This just in
Aug. 29th, 2006 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaClarification about (and apology for!) the Harlan Ellison thing. Let me repeat that: Ellison apologized! I should issue a clarification of my own--I had heard the "little fuck" story, but the context I heard it in was that it had been attributed to Ellison (specifically, in an elevator) as well as a few other people, much the way Marie Antoinette wasn't even the first person to get stuck with "Let them eat cake." In fact, I honestly don't think the "little fuck" thing happened to anyone, as it's a little too pat and perfect--it sounds like a really good punchline that someone came up with and tried to create an anecdote around. (Read that Snopes link, though, for a similar joke about Michael Dunn and Sophia Loren. There be lolz in them thar hills.)
More prettiness at The Costumer's Guide--better Marie Antoinette Vogue scans, some Pirates 3 pics (okay, I think that really is Keira's stunt double), and the revelation that "Eragon is exactly like Episode IV with dragons." Well, that bodes well.
More stills from Little Miss Sunshine. And here's one of the best moments in the movie, IMO--Steve Carell leaping out of the bus like he's on a SWAT team and hauling ass into the pageant. What gets me is that it's Frank putting on all that speed--not Olive's parents, not her brother, but the disaffected uncle who barely seemed to know any of them two days before. There's something really sweet about that. That, and the part where her father and brother do go backstage--separately!--and say, "We can't let Olive do this." And the way Frank and Dwayne walk into the auditorium and then walk right back out with expressions of abject horror. Seriously, I could probably talk about this all day. I liked it well enough at the time, but the more I think about it, the more the movie grows on me.
Christ on a cracker.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
outinthestorm initially told me she'd heard this on the radio, and I actually asked her to go back and make sure it wasn't a joke. It sounded too outrageous not to be, you know? I figured I'd learned my lesson with passing joke-gossip like the "little fuck" story (see above) off as fact (whether I actually intended to or not). Well, she comes back with quotes and a link. In case you're scanning the article wondering what the hell I'm talking about, here it is: "Karr had made graphic claims in a series of emails about JonBenet's killing, describing sexual acts with her, her death and writing at one point that he envisioned Johnny Depp playing him in a movie about how he killed JonBenet." Two thoughts:
1. It ain't "I shot the president for love of Jodie Foster," but it's filed in the nonviolent category right behind it.
2. Oh, AS IF, Loserville McCreepysweat. That, and quite frankly, the last half hour of Little Miss Sunshine is the closest I ever want to get to seeing JonBenet portrayed on screen, and that was heeb-inducing enough.
More prettiness at The Costumer's Guide--better Marie Antoinette Vogue scans, some Pirates 3 pics (okay, I think that really is Keira's stunt double), and the revelation that "Eragon is exactly like Episode IV with dragons." Well, that bodes well.
More stills from Little Miss Sunshine. And here's one of the best moments in the movie, IMO--Steve Carell leaping out of the bus like he's on a SWAT team and hauling ass into the pageant. What gets me is that it's Frank putting on all that speed--not Olive's parents, not her brother, but the disaffected uncle who barely seemed to know any of them two days before. There's something really sweet about that. That, and the part where her father and brother do go backstage--separately!--and say, "We can't let Olive do this." And the way Frank and Dwayne walk into the auditorium and then walk right back out with expressions of abject horror. Seriously, I could probably talk about this all day. I liked it well enough at the time, but the more I think about it, the more the movie grows on me.
Christ on a cracker.
outinthestorm initially told me she'd heard this on the radio, and I actually asked her to go back and make sure it wasn't a joke. It sounded too outrageous not to be, you know? I figured I'd learned my lesson with passing joke-gossip like the "little fuck" story (see above) off as fact (whether I actually intended to or not). Well, she comes back with quotes and a link. In case you're scanning the article wondering what the hell I'm talking about, here it is: "Karr had made graphic claims in a series of emails about JonBenet's killing, describing sexual acts with her, her death and writing at one point that he envisioned Johnny Depp playing him in a movie about how he killed JonBenet." Two thoughts:1. It ain't "I shot the president for love of Jodie Foster," but it's filed in the nonviolent category right behind it.
2. Oh, AS IF, Loserville McCreepysweat. That, and quite frankly, the last half hour of Little Miss Sunshine is the closest I ever want to get to seeing JonBenet portrayed on screen, and that was heeb-inducing enough.
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Date: 2006-08-30 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-08-30 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:52 am (UTC)I have a massive crush on son Dwayne though. He had awesome chemistry with Carell, and his first words in the movie both made me laugh and wanna cry. I loved the whole damn thing.
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Date: 2006-08-30 01:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-08-30 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:54 am (UTC)That is maybe the best idea ever.
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Date: 2006-08-30 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 01:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:04 am (UTC)This will not be news to anybody who's read the damn thing, or even (as I did) gave up halfway through it.
Plot summary of as-far-as-I-read, with no great spoilers unless you haven't seen Episode IV:
LukeEragon is a young lad growing up in a rural backwater, raised by an uncleBenwho may not really be his uncle. (If there is a reason why his name looks like 'Dragon' misspelled, I haven't heard it.) His uncle also has a kid of his own, one of the few characters who doesn't seem to have a direct Star Wars analog.Meanwhile, elsewhere in the kingdom, Important Lady has been cornered by Minions of Evil, led by the Evil
EmperorKing's Chief Henchman, an imposing fellow who dresses all in black. She's unable to escape, but as her last act before they get her she teleports a McGuffin away. (The McGuffin is a big round rock, which sadly is not voiced by Anthony Daniels AFAIK.)Eragon finds the McGuffin. Despite growing up on a farm he is unable to figure out what it is, even though it's oval-shaped and sounds hollow. Even when the goddamn thing starts CHIRPING. Eventually it hatches into a dragon, which promptly forms a telepathic bond with Eragon, in the hope that George Lucas' lawyers will trip over Anne McCaffrey's and give the author time to make his escape. He hides the dragon in the woods; unfortunately, he didn't keep the egg secret enough, and the Forces of Evil have heard about it.
Eragon's cousin decides to set out to seek his fortune. The uncle gives the two of them a grandiose speech along the lines of "you are men today, be true to yourself and wash behind the ears, there is nothing more I can teach you" and I mentally cancel his life insurance policy. Eragon goes out to visit the dragon, and returns to find that the FoE have trashed the place and killed his uncle.
Okay, that was the subtle part. From here on in, it gets more blatant. (cont.)
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:17 am (UTC)JediDragon Riders, a mystical order of do-gooders who used to fly around the land upholding good and defeating evil. (After dropping painfully strong hints for about a hundred pages, Brom will eventually reveal that he used to be a Dragon Rider, which surprises Eragon rather more than it does the reader.) Eventually, though, the Dragon Riders made the mistake of recruiting a young lad who had great mystic power, but was headstrong and ruled by his passions, and eventually his passions led him to betray and destroy the order, wiping out almost all of the Dragon Riders and plunging the land into tyranny.Oh, and it turns out that beside the telepathic dragon bond thing, Dragon Riders also have miscellaneous
Forcemagical powers. As they travel, Brom teaches Eragon how to use those powers as well as how to fight with alight sabersword. (In case you're wondering, the dragon tags along with them inconspicuously, either flying or on the ground, I can't remember.)That's about where I gave up. My stepson, who is made of stronger stuff and read into the next book, informs me that after Brom gets killed saving Eragon, our hero seeks out a weird mystic guy who lives in the woods, who gives him further Dragon Rider Teaching and also turns out to be an old Dragon Rider, although whether he has Frank Oz's hand up his butt is not revealed.
Oh, and it turns out that Dark Evil Chief Henchman Guy is Eragon's father.
...you know, I remember when Jeremy Irons did respected movies.
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:09 am (UTC)I really need to slow down when I read...I could have sworn that said Keira's SMUT double.
*grin*
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:10 am (UTC)Having said that, I somehow think that if this little tidbit were to come to Johnny Depp's attention, his first reaction would not be: "I'm getting Tim Burton on the phone, and he, Danny Elfman and I are going to make magic with this one."
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:38 am (UTC)Besides, I keep trying to imagine what the hell would *be* in such a movie. Karr outside the Ramsey house drooling in the bushes? There's a reason they don't make many movies about true-crime child molesters: it's because *no one wants to watch them.*
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:22 am (UTC)WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU. PEOPLE. Their crazy pills are laced with other shit, I swear.
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 02:39 am (UTC)Speaking of creepies ... have you ever seen the documentary "Living Dolls"?
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 02:43 am (UTC)O.o I thought DNA tests would all cost the same. SHows what I know...
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:49 am (UTC)And the movie wouldn't be just a little indie nugget either, it would be a blockbuster raking in $1 billion (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_JonBenet_Ramsey_Karr.html). He also told professor Tracey, "I'm not gay, damn it. I am attracted to female children." And he wants to have a sex change and become a nanny in Europe.
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Date: 2006-08-30 02:55 am (UTC)life imitates art?
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Date: 2006-08-30 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 04:47 am (UTC)Johnny Depp wouldn't touch that project with a ten-foot pole!! that just irritates me! why? i dunno, but it does....that Karr would even suggest something like that!!
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Date: 2006-08-30 05:19 am (UTC)Eragon is written by a fifteen-year-old? I knew I hated that book for a reason, and now I hate it more. Despite never having read much of it so I know it's not justified. But. Who gets published at fifteen? Envyyyyyyyyyy.
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Date: 2006-08-30 05:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-30 06:20 am (UTC)Seriously, if my future daughter turns to me and says "Mommy, I wanna be in pageants." then I'm going to lock her into a chastity belt and make her wear flannel until she turns 16. (Okay, severe overexaggeration, but EEEEEK.)
ZOMG Cleo!!
Date: 2006-08-30 02:49 pm (UTC)It'd be even worse if it was Oliver Wood's broom. I'll just leave it at that. *snigger*
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Date: 2006-08-30 03:32 pm (UTC)That's still fucked up.
Challenged books
Date: 2006-08-30 06:20 pm (UTC)In recent years, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom has seen a steady increase in reported book challenges in our libraries. That is, until this year. This year, for some unexplained reason, there have been fewer challenges reported to the office. Our sense, based upon news reports, is that challenges continue to occur at a high level, yet they are not being reported.
Due to budget cutbacks, the OIF no longer subscribes to a clipping service that can provide this valuable information. It is extremely important to our defense of Intellectual Freedom that the Association is able to track these challenges. It is especially important as we approach Banned Books Week (September 23-30). The data we gain through reported challenges help us prepare this program and understand the issues facing our members.
Please spread the word in your state and region that the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom would like to receive reports of all materials challenged in our libraries. Reports--all kept confidential--can be made to ebyrne@ala.org or dstone@ala.org, or online at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/challengesupport/reporting/challengedatabaseform.html.
Further information concerning challenges may be viewed on the OIF Web site at http://www.ala.org/oif/challengesupport.
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Sucks when measurement adjustments pull the rug out from under really good news.