Entertaining in a Disturbing Way

1. Really. Bowie and Rickman in one week? Was it too much to ask not to spread them out a bit?

2. I am officially caught up on Doctor Who. Points to me for not stopping until I'd made it all the way through. No points to me for taking so bloody long.

3. I have also, disturbingly, caught up entirely on Sherlock. I blame the bushy-haired tall dude. Because he's not as tall as Trucco and Tahmoh, but he is tall, even if he's a bit odd-looking. (ok, also, Mary. And Molly.) and that voice, god

4. I should write up review things about the above two points, but they might entirely consist of "Can I have one?" (Clara) and "Can I have one?" (Sherlock). (ok, I'm not entirely that shallow)

(mostly)

5. In other news, I was listening to Spooks at work the other day (as you do, when windows keeps cuing up the episodes), and I realized that Tom Quinn is still the Angstiest Spy Ever, but Adam definitely gives him a run for his title. And as a whole, Harry's team really are the Worst, Most Obvious Spies. (also, Harry says something in a fourth series episode about not wanting to play god and I practically fell out of my chair. REALLY, HARRY. REALLY) And Ros, Ruth and Jo remain my favorites--if I had to quickly pick a team of women to storm the world, they'd be it. (and possibly Molly Hooper for medical backup. Or maybe Martha Jones. I can't decide which)

6. Like, a month ago I went down and visited aj and havocthecat, and there were potatoes and latkes and long conversations and it's been way too long since I'd seen them. And it was amazing to hang out. We all agreed that we are not too old for fandom, and that it sometimes is a bit scary to think about how long it's been since we entered said establishment and/or met each other (for reals, every time someone on my flist talks about the age of their children--if they have them--I suddenly am like "shit, I remember when...").

7. Christmas happened, saw parts of my family. Didn't see others. Drove a Ford Focus down and back, and it was lovely. (my sis and bro-in-law almost spoiled me for DW s9 and the xmas special, but I was all "la la la, can't hear you" at them. And then my sis was saying that she didn't get Elementary, 'cause Joan Watson sounds wrong, and I almost said "them's fighting words" but got distracted 'cause Joan would be like "...whatever" and go solve crime)

8. Watched the recent adaption of And Then Where None and thought it was very well done. Dark, gothic and very compelling (even if the music was occasionally a bit much). I also managed to not want it to end the way it did (and for once, fandom gave me presents in that the pairing I wanted to read is about the only thing out there--I know they are awful, awful people, but I ship it like I shipped everyone in Crimson Peak, ok)

9. I fell down on the job with keeping a booklist over the last year, so I've no idea what I read over the year. Perhaps I'll manage better this year. The only thing I remember is re-reading Georgiana again (I can't help it, Georgie is ridiculous and forthright and clever and she shoots him this one time, that's like Lyssie kryptonite served up with milk chocolate truffles)

10. I really have to stop with the parenthetical statements (even if they are fun, this is not prose, dammit).

(sigh)

Sorry, there was a random impromptu Not Paying Attention To Anything. And I'm back now. I'm only at skip 160, dudes. That is just sad

1. I came across this on my travels: In a statement, SFX said:
Revisionists would have you believe that Who was always a show with emotional impact, but barring a couple of companion departures, that didn't really become true until the advent of Russell T Davies.


No. No. You are wrong and everything you will ever think or say is wrong.

2. I suppose it's a good thing I pay no attention to magazines these days (but OH my collection. It's sitting over on a box right now because I was digging for old Avengers issues out of boredom last week)

3. Matt Fraction's Sex Criminals is entirely ridiculous, but hilarious and very readable. I read the TPB. And then I read it again right after. It was that kind of night.

4. I did Summerfest last week. Wednesday was the Airborne Toxic Event (not bad, I think I liked them better when we saw them two years ago? idk). Thursday was New Order (OMG THEY HAVEN'T BEEN HERE IN 25 years. /old). NO were amazing and lovely and the new stuff they played had an excellent beat. Sadly, the vocals were drowned in the WALL OF SOUND. unf.

4a. However, before I saw New Order, I suffered two hours of the dullest DJ ever. DJ Whitney? Please never play anywhere near me again. For reals. THE SAME SONG OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

5. But at least it meant I plowed my way through most of Neil Penswick's The Pit, Good god, were large parts of that book dull. And let's talk about disjointed. And I felt like the end was very rushed. I really liked the Benny and Spike bits, though (especially how he never 'broke his programing'). I seem to recall liking this NA a lot more in my younger days. It also felt like Penswick was still stuck on the early Seven characterization, which fell a bit flat for, um, me. Because Seven is clearly the trickster who's playing tiddly winks while everyone else is Seriously Into Chess.

6. After my Ponds and Clara marathon over the weekend, I've been reading lots of fic. It's hard to find in-character stuff. There's a lot that almost manages it, but then Amy or Rory will say 'arse' and it throws me out (yes, yes, I know it is something UK people say. I just can't imagine Rory or Amy saying it. Clara, yes. Especially Victorian!Clara). Even worse are the crossovers where Amy, Rory, River and Eleven tell everyone their life stories. All. The. Time.

No. No, they wouldn't. They're all very private people. Eleven may babble, but there are some secrets he'd never tell (and River and Amy and Rory are secrets ffs)

(I am suddenly intrigued at more thoughts of Pryde & Wisdom vs Daleks, which is neither hide nor hair to this)

7. Still working. Should post about it at some point, and talk about how out of my depth I'm feeling at times.

1. The bad news is: I'm still attached to the stupid project of pointless time and money-wasting. The good news is: I get to be bored silly while at my own god-damned desk with my co-workers around to help alleviate the boredom.

2. I'm pretty sure I already have Caroline/Sue White porn written for the upcoming femslash porn battle. (in my head, at least)

3. Ben A. is the new batman. It's like someone wanted to give me a lolsy early birthday present.

4. I read the last issue of The Lady Sif can rip your balls off, but is too bored to bother Journey Into Mystery. :/ :/ :( ngl, people, the fact that this book died is just a travesty. The art, the humor, the gravitas were all amazing.

5. I also re-read Simon Messingham's Strange England, which was not... awful. Like, I really enjoyed it, but it read less like a Seven adventure (even VNA Seven) and more like an Eleven adventure. Don't ask me how that works, since the book is fifteen + years old. But I've often said Eleven reminds me of Seven. And an OOC Seven is Eleven. (I wouldn't mind seeing this one translated to current-era, either. Chop out the Ace bits and Clara can take over Benny's spot. And not in a "Clara is inter-changeable" way, but in a "Clara can fit into Benny's bit more easily, since there's not much archeology, drinking or cursing involved" way)

6. Two weekends ago, I went drinking after work with my (real) co-workers. It was awesome.

7. I went looking for something else entirely and discovered that half of a box down in the basement was filled with Babysitter's Club, Saddle Club and the Linda Craig Adventures. If most of them weren't stripped library books, I would totally try giving them to someone.

8. There was also a Nancy Drew saves kids from behind the Iron Curtain, Cold War mystery. omg. At least I know where my love for the spy-tropes came from. (also, I must re-read it, and there better be Moscow rules)

9. Er, also, not at dragoncon. I considered it, but I am now an adult and can't justify spending that kind of money on a plane ticket. Also, my sister is packing this weekend as they're moving. So I'd be in the way there.

10. I shall now update my reading list. (please note that Elizabeth Peters was still alive when I was on my re-reading spree)
( Read more... )

I have just finished Anne of the Island, and have come to a few conclusions. a) Diana Barry would be a Loki stan, and defend him against all comers as completely redeemable, if a little evil. b) Anne would despair over the lack of tall, dark-haired, broody Avengers and split her time between Thor (who is quite romantic enough for her) and Tony (whom she would write reams of brooding and pining for Pepper fic for). c) Gilbert, wisely, would just fanboy Fury and wistfully talk of redheads.

While at work, I've been listening to random things. Tuesday was Fellowship of the Ring in all its ridiculousness. And while it's entertaining, I'd forgotten just how much of a drama hound Gandalf is. Like, seriously, he is TOTALLY all about the dramadramadraMUH. (it suddenly puts into amusing perspective how I wrote a Mary Sue for Gandalf, given that I don't always like drama hounds).

Today was Two Towers, and the Ents going to war is epic even in sound-form.

(unfortunately, while Gollum is entertaining, the Sam and Frodo bits are excessively booooorrrrrring. Also, every time Celeborn said a line, I kept expecting him to be talking to Aeon Fluxx about being a clone. all Aeon Fluxx in Lothlorien crossovers will be adored; because that is an utterly amazing idea that just blossomed in my brain and what a pity I can't teleport images onto screen. sigh)

Aeon/Galadriel. youknowitwouldbehot

ahem.

I'm fairly certain I'm forgetting something, but lord only knows what.

( booklist update )

ahem.

1. In case anyone had forgotten, halfamoon starts tomorrow (today?) Eee.

2. also, womenverse starts a new round.

3. And there's a We Love Women friending meme going round.

4. In other news, I am cold and should sleep. soon.

5. Updated booklist (finishing off 2012, adding 2013)( Read more... )

The problem with reading Lucie Aubrac's memoir about her time in the resistance in France during WWII is that one remembers Ron and company going on about the New Caprica occupation being Just Like Vichy France.

In which case, one is tempted to crack!fic where Sam Anders rescues his wife by staging a fake wedding (it's possible that at three a.m., one even considered the possibility of mpreg), though one is very aware that the morality and moral/social codes of New Caprica are vastly different from France in 1944 (one of them is in space, after all).

The biggest thing, though, is once again seeing how women really were involved with the resistance (at many, many levels; no, they weren't plentiful, but this was 1944 France. Women were still considered second-class citizens at that point [if the memoir is correct], yet they still threw in all the help they could to rout the Germans from French soil). And yet in BSG (so full of women, as it is), the resistance seemed to be all dudes.

There were exceptions. Laura Roslin obviously had some sort of clout, Tory Foster appeared to be involved in some way, and Jean Barolay was already a member of the company, thanks to Caprica. And Athena joined up as soon as she touched down. But Cally? No. She was pregnant after all (to which Lucie Aubrac would be all "LOL. Let me tell you about that time I was six months pregnant and helped in an assault on prison transport.")

It's funny, because my exceptions are actually not that bad--I mean, yes, Tigh and Anders and Tyrol sat around doing Resistance Things, and Sparky was their man inside.

But Ellen Tigh bribed her husband out of prison, and Tory Foster was obviously involved with organizing things.

I think it's really, for me, that Kara Thrace wasn't doing anything, and Cally wasn't, either. And I feel like both of them should have been. Ditto for Boomer, who while jaded at that point, should still have been sympathetic in some way.

But the idea of the Resistance running some sort of fake ID business is laughable. Yet hilarious. "Your name is Sam Anders." "No, I'm Pierre Montague." "Your papers are false! Admit it!"

ok, so maybe it would just be a bad war comedy.

1. I saw a unicyclist riding along the lakeside on my way home.

2. I have watched the entirety of Green Wing, and have only one thought (well, probably more than one):
a. Mac and Caroline need to make out for my enjoyment more (failing that, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Tamsin Grieg need to as other people)
b. If I were skinny, I'd fake a Scottish accent and cosplay as Sue White everywhere (I cannot even with her, she is AMAZING)
c. I'm confused over how hot I found Julian Rhind-Tutt. Like, maybe it's the hair? idk. Just. unf.

3. Having learned that it will have the Lady Sif in it, I might actually start buying a comicbook again (damn you, Marvel)

4. Booklist update ( Read more... )

1. Sigh. I'm trying to read Blood Law by Jeannie Holmes, and it's hard-going, because the heroine keeps getting injured/knocked out, and dudes stand around measuring their wangs to prove how amazing they are at keeping her alive. I almost dumped it in the first chapter when a scene occurs with two dudes who decide they totally know what's best for the heroine. But I thought "It has to be better, right?" So far? Not. Not at all. Like, ffs, Black Wings had umpteenbillion moments when the heroine was injured/knocked out/down for the count, but the narrative was still hers. In this one, she's basically a secondary character to let the dudes do their thing. Has anyone else read it/know if it gets better? Because I really like the other female character, and the world-building is interesting (if hackneyed and cliched and a total "vampires represent repressed minorities" ripoff a la mutants in Marvel-land).

But. Seriously, I am so annoyed every six or seven pages. FUCK this "dudes know best, little lady" bullshit. (because,srsly, that is the vibe this book gives off, and it's annooooying)

2. I have an interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed. (also, I really hope I manage to fall asleep tonight, I do not need to be awake until four a.m. again, ffs)

3. Pretty much every upcoming SF/F movie event can be titled "Some white dudes do shit" This does not make me interested. Here's hoping the Snow White & TH sequel is getting made. Black Widow would be nice, too, but if it's by Joss Whedon I will cry (because, penis. Also, I honestly can't stand him anymore). Also, I won't hold my breath for the movie to actually happen. (written and directed by Rachel Talalay, otoh? I AM SO THERE WITH BELLS ON IS IT CHRISTMAS AND I DIDN'T KNOW IT?)

4. No Continuum this week. *wails* (I know, it is awful, BUT KIERA SHOOTING THINGS MAKES ME HAPPY, SHUT UP)

5. I want to say Eureka( Read more... )

6. Booklist:
Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II by Amy Nathan (it's a book for kids, but still interesting enough. Also, anger-causing at all the dudes who whined about women taking their jobs)
Flying Higher - The Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II by Wanda Langley (also a book for the younger set)
Women Heroes of World War II - 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue by Kathryn J Atwood

So, in reading the Vera Atkins biography (A Life In Secrets by Sarah Helm), I have to keep stopping--at first it was because there's only so much about Nazi war atrocities one can read before needing some fluffy kittens.

BUT, but now I'm having to stop, like, every page because of HOW INCOMPETENT the SOE people in London were. Seriously. When you send wireless telegraph operators over with specific instructions for security checks, and they don't use them after months of faithfully doing so? THE ANSWER IS NOT TO TELEGRAPH BACK, "Dude, you forgot your real check, heh, we'll let it slide this time. But don't forget next time! Love and kisses, London."

On the subject of another of the captured w/t operators, the woman he'd been dating kept telling them he'd been captured, AND THEY HAD HER FIRED BECAUSE OF HER FEELINGS. (and he was in fact already captured as she'd suggested and ended up executed)

(I don't actually know that I like Vera Atkins very much, but I do appreciate her dedication in discovering the fates of the people sent over to spy for them)

eta: I'm still not entirely sure that I like Vera Atkins much. Oh well. It was at last a fascinating read.

*updates booklist*
Lord Sayer's Ghost by Cindy Holbrook (re-read)
Best Laid Schemes by Emma Jensen (re-read)
The Lady and the Rake by Carola Dunn (re-read)
A Life In Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII by Sarah Helm

Kenzi first. Anyway. After re-reading de Lint's book about Jacky Rowan, it has occurred to me that Kenzi from Lost Girl is a Jack.

Book list:
The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt - Very pulpy in feel, but entertaining. I kept picking it up when I was bored with other things.

Daughter of Exile by Isabel Glass - Fairly standard fantasy and politics fair, and a bit simplistic. Was entertaining despite the frustration of how the dudes kept doing All the Things while the one time a woman got to do magic-things, her scene was two paragraphs long (contrasted to the three pages spent on the dude).

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino (re-read) - bi-sexual (leaning to lesbian) harper girl takes on the Fairy realm with an all-girl heavy metal band to rescue her trapped lover. Lots of mysticism and "womanly mysteries" stuff is mixed in, but even now it's pretty solidly entertaining.

Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia C Wrede (re-read)
Jack the Giant-Killer by Charles de Lint (re-read)