sundries

[rm]

Looks like 4,800 people have entered America's Next Great Pundit. To me, the number sounds low. But then I'm also skeptical about how impressed the Washington Post is with the entries so far (oh, wait, I just reread that, they're impressed with the diversity of the entries. Okay then! Doesn't mean they are good). My gut says it has to be like the slush pile at literary agencies, just with less dragons. Maybe there are dragons too, I don't know.

Speaking of dragons, last night Patty and I watched S2.3 of Merlin. What is with this show? On one hand, actual drama for the first time, so that's something. And the Slash Dragon is always funny (for those of you not watching this AWFUL show, there's a dragon that lives under Camelot that keeps explaining to Merlin how Arthur is his destiny; fandom refers to this creature as the Slash Dragon, because it is!)

On the other hand, is the show's worldview amoral, immoral or just totally absent and the product of incoherent writing. It's like, with Torchwood one can usually tell what went wrong wit the script or the direction or the acting or whatever and what's supposed to be dark and horrible. With Merlin Patty and I just keep shouting at the TV, "what the hell was that?"

I also stumbled upon a Torchwood fic last night that was "Ianto rapes Jack because he's jealous of Gwen, then Jack and Ianto fall in love and have babies." DEPARTMENT OF NO. Not even because that's offensive (although it is), but because it's narratively ANNOYING. Thank you, this has been a public service announcement.

Last night we ate at the Tibetan restaurant we like. We noticed, for the first time (maybe they are new?) stuffed animal yaks along the staircase. Everyone loves a yak.

I also went down to Babycakes for gluten-free goodies before meeting up with Patty.

This morning as we left our apartment a tiny kitten appeared on the stairs. It came down to us, circled around us making tiny kitten noises and then went back upstairs. We are not sure if it belongs to someone, if it snuck in through the backdoor to the alley/garden, if it needs our help or what. We're going to keep an eye out. We didn't want to bring it inside our place because of FIV and other risks to our cats, but if we needed to we could keep them all separated while we got it to a vet and a no-kill shelter. Tiny kitten!

I have to write an article about gay bars for men in Baltimore tomorrow.

We are not Valentine's Day people. Not because we aren't schmoopy, but because it's one of those societally enforced things that makes us feel weird and awkward. But, I've been having this urge to visit Cold Spring which is the cutest little Hudson Valley town EVER and accessible by Metro North and I found us an awesome B&B that involves a wood-burning stove in the room and breakfast in bed, so we're booking it for a romantic weekend in February. Yeah, one month after the cruise and two weeks before Gallifrey and some random about of time before the unknown DC trip and Lunacon in March and two months before England, part 1. Wacky, huh?

Despite always feeling weird about these things, I did mail my publisher re: having a meeting about deadline things and also the royalty check he said he needed to mail. So er, yeah, we'll see.

I need to get on a bunch of other things, but the snow is lifting! With any luck I'll be able to announce some contracts or releases or appearances or something soon.

Spring season at BAM looks pretty good. If we can work it into our schedules, there's a couple of baroque opera things I want to go to and some dance worth checking out, as well as a play Alan Rickman is directing (and he's doing a Q&A one day, which on one hand, I'd love to go to, because I love listening to directors be thinky about directing. On the other hand, i still remember the stage door after Private Lives and it makes me want to never leave my house again.

I have found a photo reference for Vitya (and Evan, you know, except Evan's a slob and these are not slobby pics) and for my new haircut all at once. Now I just need time.

The Limelight to become a small-business marketplace thingy. As the article says, "I went to The Limelight, who didn't?"

Meanwhile, a very brief thing on Reszo Kasztner that's not particularly informative but intriguing nonetheless. The figure of the collaborator is one that interests me in narratives a lot.

Comments

[ex-adarog.livejournal.com]

The fabulous thing about the slash dragon is that it is voiced by John Hurt and they base the CGI on his facial expressions by using sensors.

Merlin obviously exists for the slash and the other UST, whether the writers know it or not. All you have to do is watch a few minutes and you know Merlin and Arthur are So Doing It.

Anything which is wrong with an episode... yeah, it's the writing.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't _think_ anyone I knows writers for Merlin, so I can slam it with impunity, but on the other hand, we are still watching it.

And yeah. Dude. It's so OT4. But like, super, super incompetently so.

[weirdquark]

The fabulous thing about the slash dragon is that it is voiced by John Hurt

Seriously? Aw, crap, I may have to watch this now.

Oops, missed this part

[ex-adarog.livejournal.com]

Oh, and do you know anything about gay bars for men in Baltimore? Because I kinda do. (Neither gay nor male, but lifelong resident of B'more.)

Re: Oops, missed this part

[rm.livejournal.com]

Super vaguely (I know Baltimore decently). But it's an easy piece (5 bars, 400 words) I can probably sort out via the power of Google.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

DC? In the winter? when?

Try to plan some museum time as that is absolutely the best time to go because only the locals are out!

Hopefully we'll be able to get together for food or something!

[rm.livejournal.com]

I used to live in DC, but haven't been back in a long time. So yeah, we hope to do a bunch of stuff and see people. It'll be sometime in March and I'll be reading with a bunch of other female spec fic writers at the Library of Congress.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I gave up on Merlin halfway through the first season...

And hi! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hello! Welcome!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I love all your movies Mr. Rickman! *dies* Maybe you could carry a sack of peppers, and scatter them about to lure them off the trail.

[rm.livejournal.com]

"Cleeeeeeeeeearly, you haven't seen all of them."

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the paucity of Next Great Pundit entries is to some extent overdetermined. That is, I suspect a lot of people who might in other days have jumped into the pool stayed out for one or more of a bunch of reasons, some having to do with the format and some to do with the venue.

Hell, I'm one of them. There are many circumstances under which I'd only love to do one of those pundit columns, but I didn't bother with this. Why not? Well:

1. Four hundred words, dude. Their regular columnists aren't working in any 400 words. There are circumstances in which you can say something worth saying, in ways that are worth listening to, in 400 words, but a context-free sample column is not one in which I can do it. (I'm at close to 150 already with this comment. Can you imagine, if I'd had to do an intro for a piece on something that hasn't been opined on to death?)(ETA: This comment wound up at almost exactly 400 words. Which rather illustrates my point, I fear.)

2. The *Post*, for God's sake. Where they still evidently believe that Richard Cohen makes valuable additions to our nation's discourse, and that George Will's climate change denial columns don't merit corrections. It's brave of you to be willing to do any contest Fred Hiatt's crew will have a hand in judging, I think: if they like your work, it might actually be creepier than if they decide some moron is a better choice.

And those are just my reasons. Others will never have heard of the contest, or feel that the Post won't publish them because of its famed Liberal Bias (I know, ha ha), or be perfectly comfortable with their blog audience (it got Greenwald and Ezra Klein to the majors, without their having to compromise to do it). Or they'll never have worked in publishing, and therefore not have any idea that the fact that they can write at all gives them a good shot at being better than 95% of the imagined competition. Et cetera, et cetera.

I hope the judges have the sense to jump on you with cries of joy, and thereby to prove at least some of my own cynicism about this whole thing to have been misplaced. But if they don't, I confess that I will not be exactly astonished.

Because it's the Post. You know?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I won't care at all if I don't get to be a finalist, but I'll have a damn good time if I do.

You know what's scary? My column for the entry? First draft -- 404 words, not counting until the end. My ability to hit markers like that is somewhat frightening.

And yeah, the Washington Post is such an odd duck. As I said to Patty last night "more conservative than the New York Times, but on the other hand, doesn't torture us with endless articles about the tragic plight of rich white moms and their agonizing attempts to be perfect."

Anyway, my entry column was about equal marriage, status and kitchen gadgets.

Re: tiny kittens

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was that tiny. It looked like when I got mine -- so 7 - 11 weeks, but we're going to investigate further when we get home tonight.

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

I am hoping there is only one of that fic and we are thinking of the same one, but even if it has clones all over the interwebs--thank you. That thing has been flooding my f-list for awhile (actually the reason I took one comm off my f list)and has been getting so much love and I just want to go in and ask people why? and explain to them why, yeah, no. But knowing I am not the only one takes away a bit of the angry.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think it's the same one. I just tracked on what was going on there yesterday in an act of serious boredom.

[rexluscus.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, that fic. Truly there is not enough no in the world.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

The Limelight to become a small-business marketplace thingy.

Oh *good*. There's enough already closed down in that neighborhood; they could do with some inward investment. (I'll have to tell you a funny story about that location next time we meet.)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I avoid any fic that has both rape and mpreg, there's just so much I can handle on one web page.
Oh and OOC... because while I can see Jack and Ianto beating the shit out of each other and being rough with each other to death *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*... the whole non-consent thing is something I really have a hard time grasping. Especially considering Ianto's reaction in "Adam".
But meh.

OMG! ALAN RICKMAN! *Squeeees* and *is ded*. Jealousy does not even begin to describe the feelings I have about going to see and hear the man speak about stuff, anything! *Gah*

[rm.livejournal.com]

I can also see Jack and Ianto beating the shit out of each other in a not good way, but like you I can't see it getting to rape, because I think that would be really taboo in Jack's culture, and I think Adam establishes just how much Ianto does not want to be acquainted with his own personal dark side.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I read some of that fic! It's not entirely as bad as it sounds - for instance, it turns out the deciding factor of Ianto not turning himself into the police is that Jack doesn't, nor wants to, legally exist.

[rm.livejournal.com]

That's actually a redeeming quality on some level. Certainly, the existence of Jack legally is an interesting idea I wouldn't expect to be in pure bad!fic. Sometimes, that sort of stuff is more frustrating, because I'm like "omg, there are so great ideas in here....but!" which I suppose is why there are wildly popular fics out there that some people hate with the same passion others love them.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

I have an eyeless stuffed platypus. From my mom.

And I concur re: DEPARTMENT OF NO. What the fuckery, people?!

[austengirl.livejournal.com]

Oooh, when are you planning to be in England? If you need GF recs, I'm happy to do some research.

[rm.livejournal.com]

We will be in London in mid-April (I forget the exact dates -- it's because Patty is giving a paper at a conference and I'm going to tag along and then we'll add a few days for vacation). I may pop up to Cardiff for a day as well, and we've talked about popping over to Ireland for a couple of days, since we have friends there and I haven't been since 1995.

Meanwhile, I will _hopefully_ be in Bristol in July (Patty will probably be away on a dig then) for a conference of my own and that may also involve me going to Cardiff for a few days.

Any food tips are very welcome. I'm planning to stock up on the gluten-free naan from Sainsburys.

[exbentley]

re: Merlin, the show is so problematic, nonsensical, and surprisingly lacking subtext given the size of the fandom. but my second time watching I managed to let go of that and fall in love with it anyway. I see a lot of weird parallels between Arthur/Merlin and Jack/Ianto as pairings.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Except Arthur is way more of a dick. And the angst of who Arthur is isn't in the show, because how great (and immortalish) the destiny is, is unknown to everyone (very probably including the writers) but the slash dragon. But in theory, yes!