japhrimel

I like this one: Poker Face by Talitha78

I was watching Quite Interesting (QI) last night and Rob Brydon and Ben Miller kissed! Very cute.

I watched the first two eps of Lie To Me last night and really enjoyed them. Pseudo-scientific in basis but more believable than The Mentalist.

Some songvid recommendations:

Merlin - Life in a Glass House - Merlin is encouraged to secretly perform magic while Morgana is drugged and lied to about her gift.
Multifandom - Civil War - Kick-ass fake trailer full of Marvel comic heroes.
Stargate Atlantis - Compass Points - Unusual, expansive, and beautiful.

And because I was watching the amusing 'authorised' Evil League of Evil applications on my Dr Horrible dvd recently:

Mr Terrible's application (the song is just SO Joss Whedon)
The Reverend's application (cool song by the Pastor of Muppets)

Just watched a great songvid for Dr Horrible. I was initially unsure about the song choice - Womanizer by Britney Spears - but strangely enough it worked really well. It's AU (as all great slash is) and portrays Dr Horrible having a crush on the womanizing Captain Hammer. Great vid!


Dr Horrible - Womanizer

Some Yuletide fics I enjoyed (either because they were cute and slashy or because they really captured the character voices perfectly):

Big Wolf on Campus - Sacrifice
Boston Legal - Fanfare, Fan Fiction, and the Fourth Wall
Chuck - Because Your Kiss (Your Kiss) Is On My List
Hot Fuzz - Tokens of Affection
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - You Wouldn't Want To Live There and Not With A Bang But A Whimper
Life - A Basket of Cellophane
Master and Commander - Surgeon's Hands
The Big Bang Theory - For Science!
The IT Crowd - Running Commentary

About to start reading Merlin fic...God, I love those two. So adorable together.

My sister-in-law pointed me towards this (yes, even my family feeds my slash addiction):
Cross-posted to slashlinks 

The good news is that Cleo came through surgery with flying colours. She had a cholesteatoma in her ear which was producing keratin and an inflammatory response that then became infected with staph and yeast. My local vet was unable to fix it so Cleo was referred to the Murdoch Vet Hospital, who finally squashed the infection. But the only permanent solution to the cholesteatoma (which was sitting partially on her eardrum) was to remove the entire ear canal. So my poor poppet has had her ear canal removed, the two segments of the bulla behind her eardrum cleaned out, and her ear sealed up. She had to stay at the hospital for two nights and I visited her on the intervening day for over an hour. She looked very woebegone but incredibly happy to see me. I felt guilty leaving her behind again. Her stitches were removed a fortnight ago and all is looking good. Her facial nerve (which was temporarly paralysed during surgery) has pretty much regained normal function. So she can now close her eye again, although it is still weaker than normal.

Her other ear had fluid behind the eardrum as well, so they sucked the gunk out during surgery through a hole which I'm now waiting to heal over. The daily washing with ciproxin has now been reduced to twice a week, so it is almost over. It's been a long 4 months of constant vet visits. And depending on whether she gets fluid build-up behind her eardrum again, it may not be over. The Murdoch vet says she may need a grommit to relieve the pressure. We're going to monitor over the next 3 - 6 months to see.

And just to top it off, Cleo is also in the early stages of renal failure. She is 12 years old this month, and kidney problems are common in older cats. But I'm hoping she'll live at least another couple of years. I don't want to lose her.

Last week I was driving to work when I saw a semi-trailer turning at the traffic light with the slogan of 'HYMENBUSTER' plastered at the top of the windscreen in large capital letters. Once my lip had stopped curling in disgust, I did have the passing hope that the driver is gay. Because no woman is ever going to sleep with him again.

I started watching the legal drama, Raising The Bar, because it had Mark-Paul Gosselaar in it. But I was a bit disappointed with it and was going to stop watching, despite one of the characters being gay (unfortunately not Mark-Paul's character), when the actor who played Kelly in the Coffee Date made an appearance as the one night stand of the gay character. I love that guy! And his new character is like Kelly reincarnated. Even better, he turns up again and starts pursuing the gay character. Awww...

I'm going through an Old Time Radio kick at the moment and have recently discovered the slashiness that is Box 13. It's about Dan Holiday, who is part private detective and part adventurer. He has a close tie to a homicide police lieutenant, Lt Kling, from whom he gets useful information and help with the baddies. And they spend the whole time flirting with each other. There's at least two slashy lines per episode.

Quotes for your edification (and pimpage):

* Episode: Suicide or Murder

Dan: About the kid that got killed in the saloon bar.
Kling: Well, that's what the records show.
D: Do they show anything else.
K: No, no, they don't.
D: <pause> You know, I...I like you.
K: Thanks. You can have the next dance.
D: I'm serious.
K: Okay, so you're serious. What about it?
D: You're not satisfied with the Daly case either.
......
K: Now look, Holiday. I'm not on the case anymore. Homicide has enough to do without running down a fight in a saloon. But...
D: But what?
K: But...I don't like it. You're right.
D: I knew I liked you.
K: Okay, I'll marry you in the morning.
.....
<after Kling saves Dan from the baddy wielding a gun>
D: Kling, at this particular minute you are the most beautiful thing in the world.

* Episode: Damsel in Distress

<Dan comes up with the cover story of 'looking for the Smith residence" to explain why he is at the front door of a girls school academy. The head of the academy, Mrs Oglevie, doesn't believe him and calls the police. Dan wants to tell Lt Kling the truth but he promised his client he wouldn't>
K: Alright, you were at the wrong house. Why?
D: I told you, Kling, I made a mistake.
K: Couldn't you tell a girl's school from a private home? Besides, there's no one in the neighbourhood named Smith.
D: How do you like that. Three thousand Smiths in the phone directory andI I pick the wrong neighbourhood.
K: You should have worn a ribbon in your hair. Nobody would have noticed you.
D: Thanks, dear. You're pretty too.
.....

D: Mrs Oglevie, isn't there some sort of dance coming up soon? I think I saw it on one of those bulletin boards as I came through.
Mrs O: Yes, next week. But really, I don't see how questions like these are going to find Constance.
D: Oh, Kling?
K: Yeah? What now? Are you going to ask me to the dance?

:)

A quick songvid recommendation - Climbing Up The Walls by obsessive24. This vid was awesome and draws parallels between Serenity, Heroes and Supernatural. Check it out here: http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/225625.html#cutid3

Have just spent the weekend sleeping and watching tv on the couch as I feel so crappy. It started as a cough on Friday, which had expanded to a dry throat and hoarse voice by the end of the day. Saturday was pretty much a wipe off. Sore neck. Sore throat. Croaky voice. Went back to bed in the afternoon and woke up feeling even worse. Fortunately I'm feeling slightly better today. Still a bit croaky but think I'll be able to make it to work tomorrow. I'm taking an annual leave day on Tuesday to take my cat to the specialist so the suspicion factor if I called in sick on Monday would be at an all time high. So I'll be dragging myself in regardless of how I feel.

I watched the Mens 10m diving on Saturday night. Australia won the gold! Yay! Matthew Mitchum's last dive was absolutely fabulous. He performed consistently good dives anyway but the last one was a stunner. He got the highest score for a dive in Olympic history. And he looks like a genuinely nice guy too. Totally hot (see pic below). Articulate. And gay! Awesome.



sarren introduced me to Regenesis last weekend. It's great. It's about a genetics/virology lab that tackles outbreaks and epidemics. All the characters are likeable, the story continues from episode to episode as one huge long arc, and the science is accurate. What a refreshing change to have realistic science! The only thing they seem to do wrong is performing genetic extractions on dangerous viruses on a normal bench and not in a fumehood. For example, they had a prion outbreak and they mashed up infected brain matter on a normal bench. Are they insane?? Prions survive for ages on surfaces. Not only should they be performing the extractions in a biological fumehood but they should destroy all their cutting/pipetting tools afterwards. But it's a great series. I'm already slashing David/Bob in my mind. I love Bob.

Talking about outbreaks, there's been a recent increase in vandalism/hooliganism in Innaloo. A couple of weeks ago there was a bunch of teenagers having a loud congregation on my road. Some did burnouts in the street while the rest piled into taxis. Last night it was a repeat performance but without the burnouts and the addition of petty vandalism. I was brushing my teeth and I could hear a bunch of guys making a weird noise outside the window. Kind of a crick-crick-crick. Being naturally nosy I peered out the window and the dickheads were trying to pull the street parking sign out of the ground by pulling it back and forth. Not being game enough to go out and confront them late at night, I turned on my outside side lights in the hope that added visibility would stop them. But it didn't. They continued on (for only about 5 mins as I debated whether to call the police) until the fleet of taxis arrived. The taxi drivers must have seen what they were doing - why don't they report them? I had a look this morning and they have destroyed the sign. They've bent the metal pole at the bottom such that the sign now lies flat on the grass. Grrrr.

Currently watching the Olympics closing ceremony. They have cool neon-lit circle bicycles riding around. Nice effect. Have no idea what they are meant to symbolise but I've found that most of these ceremonies are pretty abstract.

So I'm still working my way through the raft of new shows...

True Blood
Genre - Drama / Paranormal
Premise - Based on the Southern Vampire book series by Charlaine Harris. A telepathic waitress (played by Anna Paquin) falls for a vampire.
Verdict - It's pretty telling when the best thing about the pilot episode is the song they play during the opening credits. It was awesome. But the same couldn't be said about the show. I may be a bit biased as I have read the series but I was hugely disappointed. First the good things - it's a nice change having vampires being publicly part of society rather than lurking in dark shadows. And I liked the actors who played Bill and Sam. But the positive aspects stop there. I found Anna Paquin's accent and gap in her front teeth totally distracting. And there was an over the top gratuitous sex scene which was not required by the plot at all.

The Mentalist
Genre - Crime
Premise - The main character works for the California Bureau of Investigation. What he does exactly, who knows. The show didn't explain anything. The best guess I have is that the guy is a serious version of Shawn Spencer.
Verdict - The episode had a serious timing problem. It meandered along with side issues of the main character's scarred past..etc.. until suddenly the viewer is dropped into the climax scene of the episode without any warning. It had all the build up of a flat souffle. It also wasn't helped by the two insenstive jerk cops whom I wanted to shoot within the first 5 mins. The actor who plays the main character did a good job as the brooding insightful consultant, but how he comes up with his gems of wisdom I have no idea. Apparently he looks at a couple of photos and hey presto. Lame. At least Psych highlights the relevant part of photos and scenes so that the viewer can follow the logic.

Harley Street
Genre - Medical
Premise - A young doctor splits his time between working in a public hospital and working for rich patients in an expensive Harley Street practice.
Verdict - Extremely average. Plus I found the politics of being in private practice boring.

Flashpoint
Genre - Action
Premise - A police SWAT-like team deals with hostage situations.
Verdict - Promising. I hope they ramp the action up and downgrade the strange attempt at character development they explored in the pilot. Half the episode was about the sniper on the team having a major emotional reaction to shooting the hostage-taker. If they had introduced the guy as being new to the team I would have had an easier time believing it. But they pick the character who looks like he's been part of the team for years as one of their two snipers. And he's never shot someone before? It was a bit too unrealistic for me. But I'm going to persevere with this one (mainly because I'm a sucker for these types of shows).

I bought Army of Two yesterday to play with my brother. It cost $100 (why are Xbox games so expensive?) but it was worth it for the bonding factor. I don't get to see Rick as much as I'd like to. The game was good...once we got it working. At first all we could see was a big black screen. But ejecting the disc, wiping it, and reloading it fixed the problem. From there it was all about teamwork and dodging bullets. It was lots of fun. My crowning moment was taking out 3 consecutive baddies through my sniper rifle with a single bullet each as we parachuted down from a plane.

Zero Punctuation has a funny video about the game, including how gay the characters are together:

For more Zero Punctutation videos (which are well worth watching) click here.

I know I'm a bit behind the times with this but I'm only now getting around to the bunch of new shows that are coming out. And I'm happy to say that there are a few with real promise. But first let's get the dregs out of the way:

Do Not Disturb
Genre - Comedy
Premise - Trials and tribulations of staff running a classy hotel.
Verdict - I wasn't able to watch more than 10 mins before I had to stop. Lacklustre. Unfunny.

In Plain Sight
Genre -  Drama
Premise - A US Marshall ensuring the safety of witnesses in the Witness Protection Program.
Verdict - Again I wasn't able to finish the episode. Unlikeable female main character (they were trying for hard-assed but came off as bitch). Overly complicated. Boring.

And now for the good ones:

Pretty Handsome
Genre - Drama
Premise - A socially well-connected doctor (played by Joseph Fiennes) who is tormented by his cross-dressing urges.
Verdict - Excellent. Explores being uncomfortable in your own skin and how restrictive society expectations can be, not only by the main character but by the rest of his family and one of his patients.

Fringe
Genre - Sci-fi / Drama
Premise - An FBI agent discovers that there is a pattern of unexplained phenomena occurring.
Verdict - Loved it. Great first episode that kept the suspense all the way through. Looking forward to seeing more.

Leverage
Genre - Drama
Premise - An ex-insurance investigator gets asked to steal back stolen plane designs and is put in charge of a group of thieves.
Verdict - Really liked it (and not just because the main actor is Archie from Nero Wolfe!). Great group chemistry.

The Middleman
Genre - Comedy / Action
Premise - The Middleman, who saves the city from aliens/criminals on a daily basis, takes on an apprentice.
Verdict - Lots of light-hearted fun. Feels like a live action comic book.

This guy puts lyrics to movie theme songs. Cheesy but entertaining!
Indiana Jones and Back To The Future are also good.

I've extracted 4 songs (all Neil Patrick Harris ones) from Dr Horrible if anyone else wants a copy. I've got:

* On The Rise - Billy and Penny's duet
* Brand New Day - Dr Horrible's song from the end of Act II
* Slipping Away - Dr Horrible makes his grand move
* Your World Is Mine - final song

Don't quote me on those names. I can't find a track listing so I made them up based on lyrics.

Link to file: Mediafire (8.2MB)

Have now seen Act III. And Neil Patrick Harris ROCKS as Dr Horrible.