As you can see, I still post the odd open entry but most of my stuff is friends only. Join me if you want to read everything. If you need more information before taking that important step towards a friending commitment you can always take look at my Profile page. You'll probably want to scream "AARGH, too much information" and run away afterwards. :D

Stop Our Shame

No love at all,

Me.

I know that, by the rules of the TV Addict Guide, I should be watching Torchwood but I can't really bring myself to care. Not even for John Barrowman or Eve Myles. Instead, I've entirely dedicated my fangirl time to randomly shout OMG!MOCK THE WEEK IS BAAAACK! (and YESSSS, FRANKIE HAS HIS BEARD ON! XD) and watching backstage stuff for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Movie.

I wonder why, after how much I hated the book, I am so excited about the film. Apart from the actors (Gambon? Maggie Smith? Alan Rickman? Yes, please!), I believe it's because it brings back the thrill and anticipation of my first years in the fandom (in Fandom in general because it was the first one I was involved in). I've also to admit that, even though looking coldly at it Harry Potter generally sucks, I'm still fascinated by the world and the characters, much as a child would. It's the costumes, the sets, the magic... like Disneyland but less cheap and prefabricated. Hope I can make it to a cinema where the film plays in the original version on Wednesday. Now that I think of it, I seem to remember the last time I went to movies it was to see The Order of the Phoenix. How fitting.

BTW, have you seen the promotional trailer for the new adaptation of Emma? Jonny Lee Miller is completely un-Knightley-esque (and rather sad, poor guy) but the rest looks nice (pretty please? We need good costume dramas, BBC! Especially ones with Tamsin Greig on them).

Aw, I miss my 115 icons. LJ's Free accounts suck. :(

Just 10 minutes of free internet at our rather nice town's library left, enough to say "hi! I just read back 2 weeks of f-list entries and although my head is about to explode I'm happy to see you all seem to be doing fine"

*breaths*

I'm ok, bit frustrated and still computer-less, but holding up.

Looked up English Exam result: got 98%. Nice to see my subconscious mind still knows how to write and has a hold on my cognitive processes because I can't remember anything I did that day, apart from meeting C. Also, lol at the examiners in the oral & writing tests for giving me full marks despite the sillyness, the fanfic, the Spain bashing and the Scotland love.

In the computer front, as I thought, motherboard is dead. Will call later to give permission to repair it, even if it will cost 160€ which I will have to pay by credit from my card, which is something I never do because I'd rather starve than face debt. But I must think of Mock the Week (FRANKIE!) in less than 2 weeks and my rather bad Aubrey/Maturin deprivation. If I had not had such a history of disaster with my clumsy fingers of doom I'd probably try and replace the bitch and reinstall Windows myself (my geek levels reached "Critical" and, yes, I know how to do it) but I've proven in several occasions that my hands can't be trusted with delicate matters beyond baking or knitting.

So that's it. Oh, no, wait. Also wanted to say than I'm available for meeting people again, so, if you want to have a tea and a chat, just give me a ring or drop me a line.

If all goes well I'll be back soon. In the meantime: be good!

Today is one of those days in which I adore Google:



Because, yes, everyone should know Mary Cassatt.

Just saw Glee. I'd watch anything remotely related to musicals but this time I liked what I saw. Very simplistic and somewhat silly but, hey, All the Small Things had that too and I swallowed it whole. Have been seriously considering joining a choir, actually. I'm not such a good singer but I can hit a few notes and have a good ear which is all that is required. I really love singing and it shouldn't be so hard to find a place now everyone is doing it. It'd certainly be a good incentive to go out more.

Talking about things I love, how amazing is Ashes to Ashes? It makes me cry every week and, even though I miss a bit of the tackiness and frivolity of the first series, well, we are really talking seriously brilliant scripts, now. And the music? Feels as if I had been hit with a nostalgia stick every episode I see.

Started listening to HMS Surprise, yesterday. I'm having a lot of fun with the audiobooks. I love Patrick Tull with all my heart, his voice is my Jack Aubrey. Not so much with Stephen, though. The Stephen in my head sounds more ironic, not so serious and a bit younger. Still, it's a pleasure to fall asleep with someone reading some good Aubrey/Maturin to you.

Was dead scared about the English Test of doom but, fortunately, C. is taking it the same day as me so I won't feel so lost, after all.

And now I'm going to start reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I know what you are all thinking: "Don't do it! You are an Austen purist, you'll hate it!". Probably right but I can't help it, zombies are my one weakness.

Edit: Almost forgot! Have you heard the news? Colin Firth is coming to Barcelona for the shooting of a movie adaptation of Orwell's Catalonia. We might meet Mr. Darcy!

I'm so angry with the new Holmes film. Sorry, Robert Downey Jr, I know I said I would never hate you whatever you did but this is too much. I've been known to accept a few bending of the rules with the Sherlockian canon: I love Young Sherlock Holmes and the old movies; I own more than a couple of Holmes novels based on Arthur Conan Doyle's work but written by other authors (yeah, more or less published fanfic from before the internet existed. Isn't that cool?). But this? This has gone too far. With the action filled scenes and teh pretty, the nakedness, the Robert-you-are-half-a-metre-too-short-for-the-part and the over acted dialogue scenes. Has no one at Hollywood heard of the books, even remotely, or listened to Clive Merrison's audios or watched Jeremy Brett's series? I'm sure they haven't. THAT'S WHY THEY FAIL SO HARD.

Gosh, I could scream.

After the rant, if you'll excuse me, I fell asleep last night and missed a) chat with friend living abroad (ooops, was her birthday, too) and b) Ashes to Ashes (gasp! OMG!) so now I need to catch up.

One last thing before I go. Please tell me how to get this song/video out of my head, I beg you! I love Kids in the Hall but I can't live like this, watching it over and over, singing it constantly, giggling every time someone is called David -they all have their own hands but they come from different mums- I'm in hell and it's their fault:



Why did they have to be so funny? I even had to put it as a ringtone on my phone (as a substitute of the Peter Cushing lives in Whitstable QI hit). Bastards...

Well, zauberer_sirin you were absolutely right, Aubrey/Maturin can cheer up the blackest souls, certainly did with mine. Especially if it's accompanied by the lovely bunch at mandc_watch. Here I was, thinking the AOS fandom had disappeared from the face of the internet. Fortunately it is not so.

*waves at new friends*

*is absurdly happy*

In fact, I'm considerably contented at the amount of nice slash potential in fandom, these days. There's the new possibilities arisen from the Star Trek movie (sadly, not much Kirk/Spock which has always been my main TOS ship, and always will be, but go and take a look at the new kirk_mccoy community in all its glory). There's also the ever blooming Marlin/Arthur (I'm seriously obsessed with this one, I tell you) and new hints at a Harry/Draco revival as the Potter movie approaches.

Off to supper, now, and then tiramisu. Mmmmm...

Today is Sant Jordi! Go out, buy books and roses for your loved ones and be as cool as we Catalans for one day.

Going to try to go to Barcelona, now. Wish me luck!

I can't tell you how brilliant, beautiful and funny the last episode of Free Agents was and how much I squeed and cried but I can show you this thing I was compelled to make:



Do you feel a Free Agents picspam coming? I do.

Also, do you know who would kill for this coat (and all her wardrobe, really)?


ME!

Fuck, I hope they do a second series...

( You guessed it! It's Prince Prat's bathtime! )

Anyway, it took me a few hours but drawing is one of those things that gives me pleasure without any pressure because, even though I enjoy it, I know I'll never be good at it. In fact, even in its ugliness, I have grown so fond of it I might even post it around. And probably draw Arthur, too.

Let's see.

*ducks to avoid rotten fruit*

*sticks tongue*

P.S. Yes, this silliness might have something to do with the fact that I went outside, yesterday. Even took some pictures. I will post them later if I'm not too busy drawing blond princes.

Got computer to work after two worrying and seemingly fatal strokes. I should start looking for a place where they can replace my hard drive but I have had so many bad experiences with computer technicians I honestly would prefer to learn to do it myself or something. Because I don't trust those guys and because they are unnecessarily expensive. And I'm poor.

Still, I will try and use the poor little machine less, now, to prolong its life as much as I can. It is only two years old, it really shouldn't be troubling me this much.

In case you are wondering, no, I didn't resist the temptation of watching this week's QI. ( It was epic )

Also, the show isn't called Quite Interesting for nothing. I was introduced to the fascinating world of the Wilhelm scream:

Haha. Brilliant!

Trying to figure out what to do with my green balls of doom yarn has brought some amusing consequences. ( The Fail Mittens I'm currently frogging are a good example )
LOL. They are not only tremendously wrong in size and shape (OMGZ THUMB!) but also an utter colour fail. I needed to double the yarn weight because all the acrylic yarns in this frigging country are for crocheters and therefore too thin to be knitted properly so I decided to combine both the Green Yarn of Doom and a small ball of another ultra light acrylic yarn I had lying around. It hurts the eyes but I had fun doing it. I might even try and redo it with a little less thumb powa' and doubling the green thingie only.

Also finished my little green bag (although I'm still making the i-cord strap WITHOUT DPNS. Ouch.) and my first felted beads!
( Pictures under here + the yummy falafel I made last week. NOM NOM NOM )

( A poll about Sim!Merlin's looks )

If you excuse me, now, I'm going to go and sulk about the infinite WRONGNESS of the Spanish LoM* and the rather astonishing position of most of the fans who actually prefer it to Ashes to Ashes. *facepalm* It was such a nice fandom at first and now everyone has turned into a hyena, tearing each other apart without never even stepping down from their High Horses of Righteousness. If I ever muster enough courage to sell my dvds (I really could do with the money) LoM will the first thing to go. Because it's tainted for me and not fun anymore.

Slightly unrelated but... I thank the Gods Lark Rise to Candleford exists. Not even Being Human and its kick ass finale could make me so happy as this little period family show does. Especially now that Laura seems to be finally growing up, the Pratts have bigger roles and Brendan Coyle has gained a little bit of weight again.

*Yes, my tv has been turned off since the day the trailer was released (I was already boycotting Telecinco and Antena 3 for being a bunch of Spanish nationalist bullies - they are actually campaigning against Catalan- and openly supporting bullfighting so it didn't make much of a difference).

I still have a few comments to answer but before that and in case you haven't seen it... A SNOG!

If you are planning to watch the F series of QI: LOOK AWAY! If you don't, well, I'm sure you will after seeing this.

Meanwhile I'm still frustrated for not being able to buy proper, beautiful yarns for all the projects I want to start while desperately trying to find a pattern which would somehow embellish the nicely coloured but rather stiff six balls of green acrylic yarn mum bought me for Christmas (good intentions but, kids, never buy yarn if you don't know much about it). I had to discard the bag I had planned for it because it wasn't going well and the result was quite ugly. I'm considering this bolero right now but I'm not sure I want to knit my first shaped clothing pattern with the trickiest, less comfortable yarn in the world, either.

And just to make it all even more random ( Merlin!Sims Preview - you know you want to- Meet the Main Characters )

Hey, f-list, how is your new year going? I'm sorry I didn't come by to wish you a happy 2009 but I've been fighting a bad case of New Year's Blues. Let's give Jon Arbuckle an opportunity to explain my first 12 days of the year:

Or, in case you want a somewhat more detailed account, this is what I've been doing:

- Knit Gabriel's b-day gifts. I made a hat, I did it! Weeeee! I'm perfecting my increases and decreases and learning to make cables, now.

- Avoid the news so I won't hear about what's going on in Gaza. Because it makes me so sad and angry I can't process it.

- Watch the whole HIMYM. 3 seasons and a half in only six days and I still can't decide if I like it or not. Mostly it's a no, because I hate Ted, his stupid story and his twisted morals but then the other characters (i.e. Swarley!) are fun and it has hilarious moments. That's American sitcoms for you, they are rarely perfect and they never seem to find a good balance between comedy and plot, these days.

- Enjoy the extras in my shiny-shiny Especial Edition of Green Wing. OMG. An hour and a half of deleted scenes. Hilarious audio commentaries with cast and crew - Julian Rhind-Tutt told me to get out of the house; Stephen Mangan is a God; Mark Heap said Pippa was her bitch (again); all the girls were in love with Tamsin Greig and the boys were jealous; it was bliss!

- Feast my eyes with The Grinning Man (Alan Davies + Sheridan Smith = YAY!SQUEE!) and QI (Flotsam and Jetsam has gone right into my Top Ten Episodes List).

- Feel very uncomfortable surrounded by my Christmas gifts. We are poor, we shouldn't have bought them at all. Now they are staring at me from under the -imaginary- tree with their shiny wrappings and they menacing tied ribbons.

Oh, yet another thing: lydkami, I found the Christmas card I thought I had sent you, behind the dinning table while cleaning out, today. :S I sincerely hope you didn't notice its absence at all. I guess it fell off the stack when I was putting on the stamps. Silly me! I'm very sorry, dear.

What a long post... SAVE YOURSELVES! I still owe a you a few replies which will come swiftly tomorrow together with the first edition of Sim!Merlin (now with moar naked!Arthur and glamour!Gwen). I've told you, I'm 12. XD

Watching Harry Potter films on tv seems to have become a Christmas tradition, now. The dubbing is terrible (both in Spanish and Catalan) but it's nonetheless fun. Not as much fun as Doctor Who last night, though. Apparently, snow + steampunk + David Morrisey = JOY! Especially when David Tennant and David Morrisey have such an astonishing chemistry going on. There were so many sparkles in my screen that I thought I had forgotten to clean my glasses. But no, it was the sex emanating from those two. Quite nice. It's weird how I seem to be growning fond of Rusty now that his era is coming to an end. I have the feeling I'll miss him (especially if His Royal Terrible Actor Patterson Joseph gets to be Eleven).

Also watched Crooked House, last night. Rather daft ghost stories but still entertaining. And had Julian Rhind-Tutt in a wig, pregnant Daniela Denby-Ashe, and Lee Ingleby whom I adore.

I'll go back to enjoy the wonderful Beatrix Potter's biography Linda Lear wrote read by Lindsay Duncan at BBC7, now, but I'll leave you with some slightly belated Holiday wishes from our favourite Prince and his very loyal and magical boyfriend manservant.

Too much time in my hands, I know.

Bones Festes/ Happy Holidays to you all!

:**

You can't imagine how much I laughed with the Mock the Week Christmas Special. It was hysterical. Frankie was leading the Daleks while they exterminated Dara and Russell just before the latter was sucked into a black Hole in Switzerland; Dara and Russell confessed their love; Hugh almost made Frankie cry; Dara couldn't be arsed to introduce a round; Frankie raped Santa and killed some pandas; Michael McIntyre came into Boris Johnson; Andy Parsons had a disappointing start and I was rolling on the floor during the whole thing.

All hail the comedy Gods.

Also, reeeeeeeally enjoyed the Christmas Qi, although in quite a different way. Was very glad to see the show back on its brilliant tracks after the rather insufficient Children in Need special and loved Alan in a hat, Rob Brydon's cheek and Stephen Fry's naughty bits.

Will probably leave the new Lark Rise to Candleford episode for tomorrow night, although I saw the fist five minutes yesterday and... well, I can only say I have missed it so very much! It's such a feel-good series that I'm sure it'll lift my spirits tomorrow even with the miserably Dickensian Christmas we are having, this year.

Oh, got some more cards, yesterday, too! That'd brighten anyone's day and Mrs Scrooge is no exception. electracine, alioli, sarie_gamgee: you are all too good for words. Thank you! :***

Gee, for my last entry about Colin Morgan's Cat costume I went to look for Cats videos on Youtube and realised how much I shipped Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger back when I discovered the musical, before I even knew what the hell slash and non-sailing ships were.

Their love is so canon!


Also, John Partridge, you are still the sexiest kitty in town. What a voice!

*imagines Partridge singing with John Barrowman*

*faints*

Take a look at the spiffy costume Colin Morgan was wearing for the The Paul O'Grady Show Panto (it was Pinocchio, Merlin Colin was playing The Cat):



How cute. He almost could be on Cats. ( He made some magic, too, just like Mr. Mistoffelees! )
And now look at Jo Brand who, right now, is my favourite fairy person ever:



That was the first Panto I ever saw and I must say it was funny. Also quite enjoyed Sheridan Smith's appearance (I do have a soft spot for all Doctor Who companions who aren't Martha Jones) and the whale.

*In case you are wondering, Els Pastorets is the typical Catalan comical nativity play. We all have done it (I was Garrofa from Pitarra's version for a couple of years before I got breasts and couldn't play a boy anymore).