Say hello to the brush fire
Hello! It's Friday. I'm glad. And I have, as it turns out, a whole bunch of random shit to talk about!
First, some links:
-
sage is doing a workshop on writing casefic that I am really excited about. Not that I have any specific casefic plans at the moment, but I always love to hear smart people talk about the nuts and bolts of writing.
- If you are into Parks & Rec, I highly HIGHLY recommend this adorable series of ficlets (mostly gen, canon pairings, spoilers through last week's episode). The author has all the voices spot-on-her April voice just KILLS me, omg-and I just really thoroughly enjoyed them all. I very rarely find P&R fic that really clicks for me, so this was an unexpected pleasure.
- Online concerts this weekend: Andy Skib and Neal Tiemann on Saturday at 7 pm Eastern (Andy and Jennie got married, you guys?! I missed this! Were there pictures? Did they look gorgeous and adorable? Was Dave in the wedding? Was Neal?), and Peter Mulvey and various friends, the next few nights, also at 7 pm Eastern. (Yes. I have an ONLINE CONCERT SCHEDULING CONFLICT. WTF?!) And there is a Sandy benefit concert on NBC tonight featuring Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi! WHY IS MCR NOT INVOLVED IN THIS. WHY. Still, it should be awesome.
- Here are some interesting life hacks, some of which are super-helpful. Did you know that the side that the exit number is on is indicative of the side that the exit is on? I HAD NO IDEA. MY MIND IS BLOWN.
- And finally, a hedgehog dressed as Thor. Mr. McK found this link a few days ago and kept returning to the tab, giggling, and going, "Hedgehog dressed as Thor, whaaaat?" in the cutest voice. It was really, really adorable. ♥
And in bullet-point-y news:
- My thoughts and good vibes are with all of you who are affected by Sandy and its aftermath. And thank you for checking in as you could-it was such a relief to know that you guys were safe, even if your power was out. ♥
- My brother got married, and the whole trip was lovely. And my dress was finished BARELY in time, though I had to drive 100 miles each way to pick it up and had to wait for three hours while I was there, two days before I was supposed to leave for the trip. BUT. I did not have to be naked, and the ceremony was lovely, and the whole trip was a lot of fun, full of wonderful friends and family. I will post pictures as soon as I can get some together.
- Once again, I would like to kiss Nate Silver on the mouth. (Though that's probably not his thing; apparently he was named one of OUT Magazine's top LGBT people of 2010. Did you know this? I did not know this. ETA: WIKIPEDIA LIED TO ME. He was indeed named to the 2010 OUT100, but that's a list of OUT's most INFLUENTIAL figures of that year, whether LGBTQ or not. Sorry.) Regardless of whether his probabilities turn out to be predictions, it has been so enormously steadying throughout this whole process to have a complex, comprehensive, unsensationalized view of what's going on in the polls. Obviously I am predisposed to love Nate Silver because of his baseball background, and as such, his approach also makes a lot of sense to me because it's familiar, but damn. His methodology is really rigorous and it's also just intellectually INTERESTING, and he's one of the few public figures in the media whose reputation actually depends on ACCURACY rather than the whims of the news cycle, so. Four billion for you, Nate Silver. (And the current swath of pundit-borne ire against him is both hilarious and infuriating, not least because it's an exact echo of the stats-vs-scouts argument that's been going on in baseball since sabermetrics became a thing, only with much higher stakes. As an article I saw yesterday put it so well in the title, "People Who Can't Do Math Are So Mad At Nate Silver." Seriously. SERIOUSLY.) I wish we could get such a clear picture of local races.
- Jack White's new B-side is WEIRD AS HELL and I LIKE IT. It's a crazy Frankenstein's monster of a song, cobbled together from bits of various genres, but somehow it all comes together, topped off with bad puns. It's awesome and weird and awesome.
- So MCR HAS SOME NEW SONGS OUT AND THEY ARE BADASS. OMG I'm so glad they decided to release these-for one thing, they're just fucking awesome songs, but also, as a fan, I love love love looking at these as the bridge between The Black Parade tour and all the shit that went down, and the renewed vigor and irreverence and cheer of Danger Days. It feels a little bit like an exorcism, a thing they had to go through before they could move on-in some ways both of these songs feel like spiritual successors to Thank You For the Venom, that same response to the pressure of being looked at as saviors ("I stopped bleeding three years ago / while you keep screaming for revolution"), mixed with all the bullshit that comes along with the commercial side of the music industry ("rebellion's not a t-shirt you sell / you keep your money and I'll see you in hell" etc.). At the same time, you can see the seeds of Danger Days, the sort of post-apocalyptic war imagery; my first thought on hearing these songs, before I really got the lyrics, were that they reminded me of the Mad Gear songs, but more fleshed-out, more melodic. LOVE. I also love that Boy Division feels like a Misfits descendant, only with smarter lyrics, oh man, the lyrics; Gerard has a way with this sort of sly verbal sneer that's sharp but never (or rarely) mean, and I've loved it ever since I started listening to this band, and I love it every bit as much now. And the rhythm of it is just undeniable and relentless and makes me want to jump up and down really hard with both feet and MOVE THE EARTH, or something. Tomorrow's Money clicked with me most on first listen-I am so in love with how it's (IMO) both TOTALLY a punk song and TOTALLY a metal song, like, we know that Ray's and Frank's styles mesh together beautifully but somehow I feel like this is the apotheosis of that, because both influences are totally distinct and totally entwined, a metal mantle over a punk skeleton, GAH I LOVE IT. (I also feel like if this song met a Headstones song at a bar, they'd have a great fucking night, y/mfy?) And once I got past that, I couldn't help but notice that the bass is fucking BADASS, holyshit Mikeyway, and I love love LOVE the drums, too. (Is that Bob, then, or did they re-record these? I missed that somehow.) And fuck I love the riff on this song, like surf-rock played in a haunted house, and that eerie, echo-y "Welcome to the Jungle" moment at 1:58, the sweet sneaky build of tension before the full-on teeth-gnashing ATTACK of the bridge and Ray's solo, GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH LOOOOOOOVE I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH. So yeah. Thanks for making this happen, Frank, GOOD CALL. ♥ ♥ ♥
- And then the HEADSTONES are working on a NEW ALBUM and TRENT GOT A TWITTER ACCOUNT and they are ANSWERING QUESTIONS and BANTERING ADORABLY on the PledgeMusic page and on Twitter and I was going to post some screencaps but now there's kind of TOO MUCH AWESOME but it's SO AWESOME and BOOOOOOYS and BAAAAAAAND and there were YEARS where I legit worried that maybe Trent was dead and now he has a Twitter account and he's typing to me about sci-fi books and it's amazing. IT IS AMAZING. My two favorite bands are doing AMAZING THINGS at KIND OF THE SAME TIME and I AM A VERY LUCKY FANGIRL. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Happy weeeeeekeeeeend! \o/ \o/ \o/
This post is also at Dreamwidth! http://brynnmck.dreamwidth.org/289300.html Comments at Dreamwidth:
First, some links:
-
sage is doing a workshop on writing casefic that I am really excited about. Not that I have any specific casefic plans at the moment, but I always love to hear smart people talk about the nuts and bolts of writing.
- If you are into Parks & Rec, I highly HIGHLY recommend this adorable series of ficlets (mostly gen, canon pairings, spoilers through last week's episode). The author has all the voices spot-on-her April voice just KILLS me, omg-and I just really thoroughly enjoyed them all. I very rarely find P&R fic that really clicks for me, so this was an unexpected pleasure.
- Online concerts this weekend: Andy Skib and Neal Tiemann on Saturday at 7 pm Eastern (Andy and Jennie got married, you guys?! I missed this! Were there pictures? Did they look gorgeous and adorable? Was Dave in the wedding? Was Neal?), and Peter Mulvey and various friends, the next few nights, also at 7 pm Eastern. (Yes. I have an ONLINE CONCERT SCHEDULING CONFLICT. WTF?!) And there is a Sandy benefit concert on NBC tonight featuring Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi! WHY IS MCR NOT INVOLVED IN THIS. WHY. Still, it should be awesome.
- Here are some interesting life hacks, some of which are super-helpful. Did you know that the side that the exit number is on is indicative of the side that the exit is on? I HAD NO IDEA. MY MIND IS BLOWN.
- And finally, a hedgehog dressed as Thor. Mr. McK found this link a few days ago and kept returning to the tab, giggling, and going, "Hedgehog dressed as Thor, whaaaat?" in the cutest voice. It was really, really adorable. ♥
And in bullet-point-y news:
- My thoughts and good vibes are with all of you who are affected by Sandy and its aftermath. And thank you for checking in as you could-it was such a relief to know that you guys were safe, even if your power was out. ♥
- My brother got married, and the whole trip was lovely. And my dress was finished BARELY in time, though I had to drive 100 miles each way to pick it up and had to wait for three hours while I was there, two days before I was supposed to leave for the trip. BUT. I did not have to be naked, and the ceremony was lovely, and the whole trip was a lot of fun, full of wonderful friends and family. I will post pictures as soon as I can get some together.
- Once again, I would like to kiss Nate Silver on the mouth. (Though that's probably not his thing; apparently he was named one of OUT Magazine's top LGBT people of 2010. Did you know this? I did not know this. ETA: WIKIPEDIA LIED TO ME. He was indeed named to the 2010 OUT100, but that's a list of OUT's most INFLUENTIAL figures of that year, whether LGBTQ or not. Sorry.) Regardless of whether his probabilities turn out to be predictions, it has been so enormously steadying throughout this whole process to have a complex, comprehensive, unsensationalized view of what's going on in the polls. Obviously I am predisposed to love Nate Silver because of his baseball background, and as such, his approach also makes a lot of sense to me because it's familiar, but damn. His methodology is really rigorous and it's also just intellectually INTERESTING, and he's one of the few public figures in the media whose reputation actually depends on ACCURACY rather than the whims of the news cycle, so. Four billion for you, Nate Silver. (And the current swath of pundit-borne ire against him is both hilarious and infuriating, not least because it's an exact echo of the stats-vs-scouts argument that's been going on in baseball since sabermetrics became a thing, only with much higher stakes. As an article I saw yesterday put it so well in the title, "People Who Can't Do Math Are So Mad At Nate Silver." Seriously. SERIOUSLY.) I wish we could get such a clear picture of local races.
- Jack White's new B-side is WEIRD AS HELL and I LIKE IT. It's a crazy Frankenstein's monster of a song, cobbled together from bits of various genres, but somehow it all comes together, topped off with bad puns. It's awesome and weird and awesome.
- So MCR HAS SOME NEW SONGS OUT AND THEY ARE BADASS. OMG I'm so glad they decided to release these-for one thing, they're just fucking awesome songs, but also, as a fan, I love love love looking at these as the bridge between The Black Parade tour and all the shit that went down, and the renewed vigor and irreverence and cheer of Danger Days. It feels a little bit like an exorcism, a thing they had to go through before they could move on-in some ways both of these songs feel like spiritual successors to Thank You For the Venom, that same response to the pressure of being looked at as saviors ("I stopped bleeding three years ago / while you keep screaming for revolution"), mixed with all the bullshit that comes along with the commercial side of the music industry ("rebellion's not a t-shirt you sell / you keep your money and I'll see you in hell" etc.). At the same time, you can see the seeds of Danger Days, the sort of post-apocalyptic war imagery; my first thought on hearing these songs, before I really got the lyrics, were that they reminded me of the Mad Gear songs, but more fleshed-out, more melodic. LOVE. I also love that Boy Division feels like a Misfits descendant, only with smarter lyrics, oh man, the lyrics; Gerard has a way with this sort of sly verbal sneer that's sharp but never (or rarely) mean, and I've loved it ever since I started listening to this band, and I love it every bit as much now. And the rhythm of it is just undeniable and relentless and makes me want to jump up and down really hard with both feet and MOVE THE EARTH, or something. Tomorrow's Money clicked with me most on first listen-I am so in love with how it's (IMO) both TOTALLY a punk song and TOTALLY a metal song, like, we know that Ray's and Frank's styles mesh together beautifully but somehow I feel like this is the apotheosis of that, because both influences are totally distinct and totally entwined, a metal mantle over a punk skeleton, GAH I LOVE IT. (I also feel like if this song met a Headstones song at a bar, they'd have a great fucking night, y/mfy?) And once I got past that, I couldn't help but notice that the bass is fucking BADASS, holyshit Mikeyway, and I love love LOVE the drums, too. (Is that Bob, then, or did they re-record these? I missed that somehow.) And fuck I love the riff on this song, like surf-rock played in a haunted house, and that eerie, echo-y "Welcome to the Jungle" moment at 1:58, the sweet sneaky build of tension before the full-on teeth-gnashing ATTACK of the bridge and Ray's solo, GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH LOOOOOOOVE I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH. So yeah. Thanks for making this happen, Frank, GOOD CALL. ♥ ♥ ♥
- And then the HEADSTONES are working on a NEW ALBUM and TRENT GOT A TWITTER ACCOUNT and they are ANSWERING QUESTIONS and BANTERING ADORABLY on the PledgeMusic page and on Twitter and I was going to post some screencaps but now there's kind of TOO MUCH AWESOME but it's SO AWESOME and BOOOOOOYS and BAAAAAAAND and there were YEARS where I legit worried that maybe Trent was dead and now he has a Twitter account and he's typing to me about sci-fi books and it's amazing. IT IS AMAZING. My two favorite bands are doing AMAZING THINGS at KIND OF THE SAME TIME and I AM A VERY LUCKY FANGIRL. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Happy weeeeeekeeeeend! \o/ \o/ \o/
This post is also at Dreamwidth! http://brynnmck.dreamwidth.org/289300.html Comments at Dreamwidth: