User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-12-08 17:39
	Subject:	two nifty things! and a yikes.
	Security:	Public

Peter Jackson is considering doing Temeraire as a miniseries. I've already started to do designs. I've had Weta Workshop do a lot of work on designing the characters... the dragons... I've been working with Gus Hunter on the designs. We're well underway creating the visual look.

And the next one I'm just going to swipe in toto from tzikeh, because she put it so well:

STORY TIME

In Montana, a rabbi is an unusual sight. So when a Hasidic one walked into the State Capitol last December, with his long beard, black hat and long black coat, a police officer grabbed his bomb-sniffing German shepherd and went to ask the exotic visitor a few questions.

Sounds ominous, right? Stereotypical small-minded cop with big dog approaches stereotypical out-of-place dude in religious attire--why would I want to add to your GRAR levels by posting this?

I'm going to link you with one of the last sentences in the article: So all is well in the Jewish community here because the Hasidic rabbi is helping the Montana cop speak Hebrew to his dog.

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-12-04 22:59
	Subject:	White Collar - Fall Season Finale (Spoilers)
	Security:	Public

Did you see where I said "spoilers" above?

Spoilers (in comments)

( I'll say it again...spoilers )

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-12-04 15:24
	Subject:	Recs Page update...
	Security:	Public

A quick update of my multi-fandom recs page (14 HP stories, 1 Star Trek-Reboot, 1 True Blood, 1 White Collar) can be found here at 'Recs Recs Recs: a work-in-progress'

I've made thirty or so random URL changes, as I always do (this time concentrating on alternate links for stories that had been hosted on geocities), but if you see a broken link and know where that fic has been re-housed, please let me know!

(Note: The next recs updates will be the massive holiday fest ones, which I won't be posting until after the author reveals.)

This entry was originally posted at http://bethbethbeth.dreamwidth.org/519565.html. | read comments at Dreamwidth. | How to use OpenID

	User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-12-04 11:24
	Subject:	Geoff linked me to this with the comment "Motorola achieves spectacular gender fail"
	Security:	Public

An AppleInsider article says, Motorola has continued its assault on the iPhone with a new commercial that indirectly compares Apple's handset to a "tiara-wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen."

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	User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-12-03 17:10
	Subject:	medical musings
	Security:	Public

Geoff and I got swine flu vaccinations the other day. And y'know, I bitch sometimes about the Quebec medicare system (though I don't think there's much wrong with it that a truckload of money wouldn't fix), but watching them efficiently shepherd hundreds of people through an assembly-line process (register, fill out brief health questionnaire, speak briefly to a nurse, get the shot, wait fifteen minutes in case of a reaction) made me feel really good about the system. And the part where it was free is also really nice. I had to go down to the vaccination site that morning to pick us up tickets for a specific time, and then the whole shebang took about an hour.

I've never had a reaction to a flu shot before, but this time my left shoulder has been sore enough that it's still painful to sleep on my left side two days later, and I developed a headache that night that lasted through half the next day, though that may not have been related. It's still worth it, though! Now if only I could get a seasonal flu shot as well. See above re: truckload of money.

And some of you know that my stepson has a rare genetic disorder (it appears in 1 to 4 out of every 100,000 people, and also in a House episode). It's recessive, so we know he got a bad gene from each of his parents. The results of the genetic test are finally in, formally confirming the diagnosis -- not that there was any doubt -- and also indicating that not only do both his parents have the same allele although there are hundreds of possibilities, they both have one that is far more common in Asian populations than in white ones. That that wound up in a Dane and an Eastern European Jew with some Irish thrown in is just more evidence of how wonderfully, wildly mixed up all human populations are.

I've gotten to the gym for the last several days, and it's amazing -- and yet I know perfectly well -- how much better I feel when I'm exercising. I sleep better, I feel better... Wow. On that subject, the latest issue of Nutrition Action had an article saying that people who sit all day have higher mortality rates even if they exercise; the mere fact of sitting like a lump is bad for you, it seems. That plus all the other ways in which I feel better when I move has made me think about getting a treadmill and a laptop shelf for it, and walking while I do my daily email/journals checks. I can't find more time to "go work out" than I already take; indeed, often I fail to go to the gym because I can't spare the time. But if I could be walking -- not getting a real cardio workout, because then there would have to be stretching and showering and changing clothes and we're back to not having the time, just moving my body -- during time I spend anyway, that would be great. It could be anywhere from a half hour to two hours or more each day! The problem is that I don't know where I'd put a treadmill. I might be able to fit it into my office, which would be ideal, but Geoff's and my offices are adjacent with open space between them, and I doubt he would be able to deal with the noise of a treadmill while he's trying to work. The other option is the basement, but that requires clearing out a load of crap that dates to the Jurassic Era, and Geoff is something of a packrat and doesn't generally want to unload it. And there might not be space even if we did. It's definitely not going in the living room. So, hm...

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	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-12-03 09:03
	Subject:
	Security:	Public

With thanks to my "close and personal [twitter] friend," Stephen Fry, for the link:

West Side Story for the internet age

This entry was originally posted at http://bethbethbeth.dreamwidth.org/519363.html. | read comments at Dreamwidth. | How to use OpenID

	User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-11-27 16:13
	Subject:	Barbara Hambly short stories available direct
	Security:	Public

seen in cofax's linkspam roundup: Barbara Hambly is selling short stories connected to her older (Del Rey) fantasy series, direct from her website for $5 a pop. There are two Benjamin January stories, one Joanna Sheraton and Antryg Windrose, and one, um, wacky mashup. Buy them here! I will soon, but right now I have to go make the cranberry sauce (with orange zest, fresh ginger, cinnamon, and clove. Mmmmmmmmmmmm).

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	User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-11-27 11:45
	Subject:	thanks-giving
	Security:	Public

I spent yesterday driving to Massachusetts, along with Geoff and a friend; my folks are doing Thanksgiving on Saturday, because it fits everyone's schedules better. So actual turkey day was entirely sans turkey, but turkey prep has begun! (We just came back from going to pick it up at a local farm.)

I'm thankful for my friends, my health, my financial security, and my physical comfort. I'm thankful for modern medicine, which has kept my father (among others) alive, sustained him, and enabled him to reach this day. I'm thankful for fandom, for fannish friends, for fannish projects, for fannish squee and porn and gumption and collaborative effort. I'm thankful for my life, and the communities and the world I live it in.

I hope those of you who celebrated yesterday are still comfortably curled up around your distended bellies. (Unless you were crazed enough to go shopping today, in which case I hope you got whatever it was you were willing to brave the maddened crowds for. Better you than me.) If you're not the celebrating-U.S.-Thanksgiving type, I hope you're having a wonderful weekend of your own!

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	User:	the_shoshanna
	Date:	2009-11-25 16:35
	Subject:	happy birthday to ellen_fremedon!
	Security:	Public

Here's hoping it's squeeful, skiffyful, and generally awesome!

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