sundries

[rm]

Return of the eye-mask. I feel really well-rested. But that might be because I overslept by an hour.

Patty's parents arrive today. Also, she got a really cute haircut.

I have just gotten my face waxed. As per usual, they made my eyebrows too thin. They do open up my eyes when they are done, but I hate when they are too thin -- they speak to me of gender-normative desires I don't have. Of course, knowing this would happen, I got them done ten days before anything I care about -- they'll be coming back in slightly by then, and if not, I'll use pencil to fix. Because, argh, I am not a delicate thing with big eyes who is harmless. No.

They haven't decided if it was a tornado yet, but it sure does look like it. Power actually blipped at my office several times, which was very surprising.

How many birthdays of living celebrities do you know? I wonder how many the average person knows. Celebrities you actually socialize with don't count at all, because that defeats the purpose of my question.

The Joaquin Phoenix documentary, I'm Still Here, isn't real. While everyone I know expresses some level of annoyance or boredom while insisting on their own lack of credulity on the matter before this was revealed, I'm shocked that more people aren't finding the thing at least abstractly interesting. Because, in short, this is about a guy and his friends writing RPF about themselves.

While most people I know are horrified, I can't get past how right it feels to me that Sacha Baron Cohen will be playing Freddie Mercury in a new movie.

Reasons why it's good to date a writer. jennifer_brozek responds. I engage in too many different creative practices to expect all of these to apply to me, but the response to 18 makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.

Too bad I'll be out of the country for the Stewart/Colbert rallies on the mall.

shweta_narayan has an amazing post about the personal cost and general non-success of trying to assimilate in the way some people (most recently, Elizabeth Moon) would have you, erroneously, believe all immigrants must in order to succeed and do with ease and acceptance. It's important information and great writing.

Credit where credit is due: A BYU student and Mormon defends his editorial criticizing the Mormon church for its involvement in fighting Prop 8.

What you can do to fight DADT right now. Meanwhile, The New York Times calls on Obama to stop enforcing the policy.

senseless wants to know if you can help find another missing 16-year-old.

Buddy needs thyroid treatment. Help him at nuke_our_cat.

Comments

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed that Sacha Baron Cohen makes sense, he will be brilliant. Are people are worried it'll be Borat?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

They might be worried that it'll be Brüno.

Then again, SBC has a sense of showmanship and irreverence that might well be just what the part of FM requires.

[myrrhmade.livejournal.com]

Freddie Mercury is one of my heroes. I'm asking jesus to take the wheel and that SBC will be as good as Val Kilmer was playing Jim Morrison.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes. And yes. It's a hugely emotional subject for me. I want it to be good, and I believe it can be.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Has the betting pool started on how quickly the LDS can excommunicate that kid?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

How many birthdays of living celebrities do you know?

A total of one (the dude in my icon) - though I was initially misinformed about the exact date.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

SBC as Freddie Mercury is perfect. He has the look and the showmanship. And if he is Bruno, well. Lord knows Freddie Mercury had plenty of flirt in his performances.

ETA: I know the birthdays of random celebrities, often due to them sharing birthdays with myself (Lindsay Lohan, Princess Di) or others (My brother has the same birthday as Ed Norton).

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

He has the look and the showmanship.

Agreed. I think the writing will make/break it though.

Re: jeliza's comment - had no idea he was Indian. Huh.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link to shweta_narayan's post... :)

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

How many birthdays of living celebrities do you know?

Off the top of my head, only one for sure. Another I know the (same) month and that it's in the 20s somewhere, but I'd have to check the day. And it'd be the two in my icon. There was a time when my answer would have been zero, which is just another sign of how TW fandom has shifted some of my perceptions in strange and unpredictable ways.

ETA another: someone else's comment reminded me that I also know Bill Clinton's bday, because it's the same day as Patsfan's. I hadn't really thought in terms of political figures being celebrities.

[booknerdguru.livejournal.com]

Um I only know Michael Shanks' birthday. And that's because it's the same as my own.

And the reasons for dating a writer? OMG I laughed so hard. Thank you.

[rufus.livejournal.com]

celebrity birthdays: I know an awful lot of rockstars' birthdays. And Danny Bonnaduce's, because he was having his party the same night I was in Atlantic City earlier this summer. Aside from that, none.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I know exactly one celebrity birthday (not counting celebs who are friends), and that's Alan Rickman.

I do, however, know an alarmingly high number of the birthdays of Harry Potter characters. :)

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait...I lie. I also know David Bowie's. In fact, I could only remember my ex-husband's birthday because it was one day before Bowie's. :)

[lady-death.livejournal.com]

If sports stars count as celebrities then the number of birthdays I know becomes too many to count. I even know their Western and Chinese astrology signs... But does being involved in MLB and NHL RPS fandom nullify that knowledge for the purposes of your poll?

[rm.livejournal.com]

No. It's awesome. I may make this an actual poll with ticky boxes in a moment. I'm sort of fascinated.

[ckd]

I know John Simm's birthday, not just the day but also the year.

(He knows my birthday equally well, even though he's never heard of me.)

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

I don't know celebrities' birthdays because I generally don't care enough to follow them that closely.

I think SBC could be an amazing Freddy Mercury. I think you just made my day.

I've had my suspicions re: Joaquin Phoenix and in what has been an odd experience for me since it so rarely happens, I felt as though I was almost mourning the loss of Joaquin Phoenix The Actor Whose Work I Previously Admired. The notion of him not working in film anymore made me sad. I remember when he made the announcement, I watched 'Gladiator' about a dozen times just because I felt like that may be the last memory I really had of him as an 'actor.'

[4hour-ramona.livejournal.com]

i think the sacha baron cohen/freddie mercury thing is a perfect fit, actually.

eta: celebrity birthdays i celebrate - dean martinmas, vincent pricemas, david bowiemas.
celebrity birthdays i know but don't mark - iggy pop, edward r murrow, clara bow, tiny tim

[rm.livejournal.com]

Your list is made of pure screaming awesome.

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

I know no birthdays of celebrities.

But I need a calender to remember friends and families, so I might be an outlier.

[axeslade.livejournal.com]

Barely awake and off the top of my head, I know three celebrity birthdays--David Bowie, due to my adolescent obsession with him, and Jonny Lang&Oprah because I share a birthday with them.

[sethg]

It’s a good thing so much SF and fantasy is being published these days by so many different authors, because I keep crossing names off my list of authors I might want to read some day.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

OK, I almost didn't catch the second link responding to the reasons it's good to date a writer; I have to laugh because her snarky response to #18 was *exactly* what I thought when reading the first.

I completely missed the Joachim River thing until they made the announcement. (I really don't follow celebrities.) I can see it pissing people off, but really it's kind of cool. So does that mean the article where he was in a car crash hanging upside down trying to light a cigarette was part of all that?

Playing yourself as a trainwreck -- oh come on that's got to be fun.

Off to read the rest of the links...

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I think I find the whole Affleck-Phoenix thing somewhat uninteresting because it's not very good RPF about themselves, and it's not exactly groundbreaking work. Affleck in particular is being a bit precious about the whole thing, and it reads more like a pair of frat guys who are disappointed their big prank didn't go over as well as they wanted.

But then, see icon. :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I've no desire to see it (and I agree, my first reaction was to be all Tim Gunn and say student work), but it's existence strikes me as moderately useful. I don't know. I suppose it's going to be a matter of time before I do some random scholarship on RPF.

[killerweasel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the one who thought Sacha Baron Cohen is a good choice. I've seen enough of his roles to know that he goes full out when it comes to acting and he'll be great. He does resemble Freddie too. I'm just curious to find out if he'll be doing his own singing.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

How many birthdays of living celebrities do you know?

I share a birthday with Charlie Sheen and Shaun White, Elder Monster shares his with Mark Wahlberg and Kenny G., Younger Monster shares his with Jessica Lange and Ryan O'Neal, and hubby shares his with Jay-Z and Marissa Tomei.

And I know that Neil Gaiman's birthday is 11/10, because I'm a fangirl.

[fightingwords.livejournal.com]

When I was in NYC in the summer of 2007, I think I remember a tornado blowing through town, too. Odd.

[ladypeculiar.livejournal.com]

I think the "I'm Still Here" stunt would be more interesting if there hadn't been a movie with a similar approach already out this year ("Exit Through the Gift Shop", which did it brilliantly. Also more interesting if it's subjects and creators (Affleck and Phoenix) were more compelling themselves . . . Affleck comes off as a bit of a hack in the NYT interview, seeming to have no concept as to why people are confused by his artistic intentions. It seems absolutely absurd to me that he would spend years creating this piece of work, and then act baffled when his audience reacts to the piece.
Here's my bro-in-law's review: http://www.nycfilmcritic.com/?p=2146. It's

[supertailz.livejournal.com]

And _then_ I saw the "celebrities you socialise with don't count" bit. Grarg. :)

In other news, I know we talked once, long ago, about writing dates. Linds (thunderemerald) and I are doing a bunch of them now - sometimes with a gaggle and sometimes just us - if you're ever interested in joining.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I am! Patty leaves for Cardiff on Thursday, and after that I will have some time (and a book to finish). Of course, I then leave for Europe myself at the end of October, but you know, first world problems.

[eris.livejournal.com]

This is the first I've heard of Sacha playing Freddie, and I'm beyond excited.

I think that possibly a good amount of people do not realise what an amazing actor he is. Possibly they've just seen Borat or just seen Ali G, and think he's just a Tom Green sort of shtick.

The naysayers should see him in Talladega Nights, and Sweeny Todd, or his voice work in Madagascar 2.

He is a brilliant choice to play Freddie Mercury, and I will say again, I AM VERY EXCITED.