I have committed more podfic. The City and Star Island Line by maelipstick: "Faramir tells a ghost story shortly after the war of the ring. Beware modern English and anachronisms as well as unexpected additions to the fauna of Middle earth. It's told in fun."

Probably my favourite story about Faramir and Eowyn, certainly the funniest story about the pyre that I've read. Very tender, very sweet, very witty. Download from here; read here.

Somewhat belatedly, because I'm behind these days (and keep those links coming): so, the Emmy nominations are there. They make me conclude that I might be watching too much tv; as opposed to previous years there are actually categories in which I'm familiar with almost or all candidates. This makes the rooting tricky at times - take the "outstanding lead actor in a drama series". Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan or Hugh Laurie as Gregory House? Despite the fact I have some mixed feels re: season 2 - not loss of quality feelings, I hasten to add, the show remained on top of its game, feelings as to the content - and despite enjoying Hugh L. I must say my vote would go to Michael C. Hall, who is awesome and never over the top in a role that practically invites it. I'm afraid neither of them will win, though, since Mad Men is such a critics' darling and Jon Hamm is also nominated. (He's good as Don Draper, but easily trumped by either Hall or Laurie; imo, of course.)

I'm glad londonkds recced Damages for me so I can root for Glenn Close as outstanding actress for better reasons than general admiration. Patty is the kind of morally ambiguous (and middle-aged!) role still sadly mostly given to men on tv, and she rocks in it.

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series is torment, because there are two Damages and one Lost guys nominated, all of whom I would be happy to see winning. Still, despite some wavering in the direction of Zeljko Ivanek as Ray Fiske, I can't resist favouring Michael Emerson as Benjamin Linus. He was great from the moment he first showed up in later s2, and s4 in many ways has been the season of Ben. He really deserves that Emmy. Again, I'm afraid the fact Damages has two nominations splitting loyalties (Ted Danson as Arthur Frobisher is also nominated) and they'll go for the Mad Men guy instead, John Slattery as Roger Sterling. Which will make me cross. If Emerson doesn't get it, either Ivanek or Danson really should.

Outstanding Drama series has Dexter versus Damages versus Lost versus Mad Men versus House. (Oh, and Boston Legal, but I still haven't watched that.) See my dilemma? I shall surpress my inner fan and my unresolved issues and go with Dexter because all being said and done, it does what Mad Men, Damages and House do and does it better. (Which is to say: the characters are as flawed and a product of their background, the writing as good, but as opposed to Mad Men or Damages I care for the entire ensemble, not just some of them, and as opposed to House those characters do have lives that don't center around the lead.) While Lost has had a wonderful fourth season, it isn't quite on that level.

Lastly: biggest surprise? That Battlestar Galactica made it into one of the not-technical categories. Sadly not in one of the acting ones (or happily, because if Mary McDonnell were nominated I couldn't root for Glen Close, and James Callis would make me waver in my Ben/Emerson loyalities, but it did get nominated in "Outstanding writing for a drama series", where the episode in question runs against two from Mad Men, one from Damages and one from the Wire, so I don't expect BSG to win. (Genre prejudice and all, pluse there are formidable opponents.) Still, one episode got nominated... and it was written by fannish bete noir, Michael Angeli. Six of One, to be precise. Which I recall was very good (as Cylon-centric episodes tend to be, but then I'm biased), but I'm surprised the show's creators didn't supply The Hub.

Tonight I posted [chapter nine] of my Tarrant fic. It has one chapter to go, and then I am finished with it! Which is, strangely, a little sad. I've grown to like this Tarrant I've created. To lay him to rest, so to speak, is a bit sad. I don't want to have to go back to playing with the old Tarrant. I've never returned to the same universe in fics before but this one might bear revisiting. Then again, I always say that and never do. So, we'll see. Anyway, I'm also glad it'll be over. I can start something new, or play with some shorter stuff while I gear up for something longer. We'll see. We'll see.

I think I need to take in a heavy dose of canon again, though. Anyone want to watch some Blake's 7 with me? XD Sigh.


In other news, while I enjoyed "Dr. Horrible" I do not think it's the best thing since sliced bread, alas. Personally, I'm shocked that Joss has gone and made me dislike a Nathan Fillion character. What an utter tool Captain Hammer is. (Ha. Ha.) Oh well.

Also, I guess there was a new Batman movie released or something? Bah. I still haven't seen Hancock or Wall-E and I'm much more interested in those films. >_>


I am out of chapstick. :(


Sims 2 may have taken over my life. I'd post caps but I think it'd make most of you sick with the schmoop. Horribly, it really makes me want fluffy AU Avon/Vila fic, ahahaha. Fortunately, I think playing the Sims is getting it out of my system so I don't have to inflict such a travesty upon my friends. XD

I think I figured out how chapter ten opens, so I'm going to go write a little.

Aaaaaaheheheheheheheheheheh. Yeah.

See, those fuckers threatened to fire me if I didin't stop sneaking online, so I stoppped, and I've still been feeling really burnt out (and unable to deal with computers) when I get home from work, and there reached a point where my inbox just.... scared me. (I'm actually thinking of just deleting the fucker and starting over but I'm terrified there might be something really, really, important in there.)

BUT - they now let us surf (limitedly) at work again so I'm going to try following my f'list/TF that way - and it should in general get easier to manage.

So I'm biting the bullet and jumping back in.

Uh, things of intrest:

I've gotten caught up on Season 4 of Doctor who - and yes, I do want Rusty's balls on a platter for that last Ten Minutes, why do you ask? Everything up to there was pure gold, though, so I'm a little confused. Rusty write good? What? More on this later, maybe.

I chopped all my hair off. Well, not all - but it's v. v. short. Not blue yet, though.

Still not caught up on Torchwood beyond s1 ep3. Working on that.

Got put on meds for acid reflux. Yay. I have an ulcer-in-training.

Got a raise! Mike's not working, though, so it all comes out in the wash.

Saw Hellboy: Golden Army. Have not seen Dark Knight. Yet.

Discovered a very very very awesome website: TV Tropes Wiki - a priceless resource.

Almost got evicted. Long story. Still planning on moving out.

Soooooooooooooooo, how've you beeeeeeen?

---

"I've come to return the transport pod I borrowed."
-Stark, Farscape

This week's fannish5 question was: Name five fandoms that you're not (yet) in, but which seem intriguing.

( cut for length )

The other night many of my friends were out seeing The Dark Knight, and I was home with a head full of glue :(. On the bright side, I finally got around to watching The New Frontier on DVD, and it was made from awesome. I am proud that my Justice League Unlimted obsession has paid off and I recognised almost everyone. (The redhaired guy with the eye patch eluded me, though.) I squealed extra loud when ( spoiler ) showed up, and even cheered for ( spoiler ) at the end.

It reminded me of many of the things I love about superhero stories in general. The threat the incipient JSA face here is, on the face of it, ridiculous. But it's not ridiculous to them, and because the characters are well-drawn, the audience cares about whether they defeat the thing.

In honour of The Dark Knight and New Frontier: twenty comics I love, in roughly the order I read them.

( Not all superheroes, but mostly. )

Now, be sure to tell me about all the things I missed! I left off a lot of things - like Whedon's Astonishing X-Men or Brian Vaughan's Ex Machina - because I don't feel like I've read a large enough percentage of the story to make a fair judgement. Always room for more comics *g*.

Thank you kalypso_v! I'm having fun imagining myself exploring all those wonderful building-- or at least sending Avon there and seeing what he'd make of it!

I won an award at tinman_stills









Three more icons 

I just broke my favorite coffee mug. :(

I think that people who've heard of Minneapolis but never been here (especially if they're from the east coast, west coast, or overseas) tend to picture a city populated entirely by blond Lutherans of Scandinavian origin, where there's nothing to do but go to the church social and nothing to eat but lutefisk or tuna casserole. Sort of like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, only larger.¹

Thirty years ago, this might have been somewhat true. But in recent decades, immigration (including what were basically group migrations of people from Laos and Somalia) has created a city of remarkable diversity. I missed it terribly when I was in DC, which, although it's unusual for an American city in having a majority black population, didn't have a lot of residents who weren't either black Americans or white Americans.

My current neighborhood in Minneapolis is mixed, but has a strong presence of Asian² and Mexican immigrants. The result is, well, coolness. Within three blocks of my apartment, you can find:

Two awesome Asian supermarkets
A number of other Asian-oriented shops, including a jeweller, a couple of beauty salons, and a music store
Several Vietnamese restaurants
A pho restaurant
A Vietnamese deli
Two Mexican restaurants
A Malaysian restaurant
A Caribbean restaurant
A couple of Chinese restaurants
A German restaurant
A Greek restaurant
A Middle Eastern restaurant
A hipster coffeehouse
A coffeehouse/diner/wine bar
A DVD rental place specializing in art films

And probably some stuff I'm forgetting. One sign of the diversity of my neighborhood is the fact that one of the two Asian groceries has a Mexican food section.

I love, love, love my neighborhood. I hope I can find an apartment in this area in September when my sublet is over.

The transition has been hard in many ways (still don't have a job OMG OMG I'M DOOMED) but I really am happy to be here.


¹Not dissing Garrison Keillor--I have a deep fondness for A Prairie Home Companion, and as an image of rural Minnesota, APHC isn't too inaccurate.

²"Asian" in the sense Americans use it, meaning people from East Asia, not South Asia. Most Asian immigrants in Minneapolis seem to be from Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand, but there is a mix of people, which is why I haven't used a more specific term.

*****

http://maximumverbosit.blogspot.com/2008/07/note-to-american-who-fans.html

In case you haven't figured out by now that watching the Sci Fi channel's "scenes from next week" previews is a really bad idea... Well, it's still a really bad idea, apparently. I haven't seen the one the aired after Friday's episode, myself, but from what I hear it's every bit as bad as the one they did for "Utopia." So if you haven't watched the episode yet and you don't want to be hideously spoiled, be sure and hit "stop" as soon as the episode finishes. Seriously, I mean it.

But I'm mowing & getting things slowly done.
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Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

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DR. HORRIBLE: The history of the world, my hench,
MOIST: Yes, Dr. H, Dr. H. what does it tell?
DR. HORRIBLE: Is who gets hammered, and who gets the wench.
MOIST: Yes, Dr. H. And, Dr. H, who gets to drench.

After travelling across the island quite often, we stuck to the coast these last days. Which makes for the theme of this last pic spam, as I don't expect there will be any new sights from now till Monday. And after all, where better to end one's impressions of an island?

( Sea foam, Fishermen, Waves )

I got the  letter from the Fair Rent Office today. The rent has gone up, which is what I expected, as the rent was last set 5 years ago. However, the increase is 40% of what the Landlord had asked for :). I'm particularly amused by the fact that the flat is described as 'without central heating'. I guess the heaters need to be controlled by a central unit for it to be counted as central heating.

The Landlord has the right to object to the decision, so shall wait and see if he does. In the meantime, I need to notify bank and council of the change.

http://maximumverbosit.blogspot.com/2008/07/random-links-mostly-video-edition.html

It came from the 1971 Sears Catalog!: Scans of a 1971 Sears catalog, with amusing commentary. Wow, but the 70s were an, um, interesting time, fashion-wise. I was born in 1971, as it happens, so for all I know it's entirely possible that I might have worn some of the ugly baby clothes featured here.

Dalek Workout: Even evil mutants in armored killing machines need healthy exercise!

HOLY FRAK! Moon transits Earth!: The Bad Astronomer presents some really cool footage of the Earth and the Moon, taken by the Deep Impact spacecraft. He is perhaps a little overexcited, but I can certainly understand why.

Watchmen trailer: Watchmen is, quite simply, one of the single best works of fiction I have ever encountered in my life. Given that fact, the odds of the movie not living up to its source material would seem to be exceedingly high, but I find myself getting all excited by this trailer, anyway.

Simon's Cat in "TV Dinner": I swear the guy who does these cartoons must have a hidden camera pointed at my cats.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: I suspect that pretty much everybody who is interested in this already knows about it, but just in case you don't... This is an independent video project that Joss Whedon produced during the Hollywood writer's strike, featuring Neil Patrick Harris as a dorky supervillain and Nathan Fillion as the superhero who interferes with his evil plans and moves in on the girl he likes. Oh, and it's a musical. I enjoyed it a lot. Note that it's only available to watch on the web through July 20. After that, you can buy it for a couple of bucks on iTunes, and it should be out on DVD eventually.

free enneagram test

And tying joint second and only one point behind was Individualist and Loyalist, which just about fits me perfectly.

Wee, live commentary as I watch this time. Which tends to mean typos and unthought through opinions ~~.