| Surfacing |
Wednesday, 4 April 2007 ~ 22:43 |
Seems like the hours I spent filling in my tax return a couple of months ago were not in vain - a few weeks ago the nice people at inland revenue put about £360 in my bank account. Which, if I were sensible, I'd have sent straight to an ISA in an attempt to rebuild my savings.
What I've actually done is to buy a laptop, in a final admission that I'll probably not get my trusty twelve-year old friend up and running again (though I'm hoping, one day, to recover some of the data). I had hoped she'd last for ten years, and it was in fact about eight before the internet outgrew her and I got a second-hand desktop, so I guess we didn't do too badly.
Comparing the stats amused me:
( cut for geekery )
So most of the last two days I've spent downloading and installing free software and getting to grips with both Vista (which I like, so far, though I can't see the point of the feature that lines up all open transparent windows in a line to choose between them when Alt-Tab is so much faster) and the touchpad, an innovation that I'd always dreaded but am now getting used to - perhaps I won't be wanting to use my trackball after all.
All I have to do now is gather up my files from my Dad's desktop and my desktop so I can freecycle the latter and have one less thing to lug from house to house. And then I hope to get caught up with Sectus and Invictus and LJ.
It's a real relief to be able to write with my back to a wall or a chair, knowing that I'm tucked out of the way and no-one is going to come and stand behind me while I'm pouring out my heart on here or glancing at a friend's porn. I really, really hope that this is going to make it easier for me to write, much as it bothers me to realise that my creative flow seems to depend on a luxury tool.
And of course, the first thing I see after being away last weekend and offline since, is that not only have I missed a new Lucius portrait (did they time that deliberately to come out after Jason finished his theatrical run?) but that the cover art is out.
But I have to go to work for 8:20 tomorrow so I'll be good and get me to bed, and save commenting for later...
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| What colour(s) is a prophecy? |
Monday, 26 March 2007 ~ 22:57 |
Argh, I hate it when I log on and realise I've not written anything for over a month! In that time I've applied for several jobs, been in a recording session for BBC Radio, seen Equus, and seen The Dumb Waiter (and Jason) again. More of that later, but meanwhile, a poll (with grateful thanks to ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) annephoenix, who generously gifted me 6 months of poll-making ability last December. Though I've not exactly made full use of it, knowing I've had the option has been wonderful!)
[Error: Invalid poll ID 954377]
(By which I mean, lest it needs defining, those spheres in the Department of Mysteries. I had thought they had a canonical colour, but can't find a reference to it.)
(And of course now someone is bound to make me feel stupid by pointing to a definitive canon reference, but at least that will have answered the question...)
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| Hot Fuzz |
Saturday, 17 February 2007 ~ 22:57 |
Three words: abolutely f***ing hilarious.
If you've not heard of this movie, think your typical action/cop/mismatched-buddy movie... set in a sleepy Somerset village. I'll resist the temptation to mention favourite scenes because I don't want to spoil it, and because I'd be here all night. Not only I was laughing throughout the whole two hours, but the plot weaves every strand tightly together, and there's even a serious undertone, should you choose to notice it.
Honestly, if you enjoy comedy, parody, action or just think that Neighbourhood Watch schemes can be a mite creepy - see this film.
( slightly spoilery comment )
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| Equus |
Saturday, 17 February 2007 ~ 14:22 |
No, I haven't seen it - I'll be in the theatre waiting for curtain up in two weeks time. Am glad to see so many good reviews around the place, though - I was a little worried that the publicity photos played on Dan's physique so much so it's good to hear that the production itself is properly focused on the play rather than Dan. I don't know the play, but it sounds as if it addresses themes I'm deeply interested in. So hopefully it'll be £52.50 (eek!) well spent. :)
Was amused, though, to read in The Times this week that the producers reckon that only 15% of the tickets have been bought by Potter fans. I mean, how do they know? Are they assuming that anyone over a certain age (like, for example, 21) is there because they heard of the play before they heard that Daniel and Richard were in it? Or was there some sort of declaration of intent required that the nice man who sold me my ticket forgot to tell me about?
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| On meeting Jason |
Friday, 16 February 2007 ~ 23:42 |
Well, I didn't get to speak to Jason Isaacs as much as I was hoping (though given that meeting him under these circumstances was beyond my wildest dreams until a couple of months ago, I am trying not to be too disappointed about that. :) I will say this, though: everything that is said about him being gracious to his fans is true.
I was all set to post when I got home last Saturday, but Tiscali chose to keep me off the net that night. And my net time has been swallowed by Sectus since. So here goes now...
( The play )
( The people )
( The photos )
Finally, if any other virgin stalkers reading this are planning to go along, it might be useful to know:
*The play only lasts 55 minutes and has no interval. (A woman I spoke to before the play was not aware of this.)
*The bars open 30 mins (I think) before the performance, and you can take your drink into the auditorium if it's in a plastic glass. (How cool is that?)
*Jason is mostly on the left hand side of the stage as the audience see it (i.e. nearer the high numbered seats) and Lee is mostly on the right. However, they spend a fair bit of time looking across the stage, so try to get a seat near the centre if you want to see the most of both. Lower-numbered seats might be better for seeing more of Jason's expressions (unless the newspaper gets in the way?). That said, I was in a high numbered seat and didn't feel I missed much (any seat close enough to see the colour of the actors' eyes is good enough for me! ;), though I'm glad that I'll be a bit to the other side of the centre next time I go.
*If you want them to sign something glossy (like the programme or a photo or pretty much anything other than an autograph book), take a marker or metallic pen rather than an ordinary biro or gel pen. (I didn't, but those that did thankfully shared generously.)
*And if you want them to sign something thinner than a programme, don't forget to take something (a clipboard, book or whatever) to lean on!
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| I'm off to see the wizard! |
Tuesday, 6 February 2007 ~ 20:27 |
I managed to get pretty good tickets for annephoenix, her s.o. and me to go see Jason Isaacs in the last performance of The Dumb waiter's run, but could I wait that long? After reading czeri's post, no way. If I've been thinking that getting a signed picture from him would make my decade, spending another £30 to actually meet him before it gets crazy? Hell, I owe it to myself. This guy's Lucius transformed my life over the last four years. And now I can say 'thank you' in person. If I dare approach him. If I managed to get a word out without sounding like a giddy fangirl.
Oh, to hell with it. I am a giddy fangirl. :) But I might as well get to be a groupie now, seeing as I never did during my teenage years.
As luck would have it, my parents are having a big dinner party on Saturday for their friends, which gives me a very good reason to be out of the house. And then the Sectus Venue Liaiser called me and said we could visit the Not the Yule Ball venue on Saturday morning. (Over the weekend I've become Head of Decor for Sectus, which is exciting enough in itself - I mean, how often do you get to throw a party for loads of like-minded folk, with enough of a budget to really make magic?) So I did the obvious thing and gave Trafalgar Studios a call. I mean, I'm on my own, right? Surely they have a space that needs filling?
There's a seat a third of the way back, says the woman on the phone. Oh, and one at the end of the front row, which is half the price. And on Jason's side of the stage.
I never expected to get a seat at the front, let alone without having to pay £30!!
And I'm starting to feel nervous already. God knows how much I've wanted to meet Jason, and almost my wildest dream is about to come true. If I can pluck up the nerve to go say Hello. If I manage to get through an hour of Jason being menacing at two meters distance without melting...
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| Wibble |
Tuesday, 2 January 2007 ~ 23:22 |
Well, love memes are better than hate memes any day, but both leave me rather queazy.
So, one person nominates all their friends, or a group of friends nominate each other. I'm not comfortable doing that - don't all my friends know I love them anyhow? (Maybe they don't. Should I be making that more explicit? But that feels like brownnosing. Does it look like brownnosing? Does it matter? Does anyone care what I do anyway?) Seemingly my friends aren't comfortable doing it either (or maybe they really don't like me?) so I never get namechecked on these things (but it would be worse to be mentioned and have no-one reply, wouldn't it?). That makes me slightly peevish at all the aforementioned mutual mentioning, but if I don't nominate anyone, why should I resent others playing a game I choose not to join? Probably easier not to be mentioned because then I don't have the anxiety of trying to return the favour. Probably easier just to make a point of not participating so I don't have to worry about it (apart from this nagging feeling that I'm slipping away from fandom or that fandom is slipping away from me). But if I don't participate, how can I expect to feel involved? Darn silly, really. The only reason my name get mentions anywhere is because of a fic that I've updated at the rate of a chapter a year for the last two years. Need to get of LJ and go write some fic instead of fretting about fandom popularity (or lack thereof). But if I stay off LJ to write I miss things I won't know what's going on and won't have time to comment, not that I have much of that now (so it's no wonder I don't get oodles of comments (or is that because I don't write slash?)) and I'll be even more out of it than I feel already... And if I make this public or write this at all, will people think it's a plea for inclusion? Is it, in fact, a plea for inclusion? On balance, I don't think so - surely it should be possible to comment on ambigious feelings about fandom activities like this and reclist nominations without it being fishing? It's so hard to draw the line... But no, the hassle would outweigh the egostroke (or am I just saying that), or more likely, any mention of my name now would not feel genuine, so pre-empting it (pre-empting what? No, I'm not saying that anyone who reads this would feel obligated to rush off and publically love me, at least I certainly hope they wouldn't) feels more solid.
Argh. Bloody ego. ;)
Oh, and flist? I love you.
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| hp_holidaygen authors revealed |
Tuesday, 2 January 2007 ~ 23:10 |
The hp_holidaygen authors have been revealed, so I can now reveal that mine is here.
I wasn't entirely happy with it - the first part seemed to go on too long, so I deleted it and realised that I couldn't really get to where I wanted to get without replicating what I'd deleted, so I reinstated it. I'm happy with parts of it, but it still feels a bit tacked together compared to my favourite fics from the fest.
And I'm most curious about whether kennahijja identified it, after the conversations we were having earlier. ;)
Am resisting the temptation to enter springtime_gen - I like the communal feel of challenges, but they don't bring out my best work. And my limited writing energy will be needed elsewhere, I think.
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| Miss Potter |
Saturday, 30 December 2006 ~ 14:25 |
I wasn't all that keen on seeing the new film about Beatrix Potter, until I saw the oh-so-cute TV trailers - who could resist a blinking Peter Rabbit? Dad wouldn't have been at all interested if it weren't for the Lake District setting that promised some nice visuals.
Anyhow, it was an enjoyable little film - tears were jerked at all the appropriate tear-jerking moments (admittedly not much of a feat for me), the scenery was sublime, the animations delightful and Renée Zellweger excellent at conveying a rather peevish Potter. Though, given that Beatrix pioneered marketing tie-ins, I find it rather unbelievable that she wouldn't have an idea of how much money she had after publishing three books.
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| fics and microfics |
Wednesday, 27 December 2006 ~ 20:25 |
Logged on yesterday for the first time in a few days, and was very amused by mctabby's D/H pairings microchallenge. So much so, I couldn't resist joining in, despite being 4 days behind everyone else:
( D/H in 25 words )
On a less silly note, my hp_holidaygen gift was posted last week - and not only is it a lovely Percyfic, it's a missing scene, also featuring Lucius, Fudge and Umbridge.
*is happy*
And kennahijja gave me a totally unexpected and really wonderful gift - a Lucius/Minerva ficlet!
*is ecstatic*
That doubles the number of Lucius/Minerva fics I've seen, including mine (the very first fic I wrote, four years ago when I was a total newbie and didn't realise that Lucius/Minerva would be considered seriously wierd, compared to, say, Dudley/Slughorn). If anyone's come across any others, I'd love a pointer.
(And if you're reading this and thinking 'how the heck could that ever work', check out Hijja's ficlet.)
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| Public Service Announcement |
Friday, 15 December 2006 ~ 22:32 |
A while ago I noticed a challenge that included a handy template for participants to cut and paste so that all replies were consistently formatted.
What a good idea, I thought, and promptly went off to the LJ FAQ to find out how to do it. Unfortunately it's not mentioned there, so I eventually gave in and asked someone. Recently someone asked me, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are others out there who'd like to know.
So:
Hope that's helpful, both for those creating the templates and those using them. :)
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| Fic rec |
Tuesday, 12 December 2006 ~ 21:45 |
My idea of job hell is working in an outbound call centre. The runner up is doing a job where you go in on Monday and know exactly what you're doing every day until Friday. So, it's not quite as bad as it could be, though it's bad enough doing mind-numbing work without being patronised as well.
On the upside, they're giving us a free lunch tomorrow, and they also have a few internet terminals for a quick mental escape at lunchtime. So I've been very grateful that hp_holidaygen is posting fics daily.
The best so far in my book is Reindeer Games - a perfect blend of canon characterisation, foreshadowing and humour, with a seasonal flavour. Read it even if you don't like MWPP, Snape et al, and don't miss it if you do.
I also second kennahijja's rec for Tabby Cat, featuring Animagus!Minerva and Growing-up!Harry.
On a completely different note, I've been teaching my Mum how to use Livejournal, but she's not very confident when I'm not sitting next to her giving her step-by-step instructions. I always just use LJ's interface and code the formatting myself, but I'm wondering whether she'd be better off using an interface. Do any of you have experience of one, and/or an opinion on their user friendliness?
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| HHH - the sequel |
Monday, 4 December 2006 ~ 00:18 |
New post over on hhhouseparty, developing an idea for next time. If you're interested in coming, I'd be interested in feedback/reassurance. :) Will commence more serious planning when I've written my overdue Christmas fic *blush*
Also, the cheque for the owls cleared last week - I have a pile of unopened mail and if there's a letter from the owl sanctuary I'll scan it in and post in the next few days.
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| Driving Lessons |
Sunday, 19 November 2006 ~ 22:48 |
Little Whinging's main cinema is cr*p. I now believe what my parents were telling me when they used to complain about how this, that or the other film I'd recommended wasn't on anywhere nearby. I looked for Driving Lessons when it was getting all the coverage on TLC and elsewhere, and couldn't find it anywhere. We didn't even get films like An Inconvenient Truth that screened in the mainstream cinema in Manchester. Only an hour out of London, and we're a cultural desert...
But not quite. Happily, Little Whinging also boasts a 60-seat cinema that puts on the sort of not-mainstream-but-not-up-their-own-arts films that I like to see, with the added bonus of sharing a building with several ghosts (allegedly). Being so small, it's notoriously difficult to get tickets, but on the upside it provides that nowadays-rare experience of being in a room full of reacting people rather than a barn-like multiplex.
(Hmmm. I wonder if this would be a reasonable venue for a fandom only (multi-)movie screening?)
Anyhow, I found out this afternoon that they were showing Driving Lessons twice, today, and fortunately they still had tickets - even if only on the front row, which is about 2 metres away from and 1 metre below the screen. It was worth the crick in the neck and back though - we were laughing and cringing all the way through, and I was sorely in need of a forgetting-mundane-reality-drug that didn't involve getting drunk, trying desperately to write while perched on the end of my bed, or endless hours of Freecell.
It was exceedingly odd to hear Rupert Grint being called 'Ben', though, and his character was so much like Ron that it took me a good half-hour to stop expecting Harry and Hermione to show up and drag him back into the wizarding world. If he's going to build the acting career he wants, he'd better find a different kind of character to play for his next non-Potter project.
Some scenic rainy shots of Edinburgh and environs where an added bonus, though as ever the route taken bore no resemblance to reality. I mean, I know that Mussleburgh and Joppa aren't the most thrilling of settings, but they showed Cockenzie power station for heavens sake, and then jumped back to the Borders. I know most of their audience won't notice anything wrong, but there's enough people who'll find it seriously disorienting. Is it really that hard for them to get this sort of thing right?
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| Hallowe'en double drabble |
Tuesday, 31 October 2006 ~ 22:28 |
Happy Hallowe'en/Day of the Dead/All Souls etc., for those of you who celebrate such things!
Below is my 200-word ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) hp_halloween drabble, written for ranchangrnl who requested something with Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan. (For my own reference, it's originally posted here.)
And if you're in the mood for some Lucius, check out the beautifully atmospheric drabble that shadowycat wrote for me.
( Unguarded )
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| On the noble art of wandmaking |
Monday, 2 October 2006 ~ 14:37 |
I do have a very nice resin replica of Hermione's wand, but if I'm going to be playing at the Potterverse for 48 hours, I figured I really needed a wand I could wave about without fear of it shattering. So off I went for a walk in the woods in search of a straight stick.
I was originally hoping to come up with something like the magic wands that were on sale at Accio - but I don't have any woodturning equipment and anyhow, I prefer the natural look. I hope Minerva does too.
Incidentally, perhaps I've been around Livejournal too much, but it's very difficult to sand a wand without risking seeming somewhat obscene. I'll never look at Cedric's grin as he told Mr Ollivander he'd polished his wand the previous night in the same way again.
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| Animagus Minerva |
Wednesday, 27 September 2006 ~ 12:53 |
Me: I'd like to order some tickets for the wizard weekend, please.
North York Moors Railway man: Hang on a minute...
...
Me: *taps fingers*
...
NYMR man: Right, how many did you want?
Me: Twenty.
NYMR: Twenty adults?
Me: Yes
NYMR: For the wizard weekend?
Me: Yes.
NYMR: That's... unusual.
Me: Well, we figured the kids might enjoy seeing a group of adults joining in the fun.
NYMR: Twenty adults for the wizard weekend... I've never heard of such a thing. I think I'm going to have to go lie down.
Me: *laughs*
(I mean, there's not really much to say to that, is there?)
NYMR: Is there anyone over sixty?
Me (resisting the temptation to get into wizarding equivalent ages): No
*boring bit about credit card numbers and the like*
NYMR: Okay, we'll get these in the post for you. If you've any questions, do call back - but not on Tuesdays so you won't be speaking to me...
Am I really that scary on the phone? ;)
I've had loads of ideas for hhhouseparty floating round my head for months, and with only a month to go (and an imminent parent-free weekend in which I can get down to some uninterrupted sewing) it's really time to start manifesting them.
I'm thinking I'll dress as Minerva for the Saturday outing - seems the most appropriate character for marshalling a group of people, and I can do a good cat impression, and I can adapt the green dress and hat I made for Accio. (While I envy all the movie-perfect costumes I've seen, I don't have the budget for new fabric, and anyhow I'm more of a book-canon person.) And she wears glasses - not the same shape as mine, but hopefully close enough for that not to be a problem. Now all I need is a wand - time to go for a walk in the woods, methinks. And maybe some aging make-up (any links would be much appreciated!)
So I was having a quick look on the net for costume info, and looked in on the Lexicon's Minerva page for the first time in months. And discovered they've added a really cute animation of her animagus transformation. Minerva fans and feline fans should definitely check it out.
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| RL/The Queen |
Saturday, 23 September 2006 ~ 19:21 |
So, once again almost a fortnight has passed between entries. Not a lot has happened - job applications, a day in London protesting about the IMF, a weekend party with an friend I met in Scotland who (thankfully) has moved into the area, more job applications, fun with the dole office...
Didn't get a peep about the first library job I applied for, which was a bit depressing. I'm hoping it was because they had an internal candidate rather than because my application was crap (though I hate hate hate it when organisations [have to] advertise when they already know perfectly well whom they want in the job) though I suppose they might have thought I was overqualified, which is a bit more worrying. Still, I've applied for a couple of graduate trainee library jobs and I've a couple more to put in, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed. Meanwhile I have an interview for a (hopefully) temporary office job. I'm not so keen on looking enthusiastic about a job that my heart isn't in (I much prefer the kind of temping where they just send you there), but it would be nice to have some money and some daily exercise, and temping's always intruiging for seeing behind closed doors.
Went to see The Queen a couple days ago. I usually find films about real people really strange, as it's difficult to adjust to people looking slightly wrong - and it's even stranger when the people are contemporary, though not having had a TV (and correspondingly having seen fewer images) over the last year might have helped. The cinema was disappointingly empty and soulless (oh God, I miss Edinburgh at times) but there was still a fair bit of shared laughter and the film held my attention all the way through.
I read a review of the film a week or so back that said it was a sad reflection on the British film industry that there with this much talent here we don't have more successful films (yes, we Brits can always find something to moan about) and that we should learn from this film's success - that (I paraphrase) rather than making films featuring images of ourselves that we think will sell abroad such as foppish, socially inept Londoners or gritty northerners (though I can't imagine why he thinks filmmakers think gritty northerness is a selling point), we should make more films aimed at the domestic audience - films that, like this one, focus on a British event and deal with a very British subject (the role of the royal family vs the Prime Minister, and the nature of the 'British people').
Er, no. What subject could be more calculated to appeal to the American market than an 'inside look' at the royal family? Particularly when they include news clips from American TV stations but not from any other country's media except the UK; the Commonwealth countries' media would have been rather more relevant to the plot of the film.
Still, it's worth seeing - for me the thoughts provoked made up for the winces induced by occasionally clunky dialogue and laboured symbolism. And a nostalgia trip is always interesting, particularly as at the time of Diana's death I was in Scotland, from where the whole business was regarded with some bemusement.
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