11.12 Portland, ME
11.13 Northampton, MA
11.14 Brooklyn, NY (SOLD OUT)
11.18 Philadelphia, PA
11.19 Falls Church, VA
11.20 Carrboro, NC
11.22 Knoxville, TN.
Go see her in concert. She's a wonder live. Tell her I said hi.)
Hi Neil,
I just read about your event in January, where in you will be narrating Peter and the Wolf. My husband and I are over joyed by this. We will hopefully be bringing our three girls up to see the performance. We did have one question though. Will you be reading the original version where the wolf actually is killed, and not the "oh my goodness our kids can't hear about death" version in which they bring him to the zoo? We are both, obviously, really hopeful that being you, and not afraid to scare children (thank you for that btw) will be speaking the true to the story version in which Peter shoots the wolf and then his dead body is paraded through the town as a trophy.
Thanks for your time,
~Cecily
PS- Do you know if there will be tickets for the event or the reception afterwards? It will be a long drive, and it would be nice to be prepared for either staking out seats all day or having tickets in hand. (We could not find any reservation information on the website)
I'd forgotten - or never knew - that there was an alternative version. The script I was sent is the Zoo version. I'll investigate...
And no, I do not know about tickets. I will find out.
Dear Neil,
Your Web Goblin offered to post photos of Coraline pumpkins, and when they were told this, my 8 and 11-year old daughters decided to make some. Here they are, along with 2 emoticon pumpkins and a turnip.
http://www.steampunkfamily.com/wp-conten
I used them to illustrate a ghost story: http://www.steampunkfamily.com/2009/10/p
Three of the four of us were Coraline characters for Halloween. (The 11-year old went her own way as Susan Sto-Helit.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37435081@N0
The Other Mother is the scariest thing I've ever been for Halloween. All the children (even the 4-year olds!) knew who I was, and I elicited much nervous laughter when I offered to sew buttons in their eyes.
Thank you for being VERY SCARY INDEED
I love how many families were Coraline families, this year.
If, like me, anybody else was intrigued by your mention of Kenneth Grahame's other works and wants to read them with a minimum of searching, they'll be happy to know both 'The Golden Age' and 'Dream Days' are available for free on the always invaluable Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/291
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/270
Thanks for mentioning them in the first place; I'm always interested in children's lit of that time that has managed to slip through my net.
- B. Bolander
What a good idea. Two very beautiful, gently funny books by the author of The Wind in the Willows. I really enjoyed them, but stylistically they are, well, out of fashion, and will not be everybody's cup of Edwardian tea. Here's a passage that describes the illustration I put up yesterday, as small children steal through the house on a midnight expedition to obtain biscuits (ie cookies, if you are American):
The Blue Room had in prehistoric times been added to by taking in a superfluous passage, and so not only had the advantage of two doors, but enabled us to get to the head of the stairs without passing the chamber wherein our dragon-aunt lay couched. It was rarely occupied, except when a casual uncle came down for the night. We entered in noiseless file, the room being plunged in darkness, except for a bright strip of moonlight on the floor, across which we must pass for our exit. On this our leading lady chose to pause, seizing the opportunity to study the hang of her new dressing-gown. Greatly satisfied thereat, she proceeded, after the feminine fashion, to peacock and to pose, pacing a minuet down the moonlit patch with an imaginary partner. This was too much for Edward's histrionic instincts, and after a moment's pause he drew his single-stick, and with flourishes meet for the occasion, strode onto the stage. A struggle ensued on approved lines, at the end of which Selina was stabbed slowly and with unction, and her corpse borne from the chamber by the ruthless cavalier. The rest of us rushed after in a clump, with capers and gesticulations of delight; the special charm of the performance lying in the necessity for its being carried out with the dumbest of dumb shows.
Once out on the dark landing, the noise of the storm without told us that we had exaggerated the necessity for silence; so, grasping the tails of each other's nightgowns even as Alpine climbers rope themselves together in perilous places, we fared stoutly down the staircase-moraine, and across the grim glacier of the hall, to where a faint glimmer from the half-open door of the drawing-room beckoned to us like friendly hostel-lights. Entering, we found that our thriftless seniors had left the sound red heart of a fire, easily coaxed into a cheerful blaze; and biscuits—a plateful—smiled at us in an encouraging sort of way, together with the halves of a lemon, already once squeezed but still suckable. The biscuits were righteously shared, the lemon segments passed from mouth to mouth; and as we squatted round the fire, its genial warmth consoling our unclad limbs, we realised that so many nocturnal perils had not been braved in vain.
"It's a funny thing," said Edward, as we chatted, "how I hate this room in the daytime. It always means having your face washed, and your hair brushed, and talking silly company talk. But to-night it's really quite jolly. Looks different, somehow."
"I never can make out," I said, "what people come here to tea for. They can have their own tea at home if they like,—they're not poor people,—with jam and things, and drink out of their saucer, and suck their fingers and enjoy themselves; but they come here from a long way off, and sit up straight with their feet off the bars of their chairs, and have one cup, and talk the same sort of stuff every time."
Selina sniffed disdainfully. "You don't know anything about it," she said. "In society you have to call on each other. It's the proper thing to do."
"Pooh! YOU'RE not in society," said Edward, politely; "and, what's more, you never will be."
"Yes, I shall, some day," retorted Selina; "but I shan't ask you to come and see me, so there!"
"Wouldn't come if you did," growled Edward.
Pairing: Duncan/Methos, Duncan/Tessa, Duncan/Amanda
Length: ~6500
Author on LJ:
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
mmmchelleAuthor Website: Chelle's Nightstand
Why this must be read: It's difficult to pick just one of Chelle's fics to rec, but this one is my favorite. This is a bittersweet and angsty au, where Duncan meets Methos about 175 years earlier than he does on the show. Chelle begins this with Methos meeting up with Duncan and Tessa under his cover of a Watcher and introduced by Joe. It follows with Tessa's eventual death and Methos rushing to comfort Duncan and the aftermath to that. This is the story of a Methos who is in love with Duncan and does what he can to make Duncan's life better. This is a Duncan who doesn't quite know what he wants or needs, but does know that Methos makes him feel better. And in the end, this is the story where Duncan realizes that he waited too late to figure out what Methos needs from him. With strong appearances by Tessa, Joe and Richie and a cameo by Amanda this is not a happy love story. It is still powerful and full of strong emotions.
( snippet )
Holes
Fandom: LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Sam Tyler/Gene Hunt
Length: Approx 5500 words (SVSF) & 2400 words (GHVSF)
Author on LJ:
ausmacAuthor Website:List of stories posted to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
lifein1973 Why this must be read:
Sometimes a little smutty goodness is just right for whatever ails you.
When it’s very smartly wrapped up in a pair of very *in-character* fantasies, where both Gene and Sam imagine each other as Manchester’s master criminal, so much the better.
Excerpt from Gene Hunt’s Very Strange Fantasy:
Of course, his libido picked that moment to sit on its hairy haunches and howl at the moon. Because Tyler was like the moon, big and bright and unobtainable. And for whatever reason - or lack of it - something about the man just turned Gene Hunt on like a deviant in a sex aid shop.
Sam’s Very Strange Fantasy
Gene Hunt’s Very Strange Fantasy
.
Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none
Length: 20,809 words
Authors on LJ: no
Authors Website:
Virtual Season site:
http://fpp.skeeter63.org/vs5/previousep
and in Cascade Library:
http://tslibrary.skeeter63.org/
Why this must be read: Gen fics come in many flavors including angst, humor, case/action, AU and even the flavor some call, “slice of life”, which highlights friendship outside of 'foxhole' scenarios usually set as the basis for strong bonds between males. We know that the commercial pressures of screenplays often lead to key interactions in 'bridge' scenes being removed from episodes. This leaves the kind of holes in canon relationships which can only be filled in fanon. In this week's recc, a team of classic authors arrived at that balance of elements which
( Read more... )
Hallowed Halls
Bad news, guys: ABC has canceled the show Hank.
I haven’t totally caught up on Hank yet, I’m still on episode three but I have a whole bunch DVRed and I keep trying to avoid having it spoiled for me, and my co-workers are always like “hey, let’s all talk about that crazy twist on last night’s Hank!” and I’m like “no!!!! I’m still a couple episodes behind don’t spoil it for meeeeee!!!!” and I dive behind desks with my fingers in my ears going “la la la la!” so I can watch the DVRed Hank episodes and enjoy the gripping twists and turns and comedy without knowing what’s going to happen.
Who knows WHERE they could’ve taken the plot in Seasons 6, 7, 8 — I’m guessing space — but now, we’ll never know. Damn network television — first they axe the massive cult hit Back To You, and now THIS shocker! I’m boycotting television forever.
I’m still positive ABC would’ve had a lot more success if they had used my idea for the show:
Textless icons are not blanks. No stealing bandwidth.
More here at
100px_x_100px Without re-treading over old Seth MacFarlane trashing ground (that dude’s practically achieved a Bush level of “ok, we GET it already, please complain about someone else”), the following Collegehumor video is just about the most accurate thing I’ve ever seen.
And that right-wing anteater is so clueless OMG!!!!!
As we correctly predicted (not that it was difficult), the movie This Is It will not, in fact, mark the end of post-death Michael Jackson catalog exploitation.
Want to hear the MJ music you love, only infinitely more expensive and with a bunch of weird golden sh*t happening? Get ready for a Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show!!!
The show is still in its extremely preliminary stages, so it’ll give the executors of Jackson’s estate more than enough time to practice their speeches about how charging ambivalent tourists $500 to watch two French wizards high five with their d*cks on a trapeze while “Beat It” plays is the perfect way to honor Jackson’s legacy.
Author:
tezgoldCharacters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Gwen, Rhys, Lisa, Teresa, other characters.
Part One here: ( Huntress Part One )
- Location:Bedroom
- Mood:busy
No Love,
Me
der Adept - adept, initiate; someone versed in the occult, wizard, alchemist; disciple, apprentice (philos./pol.)
Der Adept des Assassinen (Buchtitel, 1995) - Assassin's Apprentice (book title)
Related:
die Adeptin - [female] adept, initiate; someone versed in the occult
MORE> False Friends/False Cognates in German and English~
http://german.about.com/library/blfalse
Author: Werelopard58
Fandom:Torchwood
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones
Pairing:Janto
Genre: Romance/humour
Rating:PG
Summary: This is the full moon challenge for the story lottery. Jack goes to Ianto’s grave but something strange happens
All of Torchwood and Hub 3 convention
Warning(s):m/m
Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Torchwood
N/B This is for Gareth David-Lloyd and also for the person who came up with the question at the convention. If anyone remembers who it is let me know g. I want to thank them I will also be doing some other story suggestions that were made over the weekend and thank you to those who I met and had a great time with. You all rock.
Chapter Two http://wereleopard58.livejournal.com/81
Title: Nest – Always Get Their Man
Author: Wereleopard
Rating: PG at the moment
Pairing: Janto
Spoilers: All of Torchwood, and Transformers 2
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Torchwood or Transformers. I wish, if I did would I be writing fanifc. It would all be on the screen baby
Summary: Ianto was assigned elsewhere when Jack was away for those three months
Feedback. Would appreciate it but just hope you enjoy the story
N/B I know I have many, many, many stories but you can’t stop my mind and yes please ignore the huge potholes you can driver a bus through. Come on Ianto with a cool car LOL
Chapter Two http://wereleopard58.livejournal.com/82
THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST. PROMISE.
The pain of having to wait a couple of week’s for a brand new episode of Glee while hordes of people who spit on the ground Glee walks on — namely, baseball fans — reveled in their playoff glory. Wednesday nights were filled with fanciful, rhythmic pacing, back and forth down a rhinestoned runway, thumbs twiddling betwixt our fingerless leather gloves. For fans of musical theater and/or steaming giant blocks of cheese, it was a painfully long hiatus. But tonight, folks, GLEE IS BACK. And believe it or not, it is better. than. ever.
How do we know? Fox was kind enough to send over a needle-full of heroin — sorry, we meant, the new episode screener for “Wheels” — which was carried over to my DVD player like the newborn baby in Children of Men. It was one of the few times I watched an episode of Glee without having seen any of the preview clips, and after all is said and done, I’m happy I didn’t. The element of surprise really adds to the overall enjoyment, and in the future, I will be chaining up my arms and legs before clicking play for any of their preview songs.
If the title is any (and every) indication, it is the first episode of the season to focus on one of the backgroundish characters. Namely, Artie and his Wheelchair. But “Wheels” is about so much more. In fact, it might be the first episode ever where various storylines weave between each other with ease, where more than just a small handful of the people we love get their fair shake of screentime. We spend time with Kurt and his father, a mechanic who used to host the show Nickelodeon “Guts.” Quinn’s baby storyline is advanced in a very satisfying way, replete with plenty of gratuitous Puck moments. And Will and Sue go through their usual motions, this time, with a twist. Even Principal Figgins gets his moment in the sun. And while there aren’t too many musical numbers, the ones we are given are glorious (including the finale, which is so cute as to be almost Japanese.) And the best part?
MR. SCHUESTER DOESN’T RAP. Not once. Not for a second. Did the petition work?
The episode was only 43 minutes long, but felt more like a Glee feature film. And, yes, there are moments in it that are super cheesy cheese from space, and things that would never, ever happen in real life, but isn’t that the reason we tune in? To laugh, to cringe, and — in the case of this episode — to cry? Don’t believe me now, but tonight, when you cry, remember to also think “Michelle told you so.”
If you have never seen Glee, and want to know what the fuss is about, watch tonight’s episode. And when it ends, if you still feel like it’s not for you, a. reevaluate your life and b. there’s nothing else we can really do for you. Watch those DVR’d episodes of “The Globe Succession” or whatever it’s called.
And if you’re already a fan… well, then, there is really no need to encourage you, is there?
Some people will tell you that seances are archaic wastes of time that no rational humans on this side of 1800 should ever spend one second partaking in, as their continued existence makes mankind as a whole embarrassingly dumber.
Try telling that to the guy in this clip, though, who cannot help but break down into tears because he’s talking to the actual ghost of Michael Jackson. Wouldn’t you??
Fandom: Star Wars prequel
Pairing: Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi; Qui-Gon/other, Obi-Wan/other
Length: 16.400 words
Author on LJ:
ausmacAuthor Website: The Alternative
Warning: extreme torture; plus noncon and rape although that's not described graphically
Why this must be read:
This story gripped me from the start and wouldn't let go of me. It's dark, very dark, and shows where good people can be led to when doctrined from early childhood. But it's also a story of hope and redemption. And the triomph of sheer willpower and fait.
I utterly adore this one.
( Excerpt )
Warlock
got a little interesting with breakfast today. i thought about this last night and decided it sounded good. i was happy with it. french toast with almond butter AND maple syrup.
Every now and again, an e-mail lands into our “tips” hotline which piques our interest. This is one of those messages. JR over at the hilarious (albeit NSFW) website Homoshame writes the following:
Dear Best Week Ever,
On Saturday night, I dragged two of my best friends and my boyfriend to see “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay” in Los Angeles. I was inspired to take the journey thanks to Michelle Collins’ post about the film. I thought, “This movie could take terrible to a whole new awesome level!”
Actually, the movie took terrible to a whole new terrible level. Characters’ motivations changed from scene to scene. Lanie Kazan just did a poor-man’s imitation of Michael Myers’ Linda Richmond shtick in every scene. And shockingly, Carmen Electra was probably the least offensive part of the movie (no really). My boyfriend accurately assessed that the flick was “a hate crime against comedy.”
After the movie, in the lobby of the theater, I grabbed the “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay” postcard/flyer. I flipped it over and saw something awesome. Please see the attached photos.
-JR
So just what did JR find on the back of this postcard? Oh, no big deal really…
That’s right, readers. Bestweekever.tv has now joined the esteemed ranks of Orcasound Features Magazine and, yes, Canadian National TV (points for vagueness), with a quote that will almost certainly end my career. “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay Features Most Talented Cast of Actors Ever Assembled For a Film” — Michelle (long inhale) Collins (5 minute sigh). Note, by the way, that the people printing this card couldn’t even get “Lainie Kazan“’s name spelled correctly.
But I ain’t mad. After all, finally someone has taken my ramblings on the internet seriously enough so as to print it on a glossy postcard. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to head over to Laemmle’s to pick me up a stackful so that my grandchildren may one day know that I was once a somebody.
Move over, Britney Spears’ Top Ten List, cause Jon Gosselin is jumping on the “look at my amazingly self-aware sense of humor” celebrity bandwagon with his own really, really light self-parody video on Funny Or Die. We all thought he was a total douchebag but he’s not cause you see he’s aware that he wears earrings! I’m sold.
In response, Kate will really rip into herself by posting a video of her saying “I am sometimes not great!” and gently hitting herself with a feather:
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officialgaiman : Radio! Books! Violin Lessons! Also, a haircut I do not mention anywhere in this blog! [+0] - drinkswithdakin :: vivhasarifle : The Road Not Taken [+0]
- apod : Great Observatories Explore Galactic Center [+2]
- crack_van :: vipersweb : Holes by chelle (PG-13) [+1]
- crack_van :: draycevixen : Sam’s Very Strange Fantasy & Gene Hunt’s Very Strange Fantasy by Ausmac (NC-17) [+2]
- crack_van :: slipperieslope : Hallowed Halls by Dawn C and Kim Heggen (G) [+0]
- bestweekever : ABC’s Hank Canceled, Falls Just Short Of Being TV’s Next M*A*S*H [+0]
- torchwoodslash :: 100px_x_100px : Torchwood Icons [+0]
- bestweekever : VIDEO: Seth MacFarlane Presents “Fat Dad, Thing That Shouldn’t Talk Talking” [+0]
- bestweekever : Cirque Du Soleil Planning Michael Jackson Show, May Also Literally Pee On His Grave [+0]
- torchwoodslash :: tezgold : Huntress [+0]
- nobleplatypus : Dear Microsoft: [+14]
- deutsche_kultur :: breakingthrunow : Word Of The Day ~ der Adept [+5]
- torchwoodslash :: wereleopard58 : A couple of Torchwood stories [+0]
- bestweekever : Whatever You Do, Do Not Miss Tonight’s “Glee.” [+0]
- bestweekever : The Michael Jackson Seance Will Deeply Move You To Believe That These Are The World’s Dumbest People [+0]
- crack_van :: seremela2 : Warlock by Mac (NC17) [+2]
- ofmornings :: coriandersea : (no subject) [+4]
- bestweekever : Don’t Let Our Pull Quote Fool You: “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay” Is Bad [+0]
- bestweekever : VIDEO: Jon Gosselin Latest Celeb To Attempt Really Really Light Self Parody [+0]