lyore

Well, I made it safely to Sydney airport - stage 1 complete.

No hassles so far, although for some reason, you can only get to the free internet after you go through security/customs... I guess to stop all the freeloaders showing up and stealing their bandwidth.

Anyway, got through security and customs without a hitch. Now all I need to worry about is whether I get stopped for smuggling Smarties (as per the request of

kasneeze) at the other end :)

Somehow, the whole going to Paris thing hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe it will when I'm on the plane.

Current Mood: tired

Wow. As of now, I am officially on one month's leave. The thought of going to Europe (tomorrow! eep) is great, but right now the simple idea of not going to work for a month is blowing my brain. I've never had a holiday this long, even during the high school/uni breaks I was working.

This weekend was great - my parents and The Other Sister were down. We went to the Australian War Memorial Open day, the highlight of which was definitely the fly-by of the F/A-18 Hornet. Skyfire (Canberra's big fireworks show) was in the evening, and started with a dump-n-burn by an F-111. Two military jets in one day! (What can I say, I like my fast jets *g*).

And to make things even better, Skyfire was movie themed this year, and the longest section was focused on none other than Star Wars, complete with dialogue from the OT and the Prequels, the main theme, Imperial march... *sigh* The Imperial March sounds even more impressive when accompanied by fireworks :)

There was also the themes from Superman (which included fireworks that somehow exploded in an 'S' shape), Back to the Future and Indianna Jones. All in all, it was a very fannish Skyfire.

Right. Now I have to stop procrastinate, and pack, and clean, and shop, and write a job application. It's a good thing I've decided I don't need to go to sleep tonight.

Why don't I get a 'frazzled' mood theme?

Current Mood: Frazzled

Mostly for the benefit of RL friends and family, I've created a LJ specifically for use during my trip:

oznfrogs. For duration of the trip, things will be double-posted to both that journal and this. Except for fic, of course :)

Given that the majority of my family is internet illiterate, the first post is just an explanation of LJ, why I'm using it to keep in touch, how to leave comments and read behind an LJ cut. If people have a few moments, I'd appreciate opinions - is it clear, is there anything else people should know, given that this will be my primary method of communicating with everyone apart from my parents. Plus, I think it looks cool :)

Current Mood: tired

I was watching some random game show last night, and discovered an interesting thing: On that show, 3 out of 98 people didn't know that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father. If we assume that this was a representative sample of the Australian population (a problematic assumption, I know), then approximately 3% of Aussie adults don't know what has got to be the most well known secret in movie history. Even my mother (she who is adamant that the Stormtroopers are the good guys in the OT because they wear white) knew that one. She did not, however, know that Luke and Leia are siblings. I wonder what the stats would be at that?

On another note - Don't you hate it when isane plot bunnies get caught in your brain? At the moment I have two bouncing round my head, careening into one another and ~~hopefully not breeding~~ generally making a mess.

One is a semi-serious little ficlet in which Darth Vader and Han Solo get stuck in an elevator. I've sorted out the logistics of this one, and I think I could get it to work, in a non-crackfic way, and even have them both emerge alive at the end. Set after ANH and prior to ESB... it would be an interesting conversation, don't you think?

The second, courtesy of

bob_ette after I mentioned the first one to her, has Dean, Sam and the Impala getting stuck in an cargolift with Han, Chewie and the Millenium Falcon. It started off as pure crack, but somehow it has morphed into something more serious and character-focused. Set early season one in SPN time, and pre-trilogy in SW, I think this one has the potential to become an very interesting fic.

Of course I get these bunnies when I'm about to be internet- and computer-less for a month. *sigh* One week to go...

Current Mood: tired

Icon Dump

41 Star Wars Lego
5 Bleach
4 Dr Who (Girl in the Fireplace)

accurate

( Here be icons )

Comment and credit would be great.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: bedroom

I see the Supernatural fandom has exploded again. *sigh* I must say, sitting back and watching this from a distance, this makes me feel old. ~~Young whippersnappers at it again...~~

I think every fandom I've seen the early stages of has followed the exact same pattern. The First Season Honeymoon is over, and the Second-Season blues have set in. Suddenly the fandom isn't shiny and new anymore, and people have spent enough virtual time together to realise they are all people and therefore capable of being just as cliche-y and bitchy as those popular girls you secretly hated in high school. The show runners are taking things in a different direction to the way you've spent the season break contemplating, and you're all secretly worried those new characters are just Mary Sues in a cunning disguise, waiting for a chance to take over the show...

I wonder how well Torchwood will cope, when it gets to their second season?

And I wonder when I got so cynical about fandom as a whole?

For the Firefly and Dr Who fen on my flist, anyone who hasn't done so should check out

honorh's fic Out of Joint. The TARDIS crash-lands on the Serenity... Yeah, it's a crossover, but the characters from both shows have been nailed, and neither group has been subordinated to the other. Great interaction between the characters, and the start of what looks like a promising plot.

In other news, I'm really starting to get nervous about my trip. I just woke up this morning and it hit me. I think it's the idea of going somewhere where people speak a different language that is freaking me out the most. I get nervous-excited butterflies just thinking about it.

Current Mood: cynical

Well, that was a slightly longer than usual gap between posts, wasn't it? I blame the weather - no, seriously. We've had massive electrical storms just about every night for the last few weeks. It's been insane. The central section of town got closed down today because of the hail drifts - yep, that's right, hail drifts blocked all the streets and car parks. The Uni, a bunch of schools and government departments had the day off - not mine, of course.

In two weeks today that I leave for Europe - this time in a fortnight I'll be sitting in plane flying to KL, if all goes according to plan. Plane tickets are booked, accommodation in France is sorted, britrail/eurostar passes paid for - after paying that much money, it's starting to feel sort of real. Wow.

Right, I'm going to take advantage of the continuing break in the storms to actually read my flist - since there isn't a hope in hell of me actually catching up, let me know if I've missed anything vitally important?

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: bedroom

For those of you who haven't downloaded anything (completely legal anythings, of course) from megaupload, they prompt you to enter a 3 letter code before letting you get to the goodies.

My three letter code? RDA. ~~I wish he was available for downloading~~

I need a Jack icon.

Current Mood: amused

Yep folks, it's official. I'm going to France. And also to the UK, and possibly to Italy, depending on what we decide to do. At the moment looks like being 20 days in France, primarily based in Paris and Northern France (cause Paris is where the free accommodation is *waves to

kasneeze) and then 10 days in England/UK. Only 5 weeks to get everything organised...

This is my first proper overseas trip (NZ does not count), and it's far and away the longest holiday I've ever been on. Which means that I'm very excited, but only slightly less nervous. I'm hoping to get the dates finalised and tickets booked this week.

On that note, anyone out there got any tips/warnings/dos and don'ts/things to do and see? So far, the collective wisdom of my RL friends has informed me that:
a. Europe is full of pickpockets so talented that they steal the clothes off your back and you never even notice,
b. Europe is a very good place to go to pick up guys from Australia (with bonus points if they actually come from your home town), and
c. Starting a conversation on a plane with 'Hi Jack' is a Very Bad Idea.

In other matters, I've got the latest episode of Supernatural but in an unnatural bout of good-sisterlyness, have decided to wait for

bob_ette to arrive tomorrow before watching it. ~~This has nothing to do with the fact I have SG-1 and Dr Who to watch tonight.~~ I heard there has been some... interesting fan reactions to this one, so I'm especially curious about it.

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: Couch

Finally finished watching Torchwood. I have lots of thoughts, but I think I'll need to watch it again to get it all sorted out (oh gee, what a shame).

So for now, all I will say is - while both 1x12 and 1x13 showed some of the... patchiness, for want of a better word, of many of the other episodes, there were some absolutely heartrending moments in there. And leaving it with an ending like that, when they didn't know if there was going to be another season? That's nothing short of evil.

While there's a lot to say about the first season of TW, I think the thing I've found most interesting is the portrayal of Jack's morality. Throughout the entire season, Jack seems to have a very well developed (although unconventional) sense of right and wrong, as well as a marked 'end-justifies-the-means' mentality. Jack's sense of morality is probably worth a post by itself, but what's worth noting here is that while the authors have been somewhat... loose about the maintaining the continuity of the characters motivations, they've been constant about maintaining this, even when it clashes with the normal expectations of a heroic leading man. If they can just can work this sense of continuity into other aspects, then the next season of Torchwood will have the potential to be truly amazing.

Current Mood: calm

Watching 20/20 Cricket on the TV (Australia vs England - so far, we're kicking arse. Go Us). Umpire's name?

Peter Parker.

It's the Geeky Things in life that are often the Best.

Watching of Torchwood has been temporarily postponed, pending the end of the match. People are supposed to be visiting tonight, but it doesn't look like they are going to show, so I should get a couple of episodes in before I need to hit the sack.

For some reason, the breeze blowing into my room smells like the sea. This would make more sense if we weren't 100's of kms from the coast.

Current Mood: amused

Authors, take note.

So your plot is sublimely ludicrous. Your grasp of basic physical concepts tenuous at best. Your writing so full of blams and slams (italics included) I feel like I'm reading an old-school Batman comic. In fact, your writing has the highest number of italics and exclamation marks per paragraph that I have ever seen in a published novel.

But for all this, you can still redeem yourself - by calling one of your groups of bad guy bounty hunters the Intercontinental Guards, Unit 88, and abbreviating it throughout your novel as IG-88. Yep, obscure Star Wars references will win me over every time. :)

The other thing to note about Matthew Reilly is that he appears to have a curious obsession with people being eaten alive. So far this weekend, I've read 3 of his novels (Ice Station, Area 7 and Scarecrow), and off the top of my head I recall people being eaten alive by:

a) Killer Whales,
b) Giant Mutated Elephant Seals,
c) Tiger Sharks, and
d) Cannibals.

No, I am not kidding. There could be more, it's a bit hard to keep track of the carnage (but I don't think the Kodiak bears wandering around the secret Air Force base actually ate anyone).

If I every go back and re-read these books, I'll definitely need to keep a count. I'd say the total number of people eaten alive so far would have to top 50. The Giant Mutated Elephant Seals took out a lot, as did the Killer Whales. The Tiger Sharks only got a paltry 5 or 6, and I think the Cannibal only got to eat one person during the entire course of the novel.

Did I mention these books are completely ridiculous?

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Still on the couch

Hello Internet. Long time no see. And a big belated Merry Christmas/Season's Greetings and Happy New Year to you all.

( Christmas Break and New Years News )

My internet connection is in overdrive, trying to catch up on the TV shows I've missed. I'm so far behind on Torchwood I've stopped checking the groups - hopefully this will be rectified shortly. Unfortunately, my grand 'catch up on current TV shows plan' has been sidetracked by the fact that I'm on a total Hogan's Heroes kick at the moment. That and reading Matthew Reilly. It would have been Alastair Maclean, but I can't get hold of any of his books.

But speaking of Reilly, his books are some of the most ridiculous books I've ever read, absolutely crying out to be made into an action movie (it's no surprise the author says he's a fan of Hollywood blockbusters). In fact, I think that making them into a movie may actually improve the levels of realism, and I can't think of any other books I'd say that about. Which is why I almost burst into laughter when I read the 'well-researched' comment in the reviews on one of the covers - the books are entertaining enough, but well-researched and accurate they are not. I'd call them 'fairy floss books' - lightweight, no ~~intelligent~~ nutritional value at all, but I'll keep reading them. Well, while I can get them for less than $10, anyway.

In fact, while I'm waiting for Torchwood to download, I might go switch my brain of for a while and start reading the next one. Nothing like mindless entertainment for a sunday afternoon/evening.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: The couch
Current Music: AFI

Aussies should remember the For the Love of Beer ad (yes, that's right, the one where they threw the moose, and the girls, into the sky with a giant catapult) - well, here's where the moose came down.

Current Mood: amused

( Random Christmas Meme, because I can )

Life has been hectic. Only 3 more days until I'm on leave, and I'm counting every second.

Current Mood: exhausted

I was finally able to make it up to the post office and pick up my copy of Hercules . I never knew Acient Greece looked so much like Middle Earth. And wow - so much B-gradeness in such a short space of time. Rubber monsters, cheesy plots, and as much subtlety as a hammer to the head when it comes to their theme-of-the-week.

Of course, it didn't help when they offed Iolaus in the first half hour (don't worry, he comes back) - but at least they are starting as they mean to go on. (I wonder who dies the most - Daniel or Iolaus? We'd have to adjust for the different number of episodes first, I guess, but my money would probably still be on Daniel.)

For all that, the major failing of the first movie is that it lacked the self-aware humour I remember from the series, it was too busy trying to convey deep and meaning messages. Not that this stopped me from immediately watching the second movie :)

For either movies, I don't think they even bothered hiring actors for the supporting cast, they just grabbed random people on the street and stuffed them into costume. On the other hand, it was disturbing to see the number of recognisable faces showing up in the cast.

Movie 1: Lucy Lawless plays the 2IC of the amazons - nice to see she didn't get herself typecast early on :)

Movie 2: The lead actress was Gabrielle (Renee O'Conner). Ironically, the character she was playing was Deianeira, who (depending on the version of the myth) was the third of Hercules' wives. I spent the entire movie going 'Hercules marries Gabrielle!' which was a little distracting. This movie also featured Robert Trebor (Salmoneus in both The Legendary Journeys and Xena), playing an unrelated character. And then you had Eric Close (Now and Then ) in there as well...

I know genre TV is notorious for reusing actors (Stargate, I am looking at you) but come on.

Current Mood: amused

From a 'Toys "R" Us' Catalogue:

Star Wars Clone Wars Gun Ship Republic gunship and playset features an opening canopy and real firing cannons.

Current Mood: amused

Looks like the 'Season 8' Buffy comic is going ahead. I have mixed feelings about this - as much as I loved the series, I've never successfully followed a fandom into comic book form.

I'm not sure why - partly, I suppose, because the art never looks anything like the actors. (Generalise? Who, me?) Everytime I look at the pictures instead of the words, I get yanked out of the story. So I tend to focus almost exclusively on the words, which I guess means I'm missing a lot of the detail (is it subtext when it's pictorial?) and this leads to an overall less satisfying experience. Although honestly, even if it was photorealistic artwork, I'd probably still tend to focus on the text. I am a text and word orientied person, and after so many years of novel-reading, it's a preprogammed response. I don't think I could change this if I tried.

And there's also the problem that I read fast - as in, 500 page novel in a night fast. Which means that I get through comic books at a rate of knots, and then feel cheated it's gone so fast. Especially if I paid for it.

And then there's the slightly problematic nature of the Buffy canon itself - while I loved the first three seasons, the later ones never generated the same emotional response. And when you add that to the fact that I've now had three years to get emotionally attached to the status quo of the characters and their relationships, I'm worried about the direction they are going to take things.

I'm tempted to say I'll just stick with fanfic, but as with everything else, I've had a lot of trouble finding good-quality Buffy gen-fic. Even though it's one of the fandoms in which I do have a favourite pairing I'm heavily invested in (Buffy/Angel, if you are interested, although canon pairing with Willow in it is a close second), my ideal plot(action)/ship ratio in fic would be around 50/50.

Perhaps I'll just go back and rewatch the DVDs...

Current Mood: apathetic

Looks like the 'Season 8' Buffy comic is going ahead. I have mixed feelings about this - as much as I loved the series, I've never successfully followed a fandom into comic book form.

I'm not sure why - partly, I suppose, because the art never looks anything like the actors. (Generalise? Who, me?) Everytime I look at the pictures instead of the words, I get yanked out of the story. So I tend to focus almost exclusively on the words, which I guess means I'm missing a lot of the detail (is it subtext when it's pictorial?) and this leads to an overall less satisfying experience. Although honestly, even if it was photorealistic artwork, I'd probably still tend to focus on the text. I am a text and word orientied person, and after so many years of novel-reading, it's a preprogammed response. I don't think I could change this if I tried.

And there's also the problem that I read fast - as in, 500 page novel in a night fast. Which means that I get through comic books at a rate of knots, and then feel cheated it's gone so fast. Especially if I paid for it.

And then there's the slightly problematic nature of the Buffy canon itself - while I loved the first three seasons, the later ones never generated the same emotional response. And when you add that to the fact that I've now had three years to get emotionally attached to the status quo of the characters and their relationships, I'm worried about the direction they are going to take things.

I'm tempted to say I'll just stick with fanfic, but as with everything else, I've had a lot of trouble finding good-quality Buffy gen-fic. Even though it's one of the fandoms in which I do have a favourite pairing I'm heavily invested in (Buffy/Angel, if you are interested, although anything with Willow in it is a close second), my ideal plot(action)/ship ratio in fic would be around 50/50.

Perhaps I'll just go back and rewatch the DVDs...

Current Mood: apathetic

Background: XXXX is a brand of australian beer. It's very popular up in the Northen Territory and Queensland.

Setting: Darwin, NT

Story: A recently immigrated canadian engineer is driving around Darwin with his new boss, an officer in the RAAF. The canadian notices all these large signs on buildings advertising 'XXXX'. The canadian turns to his boss and askes innocently: 'What's XXXX? Is that some kind of Australian Super-Porn?'

Luckily, his boss had a sense of humour.

Of course, we then developed a scale: 'XX' was American Porn, 'XXX' was Canadian Porn, and 'XXXX' was, off course, Australian Super!Porn.

I think it sounds like some kind of superhero. 'Look, over there! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's SuperPorn!'

(For those of you who don't know, the REAL reason that it's called XXXX is because Queenslander's can't spell 'Beer' *g*)

Current Mood: amused

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Recent Entries

At the airport... fun fun

Fast Jets and Fireworks

Travel Journal

When Stats and Star Wars combine...

Icons

What goes around...

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RDA on Megaupload.

France

Quick Torchwood Musings

With Great Power...

Reilly Redemption? Or perhaps not.

New Years and Matthew Reilly

Toohey's Moose Lands in Alaska

(no subject)

Musical Actors?

Weapons of localised destruction coming to a toy store near you!

Buffy