Monday night, a little hectic

[cleolinda]

I'm deeply behind on my linkspam because my internet connection hates me, so it's going to be a little scattershot today. I have a story about a neighborhood feud, but I'm saving that for a less busy entry.

Golden Compass updates:

I saw it and loved it.

All the images I have of the scenes moved to The Subtle Knife. Some good stuff in there. If you didn't see the preview this past weekend and want to hold off, I'll repost the link next weekend when the movie's out proper. Note: I haven't gone through and labeled everything yet, but the images come from Bridge to the Stars, Queste Oscure Materie, the official Golden Compass site, and screencaps from I think all the trailers/previews but the very last one. Warning: spoilers.

News: Christian groups slam new Kidman children's movie. Yes, but I love her dress. The Carpetbagger: ‘Compass’ Points to Franchise ("In 'The Golden Compass' the monstrous polar bears, which make for a nice bit of Ultimate Fighting right in the middle of the movie, are alone worth the price of admission"); The Chronicles of Atheism ("It’s certainly worth a read for anyone who wants to be fully informed of the arguments about The Golden Compass"); Peter Jackson's role in getting the movie made; BBC Radio 4 likes the movie, "dismisses" negative Christian reaction (also links to Philip Pullman's own piece in the Sunday Times; Bridge to the Stars writeup contains an apropos typo); Is 'Golden Compass' 'selling atheism to kids'? ("But at least one liberal scholar has called the trilogy a 'theological masterpiece,' and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rates the film 'intelligent and well-crafted entertainment'." SHHHH, NO ONE TELL PULLMAN); The Golden Compass Board Game; Guided Tours of Lyra’s Oxford; Win a part in The Subtle Knife Movie. FAO Schwarz has GC plush toys, btw. They also have the exclusive on the gold-dress Mrs. Coulter doll.

(A conversation my mother and I had in the car on the way home from the movie:

"Well, I know how important it was for you to see this--I know this was your childhood."

"Uh... actually, I didn't read these books until I was out of college."

"... What? "

"Yeah, I don't even think they were written until the mid-nineties."

"..." )

Major kerfluffles:

>> SixApart sold Livejournal to a Russian corporation. I'm sorry, but there's a Child of the Cold War deep inside me filled with completely irrational panic over this. "Yesterday we announced that LiveJournal has a new home. Today it's time to celebrate! We're throwing a private party tonight in San Francisco to toast to the future of LiveJournal. Joinlj_2008 - our new community dedicated to discussing what's next for LJ - and get an exclusive invitation to the party from brad." WELL NOW I'M CONVINCED! Also: Russia Growls at LiveJournal Deal (2006). "That's why I am thinking that Sup's goal is not to earn, but rather to spend money for some very important reason ... the destruction of our [Russian] LiveJournal community, which is very organized and even dangerous to the [Russian] government." Furthermore: "To allay the fears of political persecution voiced by Russian LiveJournal users of all stripes, Six Apart and Sup are allowing Russian users to opt out of migration to Sup, keeping all dynamic files -- like blog posts -- exclusively on American soil. Of course, if a blogger wants no part of their data to ever reside with Sup, they should opt out soon, before their information is transferred."

>> SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) is imploding. Again. Some more.

>> Another writer trying to profit from her fanfic: "She’s also trying to sell her HP sequel because the Writers Guild of America told her it was okay and J.K. Rowling only holds the copyright to the first seven books in the series anyway. Bonus! She also posed as a US soldier stationed in Iraq in order to receive care packages." Note: Nothing in that first sentence is actually true.

>> Eidos gets game reviewer fired over bad review.

>> Update: Facebook's Beacon More Intrusive Than Previously Thought ("Beacon will report back to Facebook on members' activities on third-party sites that participate in Beacon even if the users are logged off from Facebook and have declined having their activities broadcast to their Facebook friends"); Webomatica tells Firefox users how to block it. Also, guess who's on the corporate affiliate list? LiveJournal. Which is now owned by a Russian corporation. I'm just saying.

Linkspam:

Venezuelans reject Chavez's bid for new powers.

Evel Knievel dies at 69.

Hostage-taker at Clinton office gives up.

Court rules employee worked to death.

Vote! The best books of 2007.

Wal-Mart to record labels: Ditch DRM!

Thieves steal 17 tons of Christmas ham.

Why bad kissers don't get to second base.

Via John Scalzi: Kitty Wigs.

New publicity pics of Batman and Joker; Yet Another 'Dark Knight' Viral Website.

First Reviews Call 'Sweeney Todd' Best Film of 2007; pics from the Sweeney Todd premiere (my God, Johnny Depp cleaned up for the occasion! So did Keith Richards!); Sweeney Todd: Behind the Scenes Footage.

Construction Begins on "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" In Florida.

Tim Roth on The Incredible Hulk 's Abomination; Ed Norton and 'Hulk' Co-Star Return for 'Leaves of Grass.'

Update: Bale in Negotiations for Terminator.

Cloverfield has been seen.

Your First Look at Sam Rockwell in 'Choke'; 'I Am Legend' Director to Tackle Palahniuk's 'Survivor' Next.

New 'Wanted' stills with McAvoy and Jolie; James McAvoy on ''Atonement'.'

Katherine Heigl Admits That If It Were Up To Her, She Would Probably Have Aborted Seth Rogen's Love Child.

Comments

[etherealshores.livejournal.com]

You're not alone in the panic, lovely. I'm so enraged over this.

LJ is only going to go downhill from here.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, one of the articles mentioned that it's sort of a franchise-licensee situation, where if Russia tries to put any pressure on Sup (is it Sup or SUP?), they can say, "Oh, we can't do that, it would break our agreement with 6A and we'd lose the contract." In a more realistic sense, it may just be another crappy service manager, no worse/same as 6A. In a lot of ways, Facebook outright lying about the Beacon opt-out is almost more disturbing.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

No, they are breaking with 6A altogether after next year. Brad, remember, is no longer working at 6A (he's at Google now).

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I thought Brad just said in his new entry that he's going to be on a new advisory board?

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Just to try to clarify again:

SUP = Independent Russian company
6A = free agent as of 2008 (but collaborating with SUP for 2008 only)
Brad = working for Google, but also on SUP's LJ advisory board, but NOT connected to 6A.
LiveJournal Inc. = SUP subsidiary residing in the US, but NOT connected to 6A anymore. All the old LJ employees are staying with LiveJournal Inc. rather than 6A.

ETA: Trying to clean up the posts a little so as not to make a worse mess of your entry.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

I feel really good about that last one, with Katherine Heigl.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Cleo, you should emphasize up top that that Wired article was from 2006, and it's about the handover of the Russian part of LJ only, not the current brouhaha.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

(It's still informative, of course, because all the people involved are the same.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Right--I should have mentioned that as well.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

also, Kitty Wigs:
Silver makes your kitty feel sexy and smart, like a cougar on the prowl.

I'm thinking that the cat would think "There is some piece of crap on my head that I can't get rid of. WTF. SHAME."

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. Why does a cat need to feel sexy or smart? Why does it care? Why does a wig accomplish that?

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Also: cougar?

[ladyvoldything.livejournal.com]

Cougars are a bit silly-looking with their small heads. Leopards are much sexier.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I REALLY wish I hadn't purchased that permanent account. *sigh*

Ooh, guess what, though? I couldn't attend that advance screening you linked before, BUT I just got 2 free passes to one that's tomorrow! Squee!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

I know! We got the passes through the Washington Sci Fi Assoc. (which is also who hosted the dinner with those authors a bit ago). You know, if there is a local SF group in your area, you should see about joining. There are some definite pluses to being a member of these groups. :)

[jackieocean.livejournal.com]

That Facebook and Beacon thing is creepy. Thanks for the link on the blocker that you can download. I just installed it. And LJ being sold to a Russian company definitely caused my eyebrows to go up.

[quasar360.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'm a child of pre-1991 Russia and I'm filled with irrational DO NOT WANT over this. Granted, I'm a very Americanized version thereof, but still. I, personally, don't trust Russian authority figures farther than I can throw them (which would be, like, 2 inches tops, as I am a tiny thing).

re: CleanedUp!Johnny - SQUEE!!!

Bale in Negotiations for Terminator
I read that, and it did not compute. What?! Why? Also the line "... as he leads what is left of the human race against the machines" just makes it sound like a Matrix remake. Again, why?

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew what to think about this Russian stuff. Could they really do a worse job than 6A? On the otherhand, I'm a child of the Cold War too...

[thefireisblack.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm a long time lurker in your journal and this move of LJ, I knew it was being moved again but I didn't know our info was moving to. Where do you sign up if you wish to opt out of being moved off American soil?

[careyleah.livejournal.com]

I'm still forming an opinion on this whole thing, but according to staff in the posts/new comms, the (english) servers & new corp (LiveJournal, Inc.) are remaining in San Fran on American soil - they sort of say this in the "FAQ", but they've answered it in the comments in several places. The above article referencing Russian servers is old, about the licensing of the cyrillic portion of LJ to SUP in 2006. See comm here for more: lj_2008. I just hope it all stays the way they say it's going to, but I'm wary. Anyway, hope that helps (even though I'm not Cleo!).

[thefireisblack.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was just worried that they already went through with it and that there might only be a small oppurtunity to opt out.

[hollywdliz.livejournal.com]

I stopped by the LJ party in San Francisco for half an hour. I was on my lunch break, so alas, I could not take advantage of the open bar. But I did meet Frank the Goat (who was outside, as I suspect he was underage). It was an odd mix of people, but maybe it got better later in the evening after I was back in the salt mines.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

It was a pretty good time. I wrote it up (http://spectralbovine.livejournal.com/109775.html), complete with picture of Frank and me.

[sapphires13.livejournal.com]

I really like Nicole Kidman's dress too, although I think it would look better on someone with slightly darker skin. She's so pale that when she wears pale dresses, they just completely wash her out =(

[pscopathictiger.livejournal.com]

In response to the LJ Russia thing. That completely explains This:

http://community.livejournal.com/thedressingroom/917997.html

post in the dressingroom.

[cygnus.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but there's a Child of the Cold War deep inside me filled with completely irrational panic over this.

Ditto here. I've been spending probably way too much time reading through the comments on news, lj_2008 and elsewhere, and getting myself worked into a tizzy over it. If you'd told me yesterday that 6A was selling LJ, I would've said that ANYTHING would be better than 6A... but now, I honestly don't know. Whether SUP's acquisition of LJ will change the way livejournal.com looks, acts, and feels is anybody's guess... but there's no getting around the fact that LJ will now be owned by a company that does not believe in free speech, not in the way we're used to. I don't know if I can conscientiously support that.

[mysticowl.livejournal.com]

I'm not idealistic about Russia, in fact, the latest "election" results have me snarling. Mostly because, no shit, Putin('s political party) won? Oh what a huge surprise!

At the same time, the LJ move doesn't bother me, because, let's face it, America hasn't exactly been the land of freedom from government monitoring lately, has it?

At this point, we all need to just pitch in, buy and island, and move there.

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure what to think about the LJ thing. My gut instinct is to think that this could be very bad for the Russian LJ users, but probably won't have much effect on the rest of us (it's not like they could be any worse than 6A, but then I have been disappointed before).

Re: The Batman pics. I'm liking the new batsuit and how armor-like it is. And the headpiece looks better here, though that may just be the angle of the photo (and really, as long it allows Bale to move his neck more--thereby hopefully allowing for some better fight scenes--I don't care if it looks worse than the cowl). And goddamn, does Ledger!Joker look as creepy as hell. Also, does it look like he might be channeling Jack Nicholson in that last photo, or is it just my imagination?

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

P.S. Is it wrong that I want those purple leather gloves?

[xander77.livejournal.com]

Monitoring the actual talk on ru-net leads me to the same conclusions. Except nobody seems really sure just HOW things will be very bad for Russian LJ communities.

[rockgeisha.livejournal.com]

I wish I could win a part in The Subtle Knife. That's my favorite of the trilogy, especially the Alamo Gulch part. Hey, wait a minute--

Her ears flicked slightly.

"They're talking," she said. "I can hear, but I cain't understand."

"Russian," he said. "They're gonna come up all together and at a run. That would be hardest for us, so they'll do that."

"Aim straight," she said.

"I will. But hell, I don't like taking lives, Hester."

OMG, it all makes sense now!

[nekoama.livejournal.com]

For your Dark Knight Joker viral: the 'update' article about Betty's House of Pies is about a week old, or at least the site it refers to is. Everything related to that has already gone down and now we're on the last site: http://www.whysoserious.com/steprightup

[flamingtoilet.livejournal.com]

The wankery in news has been wonderful to watch. Many LULZ were had.

"In Soviet Russia, Terms of Service violates YOU!"

[marginaliana]

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the Facebook stuff. I'm kind of afraid to buy Christmas gifts at this point! :/

[supersyncspaz7.livejournal.com]

I am totally expecting Stephanie Meyer's fangirls to spam that Entertainment Weekly poll. IF ECLIPSE WINS, I CALLED IT FIRST.

[glass-radical.livejournal.com]

I heart your icon. simple, to the point.

[the_rainbow_jen]

Thought you might be interested in this: Judge Alex Kozinski rules on an antitrust case in 1992 hiding 204 movie titles in the case.

http://notabug.com/kozinski/syufy

[xander77.livejournal.com]

No offense, but the 2006 article is kinda crap. It starts with "The Russian word for blogging" (it's actually.... drumroll... blogging) and continues from there. I'm hoping to find a decent English/Translatable article soon.

[xander77.livejournal.com]

Here are some interesting links. Another 2006 article/interview with Brad and Anton Nossik - the guy who describes himself as "the guy who tells SUP what LJ is all about":
http://russiatoday.ru/spotlight/release/701/

This:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/is_livejournal.html
Sort of mildly paranoid ranting seems fairly common on Russian blogs.

Interestingly enough, in the midst of all the retarded meme-spouting "yankee" (polite translation) hating posts following both the English and the Russian announcements on LJ, there was one guy who asked why his request to have "dolboeb" (Nossik's LJ identity) banned for hate speech wasn't granted yet. Made me laugh, anyway.

[valancy-s.livejournal.com]

I know you love the books (I liked them myself) but I think it's worth noticing the way news media, often in the titles of articles, seems to imply a certain hysteria on the part of Catholic groups for perceiving the HDM trilogy as antagonistic towards them. Which, in all fairness, it is. It's not like with Harry Potter, where people who claim the books promote Satanism can justly be called alarmist (or "wacky"). As I recently posted (http://valancy-s.livejournal.com/114683.html), if you can find racism in Tolkien then you can certainly find anti-Catholic prejudice in Pullman -- yet when statements like that come out, journalists inevitably quote only the reference to bears drinking whiskey, or something else to make the objections seem ludicrous.

Since you pass on so many articles (a service I very much enjoy!) I do think it bears (heh) examining.

[last-archangel.livejournal.com]

The Narnia trailer is out: link (http://bvim-qt.vitalstream.com/PrinceCaspian/InternetTrailer/Caspian_Trlr1_Rev1_High.mov)

[dealan311.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up about the Facebook.

Did you check out this updated vintage poster (http://cidercupcakes.livejournal.com/80048.html) in response to the whole SUP/LJ thing?

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

I just realized I'm commenting twice on one entry. Oops. But: did you see the pic before the Nicole Kidman dress pic you linked? I didn't even realize it was a wax Nicole until I read the caption. Eeeeerie.

Also, is it just me, or was the gold dress she wears to dinner at Jordan College in the movie a bit bizarre? I feel like it's the kind of thing the Fug Girls would post as an example of Why We Should Never Forget Our Opaque Shirts When Wearing Strapless Bras.

That said, all of her other movie outfits were fabulous and inspired envy.

You know what I just realized? Forget what the Christian groups and parents are saying now, what are they going to be saying when Book 3 comes along and there's the pivotal scene with Will and Lyra coming out of the trees? O_o

[glyphs.livejournal.com]

"Christian groups slam new Kidman children's movie." I just read that article and was seriously peeved about this: "Unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present. And no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books," [William Donahue] added.

It's the "and no parent" sentence that does it. Now, granted, my parents really didn't raise my brother and I in any particular religion, but even if they had impressed it more on us they still would have been all for us reading these books. We've always been given the opportunity and were encouraged to find what works for us best and go with that as long as we were happy. Reading a set of books, and fiction books at that, is not going to change my entire opinion of religion. Why is it so impossible for people in organizations like these to see that people do read just for the pure enjoyment of reading? Why do they seem to think that lots and lots of kids don't know the difference between what's real and not? And what is so wrong with having a different opinion about an issue than theirs?

I'm sorry, I realize I began rambling there. But really, it seriously pisses me off! >:(

[grin-sans-cat.livejournal.com]

Re: Ed Norton and 'Hulk' Co-Star Return for 'Leaves of Grass.' and the realization that it isn't actually a movie about the live of Walt Whitman.

The weird popping noise that you heard just now was the sound of my eyeballs spontaneously exploding in my skull. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go take my bleeding sockets and find someone who'll lead me to my university's english department where there'll be a few corpses to clean up.