Cleolinda everywhere

Apropos of nothing much, I'll tell you that I tried to watch the third Mummy movie last night, and I could not get fifteen minutes into it--because I can forgive a lot, and I can have a lot of fun with stuff that isn't actually good, but I just could not, not, not get behind Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz (who I love in the first movie). They just weren't even the same character--Rachel Weisz brought a kind of giddy can-do energy to Evie, whereas Maria Bello had this arch, coy, detached take on the whole thing (and how much of that is due to her wrestling with a fake accent, I don't know).

But I will give the movie this: the first time we hear Bello!Evie, she's reading aloud from a novel she's published (a thinly fictionalized version of her own adventures). Then a woman in the audience stands up and asks if she based the heroine on herself, and then we see Bello!Evie for the first time as she says, all but winking at the camera, "No, I can honestly say she is a completely different person." I laughed so hard.

Must Watch: First Trailer for Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes'!

ETA: Early leak of the New Moon poster, it looks like. Although the watermark is cracking me up.

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Trufax: I was talking to my sister's boyfriend--we really need to come up with a code name for him, Sister Girl and I decided, but we don't know what yet--on Sunday and he mentioned the Twilight Tonner dolls. Apparently when I was all like YOU GUYS GO TO THE TONNER NYCC BOOTH AND JUST, LIKE... LOOK AT THEM OR SOMETHING FOR ME earlier this month, he did, and he was like, "Who's in charge here? Can we buy 400 of those for our stores?" And the Tonner people were like, "Uh... YES." Apparently it had never occurred to anyone to sell actual dolls at bookstores, even though their rival Borders has been selling the action figures and all the Hot Topic crap. So, uh... if you happen to be at a Books-a-Million and you see the Tonners there as an in-store exclusive, that's... kind of because one of their buyers has a not-quite sister-in-law who's a Crazy Doll Lady. *cough* I mean, I asked Sister Girl, and she said, "No, it totally would have been because of you, that's how he would have heard about the dolls in the first place," although of course he was the one smart enough to actually come up with the idea and get them for the stores.

And the other thing is... I don't have anything solid enough to repeat on this, but they might give Books-a-Million some kind of holiday exclusive, I don't know. It might simply be that Tonner's going to put out more stuff for the holidays, as they do, and Books-a-Million will be the only bookstore selling it, who knows.

Meanwhile, I am TIRED of this head cold. It's just bad enough to make me feel groggy and snerfy, but not bad enough to GET ON WITH IT.

Also: Remind me to tell you about the Bowl of Galadriel. Again. Uh... tomorrow. Like I said: I'm a bit behind.

( Linkspam! )

This head cold is driving me crazy--of course, I have the luxury of saying that because it's not very bad. It's the kind of light cold where you sit around moaning all day that man, there is just nothing worse than a stubbed toe, you know? Because you've forgotten what a real knock-you-down bug feels like, you've forgotten anything but the thickish head and the slight sinus pressure and the developing cough and the constant frog in your throat right now. I have had chills pretty bad (no fever, though) and a good bit of fatigue, to the point where I spent half the day in a couch coma and the other half cheerfully on Twitter. Which I'm sure impresses no one.

From wolfsilveroak: "Hey, check out this Etsy shop. It was set up expressly for the Aussie Bushfires. So far, they've raised $12,000 in Australian funds. 100% of the proceeds goes to fire relief and they have free international shipping." Also, from sailorcoruscant: "One of my favourite yarn stores in Victoria is asking for people to knit squares that she will make into blankets for the victims." And from alexthedevil: "A reporter's tale of surviving the fire - 'How we cheated the flames of death.' "

I... have no good segue from that! Snack Deathmatch! Peanut butter cups vs. red licorice.

(Note: Much of the news, even the movie news, is toy-oriented because it's being reported from Toy Fair. So... that's what's up with that.)

( Linkspam )

Fairly productive today. We've also got Pete on the premises, and that dog and his lampshade are the saddest thing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of going back over some of my old work, the really short pieces, and dusting them off again. I'm sure this will upset the three people in the world laboring under the delusion that I was a good poet, bless them, but the problem with most of my poetry is that I always try to cram a story in there between the lines, and it occurs to me now that I might just try expanding them into vignettes. My prose voice is probably one of my few real strengths, so it's worth a shot, I guess. It might be nice to try submitting to magazines again, I don't know. I'm thinking about posting a few of them here instead. So... we'll see.

Hm. So for today's flashback... let's go with that mini-entry about The Black Dahlia. Note: I only made up one thing in that entire paragraph, and that is "crushed by a falling anvil." Every single other thing actually happened in that movie.

Linkspam! ( Zac Efron NOT in POTC4 )

I got mistaken for "nineteen or twenty" yesterday. I turn thirty in December. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. You probably want to slap me right now, but--if you're always being mistaken for being a lot younger, it's like you never really feel like you've grown up.

Oh! By the way, if you've told me you're sending something, I haven't received it (unless I came by and told you otherwise). Something weird is going on with our mail, and things either aren't getting to us, or they're taking a really long time. This is disconcerting, to say the least.

(Confidential to the sender of the unexpected t-shirt: I plan on disregarding your instructions and cherishing it forever. : )

Linkspam! ( Cher is not Catwoman, Twilight is shooting new scenes, The Road is depressing )

So. Massive catch-up linkspam. Watched the Eliot Spitzer resignation press conference (well, "conference"; he didn't take any questions. Didn't actually seem contrite, either); nearly finished with the prostitution section of Mayhew's London Underworld. Watched American Idol and its 2000 mentions of Horton Hears a Who; did not think Jim Carrey had any dignity left to lose, but was proven wrong. Lexicon saga still ongoing. Also, my poor grandmother has come down with shingles, woe.

Scientology Seeks Restraining Order Against Anonymous. Just a note: the next wave of protests is scheduled for Saturday. Keep your eyes open and be safe, guys, if they're really trying to set you up the firebomb.

From Fandom Lounge and a few of y'all as well: "Melissa Kern, a very well-known organizer in the Lord of the Rings fandom in Atlanta has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS. Her husband has started a petition to have her cast in the upcoming Hobbit movies as an extra, since the typical ALS survival rate beyond a few years is very low. Information can be found here. There are already 1,000 signatures on the petition, including some people very well-known in Tolkien fandom, such as Ted Nasmith, Daniel Falconer, and Peter S. Beagle. Thanks everyone for looking."

ETA: No new free (i.e., ad-free) LJ accounts. More in the 6A Cornfield post discussing the actual LJ News post, which neglected to mention this fact.

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Re: yesterday's Scientology raids: laughingacademy dropped me a link to deathboy's London writeup, in which he saw "500 people rick-rolling [i.e., playing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." Don't ask me] the UK Scientology head office. It was at this point I saw the corners of the cops' mouths twitch into smiles as they realised it was ok: we were from the internets." Among the pictures included: I love the little sign that reads "DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING." Also: Metroblogging Los Angeles: Anonymous vs. Scientology IRL showdown in LA (I dig the "I'm too poor to believe in Scientology" sign. Also, the suparrrr-stealthy Scieno "ice" truck); the Anonymous Worldwide Raids and Shenanigans pool on Flickr; It's not lupus thetans.

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