I Do Not Belong To This World At All

Random Blow-By-Blow: Star Trek: TNG, "Sarek"

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:35:41 GMT

Because, as someone said on ontd_startrek back when it was brand new, I'm Spock's step-mommy.

- I have to admit, hearing the standard TNG music and the Picard opening voice-over is like being hit by a massive wave of nostalgia. My parents watched this show every week, which meant I did too sometimes, which means I may have watched this episode when it originally aired. I was six years old. Oy.

- Those dress uniforms on Picard and Riker are hilarious.

- Okay, so Spock did eventually get married? Do we know who to? brb hitting up Memory Alpha.

- O'Brieeeeeeeeeeeeeeen.

- Riker sort of looks like he needs a corset for that uniform tunic.

- Also, I find it a little weird that Sarek's chief of staff would be human. And a fucking smarmy human at that. I don't know if I'm having a reaction to some half-remembered episode synopsis or whatever, but I want to punch him in the throat.

- And there he is, my Vulcan pretend husband, Sarek. I adore his voice.

- Also I just noticed he appears to be wearing the same necklace-thing he had on in The Undiscovered Country.

- Shut up, chief of staff dude.

- And Picard proceeds to break the fourth wall by looking directly at the camera.

- Massive Wave of Nostalgia, take two. I remember I used to be fascinated by the intro to the opening credits.

- Apparently, the Legarans are going to be sitting in a giant vat of party punch. That's what it looks like to me, anyway.

- Wesley's got a daaaaaate. Geordi's impressed. I'm distracted by Sarek coming into the room.

- And here we have our first sign that all is not well with Sarek--he just about starts to lose his cool with Picard over the conference room not yet being ready. His personal aide steps in for the save. He leaves with what feels like a non sequitur to me ("These walls are too bright") and Picard and Riker share a "O_o?" look.

- Damn skippy Picard wants to be as awesome as Sarek when he's Sarek's age.

- Er, Perrin seems sarcastically put-out by visitors usually wanting to see her husband. Either that, or she's sarcastically flirting. And Picard's serving it right back.

- Despite that impression I just received, Perrin does seem genuinely concerned for Sarek when she goes to see him while meditating. And loving, too, putting her hands on his arm and shoulder and leaning his cheek against him before leaving. I feel bad for both of them.

- Wesley, Geordi, and the vat of punch again. Hahahahaha am I actually hearing ominous undertones music, just before they start sniping at each other? That's hilarious.

- Geordi, in so many words, tells Wesley he's not gonna score because he's a limp dishrag. Did it really need saying that every other male on the ship is an expert in women compared to Wesley? Because LOL. (I still love you, Wil.)

- Riker steps in like a punishing parent and Wesley actually asks him if he can be excused. Never mind he says it on his way out the door, I just thought it was funny that he did.

- Data, my love! (Yeah, he was the object of one of my first-ever fictional character crushes, the other contender for that spot being Egon Spengler. Not gonna lie.)

- Sarek shows up for the concert. He says Perrin can be quite logical when she chooses and I swear that's a smile I'm hearing in his tone of voice. She's half smiling/smirking like it's an old joke. Also, his chief of staff can continue to stfu please. Actually what I first interpreted as a smirk on Perrin's part may actually be her restraining from telling COS Dude to stfu, too. Awesome, let's get the mutual hate society going.

- Data has been programmed to reproduce the musical stylings of over 300 concert violinists. DAMN. I wish I had a switch to turn on like that. I'd never have a problem with bad tone quality ever again. Data asks Sarek if he has a preference for one and Sarek wordlessly lets Perrin choose. Her raised eyebrows give me the impression that Sarek does indeed have a favorite soloist and she knows it.

- I will now be assuming that it's just something about Joanna Miles' performance as Perrin that makes me think she's flirting with everyone, including Data? Probably I'm just misinterpreting her (diplomatic) friendliness, which maybe has to go into overtime when accompanying Sarek on his missions?

- Hahaha Riker's slouching in his chair like he's watching a game.

- I wonder if any of the musicians in the band actually knew how to play their instruments. Cello dude certainly appears to know his stuff, but then again I'm not a string musician.

- LOL why is Data conducting the others? Do solo violinists do that while not soloing? Someone help me out here, I am but a mere wind symphony musician.

- Second instance I've noticed of Sarek having restless fingers. Poor guy. (Yeah, Brent Spiner's not playing that violin.)

- Sarek's personal aide starts paying attention to Sarek. Troi starts paying attention to the aide. Aide whispers something to COS Dude, and we pan past Perrin to Sarek, who is blinking like a bitch.

- Okay, was that just a CG tear on a still shot of Sarek's face? I don't know whether to giggle or facepalm. Either way, it kinda ruined the moment.

- Perrin clues in (or got clued in) and wipes the tear from his face. Behind them, Picard goes WTF? The Vulcan party more or less beats the hell out of Dodge, while Troi looks confused, Crusher doesn't seem to have noticed, and Picard is still working the WTF face.

- LMAO what the hell is Crusher drinking out of that tiny ass cup, whiskey? From the way her shoulders look like they're hunched, her hand's sort of shaking, and the way she's not turning to look at Wesley when he comes be-bopping in, it ought to be alcohol. Also, she hasn't seen him to speak to him since last night? That's some shit parenting right there.

- Haha she's caught the Pissed-Off Bug. Slaps Wesley, too. Viewers everywhere cheer, probably.

- Man I always wanted Troi's hair.

- Uh yeah Wesley DID provoke that slap, you asked him where he was going and he snerked "away from you"...

- I kind of love how the only part of the aide's face that moved, when talking to Data, was his mouth. That is one surefire Vulcan right there. Even Sarek's expressions change on occasion. :D

- MORE O'BRIEN YAY.

- Alas, he is the next recipient of the Pissed-Off Bug. His rather beefy adversary in Ten Forward has a slender girl with a French braid backing him up. I love that. We leave them with Geordi offering to get everyone another round

- Riker and Worf (haaaaaaaay Worf) then proceed to walk into a full-on bar brawl.

- DAMN French braid girl just decked the fuck out of some guy. You go, French braid girl! (And then Riker got fake!nose-slammed to the floor. Cue commercial break.)

- Picard: THIS SHIT IS GONNA RUIN OUR DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE FML

- Oh Jesus Christ COS Dude, get your smarmy face off my screen. YES PICARD IS ACCUSING SAREK OF LOSING HIS MIND AND NO HE CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT. DO YOU THINK HE LIKES IT?!

- Personal aide's visiting the punch vat. Data visits him. Aide enables evasive maneuvers (SON IS LYYYYYYYIIIIIIING). But he finally capitulates--and expresses emotion, merely by swallowing, I liked that--and tells Data to tell Picard that yes, they ARE all fucked.

- While convening a council of war, so to speak, Riker and Picard catch the Pissed-Off Bug. In front of the entire bridge crew. Way to let everyone knows there's a problem with Sarek, Riker!

- Perrin, understandably, is a little pissed off at Picard for daring to suggest her husband's been responsible for turning the Enterprise into a ballroom blitz. She also seemed to take a lot of umbrage at the suggestion that Sarek's aide something something was wrong and had been trying to do something about it.

- And my shipper heart took a lot of glee in this particular line of hers: "Captain, I know a good deal about the Vulcan mind, and I know a good deal about the heart of one particular Vulcan." Poor Perrin. Poor Sarek. Poor everyone. (Except COS Dude, he can go fuck off.)

- Awesome, Sarek just motioned for COS Dude to fuck off. ~~See, we think alike, I'll make a great step-mommy!~~

- Man, EVERYONE is in denial over Sarek having Bendii Syndrome. Except possibly COS Dude. I'm convinced he's evil.

- Oh shit son, Picard just found you out, Sarek. Except he doesn't seem to know his aide has been trying to keep his emotions in check for him. And COS Dude says it isn't true. You little fucker. Sarek asks if Perrin knows--her expression sort of leaves it up in the air. Aide says yes, it's true. Sarek snaps at him to quit that shit and the aide says "That would not be wise." Sarek calms and says it might not be wise, but it's necessary. Aide nods and leaves, I'm assuming to cease, desist, and take the Vulcan equivalent of codeine.

- Sarek tells Perrin there is nothing to fear. Her expression says it all. Damn, I'm really feeling for them.

- Man, Picard, don't be lumping Perrin in with COS Dude!

- Picard attempts to explain his hypothesis to Sarek. Sarek starts winding up like a toy. I'm metaphorically gnawing on my fingernails.

- Yeah, you're definitely hearing anger in his voice. Congratulations, jackass, you just succeeded in making Sarek blow up in your face. Happy now?

- Riker says he thinks Picard did the right thing. Picard actually isn't happy about it. Perrin comes in; I'm hoping it's to slap the shit out of Picard. Unfortunately there's no bitchslappage. She just wants Picard to let Sarek finish his mission and retain his respect and dignity.

- Sarek apparently went to hang out with the soothing vat of punch. It's where he's discussing a mind meld with Picard, anyway.

- He can mind meld with me anytime. Just saying.

- Sarek then appears on the bridge, the picture of control, to tell Riker to let the Legarans know he will be greeting them. He also keeps calling Riker "Number One". Riker is rather humorously freaked by this.

- Meanwhile, Picard is screaming his lungs out in a dark office. Doing a pretty good job of mimicking Sarek's voice, too. If I were Crusher, I'd be on the other side of the damn room.

- The lines "I am betrayed by... desires... oh... I want to feel... everything" came across as INCREDIBLY porntastic. I really ought to climb out of the gutter sometime.

- "Perrin... Amanda... I wanted to give you so much more... I wanted to show you such... tenderness... but that is not our way. Spock... Amanda... did you know... Perrin... can you know how much I love you? I do love you..." BRB SOBBING LIKE A BITCH

- Thus concludes this episode's segment of Picard/Crusher UST.

- Fuck you, COS Dude. I still think you're evil.

- When Perrin clasps Picard's hand, he gives it a weird look and then says "He loves you... very much." Perrin just says she's always known. As it should be, I say.

- Man, I really wanted to see Sarek and Perrin do the finger touch, but he actually reached out and took her hand just before they beamed away. That was seriously nice.

- Well, O'Brien looks none the worse for his bar brawling...

- Cue credits.

a list

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:46:40 GMT

Things My Mother Learned At Dragon*Con

- What steampunk is
- I am a clone of her (or, The World According To Eric Roberts)
- eclecticmuse is the cute one
- Apparently, pasties and a thong constitute a costume
- Additionally, during a con, you can be naked in public and not get arrested
- Malcolm McDowell is either very bitter or very sarcastic (or both)
- Either way, Malcolm McDowell may never be employed by NBC again
- The world is, indeed, small after all
- Nothing is too obscure or silly to make a costume out of
- You can talk for twenty minutes straight about yarn
- You can also talk for twenty minutes straight about yourself
- Alan Ruck is now the coolest person on the planet
- Barry Bostwick does clay art
- Who Stumbles the Stair Dragon is
- Dressing up as an unaired character gets you 15 seconds of fame in front of a panel
- You can do a million variations on a stormtrooper costume
- I have an iron bladder (whatever...)
- William Shatner crashes panels
- And who only knows what else she learned :)

crashing and burning

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:55:31 GMT

Jesus effing Christ I am tired as hell. And I hurt. Did I mention I was going to DragonCon?

Now I sleep. Hilarity later. (I'm having problems coming up with answers to that damn five things meme, too. You suck, Eric.)

Top Five meme

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:17:26 GMT

Stolen from the internet:

Ask me my fannish Top Five [Whatevers]. Any top fives. Doesn't matter what, really! And I will answer them all in a new post. Possibly with pictures.

I promise to be as entertaining as I know how with my answers.

MEMEAGE

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 06:20:46 GMT

O hai guise:

RPSHIPSMEME

It's that dawning comprehension...

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:32:22 GMT

This is probably the dumbest thing EVER, but I'm so happy right now I literally have tears in my eyes. Why? Because Thomas James O'Leary hasn't abandoned us after all, and I'm not the last fan left in existence.

Yes, that was overly dramatic. I am SO fucking lame.

I was just Googling him for shits and giggles like I occasionally do, and it turns out he has a fan page on Facebook, upon which I immediately hit the "become a fan" button. And as usual I must have been the last person in the world to learn about this, because among his 53 fans I saw two phans from The Good Old Days, Daunna and Carolyn, who I used to correspond and trade with. That was what really brought on the tears of happiness, because I sometimes wondered what had ever become of them, and if they still cared too.

He also did an interview with the owner of phantomsmasquerade.com (which looks like a vaguely dubious fan convention but that's another thing entirely) which, after reading it, makes me feel... better about the whole "he disappeared into a black hole after leaving Phantom" thing. It doesn't seem like he wanted to escape his fans at all. This is probably making no sense. Well, at least eclecticmuse will understand me.

I'm going to go try to faceplant back into my pillow now, but I had to share my joy, even if it does come across as incredibly strange and weird and batshit.

Fic: Teacher of Music (14/20?)

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:34:01 GMT

YEAH I DID. (It's short, but it was a good stopping point.) sparklybee, this is for you. :)

Title: Teacher of Music, 14/20(?)
Fandom: The Phantom of the Opera
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I'm just playing with someone else's toys. Please don't hurt me.
Author's Note: Thanks muchly, as always, to [info]eclecticmuse for thebeta.
Summary: On the anniversary of her father's death, Christine and Raoul go to Perros.

Snow slashed past the train window in unending gray lines as Christine stared sightlessly out at the passing countryside. Tomorrow was the anniversary of her father’s death, so she was traveling to the little village of Perros, where he had been buried, to honor his memory. Raoul had expressed a desire to accompany her to pay his respects as well. He was now sitting on the seat across from her in their private compartment, leafing through a novel.

She had briefly considered declining his request. The fall-out and subsequent aftermath of her debut in the gossip columns of every Parisian newspaper in print had left Christine extremely reluctant to be seen in public with Raoul again. But in the end, she had relented. It would have been grossly unfair to Raoul to deny him a goodbye to a dear friend because she was feeling selfish. And while traveling with him would doubtlessly cause tongues to wag anew, it would perhaps have been more unseemly for her to travel alone. Thus she had allowed him to come with her, and he had quietly made their arrangements.

So far during their trip Christine had been quiet and withdrawn and Raoul, in his gently understanding way, had tacitly assumed she was somber in remembrance of her father. This was true--she was--but it was also not the entire truth. She was still quite disturbed by her last encounter with Monsieur Reyer. It had been some considerable time since their blowout in his office but Christine still felt as if her heart had been ripped out and stomped upon.

Il Muto had closed out its limited run with Christine still performing the lead role. It was unprecedented--it had been several seasons since anyone besides Carlotta had headlined a production at the Populaire, as Monsieur Lefevre had consistently chosen to stage operas that showcased his star to the fullest. But the diva, now believing Il Muto to be cursed, had patently refused to return to it. To the new managers’ relief, her loss did not result in the drastic drop in ticket sales they had despaired of. There were losses--that was inevitable. But they were minimal. As pleased as was possible for a man of his temperament, Firmin had even added a bonus to Christine’s salary for the month.

Thus Christine experienced her first true taste of life as a leading lady. She had her own dressing room, her own dressers, a raise in pay, and she took her bows every night to enthusiastic applause. Elaborate arrangements of flowers were delivered to her dressing room before and after every performance. She had determined to be realistic about the whole thing since she knew, as they had all believed regarding her appearance in the Hannibal gala, Carlotta would never permit it to happen again. She honestly believed most of the audience came to get a glimpse of the little chorus girl who had the Vicomte de Chagny so besotted. Even so, her friends encouraged her to enjoy the experience while it lasted.

"Carpe diem, and all that," Joseph had said.

But try as she might, Christine had found that her heart just wasn’t in the enjoyment.

Reyer was too near, his face closed off and blank like a cold stone wall. Every note she sang, she was reminded of the hours they’d spent together perfecting them; every flower from Raoul left on her dressing table before a performance brought back the choking, suffocating sensation she’d felt in her throat as Reyer had stabbed his finger down on the hated column in the paper. That was always followed by a heavy sense of betrayal mixed with guilt. Why should she feel betrayed by his behavior and accusations? What had there been to betray? There was nothing, on either side. But she had thought she and Reyer were at least friends. She had thought... a lot of things. None of which seemed to matter anymore.

She was so hurt and angry that she couldn’t even bear to look at him in the days immediately after; that was only compounded by the fact that he made not a single overture of peace towards her. A tiny little voice in the rational part of Christine’s mind tried to argue that this was how he behaved--he would never be the first to apologize, if he even apologized at all. But her emotional side remained staunchly resolute. She would not give him quarter until he showed remorse.

But he never did. He seemed as determined to ignore her as she was to ignore him.

It sat like a leaden weight in her chest, heavy where her heart had been. She’d taken the toe shoes off her vanity table at home and hidden them away in a drawer, because seeing them every morning and every night made it curiously hard to breathe.

Glancing down at the colored wool twined in her fingers, Christine sighed. Despite her efforts to banish all reminders of her teacher from her life, she hadn’t been able to part from Reyer’s birthday gift to her.

**

Raoul secured them rooms--separate, of course--at the little inn in Perros, and the innkeeper’s wife served them a simple meal of stew and bread in the common room. As night had already fallen, they decided to retire early and go to the graveyard in the morning.

She couldn’t be certain if it was only her imagination, but Christine felt sure the innkeeper’s wife had stared at her and Raoul while they ate. Surely she had paid them more attention than was necessary for the amount of politeness required for her position? Perhaps it was just her newly-acquired paranoia making her see things that weren’t there, read more into actions than she should.

She shouldn’t feel guilty. She had no reason, no logical reason, to feel that way. She wasn’t betraying anyone; she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was only bringing an old friend to pay his respects to her dead father. There was no way Reyer--anyone, she angrily corrected herself--could possibly view the situation in the wrong light. She shouldn’t have to feel so defensive. But she did. She felt nervous and lonely and deeply unhappy.

She sat for a long time at the window in her room, watching what little snowfall she could see in the glow from the inn’s lights until the innkeeper extinguished them.

In the morning, Christine was first down to the common room. The innkeeper’s wife served her and Raoul again, and afterward Raoul spoke to the innkeeper about acquiring a horse and trap. It wasn’t such a long walk to the church and graveyard, but the snow would make it a slow and uncomfortable one. The man agreed to lend them his own and once the horse was harnessed and brought around, Raoul solicitously handed Christine up into the seat and made sure the heavy wool blanket was wrapped securely around her legs before seating himself. With a flick of the reins, they were off.

They spoke very little during the ride. Raoul needed only a few reminders for directions, and Christine felt no inclination towards making small talk. As it was, they had never required it to comfortably pass the time; at present their mutual silence wasn’t content, but neither was it awkward. Raoul remarked once or twice on landmarks he recognized, but took Christine’s unresponsiveness in stride and didn’t press her to reply.

He pulled the trap up outside the little church adjacent to the graveyard and helped Christine down. The priest was venturing outside to greet the visitors to his doorstep, so Raoul told Christine to go ahead without him.

"I’ll catch up with you," he said kindly, and briefly laid a hand on her shoulder.

Christine recognized it as a ploy to give her time alone with her father’s memory, and was grateful for it. She gave him a tiny but genuine smile before turning away.

The iron gate opened easily despite the freezing conditions, and Christine left it open as she moved forward into the orderly rows of gray headstones. Charles Daae’s final resting place was on the fourth row, thirty paces to the left from the lane that cut through the center of the graveyard. It was a simple stone, unadorned save for his name and the years of his birth and death. The remains of the flowers Christine had brought on her last visit were still in place at the base, brittle and fragile with time and frost.

She had no flowers with her this time. Kneeling carefully in front of the grave, she made the sign of the cross and then bowed her head. Her heart, again, felt like a lead weight in her chest.

"Please lend me your strength, Papa," she whispered. "I just—I don’t know what to do now."

As with every time she had pleaded for guidance before, there was no answer forthcoming from the impassive stone in front of her.

Her father, Christine thought, might have liked Monsieur Reyer, despite all his shortcomings--and he had a plethora of them. Certainly he would have had something helpful to say about the predicament she’d found herself in with her erstwhile teacher. And he would have been very happy that she’d rekindled her friendship with Raoul. He’d known that their lifestyle hadn’t always been the best for making and keeping friends, and how her shyness had made that task even more daunting. That the one friendship she’d made had been with a boy well above her station had never mattered to him.

Christine knelt alone with her thoughts for what seemed like hours, but must have been only minutes, before the crunch of boots on snow-dusted gravel signaled Raoul’s approach. She gathered herself back to her feet, knees creaking in protest, and stepped back a pace as he joined her in front of the grave. He made the sign of the cross and bowed his head as she had done, and they both stood silently while he mentally recited whatever prayer he had to offer to the spirit of his mentor and friend.

At length, Raoul placed a hand at her elbow and looked down at her. "All you all right?" he asked seriously.

Christine bit her lip and stared ahead as she considered her answer. "No," she finally replied, her voice sounding tiny and distraught to her ears.

Concern blanketed Raoul’s face, and he turned so he could take both of her hands in his. "Whatever is the matter?"

It might have seemed an absurd question, given the circumstances, but he had intuited that her distress was due to more than just the day’s reminder of her father’s absence. Christine had hoped to keep that from him, but perhaps she ought to have known better. He had always been able to read her so well.

"It’s--" she gulped. "The papers. And Monsieur Reyer. He’s been terrible to me about them. I wish he wouldn’t! He’s so unreasonable when it comes to my friendship with you, and I wish he would see--It would be nice to have his support now, rather than his condemnation. I had thought--oh, it doesn’t matter now what I thought, does it?" Her lower lip was trembling despite her best efforts to keep it still, and she felt wretched. She really hadn’t wanted to speak of her troubles with Monsieur Reyer to Raoul. It felt... dishonest, somehow, as much as that made no sense. But the words had just come tumbling out, heedless of her wants. "He is absolutely intractable."

"Oh, Christine." Raoul released one of her hands to tilt her face upwards, and she was so startled by the unexpectedly intimate gesture that her lip ceased its trembling. "You oughtn’t allow him to upset you so, him or the papers. One thing you must understand about the aristocracy is that we really have more leisure time than is healthy, and so we must constantly find new ways to amuse ourselves. The women adore idle gossip. I am truly sorry for the pain it has caused you... but I refuse to give up your friendship due to the bored speculation of a handful of over-stuffed matrons."

Christine was just staring at him. The juxtaposition of force and tenderness with which he’d just spoken had frozen her in place much more effectively than any amount of snow ever could have. She felt like she was seeing someone new in her old friend’s place, and it was disorienting, piled on top of the grief and hurt and loneliness she was already feeling.

"You’re very dear to me, Christine," he continued, and she thought if she took one step forward--if she could take one step forward--she might very well fall into the comfort and familiarity and love she could see in his eyes, and if that happened she might never want to climb back out. Her stomach was suddenly fluttering and vaulting and turns. "You always have been. I hope you know that."

"I do," she managed to say, and was faintly dismayed to hear the words come out in something of a croak. A croak--and her stomach took an extra vault at the unhappy association.

"Never forget it," he replied softly.

When he closed the distance between them and kissed her gently, Christine didn’t know whether to exult or burst into tears. So she did neither, and allowed Raoul de Chagny to kiss her, and tried not to feel like she’d just closed a door and turned the key.

More movie trailer stuff

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:06:25 GMT

So apparently IFC, that king of movie lists, put out a list of the 50 Best Movie Trailers Ever Made. This is extremely relevant to my interests, as I am a giant movie trailer whore (see my previous entry, heh) and I've been meaning to compile a list here of my own favorite trailers since forever. So, have some commentary on some of their choices.

35. The Lord of the Rings (teaser)
I think this was actually one of the first trailers I ever saved to my hard drive, and possibly the first to interest me in the music that gets used in them. I recall being sort of like "damn" one the long shot of the Fellowship came up. (However, I still haven't seen the last two movies. Hate mail may now commence.)

32. The Matrix
Never seen the movie. Never seen any of them. Even Eric has seen it. That's pretty bad. And I'm still underwhelmed by the trailer.

19. Unbreakable
I have to agree--upon rewatching, it IS a good trailer. But the movie itself? My mom and I went to see it, late in its theatrical run, and the only other person in the theater was a guy who came in during the previews. When it was over, we all three looked at each other and went, "what did we just watch?" I recall it mostly as a long, ponderous movie.

12. Independence Day
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I FUCKING LOVE THIS MOVIE. The trailer picks a good scene for its intro, where Robert Loggia's checking out the imagery of the mothership and the cute dude in the glasses says it's definitely not a meteor because it's slowing down. And Loggia says, "It's what?" Classic. Could have been improved by using some of David Arnold's badass score during the destruction shots, but still.

3. Cloverfield (teaser)
HOLY SHIT YES. Maybe the movie turned out stupid (I still haven't seen it) but the trailer made my jaw hit the floor. First with "wtf was that explosion" and then "WTF LIBERTY HEAD INNA STREET!!1!one!".

1. Alien
Aheheheheheheh. I'm ashamed to admit this, being a fan of the Quadrilogy (yes, the Quadrilogy, I like Alien3 and Alien: Resurrection), but I have never seen this movie, not in its entirety. I've been meaning to watch it with some friends for ages (because Eric won't and movies are best when shared). I'll tell you, what, though... I've seen the trailer on numerous occasions and even the way the title is spelled onscreen freaks me the fuck out.

I'm actually a little disappointed by this list. Then again, it spans the entire era of trailer-making history and mine is generally limited to, say, since the mid-90s, since I feel the quality of trailers as a whole has improved drastically since then (maybe it's the editing and use of music that I like, I dunno). Film elitist I am not.

2012: The Trailer

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:36:55 GMT

It appears that Roland Emmerich is no longer satisfied with wreaking destruction upon Earth. Now he just wants to destroy it, period:

Watch the theatrical trailer for "2012"

I spent half the trailer going "did I just see what I think I just saw", as in, "DID I JUST SEE LOS ANGELES SLIDING INTO THE OCEAN?". So I rustled up some screencaps for a closer look.

1. So, with a date like 2012, you just knew it was going to involve the Mayans. Also, if I have my history correct (one of my anthropology classes was High Civilizations of the New World), they are not the oldest civilization on Earth. So L-O-L right there. Also, they did not "warn" us. I believe that particular calender just ends in 2012, and then another one would replace it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

2. We are treated to a view of some celestial bodies coming into alignment. The closest one is obviously Earth. The one farthest away I would call the Moon if it wasn't so tiny, and the one in the middle, I have no fucking clue. Why is it also blue?

3. If a mass suicide by doomsday cultists does in fact take place in Tikal National Park in 2012, as it does in the movie as shown in the trailer, I will not be surprised.

4. A high shot of Rio de Janeiro shows a lot of smoke and flames, and the Jesus statue crumbling. No obvious reasons why. It sort of looks like stock footage that the CG people had fun with, because no one at the base of the statue appears to be alarmed by said crumbling.

5. Stock footage of nuclear bomb testing. I have no idea why. Probably because it's apocalyptic in nature.

6. CNN reports massive rioting on Downing Street! Run, Hugh Grant, run!

7. Also: Across The Globe Millions Gather In Prayer and Preachers Claim The End Of The World Imminent. Shots of Muslims bowing and a metric fuckton of people at Mecca (looking awfully well-ordered).

8. A shot of what I am assuming is the group of people watching CNN; I think they might be in an airport terminal. Some of them looked banged-up and none of them look happy, including the two dudes in full camo gear in the background who seem to be as lost as everyone else. For some reason, this reassures me.

9. All the birds are leaving to join the dolphins.

10. An admittedly awesome view of the Pope appearing before the masses at the Basilica, at night. And that is a lot of masses.I wonder if they were allowed to get a guy who looks like Pope ~~Palpatine~~ Benedictine.

11. John Cusack making wiggly fingers at his daughter and saying ominously "What are the odds?" He totally just jinxed himself there. His son is unamused. And then they look at something outside the windshield.

12. He then suddenly switches from driving a regular car to a Winnebago, which is being pursued by a fucking massive pyroclastic flow, and also volcanic missiles bigger than his vehicle which are impacting around them and making craters. This is obviously the Yellowstone caldera going FWOOM. I am immensely interested to see how Cusack and company both realistically outdrive the pyroclastic flow and survive the back of the 'Bago getting nuked by one of the missiles.

13. We then cut to a view of Los Angeles, as evidenced by the distant HOLLYWOOD sign in the upper left-hand corner, where there is some serious tectonic upheaval taking place in someone's yard. For some reason all the bouncing cars make me giggle. Also, if the international trailer was any indication, John Cusack also outdrives this, and he's not even driving away from the rupture, I think it's following him too. Clearly, I need to be John Cusack in 2012.

14. Overhead shot of a partially-collapsed overhead freeway in the city. I'm kind of confused by this in conjunction with the next angle, which seems to be of the same section of freeway, except suddenly there's a parking garage subsiding and vomiting its occupants. (And I think the two women in the bottom right-hand corner got crushed, heh.)

15. Shot of a fireman in full gear backing into the presumed airport terminal from before with the door closing in front of him, and I can't tell what everyone's staring at. From the reflection in the door, I believe it may be fiery in nature.

16. Um, I think St. Peter's Basilica is leaning at me.

17. A crowd of cardinals gathered in the Basilica with their hands folded in prayer, and one of them is looking at the ceiling, which is cracking. One big crack runs right between the outstretched hands of man and God. THIS IS IN NO WAY SYMBOLIC.

18. The dome of St. Peter's comes to visit the masses in the square. It doesn't hold up well in slow-motion.

19. Las Vegas is now a fucking ruin: a giant rift has opened up right on the Strip. I've probably got my casinos wrong but I think the Mirage is on one of the little "islands" in the middle. of the chasm. I was very confused by this geologically until I visited Wikipedia and learned that there is, in fact, a fault system in the Las Vegas Valley. Which leaves me with only one question instead of two: why is the electrical grid still operating?

20. DANNY GLOVER IS THE PRESIDENT, YOU GUYS!

21. Well, Times Square is packed like it's New Year's.

22. What I'm going to assume is a twin-engine Cessna (because obviously, all private planes are Cessnas) is lifting off from a runway that is being eaten alive by the earth. Judging by the fact that there are cars pulled up right next to other planes parked on the tarmac, whoever's flying this plane obviously wasn't the only one who wanted to.

23. John Cusack's daughter is looking out a window on the Cessna and crying.

24. People are walking through the Capitol, which is suffering from considerable ashfall. I'm going to guess this is in the aftermath of Yellowstone going FWOOM, though I can't remember if the projected radius of said FWOOM included ash all the way in Washington, D.C. Probably it did.

25. Quick shot of a bunch of Indian people walking with their belongings.

26. Chinese military dude speaking into a megaphone. I kinda giggled because I spied a black woman in the background. Does that make me racist?

27. A nighttime view of what I'm guessing is the brand-new coastline in Los Angeles, teeming with collapsed and burning buildings, and HOLY SHIT IS THAT LAVA POURING OVER THE RIDGE IN THE BACKGROUND?! I think there's a plane trying to drop water. It might as well not even bother.

28. Amanda Peet (I didn't even recognize her) is holding John Cusack's daughter while standing next to the Cessna and looking concerned.

29. Yes, that was indeed Los Angeles sliding into the sea, although it's not "sliding" so much as "bucking horrifically upwards and then maybe the topsoil and everything on it slides away". That's gonna be one happy reef in a couple hundred years.

30. Military helicopters going to some bunker in the mountains. It's always the mountains. In lieu of all the crustal destruction we've seen so far--DON'T THEY KNOW HOW THE MOUNTAINS GOT THAT WAY?

31. John Cusack explaining that the government has been building some ships. If that wasn't common knowledge, I'd like to know how he knew that.

32. More military helicopters in the night, only this time they are transporting extremely large animals in slings. I saw an elephant and a giraffe.

33. Very quick shot of John Cusack, his kids, Amanda Peet, a guy eclecticmuse started calling HRG after the guy from Heroes, and some other people standing in the snow, in the dark, in the mountains, with a car behind them. I ascertained from Wikipedia that "HRG" is Amanda Peet's boyfriend, which means he is going to die, because Amanda Peet is John Cusack's ex-wife and obviously they have to reconcile before the movie ends, which means--goodbye HRG. He looks cute and harmless. I'm already mourning him.

24. Chiwetel Ejiofor yells at Oliver Platt, wanting to know "when should we let the people know?". Seeing these two pleases me. I'm guessing that, as in Deep Impact, the government had been building shit but didn't let anyone know until Elijah Wood discovered a comet and Tea Leoni did some investigative journalism.

25. Now we are looking at what I am assuming is construction of one of the underground cities mentioned on the movie tie-in website Institute for Human Continuity, which is headed by Phlox from Enterprise.

26. Continuing underground, John Cusack and his posse are pointing flashlights at a guy who is doing... something.

27. Now we are on Deck 44, Section P, with a crow of people waiting to be let inside what looks like some blast doors. I think we're in that underground bunker city.

28. And now I think we're looking at one of the ships John Cusack mentioned earlier.

29. A flood of people, presumably the ones on Deck 44, scrambling over the blast door and I bet they're heading for the ship. It does not looked ordered and calm, as it should not be.

30. Chiwetel's still yelling at Oliver. He thinks humanity also has a right to fight for its life, which I'm taking to mean he doesn't like the idea of a lottery for the arks (which is also featured on the IHC website).

31. John Cusack slams a car into gear, and he and his posse are--driving out the back of apparently crashing military cargo jet into the snow? WTF? I got nothing.

32. Shot of some dude looking determined. eclecticmuse thinks it's the jet pilot, but shouldn't he be in military gear if he is?

33. The massive faulting in Los Angeles. The plane that escaped the runway earlier is flying above it. Also, I wonder if that's the same parking deck from earlier.

34. The plane is now in the chasm. Behind it, a commuter train is driving/falling into something that is exploding. Looks like some kind of power station/power-providing thingy.

35. Now the plane is in the air again, only it's flying towards two buildings that are saying hello to each other. I'm beginning to think Roland Emmerich has something against that circular tower in Los Angeles. Didn't he smite it with a tornado in The Day After Tomorrow?

36. NOW the plane is escaping the pyroclastic flow in Yellowstone! I did some comparisons and I'm fairly sure it's the same plane. If John Cusack is on it I will shit my pants. There is no fucking way he outdrove the FWOOM back to civilization, managed to get into an airplane that then had time to at least semi-taxi down the runway, and outflew the FWOOM.

37. A lama is ringing a bell because there is a wave coming over the Himalayas. I'd like to know what created a tsunami that big. I saw a brief summary that said all this destruction is caused by the Earth toppling off its axis, so as eclecticmuse surmised, maybe it really is going ass-over-teakettle.

38. We are in the mountains and Cusack and son are looking up at something.

39. A wave approaches the mountain bunker, which now has at least three arks sticking out of it like torpedoes.

40. The Washington Memorial is falling and also breaking near the top.

41. More buildings in Los Angeles greeting each other.

42. What appears to be an Indian couple and their child are comforting each other, while at the bottom of the picture three guys are running up some rocks and the rest of the screen is taken up by a lot of water.

43. I do believe that is Air Force One being inundated while another cargo jet rides the wave.

44. Water intrudes in on some people (I don't think on the plane) and they hold on for dear life.

45. John Cusack and Amanda Peet hold on to each other in red emergency light and look drenched.

46. It's Air Force One's turn to ride the waves, this time towards one of the arks. Considering it looked like AFO got hit on the runway, and the ark hasn't been swallowed like a submarine yet, I'm calling foul. Even an insubstantial ride in that kind of flood should have torn the plane apart pretty fast.

47. John Cusack tries to grab someone's hand. eclecticmuse thinks the hand belongs to HRG. I TOLD YOU HE'S GONNA DIE.

48. And for a finale, the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy does a wave-assisted barrel roll over the White House. I ask again: why is the electrical grid still working?

49. Then John Cusack tell his daughter that no matter what, they're all gonna stick together. YEAH, ONCE HRG'S OUTTA THE WAY.

Also, the screencapper obviously set their capping program to autopilot, because I just had to get pause-happy on the trailer itself to see things they missed:

50. Lightning strikes a jungle.

51. Oh shit it's an eclipse, hide the cast of Heroes!

52. Another big military plane takes out the top of what I think is the Space Needle in Seattle. This was immediately preceded by that shot of Determined Dude, but if he's still the pilot, it still doesn't explain why he isn't in fatigues.

53. HRG is the pilot of John Cusack's Amazing Invincible Cessna. He might as well take the headgear off for the time being, because if he ever had a flight plan, he is not sticking to it, and no nearby air traffic controllers are going to be caring.

54. Some people are in water and there's a floating flashlight. I think one of them is John Cusack. Seems to be related to that earlier shot of the dude doing... something underground.

The music in the trailer was really nice, I thought, which means Harold Kloser obviously didn't compose it. He's back doing duty for this film, which means I will prepare to be disappointed the same way I was with his score for The Day After Tomorrow.

For more trailer commentary I recommend 2012: The wrath of Ronald Emmerich, and how to survive it, which I thought was hilarious.

I'LL HAVE TO MAKE NEW CHARTS

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:56:50 GMT

OMFG. Guys, I have all-new Genuine!Spengler in my life and IT IS GLORIOUS. BLESS YOU, GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME.

- Shandor's destructor form is a balrog. Trufax.
- Also, Stay-Puft's little minion dudes look like a horde of Domo-kuns who want to be balrogs.
- Thankfully, there was no Louis Tully, and therefore no Louis/Janine, and Janine totally threw herself at Egon at one point. Cheers from the gallery ensued.
- Bill Murray was totally phoning it in half the time, but I didn't care. Everyone else put the hay in the barn.
- ALL PRAISE THE DICKLESS WONDER.
- I feel the need to write fic making the Rookie a girl because I was disappointed that I couldn't be one. Someone please stop me.
- Once I found out I could, I made sure to set as many trees on fire as possible. It amused me way too much.
- Finding out how to screencap game cut scenes is now massively relevant to my interests.
- Egon, my love, why are you not in my life?

On the technical side: I experienced many glitches, such as hella bad voice syncing during non-cut-scene scenes, audio cutting out or (I suspect) not playing at all, one random game crash, graphics problems during the final boss fight, and lag when there was a shitload going on, but the graphics problems I will blame on my card, which is also being a bitch to Lord of the Rings Online. I may reinstall the game on my C drive and see if that helps, since apparently installing it on any other drive will result in errors unless you go to Atari's site and find out how to work around said errors. The mouse sensitivity and third-person POV was a pain in the ass at first, but I eventually got used to it.

Overall: FUCKING SWEET.

Feeling lonely today...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:34:20 GMT

You know what, ER roleplaying group? I miss you. Liek whoa. (I had a relevant dream yesterday. It was awesome.)

stolen from neutralalienist:

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:53:38 GMT

Pick a character I've written, either in RP or fanfiction, and I'll tell you five things from my headcanon about them.

Random Blow-By-Blow: The Twenty-Five Year Mission Tour

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:51:30 GMT

In which I liveblog watching William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy do stand-up comedy in The Twenty-Five Year Mission Tour, courtesy of YouTube. Mostly because I started watching and then thought, I haven't done one of these in a while.

- We open with massively bad 1991-era computer graphics and sci-fi-esque music that's like the love child of the Star Wars and Star Trek themes.

- The Shat and Nimoy stroll out onto the stage to thunderous fucking applause. You know, I'd like to attend this sort of thing someday. They seem extremely amused by it. So, was this before or after Shat told everyone to get a life?

- Also, my dad used to have a pair of glasses like Nimoy's. I think the dog ate them.

- The comedy begins with Nimoy putting Shat's hands into the Vulcan salute, and Nimoy pwns him by doing it effortlessly with both hands.

- "This is Leonard Nimoy." ORLY?????

- Shat announces one of them is going to leave the stage. The audience keens in agony. Shat lays down the law. I wonder how many people in the audience were mentally revising their slashfic with this.

- Shat has a coin. Nimoy says he'll take heads. I'm already rolling in the gutter because not gonna lie, I snickered out loud. I am SO twelve years old.

- Shat doesn't understand why everyone's there. LOL YOU SO SILLY. And then he follows with "He says, with some false modesty" which shows he's at least self-aware. :D

- I just had the sudden urge to YouTube Rescue 911. *shoots self*

- They only had the cast do the name thing outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1991? Damn.

- DeForrest Kelley goes in for the win by taking up two entire squares of concrete to sign his name--Shat's like, WTF???? and proceeds to be outraged on behalf of the rest of the cast whilst flapping his elbows.

- And then, apparently, karma bit Kelley in the ass because he totally forgot how to spell his own name. In cement. Shat swears it's the truth. And concludes by screaming "THE MAN IS TOO OLD TO DO ANY MORE MOVIES!" I'm guffawing here.

- Nimoy claims that George Takei thinks he's a Vulcan and has had an operation on his hand because it's permanently stuck in the proverbial salute.

- It is also worth mentioning that Nimoy has an absolutely lovely smile. (He's having a good laugh over Variety's original review of the show.)

- He quotes, "William Shatner appears wooden" AND THEN FUCKING CACKLES. I love this man. Then he cackles at himself.

- Both on stage together again, Nimoy proceeds to do an impression of the Shat rushing into makeup at seven-thirty in the morning all awake and shrieking and he's like zzzzzzzzzzz...

- Shat re-angles his chair and two people in the audience yell thank you. Nimoy decides to test how polite the other side of the audience is by dragging the podium onstage closer to his own chair.

- They proceed to reenact the filming of the scene where Spock mind melds with the Horta (I think that's how it's spelled?), and I'm wondering if everyone else in the audience was feeling like me at this very moment, not sure if I'm about to start cringing or laughing my ass off. (I sort of end up doing both, because Shatner says "Get that man an aspirin!")

- Nimoy invites everyone who can't see the date on the envelope he's holding to come up to him after the show to see it up close. Shat says "room 301". I have to wonder if anyone actually tried to do that, because seriously, there's always the crazy ones.

- Ahahahaha he's getting up and beckoning some people at the front to come and look at the ABSOLUTELY BOGUS PREDICTION LIST he wrote to prove it says it should preferably be read in Sacramento, and Shat's pointing and yelling "HE IS SUCH A LIAR!" Also he says the person at the front is Nimoy's sister. These two crack me up.

- Oh Jesus, Shat, please don't actually DEMONSTRATE the flying kick you are currently telling the audience about...

- Aaaaaaand he did. But at least he didn't do it running, as I was afraid he'd do.

- Also, is he seriously laying the blame for his/Kirk's always taking on all the bad guys on Nimoy's/Spock's going lethargic? AHAHAHAHAHA.

- Nimoy asks if Shat was jealous when he (Spock? or he? aheh) got the girl in "This Side of Paradise". Shat says he wanted her badly. They both crack up. Hehehehehehehe.

- LMFAO and then Shat says "I wanted to sniff those flowers"--morphing into a high shrieky voice and flapping his arms--"AND FLY!" The audience loses its shit. So do I.

- Nimoy says he has been trying to convince people for years that Shat is mean person, because he (Shat) stole his (Nimoy's) bicycle. This ought to be good.

- SLASHERS EVERYWHERE CREAM THEIR PANTS: Nimoy's ranting about how awful Shat was for stealing the bike and Shat reaches over and pulls Nimoy over (while he is still ranting) and kisses at his ear. If Eric weren't asleep right now I would be HOWLING.

- Shat says he stole the bike because whenever lunch got called, Nimoy would use it to get to the commissary before everyone else. Also Nimoy is futzing around with the podium now. Shat wants to know if it was something he said, and "HE'S PUSHING IT BACK." Nimoy says he's looking for the water.

- Lunch IS an important thing, Shat!

- Nimoy says Shat's dogs are meaner than he is. Hey, that Doberman looked sweet in that behind-the-scenes video! I like Dobermans. We had two live next door to us in Pinson for a while.

- Ahahahahahaha he put Nimoy's bike in his dressing room, WITH THE DOG, for safekeeping. Yeah right, Shat.

- He says the best way the stop a charging Doberman is to, while it's in midair, reach in and grab its tongue. Don't you have to get past the teeth first?

- Continuing the bike saga, after he recovered it from the dressing room (and the Doberman), Nimoy put it in his car and locked it. Shat then had the car towed. I sincerely hope all of this is true because it is AWESOME.

- Aheh, Nimoy says his favorite episode was "Spock's Brain". The audience finds this hilarious. (I'm pretty sure he's joking.)

- OH MY GOD NO. Nimoy went in character as Spock to a public appearance! I almost don't want to hear the rest of this story; I'm cringing already.

- Heh. Apparently it was a parade in Oregon, and he got about a block in the car before the spectators started surrounding it. What, did they think he was a for-real Vulcan or something, and wanted to touch the ears? *facepalm*

- Also he once had to make an emergency dentist visit whilst still in costume. No one on Sunset Boulevard batted an eye, but he says it "got very quiet" in the elevator he had to take. Aheheheheheh I bet. Reminded of that scene in Spider-Man 2 where he's in the elevator with Hal Sparks.

- Apparently neither the receptionist nor the dentist said a single word about the ears. He wonders what they said about him after he left. I wonder what kind of clientele they served. :D

- They close out the show, and hug and walk off into the night. We close out the video with more bad space graphics and even worse rip-off music.

Random lulz

Sat, 23 May 2009 20:34:40 GMT

Now hear this: I have been on Obama's campaign tour bus. Its name is Grant.

This news brought to you by Allison Met Her Literary Idols Yesterday.

kink meme hilarity

Mon, 11 May 2009 12:03:19 GMT

I feel the need to pimp this, mostly because I can't stop laughing at it:

STAR TREK XI KINK MEME

I'm kinda sad that someone beat me to requesting Scotty/Scotty's little alien friend. I was SO SURE everyone would be focusing on The Conventional Pretty and not so much on Teh Crack. That being said, I dare everyone to guess what I did request.

I want someone to fulfill the "Pavel Chekov's 18th Birthday Orgy" request while making it 75% comedy.

random amusement

Sat, 09 May 2009 16:54:41 GMT

I just counted four Spocks, two Uhuras, and two Kirks on sixwordstories and dear_mun since yesterday. AHAHAHAHAHA.

O_O

Fri, 08 May 2009 05:05:34 GMT

JESUS GOD WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME LELAND WAS MOSTLY NAKED IN THAT EPISODE OF '24'??!!

*brb flailing* *or something*

Two capslock posts in a row... nice.

***HAY GUYS ITS AN EDIT***

Give 'em Hell, Malone trailer

Fucking L-O-L. The prospect of seeing Leland do violent comedy (again) had me giggling, but then the random appearance of the "Sail Barge Assault" track from the Return of the Jedi score brought on tears of laughter. (Also, please tell me I'm not the only person who recognized it. No, eclecticmuse, you don't count.) Definitely putting this on my to-see list. I'm hoping, despite that shot of Leland's arm on fire, that he survives the movie. I've heard it's bloody as hell.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHH

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:08:46 GMT

ARGH DAMMIT GREG GRUNBERG YOUR DAMN TWITTER PAGE JUST SPOILED ME FOR HEROES

*pardon me while I go flail in agony*

EDIT: Fuck you, Heroes, I'm crying.

YAY!

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:31:04 GMT

Fuck yes!

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are going to be doing a book signing in Birmingham! HELL YES HELL YES HELL YES! I finally get the chance to meet them! Twelve years ago I read a little book called Relic and I've been hooked ever since. I used to exchange e-mails with them every now and then, though not since they went native and got a professionally-done website (d'aw). Doug once told me I was one of their best readers. They're the only authors I will literally drop whatever I'm doing and go straight to the bookstore when I hear they've got a new book out.

And I totally pre-ordered a signed copy of Cemetary Dance, too. :D

thanks

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:00:37 GMT

Thanks, guys, for the kind words and the hugs you all left in my last post. I really needed them and they meant a lot.

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:13:14 GMT

I didn't get accepted to graduate school.

cry

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:21:41 GMT

Had a dream yesterday in which I got my reply from the University of South Carolina and it was a big fat "NO, YOU CAN NOT HAS GRADUATE SCHOOL". And I totally thought it was true when I woke up.

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Dammit, it's still putting a bad taste in my mouth.

O______O

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:21:43 GMT

What the fucking FUCK is this?!

Chocolate and birthdays

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:30:41 GMT

What is it about a chocolate malt that makes drinking it through a straw like trying to suck up wet concrete? But damn, they're so good.

Also--happy birthday, David Anders. :D

Random update #234985

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:27:18 GMT

Sooooo yeah, I fell off the bandwagon again in regards to keeping up with my friends list. Maybe I need to take some of the communities off, or something.

In other news, I appear to have spawned a monster known as Team Slumber Party. I'm slightly relieved that I'm not the only person whose brain is currently being owned by it, because... that would just be conceited? But I wrote porn for it. And Lucy's journal looks all pretty now because Eric was nice enough to let me buy her a paid account for the extra icon space.

Still no word from the graduate school people at South Carolina. This is me continuing to climb up the walls in sheer terror.

Am thinking of pasting together the videos I shot with my digital camera of that freak snowstorm the other week, setting it to "Night on Bald Mountain", and throwing it up on YouTube.

Also I had a weird-ass dream last night where there was David DeWitt, of all people, who was letting me put on his Reyer costume, a musical interlude where I swear he practically threw me in Egon Spengler's lap, and then Adam Monroe sans shirt. And that's only the parts I can remember. Based off this paragraph, I wouldn't blame anyone who thought I was taking LSD or something.

And now I will eat a gingerbread man and go to bed, in anticipation of Team Slumber Party pr0n later on. *is shot*