Cleolinda everywhere

I should probably say something interesting, but I was having some blood pressure problems on Oscar weekend (stress-related), and then once I got through that, I caught my mother's cold, and then I got over it but she gave it to my stepfather and apparently I caught a completely separate iteration of it from him, because I spontaneously came down with a chest cold, including sore throat and hacking cough, at about 6:38 last night (the friend I was on the phone with can confirm this. "HACK! I think I just swallowed something wrong...? What is thACKHACKHACKHACKHARRRRRFFFFFFF"). My point is: Cinna (who I can't get to embed for the life of me).

Also, Katniss takes on Mugatu, to the shock of Wes Bentley's beard. ( Read more... )


So. In conclusion, not doing too well at the moment, but keep on keepin' on. Also, Cinna.

@mikeryan: At halftime, I hope Madonna plays "Gambler" from the Vision Quest soundtrack. Just that. No explanation.



@cleolinda: How bad is it? I can't find the remote.

@particle_p: @cleolinda OMG EXCELLENT TURN THIS ON. She went with a quasi Roman theme, as kind of an obvious jab at the proceedings. ;-)

( Read more... )

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... )

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... )

Huh. I had no idea I hadn't posted in more than a week.

1) So... here's Tonner Jasper. Or rather, the page seems to have gone up too early and is now down. (I think the Toy Fair 2011 reveal is supposed to be on Monday.) Too bad I'd left the "click for larger image" tab open! MOO HA HA.

( Read more... )


2) I am feeling a lot better, although still busy and kind of winter-sluggish.

@cleolinda: After three days of fresh fruit intake, I feel much better. Maybe this whole time the Death Blarg was scurvy...?

@cleolinda: Yarrrr, we be at snow for three months, unable to reach the produce aisle. Two days ago, the salty dogs raided a Super Bowl parrrrty.

@cleolinda: Strangely, no one missed the fruit plate. Arrrrrrrr.

What I have been doing with my Feel-Bad Down-Time, besides feeling snerfy and/or lying in a quasi-tubercular cold-medicine coma, is reading. (Mostly research, a few classics, a new YA.) Writing is also going slowly but well. I was drafting a big "let's discuss all these books" post, but then I realized I ought to dole it out a couple of books at a time. And also, we need some more Varney.


3) I also saw True Grit on Sunday, but didn't mention it because--well, the Super Bowl. Which I spent curled up in my room reading Victorian vampire stories, but I figured no one else would be around. Feel free to discuss here if you want; I didn't really know what to say afterwards. The last fifteen minutes or so take the movie beyond what I had expected, and it stuck with me for a couple of days afterwards. I don't know. Oh, except that I officially endorse Hailee Steinfeld for Katniss in The Hunger Games.


4) Also, this:

I am feeling incredibly sad today. Therefore I bring you a video of a Pallas cat, a chicken on a rope, aerial gymnastics, and faux James Bond music.

(My collection of Pallas cats.)

Okay, so: the mania was getting so unpleasant (and let me repeat, it was a physical sense of being overcaffeinated; I was otherwise completely calm and non-crazy) that I broke down and started my new, slightly higher dose of Lamictal. Things seem to be gradually calming down. Of course, side effects include back pain and stomach upset (both of which have already set in), so that's fantastic.

Also, I got three packages in the mail today and I have no idea who they're from, and thus no way to contact anyone, thank them (thank you!) and let them know that things arrived. So: 1) witch hazel/rose toner, received; 2) Neutrogena conditioner, received; 3) soap and conditioner mask from Lush, received. (Again, thank you!)

Still truckin' in the Comedy Mines. Might be done with things this weekend, I don't know.

Meanwhile: two-part video of the New Moon panel; the best, snarkiest writeup I've seen ("I can’t wait to take part in the Caesarian"); leaked clips, get 'em while they're hot. (Summit's taking them down as they find them, so I won't be able to repost them if they go down. Short version: Ghostly Edward appears, Bella wipes out on a bike, BLATANT JACOB FAN SERVICE; yellow Porsche, Bella runs, 6000 women scream at Shirtless Edward. As McRachel and I were discussing, it's like porno for pre-teens.) (Also, God bless Chris Weitz, I am totally in platonic unscary movie-fan love with him.)

Also-also: Tonner Edward's "Hungry" double (via annlarimer); The Sparkenpire in the wild. Maybe I'll get one as a chew toy for the Ellowynes for Christmas.

MTV Movie Awards roundup, partially courtesy of my Twitter feed: ( JJ Abrams keyboard solo *what?* )

( The rest of the linkspam )

First things first: Super Bowl movie commercials that have already leaked: ( Read more... )

And thus ends my involvement with anything having to do with the Super Bowl. Call me if they get Prince to come back.

Re: MyLeaky: The "favorite ship" question has been fixed so you can, in fact, input an answer, and they have a place for you to describe what kind of wand you want to have. ( Help choosing wands )

Re: Kylie videos: I went poking around YouTube and found a few other things. Such as this live performance of "In Your Eyes" (my other favorite Kylie song) on the Showgirl tour. This is definitely a woman who knows her audience, let me just put it that way.

I can't find the video in any kind of quality worth a damn, but here's the official "In Your Eyes" video. It is also pretty trippy, although I can't decide if it would be more or less trippy if I could actually see what was going on.

Back to "Love at First Sight," here's a slightly different, American version of the video. "You know what the Americans would love? AN AIRPLANE."

And here's "Come Into My World," which several people expressed a fondness for.

Meanwhile, cleojones brings us Swing Out Sister's "Break Out." Hee.