you are interested: This optical phenomenon is not called the “Armitage effect” but the “moiré effect”. It’s an often seen issue in photography when the subject wears a thinly striped or otherwise intricately patterned piece of garment. The reason we get a strangely three-dimensional efffect is because the intricate stripes on Richard’s shirt are basically competing with the grid pattern of the camera’s sensor. In a still, the two competing patterns create a third pattern, the moiré. In moving images, the pattern constantly changes with the movement of camera and/or subject, and the changing moiré can almost look three-dimensional. It can be made even worse when looking at the image on a conventional laptop/computer that adds another grid pattern via its screen. (I remember the picture on the right displaying a very strong moiré effect when I first saw it seven years ago. It now doesn’t seem so bad at all – but that could be because I am now using a Mac with their Retina screen tech. Click to enlarge). Anyway, the upshot is – Rich, please no more thin stripes when on camera 😉. You are mesmerising as you are!
The memory recounted itself is a nice, personal insight. A cleverly chosen story to share in the context of a Roundabout promo. It was not entirely new to me because I remember very well when he posted it, accompanied with a picture on IG that morning. Nice to hear more of his thoughts on that little epiphany. He had come “full circle”. Stories like this give some emotional depth to the otherwise rather elusive actor. He keeps the mystery alive by carefully curating what he discloses. This little intersection of professional and personal life felt quite precious. And the message at the end is very welcome, too. In fact, I think many of his fans had been waiting for RA to add his voice to the many other celebrities’ voices who are using their platforms to entertain, distract and advise their audiences. Or to spread a little bit of hope by looking to the future. It’s not strictly necessary. But personally I appreciate the efforts by my favourite celebs to connect during this extraordinary time. It means that they have looked out of their ivory tower for a moment, and that we are all actually on par in face of this virus. Nice to have RA here with us mere mortals, too.
- Anyone else intrigued by the artwork behind him? Or by the floor lamp? (I actually didn’t have RA down for graphic art like that. I’d have put him into the “poster” camp. I like the minimalist look of the pictures and the lamp. Question is, is he still in London and staying in a rental, or is he back home in NY?)
- Overall it looks as if he is good form. And that is simply nice to know. Plus, the beard has been kept in check. I’m grateful.
Stay well and stay safe yourself, Mr A!
Guylty Pleasure 
Yes , it was lovely to see the video. We will have to treasure it as I don’t think he will post anything else for some time but it won’t be too hard to view it again and again. I too wonder where he is , somehow I’d feel better if he was in the UK.
A mesmerizing video in so many ways! 😊😊
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I cannot imagine how he would have gone to the US. International travel is dead.
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Who knows – maybe he went before the UK had a proper lock-down? But yes, from his tweet times, it looks like BST to me.
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At first I read BTS and couldn’t figure it out. 🤦🏻♀️
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😂😂
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I nearly wrote GMT. That would’ve been more obvious.
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I am with you on that. This was an out-of-the-ordinary unusual post. He’s not going to change his MO. My thanks go to Roundabout for getting him to come out of his shell.
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Yes, he always seems to need that “do it for others” motivation. Who else can we prompt to prod him???
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Audible is the obvious one, right?
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P.S. They still owe us the tongue twister challenge anyway. *grumblegrumble*
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That tongue twisted challenge seems to have disappeared into thin air😡. It would certainly gives us some amusement.
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Typical audible. No follow through. 😐
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That was nothing but click bait. And I am damned if I will direct attention to them and ask for that specifically.
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They are… not worth it.
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To say the least.
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Audible has done the trick for us.
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Glad to see a bit of him, however we in the UK are being condemned for having the worse death rate in Europe. Conveniently overlooking how over crowded we are. Now the call is to get people weaned off furlong, my daughter has worked from home all through the pandemic now she is being forced into the company premises to do jobs she had never done before because other staff refuse to come in!
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I was thoroughly shocked last night when I heard that the UK death rates have overtaken the death rates in Italy. That is tragic.
“Weaned off furlough” yes, so that the economy can recover and money will be generated again. It’s being discussed everywhere, and I am disgusted that governments far and wide find it acceptable to sacrifice the lives of the most vulnerable and to endanger others so that the billion-dollar/Euro/Pound multinationals can get their revenue streams going again. I hope your daughter will be alright. It stinks that she now has to do jobs she has never been responsible for previously.
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I agree with you about the hair. It doesn’t look unwashed to me. And the fact that it looks so dark also made me think that it might be wet still.
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Ah, I hadn’t considered that option.
(BTW, are we all mad? Discussing the hair of some bloke???? 😂)
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I think it’s par for the course. 😂😂
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Now that you mention it…
Mind you, I never took that literally. Because we *don’t* usually discuss his hair that much.
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But we will take anything we can to discuss….
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Oh for sure. We have to pass the time somehow. With some nice pictures as a side effect.
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what else is there to talk about these days? 😀 any news of the distraction kind, however small is welcome 🙂
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Exactly. Especially when you want to avoid any controversy. In that case, you only can discuss his hair.
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glad i’m not the only one intrigued by the artwork behind him…might have been having a google this morning-first port of call was Ikea! lmao
the echo in the room gives me the impression it’s sparsely furnished- who knows if it’s a rental or he bought a small 1 bed flat in central London-i’m pretty certain he’d still be in London due to travel restrictions
maybe the hair is freshly washed after having dyed it that morning! lol! it could be lighting but his hair is certainly not that colour naturally
overall, really lovely video -very sweet and sentimental which is something we don’t often get from him
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Most definitely not his real hair colour. But I have to say the dark hair really suits him. Whoever decided that early on when he did NS – my thanks to them. (His natural hair colour is kind of non-descript… which is a pity when you have such a “decript” face ;-))
Ikea 😂. I take it your search did not yield any results there, though?
I actually also think he is still in London. Not least because I would assume that the actors will be called back to work at some point, and hence they had to stay put?
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First the sight of that #Romantic#Hero(bed)Hair made my mouth water, but it’s the gentleness in his eyes and the way he speaks that captivate me.
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That’s such a nice way of putting it – gentleness in his eyes.
I always love the way he speaks. I forgot to mention that in the post. It’s actually pretty remarkable that he always expresses himself really beautifully. In full sentences. And while that sounds silly, it really isn’t. Especially when talking to a camera (or a microphone) many people can’t finish any sentence completely. Which is not very nice to listen to. Not with RA.
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Yessss, that describes my reaction, too, Mezz, thank you for this comment!!!
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Oh he is just so gorgeous and intimate. It makes me feel emotional watching it. He also reminds me a bit of Sam Neill in his videos, that direct penetrating gaze, then the looks to the side. And the ‘golden section’ framing is nice with the artwork on the side – well directed, Richard!
I was puzzling about his hair too because I can see touches of grey in his beard and in his hair line, which confuses me as it is dyed. And yes, I want to be hypnotised by him, not his shirt!
Congrats on the work BTY!
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Intimate and emotional hits it. Watching it, I had a peculiar feeling of “so glad to see my old friend well and smiling”. (Of course I am aware that he is not my friend. But the happiness at seeing him well and smiling is genuine.)
Thanks for the congrats. (*coughs* I still haven’t started the translation yet, but it’s only due some time tomorrow anyway.)
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That color came out of a bottle and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it himself! It’s a good color on him! And DAMN I wish I could get that sort of height on my noggin! *jealous*
99.9% sure he’s in Great Britain. All travel, with the exception of American citizens to America came to a halt before the closure of Uncle Vanya, i’m pretty sure… 4-6 weeks ago, I think. I could be wrong…
Love the vid.
And now, back to work for me. I’ve been an hour, trying to struggle through a 12 minute video on Positive Behavior Management. I’m trying to figure out a way to say – No food, no drinks, no snacks, no gum, no potty breaks in a positive manner – meaning NOT using the word ‘no’.
Hmmm. I can go 45 minutes without jumping about like a kangeroo yelling ‘I gotta pee I gotta pee I gotta pee…
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You are right about the timing of entries to the U.S., Mezz. I was paying attention, because I had an air ticket to see him on stage in London last week (waaaaah, sob, sob), so I was paying attention to whether I would be able to return to the U.S. if I used it (to fly to London from NYC) ha ha ha. Although at first my idiot president made it that the ONLY way to fly to the U.S. was from the UK, that only lasted a few days, and by the time UV closed, it had been changed to only U.S. citizens can enter U.S. (on flights from anywhere, including UK), so it was too late for him to get in with his UK passport.
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Although he might have a US passport by now. Many celebs acquire dual citizenship eventually. (Mind you, this is pure speculation.)
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*eeek* No disrespect to our US fan sisters, but I just can’t separate RA from his Britishness. OTOH it would make things so much easier for him if he had dual citizenship.
(OT and BTW – do you?)
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No. I would never be eligible, not having lived there. Besides, the German government really doesn’t like dual citizenship. It’s a royal and costly pain to try for it even for someone like Mr. Kate who has legitimate reasons and there’s no guarantee a claim would go through. But celebs don’t have that problem and things might be different in a UK-US context anyway.
Mind you, I don’t think he’d ever give up his British passport. But acquiring an additional one when he lives, works and owns real estate there seems possible.
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Oh, I thought that being married to a US would do the trick.
BTW, the laws regarding dual citizenship have been relaxed for several years now. You do not need the government’s permission to apply for a second citizenship anymore. (Or have these laws only been relaxed for intra-EU citizenship applications?)
In any case, you are probably right that celebs don’t have the same issue with applying for citizenship. I also can’t see him giving up his British passport entirely (despite the whole Brexit disaster).
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The colour is definitely good on him. Enviable mop of hair!
I think you are right re. travel restrictions having an impact on his whereabouts. And I also would’ve thought that he’d have been contractually obliged to stay around (even during lockdown) until the end of UV’s run.
So how did the day back at school go? I bet the kiddos were all over the place after the unexpected holidays.
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Oh the kids aren’t back. They won’t be back until beginning of school August. We have to pack up the rooms so they can be cleaned – floors stripped, carpets cleaned. I got almost everything done today. We’ve been told we can come back tomorrow for 4 hours to finish up. I need to finish cleaning off my desk and my work table and it will all be done.
the color is fabulous on him. He looks good in dark hair. He also looks good in silver soooooooo…..
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Congrats on getting your room done. So basically the school year is over?
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School year was ‘over’ the second week of March. We just didn’t know it.
I take that back. The school year ISN”T over. Most teachers are teaching online via remote. Google Classroom. Zoom. You tube vids. I’m one of the few who isn’t. So I’m doing a lot of Professional Learning, getting things together for next year, getting a bullet month by month, grading period by grading period set up now. I’m writing my lesson plans (undated) for 3-5. K-2 are done through the end of September. That’s when my Musical Explorers will kick in and I’ll have those grade levels done through the end of the year.
I’m bringing home a ukulele to learn how to play. 4th and 5th will learn recorder first semester (through Christmas) and then 5th grade will switch to ukulele for the rest of the year.
3rd grade will do a LOT of instrument family and rhythm reading. Singing. And then in January, they’ll start on recorder. Also, 3rd grade will be making trashbag bagpipes. (trashbags, 2 recorders and 2 straws). No they don’t SOUND like bagpipes. They sound like 2 cats fighting, but the technique is similar and it’s a lot of fun.
I’m done with my room and I’m on my home. I’ll post pictures when I get there.
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Great idea on the ukulele. I have been tempted to get into it myself after watching my son pick up a ukulele when he was 15 and teaching himself how to play within days. (But ok, he was already a pretty proficient guitarist by then, so it came easy and quick to him.)
Sounds as if you have it all planned. That is great – so the time off hasn’t really been “off” at all. You’ve made great progress, which will make it easier once the next school year starts, I suppose.
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There are so many youtubes on how to play. What’s funnier is that one of our support staff has one and wants to learn so when we start up, she’s going to join us!!!
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Sounds like fun! You’ll have a whole orchestra soon!
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GOD NO! Been there, done that, use the tshirt as a dust rag!!! LOL!
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😂
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So do we think he hung art on the inside of the Ikea closet that he’s using to make this recording? Guess we’ll find out when the first promo for an audio book appears. I wonder if the audio book people will ask him to comb his hair. So many details to think about from this one short video, eh?
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Hehe, your question was prescient. The Audible video has answered it. No pictures. (And I would’ve guessed that, too, because he wanted his wardrobe for sound-proofing, and any objects within that tight space can probably influence the sound.)
Wonder whether Audibles arm reaches as far as a directive on combing his hair 😂
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Thanks for posting the screen grab of RA’s Instagram post of the Broadway and W 42nd Street signs on a pole. It’s like any number of street name signs in Times Square, but for us, it’s now a “marker,” and I took several fans to see it when I “hosted” non-New Yorker fangirls in New York during the run of Love, Love, Love. It was fun.
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I am trying to remember now, Besotted – did you take *us* also there? It was a really neat tweet back then – and the story is still really neat. Things like that make me wonder whether life really *is* only a chain of coincidences, or whether there is some sort of providence that shoves us in the right direction…
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New subject: Does anyone else but me find themselves looking at his left eye more than his right eye while he’s talking, as if the left eye is more “expressive?”
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The left side DEFINITELY gets more attention curtesy of The Eyebrow™️!!
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I love that trademark 😂
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That eyebrow should have its own passport.
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Or at least its own Twitter.
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Only eyebrow thirst tweets—keine Werbung.
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Damn, I went back to the video to test your theory, but now that I know it, I keep looking at his left eye. (That is – the eye on the left from *our* perspective.)
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I’ve just tested your theory, and I look at both eyes equally but I am often more aware of his left eye in images though,
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I found another new topic! “…great fun with our cast and our audiences…” I think “audiences” is not just acknowledgment of people in the theatre reacting to the show, but also a nod to having “fun” with us at the stage door, anyone agree? Or maybe I’m stretching it now and should do something else with my day and stop watching this video?
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Hm, that didn’t occur to me. Did you think so because of the plural? As in: the audience in the auditorium, and the attendants at the SD? Or because of the word “fun” that is usually not used to describe what the audience of a serious piece of theatre experiences? IDK, but given his approach to the SD, I just can’t believe that he would include the interaction with fans at the SD as the kind of fun he associates with his theatre work.
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I knew what this reminded me of..
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/english-comedian-ken-dodd-with-his-trademark-wild-hair-and-news-photo/3201184
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OMG noooooooooo.
I wish I hadn’t clicked on that, Jenny 😂
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Noooo, I thought this was going to link to a scrummy pic of RA, with wild hair, not Dodd! I’m still recovering from a moment in The Stranger when RA looked like Mr Bean, which I can’t unsee.
‘
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Ah, but were you tickled, missus?
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Evidence, please. Now that I have also stepped into Jenny’s trap and can’t unsee Dodd, I might as well also spoil Adam Price by seeing him as Mr Bean. Which episode, which scene?
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Oh no! Beware! I keep seeing it now, even when occasionally with Astrov. If you must, it is Ep. 6, when Adam visits Vicky and is standing at the doorstep. He looks down and wipes his nose and looks up. I paused the screen to admire his features but he morphed into Mr Bean. Don’t do it!
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Hmpth, rogue ‘when’ crept in there. I meant ‘Even occasionally with Astrov’s expressions’.
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LOL, with this warning I now feel suitably discouraged. I have refrained so far.
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Ignorance is bliss, believe me!
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*chuckles* I take your word for it.
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Heh heh, yes, when I’d recovered from the shock. I’m not going to say anything about tickling sticks ,,,
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I’ve just not the bath-cap, that’s hilarious!
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Yay, finally someone noticed! Ah, you know, J, a beautiful man cannot be disfigured by anything.
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Very True!
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Sorry but I have just seen a very condescending message from Audible we are going to be ‘ lucky’ people to have RA doing Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Just had to go and punch so poor cushions.
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Richard was lovely as usual, but yes, Audible’s message was very condescending. I feel like I’ve been patted on the head like a five year old for being a good girl. 🤨
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That tweet makes me so angry. I know it’s meant to be lighthearted and humourous, but it really just sticks in my throat. They’d do well to remember that 5-year olds do not have the disposable income that pays for audio books at 16 GBP a piece.
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I am sure there must be some nasty PR term around ‘herd purchasing behaviour’ or something like that which they count on. Amazon and affiliates are some of the very few gaining out of this unfortunately business and i am trying very very hard to buy as little as i can from them and buy from any other business desperately struggling in these times. Though i do hope and i think they probably keep paying all their employees and freelancers, since the work is definitely there. I just hope they care about their safety too. I wish they would treat us as adult customers, because that is the only ‘relationship’ we have; in fact we have none, they only have one to our credit and debit cards. Hmph.
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They (at least Amazon) are definitely paying their freelancers. I can vouch for that.
Yep, I’d like to be taken seriously by the companies that are flogging their stuff to me. Treating me like a five-year-old, laughing at my expense – but happy to take my money. Misogynist capitalism at its best.
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It took me until this morning to see the tweet you are referencing. (I had gone offline by 10pm last night.) I couldn’t agree with you more. (See my latest post.)
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Just wondering whether RA might have dyed his hair for the clip? I would not put it past his vanity. He’d make a great endorsement for Grecian 2000. I think he touches up his beard too – although I’m not sure what product he’d use to do this?
Anyway, always a pleasure to see him in good spirits and out of the closet… (tee hee! Sorry, couldn’t resist!)
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I had to look up Grecian 2000. (Never heard of it.) But yes, he’d make a great hair model on their packaging. (Not that I would want him to sell himself for that kind of thing.)
*tuttuttut* on such blasphemous quips, Zigzag!!! 😉
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Oop apologies Guylty This should have been a comment to today’s post.
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No worries – I see you have reposted on today’s post, so I’ll delete the errant comment 🙂
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Nice to see him energetic and upbeat and looking good 🙂 I think he purposefully kept the stage look up just in case they had been able to do an end bit to the season as initially suggested. I am sure he’s back in NY, in fact that he went back as soon as the performances got cancelled, the few posts he did were never on UK time i think, nor did he post much about any UK things at all and he’s tagged US audible and us studio things as well. But i didn’t expect anything else tbh.
Long wait until October.. they seem to give him popular classics to read, makes sense i guess as it probably boosts sales. Wish it was stuff i never read or saw before, not really into the Poirot stuff. But with being stuck indoors for work my listening has gone down to utter zero as i can’t find the time to listen to anything anymore, which is such a shame as i have a massive backlog of stuff i actually had and was looking forward to getting into.
But all in all nice to see his face, brightens up the day and good to head forward plans from anyone, especially of the kind that are guaranteed to happen, no matter what.
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I don’t believe he is in NY. Travelling there would’ve been very difficult with the restrictions put in place – and with the uncertainty of when public life resumes again, wouldn’t it have been unwise to venture so far only to have to travel back at a moment’s notice? His posting times are not US East coast, either. He never posts after midnight; it’s mostly day time hours.
I don’t really mind the Agatha Christie books. As good as anything tbh. And a popular choice, as you said.
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