Happy Birthday, westmoon!!!

May it be a party of special magnificence for you!!!

***birthday hugs***

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The star Betelgeuse is so massive that if you put it right where our Sun is, its outer edge would hit the orbit of Jupiter.

Now THAT is a big fucking star.

Almost one week of 2010 in the books and here's it looks so far:

Best Movie of the Week: 500 Days of Summer
I started watching this much too late at night and then of course had to stay up to finish it... so much for any resolutions involving early bedtime!  But I LOVED this movie!  It was cute and quirky and a good love story in spite of NOT being a love story.  And it had a great ending, with a bit of much-needed encouragement.

Best Album of the Week: All the Lost Souls by James Blunt
This one's been around for a while - in fact, it's even been sitting on my computer for a while and I forgot that I had it.  I apparently never noticed before how good it is.  The lyrics are melancholy, of course, because when is James Blunt not melancholy?  But the music is GOOD.  Hooray for discovery.

Best Book of the Week: The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
This is kind of cheating, because I haven't actually finished yet.  But I'm going to be bummed when I do finish it and have to put it down.  It's been a fair while since I've been this engrossed in a book.

Best Accomplishment of the Week: finishing the Stables newsletter
Finally... I've been wrestling with the damn thing for two weeks now.

Best Idea of the Week: doing yoga & working out even when I didn't want to
Ahhh, endorphins!  How I have missed thee.

Best Thing about Frozen Tundra Week:
Well, there is no best thing so far.   I'm making no money, my water pipes are burst, my horses are doing nothing but converting hay into poop, and now I can't even ride indoors without skidding on ice.
But it might snow tomorrow.

Best Email of the Week: Starbucks Coffee Company
No, seriously!  They just emailed me to say that not only do I get a free drink on my birthday, but that if I purchase 5 drinks with my Christmas gift card, as long as I keep using the same (reloadable) card, I can get soy milk for free!  Now, this may not seem like much, but considering I probably patronize the local Starbucks at least 60 times a year (hey, it's basically my only entertainment expense), that $.50 a week will make a tidy little savings over time.  It's the little things in life.

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From Amazon.com:

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased or rated "The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)" or other films in the ( M ) > McKellen, Ian category, you might like to know that "Acting Shakespeare" will be released on January 12, 2010. You can pre-order yours at a savings of $6.99 by following the link below.

Acting Shakespeare

Ian McKellen

List Price: $29.98
Price: $22.99
You Save: $6.99
(23%)

Release Date: January 12, 2010

To learn more about Acting Shakespeare, please visit the following page at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SF9YMU/ref=snp_dp


OMG, how cool is this?? I got to see that show back in 1984, and again in 1986, when McKellen brought it to the U.S. on tour. It was at the Geffen Playhouse, a wonderful little theater-in-the-round in Westwood. He was not a very well-known actor in the States back then, but I'd seen him in a couple of BBC productions, and it was in the middle of my Renaissance Faire days when I was steeped in learning about Elizabethan culture and Shakespeare, so I was WAAAAYYYY jazzed to get tix to this show.

It was SO FABULOUS. An entire evening of hearing him teach about Shakespeare. I learned so much from that show - about the history, the speeches, the language. About creating a character from Shakespeare's words, and how to take apart the lines and mine them for emotional information.

Here's how the show started. (Keep in mind that the first time I saw it, I had front row seats in this little 300-seat theater, so I was about eight feet away from him.) He's sitting in a beautiful old armchair, kind of lolling with one leg propped up on the arm, very casual/disdainful/sexy. He looks slowly around the theater, and begins to do Richard III:

Ay, Edward will use women honourably.
Would he were wasted, marrow, bones and all,
That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring,
To cross me from the golden time I look for!

Beautiful. He swung his foot idly as he did this, with a little half-smile on his face, and you almost got the feeling that he'd had a bit to drink and was having fun murmuring to himself. It was fascinating hearing him roll the words around, how much he obviously loved the language. And then he got to this bit:

Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard;
What other pleasure can the world afford?
I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,

And right there, on that line, he turned his head and looked STRAIGHT AT ME. And yowza, lemme tell you I damn near MELTED in the seat cushion. It was quite direct, his gaze very piercing. Of course I knew what he was doing, picking a random audience member to play with and acting the hell out of the moment. But it was certainly a ton of fun to get that gaze and give it BACK full measure with a nice lascivious smile. This is the absolute irreplaceable brilliance of theater, something that films cannot possible ever achieve - a moment of connection with a character, with an actor, with another human being.

And then came an even more amazing thing. As he continued on with the speech, he pulled his leg down off the arm of the chair, and slowly got up. And we saw that what we'd taken for a languid, sensual pose was actually the deformity of his spine, so as he rose his body stayed in the same bent, hunched posture. It was an exquisite transformation, the more so because it only happened in the audience's mind. He'd been twisted and crippled all along, we just didn't know it. His character had such force and intensity that we'd never questioned what we saw. So amazing. I'll never forget it.

There were other wonderful things about that night. So many fantastic anecdotes from his career (which at the time was almost all stage work), including the one about John Gielgud that still makes me laugh. In one section, he presented Macbeth's speech about his wife, "She would have died hereafter...", first in the manner and cadence of an actual Elizabethan actor such as Richard Burbage, and then he took some time to take the speech apart, line by line and word by word, telling us how he and his fellow thespians approach the beautiful language, and all the complexities that exist in it, and how the colors and shades and intricacies inform a performance. And then he did the speech again, but this time as he himself would perform it, and the contrast was truly extraordinary. I learned so much about the evolution of theater from that one section of the evening alone.

And then the finale! He asked how many people in the audience would like to come up onstage and act with him. O'course my hand flew up along with a bunch of others. He picked out about 12 of us, and invited us up. Then we went into a huddle and he explained what he wanted us to do, which was to place ourselves randomly on the stage and stand quietly until he signalled with his hand behind his back, at which point we were to drop like a sack of potatoes and lie dead on the floor. He introduced an anecdote to the audience about what happened to an actor friend of his who had to play a scene (I think it was from Henry V) where he was supposedly standing on a field of battle and would read a long list of the names of the dead, but when he opened the scroll found it blank, so he had to improvise the names. He then signalled, we dropped, and then came the hard part - trying like hell not to laugh as he re-enacted his friend's utter consternation and bumbling attempts to come up with a long list of plausible names. I cannot tell you what a fun and fitting ending that was to such a great, great evening.


So yeah, you better believe I'm gonna be buying this DVD. *runs to pre-order*

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Okay, THIS has got to be one of the most disturbing pictures I've ever seen.

Don't worry - it's not gory or obscene or gross or insectoid or anything like that.

It's just really fucking WEIRD. In that "take something ordinary and photograph it in an entirely strange way" kinda way.


Found it last night and...it's still messing with my head.

This looks like fun ... I think. The idea is great I just don't know anyone involved in the contest. It seems to have come out of the anime communities, which I have no familarity with at all.

There are, however, a *few* Dr Who/Torchwood prompts and I think prompting is still open (not sure). The emphasis seems to be on art and very short fic and the system is weirdly complex too.

But ... sex positive, consenting community, for those who are interested in exporing that emphasis here's an option: http://community.livejournal.com/saying_yes_2010/

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For those who may not know, Andrea Plunket, who claims to hold the 'American Copyright' to Sherlock Holmes is very unhappy with jokes and chatter from Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law and so on about a possilbe homosexual sub-text or actual text between Holmes and Watson. She's 'threatened' to withold liscencing for any sequels (already more-or-less confirmed) if any homosexuality spoils the true intent of the stories.

Aside from the obvious, and already explained, response of 'if it's all about protecting the true story why is the a movie where Holms meets Dracula?' and so forth, it's also interesting that the estate's claim on Holmes is shaky at best – their claim of licensing is based on a 1992 work that they retain the rights to but it's pretty clear that the original Doyle stories are in public domain. Still, Plunket felt that actor interviews implying homosexuality were so disturbing to the 'true intent' of the stories that she had to attempt to threaten the movie makers with very shaky claims of ownership. She evidently had no problems with Holmes the bare knuckled (masochistic) boxer or the brutal, thug with is crippling blows but (ooc) suggestions that the two might be queer were beyond the pale. I call bigotry, and I sincerely hope (whatever the quality of the movies are) that the studios etc ignore/defend or otherwise call bullshit on her attempts to threaten them by withholding rights she doesn't own.

I didn't think the movie was all that great and I'm getting tired of the purient, teasing 'maybe their queer, maybe they're not – isn't that funny?' stuff that is so popular now but I have to admit I'm all for the stuff Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. and the producers are spewing now and I really hope Plunket's empty threats only encorage them.

ETA: this is, evidently, fairly accurate information regarding the legal status of the Holmes stories. Plunket doesn't have a leg to stand on.

The copyright of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works and of the Sherlock Holmes character were predominately held by his descendants starting first with his son Adrian Doyle. After Adrian's death in 1972 Dame Jean Conan Doyle (Conan Doyle's daughter) and the other descendants sold the rights to Baskerville Investments, a firm fronted by the surviving wife of Doyle's eldest son. The Bank of Scotland took over the rights after a loan defaulted and auctioned them off to the television producer Sheldon Reynolds. In 1981 the copyright expired everywhere except for the United States. Dame Jean, with the assistance of the Baker Street Irregulars, claimed the US rights to those works not yet in the public domain. Her Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate both licensed and defended the Sherlock Holmes character by requiring royalties and famously sued the producers of ', Meitantai Holmes and the movie The Young Sherlock Holmes for their unauthorized direct portrayals of Holmes. In 1999 Plunket, Reynolds' surviving wife, was refused a US trademark for Sherlock Holmes. In 2001 all but one of the remaining works were released into public domain and the Estate of Dame Jean requested that voluntary royalties be forwarded to children's charities in the United Kingdom. The Case Book is the only work with an outstanding US copyright and will pass into the public domain between 2016 and 2023.

Due to some confusion and renovations, the C/Z Secret Valentine's Challenge is taken down for construction! Watch this space!!

(Source)

=)

Last Friday I didn't have to go to work, which was good, since I didn't get home from the New Year's party until 5 AM.  Ordinarily, I'd have done my LOTR marathon then, but I had plans for later that day and I was throwing a wine tasting party Saturday night, so I decided to clean my house instead.  My plans?  Run a few errands, go to shooting practice, and then a DATE.

Which is weird.  I don't go on dates, right?  But this guy was persistent.  He manages the store where I bought my new phone and as I walked out the door he told me to call him since he programmed his number into my phone.  So I did.  And for the next few weeks he was very persistent about asking me out.  Finally I downgraded him from dinner to just drinks (baby steps) and he asked me when.  I asked if Friday (Jan 1) worked for him and he agreed it did.  He asked me where, and I made a suggestion.  He agreed again and I told him to tell me what time.  His response?  "OK, I will."

Which is strange.  I sort of meant for him to tell me right then, but whatever.  It was only Tuesday.  He'd let me know, right?  Wrong.  Wednesday went by with a series of inane texts (he thinks a great conversation starter is merely "Hi, Beautiful" or "Hey, Gorgeous").  Thursday was the same.  So was Friday.  Lots of communication, no time to meet.  At five I left my house to run my errands, only to find ALL the places I needed to go were closed.  Including the shooting range, which I had been assured TWICE by friends who work there that they'd be open.  By this time I realized there was not going to be a date, so I went home in defeat.  Seriously, I wasted a whole day.  I could have been on my couch watching LOTR when instead I was busting my ass running errands that couldn't be run, going to a closed shooting range, and getting STOOD UP.  I never should have left the house.

Now, I'll be the first to admit - I didn't have high hopes for this guy.  He seemed really great (seriously funny), but I just wasn't especially attracted to him.  So it's not like I'm broken hearted (although I am definitely disappointed that I didn't spend the day doing what I wanted to do).  But what gives?  He's been calling and texting since, but I've been ignoring him.  I just don't go for whatever game he's playing.  Weirdo.

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I wanna make .gifs. Specifically, I wanna make .gifs from film clips. Like this:





(Yes, that's Karl. Yes, he's hot. Hey. HEY! EYES DOWN HERE.)

So, can anyone either tell me how to do that, or point me to a good tutorial? I've got several that I've been really really wanting for a while now. (Will share when I have them, o'course!)

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Happy Birthday to suzy_74!!!!

You're one of the sweetest people on LJ, and I really hope that you have some time to yourself and not work too hard this year!

Look - Frodo in Bree!


{{{{you}}}}

The past few days have been so odd!  Winter has arrived in Georgia, Winter, with a captial W, and he seems to be making himself at home.  When I woke up on Friday morning, I thought I had a frantically busy day ahead, and a barn party on Saturday, and then I would be leaving to go visit family in Alabama.  Then the wind arrived, and froze everything in its path.

I'm not in Alabama; I'm at home, taking care of horses instead.  There's no running water in the barn, and the buckets refreeze the instant the sun goes down.  So instead of coming inside to their stalls at night, the horses are spending their nights bundled up outdoors in the pasture, where at least we have heated troughs for them to drink out of, and lots of (damned expensive) hay for them to munch on.  They're not sure what to think about the change in routine, and not crazy about the frozen ground, but otherwise adapting to the cold.  I'm getting pretty used to it myself, and rode Heaven in the barn aisle today with no gloves and no scarf, which would have been unthinkable a month ago. :-)

But, until the ground thaws, I can't do much with the critters.  Optimistically, I might get to do four paid lessons this week - indoors, to the dedicated folk - but otherwise everything is on hold during the thaw.  The irony is that a week or so ago I was complaining about how I needed an extended holiday vacation, because I had such an enormous pile of work that I despaired of ever finding time for.

The moral of this story:  No kidding.  Be careful what you wish for!

In between various enormous projects like producing a newsletter and a year's worth of postage-friendly educational sheets and website overhaul and launching a new program and researching submission guidelines and LAUNDRY and working out a budget and schedule for the upcoming year and LESSON PLANS...... I'm drinking a lot of tea.  And eating a lot of chocolate.  And getting back to work on the NaNo novel so that it can be finished and printed by June.  And reading The Name of the Wind, which is fairly un-put-down-able.  And thinking that if only I didn't have to make a living... I could almost learn to love winter....


2010 is going to be a good year.
I shall make it so!