I Could

Because that's what every girl wants in her comic books: hot, sudsy fun.

I could possibly be persuaded to read this if Monica were in full Nextwave mode.

And dating Elsa Bloodstone.

And it included the Very Special Issue where everyone confronts Machine Man's drinking problems.

And...

Oh, fuck it. I can't believe *this* is how Marvel wants to draw in female readership instead of just giving us a second series of Nextwave. FAIL, Joey Q. FAIL.

I forgot Law and Order UK had started airing and wasn't sure if I was going to watch, but! But!

THEY INCLUDED THE 'DOINK DOINK' NOISE.

MY LIFE. IT IS COMPLETE.

I don't normally link to individual comics, but this may just be the perfect mesh of environmental, sci-fi and literary geekery ever created.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to rent Man of La Mancha.

Not what I wanted to see on my Sunday morning:

In what authorities are calling one of the worst judicial scandals in Pennsylvania history, Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael T. Conahan, pleaded guilty last month to sentencing youths... to secure detention facilities from which they received $2.6 million in kickbacks.

[...]

The Juvenile Law Center estimates that between 2003 and 2008, as many as 2,500 Luzerne County juveniles may have been affected by Ciavarella's rulings. In a two-year window examined by the Juvenile Law Center, more than half of those defendants had no attorney.

I can't even begin to tell you the sheer amount of rage this instills in me. They weren't targeting adults. These were kids. Kids who will never really get their lives back to where they were before, who will likely need years of therapy and whose families were, in some cases, bankrupted in order to pay for their incarceration. And why?

Because these judges wanted a nice vacation home.

I hope the JLC lawsuit takes everything from them. Everything. It's better than they deserve.

I am now employed! Huzzah!

Just canvassing work at the moment, being one of those obnoxious types who knock on doors and ask for money to save children and puppies and kitties and whatnot. But they're training me as a field manager and hopefully I'll be interviewing for an assistant director position over the next few weeks. So, y'know, yay! Money!

Also, this is the most ridiculous exercise program I have ever been on. Four hours of walking, Monday through Friday. Dropped two pounds in the first week. At this rate, I may actually get myself a bikini this summer.

Oscar night! I suppose I could have something better to do, but let's face it: I really don't.

( It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights )

Right, done now. Time for bed.

I don't normally write about Psych*, mostly because it's an enjoyable, if slight series that manages to tread the thin line between regular humor and absolutely pitch-black humor. It does angst surprisingly well, though not often, but, again, it's a fairly light-hearted show overall.

This week was the tribute to slasher flicks, since Friday the 13th: The Remake** opens today and USA is never above a bit of cross-promotional nonsense. I could identify most of the various cliches that abounded, along with the callback to a bunch of films, although one or two are still bugging me (the flashbacks with the camera sound dubbed over it? The hell if I can place it, though I know I've seen it - Texas Chainsaw Massacre, maybe?)

Anyway, so, they do it and the humor is twisted (because, y'know, horror movies) and that's all well and fine, except suddenly, out of nowhere, comes a pop song. And this is a show that generally doesn't shell out for licensing fees so that's already weird. But then, it totally works for the scene! And is on my personal top ten list of Songs I Like For No Reason Whatsoever and I am in geek. heaven. (song's 'Flagpole Sitta' by Harvey Danger, for those interested). And then there's another song later in the show that is *also* perfect and I'm just sitting here going, "Damn, I clearly need to become a music coordinator 'cause they're all impressing the hell out of me this week."

So, yeah, there's that and then there's next week's preview which is all "Angst! Angst like whoa! Did we mention there's angst? You should see us, with our angst." And yet, I totally want to see it because I'm a masochist like that.

(Final digression: huge props should go to James Roday's work on this show, as he's essentially playing the type of guy you'd probably want to punch in real life, he's so annoying, and yet manages to make him more or less charming. On top of that, when more serious stuff does come his way, he's able to turn on a dime, reminding you that yeah, Shawn may be a funny guy, but he's also really dysfunctional, too, and sometimes, he doesn't have as good a hold on his temper as he'd like everyone to believe. So, yay! Acting!)

*What, I should talk about Dollhouse instead? Well, okay, probably, but I haven't gotten a handle on it yet, so I'm going to sleep on it.

**Seriously, we needed a remake of this? When the last leg of the franchise got so ridiculous they literally made a movie of Jason... In Space! because they completely ran out of ideas? Really? Also, if all Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles are going to do during their hiatus is star in horror films, then really, they just need to make Supernatural: The Movie and get it out of their systems.

Every song from the eighties? All by hair bands?

I SAW WHUT U DID THAR!

You're awesome. I love you. Keep it up.

Love,
Me

I don't know how many people have seen this, but it's been making its way around the blogospere this morning. And when I saw it, this is what I did:

D:

D:

D:

I - I don't even know what to say. We're all screwed? Defcon 5? Abandon all hope, ye who enter here?

Here, um, have a video of a fox jumping on a trampoline. I'm going to sit in a corner and breathe into a paper bag or something.

Okay, so I'm not a member of fandomsecret but I'll occasionally surf by there. And then I see #113 here. And honestly, I do not know what freaks me out more: the thought of Shawn Spencer as a serial killer or Dexter Morgan as a fake psychic detective.

BUT I REALLY WANT TO WRITE IT NOW. Also, zomg, Harry Morgan and Henry Spencer are totally the same person, IT IS FREAKY.

Also, also, recent kerfluffles on fandom_wank re: heterosexism and slash and whether Rachel Maddow/Keith Olberman is sexy or wrong or possibly sexy!wrong, but the whole thing makes me want to write femmeslash for Trigun because that fandom really did never appreciate the really very obvious Meryl/Millie and if we're going to be getting into arguments over fandom's... shall we say fluid relationship with sexuality, well, hey, I am more than willing to add fuel to the fire.

And because ship wank always makes me want to write fic, if only for the lolz of it all.

Finally, on a completely unrelated note, ABC is showing promos for this. Which I knew was coming and yet, it's still completely weird. Because I still have icons from the *first* Cupid series - Jeremy Piven making a heart with his hands? Yeah, that's the one - and I have no idea if this will be any good or not. It could be, but chemistry's important and pretty hard to recreate, especially when the original version is still recognized by fans. Maybe I should view it like the LoM remake - cautiously optimistic but not expecting much.

But, hey, at least this time Rob Thomas gets credited as "the creator of Veronica Mars" rather than "that guy that worked on that show you liked that got canceled after three episodes."

So, ABC aired episodes out of order (well done, sirs, glad to see absolutely no one has learned anything from Firefly) and this was the real conclusion to the winter cliffhanger in which Sam wanders onto the set of The Evil Dead and gets an exceedingly creepy phone call that tells him to go into the basement.

Yeah, because that'll end well. Spoilers follow.

( In which LoM US is actually... well, good )

"Obama Woos G.O.P. With Attention, and Cookies"

courtesy New York Times.

If all politicians were wooed like this, the Girl Scouts would be the most powerful lobby in the States.

You know, it's always very obvious where my state of mind is when I start cutting off all contact with the outside world, even if it's by way of electronic communications only. Sad, really.

Anyway, bad news first:

We had to put my cat to sleep. Given, he was eighteen, which is a good long run for a kitty, but it was still kind of devastating. I had him since I was ten and it feels very weird here now, knowing I don't have a cat to greet me anymore. Plus, this is the second pet we had put down this year (the oldest dog was put to sleep in June at just under fifteen years, but still - that's a big chunk of my childhood right there). So, it's all been very depressing and while I know I'm going to eventually get another cat, I'm not quite ready to yet.

Less bad news:

The shrink put me on antidepressants. It's probably partially psychosomatic, but my sleep cycle's been very odd since then. Plus, the dreams? Holy crap, I can't remember having dreams this vivid since I was a kid. They're not bad or nightmare-ish, just memorable, more so than usual.*

I have no idea how this is going to play out. Emotional issues are of the suck and I could stay on medication for the long-term. Better living through chemistry, I guess?

The job front is also... well, sad. I'm trying to, at this point, just start from scratch. Entry-level positions, grunt work, whoever will take me. I'm sending out a bunch of applications for teaching fellowships and internships and looking to get my foot in the door in a non-profit job, but that's proving difficult. I'm hoping to get work at one of the local animal shelters (hello, there, coping mechanism), but no guarantees at all at this point.

Fannish news:

Erm, I am watching Being Human? And I may love it a little? Yeah, I got nothing right now.

*Like last night? Last night I dream I know this group of human-looking aliens - well, they've got more alien-looking forms, too, but it gets complicated - and one of them ends up sort of inadvertently causing the death of another alien race, which is pretty traumatizing. And this is a guy I find attractive, but I swear he's no one I've met or seen in real life. So, anyway, apparently I've decided on the sexual healing route and seduce this poor alien. It's all very weird and awkward. And when I wake up, I start thinking about it and feel sort of bad because it was obvious the guy was distressed. So, I am now at the point where I feel guilty for taking emotional advantage of the imaginary alien guy living in my head. Like I said, vivid.

"Obama said that there will be time to beat him up and a time for politics. He said I understand that and I will watch you on fox news and feel bad about myself."

From here.

... I think he just brought snark back to the White House.

I - I don't know what to with this, guys. I don't know what to do with a snarky, geeky president who can destroy you with his WORDS.

What is this? Could it be? Have I really written fic?

Why, yes! I have! Given, most of it was nearly a month ago for Yuletide and I am Teh Lazy when it comes to updating my fic journal, but I do get around to it eventually. You can't say that I don't!

Story the First:
Puppet Strings and Wooden Things. Ergo Proxy. Pino-centric. A story that mightily abuses a fairy tale format despite the fact the series takes place in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk dystopia.

Story the Second:
Detente. Dresden Files Book'verse. Marcone and Murphy, in a mall, on Christmas Eve. You can imagine how much fun they are having.

Story the Third:
Disruption. Original romance. In which I fail to find a title I like.

x-posted everywhere

What?

What?

There is a profound lack of Paterson Joesph here, y'all.

I think I'm more confused than anything else. Looks a bit too much like David Tennant, which, I mean, isn't that the point of a regeneration? Breaking away from a previous Doctor?

Well, whatever. I know absolutely nothing about the actor and I can reserve judgment on Relative Foxy-ness until I see him in action.

In other Who news, I finally saw the Christmas special. Three words: ( sort of spoiler-ish ) omgiluveditsomuch.

Courtesy ohnotheydidnt and 'cause I didn't see anyone else on the flist post it:

Official photos of Gambit from the upcoming Wolverine flick.

Guys, I am torn here. On the one hand, they have the hair and the cards and the purple and Gambit in an actual film zomg. On the other? No red-on-black eyes and I am really not feeling the facial hair. Plus, he's just not...quite...Gambit. A little too young, a little too...something. It's a vibe thing, I can't really explain it.

He may, of course, be an excellent Gambit as we actually haven't seen him in, y'know, the actual film. It's just - yeah. That.

Thoughts, fellow comic geeks?

...completely succeeded in making Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing and, erm, zucchini.

Bow down before my mad cooking skillz, y'all.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

So, on Saturday I drove up to New York and along with fadingembers, jaina and arafel, went to see Twilight.

I'm not gonna lie: a fair amount of alcohol was involved and we were possibly the worse people to be sitting next to in the whole theater because no *way* did we let things slide without unsolicited commentary.

Some true stories from the event:

Beforehand, arafel did not realize that not only was Edward a century-old virgin, he hadn't had a single wank during that entire time period. And that this was completely canon Remember, kids, Twilight means never having to say you're kidding!

The trailers sadly lacked a Star Trek. Though The Unborn looks creepy as fuck, but we'll see how long it takes Michael Bay to screw up the horror genre, as he did so handily with sci-fi.

Half the audience seemed to be in it, much like us, for the complete lol-tasticness of the flick. Especially awesome was the ten-year-old kid in front of us, who, upon hearing the "You're like my own brand of heroin" line, responded with "Then you should go to rehab."

Booze of choice: Dr. Pepper mixed with rum.

We concluded afterwards that Edward/Bella is unto Twilight as Miaka/Tamahome is unto Fushigi Yugi. Which is pretty much: have the main characters yell each others' names for, like, a half-hour, throw in a couple action sequences and you've pretty much got the whole story right there.

( And as for the actual film... )

And the Star Trek trailer is live.

I don't even like TOS all that much, but damn, does this movie look shiny with the ILM effects and the Zachary "I Eat Your Brain" Quinto and Simon fucking Pegg. Whose mere presence pushes the nerd quotient of this film up to eleven. Nerd squared. An epic overlap of nerdtopia.

It might still suck. But I'm down with the deconstruction and if this can do for Star Trek what Daniel Craig did for Bond, then I am in full support of all that it offers.

***

Speaking of Bond, we've been taking advantage of the free On Demand Bond films and it's interesting to see the evolution of action movies. Not just in terms of effects, but in physical interplay as well. There's a one-on-one fight scene between Bond and a Russian agent in From Russia With Love that takes place in a rather cramped train car. It has decent enough choreography for its time, but place it against a similar sequence in Goldeneye (in this case a Sean Bean/Pierce Brosnan smackdown) and there's just no comparison. Not only does the latter look slicker, it's much more brutal. Which makes more sense, considering what Bond does for a living.

Say what you will about modern films versus the classics (and there's plenty room for criticism), modern physical fights really do beat the older style hands down. Well, so to speak.