Backtracking continues for now – I thought I’d started a post about two 17th century-related events from July and early August, but I can’t find the wip file now *sadface*. Starting from scratch instead.

Event one (16/7) was a production of Aphra Benn’s ‘The Rover’ at Belvoir Street Theatre in town. A friend (who has all sorts of good ideas for going out places – a recent one was a trip around all the local historic cemeteries) suggested a group booking. And so we went. Synopsis – excellent production, energetic cast who all added something special to the night.

S/O to istia - the Rover was played by Toby Schmitz (Jack Rackham from Black Sails). And a very good job he did too. Lots of cast pics here: https://suzygoessee.com/2017/07/05/review-the-rover-belvoir-st-theatre/

( cut with pics beneath )

It was all very exciting until the Guardian switched the DUP numbers from Opposition to the Conservative side, and then I remembered Sinn Fein hasn’t gone to Westminster since (looked it up) 1917. So out of 650 seats that leaves 643 which will matter in day to day business, with 322 needed for a majority vote in the House: the Conservatives have 315 so far, but DUP have 10. Which… well, the DUP’s position on a lot of matters, including Brexit, isn’t grand. They are far more conservative Protestant than the moderate Tories on social areas like abortion and gay rights. So are they going to negotiate on purely Irish issues, or are they going to promise support in return for concessions? And on what issues will the Tories be willing to concede?

Actually – it’s still exciting. Given how far Labour has come since the last election, and the collapse of UKIP, I’m remarkably hopeful. Still needs more proportional representation, even if that would lead to a couple of Ukippers sneaking back.

Do the Hailin* have elections? They have politics, but it isn’t clear how that works in resolving societal issues.

ION: a couple of reenactment folk that I know are participating in a 13th century trek in Germany: http://www.mdr.de/mediathek/mdr-videos/a/video-112480.html (German video). Hugh and Louise are walking rather than riding, but by the sound of it that's the best way!

*The Hailin stories by Helen Raven – AO3

The lads had to travel to Pago Pago for this one, and since they're on holiday I thought perhaps they (and you) would like to play a game. It's tenuously (very) based on the 7-7-7 meme, only instead of my WIP I've selected the 77th line and 7-ish following from 7 favourites stories. Unnamed, so if you would like to try guessing the titles/authors, have at it!

Line numbering will depend on the published source as viewed on my screen so we may not match. Also, I don't count spaces or headings/subheadings (or count, sometimes... all errors are my own).

( 7 story excerpts await )

ETA:
Discovered so far:
1. 'Sunshine and Cemeteries' by Slanted Light (found by murphybabe)
2. 'Lightside' by Anne Carr (helenraven)
3. strongly hinted at by author!
4. 'Jigsaw Puzzle' by HG (byslantedlight)
5. 'Transients' by Helen Raven (murphybabe)
6. ...a sequel to a classic, if controversial, fic
7. 'Like Gravity' by Halotolerant (hagsrus)

DW readers: Crossposting fail - Days One and Three are only on my LJ. Sorry!

I wanted to talk Tumblr today. I got myself one a while back but I'm very quiet. I have made a list of a few Tumblrs that have Pros content though, and I even know who some of these people are in journal-land *g*: dailypros, ali15son, quimaimenemesuivepas, heliophile-oxon, jothehat, minori1009, cobwebs1968, fuckyeahbodiexdoyle, ramesesniblickthethird (T'hy'la), awestruckandtonguewagging, guiwatson, realpotztausend, dementedpixie66, thekesslerboy, bodie37doyle45, scarletmanuka, sw33n3y2...

Hey, you know we were talking about the green scene yesterday? Well, take a look at the blues and violets here, Doyle's overalls and the bedspread and cushion - and the poster on the wall - in the middle picture!

http://thekesslerboy.tumblr.com/post/137875660857/god-this-episode-shall-i-send-someone-over-to
(not the original poster, but reblogged with a comment I really liked)

So... definitely not questioning Tumblr's place in the fannish continuum. It's just me - I feel quite inept trying to navigate around, so if you're a regular user and have advice, I'd love to hear from you.

And if Tumblr doesn't interest you, this is something I have had for a little while, meaning to post, as always. The Art Gallery of NSW summer program of cinema classics included Polanski's 'Macbeth', and they used this picture in their advertising. Unfortunately all the 'Macbeth' screenings were over before I got back from NZ :(

Basically this is my "I saw it when on holiday and if I don't talk about it now I never will" post.

I think I can say, unspoilery-like, that the original cast are ALL totally watchable in this.

( movie stuff and spoilers )

Reaction: I didn't hate it, it is miles better than the prequel, {%character} rules.

Most of you know me by now: if something doesn't fit, or if it's a bit of a mystery that needs closer examination, I'm there with magnifying glass in hand. I just can't help myself. I could use a bit of assistance on this one though - it's a relatively straightforward request for information, so maybe it won't run into the wall of silence my last, more conjectural post did.

As I said, I was at a reenactment event last weekend, so I had no idea that Josh had finally 'outed' herself until I read a few different things - including her blog post, timestamped 2015-09-18T11:33:00-07:00 and headed "Coming OUT with a New Book!". This would most probably mean it was posted in Pacific Daylight Time which fits with a California location. For those without World Clock to hand it's the same time as 7:33 PM in London on the same day (the 18th of September).
( cut for little details )

Does anyone know whether there have in fact been vile hordes chasing after Josh with pitchforks, or is this just self-protective hyperbole? Can anyone substantiate these statements of hers with links?

ETA: http://dianakillian.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/thirteen-days-and-counting.html
http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159724.html?thread=855730156#cmt855730156
http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/159907.html?thread=857546915#cmt857546915
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1390047281?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1#comment_140272184

ETA2: Apparently the discussion is turning into a mix of comments about the previous post and this one, so I'm just noting that that's okay, and carry on!!!

ETA3: Apparently there is a link between Lanyon and Killian in http://www.amazon.com/The-Male-Sleuth-Print-Film/dp/0810856816 (2005) - no copy so can't check (and it's a bloody expensive tome too), but it does suggest where the original rumours came from.

* maybe just a touch of sarcasm there.
** ...posts. Presumably public, unlike emails.

I have to renew my passport so I can go to get_together in October. So I finally got my ducks lined up, and now my old passport will be filed with all the other old ones. I am rather sad to see it go, because I thought it was particularly beautiful - see just one of the double pages, which were all different, and there was a silver fern on the cover as well as the usual coat of arms. My new one should arrive soon, I hope it will be as nice.

I have finished watching two seasons of Penny Dreadful, thanks to a rec from someone at sinpozium. Lots of excellent character play - I don't know what they plan for an encore but I'll be watching. I've also started on a couple of other recent series, but the one I want to watch lots and lots of by myself is White Collar. Totally missed it first time around.

Have also begun uploading stories to AO3. Slowly, slowly, and I'm grouping smaller fics like drabbles because they don't really warrant a whole post for each one. Thinking about one story reminded me about something I found on the net years ago - a Czech fic recs site, a "fanfiction readers diary". It's still up, and there are quite a few Pros stories listed, including one of mine. Apparently the reviewer wasn't sure what to make of it, because the translation was "Weird written, I finished it." *g*

I think I am about 200 posts behind in my f-list reading. Sorry! I will endeavour to do something about that.

But first - yesterday, a fannish meet-up with H, who isn't on lj, but who is a long-time Pros fan. I came away with some things to listen to (Martin reading Christian Jacq's Ramses series) and O Yardley's newest zine \o/! Discussion point of the afternoon started from the Brit-picking angle (some of you found the link via my previous post), then moved to whether we need more 70's/80's-picking as well, because some writing seems to convey a very modern sensibility that can be jarring for those of us who lived through the earlier decades. Even if we did so in Australia and NZ ;-)

We are having a State election later this month. The Libs will most likely get in again, as the State lot are nowhere near as ridiculous and incompetent as the Federal LNP, and Labor is still very much on the nose here. I was even gearing up to vote for Stuart Ayres in Penrith, because he's a moderate and as much a cleanskin as any politician can be, and because ex-Liberal Jackie Kelly is running a spoiler campaign against him. However I just found out we've been redistributed back into the Blue Mountains seat, so it looks like Greens or Labor (both candidates are women of the left) for me.

So it's Friday night and the OH is out, and I decide to do fannish emailing... okay, the first of those didn't go so well (stuffed up the addressing), story of my week, let's try lj/dw. What can I do wrong here?

First: to Big Bang or not - I think not. Due consideration given, but the most likely wip and I are not getting on. I did just enough research to decide that the 1970's R369/425/445 etc, etc, wasn't going to get my driver from Cork to the north Antrim coast overnight, and you may laugh at that but it was kind of crucial. Until my Workarounds-R-Us care package arrives I think I'll continue to potter whenever work and life allow. Which is mostly not ever, at least when talking about times when my brain functions enough to lay down actual words.

Other things:
( Read more... )

General state of me-ness...

I went back to work on the 5th with B driving me in every day except the 8th, when I had a clinic appointment. Off with the boot and on with the walking. I still couldn't drive for a few days, but I'm now reasonably okay. Good movement but lousy strength and balance, and quite a lot of swelling and intermittent aches. I'd ordered a wobble board and some therapy band material before Christmas, so have been using those. Yes I can still design my own exercises *g*. Although I should get a physio referral for a proper evaluation, because this didn't come out of the blue, I'd been worried about the stability in that ankle for a while. Not that it would have prevented what actually happened, but it's definitely something to consider.

Also, have a week off until the 27th, so I've been around a little more.