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Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
cyril
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2:44p
The Inhuman Achievement
You cannot BELIEVE how long it has taken me to get this fucker.
current mood:  ecstatic
current music: Asobi Seksu - Lions And Tigers
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(5 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
starshine_wd
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8:24p
The oddest thing happened to me today. I've heard of this happening to others but it was a first for me. I was making supper and cleaning up at the same time. We keep our plastic recyclables outside, off the deck. I opened the back door and threw out the plastic bottle and when I walked back into the kitchen, I found something big flying around the kitchen ceiling light. My first thought was that it was a very big moth but quickly realized it was a bird. Poor thing kept landing on my decorative birdhouses that I have hanging from the beams in the ceiling. I very quickly shut the dining room door and the basement door to keep it contained in the kitchen. It took a few minutes and me shutting off all the lights and turning on the outside ones before it finally flew back outside. I thanked if for dropping by and quickly shut the door.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
loreley
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10:32p
ZOMG FARSCAPE.
amazon.com is selling FARSCAPE: THE COMPLETE SERIES for the ridiculous amount of $57.99.
I thought there might be some interest here and also if anyone wants to give this to me as a generous Christmas present FEEL FREE. I've never actually seen it, but it has been recommended to me multiple times, mostly from Doctor/Rose people, so I trust their judgement. And of course, Jazz loves it, so it must be good! I've been wanting to watch this for quite some time.
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(5 comments | comment on this) Monday, November 30th, 2009
starshine_wd
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3:10p
Serenity Salute
Friday, November 20th: Patrick and I arrived in LA around 5:00pm. I returned the rental car to the Hertz people (who were located at the Marriott in which we were staying) and then checked in. After getting to our room and doing a bit of unpacking, we met up with Laurie (mouse) and her Boy for dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants. I had crab cake and fries and Patrick had filet mignon with fries. Laurie and the Boy were tired as they had just flown in that day so they went off to bed whilst Patrick and I headed outside to the smoking area where we met our new friends, CJ, Jenni, Marc and Monika. CJ and Jenni are married and live in Colorado, Monika also lives in Colorado and Marc is from the UK. Sorry, can't remember exactly where in the UK. Very nice people! I decided to head upstairs to our room and Patrick headed to the bar for a bit. We were both in bed by 1:00am.
Saturday, November 21st: Check-in for those of us with Gold Passes was from 11am until 12:10 so we headed outside to the smoking area first where we met up with Marc from the previous night. He was kind enough to show us where we needed to queue up. We registered and got our lanyards for our tickets, our wristbands, some Souvenir Firefly Money and a red Serenity cup as our gifts. At 12:35pm, Yan and Rafail Feldman (Mingo and Fanty from the Serenity movie) had their panel. We were in Row C so only three rows back and had a great view. Unfortunately, my camera still sucked in the crappy lighting so I didn't take as many as I would have liked. I eventually started taking pics of the big screen they had up because I could get better pics that way. Let me just say that although I wasn't hugely impressed by them attending originally, they turned out to be very funny and nice guys. At one point, later in the day, I was outside (spent a lot of time there as it was right off the Con area) and Yan came outside, bummed a cigarette from me and chatted with me the whole time he smoked it. He seemed quite shocked to find out that my kids were 24, 21 and 19 and that I was a grandmother. Hell, he may have been acting but I prefer to think he was genuinely surprised at my age.
Anyhow, at 1:15pm, it was time for Adam Baldwin's panel (Jayne Firefly/Serenity and John Casey Chuck). He was also funny. Next time, I'm going to take notes during the panels as I can't remember most of what they said. After Adam Baldwin, there was a panel on writing with writer's Jane Espenson (BtVS/Angel/Firefly and Dollhouse) and Tim Minear (Angel/Firefly/Dollhouse). I got to ask Tim if there would ever be some conclusion to his short lived show Drive in form whether paperback or comic or anything and unfortunately, the answer was "no". Both Jane and Tim set up in the Vendor's room to sign autographs afterward but it was at the same time as the Costume Party that both Patrick and I were participating in so Laurie got my autographs for me. Jane signed my Sunnydale Yearbook on the same page as Joss' autograph and Tim signed my Firefly Companion Book Vol. 1.
The Costume Competition was at 3:05pm. Neither of us won anything which was okay. We each got a black Serenity cup for participating. I wore a pair of green jeans with a Kaylee Teddy Bear patch on the leg, a flowery long-sleeved tee and a green vest. Patrick wore tan pants tucked into his army boots, a Blue Sun tee and his Jayne hat that I had made him and he even spent the week before not shaving so he could shave his face like Jayne's. What I didn't realize about the competition was that it was judged according to crowd applause. It was a small crowd and consisted mostly of friends of the entrants. I don't think Patrick nor I were in the top three but I was a little disappointed as to who won first place. It was a group of three people who dressed as Mal, Jayne and Kaylee and they had a fairly good size group of friends there. The couple that I thought should have won first place were dressed as a Reaver couple carrying a very scary looking baby (doll). They acted the part and everything. Ah well, I got my participation gift. I was happy.
After the Competition, Patrick and I looked around the Vendor's room. There was a band called The Browncoats who were selling copies of their CDs which included a cover of the "The Hero of Canton". Check out http://bashinginminds.com/2009/08/28/out-on-cd-the-browncoats-space-age-loser/ for more info on that. I got Gary's, Amy's, Dominic's and Bailey's autographs and also partied with Amy, Dominic and Bailey much later that evening. More on that later. While in the Vendor's room, I also bought two magnetic "ribbons". You know the kind, they're like the yellow "Support Our Troops" type ribbon, only these are brown and one says "Browncoats" and the other says "Support Our BDHs" and I got a brown pin that says "I Aim To Misbehave".
At one point during the late afternoon Patrick and I went to the hotel bar for food as we hadn't eaten anything yet that day. I had fish and chips and he had steak. At 5:50pm, it was time for Morena Baccarin's (Inara Firefly/Serenity) panel. I'm not sure if it was because Inara was never my favorite character or what but I wasn't all that impressed with Morena's panel. She also started out with saying she had nothing really to say so she went right to the Q&A.
Autograph signing started at 7:20pm and we were called up by row. I had my Firefly Companion Vol. 1 ready for Adam and Morena to sign. The book had full size pics of each character so I had little post-it tabs marking each celeb who was going to be at the Con. Since Yan and Rafael weren't in the show, I had my Serenity Companion for them to sign since there was a single pic of the two of them in that book.
Once autographs were done, Patrick and I went back to our room to put stuff away and get ready for the Dessert Party at 10pm. We got a table with CJ, Jenni, Marc, Monika and of course, Laurie and the Boy. Another girl sat with us who's name was Cass. There wasn't much for desserts. By the time I got to the set up, all that was left was some chocolate chip cookies and ice cream. The celebrities made an appearance and they all took their turns sitting at each table for about 5 minutes. When the twins came around, Rafael sat next to me and when Adam came around he sat next to me as well because Patrick had moved across the table "so Adam could sit next to you". Yeah, funnily enough, the seat Patrick moved into was right next to Cass. [grin] When it was Morena's turn she sat across the table next to Marc (which we set up for him as it was his b-day). Laurie and I had gotten drinks which cost $9.50 a piece! And it was barely four gulps! Later, we went to the bar upstairs where it was fifty cents cheaper and twice the size. After the celebs had all been to our table, most of us ended up outside. Yan came out at one point and I got my picture taken with him. I had already spent some time with the producer of the Convention earlier in the day and she had said that if the celebs don't mind, pictures with celebs were allowed, just not at the Dessert Party, Sunday Brunch or during autographs. When I went outside, I didn't see Patrick so I asked where he was and was told he had gone to the liqueur store. I called to ask him to get me a small bottle of Kahlua and he had already left after getting his beer....and a small bottle of Kahlua for me. Does my boy rock or what? We pretty much partied outside for the rest of the night with our co-smokers. Finally got to bed around 3am.
Sunday, November 22nd: Only to have to be up around 8:30am for the Sunday Brunch at 10am. THAT was tough. I wasn't hungover but DAMN! I was tired. At the brunch were Jewel Staite (Kaylee Firefly/Serenity) who had replaced Nathan Fillion (Capt Mal Reynolds Firefly/Serenity, Mark Sheppard (Badger Firefly and Alan Tudyk (Wash Firefly/Serenity. When they came around to our table, Mark sat next to me, then Jewels sat a few seats down and Alan sat right between me and Laurie. I did get a chance to ask him if he was still with his girlfriend Adrianne Palicki (he is) and if she were there (she wasn't). I let him know that I was a fan of hers as well and I had even brought my three season of Friday Night Lights to loan to Laurie. There was also a silent auction at the Brunch. I bid on a "Terrifyn Space Monkey" that was signed by Nathan and included a signed pic of Sean Mahr (Simon Firefly/Serenity) and a Serenity comic book signed by Alan. It went back and forth a few times between me and a Canadian Browncoat when I finally asked him just before the auction ended how high he was willing to go. He said $160 and I asked if I bid $170, would we be done and he said sure. I just couldn't see us continuously outbidding each other on paper. So, I paid $170 for a stuffed animal, yes, I did. I also decided I wanted Jewel's autograph on it as well as the "terrifyn space monkey" scene included both Mal and Kaylee so I spent $30 on an extra autograph from her. (Our Gold Passes already included one autograph from each celeb but I still wanted her to sign my Firefly Companion Vol. 1). The silent auction benefited the charities Kids Need To Read and Marine corp-Law Enforcement Foundation so it was money well spent, right?
At 12:25pm it was Jewel's panel. She's so sweet and funny. I absolutely love her. There was also a panel afterward about the Fan Film Browncoats: Redemption which was really interesting. I'm looking forward to the DVD when it's released in September. http://www.browncoatsredemption.com/. Mark Sheppard's panel was at 3:05pm. Again, quite enjoyable. Patrick and I were originally not going to get any photo ops done due to finances but we decided to get the one with Jewel, Mark and Alan since we could both be in it with them. We split the cost and it scanned up just fine so no regrets there. Finally, Alan's panel was at 5:20pm. He came out with two chairs but made it very clear that Nathan would not be making a surprise appearance (and he didn't) but that he did have a 7-layer bean dip that Nathan had made for the Con and he put that on the other chair. He said he would be auctioning off the dip at the end of the panel with the proceeds going to the Kids Need To Read. During the panel, he got a call from Nathan which Alan put on speakerphone so we could hear Nathan ask Alan if he knew anything about his missing bean dip. It was hysterical. We were all laughing so hard. Alan also gave away a bunch of his own stuff to people who asked him questions in the Q&A portion and the dip eventually sold for $375. Later in the evening, the guy who won it was sitting in the hotel lobby with it and some chips (provided by Alan) so we could all try it. I'm not a bean dip person but I still had a bite because, you know, made by Nathan Fillion!
Last but not least, autographs were done around 6:30. Alan and Jewel both signed their pics in my Firefly Companion Vol. 1 and luckily, there was even a pic of Badger in it so Mark signed their as well. We finished the night at the hotel bar for dinner and we all called it a fairly early night as we were leaving for home in the morning. Patrick and I did get to see Marc and Monika for a bit before heading to the airport the next morning because our flight wasn't until almost 2pm. The flight home was quicker than the flight out and made more interesting this time by a) not having been up the entire night before and b) watching Bill Maher's movie Religulous and then Tombstone on the way home. We got into Rhode Island around 11:30pm and were on the way home by midnight, getting to our house around 12:30am or so.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
bally
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6:46p
Everything's Broken
Yeah.
My DS (as in Nintendo DS, the finest handheld video gaming device since the Nintendo Game Boy) has been switching itself off during gameplay every so often for a few weeks now. The problem got much worse a week ago. I got in touch with Nintendo on Saturday, and I've just read a beautiful e-mail from their bods on what I have to do to send it to them to fix it. Nice.
Not so nice is the boiler. Now, the boiler in my bedroom (yes, my bedroom - there's not really anywhere better to put it, sadly) started making extra noises yesterday morning... and did not start to heat my house. I spent most of yesterday in front of the fire (completing New Super Mario Bros. Wii - I'm da best!). This would happen just as it's gone ruddy freezing. Curse you, cosmos! I've just rung a heating engineer who was recommended by a colleague, and I'm waiting for him to get back to me. Could be fun, especially as my boiler was discontinued in 1997... that's why my The Face Of Book status says I'm terrified it needs replacing.
Eek.
current mood:  anxious
current music: Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper
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(9 comments | comment on this)
cosmicavatar
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2:06p
Got This Feelin' Down Deep In My Soul That I Just Can't Lose (Collectormania London '09 entry)
And now the inevitable Collectormania review/roundup (just for you, Caz. :P).
( Read more... )
current music: Stuck On You - Lionel Richie
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(13 comments | comment on this) Sunday, November 29th, 2009
starshine_wd
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10:21p
Okay, I've been promising a post about my holiday so, here I go:
Monday, Nov 16th: Our flight left at 6:10am. This meant we needed to leave home by 4:00am or so. I knew I would have a hard time getting to sleep so I decided to just stay up. I dozed on the plane and when we arrived in LA, I was still okay to drive. We picked up the rental car and headed to Rian's. Once there, we went out to In & Out Burger for lunch. Yummy! I took a nap when we got back and when I woke up, Cassie was already there. I wouldn't hug her though until I had showered since I hadn't had a shower in over 24 hours at that point. Erin (a friend of Rian's), Natalie (soulsearcher) and Jenn (coiledsoil) came over and Jenn made her most AWESOME chicken fried steak. Patrick liked it so much, he even ate it with the gravy (he's very picky and usually doesn't like gravy with his cfs). We had a nice evening just visiting.
Tueday, Nov 17th: We slept in for a bit and then headed to Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood for lunch with Rian. It's where she and I met for the first time and it's become tradition that we always eat there when I come out to visit. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out. Rian made us her AWESOME chicken noodles and potatoes. Yummy!
Wednesday, Nov 18th: We got up somewhat early (for us) and said our sad good-byes to Rian so we could get on the road and arrive at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego for around noon. We were only about an hour behind so we still had plenty of time to see everything we wanted to see while we were there. Patrick very much wanted to spend time watching the cheetahs so we headed there first. Then we went on the Safari ride which gave us a nice view of many of the animals and great photo ops. I really like the Lorikeets so we headed there after the Safari. We did some other walking around and finally headed out around 4pm as it was starting to get a bit chilly. We met my cousin Debbie at Dave & Busters which is a restaurant with an arcade. We had dinner and played games for a while before heading back to Debbie's as she still had to work while we were there.
Thursday, Nov 19th: This day was spent at Sea World. Patrick and I both love this park and we watched the Shamu show and saw the sharks and polar bears and dolphin show. The evening was spent with Debbie and her brother Bob also came over to visit for a bit as well.
Tomorrow, I'll post about the convention weekend.
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(5 comments | comment on this) Saturday, November 28th, 2009
starshine_wd
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11:24p
I was a little productive today. I got tired of seeing my spare room (which actually MY bedroom*/TV room) quite a wreck. It needed dusting and decluttering and I kind of wanted to be able to see the floor again. Also, I hadn't done laundry since before my trip (which I still need to write about, possibly tomorrow). I'm quite pleased now that those chores are done. I feel more relaxed when I'm actually surrounded by neatness.
(*Yes, I have my own bedroom. Not because the hubby and I don't have a good marriage because it's probably the best it's ever been but I prefer sleeping in my own room for a few reasons. 1) I got used to sleeping alone and being able to spread out back when I worked nights and slept days; 2) my husband snores REALLY, REALLY loud. In fact, he's going for a sleep study tomorrow night; 3) my t.v. is in this room as is all my "stuff": knitting stuff, dvd stuff, music stuff, you know, stuff; 4) my husband has pagers and scanners going off at all hours of the night because of the ambulance and fire department, it gets annoying and I have a hard time falling back to sleep; 5) I like sleeping with the window cracked open near my face but the space heater keeping the room very, very warm, he doesn't. So, for all those reasons, I have my own room. Poor guy, the bedroom he sleeps in is still "our" room. He has no room of his own.
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(5 comments | comment on this) Friday, November 27th, 2009
starshine_wd
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10:06p
I had a very pleasant visit with my stepmother and her sister this evening along with my two sisters, Dawn and Darlene. Norma (my stepmom) and Aunt Mary were down to spend the holiday with their mom in Massachusetts yesterday and came down to Connecticut to visit us today at my sister Dawn's. My stepmom is awesome and I hate that she lives a little over 5 hours away as I would love to spend more time with her. My birth dad died over 6 years ago but she is and always will be family. Pat came with me even though we took separate cars so that he could bring Karlie home when it was getting closer to her bedtime since Megan's working tonight. My son Zach was able to make it up for a little bit as well. Finally, everyone had left except me so I could spend a little one on one time with Dawn, which we haven't had a chance to do in AGES. I still didn't stay to late since she had been up since 3am. She's one of those Black Friday shoppers. I was home by 9:45 and can now sit back and catch up on my shows that recorded while I was in California. Once those are caught up on in the next few days, I can start watching Christmas DVDs.
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cosmicavatar
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8:13p
Waiting There For You
OK, I have reconciled myself to the fact that we're not going to achieve all that I had planned for this week, but we have done some more stuff. For example: we've chosen a replacement floor for our kitchen as ours is so horrible and manky I can't stand it any more. Which also motivates me to get the skirting-boards and doors done in the kitchen done in advance of installation and H to tidy up the pipes. Also, we replaced the living-room lightshades as I've shredded the existing ones with my lightsabres so badly over the years. The new ones aren't all that different, funnily enough, except for being cylindrical instead of spherical. I'm very happy with them.
Tomorrow I am going to Collectormania London. I have to get up at 7:30am (both days, thanks to stupid train schedules, even though Sunday's photoshoot isn't until 11:45am), but as H is giving me a lift to the station, this is an improvement on how much earlier I'd have had to get up if I were to include finding and paying for a parking space. Callie Helen's going to Saturday's event too, and we're hoping to meet Jazz afterwards! Which will be awesome.
Have a great weekend, peeplets.
current music: Africa - Toto
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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