So, I was talked into making a vid. For The Adventures of Sean Bean and His Highway Brides The Hitcher. To "Girlfriend".

I suspect I ought to be way more ashamed of myself than I am.

This is the crap youtube version, because Firefox froze on me in the middle of uploading a slightly better-quality one to imeem. Hopefully I'll have a better one up in a few hours, on the off chance that anyone wants it. This is the imeem one, which is much brighter and more watchable.



Shall have the zombiepocalypse post up shortly, too. YAY ZOMBIES.

1. ( Cut for width of the image, which might prove layout-unfriendly. )
   
   It's going to be bad if I ever have to pretend to take that film seriously, because between Frank WHORESWHORESWHORES Miller and the magic of the Internet, well.
   
2. I saw the Aqua Teens movie today. It was everything you could hope the Aqua Teens movie could be. This is its blessing and its curse, because after about half an hour I was ready for Robot Chicken or Family Guy. I mean, it's not bad, it's just...*gestures lazily*
   
3. That said, the song at the beginning was worth the price of admission right thar.
   
4. What I'm really waiting for: Hot Fuzz! Which is out in the States next week! Well, on limited release, but there are usually a couple of cinemas around here that carry limited-release stuff, so.
   
5. What I'm also really waiting for: Live Free or Die Hard. OH YEAH, BABY. OH YEAH.
   
6. SO pirateygoodness got me to do that meme where you give someone a letter and they upload ten songs beginning with it! ( I got the letter S. ) Go ahead and say so if you want a letter yourself, obviously.
   
7. I am very intrigued by BookMooch. And within a couple days of signing up, I have already managed to get rid of about ten books! \o/ And I've got two coming my way soon, hopefully, so yay.
   
8. And now I am seriously going to get back to reading one of the things I'm getting tested on Wednesday. Or planning out that paper for Government. Really.

1. Lately, I'm weirdly -- giddy, I guess, is a good word for it. I'm prone to launch into giggle-fits at things which are only moderately funny at best, and as for things which are genuinely funny...when we watched "Mountie on the Bounty", Mom thought I was having a panic attack at first, and came over to check on me because she heard me gasping for air. I swear to god, I've never laughed like that at TV in my life. I'm not sure if the giddiness is a side effect of the Lexapro -- I don't imagine it would be, as I've been on it for over a year already without experiencing this -- or hormones or what, but it's kind of awesome. The only complaint I have is that by the end of the day my face is usually rather sore from all the laughing I've done, but I'll take it happily if the random giggle-fits can continue.
   
2. Everyone in the new novel is pointing out at every opportunity that it's totally sketchy that the quest party consists of two teenage girls (a werewolf and a wizard in training) and a grown wizard old enough to be their father. On being introduced, the girls immediately refer to each other as Child Brides One and Two. Basically, this novel is pretty much the greatest thing in my life right now. It'll need some editing for content, but so far there's not much worse than what might be found in the average episode of Veronica Mars, so that's going to be my main guidepost, as it were.
   
3. How did I not know that SMG was the voice of April in the new TMNT movie? I've heard mixed things, but oh man, this is seriously tempting me. I'll still probably end up waiting for the DVD, but oh man. WIN.
   
4. On the subject of movies, my brother and I have big plans for this weekend, in the form of Blades of Glory. I should probably be far more ashamed of how much I'm looking forward to this.
   
5. The Planet Earth mini finally airing on Discovery is amazing, but I'll probably wait until it's on DVD to watch the rest. Just as I'm getting into a groove they cut off for commercials, and it's BBC originally so the ads are just stuck in there really awkwardly. The cinematography is just unbelievably stunning, though; more times than I can count I was staring with my jaw dropped, and I actually got chills a few times. WHY IS NATURE SO AWESOME YOU GUYS.
   
6. Yeah, basically my family's big Sunday-night viewing consists of the Discovery Channel and Adult Swim. I think we're both a little bit for the win and a little bit for the fail.

So first it was all freezy-rainy and I asked Dad to drive me to work in Mom's Jeep, which has 4-wheel drive, because I was not confident in my ability to drive to Mason in it. And then I worked my two-hour shift and came out and there were like three inches of snow on the ground. And we stopped and got bagels on the way home and it STILL HASN'T STOPPED SNOWING. What really worries me is there's talk of its turning to freezing rain after that, and then it'll drop to freezing when it gets dark, and that's pretty much just a recipe for DO NOT WANT.

Seriously. What the business?

Of course, snow means that the drivers are even greater jackasses than usual. I cracked Dad up, however, when I gave a frustrated cry, directed towards another driver, of "I swear to god, I'm going to punch you in the children!"

Also, last night Mom and I watched Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. You know, there are some movies I can watch over and over again and never love them any less -- National Treasure and Much Ado About Nothing are two of these. M&C is slightly different, in that I love it more and more every time I see it. Oh, Peter Weir, I love you SO MUCH. I suspect the reason I will never get heavily into that fandom, save possibly for crackfic and/or crossovers, is that...well, first of all, the majority of AoS fandom is kind of scary, but second of all, I am so completely happy with what canon gives us. I feel no urge whatsoever to tell other stories.

I was meant to pick up someone else's shift this evening, but balls to that. No way am I driving through this in the dark. Hopefully the library will close early anyway, but if not, they're just going to have to deal without me. So now I think I'm going to go read. \o/

This icon reminds me of how much I love people sometimes.

So I have basically fallen in love with The Romance of Adventure by Brian Taves, and have already run off to Amazon to buy it, because it is fabulous and so incredibly helpful for me in figuring out the stories I like, both in terms of reading and writing. I sat down in a study carrell with the intention of skimming, then writing, and suddenly I looked up and it had been an hour and a half of me giggling over this book and going 'omg YES yay'.

The fact that it helped me figure out a lot about my own tastes is probably what it makes it so much fun for me to read, because it's pretty academic (though very readable as academic film studies books go), as a warning to anyone who may be placing any value on my recommendations. And it's also making me happy that there's been a resurgence of adventure in the past five or ten years, and I have, like, five million essays a-brewing now (like how the biggest reason Braveheart fails is because the story is actually a swashbuckling adventure but Mel thought it was Srs Bzns Drama, whereas if he'd just embraced the former it would've been brilliant, because historical accuracy really isn't a major concern in adventure...ditto Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, though this isn't made of quite as much PURE FAIL as Braveheart). Because seriously, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World fits Taves's description of "sea adventure" so perfectly that it's hard to believe the book was written almost ten years before the movie was made, because he could be writing about it.

(Ooh, ooh, and also BtVS! Which while it has elements of horror is really adventure with a smack of teen drama, and this is probably why I am so excited about the comic -- without the constraints of budget, Joss will be able to tell the adventure story that I think Buffy is at heart. Hell, the simple background info Joss is giving us on where Buffy is in relation to the rest of the world -- the maddening vagueness is so I don't have to do a spoiler-cut and clutter everything up -- it is 100% adventure, with only the historical setting being missing, and I think the presence of fantastic/horror elements takes the place of that instead.)

DAMN YOU TAVES I WAS GOING TO GET SOME WRITING DONE TODAY SRSLY.

My god, I'd forgotten how much I adore Clueless. HART.

HOMG DON CHEADLE IS GOING TO PLAY TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE. YOU GUYS. OH GOD. And Chiwetel Ejiofor is going to be in it too! And Mos Def! And Jon Rhys Meyers but eh, I don't care about him, and am only mentioning it so that I can go 'lulz, JRM is the token whitey'. MOSTLY, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT DON CHEADLE IS GOING TO PLAY TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE. YOU GUYS. SO AWESOME.

I'm sorry about the capslock but did I mention the part where OMG!!!!! Eighteenth-century history! Eighteenth-century colonial history! Slave revolt! DON CHEADLE AS TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE!

IT IS LIKE A BIRTHDAY PRESENT FROM HOLLYWOOD TO ME.

Also, Chiwetel is SO PRETTY. Why are there not more good hi-res photos of him? HAWT.

Okay, I think I'm done squeeing. In other news, I had a long, involved, freaky dream last night, filled with original characters, and now I am cannibalizing it for the fantasy epic that is quickly snowballing. I am picturing the main character as Meagan Good (of whom there are a fair number of hi-res photos, yay!), and it is, as I said, combining two ideas I've had for awhile now into one big alternate-history epic of AWESOME. Where magic is basically an excuse for superpowers. And the main character is essentially my OTC, between the spydaddy and super-strength. Like I said, I've got a whole system of magic developing, which is awesome, and I've even been sketching out clothing and costumes (though my drawing ability being what it is, LOL ONLY I KNOW WHAT THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE), and the dream provided me with a bunch of other characters of varying degrees of creepy and awesome.

In less awesome news, I woke up sick. NOT AWESOME.

Saw Children of Men, which I knew nothing about and is only playing at one cinema in the area, in Georgetown. Utterly fantastic; dystopic sci-fi as done by Alfonso Cuarón. More extensive review is at the pro blog, juliadumais.

Feeling utterly useless lately. Blah.

sink_or_swim has decided that when she grows up, she either wants to be Vesper Lynd or Kobe beef. I have informed her that this fact needs to be in her userinfo, but alas, she is not logged in permanently, so I cannot be in her lj changin' her userinfo, or causing other hijinks for that matter.

Anyhoo. Yesterday I spent more money than I probably should have done, but part of it was on presents, so. And then we saw Casino Royale, and she now agrees with me that this is by a wide margin the best Bond film yet, and that Daniel Craig may in fact beat out Connery as the best Bond. Also I would like to state for the record that it was she, not I, who decided that there needed to be a Bond crossover challenge, and she, not I, was the original founder of bond_crossover. I will take a screencap of the invitation to join to prove it.

Today we will decide on how we are going to set the challenge up. And it will be good.

And today I am possibly going to see cesario, yay! Because Dommi couldn't get out of work this afternoon, so I have a few hours to just wreak havoc on my own in Raleigh. GOOD TIMES.

So, after the general crap of yesterday afternoon, I discovered the restorative powers of Casino Royale. Which remains a big plate of awesome with extra awesomesauce on top and a side of awesome pie, with a big glass of awesome to wash it down with.

DID I MENTION THAT IT'S AWESOME?

Additionally, M pwning Jack Harkness would be the highlight of my fannish LIFE.

Poll #874809 The Anti-Mommy Edition
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who wins?

Hearing my father say "meanwhile, at stately Wayne Manor" in a BIG IMPRESSIVE VOICE while we're watching Tomb Raider: almost as lolarious as Daniel Craig's attempted American accent in the same film (to be fair, Angelina's British accent isn't the best, either).

Every time I think Dad may not be quite as nerdy as the rest of us, he'll say something like that, or get involved in our "who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman" debates, and I remember.

He's threatening that by way of getting in some family time, fresh air, and exercise, he's going to take us to Rosslyn and teach us how to lose someone who's tailing you (or alternately to teach us how to tail people without being seen), which he says was something he had a lot of fun training people in before he started working at his current lab. I think he was somewhat taken aback when my brother and I responded quite enthusiastically to the idea.

Contextless quote from my mother: "Wow, so that's three times this weekend I've sat down to watch a movie and seen [Daniel Craig] half-naked. It's a good weekend!"

Got together with my group for this English project yesterday, and we all watched Batman Begins. And L, one of my group members, gave me a bunch of comics, because she's trying to clear out her collection. Also got to meet her adorable kids, and got a bunch of fabulous notes for the paper I'm writing on the film.

My group is SO GREAT, I swear. J, the one of us who'd not seen Batman, is a big Firefly fan and shared my squee over the fact that Gina Torres is apparently one of the actresses Joss is considering for Wonder Woman, and basically it was a big ol' nerdfest. And now we're planning to go to the Lush in Georgetown sometime this week. YAY.

I am so unspeakably amused by the fact that Daniel Craig and Eva Green are both going to be in the His Dark Materials movies. All I can think on seeing stills from Casino Royale now is 'AU Serafina/Asriel!'

I've got soot on my jeans because I was trying to open the flue earlier. D: Oh well. Mom and I watched Batman, which is rather silly, when I think about it, because my English group and I are getting together to watch it tomorrow, but I was kind of drunk when Mom and I watched it and the muse, she is a harsh mistress.

Which is to say, the second-worst possibility for a cracktastic crossover is that it won't work as well in reality as it did in your head.

The very worst possibility is that it will work out even better.

On a related note, what are Gotham City's sports teams? I want to say one of them is the Knights, but I might be off, as I typically avoid Bats.

We went to a midnight showing of Casino Royale.

My verdict: :D

Seriously, that's pretty much all I have to say. Hopefully I'll have a more extensive review up at the pro domain sometime this weekend, because I've got lots to squee over, but OH MY GOODNESS. AWESOME.

Unrelatedly, I read the War Drums trade, and all I have to say on that is FUCK YOU SO HARD, BATMAN. That and "ow, my mentor/apprentice kink". For which I hate myself appropriately, I assure you.

Which brings up a very important point, the which my brother, my mother, and I debated all the way home from the cinema.
Poll #869648 Battle for the ages!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Who's YOUR money on in a fight?

I was going to write my Fandom MO post, but then I got really bored.

So instead I will sum up what's going on with me on a superficial level:

1. I am trying to take to heart that fandom is not serious business. The attitudes towards women, class divides, and different races are just too depressing otherwise.
   
2. Superman Returns=awesome, and I'll probably be seeing it on IMAX sometime soon, which=even more awesome. Between that and House, Bryan Singer kind of pwns my soul.
   
3. Mom bought Green Wing from Amazon UK because she saw it when she was visiting me in London. Sue is my hero.
   
4. I would be way more excited about PotC2 if it weren't for Orlando Bloom. He just kind of annoys me now. I attribute this partially to one person, but also to the fact that he always plays the same annoying, personality-less character. If it were just Norrington, Elizabeth and Jack, I suspect I would enjoy it way more.
   
5. ONLY A MONTH UNTIL SNAKES ON A MOTHERFUCKING PLANE, YOU GUYS.
   
6. We also just got Robot Chicken on DVD. No one told me SMG guest-starred. I knew Seth got all his celebrity buddies, like Scarlett Johansson and Ashton Kutcher, but dude. Sarah! So now in my head the "Jesus, no wonder you quit" was actually part of a conversation between her and Seth, since apparently he's the only member of the cast who still likes her. (Yes, Sarah is an arrogant spoiled brat, but I still have a certain fondness for her. <3)
   
7. Anyone who wants to write me Scarlett/Sarah would win forever and ever.
   
8. The femslash porn battle is awesome.

Jesus Christ Superstar is on ITV.

I AM SO CONFUSED.

Oh man. This is so fabulous it physically hurts.

Go-go dancing Angels! Romans with machine guns! Short shorts and tight shirts! Chest hair everywhere! Jesus overacts like wo, but so does everyone else, so that's okay. And Pontius Pilate CAN'T SING FOR CRAP, SRSLY, which is really not cool.

AWESOME.

OMG THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESURRECTION? WTF. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FABULOUS AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT. WHAT.

GO AWAY PAPERCLIP THINGY I DON'T WANT YOUR HINTS DARGHHH.

Migraine has not gone away, but it hasn't got worse, either. So hey. And one of the girls brought in Cadbury Creme Eggs for everyone at our tea/coffee break, yay! And we talked about movies and how we can totally ignore historical inaccuracies in some movies but get all raged up over it with others (for the former, see A Knight's Tale, for the latter, Braveheart).

Mostly, we agreed, it depends on the purpose of the movie. When it purports to be history, or heavily based on history, it's shooting yourself in the foot to fuck things up really badly. When it's just meant to be a fun story, we can forgive a lot more because it's meant as entertainment, not history.

Also, in watching Jerry Bruckheimer's movies, it's important to understand that they all take place in Bruckheimer World. Which is an alternate universe much like our own, except with minor differences in history. And better production values.

This scraper looks like a whale. *makes whale noises*

My header is mesmerizing when I am still waking up.

MESMERIZING.

In other news, HOLY CRAP I'VE STILL GOT INTERNET.

Going to see Narnia this evening with flatmate. W00t! *bounces* And now I should be off, because I have to go to Lancaster Gate today instead of Bayswater, which is a bit of a longer walk. Peace out!