whizzy

hi

whizzy — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:14:45 GMT

I just saw a post lack of posts that reminded me I haven't posted here in forever--probably because this was mainly a fannish journal, and my fannish pursuits these days are focused around the comm I help run, and tumblr by extension.

I haven't written much of anything in a very long time, and that makes me sad.

flails

whizzy — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 05:37:59 GMT

It's been out less than a week, but it felt like everyone but me had seen Pacific Rim. NO MORE. It was like a mashup of the best parts of every giant robot/giant monster title ever. All the tropes! Holy shit, so much fun. :D

Orange is the New Black hurts in the good way. Watch it if you haven't. Seriously.

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vestigial secondary pairing

whizzy — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 05:56:37 GMT

Can this be an actual fandom term? I really want it to be.

cap/iron man reverse bang

whizzy — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 04:52:48 GMT

HOLY SHITBALLS

So we had a bazillion (okay, 55) art entries, and less than twelve hours into claims almost all of them are gone. I didn't think we'd come close to opening a second round, but it's quite possible now.

If you're a Steve/Tony fan, swing by to check out the art at least. It's fantastic, and I can't wait to see what all the writers make of it.

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Subtext? Nope, no subtext here. >_>

whizzy — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:48:30 GMT

From the novel 12 O'Clock High:

He studied Gatley's unrelenting expression. And then he also found himself studying the young officer's individual features--the handsome, long-lashed eyes, the sensitive nostrils, the full lips--conscious that he had not taken the trouble before ever really to examine them. It was a stronger face than he had realized, but almost too good-looking. That, reflected Savage, must be what threw me off. Way, way off. He moved a little closer to Gately. He cleared his throat.

"You don't hate me," he said softly. "You just think you do." He waited. No answer.

"You never did hate me. You hated the things inside yourself that didn't belong there. You thought you hated me when I dragged them out in the open... and showed them to you."

Still no answer. Then the general perceived that Gately had begun to look terribly tired.

"I'm shoving off now." He reached out his hand halfway to Gately's but the latter, making no move, merely stared up at him blankly. Savage lingered a moment longer, his eyes dropping to the floor. He looked up. "Get some shut-eye," he added gently.

*howling*

(Also, those poor abused adverbs!) Original post has comments.

free digital comics

whizzy — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:16:15 GMT

If you haven't seen the mess over at Comixology, they released a set of 700+ free Marvel comics... and BOOM went the servers. So! They're switching up how they're handling the promotion, check here for details and to get in.

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mmm, new Led Zeppelin tape

whizzy — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 06:45:13 GMT

Apparently a tape from the concert on 12-06-1969 has surfaced. It must have been a small venue, there's little crowd interference, and for an audience recording the sound is quite good.

It really is something how many of these shows were taped on the sly, and how many of the tapes survive to this day.

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that thing I keep seeing

whizzy — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:27:38 GMT

What I'm reading Wednesday, or something like that. I might as well hop in for once.

Finally found a copy of Twelve O'Clock High! for less than $30. (Stupid out-of-print prices.) It's quite short, and not as sanitized as the movie. (I'm at the point where General Savage has just told his air and ground execs to take a stressed-out young pilot to London and get him laid. Okay, maybe he didn't use those exact words, but they were all dining with the chaplain at the time, so. *grin*) I'm even more glad that the movie did away with the love interest. Her introduction is shoehorned in at the beginning before she disappears for half the book -- that's how slapped-on that subplot feels.

One day I will finish The Making of the Atomic Bomb, but I may require a refresher course in physics first.

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caaaake

whizzy — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 21:08:44 GMT

I somehow ended up as curator of the family recipe box -- which is an odd mix of Eastern European and American Midwest, with a dose of "hot damn, all our recipe-sharing neighbors are Italian" thrown in for good measure.

Some of them are rather old. And, uh, missing half the directions. (Like just what in the hell that batter is supposed to make? Cake? Cookies? Bread? Souffle? Gruel?) I'm both intrigued by and wary of the depression/rationing era ones, like this:

One Egg Cake

1c sugar
1 1/2c flour
2tsp BP

Put egg in large coffee cup, fill to 1/2 full of butter, then fill to brim with sweet milk. Add this to sifted dry ingredients. Beat, add 1tsp vanilla and nuts if desired. Bake in 8" square pan in moderate oven.

I mean, with such precise measurements, what could possibly go wrong?

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[podfic] Adamant

whizzy — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 01:12:19 GMT

The Amplificathon podbang is underway, and ages ago Exmanhater inquired after doing Adamant.

GUYS, IT IS AMAZEBALLS. I'm most of the way through, and I already know this is one I'll come back to for comfort listens. Also, incredibly impressed because it was so long, with awkward prose and mid-scene voice changes that were difficult to convey in text, let alone audio.

<3

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new Secret Avengers

whizzy — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:59:31 GMT

Okay, so. Remember back in the 2nd Iron Man movie, when Natasha injected Tony with that not-cure? And fans wrote fic about how awful it was that she hadn't gotten his consent first, and that he couldn't trust her after that -- was in fact sometimes written as scared of her?

I will be disappointed (and highly suspicious) if fandom doesn't react the same way to events in SA#1. Because damn, that was a shitty thing to do to a character with a history of being brainwashed by shady government agencies. (No, not talking about Clint, although...)

The rest of the book wasn't much better, I thought. Not gonna be following that one.

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dude!

whizzy — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:16:18 GMT

It's like I'm getting a papal resignation for my birthday.

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dogs, stop breaking!

whizzy — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:05:26 GMT

It's Charlie this time, did something yesterday to strain her leg and has been hobbling around on three pretending nothing's wrong. So, vet visit this morning. :(

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Excuse me, Freud would like a word

whizzy — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:25:09 GMT

So I'm hanging in game chat, and this guy is talking about a frustrating dream he had in which he tried repeatedly but was unable to "fire a gun". It took me five minutes of following the ensuing conversation to realize that a) not a troll, and b) he honestly had NO CLUE that he was describing a metaphor for anything. He was just pissed that his dream gun wouldn't fire (like, how difficult can it be).

KLAUS, IS THAT YOU?

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phone!

whizzy — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 10:03:04 GMT

Oh man, it's nice to have an actual phone again (oh, Nexus 4 baby, let me touch your gargantuan screen). I'd been on a series of old clunkers and hand-me-downs since mine bricked itself last year. So now I can load apps without crashing and hold a battery charge for more than six hours and take photos of acceptable quality!

Which reminds me, I want to rip that crazy Air Force firepower sound effects LP, I'm sure my new ringtone is in there somewhere. (Thrift stores, man. Best source of bizarre vinyl and twenty year old IBM keyboards.)

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Cap IM mod thingy

whizzy — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:36:16 GMT

Oh yeah, I put in to help co-mod the comm. It's up to a vote, so if you're a member (and, yanno, think I would do a good job) then head over and check my ticky box.

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this is like witeout on a CRT, isn't it?

whizzy — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:59:18 GMT

J started going over the cell phone bill and proceeded to crack the fuck up. My mother (who has been added to our account) apparently made a couple calls to directory assistance (to the tune of $2 a pop)...

(Wait for it.)

...from her brand new smartphone. XD

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hnngh!

whizzy — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:30:44 GMT

Okay, gonna inflict this on you guys after all, since it's up on netflix atm, and I also got around to ripping my copy. *cough*

Once you get past Gregory Peck, uniform porn, and a shitload of fabulous vintage aircraft, Twelve O'Clock High is worth watching for a bunch of reasons. It was written by a couple of guys who were in the air corps during the war, and based much of the story on real events/people. It was one of the first Hollywood productions to take an unflinching look at the psychological effects of combat. To this day, it's treated as practically a treatise on leadership.

I, personally, in my twisted little heart of hearts, enjoyed the hell out of it as a character study. Here we have a hard-bitten, by-the-books general, who has such a repressive stranglehold on his emotions that you spend the entire movie just waiting for him to implode.

Back to Peck briefly, it's a joy to watch the little things he does: nervous tics, particularly with his hands; his posture when he's alone in a room closing out a scene; tiny moments where he allows his character to relax before the iron control snaps back into place. The supporting cast are pretty damned good, too.

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the state of gaming

whizzy — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:25:21 GMT

I guess Pandas was the expansion that broke WoW for me. I don't think I've logged in since... November? I'd been in two fabulous raid groups which both kind of disintegrated at the end of Cata. Didn't feel like finding a new home because frankly there are an awful lot of asshats online, and I have little tolerance for remaining in the vicinity of any of them for any reason.

I will probably wander back sometime to finish some achievements and shit (same with GW2, actually), but in the meantime I'm hanging out in D3 until Marvel Heroes launches (which can't possibly be any worse than D3, and will hopefully prove to be more the spiritual successor of D2, fingers crossed, etc).

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[fic] [SGA] You Can't Go Home

whizzy — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 00:32:37 GMT

I guess I can fess up to this now that the SGA Secret Santa reveal has been made. But I get the feeling I'm super conspicuous and transparent (at least in that fandom) and probably everyone already guessed it was me. >_>

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ARGH, HAVEN

whizzy — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:43:21 GMT

HOW can I wait for the next season after that? Also, now that a certain character has finally found a clue, I am even more convinced that the whole thing must end in OT3 or tears.

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strangest thing i've seen in a while

whizzy — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 09:29:37 GMT

Been doing a lot of family crap and catching up on things to watch. Haven't been keeping up online, but hopefully that will change now that I have the majority of holiday stuff done.

Was in an antique/junk store the other day and I saw, I kid you not, a (rather nice) framed fanart of Miyu and Larva from Vampire Princess Miyu. Considering that it was keeping company with cutesy landscapes and farm animals and such, it was like a very bizarre and unexpected game of one of these things is not like the others.

The best part: it was labeled as "mother and daughter."

No, I think you mean "demonic servant-slave and capricious bloodsucking half-shinma".

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More Haven

whizzy — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:59:10 GMT

One last quick thing. OMG, the baddie's verbal tic has been consistent the entire season, the audience just didn't have their attention directed to it until just now.

*headdesk*

(Also, the end of episode 3? Entirely new meaning.)

Seriously, well done show.

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Savannah

whizzy — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:55:47 GMT

Took a quick trip down there recently. If you've ever considered visiting the city, do not -- I repeat, do not go during the summer when it is wretchedly hot and crowded as hell. Go off-season, when you can actually walk around and enjoy the city; and get seated immediately at the popular food joints instead of waiting the two hour norm. But be careful if you drive. The bicyclists are both plentiful and suicidally brazen. You think it's bad watching someone drive and text? Yeah. Also, helmets are totally uncool or something. (Hipsters, man.)

We did Fort Pulaski, of course, including an intimate little musket demonstration by one of the park rangers for his audience of, like, six. The fort's history is amusing as hell. Good old Robert E Lee had a hand in the construction, and it was built to be this massive, invincible thing. So naturally those Union boys and their newfangled rifled cannons tore it apart in thirty hours. Pristine condition to rubble and surrender in just over a day. XD

Also drove out to Tybee, which is where the lost nuke is hiding. Hunter Army Airfield, in Savannah, is where the damaged B-47 landed after ditching the bomb.

And who would spend time gawking at old houses when they could visit a B-17? I had to hit up the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. (Think Twelve O'Clock High.) It was surprisingly good for a small, private museum. Veterans and their relatives had obviously raided closets and attics to drag out a really eclectic collection of artifacts/memorabilia, and the presentation was well organized.

Alas, there are no pictures. My cell phone somehow bricked itself overnight. (Apparently a not uncommon occurrence among models of that type and age.) So now I have the $30 cheap-ass special on order until I can get a real replacement. (The Nexus 4 is out of stock again, argh.)

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Haven, the spoiler-free squee

whizzy — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:14:52 GMT

Damn, that was some sneaky stuff. I'm starting to remember all kinds of crap from the last ten episodes that were clues and I just missed them! And faith restored regarding you know who. \o/ It's been so long since I followed a show where continuity matters; where consequences from one-off episodes two seasons ago matter; where even little mistakes matter, because they are not mistakes, they are clues dammit, pay attention.

In short, I trust the show-runners of a Sci-Fi channel series, and that in itself is a freaking miracle.

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