Some changes around here
Hey guys! Welcome to 2010! It's going to ROCK! :D
I'm excited about the year ahead because of my determination to focus on the Things That Really Matter. In '09 I spent a lot of energy getting my freelance career off the ground--now I can focus more on quality of life.
You may see some changes around here on my journal. It's been a while since I felt comfortable in fandom, and part of that is that I've outgrown some old aspects of my online activity.
So... first up, I'm cutting my friendslist. I would like to be able to read and keep up with it without filters or GUILT, so sadly that means substantial cutting. Four years of impulsive friending caught up with me! It doesn't mean I hate you. It doesn't mean I'll never visit your journal. But if we don't interact much, you haven't updated in ages or our interests have completely diverged, then I may have deleted you. Don't worry! You are still welcome here. Most of my posts are and will continue to be public, so you're not missing out.
Also, tip to anyone that actually wants to be mutual friends with me: just talk to me. Comment, email, PM, whatever. I respond well to interaction. *g* But I'm going to have to put myself on a very strict 'no auto-friending' policy for a while because friending waaaay too quickly in the past got me into this unmanageable situation.
Secondly, you may seem some content changes. Since my fandom interests kind of nose-dived in 09 (BSG tanked, TSCC got axed), I'm not sure how much meta there will be. If something sparks my interest, I'll post, but I'm not forcing it. I am, however, going to post about movies and books I'm reading, because that's where my attention is. I haven't used my books filter for eons, but I've decided to just post about books publicly instead--if you're not up for that, scroll past or remove me, it's cool. I just need to be a bit more 'me' on here.
I will also continue to post about vidding and get (roving) vidding chats rolling again from the end of Jan (I hope).
Doctor Who: Ugh. Hated it. Thanks for pissing on Whoverse on your way out, Russell. Please don't come back.
Sherlock Holmes: Better than I expected because I expected to hate it. Don't like Downey, don't like Holmes-as-action hero. Did, however, find some directorial or editing choices interesting, liked the London grime, some of the writing and Jude Law's Watson.
Avatar: I saw it in 3D IMAX which was a phenomenally awesome experience and highly recommended. Visual overload, felt like an explorer on another planet... loved the imaginative quality and phenomenal FX works. Found the actual plot to be intensely offensive though (as anticipated) and also mindbogglingly naive (clearly there will be no sequel because five minutes after the movie ended the humans returned and nuked the planet). Particularly disliked Mr Dumb Dumb, the lead character and the fact that the Na'vi needed to be reminded by him that they were a martial people. *eyeroll* Best unexpected element of awesome? Michelle Rodriguez as kickass pilot Trudy.
Red Cliff (in two parts): Thank GOD! Best cinema I've seen in eons. Gorgeous cinematography, grand scale, epic history done the right way, stellar cast, and best of all tons of fun for a military strategy geek. I liked the combination of understatement and restraint in personal interaction with the totally over-the-top military sequences. Not without some LOLZ, but in the good way. These have hit my favourite movies ever list. And now I have infinitely more love for obsessive24's gorgeous vid as well.
Legend of the Seeker: Watched the first couple of eps and totally hooked! Very LOLZ-y but as a fan of the 'adventure' section of the DVD store, I found it very enjoyable to see the tropes played out in a new way. Love the lead chick, though she seems destined to be forever upstaged by the Classic Naive Hero, alas. I wish they'd stop doing that omg-I-am-so-moved-by-you-saving me music every time he saves her, because CLEARLY she has far more innate awesome than he will ever have and she can fight better than him even though she insists on wearing really absurd clothing (though his pecs are working hard to distract us from that truth!). She also has an uncanny ability to travel vast distances swiftly: useful! Ugh, shitty gender politics, but otherwise seems fun. Also it was prettier than I'd expected from the screenshots and stuff I've seen of it... weird!
I started the year with some slim but heavy reading material... first up 'The Disappeared' by Kim Echelin. This was well worth reading and I'm glad I put it on my Christmas list. It's the story of a young American girl who falls for an exiled Cambodian musician. When the borders reopen after Pol Pot's reign of terror, he returns to trace his family. Ten years later, she follows him. It's written with a lot of restraint and with some very direct and graphic descriptions of the emotions resulting from living with the consequences of losing family members violently, senselessly and often without even knowing how they died. The absence of closure haunts and drives the narrative. It's deliberately not an easy read and I particularly admired the writer's courage in describing some of the less noble feelings surrounding the central relationship. There are a couple of very striking images resulting from this story that will remain in my mind a long time, I think.
'In the Country of Men' was less effective for me, though an interesting enough read. It's the story of a young boy in Libya, growing up with an absent father who resists the totalitarian regime and an alcoholic, erratic mother. It describes very well, perhaps too well, the way a young child absorbs the confusing emotions, underlying violence and cut-throatness of a regime that tortures and hangs its citizens publicly on TV, taps their phones and turns neighbours against one another. The young boy's relationship with his mother is disturbed also as a consequence of her 'illness' and immaturity. I found it an increasingly distasteful story--probably all the more true to life because of that, but for me it lacked a deeper grace that may have come from a more sympathetic lead character.
Now off to Brisbane for a music festival: should be fun!
I'm excited about the year ahead because of my determination to focus on the Things That Really Matter. In '09 I spent a lot of energy getting my freelance career off the ground--now I can focus more on quality of life.
You may see some changes around here on my journal. It's been a while since I felt comfortable in fandom, and part of that is that I've outgrown some old aspects of my online activity.
So... first up, I'm cutting my friendslist. I would like to be able to read and keep up with it without filters or GUILT, so sadly that means substantial cutting. Four years of impulsive friending caught up with me! It doesn't mean I hate you. It doesn't mean I'll never visit your journal. But if we don't interact much, you haven't updated in ages or our interests have completely diverged, then I may have deleted you. Don't worry! You are still welcome here. Most of my posts are and will continue to be public, so you're not missing out.
Also, tip to anyone that actually wants to be mutual friends with me: just talk to me. Comment, email, PM, whatever. I respond well to interaction. *g* But I'm going to have to put myself on a very strict 'no auto-friending' policy for a while because friending waaaay too quickly in the past got me into this unmanageable situation.
Secondly, you may seem some content changes. Since my fandom interests kind of nose-dived in 09 (BSG tanked, TSCC got axed), I'm not sure how much meta there will be. If something sparks my interest, I'll post, but I'm not forcing it. I am, however, going to post about movies and books I'm reading, because that's where my attention is. I haven't used my books filter for eons, but I've decided to just post about books publicly instead--if you're not up for that, scroll past or remove me, it's cool. I just need to be a bit more 'me' on here.
I will also continue to post about vidding and get (roving) vidding chats rolling again from the end of Jan (I hope).
Doctor Who: Ugh. Hated it. Thanks for pissing on Whoverse on your way out, Russell. Please don't come back.
Sherlock Holmes: Better than I expected because I expected to hate it. Don't like Downey, don't like Holmes-as-action hero. Did, however, find some directorial or editing choices interesting, liked the London grime, some of the writing and Jude Law's Watson.
Avatar: I saw it in 3D IMAX which was a phenomenally awesome experience and highly recommended. Visual overload, felt like an explorer on another planet... loved the imaginative quality and phenomenal FX works. Found the actual plot to be intensely offensive though (as anticipated) and also mindbogglingly naive (clearly there will be no sequel because five minutes after the movie ended the humans returned and nuked the planet). Particularly disliked Mr Dumb Dumb, the lead character and the fact that the Na'vi needed to be reminded by him that they were a martial people. *eyeroll* Best unexpected element of awesome? Michelle Rodriguez as kickass pilot Trudy.
Red Cliff (in two parts): Thank GOD! Best cinema I've seen in eons. Gorgeous cinematography, grand scale, epic history done the right way, stellar cast, and best of all tons of fun for a military strategy geek. I liked the combination of understatement and restraint in personal interaction with the totally over-the-top military sequences. Not without some LOLZ, but in the good way. These have hit my favourite movies ever list. And now I have infinitely more love for obsessive24's gorgeous vid as well.
Legend of the Seeker: Watched the first couple of eps and totally hooked! Very LOLZ-y but as a fan of the 'adventure' section of the DVD store, I found it very enjoyable to see the tropes played out in a new way. Love the lead chick, though she seems destined to be forever upstaged by the Classic Naive Hero, alas. I wish they'd stop doing that omg-I-am-so-moved-by-you-saving me music every time he saves her, because CLEARLY she has far more innate awesome than he will ever have and she can fight better than him even though she insists on wearing really absurd clothing (though his pecs are working hard to distract us from that truth!). She also has an uncanny ability to travel vast distances swiftly: useful! Ugh, shitty gender politics, but otherwise seems fun. Also it was prettier than I'd expected from the screenshots and stuff I've seen of it... weird!
I started the year with some slim but heavy reading material... first up 'The Disappeared' by Kim Echelin. This was well worth reading and I'm glad I put it on my Christmas list. It's the story of a young American girl who falls for an exiled Cambodian musician. When the borders reopen after Pol Pot's reign of terror, he returns to trace his family. Ten years later, she follows him. It's written with a lot of restraint and with some very direct and graphic descriptions of the emotions resulting from living with the consequences of losing family members violently, senselessly and often without even knowing how they died. The absence of closure haunts and drives the narrative. It's deliberately not an easy read and I particularly admired the writer's courage in describing some of the less noble feelings surrounding the central relationship. There are a couple of very striking images resulting from this story that will remain in my mind a long time, I think.
'In the Country of Men' was less effective for me, though an interesting enough read. It's the story of a young boy in Libya, growing up with an absent father who resists the totalitarian regime and an alcoholic, erratic mother. It describes very well, perhaps too well, the way a young child absorbs the confusing emotions, underlying violence and cut-throatness of a regime that tortures and hangs its citizens publicly on TV, taps their phones and turns neighbours against one another. The young boy's relationship with his mother is disturbed also as a consequence of her 'illness' and immaturity. I found it an increasingly distasteful story--probably all the more true to life because of that, but for me it lacked a deeper grace that may have come from a more sympathetic lead character.
Now off to Brisbane for a music festival: should be fun!