My weekend in Chicago (Vividcon in brief, Lollapaloooza, family)

August 10th, 2010 6:41pm by rusty-halo | 6 Comments »

So, I went to Vividcon over the weekend. It was fun. I met many of interesting people and learned a hell of a lot about the history, culture, and aesthetics of vidding. I also had the pleasure of hanging out with the lovely soundingsea for three days. (This is brief–I will probably write up a more detailed con report later.)

And then I went to Lollapalooza and saw Soundgarden–despite arriving late and missing their first four songs, I managed to get to the front, about 15 rows back, without, y’know, shoving anyone or being a jerk. It was loud and muddy and hot and FUCKING AMAZING, you guys, Soundgarden!!! Although I do have to admit that I’m not sure how much of my joy is organic to me at the moment and how much comes from imagining how happy my 14-year-old self would be. But whatever. Soundgarden! They played “Mailman” and “Like Suicide” and “Fourth of July”! And the view of the Chicago skyline was beautiful. I am happy.

Then I walked back to my brother’s apartment and hung out with him for a little while because he was generous enough to let me sleep on his couch. He has a fantastically swanky apartment–one of those condos that was built to sell and has gone rental due to the recession. Huge, new appliances, beautiful view… not that I’m jealous or anything. :P Although he’s going to have to move once the economy picks up, which is not something I’d want to deal with.

His dog, Darth, was the family dog when I was a kid. Darth is now thirteen, nearly blind, totally deaf, and with a funny little white beard. My brother communicates with him in sign language, which is actually pretty amazing to see–Darth clearly understands everything my brother is telling him and is just as enthusiastic and impatient as ever. It’s also funny because even though he’s ancient and tottering, he’s still the same old Darth, sweet and happy and totally opportunistic when it comes to food. I’m glad I got to see him again.

So then I managed to sleep for two hours, got up, went to the airport, caught my 6:30am flight (which due to delays ended up taking fours hours), slept very uncomfortably crammed into a middle seat, came home, slept all day, and am not adjusting so well to the return to work grind. *sigh*

VVC report and recs post coming soon!

I kind of seem to have started watching Supernatural

April 28th, 2010 6:34pm by rusty-halo | 24 Comments »

So, um, I kind of seem to have started watching Supernatural.

I’m afraid that jaydk is going to disown me as a friend.

We went to Ford Lauderdale for the weekend, which was fun. We got a cheap vacation deal–flew direct, stayed in a hotel on the beach with a decent pool and a pool bar, and basically just relaxed for three days. The weather was lovely. We got around via the water taxi, which stopped right near our hotel and took us downtown for only $7 after 7pm (where I managed to survive via that old desperate vegan standby, veggie sushi). The water taxi itself was quite fun, as it involved a narrated tour past the absurd, ostentatious, and often quite lovely mansions of the rich and famous which perch over the waterways. Aside from that, the public transportation was so terrible–every time I leave New York it hits me how absurdly car centric the city planning of most of the USA is. It didn’t have to be this way, and it’s sad, and thank god I live in NYC.

( and I started watching Supernatural (please don’t read this if you don’t want to read criticism of SPN or if you’re going to lose all respect for me for watching it) )

Other stuff:

* I began a re-read of Dorothy Dunnett’s Checkmate (the last book in the Lymond series) during vacation, since it’s the one that takes place mostly in Paris and I’m headed to Paris in October for the Lymond fan gathering, LeSpit. (Talk about high and low art–going from Checkmate to Supernatural I literally felt my brain melting out of my ears.) Checkmate’s never been my favorite–I think I’ve usually got Dunnett fatigue every time I’ve gotten to it before. Jumping into it with fresh eyes was a revelation–it really works much better if you treat it as a standalone, with the previous novels as background but with its own locations and characters and plot points. Instead of being frustrated with having to get to know new characters AGAIN when I really just want to know what’s going to happen to the characters I already care about, I found myself enjoying this one in its own right for the first time.

* My cats were so happy to have me back. Angel sat on my lap for all eight Supernatural episodes, and Lucifer’s been sleeping on my pillow with his arms wrapped around my head.

* I saw Hole at Terminal 5 last night. It was terrible–they played for less than an hour and seemed to put in very little effort. It was nice to hear a snippet of “Pretty on the Inside,” but aside from that, they only played three songs from Live Through This (all singles) and nothing else from the olden days. Man, I’d kill to hear “Drown Soda.” None of their new stuff was particularly impressive, and Courtney mostly seemed bored. (On a shallow level, her plastic surgery just bothers me. Her old nose was fine! I thought she was so hot when I was a kid. *sad sigh*)

It was also exhausting–to be in the front I’d had to stand for 2.5 hours through two opening bands (the first terrible, the second decent) and then put up with a batshit mosh pit (people kicking and hair pulling to get to the front, big guys trying to bodysurf over small women–to the dude who tried to use my head and neck as a springboard during “Doll Parts” [seriously, during "Doll Parts"?!], I hope you die in a fire, and also OWWWWW).

Oddly enough I was at the same venue, standing in the same position, for Alice in Chains a few months ago, and their moshpit was nowhere near as life-threatening. Since when are Hole crowds nastier than Alice in Chains crowds?

* Just bought tickets to the midnight opening night showing of Iron Man 2 in IMAX. OMG CAN’T WAIT.

* This fantastic Doctor Who vid has been all over my flist: Tenth Doctor: The Musical by di_br. Awww, I miss Ten. (Thus far I haven’t read anything about Moffat’s Who that’s made me want to watch.)

* This post about protagonist privilege by londonkds is fascinating. I can see in it an explanation for a lot of my frustrations with BtVS (as someone who loved Anya and Spike and was incessantly frustrated by them being distorted and deprioritized in order to “teach lessons” to the “real heroes”) and I can also sooo see this as one of the major flaws of the Lymond Chronicles, even though I love it to pieces anyway. (It’s much more pleasant when your favorite character is the hero, which is a big part of why I don’t allow myself to get fannish anymore about anything in which my favorite character is not the lead–it’s just maddening to realize that your favorite can be ruined at whim in service of the lead character’s “growth.”)

* My favorite clip of Jon and Stephen on The Daily Show (the one with Prince Charles and the banana). I dug this up the other day for a friend who hadn’t seen it and am posting the link in case anyone missed it–it’s awesome.

hello from Puerto Rico

May 9th, 2009 11:19pm by rusty-halo | No Comments »

Puerto Rico is wonderful. :)

I’m posting updates and photos (like instant postcards!) via Twitter. If you want to follow along:
http://twitter.com/drinkthepoison

Two Days in Chicago

April 22nd, 2009 3:52pm by rusty-halo | 2 Comments »

I’m going to be in Chicago on Friday and Saturday for my brother’s wedding. I’m busy with wedding stuff in the evenings, but I’ve got the mornings and afternoons to do stuff. Any recommendations?

I’m staying downtown, here. I might end up defaulting to the one day Frommer’s thing but personal recommendations are always appreciated.

(If nothing else, I think I’ll have to go to the art museum featured in Ferris Bueller…)

the weekend, Simm movies, and random thoughts

December 16th, 2008 3:39pm by rusty-halo | 7 Comments »

* Um. There’s an Edward Cullen bedsheet set. This might be the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.

* I watched the two John Simm Netflix DVDs that have been lying around my house for the past six months. The first was a TV show called Cracker, in which adorable young Simm plays a deeply fucked up young killer who just wants to be loved. Awww. You kind of want to snuggle the poor darling… and then lock him up for life. It was fun to watch, but nothing new; pretty much the same thing he did in Chiller (which was more fun because of the gay subtext with his evil imaginary friend).

Then I watched Wonderland… or, I should say, the first half hour of Wonderland, before I couldn’t take it any more and had to fast forward to only the Simm parts. It’s apparently a movie about a bunch of incredibly boring, miserable people, who go about their boring lives being miserable. I guess it’s supposed to be “realistic,” but it was just pathetic. Admittedly I only got part way through… maybe it got better? Simm didn’t have much to do anyway; he played one of the many boring pathetic losers, basically Danny Kavanagh without the spark. I don’t understand why people make movies like this. Even if some peoples’ lives are this dull, who would want to watch a film about it?

Between Wonderland and The Devil’s Whore, I am beginning to doubt the conventional wisdom that John Simm has great taste in projects. At least we’ll always have Life on Mars and Doctor Who. And I still haven’t seen anything as bad as the crap I endured during my Sean Bean phase.

* I had a peculiar weekend.

( Saturday I got way too drunk at my friend Livi’s holiday party )

Sunday I had to drag myself out of bed to go to the Museum of Modern Art, because I’d bought a ticket in advance. I got there at 3pm and it closes at 5:30pm; the world is just not made for night people. Or hungover people. >:( But thanks to coffee and tylenol, I managed to enjoy the Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night exhibit. I know it’s a cliche, but it really is so much more incredible to see an actual painting in person. They had both of my favorites, Starry Night Over the Rhone and The Starry Night. Which I also know is also a cliche, but… they’re really popular because they’re really amazing! It’s stunning how beautiful they are, and how vivid the colors are when you see them in person. The exhibit was actually pretty small–something like 40 paintings–with a focus on how Van Gogh captured the light and the “spiritual qualities” of night. It was definitely worth seeing; I’m glad I finally made it there. (If you’re going, buy your museum ticket online in advance and you’re guaranteed entrance to the Van Gogh exhibit; otherwise you have to get a timed entry ticket, which they might sell out of before you arrive.)

Then I went to the Looking at Music exhibit, which honestly just seemed to be a bunch of stuff from the 60s and 70s randomly thrown together based on what had been donated to MOMA. However, they did have Bowie’s “Space Oddity” video running on constant repeat, and I watched it through a couple times because I couldn’t get over the novelty of watching a music video I like at a big fancy art museum. I wish I had thought to the use the “It’s ART!” justification when trying to convince my parents to let me watch MTV as a kid. :P Oh, and I rather optimistically bought two tickets for the Bowie music video screening on Friday night. I don’t know what I was thinking; now I have to find someone to take the second ticket. But I’m really glad I got one for me. Even though it’s just music videos, it’s music videos on a big screen! At a museum! Sorry, I just find it really amusing, in a good way. :)

* I’m trying not to panic about the holidays. Trying being the operative word. There is nowhere in the world I’d less rather go than Southern Indiana, but I owe my parents for helping me move, so I’m going. Wasting time and money I really can’t spare to go be miserable out in the middle of nowhere, while my cats are left alone with a catsitter I can’t afford and I have nothing to do and no one to talk to and nothing to eat and… just… oh my god I don’t want to go. *sigh*

Current Mood: blah

UK vs US

October 24th, 2008 3:49pm by rusty-halo | 13 Comments »

( Things I miss about the UK )

( Things I missed about the US )

JFK to LAX for $289

October 23rd, 2008 5:43pm by rusty-halo | 11 Comments »

Virgin America is having a sale. My Gallifrey One plane tickets are booked!

jaydk and I are arriving Thursday night and leaving Monday morning.

Hope to see many of you there! :)

Home!!!!

October 22nd, 2008 11:04pm by rusty-halo | 6 Comments »

I never, ever, ever want to be offline for twelve days straight EVER AGAIN.

*hugs flist*

Pictures soon!

Current Mood: happy & sad

What Should I Do in London?

October 8th, 2008 12:49pm by rusty-halo | 12 Comments »

Proof that the stuff I’ve been working my ass off on has some impact on the world:

* SuperVegan got a really nice plug from Ecorazzi yesterday.

* We announced Writercon! And tons of people already registered to appear on the attendees list. It’s actually happening!

* I finished the Freelance Project of Doom! Which is pretty much all I’ve been doing (aside from announcing Writercon) over the past five days. Now if I could just get the client to pay me before I leave for London… (*crosses fingers*)

I now have a giant to-do list of boring stuff like laundry, cleaning, and packing. Did I mention that I’M LEAVING FOR LONDON ON SATURDAY MORNING?!!!!!!

Um, so, what should I do in London? Who wants to meet up? What are the must-see things? I’ve been so busy trying to finish up everything before I leave that I’ve barely had any time to plan the trip.

( Vague plans so far )

And then (OMG!!!) Stratford.

Am I missing anything? What’s the must-do stuff when you’re spending nine days in London?

I think there are several people I need to exchange email addresses or phone numbers with… send me an email at laura@rusty-halo.com if you’re one of them. :)

Current Mood: excited

Out and About

September 19th, 2008 3:57pm by rusty-halo | 4 Comments »

( I went to the Candle 79 5th anniversary party last night )

Other things I’m meaning to do sometime soon:

* Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night at MOMA

* Gothic: Dark Glamour exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology

Meanwhile, jaydk and I have booked our London hotel and are now planning the specifics of our trip (OMG! Less than a month!!!) and I think I’ve found a catsitter who is experienced and isn’t going to charge me an arm and a leg to watch my cats (*fingers crossed*). There are no words for how much I’m looking forward to this London/Stratford trip; it’s the one thing that’s kept me going all year.

And… we booked a hotel and bought tickets for Gallifrey One, so I guess that means we’re going. I remain wary, but I suppose it’s worth trying it out once, and if it’s awful I never have to go back. I did very much enjoy chatting with the new Who fen I managed to find at DragonCon, so let’s hope it’s worth it. Plus I really am curious to hear what the new Who writers have to say. :)

Current Mood: hopeful

It’s Really Happening!

August 22nd, 2008 12:42pm by rusty-halo | 6 Comments »

Virgin Atlantic’s having a sale, so I JUST BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO LONDON.

OMG YAY!!!! :)

Current Mood: jubilant

Stone Temple Pilots at the Borgata

August 10th, 2008 8:36pm by rusty-halo | No Comments »

Due South: “Some Like it Red.” Okay, Fraser makes an incredibly unconvincing woman. But Fraser and Ray Vecchio are so utterly OTP! I don’t know how in the world I’m going to deal when the new Ray shows up.

Oh, and, hey, I got home from Atlantic City alive. Obviously. I was home by 3:30am, which isn’t bad at all. And I’m so glad I went. I was expecting the show to be bad, hoping for mediocre, and was really surprised that it turned out to be good. Really good! The band was tight, they all seemed to get along, their stage banter was funny, Weiland was on form and perfectly coherent. I had a nice spot, in the third row on the far left, despite having arrived around 9pm, shortly before they went on. (Stupid bus got stuck in traffic.) The Borgata is the perfect venue for seeing big bands in a small space.

All my criticisms of Stone Temple Pilots stand–Core is good but most of the songs sound the same, and their subsequent records are mostly filler with around three quality songs for singles. Their lyrics are thoroughly uninspired, and they haven’t an original bone in their musical body. And they were always blatantly money-driven, unlike similar bands of their era who seemed largely motivated by, y’know, actual musical creativity.

That said… I like their sound, especially from the Core and Purple records. That’s my era, y’know? You couldn’t listen to rock radio–or watch MTV–in the mid ’90s without knowing all their singles by heart, and they were better than 99% of the other grunge wanna-bes (did you see that Candlebox is making a comeback? Candlebox!) And I think that Weiland, although not the brightest guy, generally seems to have his heart in the right place. When I saw him with Velvet Revolver at Jones Beach he gave a speech about how much Clear Channel sucks, and last night he talked (with a minimum of incomprehensible rambling) about how he supports the troops but not the government’s policies, and that the two are entirely different things, and that he encourages the audience to educate themselves about politics instead of vegging out to reality TV. Aww. Not that I take political advice from Scott Weiland, but I think that it’s sweet that he’s trying.

And it was so good to see him in his element. He just fits with Stone Temple Pilots so much better than with Velvet Revolver; it was like night and day, compared to the (wow, at least ten) Velvet Revolver shows that I saw. It was wonderful to see “Interstate Love Song” and “Sex Type Thing” played properly by the guys who wrote them. As my favorite part of the Velvet Revolver set was always the STP songs, it was like all the good of that experience, distilled. I got to hear “Plush”! And “Dead and Bloated”! And “Creep”! And “Big Empty”! And “Crackerman”! And they closed with an amazing rendition of “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” with the audience singing the “I’m not dead / I’m not for sale” line at the top of its lungs by itself every time but the last. They played every song I wanted to hear, which isn’t that hard considering they played every one of their singles and all of the good songs from Core, but hey, at least that means they know what they’re good at.

They all seemed really happy–it was one of the DeLeo brother’s birthday, and Scott wished him a happy one very nicely. And they even commented that it was one of the best shows of the tour, which I definitely believe given the disastrous tour reports I’d read in advance.

So, yay! I’m really glad I went, and I hope they can keep it together for the rest of the tour. :)

Current Mood: lazy

Been Busy Lately

August 9th, 2008 1:21am by rusty-halo | 4 Comments »

I’m in the middle of week three of the hundred push ups program, which means I did 71 push ups tonight. Owwwwwwwwww. I’m doing the half-assed knee push ups, but still.

I’m doing this mainly because I didn’t believe it could possibly work (me doing 100 push ups after six weeks? I’ve never been able to do more than 15) and because I really need to start exercising again. I was doing so well last year; I was up to four half hour workouts a week, and lost 20 pounds. And then I got depressed, stopped exercising, and gained back all the weight. Ugh. So this seemed like a way to jump start the working out thing also.

I’ve also been busy cooking. I’m still following the Vegan Cooking for One meal plan. I like cooking and having a homemade meal every night, but I’m getting sick of the bland and unimaginative recipes in this book. Mushrooms, potatoes, rice, spaghetti, onions… c’mon, at least throw in one interesting thing per week! How about eggplant or … I don’t know, kumquats or something. Blah. But I’m taking photos and going to blog it on SuperVegan, so at least it’s good for something. :P

I’ve been really busy with Writercon, but we don’t have anything to announce yet. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to announce a city and hotel soon, though! Meanwhile I’m learning Drupal and spreadsheets.

I’ve been reading “Hamlet” on the subway to and from work. I’m trying not to get too excited, but I keep picturing David Tennant and OMG CAN’T WAIT FOR OCTOBER.

I’ve been catching some TV here and there. I decided that I adore Fraser’s boss, Meg Thatcher (lol), and that I’d rather watch a show about her. She’s kind of like a female Fraser: older and more cynical, but incredibly socially awkward and with that core idealism underneath. Just, she’s interesting, with her heart protected under so many layers of caution and professionalism, and her default reaction to assume the worst of everyone and to push people away. The last episode I saw was “We Are The Eggmen” so this could change; don’t spoil me for anything that’s coming up.

The next Doctor/Master episode is “The Claws of Axos.” Anything particular I should look out for in this one? I’ll probably start it on Sunday.

jaydk came over last weekend for more Doctor Who. I made a whole batch of banana split cupcakes, and we had a lot of fun. She agrees that “Terror of the Autons” is way more entertaining than “The War Games.” And “Journey’s End” feels more “official” now that we watched it together–although I’m highly amused that we had to pause it twice so that we could get into extended arguments. Ah, fangirls.

Tomorrow I’m taking the bus to Atlantic City to see Stone Temple Pilots. I’m stressing about this, not only because it’s apparently a money-driven mess with a relapsed lead singer, but because I hate Atlantic City. This was the only show I could get tickets to (they’re not playing NYC), so I bought a ticket with a blithe “Oh, I’ll find someone to go with me!” Which never happens, of course, and I end up alone at 12:30am in an empty corner of a casino parking garage, waiting for a bus that may or may not show up, with no human being in sight. I feel like it’s tempting fate to keep doing this. I even looked for a hotel room thinking maybe I’d stay overnight and take a daytime bus home, but Atlantic City hotels are absurdly expensive. So, late night bus. I probably won’t get murdered.

Current Mood: busy

Oh, Dear

August 6th, 2008 1:53pm by rusty-halo | No Comments »

Looks like I’m in for an adventure when I go to see Stone Temple Pilots on Saturday.

I know STP is a sad excuse for a band. I have lots of nostalgic affection for them anyway. And I don’t want Scott Weiland to die. :(

Current Mood: worried

EEEEEEEE!!!!

August 4th, 2008 3:04pm by rusty-halo | 15 Comments »

I just booked our Stratford B&B.

*squees in a thoroughly undignified manner*

Now we just need to choose a hotel in London for the week before. Where would you stay if you were going to be in London doing touristy things?

(Ideally we want something centrally located, near a tube stop, and with two beds and an en-suite bathroom. And, um, not horrifically expensive. *frantically saves money*)

I have no idea where to even start looking. I’m just finally starting to realize that this is real and we’re actually doing it!

Current Mood: dorky & giddy

GRRRR

July 22nd, 2008 2:12pm by rusty-halo | 16 Comments »

It’s completely silly to hope for a Stratford B&B that will actually have food that I can eat, isn’t it?

*sigh*

Whatever. I’ll be on such a high from seeing David Tennant two days in a row that it won’t matter. And even if I can’t eat the B&B breakfast, there should be somewhere in town where I can find something more substantial than fruit.

Also, dear Google: “vegetarian” and “vegan” are not the same thing. Stop showing me results for one when I’m looking for the other. It’s nice that most of the B&Bs in Stratford offer vegetarian options, but it really doesn’t help me when they consist of eggs, cheese, milk, fake meat made with eggs, and vegetables cooked with butter. :P

Current Mood: annoyed

Projekt Revolution, The Dark Knight, Due South, and Doctor Who

July 21st, 2008 2:59pm by rusty-halo | 7 Comments »

I had the most awesome Saturday. jaydk and I went to Philadelphia for Projekt Revolution.

( Good friends, yummy food, street fairs, Chris Cornell, and Linkin Park )

What else I’ve been up to:

( I liked The Dark Knight, but I didn’t *love* it )

( I’ve been catching up on Due South )

( My Doctor Who fannish experience has been very Doctor/Master centric lately )