Slightly less frozen today

[cleolinda]

Quick update on my hand (deep cat bite, for those of you just now joining us): The inflammation is still pretty spread out, but it doesn't seem to be getting any bigger, and it inflamed towards my fingers, rather than up the rest of my arm. There's no actual swelling or pus, no weird colors, nothing like that. I've started taking Advil and bathing the punctures/inflamed areas with hydrogen peroxide, which has made the inflammation fade a little bit. I've been using Neosporin since it first happened, and now I'm kind of alternating that with the peroxide. All in all, it doesn't look much better, but it doesn't look any worse, and the Advil's chased away most of the pain/discomfort and feverishness for now. (Which is not to say that it doesn't hurt at all--it's definitely sore, and I'm not losing any feeling.) I'm keeping an eye on it, but as long as it doesn't get any worse, I may just wait it out. I think the biggest factor in that decision, based on the horror stories y'all told me, is that there's no actual swelling and no pus. It's just sort of sunburned-looking. If I do go out to a movie this weekend, I may meet up with my friend the vet, and I may have him look at it--he's been working with animals since high school, and God knows he'd have experience with scratches and bites--just to tell me if I need to get some antibiotics. Obviously, if my hand falls off between now and Saturday y'all will have the last laugh, but at the moment things seem to be under control.

Linkspam: Cancer deaths drop for second year. "Cancer deaths in the United States have dropped for a second straight year, confirming that a corner has been turned in the war on cancer. After a decline of 369 deaths from 2002 to 2003, the decrease from 2003 to 2004 was 3,014 -- or more than eight times greater, according to a review of U.S. death certificates by the American Cancer Society."

Mystery of Napoleon's Death Said Solved. And it's not arsenic, either.

No softies in Canada's Pillow Fight League.

Diana Ross to mentor on 'American Idol'. Speaking of whom: Diana Ross upset over Dreamgirls.

Hollywood's movie ratings system gets makeover: "For the first time in its 38-year history, the group that operates the system plans to make its ratings rules and regulations public. It will also describe the standards for each rating, and detail the appeal process. In addition, it plans to publish demographic information about the parents who serve on the ratings board and reveal the identities of its senior raters. To date, the identities of the people who hand out the various ratings -- such as the family-friendly 'G' and the much-feared 'NC-17' -- have been a closely guarded secret. However, filmmaker Kirby Dick attempted to expose the members in his 2006 documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated."

"Children of Men" novelist, screenwriters win award.

Heigl upset with co-star's comments. Okay, this is an interesting one. Remember the Washington-Dempsey choking episode on the set of Grey's Anatomy last fall? Supposedly because Washington called T.R. Knight a slur, and Knight then came out publically as a result? Well, someone asked the cast about it backstage at the Globes:

During an interview in the press room after the show's best-drama win, Washington denied his involvement in a heated on-set incident in October during which he allegedly used a homophobic slur. "No, I did not call (co-star) T.R. (Knight) a faggot," Washington said. "Never happened, never happened." Rather than soothing the situation, his comments left Heigl seething. "I'm going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period," Heigl told "Access Hollywood" at a Golden Globe after-party. "I'm sorry, that did not need to be said. I'm not OK with it."

A different version of the article: Katherine Heigl weighs in on the Grey's Drama (bolding is mine):

"I don't think [Washington] means it the way he comes off…But, T.R. is my best friend. I will throw down for that kid. I will beat you up. I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings," she said. When asked if she thought Knight was hurt by Washington's comments she added, "I don't see how you could not be under those circumstances. Drawing attention to it and saying the word again is just unnecessary."

As Jessica of GFY points out on SF, it's a revealing choice of words: Washington must have really said it, if he's saying it "again" now. Meanwhile, Knight was on Ellen DeGeneres' show Tuesday confirming it. But what really convinces me, in such a he said/she said situation, is that Heigl unconsciously revealed what happened.

Unique Blood and Chocolate advertising on Livejournal. I think it's a great idea. Livejournal had announced a while back that they wanted to do corporated-sponsored communities), but they wanted companies to find a way to be creative about it. So the B&C studio approached them:

So instead I said: hey, why don't we do it this way. Let's make the community be the LJ entries of Vivian, the main character, during the early parts of the movie. Getting behind the scenes on her thoughts and fears, that kind of thing. That's nothing new; hell, the official website has a few pages of Vivian's "journal" on it. Nothing revolutionary. So, where's the uniquely LJ "feel" to that? Or, as Joy (our sales manager) asked, "Where's the community interaction?" (Which is what the entire point of a sponsored comm on LJ is.) "Easy," I said. "We'll let people play along. Comment as though they're talking to her, like it's any LJ account ever -- and she'll comment back."

See, I love this kind of thing. It's that whole alternate-reality gaming/unfiction thing that we saw with the A.I. Cloudmakers game and the Dionaea House story. I would absolutely love to do this kind of thing, but I haven't been able to come up with a story, and planned out far enough in advance, that would work. (I don't want to use the Black Ribbon world because it's not published yet; I'd rather get something like that going with the cooperation of a publisher.) I'm at a point where I'd even love to contribute to someone else's ARG, although at this point I'd like to get paid for it if it's going to advertise something; God knows I could use some gainful employment (Will Pretend for Food). And I did go and check out the comm, and it's very thoroughly up front about being an advertisement for Blood and Chocolate--almost more so than I would like; there's no real mystery to it. It's more of an RPG than unfiction, which at least has that is it/isn't it gloss over it. But perhaps that transparency is more important to preserve LJ users' trust. Anyway, if this works, I expect you could see more--and bigger--movie marketing teams getting in on it.

Comments

[preciosatt.livejournal.com]

Katherine Heigl is my new girl of the month (I'm fickle like that). She and the entire cast has had to put up with IW because Shonda is clearly an idiot who can't see that this thing is going to be divisive to her cast, and it's about time that someone said something.

You know I remember the big OMGOHNOEZ!!! when LJ said that they would have sponsered communities but so far they haven't been intrusive and some of them (like the Nissan Sentra one) have been silly and interesting. No harm done. Why is it that everytime LJ announces a change people flip their shit?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh, I didn't even know about the Nissan one, or, indeed, that there were already any in play. See, people? You can lead a completely normal LJ life and not have advertising horn in on your territory if you don't want it to.

[sucrelefey.livejournal.com]

Why is it that everytime LJ announces a change people flip their shit?

Because even with all those that worked right there is an example of one that screwed up real bad.

[sucrelefey.livejournal.com]

You just take care of yourself first and foremost. I know one of the medic or not variables down there is whether one has the money/coverage for treatment unfortunately.

[cabell.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Blood & Chocolate thing is super cool. I was just thinking about that yesterday when I saw a "sponsored" community for a horror movie on my Facebook news feed. Viral marketing is really starting to interest me.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

My take on it is that, when it's reasonably transparent about what it really is (an advertisement), viral marketing--or let's even call it narrative marketing--is actually better for the consumer, because they're giving you longterm content for free, giving you a game to play or a story to follow, but one that you have to seek out after initially hearing about it. It's not a pop-up window or a Flash ad on an unrelated web page or even a stupid TV commercial that you're sick of hearing. You choose to be engaged by it, and they have to work to engage you, and they're giving you free entertainment up front whether you buy the product or not. But at the same time, you are far more likely to remember the product or buy it if they have engaged your participation. I feel like it's a far more fulfilling, symbiotic relationship than just plastering web sites with ads, you know?

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

You know what it reminds me of? It's just like those asian fast food places that you typically find in food courts. While you're standing around wondering where to eat, they walk up and hand you a chunk of Bourbon chicken — it's always Bourbon chicken — on a toothpick. Whether you eat there or not, you just got a free piece of Bourbon chicken. And Bourbon chicken rocks.

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

Man, that Blood and Chocolate idea would be awesome is they hadn't completely fucked up the storyline and characters anyway. Oops.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Damn, I was afraid of that. I love that book!

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's pretty much Underworld 3. It started going wrong with the pack living in... Romania or something, then they pretty much cut out Vivian's mother and I'm pretty sure the whole thing's going to end with her running off with the artist boy.

[kelcea.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Love the book. The movie looks disappointing.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did hear that it bears only a slight resemblance to the book, unfortunately.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

I'll probably still go see it; as long as I stick it in a different box in my head than the book, I should still be able to enjoy it-- as long as it is, in fact, a good film.

Though I do hope she doesn't end up with Aiden. It's just so.. predictable. In the book, at least, the ending was totally fulfilling.

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! I want to know why Rafe and the gang are british. BRITISH! AND THEY'RE IN SUITS! THEY'RE METAL HEADS! THEY DON'T WEAR SUITS! AAUGHHH

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

I'd really like to know what's up with Gabriel's pastede-on Dracula accent, personally. Or when Viv ever went after anyone with a shotgun or whipped out her seekrit karate moves.

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

I know! That's why I liked her so much! Because she was a werewolf, sure, but she was so NORMAL.

[jessica-dwg.livejournal.com]

You might want to see a doctor to check it out, even if it's only inflamed a little bit. My father actually had cat scratch fever, and it was not pretty. It can take a week or two to show up, so if you start feeling run down or have swollen lymph nodes, get to the doctor asap. It's generally not that bad, but my father had a fairly severe case which ended up affecting his vision for a week or so, so I say err on the side of caution.

[squishysquidgy.livejournal.com]

I agree with seeing a doctor. My mum was bitten by a stray cat a couple of years ago and our neighbour, an ex-nurse, took her to the ER straight away because things like that can get nasty and serious. Mum was given a tetnus injection and had her hand bandaged up for a little while.

There's a particular medical word for the problem she had from the bite, and I'm trying to think of what it is, but I can't remember. I'm thinking of "swell" or "cellulitosis" or something along those lines. Ah! Cellulitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulitis). I'm 99% sure that's it (it was a few year ago so I'm a tad hazy).

[colean.livejournal.com]

I'm also going to suggest going to the doctor to get an antibiotic today. Once upon a time I worked as a vet tech, and I can tell you that anytime a tech or vet got bitten by a cat, it was an automatic trip to the doctor to get an antibiotic. Right then and there, no waiting. That's how serious we took them and really its all for the best. These days I work at a pharmacy and I cant tell you the number of times I've had to fill rx's for people who waited out animal bites. It rarely turns out well. Best of luck with it :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Shit. Overnight the inflammation spread, and it does look like cellulitis--it was even getting a little purple in the middle until I put on some more peroxide, and it's starting to itch now. Fuck. My not being able to drive is the major problem here--I think everyone in the family has just been hoping/pretending that it's no big deal because it's such a hassle to get me to the doctor.

[bigeyedrabbit.livejournal.com]

But, T.R. is my best friend. I will throw down for that kid. I will beat you up. I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings

Awww, they're BFF just like Doris Day and Rock Hudson! <3 <3 <3

(This only occurred to me because I read some magazine article where Heigl cited Doris Day as her fasion idol. But it still makes me a huge dork.)

BFF means getting to use your brass knuckles

[gryvnos.livejournal.com]

"Is a fag-hag gonna hafta smack a bitch?!"

Heigl is officially my new favorite person. Full of sass, that one.

Re: BFF means getting to use your brass knuckles

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

Heigl is awesome.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Blood and Chocolate link. That's very cool that she got to do that! It reminds me of helpmeveronica.com (http://www.helpmeveronica.com) in a way (which, er, I'd like to apologize for spamming your journal a couple times), but much more transparent. It's more transparent than I would have guessed (or wanted, like you), but I agree that it's more important for trust issues.

I'd love to get paid to do an ARG too! I mean, the amount of time I spent on HMV, shit. It's a lot of fun, though, and if this becomes a success, and they start employing fans to make more fun for other fans...doesn't everybody win, really?

[mckennl.livejournal.com]

The sooner one begins using antibiotics to treat an infection, the easier it is to beat. I have heard too many cat-bite horror stories not to want you to rush out right now and get something.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

I think I forgot to comment on the cat bite post, so a belated "owwwie" and "hope it heals fast" on that. I suspect the reaction you got might be allergic, even if you're not normally allergic to cats. An allergic reaction is just another way of saying your immune system's freaking out, after all.
--
"The upcoming changes, he added, aren't intended as a response to the Dick documentary. Glickman, a former Clinton administration cabinet member, said he began reaching out to the independents as soon as he took over from Jack Valenti, the lobbyist who came up with the ratings system, in September 2004."

Suuuure. That's why it took until after the movie came out before we saw any action.

Linky linky

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Judith Regan's imprint to close (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/books/16cnd-regan.html?ex=157680000&en=b12de14d781791b2&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)

Bush cedes power over domestic spying (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/17/domestic.spying/index.html) (In other words, all his arguments about the courts not being fast enough were nonsense.)

[falco-conlon.livejournal.com]

yeah, heigle is pretty kick ass. Iszy is a wonderful character too. She just broke my heart second season, plain and simple.

Here's hoping the hand clears up! It would be much more difficult to type with just one.

[ailaes.livejournal.com]

I don't usually do this - but I was wondering if you would put up this. (http://gazette.com/display.php?id=1328868) This is one of the worst fires in local history, and dozens of people are now homeless and in dire need of help. The local Red Cross is asking for monetary donations, and any help is appreciated.

Many thanks if you put it up.

[nohara-megami.livejournal.com]

Just incase you were wondering, or if anyone else was, here is an update about the woman who died of water posioning after the radio station contest in Sacramento, California.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16660273/?GT1=8921

[alpheratz.livejournal.com]

I'm curiously disappointed in the truth about Napoleon's death. Although there is a certain awesomeness to a ha-HA! Not what you expected! aspect of it.

[delle.livejournal.com]

Diana Ross is only getting upset about Dreamgirls NOW? She DOES realize it played on Broadway for years?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh, that was my thought.

[shesnotallthere.livejournal.com]

Glad you're doing well. Considering where the punctures are, the soreness will probably continue for a number of days, since you can't just stop using your hand until it heals completely.

You can probably stop using the peroxide at this point, and just stick with the Neosporin and Band-Aids. If it makes you feel better to use it, it won't hurt anything, but the punctures are probably as flushed out as they're going to get by now.

[themadfish.livejournal.com]

Just because I'm so excited about this and no one is awake for me to squeal over it:

Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R Martin got optioned by HBO:
http://grrm.livejournal.com/11326.html

[angelan.livejournal.com]

Really? Wow. I hope it gets made - it's always really sad when you get super excited about these things, and they just fade away to nothing.

[telepresent.livejournal.com]

Hey. I was recommended to friend you by elendiari22 the other day - although I was in a bit of a hurry and just thumping links, didn't have time to post a message... sorry.

Anyway, I'm on here for a bit of an odd reason, and I hope you'll take time to check it out and say hi. In fact, that Blood and Chocolate thing is quite fascinating, methinks...

Cheers!

Blood and Chocolate

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

Mmm . .. read the book, and even though a lot of fans are pissed at what they're doing to the original plot, it looks like it might be good if I just think of it as a separate entity from the books. Also, it comes out right after my exams finish, so I can think, "Oh, thank God it's over. Now, BRING ON THE WEREWOLVES!"
But in general, I find diary-format books tend towards the younger female crowd. Like Dear Canada or the Royal Diaries, both of which I loved when was ten or so, but have since grown out of. It might be okay, I dunno . . .