rusty_halo

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I’m so sad to hear that Andy Hallett died. He was one of my favorite guests at the Whedonverse conventions I used to attend. He was talented and funny and kind, and he told great stories.

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Joss Whedon will be at Dragoncon. So, you guys are going, right? ;)

And apparently, I am the one person left in the world who didn't know that Vincent Kartheiser is doing a play in NYC. That's what I get for skipping out on LiveJournal for weeks on end....

But now I know, and apparently I will be seeing a bunch of you guys there this Saturday at the 9pm show. And the pre-show meetup, probably. :)

Last night I fell asleep on my couch while re-watching season one of Queer as Folk. I adore Brian Kinney so much. But I have to fast forward through every scene with Michael's boring doctor boyfriend. I hate that guy. I hate the character because he's a manipulative, condescending asshole, and I've never been able to stand the actor (he just rubs me wrong; I could never get into Kung Fu: The Legend Continues as a kid, because I disliked him). And Ted is so boring and creepy; I can't stand him either. But it's all worth it, because Brian.

It's Friday, so we're eating vegan cupcakes. *is happy*

"I like the idea of living redemption, not pointless suicidal death in service of someone's testosterone-fueled pride."

Have I mentioned how much I love thedeadlyhook? Read her full 5.21 review here.

thefangirl and drujan came over Saturday night for a little movie party. We watched this French movie with Roy Dupuis (Michael from La Femme Nikita) called J’en Suis. (The big draw for this movie is that he plays an apparently straight character pretending to be gay, so you get to see him in lots of ridiculous outfits--including a kilt. Oh yeah, and full frontal nudity.) I wasn't so crazy about the movie itself, but Roy was wonderful and adorable. Very giggly and silly, not at all like the (distant, reserved) Michael. He has such nice eyes--kind of reminds me of Orlando Bloom in a way.

thefangirl also brought a bunch of her Highlander tapes--she has the European versions, with extra footage (!!!). So we watched the episode "Methos," in order to introduce drujan to the character. She seemed to like him okay. (We'll see if I can get her to come over and watch more episodes). She left after that, but thefangirl stayed long enough to watch "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8." Best. Episodes. Ever. And with extra footage!

( alone in my little corner, babbling about Highlander )

I decided to watch through my tapes in order, since--with the ones thefangirl brought--I have all the Methos episodes of seasons three, four, and five. So after "Methos," I dug up my old tape of "Finale." Also on this tape: the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode of "The Simpsons," and the X-Files episode "Anasazi." I remember that summer--my friends and I spent much of it obsessing over who shot Mr. Burns, how Mulder was going to get out of that boxcar, and how cool "Finale" was. (We even wrote a parody script of "Finale," I remember.) So I got curious what year that was, looked it up (1995), then calculated how old I was. I was twelve when "Finale" aired. Twelve. That blows me away. I thought I was, I don't know, fourteen, fifteen? I was twelve. That just seems so young and little, yet I remember it so clearly! I seriously got into Methos when I was only twelve? No wonder so much of this rediscovery seems so new. (And no wonder I was so freaked out when I looked up the series online and discovered slash for the first time!)

Anyway, that was weird. Oh, and also on Sunday night, I remembered that Peter Wingfield (the guy who played Methos) was going to be on an episode of the Oxygen erotica series "Bliss." I remembered about halfway through, so I missed the beginning, but what I saw was really good. He plays a guy who's into bondage, so his wife tries to learn to be a dominatrix. And he shows even more skin than Spike in season six. >:) And he looks very, very nice for a man now in his early forties.

And now I have to get back to work.

(Oh yeah, and I did read the AtS finale spoilers. ( cutting for those people who can't even stand to read brief emotional spoiler reactions ))

Me and Mary at the Saving Angel table we had at the Creation con over the weekend

I also got close-ups of the items on the table, which are here and here.

And a scan of the Saving Angel article which is on the first page of the TV section of the NY Post.

I'll scan the rest of my con photos another time.

Dude. Do you guys see this? SavingAngel is on the front page of cnn.com. (Under "More News").

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/22/television.angel.reut/index.html

Psst ...

Note to drujan: You must go read thedeadlyhook's LJ. You will love her perceptive commentary on the Buffyverse, particularly on Buffy. She's also the one who wrote those wonderful reviews at Just Stake Me.

Note to soulmate815: The wonderful Spike & Joyce story I was telling you about is DeNile by indri. (If anyone else out there hasn't read this one yet, go read it! It's one of my favorite stories ever.)

Yesterday I bought 20 postcards at a gift shop near me ($.35 each) and spent two hours writing notes on all of them, to various people at Fox, ME, UPN, TNT, and certain media outlets. Just need to get postcard stamps tomorrow and I'm set. Now, c'mon everyone, you too. Just pick up some postcards; you'll find addresses here among many other places.

I bought my ticket to the Creation Buffy/Angel con in Jersey in March. Looking forward to seeing rockgoddes and redeem147 and others there. :)

To do:
Figure out if I'm going to Toronto Trek or not
(If so) figure out Toronto Trek hotel room/roommate situation
(If so) get Toronto Trek plane tickets

Figure out how long I want to stay in Vegas
Reserve WriterCon hotel room
Find WriterCon roommates
Get WriterCon plane tickets

I think jaydk is going to handle our DragonCon hotel and airfare, but I must check with her about it.

I spent four hours tonight in the most boring class ever. We watched this movie that was so boring I couldn't *stand* it. I started braiding strands of my hair into little braids, and then braiding the little braids into bigger braids, because I couldn't sit still.

I forget the name of the movie; it was from 1969 and was about a psychologist who talks crazy women into having sex with him (or not) and films it all with a hidden camera. All you see is clips from the hidden camera. Mostly it's these weird women jumping around naked and screeching, and lots of really irritating pretentious selfish people talking about nothing.

Sudden change of topic...

So, let's review:

Action: Giles and Jenny start to get back together after a period of separation
Result: Jenny dies horribly

Action: Angel gets his soul back, reunites with Buffy, she tells him she loves him
Result: Angel dies horribly

Action: Joyce's romantic life starts to pick up, she gets flowers from a suitor
Result: Joyce dies

Action: Tara and Willow have a happy reunion after months of separation
Result: Tara dies horribly

Action: Buffy finally admits to Spike that she loves him
Result: Spike dies horribly

( AtS S5 spoilers )

As much as I admit that Joss Whedon's shows are some of the best on television, he's got his own formula and it's pretty damn predictable.

I also sort of wonder what this means. People start to get together romantically, and misery ensues. Is it a negative comment on romance? Sex = death?

Or is just a way to drive the knife in as deeply as possible, make it hurt extra when the person dies because we see how much promise their life had? Which is kind of disturbing on a couple of levels. First, the implication that a death isn't quite so meaningful if the person's life wasn't full of promise when the person died. Second that romantic love = your life's potential. Romance gives life meaning? Why does romance signify happiness/potential?

The only time I can remember significant death where this didn't happen was with Jonathan and Anya. (Though it's debatable whether the writers even considered Anya's death significant. And she does get back with Xander shortly before, but that's not her big poignant moment, which is her realization about humanity blah blah blah.) In their cases, we saw how much they'd grown as people, and that's what made their deaths hurt so much. I like that method better, though, because the poignance is emphasized by showing who they are and how they've grown as individuals, not just because they're romantically involved with someone.

Meh. I'm just babbling because I'm tired, and it's too much effort to go get ready for bed, and I really ought to update my website before I go to sleep ...

Speaking of which, visits to my site went *way* up this week. I guess it's the Angel cancellation publicity? *cries*

And speaking of that, there are big ads for "One Tree Hill" and "Smallville" all over my neighborhood, and all over the NYU area. No ads for "Angel," though. Gee, maybe the *lack of promotion* could have something to do with that show's comparitively smaller ratings?

And speaking of Smallville, could that show possibly be any more lame? I retract every nice thing I've said about it. The last few episodes have been like bad after school specials. I love Lex, and Lionel, but the minimal time they get is so not worth it.

Totally random topic change again...

Oh, hey, check it out. My dad sent me pictures of my babies cats. Aren't they wonderful? The white one is Vanilla, who is 18 years old and very bossy. The striped one is Angel (named before the TV character existed!) who my dad calls "Penny" and everyone else calls "The Devil Cat." She is insane. Lucifer, the youngest, isn't pictured, because he thinks he's dog and the others wouldn't deign to let him hang out with them.

( Angel and Vanilla )

We had a conversation at work the other day which reminded me what a freak I am. We're writing this book about our favorite vegan products (don't ask, it's not my idea) and we have to all write something about whatever products we like. I suggested that we all write down our ideas privately, in a database-like thing, and then we can reply to each other, sort of like LJ comments. Converse in writing. Everyone else said, no, let's just have a meeting, talk out loud, and someone can transcribe it.

That idea is horrible to me. I would do sooo much better writing on my own than talking in person. In person I'm quiet and inarticulate and totally unable to communicate well. In writing I'm so much more able to say what I mean. (Not that I'm great in writing, but much much better than in person.)

Which reminds me that my colloquium is coming up. Oh, god, panic. ( boring school stuff )

Now. Must find something to archive before bed.... Oh, I know! Doyle said I could archive her secret slasha fic. Okay ... off to archive.

The institution of marriage is pretty stupid. But intolerance sucks.

Still feeling like complete shit over the Angel cancellation.

I am completely disgusted with some of the haughty, condescending, lectury responses that I've seen. You're glad the show is over? You don't like fan campaigns? Fine, don't participate. But that doesn't make you a better person than I am. Get off your high horse and stop acting like you're superior to those of us who care.

[rant directed only to those who are acting snooty, not to those who just don't care for whatever reasons]

I wasn't particularly enjoying Angel this season. I'm still completely disgusted that it was cancelled. A bad episode of AtS is still better than damn near anything else on television. At least they're trying to do something original, to make people think, to break boundaries, instead of just appealing to the lowest common denominator.

It's fucked up that this culture venerates mediocrity. It's fucked up that passionate, intelligent, creative people either have to dumb down their work or face constant struggles and very little chance of success. It's fucked up that Charmed got renewed instead of Angel, or that The Cruxshadows and Common Rotation are struggling in near-obscurity while Britney Spears sells millions of records. It's fucked up that my high school cancelled the challenging, quality-and-art-focused Media Arts class in favor of the lame, propogandistic, poorly-produced Television Production class. That's just the way our culture is.

Anyway. I have barely slept all week, so I'm very incoherent right now.

I went to see Common Rotation in Connecticut today. A "living room show" -- they come to people's houses and play in their living rooms. It was pretty neat--I took the train up with soulmate815, we went to this woman's house, ate party food and drank beer, watched the band play in the living room. There were maybe ... 20? 30? people there. I suck with numbers. The band members were around and talking, which was neat, though I didn't talk to any of them--I'm content to enjoy their music, but I wouldn't really call myself a fan. Well, fan in the casual "I enjoy your art" sense, not in the "I care enough to wonder about you as a person" sense. Anyway, it was fun. Then thefangirl and her friend drove us back to Manhattan, which was nice, and it was good to hang out with thefangirl. (And it was her birthday. Happy birthday, again!)

Anyway. Then I came home, read Joss's message, and started crying. Stupid WB.

I hate watching fandom fade away. I know a lot of people will stick around, and there will still be a core group years and years from now. But a lot of people will leave, and it's going to suck. Watching my favorite writers disappear, watching my favorite websites shut down, watching my website become irrelevant ... it's all going to suck.

Also (inspired by a discussion with some people tonight about the politics of friending): If you want to defriend me, for god's sake, please do. I'm not going to have a crying fit or hate you forever because of it. Interests diverge, personalities conflict, it happens.

I have a lot of people on my flist because I want to keep up with their fic, btw, and I know that we have little in common and that they're probably annoyed or bored by my posts. Don't feel obligated to keep me on your flist; just post your fic publicly to make sure I don't miss it. ;)

Oh, and *hugs* to everyone who IM'd me the other day. It really helped to have people to talk to. I apologize for being slow to answer--I got a little overwhelmed a couple of times. But, anyway, thanks.

I just read this over, and damn, this is a schizophrenic post. Political, bitchy, sad, happy, sad, depressed, bitchy, grateful. Huh. Must go catch up on sleep....

*cries*

ETA::

Teep posted this on BAPS:

Complain or ask for a Spike spin-off here:

Fax: 818-977-4033
Voicemail: 818-977-5000 - ask for voicemail feedback
E-mail: faces@thewb.com
Feedback: http://www.thewb.com/Shows/WithFeedback/0,9310,74510,00.html
Spike Feedback: http://www.thewb.com/Faces/CastBio/0,7930,130649,00.html
Message Boards: http://talk.thewb.com/viewforum.php?forum=4&408677

Jordan Levin, President - Entertainment
WB Entertainment
4000 Warner Blvd., Bldg. 34R
Burbank, CA 91522

I'm sure there will be a more organized campaign. Um. Right?