Alina

dragovianknight @ 11:12am: Because 4-H Lady was willing to brave Walmart at 5am
I now own a Philips MP3/video player*. So, does anyone know how I can get my various AVI files (and DVDs) into SMV format so I can take them places with me? Preferably a free way?

*And a pair of boots that are too narrow in the heel, so I'll have to return them. :(

dragovianknight @ 8:58pm: Delivered via timewarp
Somehow, the Friday the 13th DVDs I ordered on the 23rd, shipped on the 24th and arrived today. And they managed that with Super Saver shipping (because I'm cheap). Dude! :D

I thought the "Lewis Vendredi made a deal with the devil..." opening lasted through season two; I'm sad they cut it on the DVDs.

I wish Rashid had been in more than two episodes. He was awesome.

dragovianknight @ 10:02am: Present for myself
I pre-ordered Nox Arcana's Winter's Eve CD (and finally ordered Phantoms of the High Seas, too). Music to listen to through the new year! ^__^

dragovianknight @ 10:18pm: Going to hell. Again.
You know that Christian side hug thing I linked to earlier? Well, my brain refuses to remember the actual lyrics, beyond, "Gimme that Christian side hug," but I'm earwormed by the beat...so I'm afraid I'm coming up with alternate rhymes for "side hug", like "self love" and "butt plug". I am quite sure this sullies the purity of their white boy gangsta rap about how they're such sexual deviants they can't even hug someone without being uncontrollably turned on.

My lyrics do make about as much sense. The last round went, "I'm a rough rider/with a Jesus butt plug/So gimme that Christian side hug/ 'cause I practice self love."

Edit: It dawns on me that apparently, Fundie boys are all Edward Cullen, terrified they will be overwhelmed by Bella Swan's outrageous flavor.* See what repression gets you?

*(tm cleolinda, IIRC)

dragovianknight @ 3:55pm: I am making gifts this year
And you know, I love knitting, but this is a LOT of work (not to mention the OMG WON'T FINISH ON TIME! panic). It's kind of making me feel guilty for all the times I've asked to have something written/drawn/made for me, instead of just telling people to drop ten bucks on a gift card from Amazon or Knitpicks.

(On a related note, I have things for people from that meme at the start of the year, and I am SO FAILING at getting them packed up and mailed out. Bad Dragovian. Bad.)

dragovianknight @ 10:03am: Dear Jesus, did you mean for your followers to be insane?
The Christian Side Hug (Link goes to a YouTube video.) Tell me this is satire. Alternatively, write me the smuttiest hugging comment fics you can think of.

Edit: Links to commentary on Feministing and Feministe. (No, I don't read them, I just got linked to them. I pass along mostly for the "is it a parody or not" discussions.)

fandom_wank @ 4:42am: You thought you could get away from the botcock, did you?

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1227535.html

</a></b></a>swipeatronspark is a Transformers ficcer most known for writing, requesting, and promoting Sideswipe/Megatron fic. She puts herself up in an anon meme with a number of others. The results are somewhere between mixed and strange, with slapfighting anons galore.

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fandom_wank @ 4:42am: What kind of animal would Moses be, I wonder?

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1227297.html

This is one of those wanks that kind of speaks for itself, so that makes my job easy!

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dragovianknight @ 5:35pm: I don't know why I never thought to search Amazon for knitting stuff
Because I just got a set of 15 sizes of 6" bamboo DPNs - 5 of each size, so *math* 75 needles total - for $19.99 and $4.99 shipping. I would have preferred 5", which fits my rather small hands, but 6" should serve without tending to get caught on my sleeves like 7" do.

No, I don't expect these to be the highest quality needles ever at that price, but considering I rarely use DPNs because I prefer magic loop (I am working on slipper socks in magic loop! I AM ENJOYING THEM! I may get over my anti-sock bias!), I think these will serve just fine. And I can't argue with the price.

Then while I was there, I used a gift certificate to buy myself Friday the 13th: the series season two. Which netted me a $5 credit for Amazon Video On Demand. Which I may or may not use - I would have to watch at work since I don't have a fast enough connection to stream things here - but it's rather a nice thought, I guess.

dragovianknight @ 3:56pm: Uh-HUH
So Amazon categorizes X-Files under "horror", but Friday the 13th: the series under "science fiction and fantasy". Allrighty then.

dragovianknight @ 1:50pm: It strikes me
That for all the 70s had its share of fail, like every decade, I was rather lucky to be a wee!Dragovian growing up back then. Why? Why because, I had a wealth of women to look up to, from my Saturday morning heroines Isis and ElectroWoman and DynaGirl, to Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman, and Charlie's Angels and Buck Rogers' Wilma Dearing in prime time. I don't know that today's wee girls have quite so much awesome, at least, not in shows they'd actually be allowed to watch. (Also, so many beautiful women, and not a visible rib to be seen in the bunch.)

dragovianknight @ 12:54pm: Oh, if only
If only I had $93, I could have Knight Rider: The Complete Series, a boxed set of all four seasons of the original. The box has a KITT-style scanner light. I keep hoping it'll show up as a deal between now and Christmas; I mean, there can't be THAT much demand for it, right? Discounts are good!

(I checked on the new series. $40 for one season! One short season. This is why God gave us Netflix.)

Sadly, Xena and Hercules are both out of print now. Woe. :(

dragovianknight @ 4:19pm: They found the formula too late
You know what's on the last DVD of Knight Rider (the final four eps after the retool)? No big SRS GOV'MENT BIZNZ, just helping women, children, and old friends of Mike's. Like the original wrapped implausible episodes around for four seasons. If ONLY they had made the changes early enough to avoid cancellation. (Also, KITT3K developed some lovely snark in the final few episodes. I love him so. Not as much as KITT2K, of course.)

Mike: You ever think about making your back seat into a bed, KITT?
KITT: I'm afraid you'd be tempted to invite strangers.

Edit: HEY, why didn't anyone tell me Alona Tal was in the last episode of KR? (Oh, wait, because nobody was WATCHING KR by the last episode.)

dragovianknight @ 1:28pm: I think the worst thing
...about SPN 5x10 was not the events of the episode themselves, but rather that the episode still fell flat for me, so that I was left going, "Wait, that's it, it's over? What was the point*?"

*( Small spoilery 'point' behind the cut. )

fanthropology @ 2:08pm: Media references to fanfic, the week ending 11/21/09

http://community.livejournal.com/fanthropology/468796.html

The most prominent ref of the week was in a piece on Henry Jenkins in the L. A. Times. Zachary Pincus-Roth wrote that Jenkins -- officially the [USC] provost's professor of communication, journalism and cinematic arts -- researches how audiences engage with media through the Internet, fan fiction and video games.

The Canwest News Service distributed a piece by Mark Medley on Cory Doctorow, whose own early attempts at sci-fi were pastiches of Conan the Barbarian stories and Star Wars fan fiction. Lest we be to happy about Doctorow's getting us, Shaula Clark, in coverage of a local appearance in the Boston Phoenix, wrote On why we shouldn't dismiss fanfic as trivial: [Doctorow said] "That's like judging a sex act by what's left behind on the sheets. It's a process, not a destination."

In a review of Norah Jones's new album The Fall in the Dallas Observer, Robert Wilonsky wrote Those proclaiming this album the Booker T. grad's "departure" have clearly listened to their Norah Jones solely whilst sipping frappucinos between penning fan fiction in a Starbucks.

In the Kansas State University Collegian, Bethaney Wallace had a piece on NaNoWriMo. While the novel’s volume is regulated, the content is not. [Local coordinator Prof. William] Hsu said novel subjects and genres can vary from completely original works to fan fiction, a genre where writers expand or add a unique approach to existing storylines such as “Harry Potter” or anime-based shows.

The Duluth News Tribune also had a piece on NaNoWriMo. Christa Lawlor wrote Elizabeth Reichert, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, is on her third novel. The other two — a piece of Star Trek fan fiction, and a young adult comedy — were printed out, put into binders, and stuck on a shelf. ☹ (Note - the link seems to fail after a few clicks.)

On E!Online, Jennifer Godwin attributed NBC's decision to extend Trauma for at least a few more episodes to nontraditional signs of popularity growth, including the existence of Trauma fanfic.

And, in the Daily Northwestern, Laura Rosenfeld admitted I’ve never read the entire Harry Potter series. Whenever I tell people this, I usually get a look of sheer terror and shock. The hardcore fans who can list their favorite books in order and create fan fiction can’t even bear to be in my presence.

Aside from the above, it was all Twilight, all the time.

According to Alicia on Zimbio, Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene Haven't Read Their Fan Fiction...Yet.

In an otherwise well-done article for the Buffalo News, high school senior Charlene Miller wrote Harry Potter was the first of its kind. Back in 1997, when “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was first published, it started everything that the “Twilight” fandom has since copied: Midnight releases, fan sites, fan fiction, and even music groups based on the text.

The California Chronicle and other suburban CA papers carried a John Kendrix article on what he termed the Twilight franchise, in which he described the books as being Quality-wise […] just slightly above fan fiction posted on the Internet.

In the college press:

The Ball State Daily New's Frank Hood also felt compelled to compare Harry Potter and Twilight, writing just like the “Harry Potter” series, some have criticized “Twilight” author Stephanie Meyer’s writing style. Some have said they thought it was too detailed, laying out everything in the scene and not leaving much to the imagination. Others have said it reads like internet fan fiction.

In the LSU Tiger Weekly, Colleen McKinney wrote, of the line of tween girls waiting to see New Moon at a theatre near her, the "normal activities" were playing Twilight Monopoly, reading Twilight guides, and writing Twilight fan fiction.

And, in Loyola University's The Pheonix, Annah Hackett finished framing an interview with Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen) with TV doctors recommend a daily dose of Twilight fan fiction until this weekend, when New Moon opens wherever teenage girls are found.

In the Vancouver Sun, Gisele Baxter, in a review of vampires in pop culture, mentioned fanfic in passing.

On MSNBC's website, Michael Ventre observed Believe it or not, there are Stephenie Meyer wannabes out there who have taken her characters and expanded on them, and some of them are quite good.

Finally, here's a headline for you: On CNN's webite, Breeanna Hare wrote "Older women crave 'New Moon' vampires," which would be fine except for the defining "older women" as kids in their 30s. Of relevance here, she wrote Oddly enough, there's no sex in Meyer's novels, at least nothing that couldn't be replicated in the PG movies they're based on. That hasn't stopped the fans from creating their own sex scenes in copious amounts of fan fiction, some of which have themes like "Edward and Bella do steamy office affair," or "Edward and Bella try out S&M."

Note: Any Twilight criticism in the comments will get you a PM from me explaining why I'd buy Ms. Meyer a cookie, given the opportunity. I'm just saying.

Note: Crossposted to http://as-others-see-us.dreamwidth.org/7987.html.

fandom_wank @ 5:48pm: slow-mo panda is slow

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1227046.html

We begin our saga on the fair hills of house_wilson, where the grass grows green and the House/Wilson shippers occasionally throw shit fits over whether or not David Shore is dicking around House/Wilson shippers.

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dragovianknight @ 8:02am: Christians are filled with such caring and compassion
That they send around "jokes" like this:

( Cut to spare you the desire to kill. )

How fucked up is that?

fandom_wank @ 11:56am: We don't actually know if this is plagiarism wank, unless someone out there is an internets lawyer

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1226789.html

Here's some Project Runway plagiarism wank to go with the lovely vanity pub and author wank. I hope it goes without saying that there might be a spoiler or two for the finale, but I'll say it anyway: There are spoilers for the finale in this post.

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fandom_wank @ 1:53am: Harlequin vanity bodice-ripping wank! (Even more awesome than it sounds)

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1226613.html

Hang on to your hats, kids, this one's a doozy in several parts. To start off, you might want to catch up on </a></b></a>agilebrit's clairvoyantwank writeup. Clairvoyant indeed! To sum up, romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises teamed up with a publisher called ASI solutions to form Harlequin Horizons, a vanity press. Romance Writers of America promptly revoked Harlequin's "recognized publisher" status.

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dragovianknight @ 9:54pm: As usual, sailing against the prevailing fannish winds
To say that I found SPN 5x09 freakin' hilarious, and ( spoilery comment ahoy )

I would hang with those fans. Actually, I think I have hung with those fans. But then, keep in mind that I was the one at Anime Expo addressing her question to Lord Zedd and Empress Rita, which I think means I am one of those fans. I just wish I was one of those fans who could afford to restore a classic Impala.

fandom_wank @ 1:37pm: Get your Satanic wank out of my distro!

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1226443.html

Background: Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux. Think of it as a version of Linux like you have Windows XP, Vista, Me, 95, etc. Some people created Ubuntun Christian Edition, which annoyed some members of the Ubuntu community who didn't see why a special religious-based distribution was needed but it was mostly a polite argument. Then, in retaliation, Ubuntu Satanic Edition was created.

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fandom_wank @ 2:20am: Back off, man, I'm a scientist!

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1226190.html

From wank_report:
Genevieve Koski, writing for the A.V. Club, offers her opinion on a recent screening of Ghostbusters for Better Late Than Never, the feature in which authors who never experienced some element of the pop culture of the past go back and review it with the jaded eyes of the present. Her opinion, of course, is negative.

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dragovianknight @ 3:10pm: I forgot to post my baaaaby dragons


This post COULD have had content, but it would just have been more nattering about Knight Rider, because my life is kind of not that interesting.

dragovianknight @ 8:12am: Thots on new!Knight Rider, and my very interesting dreams
Cut to spare you, my ( deep thots on Knight Rider. )

I will be interested to see what's on the final two DVDs of the series. Potentially, I could end up buying it, if Amazon.com has a suitable sale.

After watching far too many hours of new!Knight Rider, I had a dream ( which started out as a Knight Rider/Supernatural crossover, and then went Power Rangers RPM. No, I don't know either. )

In conclusion, my brain is a weird and scary place.

dragovianknight @ 4:41pm: I'm watching Knight Rider 2008
The first DVD came today, so I'm finally getting to see the "Knight Rider Television Event" that preceeded the series.

Wow, Sarah was way more entertaining before Mike came on the scene. I could totally have been down with a series about one woman (and her car) making a difference.

I still wish KITT/KITT fiction existed.

Edit: Yeah, instead of the ginormous cast all we needed was Sarah, Carrie (as our new Devon) and Billy (as our token male/Bonnie). I think we'd have had a better show.