Something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try

Yes, I am typing this post on my shiny new Toshiba laptop. \o/ After four years, my poor Samsung has officially kicked its bucket, so my mother and I took a trip to Best Buy while she was here this weekend to get a new one. And I managed to do it without endlessly spamming y'all like last time, so good job me.

I also managed to acquire some kind of medieval plague this weekend, so that's fun. Apparently it disturbs Chelsea, if the withering stare at my death rattle is any indication. Earlier, I hacked up a lung and she went and hid under the piano. WHO'S GOING TO FEED YOU WHEN I'M DEAD, YOU UNGRATEFUL CAT.

oh god she'll probably just gnaw on my corpse

* Teaser for season 6 of Community on Yahoo.

* Outlander has already been renewed for a second season. I've only watched the first episode, but I like it so far, so yay? The Leftovers, which I've seen enough of to like, also got a second season renewal.

* There are neurological reasons why we're so attached to the music we listened to as teenagers. Maybe that's why the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack hit #1, despite being a literal mix-tape of previously released songs.

* If it makes you as happy as it makes me, enjoy dancing baby Groot.

* Will Guardians of the Galaxy's success make Marvel too cocky?

* A biologist uses science to explain how to make superheroes.

* A spectator shot a possibly spoilery video of Agents of SHIELD filming season 2.

* Here's a handy round-up of links for historical context for Steve Rogers as a dude from the 1940s.

* NBC is developing a TV musical version of Robin Hood.

* Director Rob Marshall talks about the Into the Woods movie, ostensibly to reassure us that he's being faithful to the original, but actually mentioning even more changes (the flashbacks, no "Ever After," retooling the second act) I hadn't heard reported before.

* Tom Hiddleston is being considered for a remake of Ben-Hur.

* George R. R. Martin doesn't understand why women want him to write more gay sex scenes, because apparently he (and they) have never heard of the internet.

* Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are making another movie together!

* Charisma Carpenter will be guest-starring on the next season of Lost Girl. This season just wrapped up, and I confess I've been steadily losing interest, so maybe this will renew it?

* In light of the politics around Winter Soldier, I'm glad that my Twitter feed turned up this older article about Steve Rogers' comics history and the political environment he grew up in. Also, here's some really excellent meta parsing the movie's political POV and Nick Fury's character arc.

* Jed and Mo talk more about Agents of SHIELD and the impact of Winter Soldier on the show. I kind of feel bad for them? It's like, "Here, congratulations, have a TV show. And oh, by the way, we will force you to CHANGE THE ENTIRE PREMISE before the end of the first season. So... good luck with that!"

* The other two creators (Jeph Loeb and Jeff Bell) also talk about recent developments, and Cobie Smulders is apparently coming back to AoS now that HIMYM is finished.

* Why doesn't the MCU have LGBT characters?

* There's talk of a Mystique spin-off X-Men film (a la Wolverine) starring Jennifer Lawrence. Won't anyone just let that poor girl sleep?

* No one is surprised that Game of Thrones was renewed for seasons 5 and 6.

* Matthew Weiner talks about the final season of Mad Men, and Jon Hamm talks about the mess that is Don Draper.

* No matter how you felt about the series finale, I can't imagine anyone thinking Battlestar Galactica needs to be rebooted again.

* Brie Larsen will be starring in the film adaptation of Room. And speaking of books turned into movies, here's the first footage of Gone Girl.

* Christian Kane is back on TV in The Librarians.

* Stephen Colbert is replacing David Letterman on The Late Show.

* A long - like, three parts long - interview with Dan Harmon about Community and his other show that I don't watch.

* Josh Radnor talks about HIMYM ending. And (thank God!) Krysta Rodriguez is no longer starring in HIMYD, so once again I am FREE.

* My thoughts on The Good Wife's latest bombshell are pretty well summed up here. I applaud their ability to keep things under wraps without feeling the need to promote the "OMG moment" to death (looking at you, Scandal). Here's what the creators and cast had to say, the creators' letter directly to the fans, as well as an interview with you-know-who.

* Hettienne Park addresses some (spoilery) Hannibal-related outrage. #notforeating

* Someone has too much time on their hands: The Office Time Machine collects all the pop culture references from the show in the year of your choice.

* Jack's back and Chloe's gone full Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the new 24: Live Another Day trailer.

* Lizzy Caplan talks about playing a character based on a real person on Masters of Sex. She also does a fantastic impression of her Israeli uncle.

* Here's a write-up of the Agents of SHIELD PaleyFest panel.

* Anthony Mackie talks about playing the Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

* I think my favorite part of this Chris Evans interview is all the quotes from the other Avengers actors who are pissed off about dieting. Or possibly RDJ mentioning that Chris "invited Susan and I back to their house to get in the Jacuzzi... that’s a vague memory, but that’s what I’d like for you to print."

(Also, "My kid believes that Captain America is real." Uh... how does he explain the fact that Daddy appears in movies with Captain America?)

* LMAO this Winter Soldier interview is hysterical.

"Who's the best looking superhero?"
Sebastian: "Iron -"
Mackie: "Falcon!"
Sebastian: "...Man." [and then Sebastian's FACE OMG what a side-eye]

Chris: "Hemsworth."
Scarlett: "Oh, really? Chris Hemsworth?"
Chris: "Did I say that way too quickly?... Is it weird that I said Hemsworth? It's weird. It's on film now."

(I also think it's adorable that Chris and Scarlett consistently answered with the actors rather than the characters.)

* Some close-up shots of Avengers: Age of Ultron filming in Italy, featuring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. What is it exactly about Quicksilver that makes him look SO TERRIBLE in film adaptations? (The last paragraph of that article... I can't even.)

* Here's the trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The only X-Men movie I've seen is First Class and my only comics exposure is from Avengers crossovers, so I have next to no idea what this movie is actually about. Jennifer Lawrence is very blue?

* This is the first review I've seen for the Veronica Mars novel, a sequel of sorts to the movie, and it doesn't sound very promising.

* I meant to post this last week, but it got lost in my Pocket links, so if you haven't already seen it, James Marsters talked about his Spike graphic novel. Have to say, I am not impressed by the preview. He may have said the lines, but James doesn't write great Spike dialogue.

* RELEVANT TO MY READING LIST'S INTERESTS: A PSA about Villain Attraction Disorder.

So, one of my summer projects has been to tackle Gone With the Wind, because it's crazy long and I've never read it, and it's one of those things that I feel like I probably should have read at some point? But I was all blah blah spoiled rich girl demise of the antebellum South boo hoo I have better things to do with my time than read about romanticized racism. Because apparently no one ever said to me the one thing that would guaran-fucking-tee that I would read it.

Like, say, OH BY THE WAY SCARLETT O'HARA IS BASICALLY WALTER WHITE IN 19TH CENTURY GEORGIA.

How did no one think this was worth mentioning?? Especially when I made my post about wanting female anti-heroes! I am deeply disappointed in all of you.

Still reading. There may be meta when I'm finished.

* Lots of promo photos from the final season of Breaking Bad. Plus, two 10-second teaser trailers, and some thoughts on Hank as the unlikely hero of the show.

* Interview with Krysta Rodriguez about First Date, Smash, and... all of her career, basically. She is just so adorable, I cannot even.

* Veronica Mars is going to be a book series, set after the movie. On a related note, has anyone ever read any of Rob Thomas' YA novels? I read Rats Saw God recently and thought it was quite good, but my library does not have any others. :(

* Lots of new Catching Fire posters, although I am not clear on why each photo got released "exclusively" by a different website?

Today is Tuesday, right? Sometimes I lose track.

* B.J. Novak talks about his appearance on tonight's Mindy Project, a show that I think continues to improve, and Mindy continues to be freakishly reminiscent of my friend from college who is now a doctor.

* Amy Poehler is writing a book. I want it.

* Good news: Allison Janney is coming back to TV. Bad news: it's on a Chuck Lorre sitcom.

* RDJ talks about Iron Man 3. ETA: Part 2 of the interview is now up.

* Barbara Walters has the chicken pox. And you thought it was just for kids. (Fun fact: I never had the chicken pox. I got the vaccine when it first came out - I was a teenager by then - because supposedly it's a lot worse when you get the chicken pox as an adult.)

* That Boy Meets World sequel/spinoff series is actually happening. Cory and Topanga's daughter has been cast.

* This is an incredible story: a Russian family lived in Siberia for 40 years completely cut off from the outside world.

* Jenna-Louise Coleman talks about playing the next Doctor Who companion.

* This is strange and hilarious and would totally freak me out if it happened to me.

* Holiday gift ideas for theater lovers. Just saying...

* I already bought it, so it's not on my Christmas list, but a good gift for TV lovers: The Revolution Was Televised, a new book by TV critic Alan Sepinwall. If you want to preview before you buy, here's an excerpt from the chapter on Lost.

* If you're wondering why Tumblr suddenly hates James Gunn, this is why. Also, as a follow-up: why, if it's supposed to be satire, it's really bad satire.

* Speaking of failed attempts at humor, Rainn Wilson's parody of the video by the Half from Two and a Half Men would be funnier if The Office weren't actually kind of terrible now.

I haven't done a 100 Things post in aaaages, and if I don't get a move on, it will take me years to finish. Remember - you can ask me questions! It can be personal (within reason), fannish, hypothetical, political, philosophical, silly, whatever.

(Questions I still have to answer: "Name a book or film or show or play (or whatever) that made you question your most deeply held beliefs." from fuelforflight - OMG HARD! Still thinking. Also "If you were a superhero, what would your superhero name and special power be? What would you costume look like?" from snickfic. I haven't forgotten!)

Today I'm going to go to the prompt generator: Between the ages of 5 and 10, what was your favorite activity?

I was an extremely active child, lol. During that time span, I took dance classes (ages 4-6) and piano lessons (started at age 6), and I think I started basketball around age 9? But my favorite thing to do was to read. I was that kid who would sneak a book into bed so that I could stay up way past my bedtime reading. (Come to think of it, maybe my terrible eyesight comes from all that reading in the dark?) I remember that my school used to have a book sale thing every year, and I'd exasperate my mother because she'd let me choose three, but I wanted ALL THE BOOKS and kept saying, "Please, Mommy? Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

Some of my favorites were the Little House series, the Narnia series, Bunnicula (which was also a series, as I recall), Tuck Everlasting, Bridge to Terabithia, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. I am fuzzy on which age I read what, but I was always a pretty advanced reader for my age. I do recall that I was reading Lord of the Rings and Les Miserables by middle school, so...

What were your favorite books as a child? And what was your favorite childhood activity?

It occurs to me that I never posted my thoughts on Whedonistas, which I figure might be relevant to some of your interests?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the scoop: my BFF gabrielleabelle got published in a book about Whedony things, along with a few other fandom peeps - whom you'll be able to identify because they cite their posting handles or their work, unlike Gabs, who retains her sekrit identity - and some actual professional people, who are far less interesting to me because we don't hang out on LJ together.

( Read more... )

I am thisclose to giving in to the urge to write epic, detailed Farscape reviews. Kind of wishing I'd taken notes as I watched (as I did with Lost), but will likely make do with recaps or transcripts if I can find them. In the meantime, books!

( Read more... )