there never were pineapple-almond cookies here

Newsflash: Computers need power!

2009-11-28T17:50:11Z

I just watched the X-Files episode Ghost in the Machine. I really really wish people would figure out that, if you have a sentient supercomputer that's killing people, you don't have to mess around with viruses or other bullshit to "kill" it. JUST FUCKING UNPLUG IT! GOD.

White Collar 1x06 - All In

2009-11-28T04:03:17Z

Neal: Think I just saw the Ark of the Covenant back there.

Peter: If my face melts, let me know.

Hee! They are SO ADORABLE! Even El fucking ships them!

And Peter thinks of them as partners! They are SO COMPLETELY MARRIED!

Just--could we stop it with all the Kate bullshit? Seriously, no one cares. I just want to watch the episode and see Peter and Neal and El flirt with each other, not wait for yet another stupid clue about Kate that leads nowhere and does nothing but distract Neal.

June remains awesome, anyway. She saw through the Interpol chick right away. I request more June as well.

Friday Cat Blogging: To Boldly Go Edition

2009-11-27T21:11:06Z

Lucy sitting on my Star Trek shelf:

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

2009-11-23T20:54:45Z

Otherwise known as: ADAM LAMBERT NEVER CHANGE!

His AMA performance! I just-- *flails*

And then there was the part where ABC cut away because he was simulating GETTING A BLOWJOB FROM A GUY IN BONDAGE GEAR:

In conclusion: ADAM LAMBERT IS MY HAPPY PLACE! GO BUY HIS ALBUM!

new pet peeve

2009-11-22T01:17:21Z

"Confident" and "confidant" don't have even remotely the same meaning, people! You should know by now that you can't just rely on spellcheck! It's called proofreading! Look into it. Please view the video behind the cut and keep proofreading in mind for all your future writing needs. Thank you.

Warning: Language NSFW

you make me wanna listen to music again

2009-11-17T19:35:38Z

I'm listening to Adam's album streaming on Facebook and dude, it fucking ROCKS. I JUST DON'T EVEN. HE USES THE WORD RAISON D'ETRE! AND MENAGE A TROIS!

In conclusion:

ADAM LAMBERT = FUCKING FABULOUS

Damn. I don't have any icons. This situation must be remedied.

Big Bang Theory 3x08 - The Adhesive Duck Deficiency

2009-11-17T03:06:09Z

ZOMG SHELDON AND PENNY SINGING SOFT KITTY I HAVE TO GO DIE OF SQUEE NOW!!!!111!!ELEVEN!!

White Collar

2009-11-12T16:31:01Z

picara successfully pimped me into White Collar last night. They are so freaking married! It's like the plot is just there to give them something to do while they're flirting!

Happy birthday akadriver!

2009-10-17T17:20:31Z

Hope you have a great one!

I have bought things!

2009-10-14T00:36:09Z

So, my parents gave me a $50 Amazon gift card for my birthday, and I've been trying to decide what to spend it on. Because there's so many choices! My wishlist is 6 pages long, people! But! I have finally decided! I have ordered:

The Sting
Twitch City - The Complete Series
Live Free or Die Hard (Unrated)
The Dark Knight

Exactly $50.96! And I have free 2-day shipping!

Happy birthday to me! *twirls*

Happy birthday wukin_pa_nub!

2009-10-02T14:57:17Z

Have a great one!

More on Roman Polanski

2009-09-30T17:32:36Z

Kate Harding of Shapely Prose wrote a piece for Salon on the Polanski arrest that I can't recommend enough.

Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child

Roman Polanski raped a child. Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in "exile" (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar, but never -- poor baby -- being able to return to the U.S.). Let's keep in mind that Roman Polanski gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne, then raped her, before we start discussing whether the victim looked older than her 13 years, or that she now says she'd rather not see him prosecuted because she can't stand the media attention. Before we discuss how awesome his movies are or what the now-deceased judge did wrong at his trial, let's take a moment to recall that according to the victim's grand jury testimony, Roman Polanski instructed her to get into a jacuzzi naked, refused to take her home when she begged to go, began kissing her even though she said no and asked him to stop; performed cunnilingus on her as she said no and asked him to stop; put his penis in her vagina as she said no and asked him to stop; asked if he could penetrate her anally, to which she replied, "No," then went ahead and did it anyway, until he had an orgasm.

[...]

...I have to agree with Fecke that my favorite Polanski apologist is the Washington Post's Anne Applebaum, who finds it "bizarre" that anyone is still pursuing this case. And who also, by the by, failed to disclose the tiny, inconsequential detail that her husband, Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, is actively pressuring U.S. authorities to drop the case.
There is evidence of judicial misconduct in the original trial. There is evidence that Polanski did not know her real age. Polanski, who panicked and fled the U.S. during that trial, has been pursued by this case for 30 years, during which time he has never returned to America, has never returned to the United Kingdom., has avoided many other countries, and has never been convicted of anything else. He did commit a crime, but he has paid for the crime in many, many ways: In notoriety, in lawyers' fees, in professional stigma. He could not return to Los Angeles to receive his recent Oscar. He cannot visit Hollywood to direct or cast a film.
There is also evidence that Polanski raped a child. There is evidence that the victim did not consent, regardless of her age. There is evidence -- albeit purely anecdotal, in this case -- that only the most debased crapweasel thinks "I didn't know she was 13!" is a reasonable excuse for raping a child, much less continuing to rape her after she's said no repeatedly. There is evidence that the California justice system does not hold that "notoriety, lawyers' fees and professional stigma" are an appropriate sentence for child rape.

But hey, he wasn't allowed to pick up his Oscar in person! For the love of all that's holy, hasn't the man suffered enough?

Those are my favorite bits, but definitely read the whole thing. It's amazing how much crap and apologism has grown up around Polanski, and yet how easy it is to cut through it just by repeating the essential facts of the case--Roman Polanski plead guilty to raping a child. Let's not forget that.

Good.

2009-09-28T21:00:44Z

Roman Polanski arrested in Switzerland.

I don't care if it was 32 years ago. I don't care if you're considered a great artist. You shouldn't get to rape a 13-year-old girl, flee the country before the sentencing hearing, and get away with it.

What in the ACTUAL FUCK?

2009-09-25T01:21:06Z

UCI Votes to Ban Radios

We're talking all road racing, including the Tour de France. And they seem hella out of touch--they act like they think the teams want this. The Tour tried to do two stages without radios this year. The first one was stupid--it didn't make the race in any way more interesting, and the riders didn't take risks, because they thought the entire idea was dumb. So they canceled the second planned radio-free day. And now the teams are all like, "um, hello? Didn't you guys notice that this is NOT what we want at all? Now stop running around making stupid new rules, kthxbai!"

Morans.

and the new day dawned like a great big fish

2009-09-24T00:53:37Z

I just finished rereading Monstrous Regiment. *sigh* I wish I could find a way to eat chocolates in a big room where the world is a different place.

Abyssinia, Larry

2009-09-14T15:21:13Z

M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart died Friday of cancer at the age of 81. I love that show, and, I don't know, maybe it didn't solve world hunger or find the cure for AIDS, but it's still a beautiful legacy to leave.

Abyssinia, Larry.

Born to Rune!

2009-09-03T00:37:34Z

I've just finished rereading Terry Pratchett's Soul Music, and I've decided I totally need Adam Lambert icons based on it. There's some really awesome quotes towards the end of the book that would be perfect. When the guitar is trying to make a deal with Buddy, you get this passage:

Buddy hung from a rear wheel, feet over the drop, and jerked as the music played an eight-note riff on his soul.

Never age. Never die. Live forever in that one last white-hot moment, when the crowd screamed. When every note was a heartbeat. Burn across the sky.

You will never grow old. They will never say you died.

That's the deal. You will be the greatest musician in the world.

Live fast. Die young.

The music tugged at his soul.

An icon with bits of text pulled out that would be kick awesome (heh). "Every note was a heartbeat". "Live forever in that one last white-hot moment". "Burn across the sky."

And then a few pages later, the Music is arguing with Susan:

"But he threw away the guitar."

I wanted him to live for me.

"You wanted him to die for you! In the wreckage of the cart!"

What is the difference? He would be dead anyway. But to die in music . . . People will always remember the songs he never had the chance to sing. And they will be the greatest songs of all.

Live your life in a moment.

And then live forever. Don't fade away.

Those last three sentences would be awesome on Adam icons!

(And just so we're all understood, I don't in any way want Adam to die. I put in the whole quote both times because I think it's poetic, and gives the bit I especially like a little context. May Adam Lambert live forever and make hundreds of awesome albums which I will totally buy and play unironically in my car, even when I'm driving other people!)

It appears I have a lurker!

2009-08-31T18:20:18Z

Hello, lurker! Since you seem to have some very weird ideas about me, I thought I'd take this opportunity to set you straight (as it were). I like slash. I think gay guys are hot. I think the idea of gay guys having sex is hot. I like to read slashfic. I don't in any way attempt to hide this.

Furthermore, and most importantly, I am a feminist. I don't live my life hoping desperately to attract the attention of douchebag straight guys who are threatened by my interest in slash. Maybe if I changed myself enough I could turn on such straight guys, but why would I want to? I am what I am, as the song says. I'm not going to change, and the good guys, the guys I might actually be interested in, wouldn't want me to change.

new fandoms!

2009-08-26T00:57:59Z

astolat has managed to drag me kicking and screaming into American Idol fandom. *shakes head* I don't know how that happened, except that Adam Lambert is seriously hot, Kris Allen is adorable, and they are clearly meant to be having as much sex as humanly possible. I spent like an hour today at work watching astolat's videos from the Boston concert. And now I kind of want to go to a concert. *cough*

And! Since everybody on the whole entire Internets got into Merlin a few months ago, picara, acostilow, and I decided we should probably check it out. And, um. That show is really cheesy and has bad special effects, and I can't stand the way the character of Uther is (not) written, but. Colin Morgan is a doorbell! With the ears! And the grin! Merlin and Arthur are two sides of the same coin! Even the dragon slashes them! So, yes, I'm enjoying myself. Haven't seen the last two eps yet, but I will soon.

Sadly, I've mostly moved on from SGA. It just happened without me realising it. I used to check sga_newsletter every day, then it got to where I'd wait a few days and catch up on several newsletters at once, and then one day I realised it had been weeks since I'd even looked at it. *sigh* It's kind of like when I drifted out of due South fandom without really noticing until it had already happened. And then I was sad, because I had no shiny objects on the Internets to look forward to. At least now I've found Merlin and Kradam. (I'm against portmanteau pairing names on general principles, but I've decided that Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are just SO CUTE they have to be a portmanteau. *nods firmly*)

the hell?

2009-07-19T14:08:19Z

Boonen abandoned! *cries* Not that he's done anything at all for the entire gorram Tour, of course. But still, after his team went to fucking *court* to get him back into the Tour in the first place after his second out of competition positive for cocaine, I sort of expected him to bring *some* sort of game. And, you know, stick it out. Apparently that was crazy talk.

OMG AWESOME!

2009-07-09T16:02:14Z

Thor Hushovd wins Stage 6 of the Tour! Take that, Mark "Douchebag" Cavendish who didn't even finish in the top ten! The God of Thunder put the hammer down, or something. Ask PhilandPaul. They'll explain it to you.

Damn, I'd forgotten how much fun the Tour is with Armstrong in it!

2009-07-08T21:01:39Z

So, the Tour de France started Saturday, and so far they've had an individual time trial, a team time trial, and two crazy awesome flat stages. Armstrong is in 2nd place, 0.22 seconds from the Yellow Jersey, Fabian Cancellara. (And Cancellara isn't a mountain guy, so he'll probably lose it when they hit the Pyrenees.)

I'd missed the team time trial so much. Cancellara basically pulled his team through it, from what I could tell. Armstrong's Astana team went flat out the whole way, with Armstrong and Contador (who won the Tour in 2007) both pulling a lot.

Today was fucking awesome. My boy Boonen got dropped and got stuck at the back, which was not awesome. But! There was a six-man breakaway that stayed away from 10 km on, and then at about 5 km to go, I think, Thomas Voeckler attacked the breakaway and succeeded! You remember Voeckler, right? He's the one who came out of nowhere in the 2004 Tour, got the Yellow Jersey in stage 5, then hung on to it for an extremely unexpected 10 days.

Anyway, today he attacked the breakaway he'd been with for like 180 km and got away, then rode it all the way to the finish! He spent the last 500 meters or so looking over his shoulder and shaking his head, adorably, because he couldn't believe he was going to win. It's his first Tour stage win ever! And did I mention that he's adorable?

Awesomely, Versus has live video and audio, with PhilandPaul commentating, so I can watch it at work (Um, I mean, listen to it in the background! Right!). And then I don't have to put up with Bob Roll and fucking Craig Hummer in the evening broadcast. Craig Hummer is an idiot and like the most annoying person ever.

Yay! My Tour is back!

friday cat blogging: looks like i'm back in "nothing but cat pictures" mode

2009-06-19T20:14:46Z

Lucy is artsy, yo!

friday cat blogging: a tale of two kitties

2009-06-12T13:21:04Z

When acostilow and I first rescued Lucy, she was scared to death of us, had a huge cut on her neck that had to be sutured, and seriously lashed out at anyone who came near her. This isn't a good pic because of the annoying red, but it's the best one I've got of her behaviour then. This is the day after we brought her inside, after she'd been to the vet and had her neck sutured. All she did then was sit on top of the couch in a wary huddle and occasionally hiss at people if they came within 10 feet of her.

Moving on to Lucy now. Her neck healed completely--her fur grew back over it and I haven't even looked for a scar. She wears a collar all the time without appearing uncomfortable at all. And she *really* wants to be a lap cat, she just doesn't quite know how. She's still touchy (she gets very upset if you touch her tail the wrong way, for example), but she loves to cuddle with me if it's on her terms. If I lie down in bed to read, she wants to knead my chest or stomach for awhile, then lay down right where I normally hold the book:

Fuck.

2009-06-11T13:57:40Z

So Dr. Tiller's clinic isn't going to stay open after all. I don't blame the family for closing the clinic, not after all they've been through. I just wish the anti-abortion fuckwit brigade wasn't winning like this. Scott Roeder is calling the AP from his jail cell and *gloating*. Motherfuckers.