1) House rules: Don't fight on my journal. Don't. Disagree, discuss, that's great. But you will be civil and non-snippy to me and each other on my own journal. Take it somewhere else if you can't.

2) My stepfather decided to buzzcut the Angry Jasmine again. The jasmine then got so much angrier, in fact, that it disgorged a swarm of yellowjackets that stung him upside the head several times. I'm not even making this up.

3) Yesterday, I opened the front door to take Scout outside on his leash, and there's a dead bird toes up on the doorstep. A fairly large bird, too--you know, the size of a pigeon, rather than a sparrow. We have no idea what it was doing there, because it was under the little porch overhang fairly close to the door, so it couldn't have just fallen out of the sky or something.

( Linkspam )

Tags: 9, alice in wonderland, awards, barbie, batman, cameron!avatar, coco avant chanel, dark shadows, deaths, dogs, dolls, harry potter, i am never making it up, inception, makeup, movies, narnia, o snap, oscars, pirates of the caribbean, public enemies, robin hood, runaways, scout, sparkle motion, terminator, the box, the fighter, the last airbender, true blood, tv, twilight, vampires, watchmen, werewolves, why we can't have nice things
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Garbage - Push It

BREAKING: David Carradine Found Dead in Bangkok; David Carradine, Actor, Is Dead at 72.

Fantasy Author David Eddings Has Died.

( Read more... )

Tags: 300, books, cameron!avatar, deaths, disney, doctor who, harry potter, lemony snicket, magazines, movies, my little pony, prince, remember me, sparkle motion, spider-man, star wars, stephen colbert, terminator, the princess and the frog, the prisoner, true blood, tv, twilight, writers, x-men, zombies
Current Mood: time for breakfast

Y'all, I don't wanna do a damn thing tonight. It took me this long to do a simple linkspam, Adam Lambert's got steel cage shoulder pads on, and I haven't even had dinner yet.

ETA re: American Idol: ( Can AI have spoilers? )

( Linkspam )

Tags: 9, agora, american idol, books, deaths, disney, fame, harry potter, inglourious basterds [sic], iron man, movies, my little pony, sherlock holmes, sparkle motion, star trek, stephen king, terminator, true blood, tv, twilight, vampires
Current Mood: blah

Apropos of nothing much, I'll tell you that I tried to watch the third Mummy movie last night, and I could not get fifteen minutes into it--because I can forgive a lot, and I can have a lot of fun with stuff that isn't actually good, but I just could not, not, not get behind Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz (who I love in the first movie). They just weren't even the same character--Rachel Weisz brought a kind of giddy can-do energy to Evie, whereas Maria Bello had this arch, coy, detached take on the whole thing (and how much of that is due to her wrestling with a fake accent, I don't know).

But I will give the movie this: the first time we hear Bello!Evie, she's reading aloud from a novel she's published (a thinly fictionalized version of her own adventures). Then a woman in the audience stands up and asks if she based the heroine on herself, and then we see Bello!Evie for the first time as she says, all but winking at the camera, "No, I can honestly say she is a completely different person." I laughed so hard.

Must Watch: First Trailer for Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes'!

ETA: Early leak of the New Moon poster, it looks like. Although the watermark is cracking me up.

( Moar! )

Tags: agora, clash of the titans, harry potter, lost, movies, nine, poe, shakespeare, sherlock holmes, sparkle motion, spider-man, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the imaginarium of dr. parnassus, the road, true blood, tv, twilight
Current Mood: mellow

Still "recovering" from burnout a bit. Attended two separate social gatherings last night, believe it or not. Now need to find something to wear for The Lovely Emily's wedding (did I mention she's getting married at the end of May?), which ought to be... interesting, and possibly depressing. The wear-finding, I mean, not the wedding (I approve of The Future Mr. Emily 110%).

I do have some linkspam today, if only because some really good stuff just came out. (Nothing gets my attention like the word "EXCLUSIVE," by the way--because I automatically know which site's version of a news item I ought to go with. Also among my priorities: trailers and images.)

( Nine, The Road, Princess and the Frog, Deathly Hallows, Dawn Treader, Wuthering Heights, a lot of exclamation points!!! )

Tags: disney, face value, harry potter, lost, lovecraft, movies, my little pony, narnia, nine, public enemies, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the princess and the frog, the road, true blood, tv, twilight, unbound captives, vampires, wtf, wuthering heights
Current Mood: meh

I feel really crappy, probably because the weather's been hideous for several days now, but it's sunny now, so here's an early linkspam so I can go recharge my epidermal solar panels.

(Re: Yesterday's Secret Life: There are a ton of awesome reader-made icons sprinkled through the comments; The Littlest Hat is courtesy of MaggieCat; and TLE is not technically napping [sparklepires don't sleep, if you will recall], so he has actually stopped for a Q-tip snack break, if you look closely. Also: Let's have a big hand for Squeakers the Cat-Toy Stunt Mouse.)

( Linkspam )

Tags: awards, bad ideas, books, deaths, disney, dracula, harry potter, inception, internet, lord of the rings, lost, movies, pixar, salvador dali, seasonal affective disorder, sparkle motion, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the princess and the frog, the road, the secret life of dolls, tori amos, true blood, tv, twilight, twitter, vampires, wanted, x-men, zombies

First off, dollish news: Freakishly Lifelike Joker (With Extra Police Uniform) is available for pre-order and a January release! If you do want this, you may want to reserve yours now, because I think the previous version completely sold out.

THE LITTLEST BELLA IS IMMINENT. (Scroll to the end.) I am advised that she will be shipping next week, in fact. I think it'll take me a few entries to work her in, as I started planning for the worst (JULY, WTF), but I can adjust the story pretty quickly. (As previously mentioned, any and all spare Littlest Edwards will be used as doubles. I did the sorta-twin thing once; I don't think I can manage it again.)

MOAR DOLLS: My Little Ponies that might actually taste like candy; Tonner Warehouse Relocation Sale in NY; I have two things to say about the latest repaint here, and they are: 1) This is a very talented artist. 2) That shit ain't right. I don't even want to contemplate what the eventual owner might do with that.

A note about links to movie parodies, video and otherwise: I wanted to do Watchmen in Fifteen Minutes, but I never did because when I sat down, I just couldn't think of anything to say. And several weeks later, I realized it was because I had seen two or three really funny takes on the original book... so when I sat down to write, all that came to mind were their jokes. So from now on, I might link to parodies of movies I plan on writing about in the future if I happen to see them (the movie sites I watch often post them), but only for y'all to see them--if you specifically want me to watch them, well... it's not going to happen. I'm talking about parodies of things like X-Men/Wolverine, Star Trek, Terminator--all the summer movies, whichever if any I end up trying to write about, but also stuff later in the year. I mean, I'm sure parodists will eventually switch over from Twilight to New Moon, and I won't be able to look at those either. I barely look at them now, even the ones I link.

(I remember that I said to someone once that I couldn't read other people's parodies if I hadn't written my own yet, and whoever it was got really huffy about all the things I was "missing out on." You know what? If it's the only way I can keep doing my own thing, I'm pretty sure I'm okay with that sacrifice.)

( ACTUAL LINKSPAM )

Tags: batman, cameron!avatar, clash of the titans, comics, crime, days of our lives, dolls, easy virtue, friends, harry potter, lost, my little pony, my mother, picasso, scifi, soap operas, sparkle motion, spider-man, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the last airbender, the lone ranger, tonner, tv, twilight, vampires, werewolves, x-men
Current Mood: full and sleepy

A few things:

I think I gave the wrong impression when I talked about my closet the other day--it's not Confessions of a Shopaholic up in there; it's filled with fifteen (or more) years of cheap junk. The "purses and handbags" are, like, $20 woven satchels or totes from a couple of local places, not $1500 Prada bags or something. And I have a habit of stashing away old odds and ends--the scarf nobody wanted, the ribbons from opened gifts or old dresses, the old green vase cluttering up the kitchen counter, the beads from the necklace that broke--and so most of the accumulated stuff didn't even cost me anything. And many of the "boxes of clippings" are shoeboxes, not gigantic crates or anything. The list was more of an exercise in "Wow, when you put it in words like that, I really do have a lot of ancient and pointless crap I could stand to get rid of," not "Look at my decadent materialism!"

However, if you were interested in the historical costume coloring books, they are from Bellerophon Books and roughly $5 each.

Re: Yesterday's Secret Life: The rocking chair (sitting unheralded in the back of one of the pictures) was one of the smaller reader gift/mail items that I've been holding onto until I can work them in. Also, I don't know why Anna's arm kind of looks jaundiced in the picture. Also-also: two icons!

(I TOLD YOU GUYS The Littlest Edward was tiny, didn't I?)

( Catchup linkspam! )

Tags: cameron!avatar, cleaning, conventions, deaths, dolls, epic fail, facebook, harry potter, icons, lost, mail, narnia, never let me go, sparkle motion, stage and theater, star trek, superman, terminator, the da vinci code, the hurt locker, the lovely bones, the secret life of dolls, tv, twilight, x-men, zombies
Current Mood: mellow, a smidge headachy
Current Music: Chicane - Leaving Town

So... I ended up going to bed really early last night with a headful of snerf. Also, yesterday was apparently Everybody Being Bitches Day, and I was tired. Thus, you get a late yesterday/early today linkspam now.

Correction: Abdullah/Windfola was not an Arabian; he was a Trakehner, and a rather famous one at that.

Also, thank y'all for all the Findy Thoughts, because after my failed expedition to the farthest reaches of the attic, I went back to my closet and found The Thing I Need In Order to Write the Next Installment. It's going to be epic, I think.

( Linkspam! )

Tags: books, disney, dvd, green hornet, harry potter, iron man, lost, music, patricia cornwell, publishing, shutter island, sin city, sparkle motion, spider-man, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the fighter, the lone ranger, thor, true blood, tv, twilight, twitter, vampires, watchmen, werewolves, x-men
Current Mood: late for lunch and hungry

There seems to be a Team Littlest Edward movement brewing in the Secret Life comments--I particularly enjoyed these two icons. (If you feel the urge to acquire your own Littlest Edward, you can get one from Entertainment Earth through my affiliate account. Put a teacup full of cotton balls or knitting yarn out for him and your stuffed animals ought to be fine.)

Early linkspam, so I can go outside and play! ( Read more... )

Tags: art, awards, books, harry potter, icons, lolcats, lord of the rings, movies, never let me go, percy jackson, pixar, public enemies, sparkle motion, star trek, state of play, terminator, terry pratchett, the hurt locker, the secret life of dolls, true blood, tv, twilight, twitter, wanted, wtf, x-men, youtube
Current Mood: cheerful

... which could probably change on a dime.

First off--had a couple of requests to talk about saving the show Chuck: library_of_sex says, "There's the usual letter-writing campaign and voting at E!Online's Save One Show, but there's also the Finale and Footlong, involving Subway, a big sponsor of the show," and foresthouse has more ideas here.

Oh, by the way: super cute charm necklaces. I have the Love Letter (wearing it right now, actually) and the Chat Noir.

( Linkspam! )

Tags: american idol, books, copyright, crazy, disney, epic fail, fandom, harry potter, jewelry, lolcats, movies, never let me go, robin hood, saturday night live, scifi, sparkle motion, star trek, stephen colbert, terminator, the da vinci code, the hurt locker, the wolfman, titanic, tv, twilight, twitter, wtf, x-men, young victoria
Current Mood: mellow

Thataway: The Package is REVEALED, and the responses are cracking me up. (I love how the predominant sentiment is, "He's an asshole! YAY!")

(Hello, new unlurkers! A few folks mentioned getting LJ accounts so as to comment on that entry, so welcome aboard and enjoy your stay.)

Meanwhile, I am hearing disturbing rumors that NECA might not put out The Littlest Bella until JULY. Y'all... I am gonna be so screwed if I have to tread water on this for another three months. I am trying very hard not to email them like a wingnut and plead for information.

Meanwhile-meanwhile, I've been clenching my jaw again, fnarr. Got a lot of work done today, though (which is probably why).

( Linkspam! )

Tags: american idol, art, books, candy, crazy, deaths, dolls, epic fail, fandom, harry potter, iron man, john carter of mars, kurt vonnegut, movies, neil gaiman, never let me go, perfume, public enemies, publishing, robin hood, salvador dali, sparkle motion, star trek, terminator, the da vinci code, the rum diary, the tudors, thirst, tv, twilight, twitter, vampires, watchmen, wtf, x-men, zombies
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Exposé - Point Of No Return (shut up. You know I have no pride)

Early linkspam so I can go take some pictures for something I'm a bit behind on posting. Cough.

Re: the previous post: Okay, you know me. I love me some Tonners. That is not a factory fresh "original" Tonner Jacob. Now that I've gotten a good look at it, you can't convince me that it is. I know for a fact that the other two are repaints, because I know what the originals look like. That is just not a Tonner paint job, and you cannot tell me otherwise. ETA: Aha! Solved.

The new Made of Fail podcast is up, for real this time.

( More linkspam )

Tags: batman, books, clash of the titans, copyright, crazy, doctor who, dolls, fandom, fandom wank, harry potter, iron man, jane austen, movies, neil gaiman, pirates (arrrr), pride and prejudice, public enemies, sin city, sparkle motion, spider-man, star wars, stephen king, superman, terminator, terry pratchett, tonner, true blood, tv, twilight, vampires, x-men, young victoria, zombies
Current Mood: busy

Man--for some reason I really crash in the evenings. I mean, not unreasonably, but since I try to put off the linkspam as long as I can to get the last news of the day in--*flop.*

(And I really need to go take some pictures, too, because I need to have night in the background, if that makes any sense. Nrrrgh, second wind!)

Re: the book: A number of people commented yesterday that they've seen the Movies in Fifteen Minutes book in different Half Price Books stores around the country, so it may be a chain-wide import thing, not just that one store in Austin. And if you were concerned as to whether I get royalties if the book is half-price, secondhand, whatever--I honestly don't care. My personal feeling at this point is that it's more important for people to read the book (and come back here and start reading my journal, even) than to get whatever few cents on the dollar might come in. And I'm even saying that from a financial perspective--it seems like an investment in the future to try to get more people to see the book, so if you buy it used or borrow it from a library or lend it to a friend, I am perfectly okay with that.

From ook: Lein Wein, creator of Wolverine, lost his home, dog, and original art in a fire. I'm not sure if he lost the entire house? It's deeply unfortunate either way.

Re: Project Download and Erin's passing: I've been holding on to this perhaps longer than I should have, but I wanted to get an answer from Erin's mother first--chris_walsh did attend Erin's memorial last week, and says, "Jo [Erin's mother] wanted to hear from more people who knew Erin online. If you want to reach Jo, her e-mail is jorn43 [at] yahoo[dot]com." You'll need to put Erin's name in the subject line ("About Erin," for example) to make sure Jo knows to open it.

( More linkspam )

Tags: deaths, facebook, inception, iron man, m15m book, movies, music, project download, sparkle motion, star trek, star wars, terminator, the box, tv, twilight, twitter, wizard of oz, x-men
Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: The Servant - Body

I had dinner and then took a hot shower and that was apparently a baaaad idea because I'm about to fall asleep right here at my desk. So, before I pass out:

ipomoea spotted a few original Movies in Fifteen Minutes hardbacks for sale in Austin!

( More linkspam )

Tags: 300, blogs, books, dvd, epic win, fame, harry potter, his dark materials, iron man, lost, m15m book, music, salvador dali, saturday night live, sparkle motion, star trek, stephen king, terminator, the box, the curious case of benjamin button, the imaginarium of dr. parnassus, tv, twilight, twitter, watchmen, where the wild things are, writers, x-men
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: The Killers - Jenny Was a Friend of Mine

New Secret Life of Dolls thataway. I think we might be able to get to The Package after two more entries. That second entry, though? Ought to be pretty exciting on its own. And keep in mind that the last time I said that, I brought in the My Little Ponies. So keep an eye out for that.

( Big news in the linkspam! )

Tags: april fool's day, epic fail, harry potter, iron man, jane austen, lord of the rings, lost, movies, nightmare on elm street, pirates of the caribbean, schadenfreude, sparkle motion, spider-man, star trek, terminator, the rum diary, thirst, tv, twilight, vampires, watchmen, x-men
Current Mood: sludgy

A few things up front:

The new Made of Fail podcast is up!

Re: "Christmas in April": After some discussion on the last SLOD entry, I think we've decided that the green pegasus is named Medley, not Melody. Also: damn, y'all like you some My Little Ponies. I had no idea people still loved them so much, and I expected to be roundly mocked for still having mine.

(OMG THE BLUE PONY WITH THE FISH IS SO PRETTY! and also does not have dead, black eyes)

(OMG PWNIES.)

A couple of icons I loved but forgot to mention a while back: In case of explushination, break glass; a fever of 100 and werewolf.

( More linkspam! )

Tags: antiquities, april fool's day, books, cirque du freak, clash of the titans, crazy, fame, harry potter, icons, inception, iron man, lord of the rings, lost, made of fail, movies, music, my little pony, pirates (arrrr), podcasts, quelle scandale, rabbit hole, scary, sparkle motion, spider-man, stage and theater, star wars, sunshine cleaning, terminator, the last airbender, the rum diary, tori amos, true blood, tv, twilight, twitter, vampires, video, wtf, x-men
Current Mood: sleepy, a little headachy
Current Music: Bryan Adams - Run To You

A few things (omg so behind on answering email/comments):

From mercuryandrain: "I was wondering if you could do me a HUGE favor and plug the Support Stacie auction sometime this week in one of your linkspam posts? Stacie is fighting high stage III breast cancer without the help of health insurance. This coming weekend (April third through sixth) a multi-fandom fanfic auction is taking place - people will bid on their favorite authors, and the highest bidder gets a story tailor-made to their specifications. Over 100 authors are participating at last count, from Roswell, Twilight, Dr. Who, Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter among other fandoms. Her website is http://www.supportstacie.net, and the website where the auction will take place is http://www.majiksfanfic.com/phpbb. There is also an LJ comm dedicated to the cause: supportstacie."

countessmary has put up (with my blessing) some "Twilight Means Never Having to Say You're Kidding" t-shirts to raise money for prizes for the YA Lit track at Dragon*Con.

The Littlest Edward is famous! And I mentioned this the other day somewhere--Twitter?--but while we're here: Biker Barbie with pink chaps. Ya rly.

Also, I have to show you this, because it brought light and joy into my life: VAMPIRE CLOAKS FOR DOLLS OMG. THE ALL-BLACK ONE HAS A COLLAR LIKE A BATWING OR A SPIDERWEB OR SOME SHIT, LOOK AT THAT! OMFG A BLACK POET SHIRT, I CAN'T STAND IT. It's like what Bella would make Edward wear if she felt kinky or something.

( More on that rock-awesome Joker doll )

( More linkspam )

And now, maybe I can get a bit more done before the power goes off tomorrow.

Tags: alabama is the center of the universe, alice in wonderland, barbie, batman, charity, conventions, dolls, facebook, fantastic mr. fox, flight of the conchords, harry potter, indiana jones, movies, narnia, publishing, sherlock holmes, sparkle motion, spider-man, star trek, stephen colbert, terminator, the prisoner, toys, tv, twilight, twitter, vampires
Current Mood: complacent, with a touch of sleepy
Current Music: Bryan Adams - Back To You

Re: This morning's Secret Life of Dolls: There was an alternate picture I didn't post that might explain what was going on in the photos a bit better--the second one was actually supposed to be The Littlest Edward complaining ("IT'S INDECENT!," etc.) from "my" perspective sitting there at my desk. Also, Serafina's pose was supposed to look like this, only I couldn't quite get her legs to cooperate, so it ended up looking like more of a pinup pose (not unfittingly). And in case you were wondering how inadequately clothed Eva Green!Serafina tended to look in the movie, here you are.

Meanwhile, my mother watched the Twilight DVD the other night--I've gotten through most of the extras--and asked if I could find her sheet music for "that song Edward Cullen plays on the piano." (She used to love playing the piano and wants to get back to it.) "I know it isn't really him playing it in the movie," she assured me for some reason. "No, it's him," I said (deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt that she didn't think that Actual Edward Cullen had somehow been magicked into existence for the purpose of filming a movie), "the actor's also a musician." "HE IS?" she cried. "I REALLY like him now!"

It's happened. I can't deny it anymore. She's a Twimom. I facepalmed.

( Easily skippable Twilight stuff, since we're here )

More linkspam: ( Silence of the Lambs Lego musical what? )

Tags: american idol, awards, books, cloverfield, conversations with my mother, deaths, dolls, dvd, easy virtue, facebook, flight of the conchords, harry potter, his dark materials, horror, iron man, let the right one in, lord of the rings, lost, music, my mother, narnia, pixar, publishing, robin hood, sparkle motion, star trek, stephen colbert, terminator, the da vinci code, the secret life of dolls, thirst, true blood, tv, twilight, vampires, wank, watchmen, where the wild things are, wtf, x-men
Current Mood: placid

Linkspam:

Remembering Natasha Richardson, 1963-2009; Natasha Richardson, 45, Stage and Film Star, Dies (New York Times); Natasha Richardson: A critical appreciation; Richardson Died of ‘Blunt Impact,’ Medical Examiner Says; U.S. Release Plans Uncertain for Natasha Richardson Film, 'Wild Child'; Natasha Richardson: 17 key roles; Lindsay Lohan and Alan Cumming Comment on Natasha Richardson's Death; Rivers recalls Richardson as 'amazing and darling'; Natasha Richardson: Stars and friends remember her. Among the many:

Ralph Fiennes (Richardson's costar in Maid in Manhattan and The White Countess)
"For everyone who knew and loved her, Natasha's death is a terrible, devastating loss. She was a star. A great actress, a beautiful woman, a fiercely loyal friend, a brilliant and generous companion. She was an adoring and loving wife and mother. She was unique. My thoughts and prayers go out to Liam and her beautiful sons, Micheál and Danny and to all her family. I cannot imagine a world without her wit, her love, her mischief, her great, great talent and her gift for living. I loved her very much. She was a supreme friend. I shall miss her deeply."

Helen Mirren (Richardson's costar in The Comfort of Strangers)
"Natasha was a great actress, a fantastic mother, a loving wife and a whirlwind of energy, with an infectious love of life expressed firstly by her wonderful deep laugh. Anyone who knew her will be in mourning today. I hope that Liam and her sons are helped in their pain by the great love and sympathy that is coming to them from people all over the world."

Meryl Streep (Richardson's costar in Evening)
"Tash was the warm sun in the center of a large constellation of family, friends, all of those lucky enough to know her. She is irreplaceable in our lives; she gave us so much, so generously. Her legacy is the love that connects us all."

( I think we all need a laughing puppy now )

Tags: awards, conventions, dark shadows, death, dvd, facebook, gaiety, harry potter, howl, iron man, mission impossible, monsters, pixar, publishing, south park, sparkle motion, stephen colbert, terminator, twilight, twitter, vampires, watchmen, x-men