meddow

I have been so busy lately. I'm hoping to have a weekend in which I can catch up on things and write a bit of fic, maybe do a picspam. The problem with being busy is that it leads to be tired which lead to me doing not much of anything.

Anyway, things that I've been meaning to post about all week:

1. I realised that Vincent and the Doctor is Amy's Companion tries to change history to save a life/lives, just like the Aztecs (Barbara), Father's Day (Rose) and Fires of Pompeii (Donna), except that it was a different take on it as the Doctor for once was in on it (probably knowing they'd have no success) so there was no great debate.

In a bit of drive by episode love, I have to say, as much as I love Vincent and the Aztecs (I quite like Father's Day too), Pompeii I still rate as my favourite, namely because I saw an exhibit on Pompeii earlier this year which included the plaster casts they made of people smothered by ash, and it's harrowing. Plus, Donna is utterly awesome to the point of making the naysayers finally shut up, Catherine Tate shows off why she is one of the best (if not the best) actresses to have played a Companion, and there's bonus Peter Capaldi.

But also, and leading into another thing I'm going to talk about it, my personal fanon is that it's one of the major reasons why Children of Earth happened, as in, in my fanon is that I don't think it's a coincidence that the father of the Frobisher family which did not survive CoE is the spitting image of the father of the family that survived Fires

2. I'm a bit hesitant about the new series of Torchwood that's been announced, for a number of reasons. I loved Children of Earth and was quite happy with it being a series finale, but also with the new series being set partially in America, I suspect that's lessened the chances of having Lois, Alice and Johnson join the team, or that we'll get a day in the life of Bridget Spears episode (okay, there was probably little chance of that happening ever, but it would be awesome - maybe I'll just have to write fic).

3. World Cup! World Cup! World Cup! I'm really into it this year because New Zealand's in it for the first time since the 1982. Oh, I so badly want us to score a goal.

When the All Whites are inevitably knocked out, I'm going to have to go a find some random arbitrary thing with which to use to pick a team to support. Last time I rooted for whichever team came from the country IMO had the best food. I ended up supporting Italy quite a bit.

4. Forth and finally and because I can, ( more Thick of It BAFTA pics, cos I love this cast and also because there's bonus Freema Agyeman and Jane Lynch )

ETA: Gah. My photobucket account which is entirely used for fandom purposes somehow knows of my facebook page, which is all about RL, or at least my photobucket account is prompting me to 'like' it. 1. How does it know who I am on facebook? 2. Make it stop! I keep my fandom stuff and my life stuff very separate so not cool, internet. Not cool at all.

I haven't made a substantive post in ages. So here is one which I have decided shall contain good news and awesome things:

1.Heroes got cancelled! I view this as a good thing because I believe with no more canon being created it'll make it easier for me to believe that season two onwards never happened and Heroes was a one-season wonder.

2. I can't believe they cast Allison Janney on Lost. Allison freaking Janney. That is both a) awesome and b) a enormous pain in the ass because that means I may have to actually go and watch the entirety Lost even though she's only in one episode (thus is the power of Allison Janney)

3. In random stuff on Youtube that's amusing me this week, somebody made a compilation of nicknames characters call each other on The Thick of It. No nickname is used twice and it clocks in at over nine and half minutes.

4. Armando Iannucci's got funding for a new movie (a lot of funding when compared to the budget of In the Loop), one written by him and Will Smith (not that Will Smith, the other one who plays Phil in TTOI). Yay!

(And I'm going to nag you all once again to watch In the Loop because with it having being released on DVD everywhere now, there is no excuse of not having seen the movie anymore and you all should because it's one of the funniest comedies of all freaking time and it may even change the way you view politics).

5. Oh, my goodness do I love Ashes to Ashes at the moment. I do have a couple of criticisms (which are ongoing), but generally, I am so in love with this season. Nobody I know IRL watches the show (I know a few people who tried the first series but decided it was inferior to Life on Mars and stopped watching) and they tend to give me quizzical looks when I rave on about it. But this season is amazing.

But my particular love of the season comes from my new-found OT3: Ray, Shaz and Chris.

( Cut for raving which includes spoilers for 3x07 and speculation )

And now I'm off to watch Star Trek: Generations because I realised the other day that I haven't watched the movie in ages and I fell like watching Kirk die.

Good new everyone, the BBC actually went and talked to Armando Iannucci about the future of The Thick of It and he said:

"I've got a storyline that will involve both sides - irrespective of what happens in the election,"

Y'all can go out and vote for whoever you like in the British election now (which of course you were going to do anyway), my favourite characters no longer have their fates quite so tied to it.

Anyway, meme time. I nicked this from alexiscartwheel

1. Choose 12 books that you like. (10 are books I like, 2 are sitting half-read next to my bed).
2. Write down the first sentence or so of each of those books.
3. Let other people try to figure out the titles.
4. Cross off books as they are guessed, let us know the correct answers and who guessed them.

1. “Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.” - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, jadeddiva
2. “I have just returned from a visit to my landlord – the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.” Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, alexiscartwheel
3. “Mr Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold scanty and embarrassed with discourse; backwards in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow loveable.” The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, erinpuff
4. “It was a nice day.” Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, airie_fairy
5. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, jadeddiva
6. >“Left Munich at 8.35 p.m. On 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6.46, but train was an hour late.” Dracula by Bram Stoker, catslash
7. “There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's Desire.” Stardust by Neil Gaiman, erinpuff
8. “The hottest day of the summer was drawing to a close and the drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive.” Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling, airie_fairy
9. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” 1984 by George Orwell, grenadine
10. “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”
11. “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.” The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, grenadine
12. “The play – for which Briony had designed the posters, programmes and tickets, constructed the sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collection box in red crepe paper – was written by her in a two-day tempest of composition, causing her to miss a breakfast and a lunch.” Atonement by Ian McEwan, jadeddiva

I watched this movie a few months ago, and it's stuck in my mind for some time, because it is a very memorable movie (as you shall see if you read further) and also because that due to the presence of Mr Peter Capaldi, it has become my crack Malcolm Tucker backstory. And after being inspired by a conversation over at the_thickofit, here I go, picspamming an 1980s movies you all shall probably never watch, but if you read the below, you shall see that his movie really does have to be seen to be believed.



A quick run down before we begin. The Lair of the White Worm is a so-bad-it's-good horror-comedy film from 1988 made by Ken Russell. It took a lot of creative licence with the Bram Stoker novel of the same name. The reason it caught my attention was that it happens to star a young Peter Capaldi and a young Hugh Grant, who are both very hot in this movie. It's completely bizarre in a kind of awesome way (two words: Snake Vampires), and the ending is definitely fantastic.

The film's basically one giant piss-take of the common horror trope that female sexuality=evil, so it of course goes completely over the top with the promiscuous evil doer, the sacrificial virgin and more phallic symbols being wielded around than you can shake a stick at.

Word of warning: this film passes the Jamie McDonald test of movie quality, meaning there will be blood. And also, there will be tits.

( Read more... )

I have recently discovered that Hugh Laurie and David Strathairn will be locked in a room together in a future episode of House. Actually, maybe I should word that statement like this: two of the three amazingly talented over-fifty actors with great big soulful eyes that I lust after like there's no tomorrow are going to be shoved in a room together for an episode of House. Squee!

I watched the first episode of series three of Skins. Sadly, I didn't find the new crowd particularly endearing. Worst bit was the writers having Cook, who is like an annoying cross between Tony and Chris minus their redeeming features, torching Sid's old locker. Not exactly the best move if the writers want me to like this guy, or not be at all bitter about their being no more Sid. I haven't given up of the idea of watching series three, but it may take some time.

What I have been successfully watching the show for which Margaret Thatcher allegedly wrote fanfic: Yes, Minister. Of course, I spent the entire time comparing and contrasting it with The Thick of It. Given the very similar set-ups of the two shows its hard not too.

It's actually quite fascinating not only comparing the political changes (Yes, Minster's all about the minister vs. the civil service with the media not that much of a focus, whereas TTOI is more the minister vs. the spin doctor/PM's all-powerful enforcer with the media having the characters constantly under siege, sometimes literally) but also how sitcoms have changed over the years (the very scripted, studio, Yes, Minister which could almost be a radio play and sticks to the genre, vs TTOI which tries to appear as unscripted as possible, with roaming camera work which allows for more visual humour and occasionally breaks out of it's genre and takes a turn for the dramatic).

Really, the best points of comparison are Party Games and Spinners and Losers in which both shows take on the storyline of the PM resigning and the search for a successor, which with Yes, Minister is carefully orchestrated and takes place over the course of a week or so, whereas in the latter TTOI episode it takes place over the course of one night and has the characters running around like headless chickens trying to correct or take advantage of the heir apparent's 'wobble' in support.

Comparisons aside, Yes, Minister, is freaking hilarious, and age doesn't seem to have affected it much at all. I haven't got around to watching Yes, Prime Minister yet though. I've actually just started on the first series of Star Trek: DS9.

Oh, and if there was an epic show down between Sir Humphrey and Malcolm Tucker, my money would be on Malcolm. Not just because he's far nastier (I'm sure Sir Humphrey would not take well to being shoved into a wall by an oxbridge-detesting Scot and instructed that if he doesn't do x immediately, he will have his balls chopped off and then preserved in a jar to be displayed in the lobby as an example for the rest of the civil service), but because Malcolm doesn't explain his schemes to underlings (it actually makes for far more compelling viewing that way as well).

That vid I've been working on for the last while – it's finally done. I can have my life back. So yeah, I vidded The Thick of It, and the vid's shippy to boot.



Title: Kiss With A Fist
Vidder: meddow
Fandom: The Thick of It
Music: 'Kiss with a Fist' by Florence + the Machine
Spoilers: The Thick Of It episode 3x08
Summary: Malcolm Tucker and Nicola Murray in all their fucked up glory.
Vidder's Notes: Only seatbelts, cushions and careers were harmed in the making of this vid.

Download link: Small: 18Mb Avi (Divx) Large: 38Mb Avi (Xvid)

( Embedded and further vidder's notes below the cut )

I wanted to do a big 2009 picspam, but could not decide on a format. Then and idea struck me: since I'm forever lamenting entertainment awards' inability to make the right decision, why not do my picspam in an award sort of format, with the awards categories themselves completely made up and arbitrary so I could just picspam things I liked this year and could find photos of. Good idea, yes?

With no further ado...



( Spoilers for Battlestar Galactica, Being Human, Torchwood and The Thick of It )

I was going to do an episode review, but ended up writing fic instead. Well, somebody had to write it.

The Angry Spider by Malcolm Tucker
Author: meddow
Rating: PG-13 for language (of course)
Warnings: It's a children's book written by Malcolm Tucker. So, strong language and violent sexual imagery.
Spoilers: For episode 3x08
Summary: 'There once was an angry spider.'

( There once was an angry spider )