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Luckys
Column - New & Improved! [but the disclaimer still stands]
Disclaimer
- please read before going any further.
Tuesday August 18th 2008 - still missing ya Lucy xxxxx
While watering my hanging
baskets this afternoon I was approached by the little boy from next
door who head bowed told me that he had bad news to share with me and
did I know that Jonas was leaving Robin Hood. I nodded my head and kept
the sombre expression because in the past few weeks I've found that
small children feel they are imparting very grave news to me and expect
a level of despair to show on my face in return. Don't worry, he
said with a beaming smile, because when I'm your age and you're dead, I
will tell everyone that Jonas was Robin Hood when I was a kid and that
my neighbour had a website for him. Thanks I replied and went back to
watering my hanging baskets while he continued to kick his football
against Mr Luckys precious landrover.
And then it struck me that no matter what happens from this day forward, no matter what is said or what is done, Jonas is
Robin Hood and he has taken his place in the hall of fame alongside
Errol Flynn and Michael Praed. His name will be in the roll call of
Robin Hoods when they are recounted by the various legend sites and in
all walks of life when the legend is discussed. He has become part of
our history. Plus what Jonas should remember is that the iconic image
of him wearing that green hoodie is what sold this series. It's his
image that brought the viewers in and his image which made this
show such a good sell overseas. It's his image which will be used in
future years when the show is discussed in the media. It's his image
which brings fans to websites and it's his image which the public
associate with Robin Hood. And that is something he can feel very proud
of - his fans certainly do.
We had a member cull on the forum last weekend. Members whose accounts
have been inactive for a certain period of time were removed. Lurkers
are fine in my book and if they never make a single post they can stay
provided they reguarly log in to the forum. I only removed members who
hadn't been online for a certain amount of time or whose registration
was a duplication of another. This led to our numbers going from 3,214
to 2,934. I thought that was pretty good to be honest. Most forums will
never have a re-count and will hang on to members who've not logged on
for years. Apparantly I caused some concern so I've left a message
in announcements explaining everything. I do have to point out that
when Jonas leaves Robin Hood the member numbers will probably stagnate
and even drop off slightly. He will be leaving an established show and
moving into the precarious world of movies. Books of Blood will be an
entirely different genre to RH and not all of the Robin fans will
necessarily follow him - that's only natural and happens to all actors.
The good thing is that we still have series 3 of RH and with that will
come more fans. 50% of them will move on once Jonas has finished his
stint as Robin and 50% will stick around to see what he gives us next.
But Blood will bring in more fans so things should even themselves out.
Plus some of the members I've removed will realise and re-register so
we'll be entering Jonas' accession to the silver screen with a very
healthy fanbase, numbers wise and energy wise - we have nothing to
worry about on that score. *thumbs up*
And on that note I have some very good news to tell you regarding Mr
Lucky and his job. They have decided they don't want to lose him and
are moving him sideways to teach in another department and it sounds as
if they have other plans for him too so he is a very happy bunny and so
am I. We get to stay in our home, he gets to continue doing the job he
loves, and best of all - I let him wear the trousers for once and it
worked out okay which he's thrilled about lol. Bless his cotton socks!
[I don't want him getting used to it though....I'm not sure I want to
share the trousers]
As for my giving up smoking...I have a thread over on JAF and whenever
the craving gets too much I go in and read it. I'm astounded at the
amount of people in there wishing me luck, showing their support,
checking up on me. It really is incredible and I'm so touched by it.
I can't possibly go back to the dark side now....I can't bear to
disappoint all of these lovely Angels. xxx
----------------------------
Later on Monday night.....feeling very guilty.....
I had to do the most awful
thing today - I had to delete a members registration. Basically, I had
to punish a person for being honest and I feel dreadful about it. The
lovely Lucy is so devoted to Jonas that she engaged in a little bit of
subterfuge and lied about her age when registering on the forum. But at
least she had the 'Robin Hood b***s' to come clean and admit it. This
way she comes back in November when she reaches the milestone of 13 and
we will celebrate her birthday along with her being made a JAF helper.
So bad do I feel that I will be dedicating this blog to Lucy every day
until she re-joins the Angels. She still retains Armstrong Angel status
- she has earned that.
I want to send her big hugs and say how much we will all miss her. But
November will be here before we know it and she will return to a heroes
welcome.
And a big hug to Joanie for her lovely comments on the guestbook. One
of my favourites parts of convention this year was sitting in a cave
like alcove with the U.S Angels just before they returned to the states
[it was a pub in London and most odd it was too] As you know I spent a
lot of time in pubs with the U.S Angels during their two week trip to
the UK - all their doing of course..I never touched a drop of alcohol
before they hit town *whistles and tries innocent look* Anyhoo, I was
filming them and Joanie said "Jonas we wish you well and those who don't can go to hell."
It was priceless and totally off the top of her head. We all
cheered and the bar staff smiled - because they knew Joanies chant
warranted another round of drinks. Ahhhh good times.
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Monday August 18th 2008
Good Morning.. I was up and
at em very early this morning. Had a dream that my nephew was on the
front line in Afghanistan and I was fussing round him trying to use Mr
Sheen on his rifle. I rang to tell him and he said "why are you ringing
me in the middle of the night? go and bother Robin Hood instead." Then
he hung up. *sigh* We won't get to share quality time like that if he
enlists.
One of the things that I've found both amusing and annoying in equal
measure since I started the sites are the amount of people who will
appear and make sweeping statements claiming to have inside information
about Robin Hood. It happened last week on some obscure blog which
suddenly got a lot of attention. Their neighbours cousins wife may have
dated one of
the 'Grips' once in High School or they may be related by a marriage
between third cousins in the 12th century to one of the costume
designers. One thing they all have in common is that they're not
allowed to 'say too much' - translation = they've been told nothing
worth saying. Some will outline a storyline or plot that they want to
happen and if you don't like said idea they will tell you that they know
it's going to happen - so there! And then blow a raspberry at you. Or
at least it feels that way. Translation = they bumped into Foz or Dom
in a supermarket, told them what they wanted to see on the show and in
a bid to escape, Allen/Minghella nodded compliantly before fleeing and
dialling 999. Or they met a guy in a club who was an extra in series 1
episode 4 and he's told them he has 'contacts' and will get their ideas
to the 'right' people - in which case they might want to check the
phone number he gave them...I'm guessing it will be Pizza Hut.
It's such a shame that they feel the need to shout about having contacts or being in the know.
If they are lucky enough to have inside information then chances are
it's been told to them in confidence so they are betraying that
confidence by opening their mouths in the first place. Plus would you
really tell someone a secret if you knew they had a gob like Avonmouth
- I don't think so somehow. And because it's been told them in
confidence they can't make it public so they have to make do with
telling a few people via pm's or email in the desperate hope that they
will gain a bit of celeb status in the process. News flash! By
the time the bush telegraph has really got the news across, some other
git will have taken credit for your gossip. It's a lose-lose situation.
Please someone .... make it stop.
------------------------------------------------------
Sunday August 17th 2008
Since Jonas announced he was leaving RH, I've been trawling the net and
the complaint I keep hearing is that the show wasn't publicised enough
and that the actors involved were not promoted enough by the BBC. So I
started thinking of how I would have handled their promotion and the
shows promotion.
Firstly they should have kept to their promise that this would be a
Robin Hood for the playstation generation instead of going on to ignore
youngsters.
When the press labelled
Jonas a 'Robin who looks like he should be in a boy band' they
should have leapt on that and played on it. Especially given how well
Jonas can mimic Liam Gallagher [see Sheriff got your tongue]. I'd have
had Jonas, Harry Lloyd, Joe Armstrong and Sam Troughton on the cover of
every young girls magazine holding their weapon of choice like a
musical instrument.
My nephews don't take out their younger siblings/cousins because they
enjoy spending time with them. They do it because it's a sure fire way
to pick up women. Men holding babies, men playing with kids - women
love it! I'd have had local Hungarian schoolchildren visiting the set
and being photographed with Robin and the gang and then with the
Sheriff and Gisborne. You have a win win situation then because you're
keeping the kids happy and the older fans will love the fact that these
blokes are being nice to kids.
I'd have had Jonas, Joe, Harry and Sam on Saturday morning kids show
being interviewed by youngsters and having their photographs taken with
said youngsters.
Keith is a legend and should
have been on Top Gear and giving interviews to Loaded magazine. Get the
husbands, boyfriends and fathers onside and that's how you get a family
to watch a show together.
You can just tell that Gordon Kennedy is brilliant with kids. They
should have had him work with more children on the show itself. I'd
have had him interacting with kids every episode.
I'd have recreated that scene from Reservoir Dogs with Robin and the
gang walking towards camera and used it in advertising the show.
Richard should have been used in an ad where he leans into camera with
that sneer and tells the female viewers that they WILL feel stirred by
him.
As for Lucy - they made her
look like a right frump in the first series and went overboard in
glamming her up for series 2. They got the hair right in series 2 but
I'd have had her looking sexy in mens clothes - which can be done.
I'd have had Lucy doing interviews for young girls mags extolling the
virtues of feminism and encouraging young girls to be strong and burn
their bras...well not quite but you know where I'm coming from. She
should have become a female icon for women libbers everywhere while
showing them you can be glamourous and feminine at the same time.
Viewers should have walked away from RH desperately wanting Jonas and
Lucy to be an item off-screen. I remember Buffy and Angel - wanting
David and Sarah to get married and have kids LOL. I remember being told that
they disliked eachother off set but I didn't care. I wanted to believe
that they would live together in a little house and have lots of mini
Angel/Buffys to continue the series. Jonas and Lucy should have
attended awards ceremonies together. They should have been photographed
in restaurants or clubs together. Anything to give us the impression
that there was a chemistry off-screen....feed the viewers imagination
and let the storylines do the rest.
Basically I'd have used cult images and shameless heartstring pulling
tactics..but that's just me. And if the press/media were reluctant to
use ideas like this I'd pay em or threaten em. This is the BBC after
all - they have the power!
--------------------------------------
Saturday August 16th 2008 - halo still clinging on to the moral high ground..fists trying to scramble off
One has come to the
conclusion that Jonas has matured into a very sensible young man whilst
working on Robin Hood. As an Aunty of a 27 year old [before you
start..I was a very young Aunt and my sister was a very young Mum but I
won't go into details or my Mothers head will start spinning] I can say
with authority that Jonas is very
mature for his age. My sister has taken to following the trail of
Google Alerts to any article which she feels may enrage me in a bid to
cut me off at the pass and calm me down. Her favourite saying has
become "follow Jonas' example and be dignified." Being dignified
is a pain in the rear end as is being sensible as is turning the other
cheek and Mr Lucky isn't sure that we can afford to keep replacing the
smashed crockery.
Much is being made of Jonas not doing a lot of publicity for RH but
when I sat down and worked out what he had done it was rather a lot.
Since S2 aired in the UK last October he has given 3 or 4 interviews,
presented 3 awards, supported the Save Sherwood campaign and visited a
childrens hospice. And I'm sure the Angels will be able to add to my
failing memory. He has also filmed a Clive Barker movie and he's been
filming S3 of RH for the last few months. There is only one of him and
as the star of Robin Hood he will obviously be in more scenes than any
of the other cast members which means he will have less time for giving
interviews. I'd rather he got some sleep inbetween scenes so that he
can concentrate on giving us his best performance than have him hanging
on the end of a telephone answering inane questions. He is entitled to
a life which should include him taking a break between different
productions and the advantage to being in a high profile show like
Robin Hood should be that he gets to enjoy his time off without
worrying that he'll be forgotten between series. I don't want him to
burn himself out before he hits 30.
Plus..the BBC are famous for keeping a tight rein on the young actors
in their 'stable'. I don't even want to imagine the clauses which would
have been written into Jonas and Lucys contract. But you can bet your
bottom dollar that they were not allowed to do any other filming in the
first two years of the contract. The BBC wouldn't take the chance that
another role might taint or tarnish the characters of Robin/Marian or
take the publicity away from the show itself. That should be obvious to
anyone and to be honest it's fair enough. I don't hold that against the
BBC...ultimately they are a business [hence the word coorporation] and
they are looking after their business investments i.e Jonas and Lucy.
They also must have realised from day one that Jonas would move
on to films eventually so they knew that he would not be jumping
straight into one of their other prime-time shows. Again this is not a
criticism of Richard Armitage - I am tiring of constantly having to say
how much I respect Richard, especially when Jonas fans are constantly
accused of being disrespectful towards him without any good reason.
Jonas knows that he hasn't yet become the Robert D'Niro of the acting
world and we know that we don't have a fanbase to rival Mr D'Niro. But
what Jonas does have is the makings of that and this is just the
beginning of his career and the loyalty he inspires in fans is truly
something to behold. And for the majority of us...all we need is to see
Jonas producing the magic that only he can when he's onscreen. If he
never gives another interview in his life....if he never attends
another awards ceremony in his life...his genuine fans will be here so
long as he keeps producing the standard of work he always has. The only
time we'd ever criticise him is if he threw it all away and wasted his
god given talent. And that takes me nicely back to his being so
sensible. Jonas will never throw it all away. He'll take chances and
sometimes he will succeed and sometimes he'll fail but he'll pick
himself up and carry on because it's in his nature - he's fearless. As
was confirmed by Clive Barker when talking about him to Rue Magazine.
Righto....I'm back to tracking down Shane Meadows...I'm going to follow
that man until I persuade him to get Jonas in one of his films :-) But
before my sister starts ranting....I wil do so with dignity.
*secures halo back on noddle!*
---------------------------------------------------
Friday August 15th 2008 - still feeling like giving Jonas a slap for missing that audition.
I've been over on IMDb today
arguing...I mean debating... with someone over something or other. And
I ended up leaving a comment saying that Jonas inspires such
loyalty in fans that if he were to give it up tomorrow and become a
plumber we'd still keep the sites going but we'd use them to find him
customers instead. It started off as a joke but actually it's true. I
would keep them going and I would use them to find him customers. He
really does inspire that much loyalty in fans. It's always quality over
quantity with Jonas. I'm still pissed off that he missed the audition
though lol
---------------------------------------------------------
Thursday August 14th 2008 - how could you Jonas???
Some of you may recall a
while back I watched the Shane Meadows film "This is England" and I
loved it so much that I raved about it for months. I think it's the
best British film I've ever seen and it should be made compulsory
viewing in our schools. This is why Jonas working with Shane Meadows
ended up on Luckys wish list. So imagine my surprise when I was tidying
up the press section on JAF and I came across this article.
click image to enlarge
Yep, Jonas was supposed to go for an audtion .... for the Shane Meadows movie This is England
..... but he got the day wrong. My eyes filled with tears when I read
this. Can you imagine if he'd been in it? He would have been
fullfilling Luckys wish list before I'd even written it. I am so
gutted. He HAS to work with Shane once RH3 is over and done with. I'm
going to track down Shane Meadows and write him asking that he make one
of my wishes come true. Then I just need him to get Jonas onboard with
it and I'll be doing the happy dance all over the valleys :-))))))
--------------------------------
Another
day over...still taking it ten minutes at a time...still resisting the
tablets and other aids being offered. I can do this cold turkey, it's
just mind over matter. Toodle Pip x
Wednesday August 13th
As some of you will
already be able to testify I'm giving up smoking...yet again! I'm
finding it much harder going this time and the cravings are kicking in
at all hours of the day and night. Hence my being up and over on BBC
America at 2 this morning. I couldn't understand why I'm
struggling so much until it came to me at about 5.30 this morning. When
I've given up in the past my motivator has been trying to get pregnant
[thanks to certain sick individuals in this fandom my issues in that
area have been well documented]. So the incentive was always there.
This time it's as is my body is saying "hang on a cotton picking
minute...we were prepared to do it when it meant you having a healthy
baby but we're not doing it just so you can clear your lungs". I feel
like I'm fighting against myself and that my body and mind are in
league with the devil. The Nicotine minions want my soul! But they're
not having it. Will power, determination and an iron will are all I
need.....and maybe some of those lovely pills the Dr offered me....or
some nicotine patches...or some lovely nicorette gum....anything to
stop this goddamn awful craving!!!
-------------------------------------------
Tuesday August 12th - positive frame of mind left home about 12 hours ago.
Since Jonas announced he was
leaving Robin Hood I've had to read some right cack left by people who
can't be bothered to get their facts straight or who are too dim to
ever understand the bigger picture.
Personally I think the show did ok despite the clear and obvious
mistakes they made. UK viewing figures were in the millions and it's
been sold globally and been a huge hit overseas. But in my opinion the
reasons for it not being the huge success here in the UK that it
deserved to be are as follows:
1. They promised this would be a Robin Hood for the Playstation
generation and then promptly ignored the playstation generations
opinions and views.
2. They did their market research and stuffed up big time by catering to the wrong audience.
3. They never capitalised on Jonas Armstrongs appeal to young and old alike.
4. They made the female lead character so wishy washy that young girls today couldn't identify with her.
5.They took political correctness to ridiculous levels which antagonised an already overly sensitive British public.
6.When they finally showed some backbone and stood up to the snobbery
surrounding the Robin Hood legend they chose to do in such way that
they alienated their supporters as well as their detractors.
All quite obvious to me and other Jonas fans. It may however take a while longer to register with the powers that be.
Jonas is not going to
take the blame for this show not being the success they had hoped for.
He did everything and more that was expected of him. If people are
looking for scapegoats they can forget using Jonas.
One of the saddest lessons this has taught me about society today is
that kids expect to be ignored. None of them complained when they
didn't get what they were promised - they just walked away and stopped
watching. The only people left to complain on their behalf were
belittled and torn apart for even suggesting that Robin Hood should be
for kids. Well if it's not for kids then who is it for?
-----------------------------------------
Saturday 9th August 2008 - still maintaining a positive frame of mind
[Am I making you proud?] :-))))
The Evil Taff...aka me....went on a sniper rampage today. It
started off with me needing to have the spoons [who are recruiting
every member of the forum including the other corkscrews] call off the
smurf army. Now smurfs give me the creeps. I don't know whether it's
because they're blue, small, smile too much, wriggle about..I can't
explain it..I just shiver whenever I see one. So I placed a red dot on
the forehead of Robin and then posted the pic on the forum along with
my demands. The red dot obviously signifying that I had him in the
sights of my rifle and would blow his brains out if they didn't cave
into my demands. Granted it was childish to make Amy say "Lucky is the
boss of me" but there was no need for her to red dot ME!!!!
That girl is displaying very violent tendencies - I don't know
where she gets it from. I think she's spending too much time with Tigz.
Anyhoo, next thing I know lyndon is in on it, bringing with her an
array of smilies, and then Cindy and Joanie joined in. Once again I was
out-numbered. Willow had betrayed us and gone to the dark side.
EllieBell is still upset because of Willows defection. Suzies computer
has been nobbled - probably by the spoons! I had no choice but to red
dot Smeagol and then Prince 'sissy' Caspian and I threatened to red dot
Orlando but didn't follow thru on that because Tigzly's roar is far
worse than her bite. And I still haven't got a clue who is actually in
the Spatula gang. Oh and yes *hangs head in shame* I did use a flying
devil smilie to chase little Lucy & Paige [our youngest members]
round the forum threatening to devour them whole because little English
girls taste very nice and thats what Evil Taffs eat. It sounds far
worse than it actually was. Soon as their Mum called them for their tea
all was forgotten honest!
I wasn't planning on coming in here today but then I had the most
lovely message from JennyF, our very own dot com blogger, and the owner
of Jonas given that he was born in Dublin and so was she. Her claim is
valid....and she'll be able to enforce it the next time Jonas steps
foot on Irish soil. Then we'll get some rather juicy blogs from her!
And she'll have every Armstrong Angel wanting to come visit her.
Anyway, yet again I digress, Jennys message was to commend me on this
blog and she actually gave me A++. That has thrilled me to bits and I
could barely get my head through the doors of JAF. So thankies Jenny
*mwah*
And now I must get back to torturing...ummm ....I mean spoiling...the little Angels.
Oh and by the way....all the numpties leaving horrid comments about RH under the articles...BOO HISS to ya!
xxxxxxxx
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Friday 8th August 2008 - the 8th day of the 8th month....
Mr Lucky has banished me
here because he is finding me boring. I was simply pointing out that we
are but blips on the history of the world. 100 years [for those of us
who are very lucky] is a teeny weeny, barely makes an impact,
blip in time. Even if we all were lucky enough to live until we're in
our 90's, that's not a lot of time to make your mark or make a
difference or make any kind of impact at all. That's the only thing
about death that frightens me...the thought that I won't have enough
time to do everything I want to do before the reaper comes for me. Ah
bugger..he was right...I am boring!
Imagine my surprise when little Angel Paige threw a sheep at me on
facebook. Then the Yorkshire trio of Amy A Dale, ShellyBaby and Bennie
all decided to teach me - a sissy southerner - how tough Northerners
are. Jenny grassed me up to the men in white coats and Carmelee
actually got me a strait jacket. Then they attacked me with a battalian
of smurfs. Should have seen it coming really, especially when I caught
them burning their halo's behind the JAF bike | | | | | |
