Beam me up to New Zealand, Scotty!

I've always believed that I was so very lucky to have been born right here. I'm in the centre of Europe, in a country that offers it residence so much security and so many opportunities. We have warm summers (when we're lucky) and snowy winters (more snow every year, which I absolutely love, unless it's getting in the way of my travel plans). We are not plagued by any natural disasters and the financial crisis has not hit us as badly as it could have. So, I'm usually very grateful that I ended up exactly where I am. Usually... Today, not so much. Today, I would have wanted to be in New Zealand, the NZ Opera House to be exact. Why, you ask? Because that's where this man was and there are pictures to prove it!



A big THANK YOU to Catherine, who shared her pictures on tumblrhttp://cathoiskool.tumblr.com/post/25712812234/tonight-i-went-to-see-sir-ian-mckellen-host-a


Richard Armitage and many other members of the cast of The Hobbit attended Sir Ian McKellen's one-man show to raise money for charity, to help re-build the Christchurch area which has recently been hit by a series of devastating earthquakes.

Could this be the end of Richard's period of hibernation? Is he slowly shedding the skin of Thorin Oakeshield and coming back to real life? OK, the look is still very much Thorin: the athletic body of the dwarven king is still in shape, the (now apparently slightly longer) hair probably makes it easier to add the long dwarven mane and I'm extremely happy to see that my beloved man is still rocking that beloved beard. If he's not stepping into a new role right after filming on The Hobbit wraps in July, I may even be lucky enough to see more pictures of him before he has to shave it off. Although I like my men silky smooth, there's no denying that, on the right man, a beard can look incredibly beautiful - and this one simply makes me want to reach out and touch his face!

The eyes are definitely Richard, not Thorin. He's not channeling the King Under the Mountain here, he's just himself. His beautiful, talented, humble, generous self, to be precise. I see before me, a man who is content, happy to be where he is and prepared for whatever the future holds for him. My crystal ball says the future may be absolute madness once the audiences of the world get acquainted with this talented Brit, but Richard will take things as they come, and he'll be happy to go back to relative obscurity once the world moves on to the next Twilight or Hunger Games. He'll make it through the storm unscathed and with his sanity firmly intact.

Richard Armitage channels Thorin Oakenshield, King Under The Mountain
Image source: www.richardarmitagenet.com

Oh, I almost forgot, there's video too. See what happens when Sir Ian invites the cast of The Hobbit on stage and then gets a whole bunch of audience members to come and play Shakespeare with them!

I can't wait to see this film!! Today is Sunday, 23 June, so that means 173 days until the film finally opens around the globe. [And only 59 days until Armitage Day!!] Now where did I park that time machine again?

For now, New Zealand remains on the bucket list. Some day...