Cleolinda everywhere

I have not checked in for a while! Also I'm so used to Twitter that I totally forgot about comments here and I NEED TO CHECK THOSE OMG.

• I saw a Star War and immediately fell in love with it even though I was never that much into either trilogy before and it ate my Tumblr for like two weeks because I was too lazy to check my dash for other things to post, sorry about that



• The Emo Kylo Ren meme is like my favorite thing ever and I'm not even sorry



• WHERE IS ALL THE REY STUFF



• NO I MEAN THE STUFF I CAN AFFORD (omg Hot Toys though)



• This is important



• I even got my very own phone-controlled BB-8 for Christmas. I have a problem



• COUNTDOWN TO ROGUE ONE



• still fighting the moth war, dammit



• Medication update: Sprintec has absolutely wrecked my complexion over the last 4-5 months, so I am nursing it back to health with a minimalist regimen of Thayer's toner and CeraVe moisturizer



• The Aromaleigh X-Files box/extras will be coming out in February, excite! (Shop is closed at the moment while Kristen moves.) Here's a closer look at Genome, plus quick looks at the other three eyeshadows. I'm pretty sure there will be additional non-box colors available as well--an "expansion pack"--but I haven't seen them yet



• Mood is pretty good even considering seasonal depression; I'm just a completely useless lazy cuss, which I realized is because IT'S JANUARY

In other words, like pretty much everyone else, I have tons of stuff to do, but all I want to do is curl up with a book (new Alison Weir soon!) and hot chocolate.

Legendary sword master Bob Anderson dies.

It is reported that the sword-fighting trainer and choreographer passed away today, at the age of 89. Bob Anderson was a behind-the-scenes name little known to many fans but who had a tremendous impact not only on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but on cinema itself. Anderson’s many credits include: Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Princess Bride, Highlander and much more. From thelordoftherings.net: “Bob Anderson, the world’s top sword master who has consulted on such films as Star Wars and trained the legendary Errol Flynn, was also brought in to train the actors in different fencing techniques. An expert in medieval arms, Anderson read the novel and then developed sparring methods based on Tolkien’s descriptions of each culture.”

For my money, his two greatest contributions as sword master and/or choreographer are in The Princess Bride and the first Pirates of the Caribbean. Maybe the massive three-act Battle of Amon Hen in Fellowship of the Ring as the third greatest, but for pure fencing swordsmanship and iconic fun, the first two. However, he actually was Darth Vader in a couple of the Star Wars movies:

Anderson also owns a claim to fame for being a swordfighting trainer for several films, as well as a stunt double for Darth Vader in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He is one of seven people to have played that character. [...] Anderson did not receive much recognition for his role in the Star Wars films for years after their initial release, in part because David Prowse was so lauded for his portrayal that director George Lucas did not want to detract from the boost it gave the actor's career. In a 1983 interview, however, Mark Hamill paid homage to Anderson's contribution, saying, "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader’s fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George I didn’t think it was fair any more. Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It’s ridiculous to preserve the myth that it’s all done by one man."

There is very little I love in movies--perhaps in life--more than a good sword fight. If anyone deserves an Oscar montage this year, it's Bob Anderson, and it would be the most entertaining thing in the whole show.

( Clips )

@LiveJournal: Currently experiencing a DDoS attack for the past two days -- status.livejournal.org

@gildedbat: @LiveJournal pity they're going to have to set that "days without a DDoS attack" sign back to 0. They got all the way over 100.

@LJmysticowl: Russian news confirms, also says that paid accounts will be credited the time they lost due to downtime.

@chez_amanda: There's also this Time article about the attacks that I just read.

ETA: @LiveJournal: Please to say we are up and running again! Thank you, U.S. and Moscow teams, who have worked tirelessly to get things restored! Happy LJing!

So... that's what's up with that, then. I want to stay on LiveJournal, but in order to do that, I'm gonna have to have a LiveJournal to stay on. (This entry is posted on both LJ and DW. As long as I can crosspost, I will.)


As a reminder in case you didn't see it: the Made of Fail podcast with Kevin, sometimes Dayna, Mark, Rinna and me, "Mischief Managed"! If the LJ link doesn't work, this is the direct download (or you can subscribe in iTunes; it's free). You may also want to listen to the first Deathly Hallows review show ("In Conclusion, Alan Rickman" [download] ), which had just Kevin, Mark and me. Or even the Half-Blood Prince show further back that I was on! We have many wizard-based options for your aural entertainment.

Movie links! They are exceptionally organized tonight, in no small part because I have three days' worth, and this isn't even all of them. ( Read more... )

I bring you a final (presumably) SDCC/movie linkspam. To begin:

@dcwomenkicknass: DC Comics SDCC panels: uncomfortable questions about female creators/characters. Apparently what happened was, a woman dressed as Batgirl (with a young girl dressed as Spoiler) (I don't know who Spoiler is) (just go with it) kept going to comics panels and asking questions: ( Read more... )

Some very sad real-world news in the previous entry. Thus, I endeavor to bring you escapism and raptors.

( Read more... )

I seem to have come down with a nasty stomach bug--the kind where you have those sporadic clutching pains--and so we're just going to put Secret Life off until Saturday. I'm in pain and surviving on toast and Coke at the moment, and it took me two hours to put this entry together. We'll make it through somehow.

Meanwhile, I don't think I'll be tweeting Varney the Vampire anymore. Some people loved it; others were annoyed. However, when I have more time, I might recap it properly (although quickly, because it gets incredibly paid-by-the-word repetitive).

I don't know when the new Made of Fail will be up, but queenanthai points out that it's nominated at podcastawards.com in the Cultural/Arts section.

Speaking of the new episode, Mark (who is on it) is now watching Firefly, reading The Hunger Games, and rereading Harry Potter.

Speaking of Harry Potter, there's a new Tonner Q&A up in which we are given hope for a Tonks doll. You put some changeable wigs on it, and I'll be all over that. Maybe. In a theoretical world where I have a money tree. Also: we're back to an affirmative on the Eowyn doll, which I at least want to see.

Also, briefly:

Veteran comic actor Leslie Nielsen, 84, has died in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 

Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner dies in LA at 87. 

James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host Oscars.  

Ian McKellen is back on aboard The Hobbit, thank Eru.

New preview for HBO's "Game of Thrones."

And finally: The Spider-Man musical on Broadway--now in mishap-filled previews--is "one of the most face-meltingly insane live spectacles I've ever witnessed."


Oh, oh! I don't think I mentioned this earlier--Bill Condon decided to troll Twilight fandom with the first image from Breaking Dawn, to the general confusion of mainstream movie news sites. I have a horrible feeling that the bruises have been photoshopped out.

I didn't get shit done today in the work department, but: TONNER ALICE DOES COME WITH THE LITTLE GREY CHOKER! ALL IS FORGIVEN. Well, a lot is forgiven. I can mess with her hair; I can't make tiny dumbass doll heraldic crests.

(I think Alice, particularly Alice the doll, has become completely divorced in my mind from Twilight. Shit, I think pretty much all the Twilight characters in The Secret Life of Dolls have nothing to do with Actual Twilight in my mind. It's a coping mechanism, people.)

(There is a new Secret Life coming soon, once I work some logistics out. No, really this time. Sadly, we're still on... Christmas... but I think you'll like the presents they get. We're working up to one of the most epic things that has ever happened, which is what's hanging me up to an extent.)

Meanwhile, Tonner's Zoe doll from Firefly is up. I have to say, it actually looks good.

Linkspam! ( We may have a Hobbit ) 

Wow. My stomach has been rebellious all day, and then I laid down a little after 3 pm, and then I opened my eyes and it was after seven. So... I'm apparently not feeling so well. Fnarrr.

From @TheTamari: “I’ve found a more appropriate outfit for Edward Fashion Cat (he will want vengeance).”





Linkspam, and lots of it! ( Read more... )

I have been writing so hard and so fast lately--seized by an idea and therefore cheating on my long-term projects, which actually seems to happen a lot in the second half of any given year--that I am miserably behind on the news. (And I'm at the really exciting part, too, where you get to do lots of research and world-building. I'm letting it take over because I actually have a window of opportunity, it looks like, to pitch it to someone if I can get enough of it to come together. But it's also making me feel a lot more energized about writing my regular things as well. Except that some of them I've had to table, because of Things We Cannot Speak Of. I know it sounds confusing. It confuses me too, because everything kind of got thrown up into the air and now I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing, because I have so many things I can do that I don't know where to start. It's like walking into a really big buffet, or a a fairground, or a library, or a museum, and feeling a kind of wonderful panic because you don't know where to go first.

WHAT I AM SAYING IS that I feel like I also need to post here more regularly, because a couple of people have said things like "since you've moved to Twitter" and I was like OH BUT NO. Twitter's just an easy way to keep up with things (but not all things) and people (but not all people) with a minimum of effort. Which is useful when you're putting a maximum of effort into other things.

Of course, I did post here yesterday. You all may have come to regret that now.

(I'm sorry--I know how disturbing that whole Edward Fashion Cat thing was, but that last picture, I can't stop looking at it. It's like this perfect storm of hilarrible. I laughed so hard at it yesterday that I gave myself a headache, in fact. I think it's because the--victim, let's say--hanging over that woman's shoulder looks like a cat AND a child AND a goblin AND a serial killer, and he really only ought to look like two of those. Because no jury in the world would convict him if something "happened" to his owner. Even if cats got jury trials. What I'm saying is: that shit is so wrong.)

ANYWAY. Let us have a little linkspam! ( Read more... )

It starts in about half an hour--hell, it'll probably be in progress by the time I finish writing this entry--so I thought I'd update you on some of the prizes that have been donated, because some of them aren't listed yet. (ETA: Official prize list.) FOR REAL, I AM SO INCREDIBLY NOT KIDDING:

ONE FULL SET OF U.K. HARRY POTTER BOOKS SIGNED BY J.K. ROWLING plus HANDWRITTEN CARD
donated by J.K. Rowling

Signed copy of HARLEQUIN VALENTINE by Neil Gaiman
donated by Neil Gaiman

Five lots of one signed and DEDICATED copy of UNSEEN ACADEMICALS by Sir Terry Pratchett (VERY RARE!)
donated by Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett's WINTERSMITH, signed by the author on the title page (1st ed)
donated by Colin Smythe

( MORE )

In my head, I hear Headset Vince from the ShamWow commercials bellowing all of these out, by the way.


http://www.thehpalliance.org/haiti/


Oh, and now that Livejournal's back up from its incredibly well-timed scheduled maintenance, you can see the Hope for Haiti telethon liveblog I did last night; the first entry's here, and you can just hit "Next entry" until you get... well, back to this entry.

By the way, I have now been informed that help_haiti here on LJ will have raised $115,000 by the time all the pledges shake out.

ETA: The podathon has brought in $9100 as of this writing, about an hour in.