DED OF TORCHWUD

sonatine @ 2009-10-24T23:47:00

2009-10-25T06:57:53Z

OH HAI. I ATEN'T DEAD. I just haven't felt like I've had anything to say.

So Cody is back permanently, finally. I flew out to help him pack up the last of his shit and clean and we lugged back six suitcases of crap. There's nothing like that to make you want to put everything you own in a pile and burn it. But no more cross-country visits, and I am grateful.

We found a cat in the stairwell of our apartment building. Unfortunately we don't know if it was abandoned or just a confused pet that somehow wandered into the complex. Very sweet, chatty, and affectionate. Super-pretty. Nobody claimed it, so we took it down to the city animal shelter because it was stressing Zoey out. I hope it finds a good home.

School is silly. I am so fucking ready to be done.

It's not pirating that makes the movie industry collapse in 2010

2009-10-07T19:42:29Z

EMMA THOMPSON YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD TO ME D: /O\

Seriously. At this point people have to be calling up entries in Polanski's Rolodex and being like "'sup? You wanna sign a petition about how kicking puppies is a horrible thing to do?" and putting their names on Levy's website. IT'S THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE IN LOGIC LAND. But we do not live in Logic Land and I hate everybody.

Have an Ill Doctrine about this whole sordid fucking mess.

sonatine @ 2009-10-07T08:40:00

2009-10-07T15:42:11Z

This is how awesome I am. I had a dentist appointment well, now, and I SET THE WRONG ALARM.

Adulthood, IT IS HARD. And I am up too fucking early.

sonatine @ 2009-10-06T14:11:00

2009-10-06T21:19:34Z

Avoiding doing work, which is mostly printing out things professors are too lazy to print out themselves. Being a graduate assistant is more glamorous than I could have ever imagined.

Benton Fraser on Roman Polanski (thanks aria)

The new Doctor Who logo I... don't hate it? But anything that references the TARDIS is a-okay by me. The terrible lens flare in the video just makes me giggle. But then I saw pictures of Amy Pond's utterly ridiculous (but hot) costume and got distracted.

sonatine @ 2009-10-06T13:57:00

2009-10-06T21:11:17Z

In between getting woken up AT 6:30 IN THE FUCKING MORNING BY THE CHINESE CULTURAL FESTIVAL and helping cow go apartment hunting, I saw movies ~~today~~ Sunday! Well, one movie and a lot of animation shorts. It was kind of a mixed bag. The good stuff was really good. The bad stuff made me want to punch people.

Good Shit
Elephants - Sweet, whimsical, and humorous; quite lovely
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty - Bitchy, cynical, and quite humorous. We were laughing through the credits.
Lightheaded - Little wax figures having adventures to Thievery Corporation <3
Her Lion's Jump - The animation looked a bit weird to me, but it was sweet and cute

Okay Stuff
Dandelion Will Make You Wise - Beautifully executed, but soporific in that "I probably need LSD to appreciate this fully y/mfy" kind of way
Cellulose - Interesting stylistically, did not give a shit about the story
Hector Corp - Totally overplayed its one gag
Moth and the Firefly - I see where they tried to go with this, but it was ridiculously pretentious. Probably only in the okay pile because I love fireflies.

All-Around Bad or Lolworthy
Burden - Expanded I think this would make an excellent Sci-Fi movie of the week. The FX were beautiful, it just had no fucking soul. Also when the director/writer/producer got introduced he immediately whipped out his iPhone to take a picture of the audience. Lulz.
My Four Inch Precious - Oh god this was creepy as hell in that "Oh hey let's do a sexy Thumbelina and be totally unaware of how not funny or whimsical like we thought it would be" way. cow were sitting in the theater watching people laughing and going "...." at the whole thing.

So alas, I cannot in full conscience recommend paying to see the whole thing, but there's some good stuff in there.

sonatine @ 2009-10-02T12:33:00

2009-10-02T19:34:08Z

It's Friday. The world is still pissing me off. Therefore, we need:

A BABY HEDGEHOG EATING A CARROT!

sonatine @ 2009-10-01T14:52:00

2009-10-01T21:59:35Z

I swear this is not going to become an all-Polanski-related-all-the-time thing but I just wanted to point out this list of people you may have heard of (graciously compiled by chrismm) who have said "WTF ppls" about the whole thing.

And if you're into signing Internet petitions there's one supporting Polanski's extradition now. It even has a hash tag!

And off to food, class, and VIFF. See y'all Monday.

Hollywood's new black: being a rape apologist

2009-10-01T04:37:01Z

NATALIE PORTMAN WHY D: D: D:

sonatine @ 2009-09-30T13:38:00

2009-09-30T20:54:14Z

What this guy said, 100%. (triggery)

For those of you keeping track of this sort of thing, the number of celebrities/people you may have heard of speaking out against Polanski publicly remains pitifully small. Now I don't wanna be a snob or anything, but surely somebody who's made a movie/music that doesn't suck would like to speak up? (And no I haven't forgiven Kevin Smith for Jersey Girl, in case you're wondering.)

And for those of us who were curious whether or not Polanski ever showed remorse about what he did:

If I had killed somebody, it wouldn’t have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls! (source)

All together now: Ewwwwwwww.

Or, TERRY GILLIAM D:

2009-09-29T19:45:41Z

Dear way too much of Hollywood,

DIAF. Seriously. DIAF.

The fact that the judge was a fame whore and was removed through motions filed by both the prosecution and the defense does not make it OK that he fled the country to avoid the consequences of DRUGGING AND RAPING A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. Or is it that there's only one Roman Polanski, but plenty of thirteen year old girls? I'm not trying to be rude, I just want to figure out which box(es) on my "excuses rape apologists use" list to fill in.

I respected too many of you once.

No love,
Me

sonatine @ 2009-09-28T21:03:00

2009-09-29T04:06:03Z

President Barack Obama plays with his niece Sevita during the family's vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Aug. 25 2009.

OH GOD MY FUCKING OVARIES. (thx to the lovelies at obama_daily as always)

sonatine @ 2009-09-24T11:40:00

2009-09-24T18:44:06Z

Oh my god guys Eastwick is so. bad. Stupidly bad.

On the other hand it does have Paul Gross (in order of appearance):

Naked
In a pin-stripe suit
Kicking ass
Sopping wet in the rain
Being sweet and Fraser-esque

I don't wanna watch this show! But Paul fucking Gross, man!

So the rubber chicken with the pulley goes on the zipline right?

2009-09-19T22:26:30Z

For those of us who still fondly remember the Monkey Island games (perhaps I will dress up as Guybrush Threepwood next year at PAX), you can get the first episode of the new series at Amazon (Windows only alas) for free, and it gives you a 20-ish% discount on the rest of the series. Do note this is not the same as the the one in the iTunes App Store, which is a remake of the original. Not that I don't mind playing the original one again, but I've forgotten how to beat it and it's kind of annoying.

sonatine @ 2009-09-18T21:15:00

2009-09-19T04:25:24Z

Dollhouse: improving! Or at least having more interesting mindfucky premises.

Supernatural 5x02:

Bobby :(:(:(
Angry Castiel = hot Castiel. Unf.
Not nearly enough Harvelle action. Want more Jo, dammit.
Oh boys. :( I think I kind of prefer the show now that it's basically the Sam and Dean Angst Show as opposed to All that Paranormal Shit. I need my trashy TV, dammit.

sonatine @ 2009-09-18T00:46:00

2009-09-18T08:04:45Z

Have watched seven episodes of Dollhouse in a row. There is not nearly enough snark, characterization, or thoughtful exploration of an interesting premise. Tahmoh Penikett makes a terrible Mulder who does not take off his shirt often enough to make up for it. Eliza Dushku is getting frighteningly skinny. Mellie's plot arc totally pissed me off. As starstealingirl once said, Joss Whedon is totally the guy you stay with because it used to be so fucking good, and you just hang on, hoping it will, at some point, remind you of when it was better.

sonatine @ 2009-09-15T20:28:00

2009-09-16T03:35:40Z

I am bored. And I have cleaned. So I wanted to prove this by posting pictures.

Kuan Yin is watching over a minion from Overlord and an oni from Little King's Story.

From L to R, stuffed animals are Cthulhu, a hedgehog from Daiso, and a headcrab from the Half Life games. The white thing on the second shelf is a knockoff kodama from Mononoke Hime.

L to R: a Jack thing from a Shin Megami Tenshi game I can't remember the name of, Badtz Maru, a Prototype figure, and Nyarlathotep.

The books are in no particular order, which should pain me more than it does. Oh well.

It doesn't mean Wil Wheaton doesn't love you

2009-09-09T00:52:57Z

The big cheer you hear towards the end is from somebody drawing a cake on their DS and getting it projected on the big-ass TV screens in the back. The unearthly glow is from everybody opening their cell phones, handheld gaming devices, or their laptops. At one point somebody did fire up an actual Bic and Paul and Storm were like, "Holy shit an analog lighter!"

So, yeah. Geek concerts A++ would attend again.

sonatine @ 2009-09-08T15:28:00

2009-09-08T22:30:41Z

Hahaha Cody is sitting in his computer chair nodding off in front of a work file transfer and the cat is next to him faceplanted on a chair. I would so take a picture if it wouldn't wake them up.

sonatine @ 2009-09-06T18:20:00

2009-09-07T03:35:33Z

I went to PAX on Saturday! I got home at 3am. Then I got up at 8 to have brunch on Bainbridge Island! It was totally worth it on both counts.

Internet celebrities spotted, in order of appearance
Anthony and Ashley Burch (HAWP)
Wil Wheaton
MC Frontalot
Sandeep Parikh (The Guild, Legend of Neil)

Swag, a selection
A pseudo-3D Katamari Forever card
Papercraft cars from GTA: Chinatown Wars
Inflatable sword from Dragon Age: Origins, given out by guys dressed in templar robes
Hello Kitty Online demo disc (which I assure you will remain in pristine, shrink-wrapped collectible condition)
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle toilet paper
Postcard for Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
T-shirt, posters, and promo codes up the wazoo

Awesomesauce or WTF? You decide.
A Roman centurion walking around with a machine gun for some game that I cannot remember the title of but Cody describes as Timecop in game form
The Katamari Prince dressed in a Tekken t-shirt
Guy dressed as Pedobear riding the mechanical Dante's Inferno bull thing (I didn't see this but somebody else told me about it and I am totally not surprised)

The concerts were really fantastic. Freezepop isn't really my thing, but they were definitely good. The lead singer totally owned her spazzy white-girl dance (none of the band members could dance actually) and it was quite something to feel the floor shaking from all the enthusiastic jumping up front. Paul and Storm are fantastically funny, and at points I was crying I was laughing so hard (esp. re: the pirate song *insert happy arrr here*). Jonathan Coulton, like Stephen Colbert, wields great power that he should use judiciously. Like for making fun of Wil Wheaton. But seriously, there was a lot of good happy energy and there is something awesome about being surrounded by a bunch of silly nerds who just want to have a good time.

Things to bring next year
A poster tube
A flask or metal water bottle filled with adult beverage (just enough to be buzzed, and for if they play that fucking leekspin song again in the queue)

sonatine @ 2009-09-04T10:38:00

2009-09-04T17:48:23Z

Must be a slow day on BoingBoing--they actually used the link I submitted. Also lol Neil has a copy of Stephenie Meyer's The Host.

sonatine @ 2009-09-03T23:02:00

2009-09-04T06:07:21Z

I knew Neil Gaiman would have a spectacular library but. Oh. My. Gawd. It even has a cat! Is it possible to have heart palpitations from awe and/or glee? Because I think I might have some. Just a little bit.

First world problems of the highest order

2009-09-04T04:25:18Z

Dear Real Men Wear Suits*,

Not that I don't appreciate you bringing me fine men in elegant couture to my RSS reader without having to lift a finger, but may I gently suggest a temporary moratorium on pictures of the following gentlemen:

Anybody from NuTrek except for John Cho

Lee Pace

Jim Parsons

Anybody from Lord of the Rings

There are so many other hot guys out there, begging to have their pictures posted on your Tumblr! And while I'm making suggestions, how's about a little bit of melanin up in your blog so we can appreciate men in suits of all sorts, hmm?

I'm just sayin' it's something to consider,
Me

(We will, for now, not discuss the social constructions around masculinity and suits and why real men must wear suits or if this means that real women, whatever the hell that means, can't wear suits or what, because, y'know, Fuck yeah, men in suits.)

sonatine @ 2009-09-02T15:17:00

2009-09-02T22:44:38Z

Oh hey, would you look at that. Turns out that Ogi Ogas, the guy who is the co-"researcher" on the Survey of Fail (and whose most significant professional accomplishment to date has been using cog-sci techniques on a game show, which apparently leads people to believe you can do NEUROSCIENCE THROUGH THE INTARWEBS) got smacked down for misrepresenting his association with Boston University and their sanction of the project. And unsurprisingly, the survey was not IRB approved. (You mean IRBs don't jump on projects that lead to books called Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us About The Brain?)

(Also? Pissing off fangirls leads to satirical slash ficlets being written about you and your research partner, thus proving Rule 34 in a pointed and amusingly awkward manner.)

Take my crap please!

2009-08-31T04:20:27Z

I am in full-blown "Burn it all and walk away" mode. But as that will jack my renter's insurance premiums up a whole lot I shall instead offer you, my beloved friends/reading list, things instead. They are mostly books and media products, but there are odds and ends you may find interesting as well.

[EDIT:] I FAIL AT CUT TAGS SRY

Textual Products
Paperback Swap shelf (if you want anything here let me know and I will send it to you for free)Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson (Sandman manga thing)
The Walls Around Us: The Thinking Person's Guide to How a House Works, David Owen
Soul Mountain, Gao Xingjian
Making Money, Terry Pratchett
The Believer, Vol. 1 No. 3
Lucifer, Issues 1-3 (bagged)
The Dreaming, Issues 1-8 (bagged)

Audio/Audiovisual Products
Dido :: Life for Rent
Enya :: Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
Enya :: Watermark
Heather Nova :: Oyster
Radiohead :: Pablo Honey [12 Track Version]
Joss Stone :: The Soul Sessions
Wag the Dog, VHS tape

Babylon 5, Seasons 3-5 DVD sets (they are bootlegged but work for the most part)

Various episodes of B5 on retail VHS (can you tell we really liked B5?)
Season 1
Pilot Movie (The Gathering)
Midnight On The Firing Line / Soul Hunter
Born To The Purple / Infection

Season 2
Vol. 14 - A Race Through Dark Places / Soul Mates
Vol. 15 - The Coming Of Shadows / Gropos

Season 4
The Hour of the Wolf / Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
The Summoning / Falling Toward Apotheosis
The Long Night / Into the Fire

Season 5
No Compromises / The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari
The Paragon Of Animals / A View From The Gallery
Learning Curve / Strange Relations

Misc. Products
Christmas cards, pack of 15. They have a kitten in a gift bag on them.
BPAL imp, Shango.

Desktop meme

2009-08-30T21:36:14Z

Yes, I am aware I may have a fondness for things in my taskbar. The disgustingly adorable picture is from Florian Freundt's website.