Picture perfect or imaginary image?

This is supposed to be a new picture of Richard that was discovered on Tumblr yesterday. My first reaction was: It's a fake! Richard's head on somebody else's body!

Is it real or is it fake?

Apparently, I was not the only one who had their doubts and the case was swifly under investigation. According to the poster on Tumblr, this was an image from a photoshoot by Robert Ascroft, the same photographer who created this lovely portrait of Richard:

The real McCoy: Richard Armitage as photographed by Robert Ascroft

That settles it then, doesn't it? Mystery solved!
Well, not exactly... I'm not convinced. I still can't seem to shake the feeling that this picture is not real. I can't exactly put my finger on it but there's something not quite right about it. And I am absolutely sure that I've seen that chair before...

What do you think?

RIII: The King in the car park

"Researchers from the University of Leicester confirm that a skeleton found under a car park is that of King Richard III following extensive testing.

A series of papers presented at a news conference on Monday, 4 February detailed the highly-anticipated results of tests carried out on a skeleton thought to belong to Richard III, who died in battle more than 500 years ago.

Richard Buckley, dig project leader, said: "It is the academic conclusion that beyond reasonable doubt, the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2011 is King Richard III - the last Plantagenet king of England."

I still can't believe it's actually him. What an extraordinary find!

For those of you who, like myself, are not in the UK and therefore did not have a chance to watch the Channel 4 documentary about the search for Richard III, here it is.

A big 'Thank you!' to LilyElizabeta for making it available on YouTube.

Richard III: The King In The Car Park - Broadcast on UK Channel 4 on Tuesday, 5 February 2013.

Richard Armitage, this is your Fault!

So yes, I ordered the Winter issue of Fault Magazine with the special edition Richard Armitage cover. And although it was ridiculously expensive, I'm now convinced that it was a good idea. The video below will show you why. Best looking 41-year-old man I have ever seen! Not a 'fat dude' in sight, Mr. A, but I'm now beginning to realise what you mean by "I'm extremely vain"!  :-D

So I guess I'll just consider this a little Newyear's present to myself... as it will only be delivered somewhere in the second part of January. It's all Richard's Fault anyway... bad, bad man! :-))

What to look out for in the video? Designer stubble alert, the blue-eyed wonder, glorious fashion (yes, I did notice the clothes as well...), crinkles (yes!), the new hairstyle (which I still love, although the natural hair colour is now gone - but black just suits him so well, so it's all good!) and last but not least: the hands, those lovely long and elegant fingers...

Right, I'm watching this again!

Richard Armitage for Fault Magazine Issue 13 - Behind the scenes

Gone in 60 seconds

Two brilliant new interviews: one in which Martin Freeman interviews Richard Armitage and one where Richard interviews Martin. Funny, adorable, sexy (that voice!)... these guys are so funny together!

What I've learned:
- There's somebody out there who is even worse at telling jokes than I am :-)

- RA prefers wine to beer... As I'm belgian, it would be almost sacrilege for me not to like beer at all, but I have a definite preference for wine. My new favourite is a Sauvignon Blanc from the Stoneleigh vinyards in New Zealand ;-)

- RA had a 'relationship' with his horse - Good to hear that he got along with HER after his rather 'difficult' relationship with Richie, his horse for Robin Hood... :-§

- He trusts the judgement of a stylist to make him look good. Now, I know we agree that this man would look good wearing a plastic bag (and not much else, winkwink), but he's right that his stylist for the press tour for The Hobbit has made him look absolutely gorgeous (Best dressed list gorgeous, that is!). Can I get a big round of applause for Miss Ilaria Urbinati?

- RA is a bit of a fitness freak... lifting weights because he "would not want to be a fat dude". I love people who like to suffer the pain of sports, and appreciate the incredible feeling you get when you've put your body through an extensive workout :-)

- He's sticking to his guns (!) about social media, but he prefers making that perfect shot with a bow and arrow... good, I don't like guns anyway, unless we're referring to a specific part of RA's body; in that case: I love guns! ;-)

Oh, and can I just bring everybody's attention back to that voice... That's dip-me-in-chocolate, tingles-down-my-spine, rich velvet voice? Not even Thorin's voice can top the real thing! Enjoy!!

MAX 60 Seconds with Richard Armitage - Thank you Cinemax!!




And MAX 60 Seconds with Martin Freeman:

Survival of the fittest...

The first day of my 'detox week' was not an easy one...

This morning, my train was delayed for 45 minutes. My commute usually takes about an hour in total. So, on the first day of a week when I'm trying to avoid stress because I want to allow my body to properly heal from the ear infection that kept me away from work for most of last week, I arrived at work late. I'm sure you can imagine that I wasn't exactly stress-free by that point!

When I finally got there, and got an overview of all the work that had been waiting for me during my absence... Well, let's just say that it didn't really ease my mind.

On the other hand, I was a very good girl today. Had some lovely tomato soup for lunch and a healthy drink based on green tea. I had fruit in the afternoon and I drank only 2 cups of coffee in the morning. And best of all, I said 'No thank you' when a colleague offered a chocolate-filled treat for dessert.

It turned out to be a long day, but when I got home, my husband cooked dinner and gave me a chance to relax on the couch for a while. In the evening, when hubby was watching sports on tv, I did the flexibility exercises that I had planned and even had enough energy to work with my 2kg weights. With every movement, I could feel my muscles stretching and the stress of the day was gone...

One thing I do want to clarify: this detox week is not about losing weight. I'm perfectly happy with my 173cm and +/-55kg, so that's not the point. So why am I saying no to chocolate and desserts? Simply because I want to eat healthy food and give my body what it needs to feel better. There's nothing wrong with chocolate, and I will be having some...next week! :-)

Now which picture could I use to illustrate this post? I just realised that there are hardly any pictures of RA while he's working out. Here's one from Strike Back!

 John Porter tries to stay in shape while he fights to put his broken life back together again (and what a lovely tattoo!)

Richard Armitage as John Porter in episode 1 of Chris Ryan's Strike Back

Source: http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/

Giving my body a break...

Here it is… my very first blog post that has absolutely nothing (?) to do with a certain beautiful Brit.

This week, winter finally came to Belgium. And boy, did I know it! I just spent a week at home, in bed, recovering from a rather painful ear infection. That was no fun at all. And did I mention that it was painful? And being ill was boring!

The pain is now mostly gone and I’m going back to work tomorrow (Monday), but this week has made me realise that I have not exactly been kind to my body lately. A lack of sleep, many hours at work, stress, not always the healthiest food, and a lack of proper exercise have made my body weak. No wonder that it caved the second the weather got worse! And I paid the price.

So this week, I’m going to give my body a break. And not even just a break, I’m going to pamper it relentlessly!! I know a week is very short, but it's a start, and I'm sure I'll feel the difference!

This is the plan:

• Detox: Make time for breakfast every morning, limit the caffeine intake, drink water and herbal tea, stay away from sugary snacks, chocolate and alcohol
• Exercise: spend 30 minutes a day (or more) on exercise
• Taking care of the outside: my skin, my hair, my face, my legs, my hands, my nails, my back, my feet,…
• Getting enough sleep: this is the most difficult one for me as my brain seems to wake up at about 10pm and I find it extremely hard to go to bed before at least 1am. But I’ll try…

I won’t bore you with every detail of my week, but I’ll try to share one of my ‘easy ways to pamper yourself’ every day this week. If you have suggestions, don’t hesitate to share!

I’m officially starting this detox week tomorrow, but I started today with an extremely easy way to pamper myself. After my shower, I allowed my skin to enjoy my favourite body lotion, a super-soft moisturiser for my face and another one for my hands. Yes, you probably do that every day, especially in winter. But today, I applied it more than once, a few times even. And now, my skin feels beautifully soft and healthy and it smells great – and I feel good!!

And here’s a little treat to motivate me... I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist just one picture! Need to pamper my eyes as well! :-)

Richard Armitage as Lucas North in Series 7 of Spooks

Source: www.richardarmitagenet.com

Stay tuned for more and stay warm!