Saturday July 11th, 2009
|
| 22:19 Torchwood: Children of Earth - the long, spoilery review |
( Huge spoilers for Children of Earth under the cut. Also, a big one for Buffy S6, if anyone cares. ) 6 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Friday July 10th, 2009
|
| 22:55 Torchwood: Children of Earth - full series mood: Björk - One Day
music: Björk - One Day |
There are absolutely no spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth in this post, just a few opinions. However, in case you prefer to steer clear even of non-spoilery comments until you've seen the season, I'm putting my reactions ( behind a cut. ) In summary, I thought it was excellent for the most part, but don't expect a happy ride, because that it is not. |
Monday July 6th, 2009
|
| 22:40 Torchwood: Children of the Earth, episode 1/5 mood:
 contentmusic: content |
Being a Torchwood fan and living in the Beeb country has obvious advantages. I've been entirely out of this fandom for months (as in, not even lurking) and am completely unspoiled for the upcoming events. From that point of view, it seems to me that if the rest of Children of the Earth is as good as the first episode, Torchwood is certainly headed towards its best season yet, short as this one may be. ( Brief reactions and one huge spoiler under cut: ) In short, well worth the wait, if you ask me. Now bring on the rest! 2 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Monday June 22nd, 2009
|
| 13:26 The 15 books meme & Buffy vs. Twilight mood:
 workingmusic: working |
From various people on my flist: Name fifteen books you've read that will always stay with you, and don't take too much time to think about it (the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes). Copy this into your own post. In no particular order: Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass Neil Gaiman, Coraline J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (yeah, I know it's a trilogy, but I'm going to cheat and consider it one book) Ursula Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan Margaret Atwood, A Handmaid's Tale Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber Toni Morrison, Beloved Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights Diana Wynne Jones, Charmed Life Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot William Shakespeare, The Tempest Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own I wasn't going to analyze this, but it does strike me that only three of these seem to have no speculative element whatsoever (and this is arguable in the case of Waiting for Godot, absurdism or not), the vast majority feature female protagonists, and more than half were written by women. Patterns, I has them. Also, I thought this was all kinds of amusing: Buffy vs. Edward Cullen. 7 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Tuesday June 16th, 2009
|
| 22:34 A bad writing day. Week. Whatever. mood:
 frustratedmusic: frustrated |
This is what I've been doing for the past week or so, in case anyone was wondering: *stabs chapter eight* *chops it into tiny little pieces* *kicks the pieces around until their shapes are visibly different* *sews the pieces back together* *stares at chapter in despair* *repeats all of the above, multiple times* Nope, chapter still not working. And I need to submit this And I usually like revising. I don't know why this particular chapter just won't behave. Sigh. 3 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Tuesday June 9th, 2009
|
| 11:42 Fic: Circles (Spock/Kirk, R) |
( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. ) 34 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Wednesday May 27th, 2009
|
| 22:02 Beta help? mood:
 surprisedmusic: surprised |
Turns out the rebooted Star Trek has thrown me back to the root of all slash. Translation: I wrote Kirk/Spock. I'm not entirely sure how this happened. I realise this is a bit of a stretch with me having been mostly absent from LJ for ages, but... Would anybody at all be willing to beta a short K/S piece for me? There's no rush, I can wait. It's less than a thousand words, hard R, with some mild bondage and mind meld thrown in, because you just know those Vulcans are kinky. I offer cookies and beta services in exchange. Please? 9 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Wednesday March 4th, 2009
|
| 21:19 Out of the loop and far away |
I'm well and truly out of the LJ loop. The reasons for this latest absence are the usual: life and writing, with some added web problems thrown in. We changed ISPs about a month ago, and the new connection was supposed to be faster, more reliable and cheaper. Turns out it was only one of these things (cheaper, in case you were wondering). I've also been trying to get some regular exercise for health reasons, which takes a slice out of my days. I have web access from my study carrel at the library, but the hours I spend there are quite strictly for writing, research and email, or otherwise I'd never get anything done. Also also, I'm currently approximately 25,000 words into my novel and the editing-revising before I can move on with the story is intense right now. I've heard rumours of some superhuman individuals who are able to juggle fanfiction and original writing at the same time, but sadly, I'm not one of them. To sum up: most evenings I'm simply too drained to get online, and if I do, there's no guarantee the web connection will not die on me mid-sentence. A very late thank you to the people who said nice things on ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ennorwen's VDSA meme, and to j_dav who took time to say nice things to her friends list outside that meme. You all made me smile. :)I suppose I'm posting just to say I'm still alive. I don't usually even realise how long I've been gone, because in my mind I never left LJ at all, I'm still composing entries in my head and commenting on other people's entries, it's just taking me a while to post those thoughts. The external reality and actual flow of time tend to fade to the background, because my focus is elsewhere. I kind of hate this discrepancy sometimes, but it keeps happening. I think I'm beyond all hope of catching up with entries I have missed, because I quite honestly can't remember when I last logged in, but if you see a comment on something you posted a while ago, it's probably me. Trying to get back in the loop. Possibly failing. But trying. 11 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Friday February 6th, 2009
|
| 13:14 Two groups of TV characters walk into a karaoke bar... mood:
 sillymusic: silly |
I finished watching Angel last week. I expect to post a more detailed review/reaction when I get around to writing one, but for now I’ll say this: I’m usually not interested in crossovers, but I really think Team Angel and Team Torchwood should get together for a karaoke night in some fabulous fandom afterlife. ( This is how I imagine it would go -- huge spoilers throughout all seasons of both shows: ) On a related note, re: the new Torchwood trailer: Well, that was… a heck of a lot of running? I will, of course, be glued to my TV set when Children of Earth airs. 1 white rabbit / go down the rabbit-hole |
Monday February 2nd, 2009
|
| 16:28 Castles made of snow mood:
 goodmusic: goodmood: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
music: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog |
The current weather has made me unusually aware of my Nordic relationship with snow. Last night J was preparing for this morning's commute as if he was going trekking at the Arctic Circle: by packing food, water and extra clothes. "What are you laughing about?" he asked me when he saw my expression. "People can get stuck for hours on major roads waiting for rescue from the snow." Yes, rationally I understand that this is possible in this country, and being prepared is not an exaggeration. However, I've lived 30 years of my life in a country where snow is a part of everyday life, not an extreme circumstance. It never even crossed my mind to not go to the uni today, with barely an inch of snow on the ground and some more falling slowly from the sky -- I mean, it wasn't a blizzard, just your garden variety gentle snowfall, and the temperature wasn’t even below zero. I arrived at the university library at 11.20. At 12.15 it was announced that the whole campus was closing at 1 pm today due to weather conditions. I have a good view of the campus through the large windows of the study area where my private carrel is located. By 12.35 I had witnessed four snowball fights, one spontaneous "let's make snow angels" session, two spontaneous "let's take photos of each other in the snow" sessions and the building of one snowman. I almost felt sorry to leave early. At 12.44, when I stepped out of the library, I discovered that the whole campus had basically turned into one big playground where people were having snowfights and creating various things out of snow. One construction I saw looked like a giant anthill, another one seemed to be shaping up to be a castle of sorts. I took a bus while the service was still running, came home and talked on the phone to a friend who lives in Paris and had failed to get to work this morning because of the weather. Am now facing a tough choice between trying to finish reading a book and writing a chapter for a potential future one. Needless to say, my day has been entirely unproductive. Haven't heard from J. I hope he's not stuck in the snow somewhere and will be able to make it home from work without too much delay. And I still can't stop thinking, All this because of a couple of inches of snow? I have rarely, if ever, felt this Finnish. 12 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Monday January 26th, 2009
|
| 15:09 A Chinese Moon Festival question mood:
 confusedmusic: confused |
Dear omniscient friends list, I'm (once again) doing some research for a writing project and since I know many of you are much better acquainted with Chinese holidays and festivals than I am, I have a question. Why does the Moon Festival (or Mid-Autumn Festival) fall on 3 October this year? I thought it was always the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, but if today's new moon marks the beginning of the new year in the Chinese calendar, then isn't the 15th day of the 8th month 3 September rather than 3 October? I'm assuming there's some exception to the basic rule that I'm not aware of. I've been trying to find the answer on the web, but no luck so far. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it! |
Wednesday January 21st, 2009
|
| 17:27 Books read in 2008 |
Here's a Better Late Than Never list of all the books I read last year, plus comments about my favourite reads. As usual, fewer than I'd have liked, but then, I'm a slow reader, and it's still many more than in 2007. ( Books read in 2008. ) ( Also, have a random Torchwood quiz: ) 9 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Thursday January 8th, 2009
|
| 20:15 There and back again mood:
semi-workingmusic: semi-workingmood: commercial break on TV
music: commercial break on TV |
There is snow in Canterbury! This is not at all an annual event, so it deserves a mention. My break from LJ was extended by the fact that I caught a massive cold just before Christmas while in Finland – somehow an apt conclusion to my 2008 –, and I’m still feeling the effects. For the New Year’s Eve, J and I had booked tickets for Wicked and a dinner in a Japanese restaurant in London. I was on the verge of cancelling because I wasn’t feeling well, but the tickets were not refundable and we couldn’t find anyone to use them on such short notice, so we went anyway. I loved the musical. I had read Wicked the book recently, so quite a bit of my attention went into ‘oh, they changed this, and that and that too’, but I knew it was going to be very different, so that didn’t bother me. I’m always curious about how stories get adapted from one medium to another, and I enjoyed both the book and the stage version, albeit for slightly different reasons. Also, I was quite enamoured of the entirely unexpected steampunk-ish touch in the set design. I want one of those mechanical dragons on my wall. You know, one day when I have a huge flat where I can fit such a thing. While I was sick, there was nothing to do but watch DVDs, in this case the second season of Angel I'd borrowed from a friend, and I got myself so seriously hooked that I ordered the complete series from Amazon. This seems to be one of my strange detours towards a TV show via its spin-off. When I started watching Torchwood a year ago, I had only seen some random episodes of Doctor Who, and it was only after devouring Torchwood that I watched all three seasons of it that were available at the time. While I’ve read five seasons of Buffy scripts, I’ve only seen some random episodes here and there, but I think I’m going to have to watch it all after I’m done with Angel. I don’t know why I keep doing this – it doesn’t really make sense to start with the spin-off show, does it? I should continue working on my course portfolio and writing prose poems about imaginary animals. Yes, really. ...The places where Creative Writing degrees can take you. 4 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Tuesday December 23rd, 2008
|
| 8:55 |
I'm going offline for a while, possibly for the rest of the week (not that I've been around much lately, but that's another story). The year has turned. The light is returning, as it always does. I hope everyone has a restful Christmas, or whatever your holiday of choice is! 6 white rabbits / go down the rabbit-hole |
Tuesday November 11th, 2008
|
| 16:40 Another film meme, and the usual mood:
workingmusic: working |
I sincerely think November should be the official Staying Home, Watching DVDs And Reading Books Month. Since I can't afford to spend it like this, I'll console myself by posting the film meme that erfan_starled tagged me to do.Rules: Name three movies that you enjoy, which are (as far as you know) not well known. Then tag 6 friends. Afterlife This is a Japanese film about dead people who have a week to choose one memory from their lives to take with them to eternity. I adore the premise (I wish I had come up with it myself!), and the film has a tranquil, zen-like quality. Beautifully made, thoughtful, unusual. The Double Life of Veronique A mysterious, dream-like story about two women living in Poland and France respectively whose lives parallel each other inexplicably. Masterfully directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski (even after all these years I still had to look up the spelling of his first name) and with a divine score, this remains one of my all-time favourites. Delicatessen A delightfully bizarre and magnificently imaginative dark comedy about a post-apocalyptic world, cannibalism and romance. It’s visually impressive, too, and the individual scenes are like little studies in how to create a surrealist mini-drama. There’s nothing I don’t love about this film. As usual, I'll not tag anyone. All yours if you want it. In writing news, I'm a story addict, and this has led me to some perceptions re: writing prose vs. writing poetry. ( Really just keeping a record for myself... ) |