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Chijin no Ai
06 November 2009 @ 07:57 pm
Current Mood: crappy
crappyCurrent Music: SVU
06 November 2009 @ 11:25 am
And here we are in Dublin. Ireland has been exciting but exhausting. We had a huge turnout last night for the signing at Eason's, with a queue that seemed to go on forever, but I finally scrawled everyone into submission, and afterwards I signed all the stock as well. If you missed the signing, or happen to live a thousand leagues away, you can still get an autographed copy of the SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH hardcover or any of the Ice & Fire paperbacks by phoning, emailing, or dropping by Eason's on O'Connell Street. They even have a few trade paperbacks of DREAMSONGS.
Afterwards we adjourned to a nearby pub for a lively evening of Guinness and conversation with the local fans. I met the good folk who will be running next year's Octocon, where I'll be GOH, and hoisted a few with the hardy survivors of the Eason's event. Didn't stagger back to the our hotel till after midnight, by which time Temple Bar was roaring. Ah, if only I were twenty years younger...
The Belfast event on Tuesday was also a hoot and a half. The crowd was much bigger at Dublin, but in Belfast some of the cast of the HBO pilot dropped by to sign books and meet the fans as well. My thanks to Ron Donachie, Richard Madden (Best Dressed Man in Scotland), Alfie Allen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (and their moms) for joining the festivities. And to the lovely Ros, Esme Bianco, who dropped by McHughes afterwards for the moot. Matthew Hughes, one of the authors who contributed to our Vance tribute anthology, also turned up at Eason's to help me sign SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH.
In between signing and mooting, I've been hanging round the shoot, trying not to get underfoot. "How is it going?" everyone wants to know. I think it's going great. Wednesday's location was amazing, so real I could hardly tell where the real castle ended and our fake castle began. I saw Bran and Tommen swatting at each other in the yard, Joffrey taunting Robb, the Hound growling at Ser Rodrik, while Arya displayed her wretched needlework to Jon above, and it all looked wonderful. Saw some of the footage from the crypts too, and that looked amazing as well. Yes, some things are not exactly as they were in the books, that's inevitable with any adaptation... but these are my characters and this is my story, and it's thrilling to see 'em come to life.
Last night in Belfast I got to meet two more of the cast, quite unexpectedly. Some of the Moroccan players were in Ireland for costume fittings. I ran into Ian McNeice for a brief moment outside the hotel, as we were waiting for our rides, and the night before we bumped into Dany -- the amazing Tamzin Merchant, who is even more beautiful in person than she is on screen -- into the dining room. What a terrific cast Nina Gold has assembled.
Also toured the Paint Hall, though we didn't do any shooting there while I was in Belfast. Some of our sets are going up, and look great. And in another part of the building the huge castle sets from the big budget (compared to us, anyway) feature YOUR HIGHNESS are still standing. Their great hall is pretty eye-popping and they built an impressive castle yard as well.
Tomorrow I'm off to London . Signing at Forbidden Planet on the 11th, Then it's off to Marrakech.
Life is magical and full of joy (but no, I have not been seeking out football scores, so don't tell me. TIVO is getting all my games).
Afterwards we adjourned to a nearby pub for a lively evening of Guinness and conversation with the local fans. I met the good folk who will be running next year's Octocon, where I'll be GOH, and hoisted a few with the hardy survivors of the Eason's event. Didn't stagger back to the our hotel till after midnight, by which time Temple Bar was roaring. Ah, if only I were twenty years younger...
The Belfast event on Tuesday was also a hoot and a half. The crowd was much bigger at Dublin, but in Belfast some of the cast of the HBO pilot dropped by to sign books and meet the fans as well. My thanks to Ron Donachie, Richard Madden (Best Dressed Man in Scotland), Alfie Allen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (and their moms) for joining the festivities. And to the lovely Ros, Esme Bianco, who dropped by McHughes afterwards for the moot. Matthew Hughes, one of the authors who contributed to our Vance tribute anthology, also turned up at Eason's to help me sign SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH.
In between signing and mooting, I've been hanging round the shoot, trying not to get underfoot. "How is it going?" everyone wants to know. I think it's going great. Wednesday's location was amazing, so real I could hardly tell where the real castle ended and our fake castle began. I saw Bran and Tommen swatting at each other in the yard, Joffrey taunting Robb, the Hound growling at Ser Rodrik, while Arya displayed her wretched needlework to Jon above, and it all looked wonderful. Saw some of the footage from the crypts too, and that looked amazing as well. Yes, some things are not exactly as they were in the books, that's inevitable with any adaptation... but these are my characters and this is my story, and it's thrilling to see 'em come to life.
Last night in Belfast I got to meet two more of the cast, quite unexpectedly. Some of the Moroccan players were in Ireland for costume fittings. I ran into Ian McNeice for a brief moment outside the hotel, as we were waiting for our rides, and the night before we bumped into Dany -- the amazing Tamzin Merchant, who is even more beautiful in person than she is on screen -- into the dining room. What a terrific cast Nina Gold has assembled.
Also toured the Paint Hall, though we didn't do any shooting there while I was in Belfast. Some of our sets are going up, and look great. And in another part of the building the huge castle sets from the big budget (compared to us, anyway) feature YOUR HIGHNESS are still standing. Their great hall is pretty eye-popping and they built an impressive castle yard as well.
Tomorrow I'm off to London . Signing at Forbidden Planet on the 11th, Then it's off to Marrakech.
Life is magical and full of joy (but no, I have not been seeking out football scores, so don't tell me. TIVO is getting all my games).
Current Mood: 
excited
excited05 November 2009 @ 01:15 pm
The empire strikes back
In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.RSS feeds again
If you're addicted to![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience. Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
c_s_iIf you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you!
c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here. Enveloped in postcards
Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.
Photos of the week
If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy atlj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!( Read more... )
04 November 2009 @ 07:32 pm
Current Mood: 
lazy
lazyCurrent Music: SVU
04 November 2009 @ 12:23 am
Ong bak 2 (Tony Jaa, 2008)
IMDB Link
I’m a big supporter of Tony Jaa. I like to talk about him, whenever people discuss Jackie Chan and Jet Li. I go, pff, they are old, the new hip martial arts guy is Tony Jaa, people. Forget those grandpas.
I was already a big fan of “Ong Bak” and “Tom yum goong” and took my friends with me to watch “Ong Bak 2” on the big screen. They need a bit of insisting on my side, since they did not want to watch a silly Thai movie. I told them not to expect a good story, but the action would kick their ass.
They did not expect a good story, nor got it, and the action did not kick their ass, nor did it kick my ass. “Ong Bak 2” was a big disappointment compared to his two previous major features. It should not even be called “Ong Bak 2” as it has nothing to do with the first one. “Tom yum goong” and “Ong Bak” are more alike, then the supposed sequel. While the first one is set in present times, the sequel is set sometime in the past. Not sure the exact era, but they live in jungles and don’t have TV, WAY PAST.
The story in Tony Jaa’s movies has never been things to look out for, but at least, it had a small set-up, and it got out of the way quickly enough. This time around, the film-makers think they are making some great martial arts epic, and they take their plot very seriously, meaning that in between fights, you get completely boring fillers. And worst of all, it does not even end. Like “Kill Bill”, this film is a two-parter, with the second (or third, depending on how you want to look it) one to be released after this and to continue the story.
I guess, it is time someone from Hollywood gets him to America and makes him star in a movie where he joins forces with a black guy or runs for president or takes care of spoilt children.
2/5
Halloween II (Zombie, 2009)
IMDB Link
Rob Zombie did a pretty good job with the remake of “Halloween”. I like horror remakes more than any other remakes. It seems to be one genre that a remake can present an old product with a new fresh look. No matter how classic they are, horror films are still not “Godfather”, so I don’t mind a remake.
Although, I’m not sure why Zombie did a sequel to it. Even John Carpenter did not direct the original sequel himself. He had made a great horror film, and moved on. Rob Zombie proved naysayers wrong by making an above average remake of the first film, so why did he not just move on? With “The Devil’s Rejects”, he had already proven that he could handle making a great horror film, so why does he have to rely on sequel remakes?
Zombie’s “Halloween 2” is decent, but not where I want Zombie’s filmmaking path to take him. I give him props for paving his own way with this film and not trying to retrace the original’s footsteps. No reason to make a remake, if you don’t have the balls to shake things up a bit. And I like the brutal feel of the whole thing.
But Zombie had the initial momentum, and felt like he could be a major, consistent horror director. I hope he has gotten the “Halloween” franchise out of his system, and goes back on track.
3/5
The Midnight Meat Train (Kitamura, 2008)
IMDB Link
It is strange. Movies based on novels usually don’t work because the film medium cannot contain all the details of a book. But at the same time, it seems movies based on SHORT STORIES work even less. By trying to stretch the short story to fit a feature film, these movies seem to almost never succeed.
“The Midnight Meat Train” is based on a short story by Clive Barker. The story was a quick read, with a weird ending, and it all worked, BECAUSE it was SHORT.
Someone is killing people on a train and it is up to a photographer to find out what is going on. A few gore here and there, and you get the explanation in the end. In the story, it is an interesting finish to a short story, but in the film, it is out of place, because it does not match the tone, feel, and content of the film prior to the ending.
You could say the story did not have enough…meat.
Oh, and the film is another shitty horror film directed by a non-American director that was brought in to Hollywood and given a crappy film to direct and the director probably shat his pants in excitement, knowing that he finally arrived in U. S. A. Nine years before this film, the director was in Japan and made “Versus”, a ridiculously fun movie.
2/5
Love Happens (Camp, 2009)
IMDB Link
“Funerals are important rituals. They're not only recognition that a person has died; they're recognition that a person has lived.”
Yes, I watched “Love Happens”, starring Jennifer Aniston, and a synopsis that says, “About a widower whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru. On a business trip to Seattle, he falls for a woman who attends one of his seminars, only to learn that he hasn't yet truly confronted his wife's passing”, a poster with the two characters leaning towards each other, smiling, and a tagline that says, “Sometimes when you least expect it…”
This is not my kind of film at all. But movies, like life, sometimes occurs irregardless of your desires.
Thankfully, the film did not make me want to slice my throat with my car keys. Obviously, it wasn’t good (how could it have been?), but it was just barely tolerable. It has most of the crappy, re-used scenes you have seen a million times before, such as an ending where the character says something, and the audience is silent, and then one person starts clapping, and then another person starts clapping, and soon everyone starts clapping. But at least it did not end with one of the couple leaving the other because of a conflict, going to the airport, and then other person running after them trying to make it on time. It did not have that, but I almost feel someone in the filmmaking crew wanted to put it in.
2/5
02 November 2009 @ 10:03 pm
Does the Team Think.... (BBC, 2007-2008)
Format. Hosted by Vic Reeves with four guests each episode. Members of the audience asks the team a question (I do not know if questions are scripted, but if they are not, most likely pre-approved by the producers) and they discuss a few minutes discussing it. Questions are general questions that are a spring board for the guests, all comedians, to try to be funny.
This kind of improvisation can be hit and miss and while it is not great hits, there are no high frequency of misses for it to make the show dull. I like the second seasons better, because the host Vic Reeves chills a bit. In the first season, he had the annoying habit of trying to overshadow his guests. If you think you are so funny, then don’t bring on guests, especially comedians. When there are going to be comedian guests, then it is annoying if the comedian is trying to set up a joke and taking a few second extra, and Vic Reeves keeps jumping in and trying to be funnier.
In the second season, Reeves cools down a bit and allows the guests more space to be funny themselves. Still, the format of the show does not allow for that many funny responses, and not all the comedians on the show seem to be really that funny thinking on their feet. And when you combine five comedians together in thirty minutes, then you have a lot of them trying to jump in the other’s story spouting out punch lines.
3/5
The Museum of Curiosity (BBC, 2008-2009)
Even with British humor it is rare, but I have a thing for mixing comedy with deeper subjects. I do not mean making it high-brow comedy necessary, but just being able to discuss various educating subjects while having a laugh about it. You get away from it learning something, like Stephen Fry’s show “QI”.
“Museum of Curiosity” is almost like a radio show of that. Not similar in programming but similar in making you laugh and think at the same time. The show is hosted by John Lloyd for both seasons, with Bill Bailey co-hosting the first and Sean Lock hosting the second.
Each episode there is three guests. The first half of the show is focused on introducing the guests and chatting with them. This is the weak portion of the show usually and the second half is about each guest “donating” an item to the fictional museum. The items can be anything and can be conceptual. Examples of the donations are “Silence”, “the urge to press red buttons you know you shouldn’t press”, “A chimpanzee rain dance”, and so on, and they spend a few minutes talking about their choices. This is the best part because as some guests have interesting and funny things to say about the items. As the guests are not necessarily comedians, it makes for some interesting topics. My favorite donation is “Nothing”, donated by particle physicist, Frank Close.
I could not find the transcript for that, but here is the one about “Privacy” from Ben Elton.
“Er, Orwell's nightmare vision of the future, set out in 1984, has as its central and terrifying oppressive feature the concept of being continually observed, not only in the streets, but in the home. In fact, Winston Smith, the hero, briefly believes he's found a place in which to be private, only to discover a hidden television camera in the room. And it's the most shocking moment in the book, and triggers the end of Smith's dream of any kind of individual life or self-expression. Now, I think today, Orwell would perhaps not be surprised to learn that his vision has come entirely to pass. What would shock him utterly is that this hellish idea has not been imposed by some fascistic oligarch or government, erm, but, in fact, we've brought it on ourselves. We've not only embraced it, we've welcomed it, from the CCTV in the streets, to the webcams in our bedroom, we have become our own Big Brother. Privacy isn't dead; er, well, if it's not dead, it's terminally ill, and we're certainly hastening its demise. What I'm saying is the idea of exposing yourself has become not just, sort of, something that, you know, people are encouraged to do, but people want to do. I mean, more and more people are stripping naked on TV. I mean, it doesn't matter what your body's like: You strip off and you tell people how crap your sex life is. I mean, it's extraordinary, isn't it? I mean, those two horrendous old harridan . . . bully, oh, I don't know . . . Skinny and Tranny or whatever their bloody names are . . .
But, er, you know! I mean, seriously, what an extraordinary way to run a tele-- . . . I mean, get someone, strip 'em naked, and then say, you know, "How crap are you?" "Well, I'm really awful, I've got no confidence, my husband hates me, my kids laugh at me. " "Well, you need a new bra! Put the new bra on. How do you feel?" "Oh, I feel empowered. I've been made over. I'm a new woman." We've given . . . We've given up on any sense of ourselves, and yet, we try to expose ourselves at all times.
I mean, this idea that we all need to hear everything about everybody's dysfunctionalism--we need to see and know everything about everybody--is deeply worrying. And with Facebook, and MySpace, we've got to the a point where young people who watch Big Brother and watch people wandering around, aimlessly talking about themselves all the time, and are introduced to the astonishing fiction that talking about yourself is somehow empowering--indeed, noble; in some way, enriching, just talking about yourself the whole time--and this becomes translated into the Facebook generation where you show everything. And frankly, the idea that we all share the details of every embarrassing piss-up with everybody we've ever met, and all their friends, all the time, I think, is a real problem for society, and I think the idea that we've given up on the idea that you might want to keep things private is a massive problem. I think we'd all rediscover a bit of self-respect: respect for yourself, respect for the other people’s right not to be interested in you . . . Shut up, keep your agony, your heartbreak, your learning journey, your personal growth, and your fabulous new breasts that have allowed you to be the you you want yourself to be . . . private.”
4/5
Format. Hosted by Vic Reeves with four guests each episode. Members of the audience asks the team a question (I do not know if questions are scripted, but if they are not, most likely pre-approved by the producers) and they discuss a few minutes discussing it. Questions are general questions that are a spring board for the guests, all comedians, to try to be funny.
This kind of improvisation can be hit and miss and while it is not great hits, there are no high frequency of misses for it to make the show dull. I like the second seasons better, because the host Vic Reeves chills a bit. In the first season, he had the annoying habit of trying to overshadow his guests. If you think you are so funny, then don’t bring on guests, especially comedians. When there are going to be comedian guests, then it is annoying if the comedian is trying to set up a joke and taking a few second extra, and Vic Reeves keeps jumping in and trying to be funnier.
In the second season, Reeves cools down a bit and allows the guests more space to be funny themselves. Still, the format of the show does not allow for that many funny responses, and not all the comedians on the show seem to be really that funny thinking on their feet. And when you combine five comedians together in thirty minutes, then you have a lot of them trying to jump in the other’s story spouting out punch lines.
3/5
The Museum of Curiosity (BBC, 2008-2009)
Even with British humor it is rare, but I have a thing for mixing comedy with deeper subjects. I do not mean making it high-brow comedy necessary, but just being able to discuss various educating subjects while having a laugh about it. You get away from it learning something, like Stephen Fry’s show “QI”.
“Museum of Curiosity” is almost like a radio show of that. Not similar in programming but similar in making you laugh and think at the same time. The show is hosted by John Lloyd for both seasons, with Bill Bailey co-hosting the first and Sean Lock hosting the second.
Each episode there is three guests. The first half of the show is focused on introducing the guests and chatting with them. This is the weak portion of the show usually and the second half is about each guest “donating” an item to the fictional museum. The items can be anything and can be conceptual. Examples of the donations are “Silence”, “the urge to press red buttons you know you shouldn’t press”, “A chimpanzee rain dance”, and so on, and they spend a few minutes talking about their choices. This is the best part because as some guests have interesting and funny things to say about the items. As the guests are not necessarily comedians, it makes for some interesting topics. My favorite donation is “Nothing”, donated by particle physicist, Frank Close.
I could not find the transcript for that, but here is the one about “Privacy” from Ben Elton.
“Er, Orwell's nightmare vision of the future, set out in 1984, has as its central and terrifying oppressive feature the concept of being continually observed, not only in the streets, but in the home. In fact, Winston Smith, the hero, briefly believes he's found a place in which to be private, only to discover a hidden television camera in the room. And it's the most shocking moment in the book, and triggers the end of Smith's dream of any kind of individual life or self-expression. Now, I think today, Orwell would perhaps not be surprised to learn that his vision has come entirely to pass. What would shock him utterly is that this hellish idea has not been imposed by some fascistic oligarch or government, erm, but, in fact, we've brought it on ourselves. We've not only embraced it, we've welcomed it, from the CCTV in the streets, to the webcams in our bedroom, we have become our own Big Brother. Privacy isn't dead; er, well, if it's not dead, it's terminally ill, and we're certainly hastening its demise. What I'm saying is the idea of exposing yourself has become not just, sort of, something that, you know, people are encouraged to do, but people want to do. I mean, more and more people are stripping naked on TV. I mean, it doesn't matter what your body's like: You strip off and you tell people how crap your sex life is. I mean, it's extraordinary, isn't it? I mean, those two horrendous old harridan . . . bully, oh, I don't know . . . Skinny and Tranny or whatever their bloody names are . . .
But, er, you know! I mean, seriously, what an extraordinary way to run a tele-- . . . I mean, get someone, strip 'em naked, and then say, you know, "How crap are you?" "Well, I'm really awful, I've got no confidence, my husband hates me, my kids laugh at me. " "Well, you need a new bra! Put the new bra on. How do you feel?" "Oh, I feel empowered. I've been made over. I'm a new woman." We've given . . . We've given up on any sense of ourselves, and yet, we try to expose ourselves at all times.
I mean, this idea that we all need to hear everything about everybody's dysfunctionalism--we need to see and know everything about everybody--is deeply worrying. And with Facebook, and MySpace, we've got to the a point where young people who watch Big Brother and watch people wandering around, aimlessly talking about themselves all the time, and are introduced to the astonishing fiction that talking about yourself is somehow empowering--indeed, noble; in some way, enriching, just talking about yourself the whole time--and this becomes translated into the Facebook generation where you show everything. And frankly, the idea that we all share the details of every embarrassing piss-up with everybody we've ever met, and all their friends, all the time, I think, is a real problem for society, and I think the idea that we've given up on the idea that you might want to keep things private is a massive problem. I think we'd all rediscover a bit of self-respect: respect for yourself, respect for the other people’s right not to be interested in you . . . Shut up, keep your agony, your heartbreak, your learning journey, your personal growth, and your fabulous new breasts that have allowed you to be the you you want yourself to be . . . private.”
4/5
02 November 2009 @ 12:40 am
Current Mood: blah
blahCurrent Music: SVU
01 November 2009 @ 03:52 pm
01 November 2009 @ 11:26 pm
Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire (BBC, 2009)
IMDB Link
Strangely, we do not have that many comedy-parody fantasy shows. After the huge success of “Lord of the Rings”, you’d assume we’d at least have some shows parodying the sword and sorcery genre.
Well, good news to those of you that have been waiting eagerly for me to bring you good tidings of such a show. “Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire” is such a show.
Krod (Sean Maguire) leads a small group of freedom fighters. He is the hero, with the flaming sword and the prophecy that claims he is the Golden One. He’s brave and his heart is in the right place, but he’s a bit clumsy, smashing into things, not very smart, and sometimes forgetting his sword. By his side is his pagan girlfriend, Aneka (India de Beaufort). Much to Krod’s constant heartbreak, Aneka is very open about her sexuality due to her being a pagan and has sex with random strangers. The other members of his group consists of a slave (which is a bit of a PR nightmare for Krod, considering he fights for freedom), a black warlock (who never seems to do any magick), and…a gay guy. The group is faced with the evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas), probably the funniest character on the show.
The show, being British, is only six episodes per season. This is good for certain shows and helps keep the material strong and fresh. But for silly comedy shows like this, it would have been better if it was longer. Six episodes of almost twenty minutes each is only two hours. That’s hardly a series. It’s just a slightly long American movie or a really short Bollywood film.
3/5
01 November 2009 @ 06:54 pm
Late, wet, and bedraggled, but I'm here.
Tomorrow heads will roll. Well, one head, at least.
Tomorrow heads will roll. Well, one head, at least.
Current Mood: 
cold
cold30 October 2009 @ 08:02 pm
Current Mood: 
disgusted
disgustedCurrent Music: Ghost Adventures
29 October 2009 @ 10:53 am
In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join
lj_releases.Super-tweak for Yandex search
Some of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.Postcards from the edge
Several years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.Conquer Writer's Block
Here are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?
- I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
- Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
- This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
- I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
- Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
- SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
- I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
- I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
- I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
- Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.
writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this! Spotlight community of the week
We can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.
halloween_fanPhotos of the week
We received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our newlj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful! |
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Curtains
Thanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week.28 October 2009 @ 02:11 pm
The Scottish filming is done, and cast and crew are packing up today for the big move to Belfast and its Paint Hall, where the shoot will resume. So far, so good.
Parris and I are moving on as well. She'll be headed over to Ireland tomorrow to spend Samhaim with friends, while I linger here in Scotland a few more days to visit with Lisa Tuttle. We converge again in Belfast in November. Today we swung by the HarperCollins warehouse outside Glasgow, where I signed five hundred hardcovers of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH. Ask for one at your favorite UK bookstore, they will be going all over the country.
Things are shaping up for the signing at Eason's in Belfast. Last night after the filming wrapped we stayed up late drinking with the cast, and I think we convinced a number of them to join us at Eason's. Should be a hoot and a half, assuming they don't come to their senses in the cold grey light of morning. I told them my readers were essentially harmless. Hah.
The cast is sensational, by the way.
Parris and I are moving on as well. She'll be headed over to Ireland tomorrow to spend Samhaim with friends, while I linger here in Scotland a few more days to visit with Lisa Tuttle. We converge again in Belfast in November. Today we swung by the HarperCollins warehouse outside Glasgow, where I signed five hundred hardcovers of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH. Ask for one at your favorite UK bookstore, they will be going all over the country.
Things are shaping up for the signing at Eason's in Belfast. Last night after the filming wrapped we stayed up late drinking with the cast, and I think we convinced a number of them to join us at Eason's. Should be a hoot and a half, assuming they don't come to their senses in the cold grey light of morning. I told them my readers were essentially harmless. Hah.
The cast is sensational, by the way.
Current Mood: 
tired
tired27 October 2009 @ 10:26 pm
( Perhaps if I loved you less I could talk about it more. )
Wow, that took much longer than I anticipated — and this was only about 20 minutes of the series. I think I've watched this part about four times now, at least, and reading the end of the novel makes it that much sweeter. Whatever reservations I may have had about Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller have vanished and I ship Emma and Knightley hard! I think it's how beautifully this series (and the ending specifically) shows the special friendship Emma and Knightley have that is the foundation of their romantic relationship — something unique to most of Austen's couples (save for Fanny and Edmund, perhaps? Hey, Jonny Lee Miller has something there.)
I hope you all enjoyed this picspam! And the series. What are your thoughts? Yay or nay?
Oh, and I couldn't help sneaking in some Jane and Frank picspamming love, too. They are just too adorable!
( How about a dance? )
27 October 2009 @ 07:59 pm
Current Mood: 
tired
tired27 October 2009 @ 05:58 pm
It's that time again!!! New stylesheet for you!
You can view a blue version of this layout right here @reversescollide
Pixie Fix was designed for Flexible Squares, check out all the info under the cut...
( Read more... )
You can view a blue version of this layout right here @
reversescollidePixie Fix was designed for Flexible Squares, check out all the info under the cut...
( Read more... )
27 October 2009 @ 03:23 pm
Current Mood: 
content
content26 October 2009 @ 03:45 pm
Current Mood: tired
tired26 October 2009 @ 07:39 am
I've met Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (and their charming moms). They're terrific, bright and beautiful and bursting with enthusiasm, excited to be a part of this.
And now I'm having pangs of guilt about all the horrors that they're going to have to go through in the months and years to come, thanks to me.
I'm going to have to rewrite the books so only nice things happen to Arya and Sansa. Might change the story some.
Also ran into Ron Donachie, Jennfier Ehle, and Kit Harington, and all of them were great The rest of the cast is around here somewhere too, but we haven't bumped into them yet. But I expect we'll meet them all today on set.
And now I'm having pangs of guilt about all the horrors that they're going to have to go through in the months and years to come, thanks to me.
I'm going to have to rewrite the books so only nice things happen to Arya and Sansa. Might change the story some.
Also ran into Ron Donachie, Jennfier Ehle, and Kit Harington, and all of them were great The rest of the cast is around here somewhere too, but we haven't bumped into them yet. But I expect we'll meet them all today on set.
Current Mood: 
bouncy
bouncy