The Gallifrey Film Society Presents....

- I cannot write porn to save my life. Or rather if I try, the muse just shuts the hell up. If I write a gen piece with a few people standing around chatting, then I write like it's going out of fashion.
Now watch as the words dry up

- Inception is nomming on my brain. Or rather the bits that haven't been devoured by my tw_bigbang story. (17,000 words and counting...!)
I have no defense other than it's awesome and intelligent and beautiful (hallo thar Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe!) and- I like it a lot!
Consider this a warning that there may very well be fic in the future. Post BB, naturally!

- Sherlock has been delightful. If you haven't already caught up with this, either through iPlayer or *ahemhem* then do so. It's not something I can see myself being fannish over but enjoyable nonetheless. What with this, Being Human, Wonders of the Solar System, Modern Masters and Doctor Who, the BBC are certainly worth every penny of the license fee. Why, yes, that *was* a political statement!

- Even though I only use my twitter account to read other people's tweets (people like Steven Moffat, Professor Brian Cox Empire and Maryann Johanson of FlickFilosopher), I have two people following me. Oookay!

- Having attended the Doctor Who Prom this year (very short review: it was awesome!) I just wanted to point out two things. 'Mars' by Holst gave me goosebumps and with the release of this 2 disc CD in September can sob your heart out over 'Vale Deceum' too. But hey! My mascara stayed put - win win!

- I have a dress for my sister's wedding! More importantly it meets with the approval of both the bride and MY MOTHER! It's the purple/aubergine one. The photo doesn't quite do it justice - it's a bit darker in RL. Most surprising aspect about it? it was the first dress I tried. This is astonishing as I'm a lot shorter and dumpier than the model - so I was expecting to look like a sack of spuds. Instead I can has an hourglass figure! I may not be exactly Christina Hendricks but daymn!

Suffice to say that major rows were expected over this aspect of the wedding, so to get this sewn up so damn quickly (and easily!) is a joy. Naturally, it will be worn for work after the event as it's smart enough for teaching in as well as the wedding. And for any other weddings I may have that I can get away with wearing it to!
It's not an exact match colourwise for the bridal dresses (the bridesmaids are wearing Royal/Cadbury purple) but it's the right colour family. Which is nice (and appropriate)!

- I should be a bit more prolific on this 'ere lj. I am not sure what for the love of Mr Spock! I'm going to talk about but there will be *something*! And I promise not to fall off the planet - again! famous last words!

- So - how are yous guys?

Okay - I admit it - I can be a bit of a technophobe from time to time. Defintely not an early adopter;)
Having said that - if you can prove to me that something does the job and does it well then you have a convert.

My family upgraded our TV to a 40" behemoth - HD ready and all that just before Christmas. All very nice.... until today when the Sky box was upgraded to a HD box.

HOLY COW!

As a test - I switched over to NCIS FX HD channel and... the improvement in picture quality is considerable, the clarity would make you weep...

So - guess who'll be watching S5 Who in HD in the Spring then;) Not to mention starting to buy Bluray DVDs...

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Still on the subject of tech that makes me go 'oooOOOOOOooooo' very loudly...

Apple unveil their long awaited 'iPad' tablet

For years I've read (and I ain't kidding about the years thing!) in the Library/book publishing press that e-books would be the next big thing.
Having dealt with them at work - not even 10% of the collection (which is over 250,000 items at my site alone) can be obtained as an e-book at any cost (and let's not discuss that!) I tend to laugh hysterically when anyone claims that e-books are going to be The Next Big Thing.

After looking at that and hearing about Apple's iBooks - I don't think I'll be laughing so hysterically in the future.

There is an awful long way to go but this might be the kick up the backside the publishing industry *needs* to get things moving.

And more to the point? I'd actually like one thank you. I've never said that about any other e-reader to date. So someone is defintely doing something right!

External Hard Drives

What should I look for?

What do I need?

Any advice will be gratefully recieved. Ta!

Am meeting (and going over) the goals for mini_nanowrimo Mainly working on two of my 10_whores fics at the moment. I am hoping to have something to share by month end. Keep bits crossed.

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I has the dread lurgy. Make sure I do not cough over you.

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My modem is officially dead. This can only hasten the transfer from Mithy to Logan. That and telling AOHell exactly what orifice they can shove their 'service' up.

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Daft question to any Apple Mac users (wiccagirl24 I'm looking at yooooou!). AVIs can be played on Macs can't they?

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Anything else I need to be aware of?

Hope all are well and well away from the fires in Calif. Thoughts are with those who are.

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Update on matters discussed previously regarding a new computer. Have decided to go with a Apple Macbook. Vista gives me the heebies (both professionally and personally) and having read this review of Leopard and another just like it. I feel that this might be a Very Good Idea.

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Saw two excellent films over the weekend. In The Shadow Of The Moon (a documentary about the Moon Landings) and Lust, Caution (Se,Jie) (the latest from Ang 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain
I want to talk more about this, but if you have any sense - go see In The Shadow Of The Moon. It is a film of the year for me. Opens in the UK in about a week.
ETA Review and q&a with the director (who's British!)

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I am hoping to have a story or two up soon. Alas not the 'Ducky-was-a-nude-model' story (which I still have to finish) but something else, that involves Ducky. Cos!

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Going back to the movies Two years after Brokeback Mountain where are the gay movies? an interesting and thoughtful article about one trend Hollywood has missed by a country mile. As seen with nialla42

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Like I didn't have enough reasons to love David McCallum... wiccagirl24 noted some of the information that crops up in his and Brian Dietzen's (Jimmy Palmer) commentary for the S4 episode 'Skeletons' (which I missed, cos I was in Cardiff, watching Goldfinger among other things!)
In it, it's noted that David researches everything and cites Wikipedia as one of his sources.
Leaving aside the whole 'wouldn't trust wikipedia as far as I could throw it!' thing.... I got nuthin' but undying love for the man!

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Anything else I need to know about?

I'm writing this on the 'other' pc in the house, lest my computer, takes offence and never speaks to me ever AGAIN!!!

So, the time has come for me to consider buying a new computer.  My beloved laptop, Mithy, is starting to show his age.  He'll be five next year (which is old for a laptop)  The 'mind' is there, but the 'body' is starting to go.  For example:
- The screen will not sit up on it's own breakfast (I have to brace a cushion between my knees as support)

- The lock is broken on it (I have to use a hair grip to open the clamshell)

-The keyboard is starting to fall apart.  The 'J' and 'K' keys are held together with tape (but still work) and the 'B' key is starting to play up (understandably - not a good look!)

- I cannot run snazzy things like iPods off it. 

This is not a good look.  I want to be able to take my computer downstairs and work on stories and stuff and be sociable with the rest of the family (that I will end up writing smut in the same room as the family is neither here nor there!).  So...  before Mithy decides to make the decision for me...  I want to buy a new computer.

Things It Needs To Do:

• Run a 'compatitble' word processor programme to Word
• Run Olympus Master Software for Ridley (my camera)
• Run AOL
• Run Firefox
• Run iTunes
  
• Play DVDs on it (R2 - everything else, the DVD player can handle)
  
• Be (relatively) lightweight and easy to lug around
• Be tough enough to withstand me.   iPods have failed at this in the past.  
  

Other stuff like have USB 2.0 is a no brainer (I might not know the first thing about computers - but I know they come as standard now)
So... Questions for the Hive Mind:

- Is Vista really the Spawn of the Devil?

- Is a Mac worth saving the extra money for?   I've done my homework regarding most of the above on Macs (apart from the 'tough enough' one) and in nearly all (the Olympus software I have to double check) catergories, the answer is 'yes'.  Wireless is another matter!

- How easy it to go over to wireless?  I ain't stoopid when it comes to computers (I am a librarian, you know!) but it looks... hinky!

- How easy is it to transfer all the data from one computer to another?

- Anything else I need to know?

So...  help?!

- splash_the_cat is running a poll about starting up a LJ newsletter for SG-1. You can find the relevant post here. Please go along and express an opinion. Personally I think this is a great idea as it would advertise stories that I might not read because I don’t know that they are out there.
Then again, I’d have to put up with the Jack/Sam ‘tuw luv’ BS. Ah well, into every life a little rain and all that;)

- nialla42 has some interesting meta about ‘Torchwood’ on her LJ. Which can be read
here Not much in the way of spoilers, if at all. Even so, if you can read it and not jump to any slashy conclusions; you have my admiration!

- Via AICN’s Moriarty, some very interesting thoughts on the so-called next wave of DVD. From the New York Times (registration is needed, but if you’re interested; it’s worth it!) it discusses without hype what’s what.
Interesting to finally read that the new players *will* be backwards compatible i.e. that they’ll play ‘normal’ DVDs – phew! I have pushing 220 of the buggers - I cannot afford to replace 'em all!. On the downside, you’re going to need a bigass new player, which is the same size as a oldskool VCR and an equally huge HDTV to see any difference to the quality we get now.
Let’s not forget the whole HD/Blu Ray debacle – can you say VHS v Betamax?

On the ‘new tech’ theme – how’s this for a vote for common sense. The BPI will not go chasing after folks who rip CDs they own onto their MP3 players in the UK. That’s what I thought too… The BBC has more here

- The Football World Cup starts this weekend: Once I have written the review for the excellent ‘Once in a Lifetime’, a documentary about the New York Cosmos soccer team; this lj will become a football free zone.
No, I don’t think Ireland qualified this time around… does it show?
(Note - my father's family are Irish, ergo just to be awkward - I support Ireland!)

- Written about >2500 words since last Friday. Which is a very good thing; hoping to get something finished soon. The stories are called ‘Tea in Space’ and ‘Or would you prefer ferrets?’ Doctor Who and SG-1 respectively. There is a logic behind both titles, trust me on this.

- Can someone explain to me how I lost 2lbs in body weight between Friday and Tuesday? Not that I’m complaining, but I didn’t do anything to deserve it! Hell, ate like there was no tomorrow on Saturday (Lemon chicken and egg fried rice for dinner... mmmmmm;)) Hadn’t been swimming as the ebil cold decided that it liked my chest better than my nose – just shaking it now but…

- Is it wrong to want to watch ‘Stargate: Atlantis’ for the shallow reason of lusting over Mitch Pileggi? More commonly known as Assistant Director Walter Skinner from the ‘X-files’? We’re talking serious ‘guh’ territory here; in both shows. Who knew that flight suits could be so damn sexy? Though the shirt/tie/glasses combos from ‘X-Files’ will always win out.

- Am adding X-Files on DVD to the current list of TV obsessions. Currently on S2; waiting for the right time to re-watch ‘Fresh Bones’. This is the military voodoo one; which scared me silly when I first watched it at Uni all those years ago! Watching something similar in ‘Kill Bill pt 2’ was so enjoyable!;)
Again with the dirtybadwrong: the storymuse’s idea that Mulder should give Skinner a blowjob after his announcement about re-opening the X-files in ‘Duane Barry’. Bad muse – no biscuit!

My netflix clone has been sending me my top choices for a change, which is unnerving. Waiting for the other shoe to drop here… I think I can hear it clattering as we speak;)

Right – I have a general and an archaeologist to get drunk and try to have sex. Oh if only I could do that in RL!:D

I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FRAKKING CAT!!!

Proof positive that they are truly spawn of the Goa'uld!

*Ahem!*

The family cat, Thomas, slayer of mice and other squeaky things decided to come and sit with me while I was answering a mail earlier.

'Cept - the laptop was in the way, so he tried to sit on the laptop. As I shooed him away, he dislodged both the J and the K keys!

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

As you can see, the keys are still working... and I hope that they will stay that way but when you consider that my name (BecKy) has a K in it and characters from at least two of the shows I'm interested in have either J or K in their names (Jack, Dr Jackson, Captain Jack...)you can see the problem!

Sigh... going to see if I can jury rig a solution with some tape... I bet Macgyver never had problems like this!

ETA - I've used some cellotape to cover the J & K keys to keep them in place and have ended up covering the following too...
The space bar, the N,M,U,I,\,8,9 and , keys! And the cat still breathes... bloody animal! :-X