Went to see The Avengers for the sixth time today, and I had a couple of thoughts during the movie, as one is wont to do when one is reciting the lines along with instead of paying attention. The brain wanders and well, this is what happens.

1. ( Sleight of hands. )


2. ( Smoke & Mirrors, or The Use of Glass Surfaces on The Avengers: A Pictorial Essay. )

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HI. :)

One thing I missed about having brand new Joss dialog lines in my life again was how I have always appreciated it that he usually does NOT assume the audience is stupid.

( Spoilers for superhero movies. )

Anyway. TL;DR, this is me wishing superhero blockbusters would just get smarter already.

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In related Avengers news, here are 3 links that are totally worth the read:

1. From ThinkProgress: With ‘The Avengers,’ Movies are Finally Really Acting Like Comics, and that Means It’s Time to Demand More of Them

And Wired posted two pieces on Joss last week, if you haven't read them, they're both extremely insightful and fun:

2. With The Avengers, Joss Whedon Masters the Marvel Universe

3. Interview: Joss Whedon on Comic Books, Abusing Language and the Joys of Genre

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ICYMI, Avengers Squee Post. People are being awesome in the comments, come join the youth and beauty brigade and all.

[last time I posted here, it was the Avengers trailer. Two months ago. Somehow this feels eerily appropriate now.]

The Avengers opened here a week ago, thanks to it being the 4-day Labor Day holiday [say that 3 times fast], so it turns out I've watched it 4 times already. The excuse was so I could watch it in 2D, regular 3D, IMAX 3D and stuff, but the reality is I fucking loved it so goddamn much once-twice-thrice was NOT ENOUGH, and truth is, I thought I was done but now I'm making plans to see it at least once more. Because yes.

And really, no spoilers here [although there might be in the eventual comments], but it's just that. YOU GUYS. I keep seeing everyone I met here so long ago now squeeing like crazy over on Tumblr and Twitter about how much they loved the movie, and earlier today it dawned on me: PEOPLES. WE HAVE A JOSS-MADE FANDOM IN COMMON AGAIN.

So. I'm opening an Avengers Squee Post here for old times' sake. Call me nostalgic if you will. :)

But feel free to post any and everything about the movie in the comments, be it pictures, videos, gifs, links to reviews, pretties on Tumblr; random commentaries, fic recs, 'shipping choices, ANYTHING GOES.

...And let's just bask in the knowledge that we knew over a decade ago that one day Joss was gonna make something larger than life.

Ready. Set. GO!

New Avengers trailer.

( Embed under the cut for your viewing pleasure. )

I'm ridiculously excited about this movie. I'm also sorta thinking there's no way Joss can fuck it up, but then, you know, I remember Dollhouse existed. Heh.

Also, if Joss kills Evil Johnny Weir, the internets might implode. Well, at least Tumblr will.

Anyway. Discuss amongst yourselves.

And Jeremy Renner's arms are good arms to have.

Random crap:

- Loserville is getting an eleventh season in comic book form, and it's gonna be written by Bryan Q. Miller, who is basically my current favorite comic book writer anyway, so color me Ecstatic Can't-Stop-Grinning fangirl. Plus, he's already said the adorable blonds are still adorable and blonds and happy together, and that's basically all I need from anything Loseville-related, so yeah. HAPPY.

- The Decemberists have a track on The Hunger Games soundtrack called One Engine, it's up on Stereogum, so go have a listen.

- If anyone else is in the mood for Veronica/Logan fic, there is now a ton and a half of links in my previous post. I'm slowly going through it all, but everything I really love is gonna end up in my Pinboard and/or Delicious accounts.

- I went home this past weekend for my father's birthday, and had a blast. His wife threw him a party Friday night [and the cake had our football team's emblem on it, which: BEST CAKE EVER.], then we had a big luncheon at my Grandma's on Saturday, and then we took a trip to the beach to meet my father's BFF and his family for lunch at our faaaaavorite seafood restaurant on Sunday. Plenty goodtimes and good food were had.

- And to make life a little bit better, next week is Carnival, so I'm making the trip back home Thursday night so my family can roadtrip to our favorite beach on Friday to spend 10 whole days there doing absolutely nothing. I'm packing a crap load of movies and books and TV episodes, and I can barely wait.

- I'm also taking the notebook and yay this beautiful world of 3G internet, so I'm gonna try and hopefully keep on this regular updating thing. I even bought myself extra extra icon space as an incentive!

- Oh, and I changed my LJ layout last week. Most half-assed update ever, considering I just resized some artsy crap I made some six months ago, but I quite like how it turned out. So I'm still a hack, albeit a happy one. :)

I said I was gonna write about Hart of Dixie next, but I wanted to do some picspamming along with, and then I got stuck, so here's for something completely different.

Last week a Logan/Veronica fic rec list showed up in my flist, and ever since then, I've been reading tons of Veronica Mars fic. And then today I watched the first 4 episodes again, and will probably keep watching all of S1 [minus the finale], and a few selected episodes of S2.

It's funny, for a while there I got angry whenever I thought about VMars, so much so I spent a few years without having anything to do with it, but now I only have fond memories of omgsway!* and since I ignore S3 ever existed, I also have nothing but a good time on rewatches now. I still think Rob Thomas is the source of all evil, and I still mock KBell a lot, but it has no resentment behind it anymore.

Anyway. Here's the thing -- I never really read much VMars fic. I didn't when I watched it because I was good with that the show gave me, and then I BROKE UP with it ~forever and didn't want anything to do with it... but now I wanna read the fic. [And by fic I mean the Veronica/Logan fic, not interested in much of anything else *g*]. So I found _jems_'s recs, and this comm, which lists fic by topic, and this blog that lists fic by episode... but I was wondering, oh magnanimous flist, if any of you guys would have favorite fics they would like to rec me? I'd be pretty grateful.

[* HOLYCRAP so much people still lists omgsway! as an interest. That might just be my proudest fandom moment. Hee.]

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In other news, I've become one of those people who have an iTouch and an Android smartphone, and a Kindle, and an iPad, and now I'm eyeing some netbook I totally don't need AT ALL, but I waaaaants it so because it's so pretty and it's like a mini-version of my big notebook, except tiny... and I REGRET NOTHING, actually. Yay, consumerism.

:)

So. Nikita.

Another show I started watching back when it premiered, but that I stopped on account of OMZ BOREDOM by episode six. Again, people told me it got better, so a couple of weeks ago I got all caught up [and it involved a Sunday when I watched sixteen episodes in a row and then my brain almost melted. I do NOT recommend this to anyone, BE WARNED].

Anyway.

( Maggie Q. is the prettiest. )

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Did I mention I pretty much watch the entirety of The CW primetime lineup? 'Cause I do.

Except for 90210, 'cause really, even *I* can't deal with Bitch McDrunkface.


[Next: Hart of Dixie. Which is totally my favorite new show. And see what I mean re: The CW?]

Why, hello, flist. This is laughable attempt at going back to journaling number eleventy billion, please do feel free to point and laugh when I fail miserably again.

The plan is, instead of making one really long-winded post talking about everything and nothing, I go with smaller ones, sticking to one or two topics MAX each. Let's see if it works.

First -- I had abandoned The Vampire Diaries waaaay back in S1 when vamp dude who looks 40 years old turned into Angelus the first time. But a couple of my RL friends kept insisting the show got better, so during this past New Year's Eve weekend, I got all caught up.

( And turns out the show did get better. )

I should probably make at least one Caroline icon sometime soon.

Next: Nikita.

You know what’s coming up? October 3rd. Are you doing anything special to mark the one seven year anniversary of Lilly Kane’s murder?

When you see this on your flist, quote Veronica Mars.

Veronica: Oh, I am so sick of not having money. I'd be the best rich person. Seriously. I'd be the perfect combination of frivolous and sensible. Money is so wasted on the wealthy.
1x10 - An Echolls Family Christmas

...

HI.

I've uploaded these five days ago and then kept forgetting to post them whenever I was near a computer and remembering when I was in the shower, or walking down the street, and the night before last, in my dreams. Anyway.

( In which I am ridiculous about cover songs. Again. )

All on my server, so if you please, right/control-click-save-as, comment if you download, and if you have a cover you think I might like, feel free to point me towards it. :)

( Random couple of thoughts about Captain America. )

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Hilarious and extremely to the point review of the movie, from Hey, Don't Judge Me.

...

Dear Joss, if you screw-up The Avengers I'm gonna hunt you down and force you to watch that other Avengers movie with Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman non-stop FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH NO BATHROOM BREAKS.

...

Thor notwithstanding [I kinda thought it sucked], I get the feeling that while DC is trying to make superhero movies, Marvel is just trying to make movies. And that small difference shows in the details, like the art direction choices, and the casting choices, and the not-dumbing-down-the-storyline-for-the-sake-of-a-younger-and-stupider-audience choices.

*picks totally random and completely unrelated icon*

MUSIC!

( Five records I've been listening to non-stop for the past couple of months. )

All files on my server so if you please, right/control-click-save-as, comment if you download, tell me if you like any of these!

*Dusts off LJ, coughs up a bunch*

Hi, everyone! So seablues and I promised each other we'd post on LJ before the weekend was over, so here's an attempt to stop ignoring my journal.

( Random TV thoughts. )

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In other news, I'm bummed Brazil lost the championship match to Russia in the Volleyball World League earlier today, but truth is they played a better game and deserved it.

I also have some music to share with you guys, and I really plan on doing it soon -- as in this week, even. Boo me and call me lame if I don't!

[And I promised wtfbrain an updated Firefox extensions/Greasemonkey scripts list -- I'm working on that too, though it might take a little longer. Still, it's coming soon...ish.]

Time Magazine has an article explaining what's going on with the DDoS attacks to Livejournal, everyone should read it and pass it on, because this is kinda huge -- a cyberattack of this proportion, aimed at opposition political bloggers, that ends up taking down an entire blogging platform -- and pretty unheard of until now.

[And for once the downtime is not actually LJ's fault. I know, CRAZINESS.]

More tech details, and comments from the Russian side of the blogosphere can be found here.

...

In other news, T-Minus 12 hours 'til I see The National playing live at my favorite venue in Rio, OMFZ GO FASTER, DAY.

Wow, two posts in two days, is the world ending?

( Girly music of the sorta-weird variety! )

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Whodathunk Veronica Mars would make the final four, huh.

[And I totes voted for her too, on account of today being VOTE AGAINST BRITISH MEN WITH GIGANTIC DISPROPORTIONATE HEADS THAT CREEP THE FUCK OUT OF ME day.]

(:

I told selfcontained I was gonna write her a guide to Chloe/Oliver. Except just listing the episodes wasn't enough, so here's where I babble for 4 pages about them. Sorry, Bethany. :)

( That Chloe/Oliver show that I watch. )


Er. I 'ship therefore I am?

(:

So. Tower Prep.

Which I watched the entire first season this past weekend, because I've been mildly curious about it since it premiered [teens with special abilities trapped in a creepy school where ~strange~ things happen, I mean, DUH], but I finally took the time to figure out who was involved.

And while yes, it's a show on the Cartoon Network... it turns out that it's from the dude who writes the only Batman I can currently stand, and staffed with dudes who wrote/directed some of the best X-Files episodes EVER. And I have to admit I can't really resist yet another opportunity to play Vancouver Actor Bingo. Going by those facts alone, I was sold.

And then the show delivered a kickass first season filled with a pretty nifty story-arc, some great emotional development for the main and minor characters, amazing continuity and really -- there's an episode about The Odyssey [!!!!] written by Darin Morgan [!!!!!!!!!!!!], which, BTW, was directed by Peter DeLuise. And Michael Shanks guest-stars in it.

[And then he wrote an episode about dreams. SERIOUSLY. This show will have my undying love forever and ever amen just 'cause I'm watching stuff written by Darin Morgan again.]

Anyway. I could talk about the characters, but the profiles at the official site are pretty accurate, without spoiling anything [the Wikipedia page is a disaster in that area], and I'd rather show you guys the PRETTY instead.

( Picspam: Tower Prep - 101 - The New Kid [no spoilers] )


...Did this post come out of nowhere or what?

:)

I've got two invites for AO3 and one for Dreamwidth, anyone interested?

And speaking of which, my current fandom dream come true would be if every fanfic writer ever would just haul their stuff to AO3 and then I could download the stories as either .mobi or .epub to read on my phone or on the iTouch even when I'm nowhere near 3G or wi-fi.

And really, AO3 is the single place where fic is posted that I don't have to use either Readability [I haven't read a single fic on LJ without Readability IN YEARS] or some sort of bookmarklet and/or Greasemonkey/Stylish script [I even made one for ff.net, stupid recent fandoms camping out at The Pit] to make the pages look more reader-friendly on my ridiculously large monitor.

...

In other news, The Decemberists played a streaming live concert yesterday at opbmusic.org, and they've now got audio up on demand for the entire thing, with promises of video coming soon [I don't think they realized how big a web audience they would have yesterday, the site was crashing for hours after the concert ended].

Also, I don't know if everyone is aware, but Sara Watkins -- of Nickel Creek fame -- is playing fiddle and singing background vocals for the band for the entire tour, and it's pretty much the awesomest thing that ever happened, yes.

The Gmail account I use for fandom stuff got hacked, so if you got something from me, well -- it wasn't me. Sorry for that, let's talk about how awesome Olivia Wilde's dress was last night, yes? Yes.

helpbrazil2011 helpbrazil2011 helpbrazil2011

A few cities here in my state have been destroyed by floods. Over 600 people are dead, and that number will certainly rise. If you guys remember what happened to my city last year? This is about a billion times worse.

I've spent some time in one of the cities, I know so many people who have friends and families in the region, so yeah. Help if you can, and please spread the word.