So we're due for crazy ass weather here in Sydney tonight, though I fear more for my Novocastrian sisters than I do for myself (lydia_petze? nimmy? TIE YOURSELF TO SOMETHING), I'm nonetheless concerned the 'cyclonic' winds will keep me from yet another good night's sleep, something I've been missing lately. Couldn't sleep Sunday night because I couldn't get warm, then I was too warm, rinse and repeat, and I couldn't sleep last night because DW 3:11 Utopia knocked me into deeply weird and angsty dreams from which I kept waking confusedly. Stupid brain. And I need to sleep tonight, because I've got my performance review tomorrow and I need to be able to say how great I am in a subtle and intelligent way. I don't think 'I'm awesome, more cash plz' is going to cut it, somehow.

Anyway, I've decided to learn to crochet, since I want a blanket/throw for my couch and I'll never find what I want in a shop (I'm on a decorating kick, after which I'll finally take those photos). So I've bought this ridiculously huge ball of bright purple yarn and a 3.5mm crochet hook and I'm all set to go, except for one thing - crochet websites are so inherently depressing to me that my brain refuses to process the shorthand, which means that all the instructions are gibberish. I have nothing at all against people who are really good at arts and crafts; more power to you and your pretty wool things, I say, except that it's all so fuckin' mumsy and there's a large part of me that runs away screaming from all things Martha Stewart, so I'm defeated before I even begin. Next thing you know, says my not-so-inner militant feminist, you'll be baking decorative cupcakes for fun, and think an iron is a really good birthday present. Soon enough, you'll see the point of doilies, and then you'll have to off yourself. Militant-feminist!Melpemone is kind of a bitch.

All that said, I'll make this blanket if it kills me. *g* What do you think of this square?

Fic update: Very slow. Lost the thumb drive again; it turned up under my dining room table. It's trying to escape. I'd complain about having no time to write, and I really don't, between not ignoring Discord and keeping up with the flist and earning a living and eating and sleeping, but let's face it: if I had more time, I'd kill it with the internet. But I swore to veronamay I'd finish at least one of my bunnies this year, and I will. Because she might hurt me.

ETA: Those fuckers at Amazon.ca denied me Hard Core Logo again, as predicted. Haaaaaate. They haven't cancelled my Hard Core Roadshow order yet, but you can totally bet it's coming. I'm going to set up an eBay search for it tomorrow. At this rate I will NEVER own my own copy. :-(

Note to self: do memes tomorrow

Fall Out Boy are hosting Rage. They think they're so tough! Awwwww. *g*

ETA: And I know some of you are fans, so here is their chosen playlist.

This thing I'm doing where I only update my LJ if I have something to say is great in that now there's occasionally stuff that passes for content, but now when I do get around to it I have LOTS to say, which results in these epic posts that no one's got the time to read and I'm almost too lazy to type.

I'll start by saying that the weather outside is freakin' awesome. I just went to the shops to buy a V (can't stay awake today, I slept till midday and napped from 2:00 to 4:00), and it was just on early evening and the wind was picking up and it's hugely overcast and I was clomping along in my grey cardigan and jeans listening to HDRC's Microscope, and it was great. ::twirls:: You know how little kids go stupid when it's windy? I never outgrew that.

I have succeeded in the art of ripping individual episodes from DVD. I've done the first seven episodes of season 3 of dS and uploaded them onto my Zen, and 300MB is plenty for a screen that size. I could fit the whole show with room to spare. I think I'm gonna. *g* Now I need to go somewhere far or have a power blackout or something so I can watch them.

Also, I found my thumb drive. It was behind my bedside table. I may have kissed it.

So! Thursday night found myself, madslasher and nolseygnu at the ABC studios for a taping of The Sideshow. As I was very probably the only one among my local friends to have never seen Paul McDermott in the ridiculously handsome flesh, this was especially awesome for me, though I'm pleased and proud to announce I didn't throw myself at him or anything. He was wearing a pink-striped pink shirt, which would look shit on anyone else, and had clearly had a bad day, because his hate-tinted audience heckling was hate-yer than usual, yet all the more hilarious for it. I had a brilliant time, and Gatesy from Tripod totally looked at me (MY GOD, HE'S SO ATTRACTIVE), and Yon is seriously very very wee, and the Umbilical Brothers actually look kinda related in person (which... they're not. Weird. Either way, someone please slash them), and Cam from GUD is a completely hilarious bastard, and there was this bit Claire Hooper did... well, I won't spoil the show (WATCH IT), but Paul fen cannot miss the show tonight, because oh my GOD.

The taping itself wasn't that much different from the actual show, barring the numerous fuck-ups and Paul getting increasingly manic and members of the audience being deeply weird and the whole thing taking three hours instead of one. Next week, I am getting a seat, even if I have to shove over old people to do so (Paul McDermott's "old people" schtick never ever fails to make me giggle, by the way). And I've had to get my grandmother to tape it for me because my media set up has somehow left me with the inability to tape actual television. So! Watch the show tonight locals - 7:30, ABC TV - because it's fantastic. I can't wait to see what made the cut.

My grandmother's coming by with the tape tomorrow, so I have to clean the apartment tonight and hide the slash. ::sigh:: I might ask her how to clean my carpet, too.

Speaking of which, here's a product rec: Carpet Power! The best way to test Carpet Power, I have found, is to cut open your foot and have it gush blood for ten minutes before you notice, and realise you've tracked foot-shaped blood prints all over your 10 month old beige carpet. Doing this at midnight also helps, as does crawling about on carpet with the wrist you sprained whilst clapping at the show the night before. Carpet Power did indeed get all the blood off, barring one spot under this chair, and I have faith it'll remove that too. The niftiest part? After leaving the product on for five minutes, start soaking up the dark beige damp spot it's left behind with a paper towel, and marvel as the towel soaks up invisible blood. My carpet was bleeding. Best thing I've seen in ages. *g*

Right! I have to go start tidying, because heaven forbid my apartment is messy tomorrow.

ETA: Oh thank god, there was only a split second glimpse of me. Also, I spotted the back of madslasher's head twice, and one very short sidelong shot of nolseygnu, and I only saw these because I knew where we were. Although I did giggle because I knew where I was during Paul's ballad and you can see the top half of my head poking up between the ridiculously tall men I was stuck behind. Also, Meow Meow, a comedic burlesque dancer/singer, did not make the cut, of which I am very glad because she wasn't that funny. It was funnier being there than seeing it, but it was still a good show.

I can't find my thumb drive. The one with my fic on it. :-(

Hey, can someone please tell me how to rip individual episodes from a DVD? I'm trying to rip dS to small avi files so I can watch them on my Zen. I'm using Fair Use Wizard 2, and thus far I've managed to split Eclipse (the second episode on the disc) into eight parts, and nothing else. I'm so confused. And enormously pretty. Can someone help, or at least point me in the right direction?

Failing that, can someone tell me how to smoosh Eclipse back together again, because despite it being one episode in eight .avis, instead of one DVD in four .avis, I got the file size and aspect ratio right (\o/) and that would be one down. *g*

ETA: Never mind, my Google-fu kicked in and I found a guide. And two new programs. If someone knows where my damn thumb drive is, though, I'd love to know that. *g*

The mess in the kitchen is way too depressing to contemplate, so I'm going to talk about my kickass day instead. Indulge me. :-P

I made about 8000 phone calls this morning, ringing every Archos stockist the internet could find for me - I decided I wanted the Archos 604 personal media player, and damn the cost, because that thing is fucking amazing. All those phonecalls, however, proved fruitless - people either didn't stock it or had sold out, and I have this thing about not buying major electronic purchases online. I was however set on buying a new player today, so I ended up with Discord at the nearest mall, trying to find the next best thing. Long story short, I have finally purchased the 60GB Creative Zen Vision M, despite what I said the other day, because thorough (internet) research indicates that the M is quite well-liked, and I had my heart set on it before I saw the W anyway. I still kinda want the W, but that shouldn't detract from the awesomeness of the M - it's black, yay, has a 2.5in screen, plays avi and divx, has a radio, holds 15,000 songs and can be connected to a TV, AND is $300 cheaper than the Archos - in fact, the price was mislabelled at the store as $469 (instead of $539), and the guy shrugged and gave it to me for $450. I'm going to assume it's because I'm awesome.

Anyway, having expected to spend about $650 today, when I stumbled across a Samsung slimline DVD player with Dvix playback for $109, I bought it. And I already don't know how I survived without one. Discord and I spent the rest of the day determinedly ignoring the weather outside by watching a whole helluva lot of BSG - we finished out season 2 and watched through to 3:06 before finally realising it was nearly 2:00am. I won't comment because I'm a little bug-eyed from information overload, but I finally remember why I loved this show in the first place. And I now have two DVD players attached to my TV, because I couldn't bear to unhook the old one (it works fine, and I feel sorry for it).

Eeee, the Zen just finished charging! See ya. :-)

Road collapse: five missing
Fears ship could break up
Landslide halts trains north of Sydney

...I guess maybe the weather warnings were correct?

This may be what they call 'winter'. The wind rushing through my complex is loud enough to drown out Sisters of Mercy (nature hates Andrew Eldritch!). I walked home tonight via madslasher's place so I could pick up my latest jewellery order, and by the time I got there my hair, pants, winter coat, shoes and socks were soaked through, I couldn't feel my face and my hands had cramped around my useless trinket of an umbrella. At one point I gave up on the stupid umbrella altogether, but as soon as I took it down I was hit in the face with stinging rain. It's fucking nuts and I love it.

On the other hand, probably less fun for lydia_petze. I sent her a half-joking text enquiring as to whether or not she'd been swept out to sea, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to suggest Newcastle is currently some sort of angry muddy lake. I told her to look on it as an adventure. Everyone think positive taxi-related thoughts at her, please.

I took refuge in JB Hi-Fi before I left the city (yes, it was weather-related!), and rang veronamay while I was there to ask her if I'd like The Godfather Trilogy, as I haven't seen it, because I'm some sort of movie heathen, and it was going cheap. She said to rent it first, which is very wise, but our conversation was overheard by an employee, who geeked out so hard over it that I ended up buying it anyway. What can I say, I'm a sucker for geeky enthusiasm. *g* I also bought The Tea Party's Alhambra for $10, Jeff Martin's Exile and the Kingdom for $20 (I sure hope this is worth it, Jeff), and Strictly Ballroom for $12, which ain't bad.

By myself tonight, as Discord's band has a gig ...somewhere (worst. groupie. ever), so I think I might hang out in bed with the laptop. And not move till Tuesday. Long weekends are win.

Um... help? :-)

• I am in the market for a new mp3 player - specifically, a video one. I officially started the search today, and found the Creative Zen Vision W, which has absolutely everything I've ever dreamed of in a portable media player, barring the ability to read .docs. Damned expensive, I would imagine, but diligent saving is possible when I'm sufficiently motivated, and this thing is amazing. So I went to JB tonight and talked to the tech guy, and when I mentioned what I was after he nearly physically restrained me. Turns out he's the head of the tech department and has had so many returns of the Vision W that they've just given up on stocking it altogether. He wouldn't sell me an M, either. Cue 15 minute rant on how Creative used to be awesome (read: my ancient 20GB Zen Touch), but were then bought out and went cheap and they had 52 returns at the City store alone, because the headphone plug would break or the USB port would die or the firmware would fall over and blech. He was very sorry about breaking my heart (and really flirtatious, too, which was hilarious), but wouldn't budge. So, does anyone have any recs for a mp3/mp4 player? That isn't an iPod, since I despise iTunes with every fibre of my being? I'd like it to be able to play .avi, the screen needs to be pretty big, and an AV cable would be awesome but not entirely necessary. And 30GB+ would be nice. *g*


• Anyone out there running Open Office for word processing? I'm using it for ficcing on my laptop, and I'm warming up to it in increments, but if it's possible to make a shortcut to the statistics (specifically, word count, because I can't cope without it and I keep forgetting where it is), I'll abandon Word for good. Anyone know?


• I'm thinking of trying out some BPAL, but that place is both a maze and a cult, and I'm a little afraid of the site AND its fans. Given that I love very heavy scents (patchouli, sandalwood, ylang ylang, Lush's Karma), does anyone have any suggestions on where I should start?

Hey locals, are any of you going to a Deathly Hallows book release on 21 July, and if so, can I tag along? I was going to skip the line and go later in the day - since my traditional Potter partner gwyddfid won't be here, the horrible meanie - but then I realised it's my last legitimate opportunity to wear my 'Snape Is Innocent' t-shirt, and I'm not passing that up. Anyone? If not, I guess I'm okay with looking like a dork. :-)

I've been writing! ::bounces:: Not much, mind you, but enough so that I think I've overcome the wall that hit me a page into this fic. I don't want to say any more, for fear of jinxage, but I am especially pleased with myself. I might actually be productive this year yet!

Also: I haven't watched the last two weeks of Doctor Who. I was going to tonight, but I'm worried about distracting myself with Who when I need my head in DS space - and I'm guessing from the mood that it'll eat my head whole. *g* THANK YOU, f-list at large, for being so awesome with the spoiler cuts. I plan to catch up before the cuts stop. :-)

WEEKEND!!! Skip=260. Damn, y'all are chatty.

I'm burnt out on kerfuffles big and small right now, so no more of that except to say WELCOME BACK pornish_pixies! Yanno, if we collectively focussed our energies on combating global warming, I think we could talk and/or intimidate the planet into recovery. If only these things had more boykissing.

Had madslasher over tonight for more glorious Guitar Hero (multiplayer is nifty - lydia_petze, next time I'm headed up to yours remind me to bring my guitar), and she talked and/or intimidated me into giving the hard level another try, and guess who beat 'Heart Shaped Box'? God, I'm amazing. I'm working on 'Jessica' right now, but I keep forgetting to breathe through the tricksy bits, and the resultant dizziness isn't conducive to fast and accurate button pushing.

I have also had a genius idea - a game that combines Guitar Hero with Singstar, where you sing guitar solos! I'd kick arse at that. "duh-nuh-da-da-nah-naaaaah, duh-nuh-da-da-nah-naaaaah, brr brr, ba-da-da, buh-da-daaaa, NAH-NAH-NAH..." (it's Crazy on You by Heart!) It'd totally sell.

Now, to work through the 28 tabs I have open...

OH GOD NO MORE. I can't do it anymore! I've totally ignored Discord for most of the night in favour of reading the latest re: Strikethrough '07 (catchy name, btw) and I swear my eyes are going to fall out of my head. I've also got a jaw ache and acid reflux I'm directly blaming on this stress. I was going to post an ode to the awesomeness of my fannish sisterhood, but I've totally forgotten how to code a heart, and lydia_petze did it better and faster anyway. Would Muggles everywhere kindly stop stressing me out? :-(

One thing, though: I feel compelled to post an alert in case one of you, somewhere, missed it: if you're in any way fannish, whether you read, write, art, meta, picspam or squee, join fandom_counts and boggle delightedly at the number. The comm is empty - it's just a counter, so you don't have to do anything except join. Since I joined four hours ago, the member count has gone up several thousand, and every time I refresh the number climbs higher. It's so awesome. Dooooo eeeet. 24954 and climbing!

Heh, I bet Fanlib are stoked the heat's off for now. Really guys, we need to learn to divide our attention better.

Also, whoever didn't tell me that Billy Dee Williams had a guest appearance on Lost is not at all fired, because the surprise was totally worth it. Discord's estimation of my odd sense of awesomeness has gone up even further - I personally see nothing weird about shrieking OMG LANDO and doing a dance, but whatever moves your furniture I guess. *g*

Lastly: I have purchased a knee length grey cardigan with giant buttons, pockets, and a hood. I've wanted one of these for years and now I have one and I am so WARM and fucking ADORABLE in my cardy (really. Adorable. Trust me). Of course, I'm down to shrapnel till payday, but it was worth it. *g*

I hate Guitar Hero. I hate it. I kick ass at medium level, so why do I fail so much at hard? It's not the orange button - I have no problems with the orange button - it's all the fucking chords. It's STUPID and it's TORTUROUS and my fucking wrist hurts and that guitar is going OFF THE BALCONY I SWEAR TO GOD.

... I'm going to keep trying. ::headdesk::

In better news, I went shopping for books at Goulds on Thursday night with the fantabulous lemmealone and the shiny veronamay and I came out with waaay more books than intended. A couple more Stephen Kings for the ever-growing collection (Desperation and Four Past Midnight), two Robert Cormiers (After the First Death and I Am The Cheese - I really wanted Fade, but it's nowhere to be found), the Twin Peaks tie-in novels, and Tim Ferguson's Left, Right & Centre. $43 all up. I love second-hand bookstores rather a lot, and Goulds is fairy godmother of them all. Next time I go in there, I'm taking a photo so you can all witness its glory.

I also got my other nipple pierced, which vastly satisfies my urge for symmetry. Being lopsided was making me twitchy.

Saturday, I spent a voucher I've had for months on Buffy season 4. I've been avoiding buying Buffy because I wanted that mega box set with the 39 discs and the extras and the pretty, but it's never going to get any cheaper and I'm never going to be able to afford it. So I've decided to bite the bullet and just get it a season at a time. I missed Buffy. :-) I also got The Day After Tomorrow. This is Jake Gyllenhaal's fault.

Damn it, I need to go to bed, but Colin Cunningham is on The Dead Zone. *g*

No time for anything more than a skim of the f-list (and I shouldn't have even done that - I need to be asleep!), but I went out tonight with nolseygnu and madslasher and we saw Zodiac and it kicked serious ass. I adore a thinky movie, and I especially adore a movie with Jake Gyllenhaal, so it's multiple instances of win. Well worth the nap I'll be taking at my desk tomorrow.


...why did I toss all my Jake icons?

Flashing the modem worked, btw. ::rolls eyes::

( Heroes 1:23 - How To Stop An Exploding Man. Spoilers. )

How am I supposed to cope with the wait for season 2?!

OH MY GOD why are my downloads taking so fucking long? I've tried three separate links and they're all hovering at 'next week sometime, sucker' and ARGH. If I don't see Heroes tonight I will... do something. Something unpleasant, and likely violent. ::stabs::

ETA: Now LJ's taking forever to load. I'm reduced to threatening my modem with physical violence. :(

Son of ETA: Gave up, imposed myself on madslasher and grabbed it from her instead. Thank you!! My coat and gloves are covered in kitty hair, but it was well worth it. *g* Now I'm going to flash the modem, see if that helps. Fucking internet, what the hell, eh?

::types really fast::

Just FYI - my monitor is choosing to only occasionally work, due to an unfortunate encounter with a glass of Coke last night, so I might be missing until I can afford a new one, which... won't be soon. :-( I am using this opportunity to catch up on DVDs - I have finally seen all of season 1 of Harvey Birdman (yay!) and I might start on Twin Peaks next, or maybe finish that Kids in the Hall boxset.

...stupid monitor. :-(

ETA: It seems to be behaving for now, thank goodness. As much as I'd like to upgrade to a bigger monitor, I didn't plan on being forced into it. *g* Doctor Who was awesome, btw.

The squee I just emitted was so loud that I think I dislodged something important.

I am so confused.

In January, I placed an order with Amazon.ca for the commentary edition of Hard Core Logo. I bundled it with a bunch of pre-orders, so I didn't expect for it to arrive for a couple of months. In March, I got an email - there's been a delay with your order, sorry, please see revised delivery time. Meanwhile, here's the rest of your stuff - and I was okay with that. There was another delay in early April, and I was kind of irked but on the whole I'm a patient sort of person, so I let it go. So long as I eventually got it, that was the main thing.

I got another email last night:

Although we'd expected to be able to send this item to you, we've since found it's not available from any of our sources at this time. We realize this is disappointing news to receive, and we apologize for any inconvenience we've caused you.

We must apologize also for the length of time it's taken us to reach this conclusion. Until recently, we'd still hoped to obtain this item for you.

We've cancelled this item from your order.

Cue epic sadface.

So I went to the site to see if anyone was selling it through Marketplace. And, uh, Amazon are selling it. For CDN$17.98, same as before. So I've put it back in my cart.

I don't understaaaaand! What?! For weeks, this page has said 'this item is out of stock', and I just got an email saying there are none, and now the site says there ARE some, so... what??

At least they have Hard Core Roadshow back in stock, which I have also ordered. And at least they were polite about confusing the hell out of me.

( SPN 2:22, and probably unwanted insight into my head. Someday, I'll post a review that isn't a stream of consciousness rant, but that day is not today. )

I have my proper speed back! Bless you, end of billing cycle! ::hugs internet at large:

Now, to download all the stuff I bookmarked in the last 48 hours...

Oh, PS: I will likely be avoiding the internet liek whoa until I've seen the SPN finale, which may be later than the rest of you due to still being three episodes behind. So if I'm needed for anything urgent (well I don't know, I could be wanted!), please email. Kinda kicking myself for not being more caught up by now - I want to be near-hysterical with anticipation too, damn it.

Tonight's Heroes acquisition ate up the last of my download limit, so I'm shaped to 64.4kbps till Thursday (not Friday, thank the gods). I had big plans for a picspam, but I didn't start uploading before I got the email, so I'll do that Friday night.

*sadface*

Stayed home today - my back was hurting something awful this morning. Seems to be a bit better now, probably thanks to all the napping. I love naps. I should schedule way more naps.

Off to watch Heroes!