the_croupier

I love the show. For a long, long time. But it has ALWAYS pulled its punches.

Not this time, though. The 50th ended with a twist I never dreamed they'd have the guts to do (and one I wish the show would go with since the reboot started).

Wow. I am VERY impressed and very pleased!

So Malcolm Tucker is the Doctor, huh?

Ooooh, this is making my head hurt. =)

( Some very SPOILERY thoughts about Skyfall )

Some very interesting stats here on just about every network (broadly defined) you can think of.

How did I never hear about this?

Witness!

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD!"
KTHXBYE

Or!

HAI
CAN HAS STDIO?
PLZ OPEN FILE "LOLCATS.TXT"?
....AWSUM THX
......VISIBLE FILE
....O NOES
......INVISIBLE "ERRROR!"
KTHXBYE

And there's even a Python library. =D

Wow, how did I ever miss these larger editions of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?

So much better than the smaller, "perfect editions" I've had up to now. The larger edition is a set of seven big trade paperbacks, and they are SO much better for seeing the art.

If you've only seen the smaller editions, or if *gasp!* you've never actually read the series, this is the way to do it. Very much in the spirit of the movie, but even more epic and much more dense (in a totally good way!) than you might expect.

Don't get me wrong: I like Legend of Korra, but....

( Sloppy writing, unsettling questions about gender and privilege, and some major missed opportunities )

Anyway, very interested in hearing what all of you think.

( Non-spoilery version = I liked it =) )

I think this might be the best video pinball game ever: Snowball.

Very cute but also a challenge. Flippers everywhere!

Her publisher has posted a summary of J.K. Rowling's upcoming novel, A Casual Vacancy.

Most authors seem to flame out horribly when their first book is a gargantuan success. It's not just that their sales never match that first triumph--how could they?--but that even the premises of their later works seem incredibly dull.

But, you know what? Reading that summary has me really looking forward to the book. It sounds like it could be hilarious and plays to her strengths.

A black comedy about petty, mean-spirited, local politics? From her? I am so completely there.

In the box today:

"Hump me, I'm Irish!"

...I'm not even sure where to start with that one.

I liked it!

Disclaimer: My dad has been a lifelong Burroughs fan, so the plan always was to go see it with him and have it be something we both enjoyed. Well: mission accomplished! But I'll grant I was somewhat biased to like it, but still:

1) Yes, it's messy and tries to pack too much of the book into a movie, so some things are more rushed than they should be. But that's not as true as some reviewers are suggesting (anybody reading this has seen plenty of movies where there was a genuine problem with this). Motivations aren't as nailed down as they should be, but if you thought Thor was fine (and I did), I think you'll be happy to give John Carter a pass here too.

2) It's a fun movie to watch, partly because of its messiness, which I think comes from love for the material.

3) It finds humor in the original Burroughs but still respects its source. (That includes keeping Thark/green Martian society nearly as unpleasant as it is in the book, which I wasn't expecting.)

4) Airships! I saw the movie on an IMAX screen, and holy crap, are they pretty.

5) There are some issues with CGI people not quite having the 'weight' they should, but this was *much* less true than I was expecting from the trailers. The early scene where Carter adjusts to Martian gravity is where writer/director Andrew Stanton really shows he's a Pixar guy.

6) Dejah Thoris gets a successful makeover. Still recognizably the book character, but more dynamic in a good, post-Buffy way. Lynn Collins seems to be having fun playing her.

Are there problems? Sure! Will

ashen_key and/or

camwyn find things to fix? Yup. But I predict they'll be tweaks and clarifications, not major overhauls.

The cast is amazing, and fans of the series Rome should watch for an amusing pairing of two actors again. (Actually, it's three, but one of them is CGI/voice-role so her part in it isn't obvious until the credits. And they aren't the only ex-Rome people in the movie, so there's drinking game potential.) Some people do get short-changed a bit (Dominic West, etc), but just having them there helps the movie.

Anyway: yes, I'm biased. But I recommend people go see it. And an IMAX screen is worth it.

These are great:

What a scientist looks like and

What a librarian looks like.

I'm not sure which is better: the New York Times correcting itself about My Little Pony or about baseball player nerds.

But somebody needs to warn

wakeupnew about the CUPCAKES OF MASS DESTRUCTION!! D:

There, that's better. I've created DW accounts for all my pups, and have them all prepped for importing. Most of them seem to be done already, in fact. So, yeah, that was MUCH easier than I feared it would be.

Probably more to do, especially for cleaning up layouts and such, but that can wait for later.

Ok, so like I just posted on my LJ, I'm only just now catching up on all the chaos because I've been out of town for most of the past two weeks, and only heard lots of things that sounded suspiciously like the Apocalypse happening far off in the distance.

So. Still just beginning to read about the whole importing thing, which I will be doing this weekend.

Trying to respond to all notifications I've received so far from people adding or upgrading their DW's and giving me subscription/access, so I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Probably will cross-post. Wondering what the future of Mways is given all this, though I'm still catching up on posts, so maybe there's already been a huge discussion about it somewhere.

Anyway, will post more over the next couple of days.

Saw this on Lifehacker, and thought people would like to see it.

I'm trying Simple Comic now, and it seems pretty nice. Anything to replace Comical, which just crashes every time I look at it funny.

I'd say

agoodshinkickin's next fashion statement is clear.

I eagerly await photos.

Something I happened to think of this morning, that I know wish Joss had thought to do back in the day:

So if we assume season six was all about life, and the trials and tribulations people go through as they enter adulthood and get older, how about this:

Instead of ending with Dark Willow, suppose we keep all the parts about Buffy and the Scoobies taking responsibility for their lives, but then introduce a different, supernatural plot to run parallel with that.

This plot would involve the rise of a virus that afflicts the undead and subjects them to effects very similar to rapid aging. This wouldn't be *actual* aging, of course, but the results would be much the same. This could very likely be a carryover from the Initiative, perhaps some research someone found (ok, it could have even been 'the Trio') and didn't understand nearly as well as they thought they did (ok, definitely 'the Trio'). The project had been intended as a new way to understand how vampirism happens, but the Trio let the virus get loose by accident, and it begins to rip through the undead population.

Inevitably, both Spike and Angel contract it, forcing both of them to realize that aging--something they both thought they had left behind forever--is now a worse problem for them than for Buffy and her friends. If the Scoobies are learning to be adults (and Team Angel continues to cope with being them already), the two vampires are having to confront 'life changes' in a much more immediate way.

So the rest of B6 and A3 are spent with everyone desperately trying to find a cure for the virus. The Scoobies take one approach, and Team Angel an entirely different one (since crossovers were always a problem back then). And in all that time, some in both groups--most notably Giles, Xander, Wesley, Gunn--can't get rid of the idea that maybe curing the virus is just what they should *not* do. That the loss of Angel (sorry, none of them would mourn Spike much) might be worth a world finally rid of the undead. This, needless to say, doesn't go over well with Buffy, Cordy, Fred, or Willow.

In the end, of course, a cure is found, and Spike and Angel recover. Mostly. Because the ravages of the virus never quite go away, and as a result (again staying with the season six theme of life, aging, and responsibility), Boreanaz and Marsters--oh, I mean Angel and Spike, of course--will always appear older than they used to, and will probably continue to show subtle but noticeable signs of 'aging' left behind by the virus. Like, say, a decade or so later.

Oh. See what I just did there? ;)

If your iTunes is like mine, try out "AAN Soundtracks" under 'Eclectic.' It's non-stop tracks from SF/fantasy/horror/blockbuster movies. Perfect for Wednesday evenings!

There's also a 'Final Fantasy Radio', which is more hit-and-miss, but worth bookmarking. And several others in 'Eclectic' that might be good too.

Because sometimes even *I* get tired of listening to the 'Heavy Metal' score and soundtrack every week. =)

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