Cleolinda everywhere

1) Bella Swan: vampiring better than you since *checks watch* 2008. This is the same teaser that ran in front of The Hunger Games, so you may have already seen it (stop poaching Katniss's deer, BELLA). ( Read more... )

2) Meanwhile, shit got real: The Hunger Games' box office crushes the Twilight movies. All of them.

3) I seem to have hit a hypomanic upswing; mine, as I've explained before, are pretty mild. The only thing someone would really notice from the outside is that I'm a bit more upbeat, enthusiastic, and talkative--but when a movie I've really been looking forward to comes out, that doesn't seem out of place. (Honestly, I've started wondering--as I've said before--if you can trigger manic moods. If nothing else, I think it suddenly being SUMMER IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH gave me an overdose of natural light, and that may have caused it as well. As I recall, my most pronounced upswings are almost always in the spring and summer.) Otherwise, I'm outwardly calm, but as I've gotten older, I've been edging further and further into mild mania, and the happy creative bursts have been "evolving" into something less comfortable. The upside at the lower hypomanic end is that I feel happy and creative (verging on hypergraphic); at the high, verging-on-manic end, I feel overcaffeinated, impatient, and irritable, I have all these ideas but I can't concentrate or focus, I have a hard time sleeping, and I don't want to eat. I have a sample of BPAL's Safari blend, and a dab on the back of each hand (so I can smell it while I'm typing) seems to have centered me a bit. Once I was able to actually focus, I got 1600 words written in a couple of hours last night (there's your hypergraphia), but it took me all day to be able to concentrate that long.

On the other hand, you get wackadoo flights of fancy like the mandatory Panem TV schedule, and like this:

@cleolinda: WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING RT @NikkiFinke: Hugh Dancy To Star In NBC Series ‘Hannibal’

@cleolinda: Look, save some time. Modern-day Sherlock Holmes hunts Hannibal Lecter. In a dystopia. With a vampire. An alien vampire.

@cleolinda: The alien vampire is on the run from a beauty pageant to the death. Also, Sherlock is a werewolf. His brother is a steampunk faerie.

@writingfreak88: No alien ninja turtles?

( Read more... )

ONE MORE TIME: Breaking Dawn in Fifteen Minutes.

@made_of_fail: Episode Forty-Eight: And Then the Werewolf Fell In Love With the WAIT WHAT

@NoelCT: Want to hear me kinda sorta somewhat defend the Breaking Dawn and the Twilight series?

@NoelCT: Want to hear my impression of Edward Cullen as played by Christopher Walken? 

@NoelCT: Want to hear about all the tasty treats one can make from a strawberry flavored uterus? 

@NoelCT: Want to hear me explain the mechanics of male wet dreams to three women? Check out Made of Fail!

@cleolinda: I am also on it. RT @queenanthai: HEY GUESS WHAT episode is up http://made-of-fail-pc.livejournal.com/25442.html

Oh, this is also the one where I have a very controversial answer to the "Edward vs. Dracula" question. "IT'S NOT FAIR, BUT SHE WROTE IT THAT WAY!" Also, in the last ten minutes: how the Eggward story one of y'all told me explains why I still like the first movie more than any of the others.

Also, I remembered the "dirty question" someone asked poor Chris Weitz. Bonus: My turn on the Meet the Failcrew Q&A. Also-also: what happens when y'all don't write in for Mailbag Mondays.


@alliancesjr: THE FRIENDSHIP IS OVER. OOOOOVAAAAAAAAAAHHHH

@cleolinda: OVER 9000?


Cleolinda Industries provides solutions.



 (the Cleolinda Industries tip jar)

Before we get to movie news: a few updates on the Norway situation.

@BreakingNews: Norwegian police revise death toll in Utoya youth camp massacre down to 68 from 86; @REUTERSFLASH: Norwegian police say at least 100,000 people take part in Oslo march in support of attack victims; Norway killer claims he had help; manifesto outlined plans to attack writers & lit professors; @krazycat/krazycat: New blog post: Oslo - reflection and tears. And from gryster:

Just a small message from Norway:

There was a march of roses in Oslo today. It is the most beautiful reaction I have ever seen. The actual marching bit was cancelled because there was SO MANY PEOPLE. People were asked to leave their roses all over the city, and they really did. All of downtown Oslo was just covered with roses.

There's a link here. There's a slideslow at the top, with pictures from all over the country. I just wanted to show you this, (and ask you to share it) because I'm guessing it won't necessarily be shown on American TV. It was a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Movie news. ( 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. I endeavor to bring you escapism and raptors.

( Read more... )

MORE DWARVES, YOU GUYS!

( Read more... )

Hello! I am doing a much better job of posting now! Basically, I forget that the first 4-6 weeks of every year are best spent hibernating productively. I really ought to just schedule that and spend November stockpiling some content to ration out while I'm buried in books and dying of whatever blarg is going around at the time.

Meanwhile! The new Made of Fail podcast with comics artist J.K. Woodward is out! He drinks a lot, and Kevin isn't there to stop him.

Hey! Let's have another recap. Previously on Varney the Vampire: The infamous Chapter All About Matches.

( Vampire hunting is harrrrrrd )

@Tonnerdirect: 2011 TOY FAIR RELEASE IS NOW LIVE!!! http://fb.me/VxYR6S1D

Twilight: The official reveal of Tonner Jasper (which I grabbed pictures of last week). The more I look at this, the more I am convinced that this will actually be a good likeness in person. As opposed to...

The Vampire Diaries: What. What. What is this. What. I don't even watch the show and what. What is this. Terrifying, is what this is.

I guess the Elena's good. I keep meaning to watch the show but haven't, so I wouldn't know.

Harry Potter: Blue School Uniform Fleur. I've also heard that a Viktor Krum is on the way. No plans for a Cedric, AFAIK, which baffles me. I mean, since it's a larger scale doll, I guess they'd have to go back to a certain very beleaguered actor to get his permission for the likeness again, and he may have decided that he is Done With All This. Because I have to imagine that Tonner knows how well it would sell. They can't just be like, "Nah, we already have a lot of dolls, we don't actually need the money."

DC Stars: A new Catwoman (goggles!), Wonder Woman, Raven (I'm not familiar with this character?), Dove (ditto?), Black Canary, and... Starfire. That's... quite an outfit there.

Disney Princess Collection: Pink Dress Ariel, which you don't usually see; a Jasmine that looks incredibly, incredibly off. Yeah... that is not going to be approved.

Freedom for Fashion: A line of Japanese fashion dolls ("Explore the fast-paced streets of Tokyo"). Tonner's usually so good at putting out a variety of skin colors and ethnicities (the Mei Li fashion doll sculpt is clearly different from the Japanese dolls' features, even), so I absolutely cannot explain that Jasmine face. Although the fact that the Jasmine reuses "the Snow White head sculpt" might be our first problem.


Meanwhile, I am sure you are all aware that this is a very important day.

@bestforfilm: Silence of The Lambs 20th anniversary is TODAY - pop open a nice Chianti with your lover & watch that romantic fear blossom

@cleolinda: @bestforfilm I confess, it is my favorite movie.

@bestforfilm: @cleolinda glorious film. Glorious. Anthony Hopkins' Maniacal Stare: Be my Valentine.

@cleolinda: @bestforfilm I first saw it when I was about 14. Clarice Starling (and thence Dana Scully) rapidly became my model for life.


I am unusually at peace with the occasion, actually. Also, do not forget Discount Chocolatemas tomorrow.

To begin! Thanks for all the birthday wishes, guys. I am now, for the record, 32.





Secondly, Sister Girl and I were going through some old pictures yesterday, and.... well. ( Festive baby Cleo )


Meanwhile, the real reason we are here:

Previously on Varney the Vampire: Please, spay and neuter your Norwegian vampires. ( As promised, an entire chapter about matches )

Internets, I am not only dying of blarg, but I think we may be entering the Raspy Cough stage. I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY. Seriously, I will be coughing all night, there will be no "quiet."

Meanwhile, this weekend's Secret Life is shaping up to be a bit on the long side, but I don't know that anyone will complain.

Let's have a little Varney, as promised.

( What, you don't keep a crowbar in your room? )