It's been awhile since I've kept up with 20th Century Boys but here is the official cast. I so can't wait to watch it. I just hope it won't turn out to be like my fangirl obsession over Battle Royale again.

It's a little strange how I had forgotten about this little HP story I wrote about Lupin and Snape. I don't even remember writing it really but I do remember writing the last line though. I still think Ewan McGregor in his "A Life Less Ordinary" days would have made the perfect Remus.

And after three years of fanfic haitus I actually wrote something again! afractured_tale will have a link with one of them. I'm going to post some originals soon, some I've written long ago.

It's a little strange reading stuff you wrote way back when. I'm constantly asking myself how in the hell I wrote some of them and what I was thinking when I wrote it.

Goodness - I haven't been catching up with my crappy TV/MOVIE/BOOK/ANIME/STORY reviews and writing at all. I can't believe I've left this thing hanging for two years though I'm still ranting stupid things over at til_tomorrow.

-I haven't written any fanfiction in over 3 years until last week when I wrote This SKINS story just cause I wanted it to happen that way and because Graham Miles never really "looked" closely did he? haha. I just think Jal/Chris are cute and since that scene where she chased him all the way to the cemetary in Series#1 - I knew it was meant to be. Oh well, I'm a sucker for all things cute and angsty - though when I was taking Creative Writing classes in college my Professor told me to stop being so morbid because I kept writing stories with a main character dying in the end. He said, "Listen Cindy, not all people die in the end ok? Think about it." So yeah - I'm taking his advice to good use.

One of my favorite stories I've written long ago though was this Syaoran's story from Cardcaptor Sakura written so long ago I wonder how I found the words to the story because if I do it now I don't think I can. I liked his character because he's so cute and angry but at the same time so innocently sweet.

Another was This which is an ensemble little thing but I didn't like the first chapter. It was way too fluff - it's almost embarassing. I do love the other chapters in between especially Eriol's because it took me so damn long to write that and it was two times as long as all the others and I like his characters because he's demented. I like demented.

And finally by one shot of Remus and Snape. My two favorite HP characters. Ha! They were so made to be BFF's and they didn't even know it.

New podfic: Inventio (Right click, save), [or view it here at general_jinjur's podfic archive] Diana Wynne Jones Chrestomanci for amplificathon. [Mp3]


Also, new LJ layout from minty_peach with a lot of tweaks and a header made from fanart by tardis80! mklutz mklutz mklutz mklutz mklutz


( Fic Recs: SGA )




( Links - Firefox and Google special edition? Sort of. )



Strategic
Sure, it starts out with late night study sessions,
but Thor knows it'll end up in bed. He's got a plan.

Please also note his Mr. Burns style "Eeeeexcellent" fingers.

( 3 SG-1, 4 SGA Motivational Desktops )

Must finish house work. AUGH.

So, since the writing challenge went well I thought.. decluttering, maybe? The only problem is figuring out really concrete goals so that at the end I know if I did it or not. I think I could probably look around and say, "yay, me!" but half way through the month I wouldn't know if I was ahead or behind schedule. So I'm taking some advice from that Peter Walsh 'Clutterbutt' book and defining what I want each room's purpose to be and just going from there.

Also! I have 5 or 6 bins FULL of sewing stuff (fabric, mostly) only I don't have a sewing machine and when I did, I never sewed.  But I can't let go of the fabric! So at the end of the month, if I kick ass and actually have space to sew, then I'll pick up a cheap-o one and maybe try again. But if I don't, then I have to pare down. :-o Danger!

Also, I just realised - the timing could not be better - Kelly's grad ceremony is on June 6th and all of his family will be here... Guests! Ah!


That's the plan!

I swear  one day I will catch up on fandom, except work seems determined to suck the life out of me. I want to know why all the stupid people in the world are the people I have to report to or make more money than me. I mean seriously.

 You know it's a good sign when you read spoilers for an upcoming new season and it makes you happy and think it's about time instead of, wow, I hope they can pull that off. I know at this stage it doesn't mean much but I'm actually feeling optimistic instead of worried for a change, unlike when I read spoilers for season two. 

On a somewhat related note, I want to get into Moonlight but I would like to know if the show has a good chance of being renewed. If anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated.

Are you smarter than the average American?

1. Name a country that starts with the letter "U".
A. Yugoslavia
B. Utah
C. Utopia
D. United States of America
E. United States of America, Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Uganda, United Arab Emirates (which includes Umn Al Qaiwain), United Kingdom, Ukraine

2. How many sides does a triangle have?
A. Um, four?
B. Five
C. One
D. It has no sides
E. Three

3. Who won the Vietnam War?
A. We did
B. Were we in the Vietnam War?
C. Whut?
D. South Vietnam
E. North Vietnam

4. What is "collateral damage"?
A. A movie
B. Uh?
C. Damage intended for an enemy which happens to hurt or injure allies or your own troops
D. i frag j00
E. PWN3D

5. Who took office after President Kennedy was shot?
A. Carter
B. Johnson
C. Roosevelt
D. Nixon
E. Ford

6. What state is the White House in?
A. Washington
B. Philadelphia
C. Pennsylvania
D. Virginia
E. Maryland
F. *Nerdy answer about districts and states goes here*

7. Can you find France on a world map?
A. *puts map flag on Australia*
B. *puts map flag on Nigeria*
C. No
D. Aren't we calling that "Freedom" now, or something?
E. *puts map flag on France*

8. How many sides does a square have?
A. Five
B. Two
C. Four
D. It doesn't have any sides
E. Pi are square

9. What part of speech indicates "active voice" or "passive voice?"
A. Adjectives
B. Verbs
C. Nouns
D. Adverbs
E. Conjunctions

10. A "surge protector" guards against unexpected surges in what?
A. Electric current
B. Flooding
C. Buyer's Remorse
D. Lack of caffeine
E. Sexual harassment

11. Which of the following is the largest?
A. A peanut
B. A monkey
C. A tennis ball
D. The moon
E. An elephant

12. What is the everyday name for "trachea"?
A. Breastbone
B. Funny bone
C. Windpipe
D. Kneecap
E. Adam's apple

13. Which of these revolves around the Earth?
A. The Moon
B. The Sun
C. Earth
D. Venus
E. Pluto

14. What is a "mosque"?
A. An animal
B. A girdle-like garment
C. A hat
D. A place for religious rites
E. A country in Africa

15. Who is Tony Blair?
A. An actor
B. A skater
C. A politician
D. Iron Man!
E. That guy who shouts on commercials for cleaning products

16. Tuna is chicken. True or false?
A. It says "chicken of the sea," T
B. Tuna is a fish, dumbass, so F
C. I'm confused
D. Can I ask Nick Lachey?
E. Who is Nick Lachey?
F. I am ashamed that I know who Nick Lachey is. Help me.

17. How many months in a year have 30 days?
A. Five
B. Seven
C. This is a trick question. Eleven.
D. This is a trick question. One.
E. Twelve

18. What continent is also a country?
A. All of them
B. United States
C. Japan
D. Australia
E. Antarctica

19. What currency do they use in England?
A. Dollars
B. Queen Elizabeth's money
C. Euro
D. Pound
E. Lsd

20. What currency do they use in Ireland?
A. Punt
B. Irish Pound
C. Euro
D. Dollar
E. Bragh

21. What is the predominate religion in Israel?
A. Israeli
B. Catholic, probably
C. Muslim
D. Jewish
E. What is predominate?

22. Fire is hot. Y/N?
A. What kind of fire are we talking about?
B. Let's find out.
C. Not if it is made out of tissue paper.
D. Yes. Yes, it is.
E. What is fire? Did we invent it?

23. Do they speak Latin in Latin America?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Si
D. Agricola
E. No one "speaks" Latin anymore.


The video that spawned this rant is here. Follow links to related ones to see more cringe-worthy idiocy. Now, I'm the first to give people some slack for being camera shy, put on the spot, nervous, asked something that has no relevance to their daily existence...but honestly, there's a limit to the excuses I can make.

DangerouslyIrrelevant.Org has an interesting counter argument (in short, why should we bother to learn anything that can be looked up within seconds online?) but I (mostly) disagree with it. Some basic knowledge should be KNOWN, darn it. A power outage or lack of computer or library access shouldn't render your ability to answer basic questions null and void.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel thought it would be fun to have local teachers create a twenty-question quiz on stuff fifth-graders ought to know. Here are the questions from the quiz, each of which is hyperlinked to the Google search results for the question text:

1. What is a hyperbole?
2. Which chamber of the heart receives blood from the lungs?
3. Is the equator a line of latitude or longitude?
4. What is a mixed number?
5. What organ in the body produces bile?
6. What kind of a root is a carrot?
7. Nomadic tribes of American Plains Indians lived in what structures?
8. What did American Indians of the Northwest coast use to symbolize their clan and tell family stories?
9. Which is larger: 3/5 or 5/8?
10. What are the three branches of the United States government?
11. What are the names of the five Great Lakes?
12. How many hydrogen atoms are there in a molecule of water?
13. "You are as strong as an ox." Is this statement a simile or metaphor?
14. What part of speech is "after": An adverb, conjunction or preposition?
15. Who invented peanut butter?
16. How many pints are in 2 gallons?
17. How many feet are in 9 yards?
18. What part of speech describes a verb?
19. What is a proper noun?
20. What is something found on a plant cell that is not found on an animal cell?

Go ahead. I dare you to compare the Google search results to the quiz answers. For nearly every question, the first or second Google link has the correct answer. In most instances, you don’t even need to click through to the actual web site. You can just read the short blurb for the link on the Google results page. [Also, note that question 14 is a trick question and that the teachers’ answer to question 20 may be incorrect (I think it should say chloroplasts, not cytoplasm).]

So now we’re not only spending all this time in school making kids memorize stuff that literally can be found in mere seconds, we’re actually making game shows out of it (like we’ve always done) and framing it in such a way so that grown-ups feel stupid if they don’t remember information that most adults never need to keep in their heads. Let’s be honest here: when is the last time you really needed to know the names of all five Great Lakes, whether or not animal cells have cell walls, or who invented peanut butter?

Okay, let's take the last three questions as an example: did I NEED to know those things? Perhaps not. But I DO know them. My recall is not limited to waiting around for my dial-up connection to access the Internet. If someone asks, I can answer, even if there's no computer in the room! Yay! (If you want to test your recall, I'll even give you a hint about the Great Lakes: HOMES.)

Should we blame the media for increased stupidity? Are Americans more stupid than the rest of the stupid people in other countries? Is the US public school system to blame? Nah, not one of those assumptions explains it fully. But certain people could certainly stand to read more books or PAY ATTENTION or something. You can choose not to watch the most stupid programming possible on cable, too.

How to figure out you have been watching a stupidity-enhancing channel on the TV

1. You are considering buying a male enhancement product that is too coy to use the word "penis".

2. You have started to loathe marimbas, and, by extension, all Carribbean music.

3. You have exhausted your feminist outrage and can only flail and squeak impotently when yet another "Girls Gone Wild" commercial airs.

4. When someone says "New York," you think of self-absorbed stupid black women first, and anything else at all next.

5. Everything is presented in list format.

( More stupidity signals )

This is why I watched a whole hour of flight attendants arguing on a news channel the other day. Boring legal testimonies were actually soothing compared to the usual nonsense. I learned something. Not ONCE did a dancing Walter Cronkite prance across the screen to urge me to stick around for a potentially life-saving and very important news story ("Parents Who Let Their Children Drink Lye, News At Eleven," or "What People You Do Not Know Personally Should Be Allowed To Do With Their Own Wombs, vote in our online poll!" or "Intelligent Design: Has Ben Stein Lost His Ever-Lovin' Mind or What? Our Pundits Think You Want Us To Give You Your Opinions...NEXT!").

L's imagination-play has skyrocketed all over the place lately. Right now he's force-choking Dada to death in the bedroom. He also loves to be Luke talking into his wrist communicator and yelling "Artoooooo!", and Leia shrieking about the mynocks. The lightsabre is always out. Yeah. Obsessed with Empire. In non-Star Wars imagination land, he also likes to be a magician. No kids stores had a magician's wand for him today, either (the black & white kind) - apparently I have to go to a magic shop which, just.. No. I really don't like magicians. My brain files them in the same category as mimes and clowns. 

I'm published in a short article in this week's issue of The Lawyer's Weekly. It's not a terribly exciting article, but you can download a PDF of the page I'm on here.

I am foregoing the header because, honestly, they're macros.

....is how some guys refer to their girlfriends having their period.


Quick question ( with spoilers for the last episode of SG-1: )




Spoiler space for the above~





( Links, science podcasts, del.icio.us )





( Fic Recs: SGA )


I'm still working through some Sticks and Snark entries and a few other bookmarks, but I did get a lot of reading done while I was sick.




( Podfic help / Cold in Pegasus? )

Fanartists? Is anyone up to a quick doodle for me? It would be Rodney/Teyla-ish.