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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Mal's LiveJournal:

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    Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
    5:55 pm
    Mal is without internet connection... again... dammit...
     Posting from a friend's place where I have brief access. Internet at home is down. Again. If replacement cable does the job, all should be well by this time tomorrow. If not... I don't even want to think about it. Will try to keep in touch one way or another. Oy.
    Sunday, November 15th, 2009
    5:56 pm
    Briefly not here
     Please pardon me for failing to reply to comments, but I've found that sitting at the computer makes this rib-pain thing worse, and being flat on my back much of the time seems to be contributing to significant improvement. Back in a day or two, eh?
    12:05 am
    My new canine roomie! :-D
     I'm still way too owie to spend much time at the computer, so instead of fiddling about and posting pics here, I'll just point you to Otter's post:

    Trudeau settling into his new home (click pics to embiggen)

    Additional pics to follow that will show his loooooooong legs. Not only do I not have to bend over to pet him; I actually have to raise my hand to pet him when he's standing next to me. That dog is one tall drink o' water!

    Okay, opiods + ibuprofen = manageable pain = OMG SLEEP NOW. Bye.
    Saturday, November 14th, 2009
    1:41 am
    OW. Also: DOG! \o/
     Bullet points:

    * Have had stitch in left side for approx. 30 hours. HURTS OMG. But it's only bad when I, you know, breathe. All-knowing internets say "do not panic; you are NOT having heart problems" and also "this hurts like hell but is not dangerous and doctors will just shrug and tell you to take ibuprofen." Meh. Pain sucks. Do not want. At all.

    * Awesome roomie [info]agentotter adopted a dog today! \o/ Or possibly a small moose. Hard to say. My guess is German Shepherd/Bloodhound. CUTENESS. Also jowls and occasional drool. Did I mention the adorableness? As Otter says: Cutest eyebrows ever. He's a mellow dude, housebroken, looks like he'll be easy to live with, and he has already decided that Otter is his personal property and he is hers, and that is a very fine thing. Velcro dog = happy Otter. <3 In the best due South tradition, Otter has named him Trudeau. *beams* Pictures will follow. Soonish. Also video footage once I recharge the Flip cam.

    * Will be seeing Great Big Sea in concert tomorrow evening if pain levels permit. Four-hour drive down plus standing for three hours at the venue and then four-hour drive home... I dunno. We shall see.

    * Rodeo AU: Writing stalled. Research (rodeo, calf roping, physical therapy, and Vegas mobsters) coming along nicely. Much thinkiness about characters, story line, and backstory, thanks to the several of you who contributed AWESOME questions. (You guys rock.) Not worried about making the 20K word count by June deadline, since brain is cogitating productively. Coolness.

    * Eastwick canceled. WOE. Not a great show, granted, but... PAUL GROSS! On TV every week! Talking all husky and sexy! *kicks ABC*

    * Happy things: Glee, White Collar, Lie to Me, and CKR on FlashForward. Dear C6D fandom: Please to be writing fic about hot guy (or girl) of your choice grilling Raynaud while he's in custody. Wall-slamming would be nice. Please and thank you kindly.

    * Finally time for more ibuprofen omg yay. Will permit sleep vv soon. Which is vv good thing. :-)
    Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
    1:51 pm
    There's a due South story in here somewhere...
     You can just imagine the conversation between Fraser and Dief, right? Maybe with the Ray of your choice chiming in as Dief's advocate.

    Middle-Aged Wolves Retire From the Hunt

    It takes wolves a year or two to learn how to hunt, but their ferociousness doesn't last long.

    According to a new study, most wolves lose their prowess by age 3, just halfway through their lives. After that, they have to rely on younger members of the pack to catch the majority of their meals.

    "Give the wolf his share of the pizza, Fraser. In dog years... sorry, Dief, wolf years... he's practically retired, okay?"
    Monday, November 2nd, 2009
    4:26 pm
    NCIS Soundtrack vol. 2 cheap! Also: Michael Weatherly's track
     In case anyone wants the complete NCIS Soundtrack Vol. 2, a pre-release download through Amazon dot com is available for $3.99 US. Limited time offer which will presumably expire when the CD is officially released tomorrow.

    ETA: Offer expired. It's now the regular price of $9.99 US.

    If all you want is Michael Weatherly's track, well, don't tell where you got it, eh? He wrote "Bitter and Blue" after his relationship with Jessica Alba ended, and it lives up to the title. Bitterness can be so very tasty. hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=FFUCIE4T
    12:36 pm
    Saturday, October 31st, 2009
    10:07 pm
    [info]ds_c6d_bigbang: And so it begins
    My due South Rodeo AU progress meter:

    2828 / 20000


    That's 929 words of prequel and 1899 words of the story itself. All of it was written some time ago, so none of that counts toward [info]wrisomifu, which will commence (for me) in about an hour.

    Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.



    FYI: The progress bar is courtesy of another little progress meter.
    Thursday, October 29th, 2009
    5:47 pm
    Woe
     I am sad. Bereft, actually.

    Awesome roomie [info]agentotter came thisclose to adopting an adorable dog, only to have the current owner change her mind at the last minute and decide to keep her.

    I would have had a new goddog. A Belgian Malinois, even -- my heart breed. In my house.

    WOE.
    Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
    11:01 pm
    PIMP: [info]ds_c6d_bigbang needs artists!
    There's a shortage of sign-ups for art -- which, for this purpose, includes not only vidding, drawing, painting, and Photoshop but also sculptural or textile art, podfic recordings, soundtracks/playlists, anything "creatively celebrating the story" -- for the current [info]ds_c6d_bigbang.

    You have until midnight Central (Chicago) time to sign up. This is where you do it.

    Writers are still welcome to sign up, as well. There's still time to join in the madness!

    Remember this is the most low-key Big Bang in fandom. Writers have nine months and the minimum word count is only 20,000. Hey, I signed up for it, and I've never even written anything longer than 10K words.

    The challenge covers not only due South but all of the "six degrees of Canada" fandoms. Lots of opportunities for inspiration -- not to mention pictures of pretty, pretty Canadians (and those who love them).
    6:25 pm
    [info]wrisomifu: I need a jump start
    Okay, so I signed up for [info]ds_c6d_bigbang in order to give myself a kick in the pants to actually write the due South rodeo AU that I've had swimming around in my brain for four years.

    Toward that end, I've also signed up for [info]wrisomifu -- aka Write Something, You Miserable Fuck -- a commitment to write at least ten minutes a day throughout November.

    I am, of course, panicking. Like you do. I invite all y'all to help, should you be so inclined.

    ( What I know about the Rodeo AU so far )

    "How can I help?" I hear you ask. You did ask, didn't you?

    This is how: You are invited to ask me questions about this 'verse and these characters within it. I'm thinking of something along the lines of this post from last year. Past, present, future, background, anything.

    I can't promise I'll actually answer all of them, but I imagine I'll be kind of desperate for writing inspiration some days, and I'll be likely to dip into this pool of questions to make my daily ten minutes... and hopefully considerably more than ten... and hopefully that'll help me get the actual story written. Including, you know, an actual PLOT. Since I'm not sure how I can manage 20K+ words without one.

    So... have at it, y'all. If you please. And thank you kindly.
    Sunday, October 25th, 2009
    10:23 pm
    White Collar: I love smart cops!
     This show is AWESOME. And filled with smart, pretty people. And slashy as hell. Also just plain fun.

    FOR THE WIN, USA Channel. Way to make good television. \o/
    Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
    6:02 am
    I have committed podfic
     But if you're interested in that sort of thing, no doubt you're already following the comms in question, so I needn't post all the particulars here.

    This happened because I was in too much pain (various, nothing new) to sleep and both cable TV and our internet connection were down for a few hours. My wrist is still too iffy to do much keyboarding, and writing by hand is no way going to happen. But, I found, I can still record and edit podfic. Good to know.

    I'm aware that I am shamefully late delivering podfics for [info]andeincascade and [info]tielan in return for their generous donations to [info]con_or_bust 2009, as well as [info]zabira's birthday gift from mumble-mumble years ago, not to mention a More Joy Day gift or two. I have pretty much completely failed at fannish productivity for all but the first month or two of this year.

    Anyway, I needed to warm up my mad podficcing skillz before tackling the big projects, so I started with a happy little SGA fic by [info]agentotter that I've had queued up for half an age. Nice to be back in the saddle, though I'm looking forward to finding my rhythm again so I'll need to do less editing.

    Also: The new Audio-Technica mic is awesome. Having a mic on a stand that's some distance from my face does wonders to cut down on the distracting breathing noises and such that I was spending so much time editing out. It can stay. :-)
    Sunday, October 18th, 2009
    8:31 pm
    Owie. Also: I am not dead.
     Not dead, just not online much. Managed to do something mysterious to my right wrist/forearm, and it hurts enough to interfere with sleep in spite of my rather impressive pharmaceutical resources, prescription and otherwise. Makes keyboarding and mousing uninviting, y'know?

    Am reading a bit, commenting rarely, & watching ridiculuous amounts of television while trying to get used to using the remote left-handed. It shouldn't be that hard, right? Oy.

    Anyway... *doped-up left-handed wave*

    Back soonish, presumably.
    Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
    3:47 am
    My dinner date with Callum Keith Rennie
     As some of you already know, [info]mdbsgfan and I spent last Saturday night in Los Angeles having dinner with Callum Keith Rennie. As promised, here's the scoop – all 3K words of it. Sorry if it's far on the wrong side of the tl;dr line; I've added a handful of cuts so it'll be easier to navigate to whatever interests you most.

    ( How did this happen? )

    ( The big night )

    ( His projects: Past, present, and future )

    ( Vancouver, Conventions, and Hugh Dillon )

    ( In conclusion... )

    I still need to crop and resize and otherwise tweak the photos, but it's 3am, so they'll have to go up tomorrow in a separate post. Apologies for the delay.
    Thursday, September 24th, 2009
    2:10 am
    Need help from Los Angeles area folks
     It appears that I will be making a trip to Los Angeles this weekend. Short notice, long story, more later.

    For now: I will need to be in West Hollywood ([details redacted]) on Saturday evening. What airport should I fly into? Any recs for lodging in the general vicinity of my destination? Or would I be better off getting a room near the airport and finding some other way to where I need to go? If so, what sort of transport would you suggest?

    HELP? This is terribly last minute, so I'm in urgent need of any advice at all. Many thanks in advance.

    Okay, must grab a few hours of sleep. Will be back to check for comments entirely too early in the morning.
    Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
    3:40 pm
    NCIS: Tell the PTBs not to blow it. They might even be listening.
     I have not yet seen the season opener, so please don't spoil me in comments.

    However, I do want to point this out -- with thanks to [info]tejas for the link:

    CBS Forum topic: Do you want Tony and Ziva to be a couple?

    As [info]tejas pointed out, since this was posted by a CBS Forum administrator, there's a real chance that the showrunners will be made aware of the responses.

    If you have strong feelings about it either way, here's your chance to make your voice heard. You will have to register and log in, but it's quick and easy procedure and they won't spaminate you.

    My reply:

    Absolutely not. PLEASE do not do this. Go ahead and play around with subtext all you like. The wealth of subtext -- from playful to serious -- between various characters on this show is one of the most delightful things about it. It's fun and sometimes downright enticing. But while subtext and the occasional hint of flirtation increase the show's appeal and encourage me -- and many, many other viewers I've interacted with on LiveJournal and fandom e-mail lists -- actually committing two main characters to a romantic relationship is a virtual kiss of death. Not only do you alienate many viewers who are vehemently opposed to such a relationship, but Hollywood has an appalling track record at doing it successfully. Far more often than not, even people who supported the romantic pairing when it was still just subtext and attraction end up disappointed and unhappy about the way in which the evolution of the relationship is written into the show.

    Flirtation is fun. Sexual tension is hot. Combine it with romantic tension, make viewers yearn, and it's downright delectable.

    But as soon as you have characters act upon that attraction, the tension goes away. There's nothing more to want and imagine and wish and wait for. The rubber band that was tugging those two characters toward each other -- and us toward them -- goes slack, and after that we're just left waiting to see how the writers will screw it up.

    This show is not Friday Night Lights. Tony and Ziva are not Eric and Tami Taylor. NCIS isn't about gritty reality in the day to day life of these people. It's fun and entertaining. Please keep it that way. Please don't hook any of the main characters up with each other. Please let the possibilities remain open. Don't kill the tension. Keep ALL of us watching. We'll thank you with good ratings.
    Saturday, September 12th, 2009
    9:17 am
    More RPF voting: It's the Hugh/Callum round
     The next round of voting for Hottest RPF Pairing is up over at [info]rp_manifesto.

    The C6D pairing for this round is Hugh Dillon/Callum Keith Rennie. Come on, you faithful fangirls! Get over there and vote!

    BTW, pimping with picspam etc is encouraged in comments to the poll post, but I have to leave shortly and I won't be home until late. If any of y'all has time to make the case for our boys, consider yourself nudged in that direction.

    If those guys aren't your cuppa, there's a wide variety of het, slash, and femslash pairings in the poll, from actors to poets to pundits to musicians (classic rock, popslash, bandom, punk) to pro athletes. And I'm sure I've missed a few.

    Go have fun. Vote!
    Thursday, September 10th, 2009
    4:37 pm
    Eastwick previews: Cheesy... but somehow spicy
     I know that not all of you are on the Paul Gross bandwagon, so here's a link to four sneak-peek clips at his new TV series, premiering soon in the US.

    Eastwick previews

    They're displayed in reverse chronological sequence, but I don't think it much matters. There's nothing subtle about any of this.

    Oh, Paul. I don't know how you can deliver some of the cheesiest lines ever written and still give me the happysquirms.

    Well. It is a show about magic powers, after all. And he is the devil. Is there any other explanation for That Voice?

    Oh.

    Huh.

    This means that both Paul and Callum have now played Satan.

    Heh.
    Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
    8:19 pm
    Trigger warning: Sons of Anarchy 2x01
     Given that this is a very good show about very bad people who do some very bad things, it's possible that anyone watching SoA is already self-selected as not easily triggered... but just in case, I thought this episode deserved a special warning.

    ( This only spoils a small part of the episode, but it spoils that bit quite thoroughly. Read it if you think you might need it. )

    As for the show itself, it remains as dark and as brilliantly executed as it was last season. I'm still along for the ride... wincing all the way.
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