severity_softly

Saturday is a TV wasteland. It's pathetic, how the networks have basically abandoned the night to reruns of stuff we watched during the week. Luckily, there's still off-network syndication and the TiVO....

Legend of Seeker
Remember Xena and Hercules? Well, this show is from the same team, only it's 9 years later, they have more money and they're taking the story-telling much more seriously (probably because Terry Goodkind is still alive to kick their asses if they mess up his Sword of Truth book series too much). Oh, don't get me wrong, there's still a layer of fine fromage over the proceedings, but the show is definitely more exciting and dangerous than its roots. The SO and I love it, and we try to get it on Saturday (syndication means we can get it Sat. or Sun.) because the day is so empty.

Saturday Night Live
I've been watching since I was a kid. Why stop now?

Dollhouse
Usually, we watch this on Saturday. It's a Joss Whedon show, which means, 1. It won't be on much longer and 2. It's smart and slick and above the average TV viewer's head. I won't even ask you to watch it, even though it rocks, because you'd just be letting yourself in for heartbreak. But if you have a huge jones to watch a show where people's memories are stored away in order to allow new memories to be reprogrammed into them over and over again, allowing them to be anyone or have any skill, then go ahead, tune in. I dare you. ~_^

Dr Who
New special next week! Maybe it's sad, but I could never get into the series until they updated it. I guess I can only stand modern cheesy production values.

Being Human
A vampire, a werewolf and a ghost rent an apartment together...and what follows for all of 6 episodes is much more than the punchline to a joke. There's a second season we're looking forward to from the BBC, and SciFi is going to do an American version next year. We'll see how that goes when the time comes....

Merlin
Yes, we watch it. It's fun. But I have a heck of a time making myself watch it. We tend to go in spurts. It's probably because it's damn hard watching Anthony Stewart Head play a character that's anti-magic. ~_^

True Blood
...cannot get back on the air fast enough. The show is silly, illogical and even stupid at times, but the SO and I can't get enough of muttering "Sookie" at it.

How I Met Your Mother
This is another show I didn't get into until after the first season, but that should tell you how charming and engaging all the characters are, that I picked it up in later seasons.

House/Lie to Me
or, Shows With Fascinating Leading Men. I picked up House in season 4. Huge Laurie, once he caught my eye, was mesmerizing. Plus, I think I'm the only person alive that likes 13. Lie to me is MUCH better this season than last. The show is about Tim Roth's character, and that's where it should stay focused.

Chuck/Lost
COME BACK, SHOWS, COME BACK! I don't disagree that maybe network television would benefit from BBC-like shorter seasons and constantly new material, but it still sucks having to wait almost a year to see shows I adore again.

Ok, anything I'm forgetting, I'll pick up tomorrow.

People were married today and we got to watch live, via satellite on the internet. There were a lot of tears, so if you experienced any network outages today, it's probably because a few key wires were rusted in the process. ~_^ Anyway, it was sweet and a little disturbing (did those people in the back row wander in??), but overall, an interesting experience. Good luck to the shappy couple!

love, lore

It's like...if you stay home on a Friday night, you must have eclectic tastes. Right? It's certainly not Loser TV for Losers, nooooo. ~_^

(I am kidding, really!)

Ghost Whisperer
I didn't watch the early seasons of this show, trying to tell myself I wasn't interested, but I have a hard time resisting supernatural anything. I mean, I watched Charmed for a few seasons, for gawd's sake! Plus, I have to admit, Jennifer Love-Hewitt is awfully...Lush. It's actually not a bad little show. Usually, the ghost is put to rest at the end of the episode, and any mytharc the series flirts with fits into the regular episode. Ok, the husband's not bad either.

Ugly Betty
Bright, colourful, wacky, fun! I'm a little sad that more people don't watch Ugly Betty. I love the entire cast; I can't think of one character I don't adore. *clings to it*

Medium
This show is smart, the family and characters are real, and NBC is staffed by fools. The End.

Monk
The first half of this last season, the show was cruising hard. The cases were almost nonexistent, and the "bits" were tired. But now that we're into the second half, it's like a light went on and the people involved realised that they only have a few episodes left to say goodbye to one of TV's most original characters. If you watch The Mentalist or Numbers, you have Mr. Monk to thank.

Psych
Oh. How. I. Love. This. Show. Shawn and Gus are a great team, and I love the premise, of a man so observant that people wouldn't listen to him until he began doing his psychic schtick. It's funny, it's fun, it's smart. I actually like Corbin Bersen for once. If you have no idea what Psych is about, then ask me more, because this is a show you should be watching.

White Collar
Jury's still out on this one. The SO likes it, but I have a hard time cheering for criminals.

Sanctuary & Stargate BSGUniverse
Um, we have bazillion episodes sitting on the TiVO. Does not bode well. The first episode of Stargate Universe was a huge downer, and people keep telling us it finds sub-levels from there.

So, who's home with me? ^_^

love, lore

Thursday Night is over-packed night. Between rushing home and the two TiVO tuners, I almost get to watch everything that interests me tonight. But I'm only going to talk about a few shows....

Bones
I really need a Bones icon! There was some criticism of the show last year. But this year has been consistently strong in terms of characterization and acting. I think the only character who occasionally suffers is Bones herself, and that's because it's hard to keep a character "obnoxiously innocent", which is how Bones started out, and how, some writers still try to write her. But that hardly matters when the other characters are so alive, fun, effervescent and cool-in-a-smart-way. And David Boreanaz has only become better and better in his role and FBI Agent Seeley Booth, who has become so much more than a wise-cracking tough guy in Boreanaz's hands. One TV commentator says almost every week that Bones is the most unappreciated show on television. Don't let Bones get by you.

Flash Forward
This show is intense, and it has a mystery that threatens to be somewhat solved by the end of the season (gasp!). It feels like Lost without all the baggage of 5 seasons. So why not check it out and get in on the ground floor of a fascinating show that promises an actual payoff come May?

Fringe
I'm one of dozens of people that I've read saying, "I watch Fringe, but Anna Torv bugs the hell out of me". Anna looks too much like Cate Blanchett on first glance, so I always end up doing double-takes. But...Joshua Jackson and John Noble...now those are two men I could watch read the phone book, so why not suffer the Blanch-ette to get a weekly double-dose of adorable men? One online friend calls it "The Walter Bishop Show", which is a moniker I could get behind. Oh, yeah, and there's a plot...just think X-Files with more dopplegangers and you'll be able to jump right in.

Project Runway/Models of the Runway
Again, this is a show that could be on anytime...and on any channel! This has not been a great season of PR, but it was still good enough to be considered must-see TV, compared to a raft of other reality shows. Lifetime added a half-hour show after PR, Models of the Runway, which is about the model competition that's also always been involved with the show. Honestly, though, I don't think we need it. The models weren't as empty as you might think models are, but I don't watch PR for the model-bonding and cattiness, I watch it for the designer-bonding and cattiness. ~_^

And now I need to go make a Bones icon so I can replace the icon on this post with it later! I've been meaning to make one for ages, but I keep putting it off. Well, no more!

love, lore

Well, tonight, there was a big load of nothing on until 10, but normally, Wednesday brings GLEE!!

Glee
I'm not sure there's anything I can say to make you love this show. It's like...a peppier Freaks and Geeks with singing. You either know how to roll with that, or you don't, you know? Me, I can rollllllll. It makes me a wiggly, happy puppy each week and as long as it stays on the cheesy side of soap opera, I'm there! The second the show starts to take itself seriously, the shark will have been turned on its belly for a good jumpin'.

Eastwick
OK, so I like an unrealistic girl!power show or two, and this one is due to be canceled at any minute. Still, I love magic, I loved the original theatrical, and it's not like there's a lot of other interesting shows on Wednesday. If Eastwick is canceled, Wednesday will become a wasteland with Glee an island in the middle. Sheesh!

Top Chef
I can't count on Top Chef being on a regular schedule, so I'm talking about it here, even though I don't count it when I talk about Wednesday being a wasteland. This season has been nice, but the strongest chefs have been obvious from the beginning, and now that we're down to the end, they're all still around. No big surprises here, but I adore Padma and Tom, so I'm always entertained, even with a sub-par season.

Finally, just to revisit V - The first episode ended stronger than it began. Plus, I know the SO is going to make me watch it anyway, so I guess I'll be hanging with it for a while longer. That final fight scene was awfully cool. Also, is anyone else jonesing for Lost now that they've seen Elizabeth back on the small screen? Hee!

I wish I could bounce back faster from this sickness. I still am coughing and dealing with congestion every day and I feel weak and run-down. I can only hope it was N1H1, because I don't want to have gone through all this just for a regular flu.

love, lore

Just in time for Christmas, Blizzard has started selling World of Warcraft in-game items for real world money! That's right, you can get a Pandaren pet or mini version of the the terrible Kel'Thuzad. In addition to being adorable, they cost $10, and do absolutely nothing useful in game.

$5 from the sale of the Pandaren goes to charity, at least.

I know at least five people who have already bought them and I am ashamed for every one.

The next live Rifftrax show will be December 16, with an encore on the 17th. This time the theme is Christmas shorts! Tickets are already on sale at some theaters, but I guess the 13th is when they will be widely available.

...I love shorts! Also, this reminds me that I need to find my copy of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, which is required Christmas viewing at my house now.

More here

Actually, there's nothing I'm IN LOVE with on Tuesday. I'm starting to become really burned out on So You Think You Can Dance and I'm beginning to question the judge's ethics, but if nothing else is on, I will probably continue with it, just with the sound down low.

Tabitha's Salon Takeover is back on Bravo at 10 p.m., though. This show is everything Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares ought to be. Tabitha is in charge of a needy salon for a week and she doesn't cajole the staff or wait for things to happen, she makes things happen. It's a great show to watch when the special snowflakes of the world are wearing you out.

So, in other news, I can't wait for 2012 to open just so I can stop seeing the commercials. Why, John Cusak, Why?!

We have V on right now, but I'm not holding my breath about it. Alan Tudyk is only listed as a guest star, after all.

I caught up on Storm Chasers on Discovery from Sunday night. Tornadoes are terrifying and all the chasers are pretty much testosterone-laden asses, but when they actually spot funnel clouds, it's just fascinating. If you're remotely interested, I believe the next new episode will have footage from a vehicle that survives going through a tornado. That's pretty much been the holy grail of this show, so this would be the episode to watch.

(V story break - she's a lizard, kid. Anyone who's seen the original knows that. Leezard, leezard, leezard!)

Rather than continuing to babble right up to the last minute tonight, I think I'll close and go answer some comments. Peace out!

love, lore

I have said, out-loud in front of family no less, that I would happily fuck my TiVO if I could, I love it that much. Sad-sounding, yes, but in a year it has completely changed how I approach visual entertainment. Not having to worry about getting home in time for a show, or whether the VCR is going to get it, or planning a complex taping system for a vacation - well, it's huge. Now we talk in terms of watching in "real-time" or just "on the TiVO".

And look out, babolas, since I last waxed rhapsodic about the TiVO, we've upgraded ours to a TERABYTE hard drive. Dudes, there are over 450 programs in our deleted right now, WHOO HOO (the machine only deletes when it runs out of space)! Anyway, I thought since sweeps started last week, I would talk this week about the shows I think are particularly special.

Castle
If you're not watching this show, you should be. It's intelligent, witty, sharp and so much more than a police procedural. Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, crime writer with an "in" at the NY police department, is nothing short of utterly charming and warm in a smart-ass way - Richard makes people want to talk to him. It's easy to see why detective Kate Beckett puts up with him week after week, even after he bases his next hit character, Nikki Heat, on her. Castle's home life is just as interesting as the cases he tags along on, but his daughter and mother's appearances are kept on the wise side of "just enough to want more".

Seriously, this is not snoozy old Law & Order here, and the writing for Castle is amazing. The cases seem fresh and interesting to me, and the characters are human. Stana Katic as Kate is not getting much credit for her role, but she's growing on me. She's not a stereotypical tv female, but she sure has great, happily slow-building, chemistry with Fillion. About the only "history" you might need to know other than the basic premise (crime writer goes on real cases with the inspiration for his latest hit character) is that Kate's mother was murdered a long time ago, and Kate almost burned out trying to find her mother's killer before she put the entire unsolved case behind her for good. This plot point doesn't come up every episode, so, see, this is a totally easy show to get into!

If you do decide you want to give Castle a try, or if you happen to be an old Firefly fan, watch the episode "Vampire Weekend" online.

Heroes
Yeah, I know, last season, it's done, it's cooked, it's jumped the shark, it's lame, over, lamented. What-EVER. Heroes is like nothing on TV right now, and it will probably be years before we see something like it again. The show has problems, but it also has hope, fun, action, and that OMG!-factor that keeps me hooked right in. Sometimes logic and characterization shifts too much and I roll my eyes, but I keep coming back to it because it's still different. I still love the characters. And I still end up going OMG!!! almost every week. Plus, Noah is dead-sexy, especially when he speaks Japanese. ~_^

Want to check back in on Heroes? Try watching Strange Attractors.

The Big Bang Theory
I hardly ever talk about half-hour comedies, and that's because most of them are pure drivel. Occasionally, one like Sportsnight comes along, bringing something new to the table, and BBT is one of those shows. It's not really 4 Men and a Hot Chick, which is what the ads sometimes makes it out to be, but, rather, it's a show about friendship, geekiness, and the people who can accept super-geniuses for who they are. If you've ever been into anything remotely nerdy, it eventually comes up on this show. I think all the characters are terrific, but I have to admit, I have a special place in my heart for super-smart, super-OCD Sheldon, who pings me hard as a "Snape". I do like my Snapes. ~_^

CBS is too uptight to put entire episodes online, but there are plenty of fun clips to be found here. If you want a truly nerd-tastic moment, though, I suggest Now Fetch Me Wil Wheaton.

We watch other shows on Monday - it's one of our most-juggled nights of TV even with the TiVo - but these are the ones I adore. Anyone adoring them with me?

love, lore

Okay, I've seen a number of book rec posts here every now and again, so I was wondering - is there a community (either on LJ or JF - or both) that specializes in people asking for book recs (on fiction or non-fiction)? If there were something like that, it'd be great to see what people thought were good reads on any given topic.

Thanks!

I think I'll manage National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) out of Dreamwidth; that way, all my journals can play.

I'd like to start with why I've been so quiet the past few years, so what follows is me thinking it through "out-loud".

I suppose the LiveJournal craziness in 2007 started it. I fully understand that everything I put on the internet, locked or unlocked, might be found and judged. But the idea that I might be actively judged was more daunting. I liked that my journal felt like my mouthpiece, that I could say whatever I liked and people could either ignore it, argue with me or agree with me. In my mind, that's how opinions are supposed to work.

But now we have today's version of LiveJournal, where it seems like every post and comment is a click away from being reported by someone who doesn't agree with your opinion, where you would have to suffer the investigation of an accusation, and where, right or wrong, you could end up paying in time and tension just because you said something someone else didn't like. If anything, the fracas resulted in making it clear that even without all the bells and whistles (looking at you, other journaling services), there's plenty of ways for someone to try to shut someone else up on the internet. You'd have to own your own server- no, ISP- no... OK, the SO says you'd have to be AT&T to guarantee that no one could shut you up on the internet.

I just began to think that if something I might express, however innocently, pisses off the wrong person, and I could get harassed or yanked or deleted or whatever, why say anything? And thus, the great tongue-tie began.

But, wait, I hardly ever post anything locked. If I'm so worried about people not liking what I say, why not just post locked, right? The thing is, I'm not saying anything all that controversial in the first place. I'm not inciting a riot or saying we should Kill Bill or giving out the recipe for a kick-ass neuro-toxin. But I do believe deeply in our right to free speech, even if it isn't so free on the internet. The thing is, when people clam up, when they don't express their opinions, when they can't expect reasonable discourse when discussing opinions -- what happens to the idea of free speech? It dies.

And we've all watched the news, read a blog, seen the video. There's a lot of scary, UNreasonable talk out there these days. There's people clearly ignoring facts in favor of fiction, people who think if they can shout someone down loud and long enough that their version of reality will become reality. And I'm terrified of the day when the lies win out more than the truth. I think we've come too far from the time of the Constitution for some people to respect it anymore. As I look and read around these days, it seems like there's more people who want to throw out the Constitution than there are people who want to abide by its principles. The Constitution asks us to make some tough choices, such as defending someone's right to say something with which you absolutely disagree, but I'm beginning to think that there's a significant portion of Americans that aren't tough in that way anymore.

Anyway, my point about posting unlocked is that if people don't keep speaking their minds freely, they might just lose the freedom to do so. Like I said, I'm not terribly controversial most of the time. But just by posting unlocked, and being willing to face the consequences of doing so, I feel like I'm at least leading by example. If I were to lock down all of a sudden, well, you'll know the consequences have caught up with me. ~_^

Um, so you can always reply to this message, but let's not try to convince me about the innocence of LJ's and other journal services' policies and tools and the like. That whole 2007 mess, and much of what LJ has done since, continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth, and that's not going to go away just because you say so. I don't think I've said anything about LJ's practices that's inaccurate, but if I have, please do give the facts. I'll even edit the post to change erroneous suppositions. I'm not willing to lose logic, ever, no matter how wrong something feels to me. But try to convince me LJ is all right just because you like it? Noooo. Thank you.

So, that's a lot of rambling, big thoughts for why I've been quiet. There's been other factors, true, and, ironically, I don't feel as though I've been away from the journals because I use them every day and I have been reading all your posts. I'm just not speaking up the way I used to. I don't like it, but I can't seem to unclamp on a regular basis, either.

NaBloPoMo means I'll be posting every day in the month of November. If you'd like me to address any topics, you can let me know on IJ, DW or LJ.

love, lore

Happy birthday to _lore!!!!

I hope it was a good one!

From Offbeat Bride via Kotaku and solarbird</lj>.

Anli & Laura's Lesbian Gamer Geek Wedding

The offbeat bride: Anli, data analyst

Her offbeat partner: Laura, public servant

Location & date of wedding: The Old Stone House, NSW Australia — 5 September 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted a ceremony that reflected our geeky, romantic, pink aesthetic, while at the same time being profound and meaningful. Our ceremony was themed around the video game Portal and the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena.

We incorporated lots of geeky details, from the table names (Revolution, Sierra, Katara and GLaDOS) to the choice of music. We also kept several traditional elements such as bouquets, dresses and bridesmaids. However, we both walked down the aisle unaccompanied and skipped the garter/bouquet toss.

...

And we walked down the aisle to an obscure piece of music from Utena.

Here's the music the couple used for their processional: Hikaru sasa niwa.

Go click on through to the Offbeat Bride story. There are lots of lovely photos, including a slide show.

As for the Portal part, a commenter on Kotaku pointed out, "So the cake wasn’t a lie afterall…"

After some consideration, I've decided to x-post this from the sparklefield because it's a very special kind of transcendent, as in...how is Twilight the first fandom to actually Go There with this sort of merchandising? Srsly.

***

I think I'll let the product speak for itself since I cannot -- well and truly cannot -- find the words:

You can now have RPattz's face buried in your crotch any time you wish. Think I'm kidding? Check out the completely classy detail painstakingly created for the panty lining.

*just looks at y'all*

Anthony Bourdain gets his own cartoon. :-D

I very much doubt anyone's salivating at the thought of me posting again, but I've done NaBloPoMo for the past...three?...years, and I hate to just let it go.

So, if you have any questions or topics that you'd like me to address in the month of November, please reply here with your requests. Anon comms are turned on, so don't be shy. Or, you know, be shy. I wouldn't blame you. ~_^

love, lore

Just Valve being awesome some more. This weekend, Team Fortress 2 is having a Halloween themed special with free hats to take from dead players. There is an egg* on the page which leads to TF2's backstory. Yes, this game now has a plot deeper than just two sides trying kill each other. As a bonus, the new page has another egg** that gives a nod to a popular TF2 character fanart.




~Egg spoilers~

* Zepheniah Mann
** Barnabas Hale

It was really pretty goddamn clever.

( For those who dislike links )

Also, this was an ideal excuse to bust out my brand-new ZP icon.

Yep, popslash is still around, and it's still the best! And there's still a popslash SeSa -- not the original DWNOGA, but the authorised sequel, Make the Yuletide Gay.

Even if you don't usually take part in challenges (like me), then SeSa is the one you shouldn't miss. There will be resources and mentors for all, and all the cheerleading you could want. Plus, at the end of it, you get your very own lovingly hand-crafted story to enjoy, something written especially for you.

If you've drifted away from popslash, SeSa is the perfect time to get back in touch. Sign up and have a lovely couple of months of nostalgia. And then stay!

Sign-ups for Make the Yuletide Gay are open until Oct 30th.

On spitting_image, we're going to have a special Halloween post called Night of the Bad Comic Artists. Submissions will be compiled and the post will be up on October 30th at 5 p.m. PST. Please submit images here!

Which came first?

Which came first for members of the comm who are fans of series and movies featuring live actors, particularly those based on literature (including comics/graphic novels):
being a fan of the original source?
being fan of the movie/television show?
being a fan of the actor(s)?
being a fan of spinoff materials such as fanfic or official fic? Hey, it could happen

As examples: Star Trek, any incarnation, or X-Men.

And how have these fandoms overlapped and interacted for you?

Maybe this has been asked before, but if so it was probably a long time ago, and we may have different comm members. Apologies to anime fans. I don't know enough about anime to include them in my questions, but feel free to comment