Hey, I just joined here. My name's Sinead and I'm from England. I've always loved dogs, I don't have a doggy now, but I used to have a male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Pepper, here's a pic of him.

Well, Reuters has the story out already, so there's no longer any reason for me to keep mum. Yes, the rumors you've been seeing all over the web the last few days are true. Another huge piece has fallen into place for the HBO pilot of A GAME OF THRONES -- we have signed Sean Bean to play the part of Lord Eddard Stark.

For the movie fans out there, Sean Bean needs no introduction. I mean, what the hell, he was Boromir and he was Sharpe, he was terrific in both roles, and in a hundred other parts besides. I can't imagine a better Ned. The deal took some doing, so my fingers have been crossed for a month now (and boy, that made it hard to type), but now it's done, and I'm thrilled.



That's only part of the exciting news, however. Casting has been proceeding apace these past six weeks or so -- in New York and LA, London and Dublin, most recently in Australia. David and Dan and director Tom McCarthy have been looking all over the world for the right actors, and now they've filled some key roles as well.

For King Robert I Baratheon, we've got Mark Addy, a veteran British actor of stage and screen that many of you may remember from his fine turn in A KNIGHT'S TALE.



The roles of Joffrey Baratheon, the crown prince, and Viserys Targaryen, the beggar king, have also been filled... by Jack Gleeson and Harry Lloyd, respectively. Sorry, I haven't been able to find pictures of them on the internet yet, though I'm sure they are out there somewhere. I've seen readings by both Gleeson and Lloyd, and both should be terrific.

And last, but certainly not least, the role of the bastard Jon Snow will be played by a young actor named Kit Harington. You probably haven't heard of him yet... but you will, we're confident. David and Dan can't say enough about his talent and intensity.



Of course, there's a lot more roles still to fill, including some very crucial ones like the Lannister twins, the Stark children, and Daenerys Targaryen, so the search will continue for awhile. But we've begun, and so far I couldn't be happier. October is right around the corner.

Current Mood: excited

One of the best pieces I've ever read about music crit:

The Neil Kulkarni guide to being a record-reviewer

Includes:

"The self-abasing degrading shame of being a critic doesn’t paralyse, it frees you up to write what the fuck you want[...]"

and his point 4, which I'm not going to copy here, but will make you go and read yourself. It's worth it.

And I’m absolutely pooped. The trip was grand, the signing was grand, the after-shopping was grand, and the road trip there and back was also grand, if warm (the Impala doesn’t have AC). But now I’m home, and I didn’t take any pictures or anything, which is just as well because I’m cooking supper and unpacking and generally doing the kinds of things that are multitask enough without adding “typing coherent thoughts” into that mix.

But Richelle took pictures and posted a write-up. And I know that Mark took pictures too, but he hasn’t posted them yet, so I can’t leech off his productivity.

Anyway. That’s all I’ve got for now. Supper is calling and so is a nice hot bath, but I don’t think I’ll combine the two. Yes. Well. I hope you’ve all had a weekend as packed with silliness, camaraderie, and martinis as I did.

yuki_onna reviews Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (with spoilers).

This entry was originally posted at http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/1024398.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Short version: Joss Whedon, just quit FOX already, they're no good for you, baby.

Slightly longer version: ( I don't think the post spoils anything, but just in case, have a spoiler cut. )

grimorie comments on the unaired pilot and Epitaph One (spoilers for both).

Comments may contain spoilers.

Ba(n)d andy, courtesy of grimorie: Unaired pilot and Epitaph One

This entry was originally posted at http://coffeeandink.dreamwidth.org/1024094.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

abandoned moscow, 2002, monochrome film shots.

( ::: take a walk ::: )

So Michael Jackson gets non-stop tributes all over LJ and everywhere else, but Walter Cronkite passes with nary a backwards glance?

Priorities, people. Sheesh.

1. An attractive sign at the Happy Sparrow Café on Belmont Street.
2. David & Carlo (it's a long story...)
3. A board game from 1940 based on a radio quiz show--I bought it for $1.75 at an estate sale.
4. A souvenir of the Trojan nuclear power plant in in Oregon that operated from 1975 to 1992. In 2006 the cooling tower was dynamited. I received a souvenir "pellet" like this when I visited Trojan with a school group when I was a kid. I don't have it any more...I saw this one at an estate sale.

I've received my preliminary schedule from Anticipation, next month's Montreal worldcon.

Here's what it looks like at the moment:

THURSDAY AUG 6
12:30 pm panel: Werewolves of Brigadoon

FRIDAY AUG 7
3:30 pm panel: Writing a Series

SUNDAY AUG 9
12:30 pm panel: Writing for a Living
4:00 pm autographing

MONDAY AUG 10
3:00 pm reading

Aside from these "official" appearances, of course, I will also be doing the usual worldcon stuff -- hanging around the hotel bar, hitting the parties at night, attending the Hugo Awards ceremony and the Hugo Losers Party, trying some of this fabled Montreal cuisine. I expect the Brotherhood Without Banners will be throwing one or two of their fabled bashes, and I'll be at those as well.

See you all in Montreal!

Current Mood: cheerful

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011449.html

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, still clinging to office after admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released Sunday that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a more humble and effective leader.

[T]his past week's revelations of yet another politician's infidelity offered one aspect worthy of comment (or so it seems to me). That is the use of the Bible as a means for reflecting on one's personal situation in life.

There is a long history of just such usage. The pilgrim fathers who came to America read their situation into the Bible (or the Bible into their situation) with the result that white pilgrims were seen as fulfilling the role of the Israelites in this, the Promised Land, while native Americans were cast in the role of Canaanites. Thus generations of Joshuas arose feeling Biblically justified in the genocide of America's native population. Some of that Biblical reading continues to echo in the popular imagination to this day. It was bad theology in the 17th century and it is bad theology today. Stated in a fundamental way: you are not a Bible character. [...]

The problem with such use of Biblical imagination is that it simply has no controlling story. Nothing tells us which story to use other than our own imagination (which is generally a deluded part of our mind). A governor gets to play King David, and, surprise, he should be forgiven and not resign his office. A group of white settlers get to play conquering Israelites and feel no compunction about murdering men, women and children. A priest, likely in need of therapy, plays the role of Jonah before a crowd who has no idea they are in a play. The gospel is not preached--souls are not saved--the Bible is simply brought into ridicule.

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011448.html

I discovered her weblog Eggbeater while looking up fruit/sugar/thickener ratios for summer fruit pies, and was instantly seduced by her mixture of lyricism and technical chops. Why Do Cakes Sink? is more of the same. Secret Recipes and Pastry Chef Am I are about the life of a chef, what kind of chef she wants to be, and a couple of dozen related issues. Pierre Herme Macarons, Fall 2006 reads like a cross between erotica and an attempt to describe an ineffable religious experience. Since the comment thread for that entry is full of people saying "Yes! That's it exactly!", I think she must have gotten it right.

(Note: there's an index to her online recipes here. I'm going to try the Melon Gazpacho immediately.)

Just a shameless shill for those who don't know. I have a CafePress site featuring all sorts of Nightrunner-themed goodies, including tee shirts, totes and mugs-- at http://www.cafepress.com/flewelling

An interesting memoir of life as a Chinese girl growing up in California, very much concentrating on the Chinese family background and history, including untold stories, the nearness of myth and of symbolism, the alienness of the Californian environment (the "ghosts" of the title are non-Chinese people). A good read, also mercifully short.

We saw this on the way back from the beach yesterday. I was shocked! Shocked, I say!

( Click here )

Current Mood: amused

One good thing about going through my archived photos is that I've come across some gems, like these four shots of the area of St. Clair West and Avenue Road that I took last fall.

Waiting for the St. Clair Streetcar
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

Deer Park United Church, 129 St. Clair Avenue West
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

112 St. Clair West in 2008
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

Catching the 5 Avenue Road Bus
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

I thought I'd post a picture of my new puppy Chester...he's a boykin spaniel. He's being trained as a therapy dog. He's a handful but I love him so much.





I also wanted to remind everyone of my scholarship entry...you can vote every day until the middle of August! Thanks so much guys!

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) Brickfish

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

It is ten years today since Big Finish released the first of its Doctor Who audio plays, The Sirens of Time by Nicholas Briggs, which brought together Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy to defend Gallifrey against the eponymous Sirens. Since then, the main sequence of audio plays featuring the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors has reached a tally of 122 (mostly four episodes of 25-30 minutes in length); there has been a separate sequence of Eighth Doctor plays (three sets of eight two-part episodes); the first four Doctors have been brought back through the Companion Chronicles (20 so far); and there are dozens of other out-of sequence plays featuring the Doctor and spinoffs which don't. (Big Finish's own website is sometimes a bit tricky to navigate: the best listing of the complete set of stories in on Wikipedia.) By some counts, Planet of the Dead is the 200th televised Doctor Who story; Big Finish hasn't quite caught up with that total yet, but will do so in the next year or so.

With all of that material out there, Who fans who have not yet got into it may be intimidated out of making the attempt. I would strongly recommend making the experiment. But before getting into particular recommendations, it is worth considering the environment where you can listen. I happen to have a commute of a bit over an hour from home to work every day, broken into three unequal segments (home -> Leuven, Leuven -> Brussels, Brussels -> office). Having episodes of half an hour or so fits this rather well; I can switch off as the closing title music rolls, and ponder what may happen next. I also find that listening while I am exercising - variously at the gym, cycling, or on the Wii (with the TV's volume turned down) - works for me. If you don't have a space in your day of half an hour when you can switch your brain over to largely aural stimuli, however, there may not be much point in trying the Big Finish audios.

The original actors (Davison, C Baker, McCoy, McGann) usually seem to enjoy reprising their roles; likewise Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Nicola Bryant as Peri (most of her audio plays are actually with Davison rather than Baker), and the less frequently used Bonnie Langford as Mel and Mark Strickson as Turlough. Janet Fielding has returned once as Tegan but apparently will do so again for three plays next year. (I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of Sophie Aldred's acting as Ace; Adric has returned for one play as well, but not as we knew him.) Big Finish have also brought in completely new actors to play regular roles as companions. The best of these as an actor has been Maggie Stables as Professor Evelyn Smythe, who has been a super foil to Colin Baker's Doctor. I have also particularly enjoyed Caroline Morris as Egyptian princess Erimem, travelling with Five and Peri, and India Fisher as Edwardian rich girl Charlotte Pollard, travelling first with the Eighth Doctor and now, for reasons which have not been made entirely clear, with the Sixth. One crucial figure in all of this is Lisa Bowerman, who has only done a couple of Doctor Who audios as Bernice Summerfield (originally a Seventh Doctor companion from the Virgin New Adventures) but whose independent series as Benny launched the Big Finish colonisation of the audio corner of the expanded Whoniverse.

My favourites, then, of the Big Finish output are as follows:

( Plays with the Doctor as portrayed by Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann - and one surprising addition )

( Plays with the Doctor but not featuring any of the standard leads )

( Whoniverse plays without the Doctor )

I hope this rather lengthy but very incomplete survey will encourage a few more people to try the Big Finish experience!