A message from Mr. Whedon

I am a dork, so I'm subscribed to a newsletter from the City of Angel website which is about, naturally, the show Angel. The following message from Joss Whedon was in my e-mail this week:

"Some of you may have heard the hilarious news. I thought this would be a good time to weigh in. to answer some obvious questions: No, we had no idea this was coming. Yes, we will finish out the season. No, I don't think the WB is doing the right thing. Yes, I'm grateful they did it early enough for my people to find other jobs.

Yes, my heart is breaking.

When Buffy ended, I was tapped out and ready to send it off. When Firefly got the axe, I went into a state of denial so huge it may very well cause a movie. But Angel... we really were starting to feel like we were on top, hitting our stride -- and then we strode right into the Pit of Snakes 'n' Lava. I'm so into these characters, these actors, the situations we're building... you wanna know how I feel? Watch the first act of "The Body."

As far as TV movies or whatever, I'm not thinking that far ahead. I actually hope my actors and writers are all too busy. We always planned this season finale to be a great capper to the season and the show in general. (And a great platform for a new season, of course.) We'll proceed ahead as planned.

I've never made mainstream TV very well. I like surprises, and TV isn't about surprises, unless the surprise is who gets voted off of something. I've been lucky to sneak this strange, strange show over the airwaves for as long as I have. I don't FEEL lucky, but I understand that I am.

Thanks all for your support, your community, and your perfectly sane devotion. It's meant a lot. I regret nothing (except the string of grisley murders in the 80's -- what was THAT all about?) Remember the words of the poet:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn."

See you soon.

-j"

And here's the petition stuff the Citizens of Angel sent me:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ai5d0162/petition.html
(65088 at last count)

http://www.petitiononline.com/angels6/petition.html
(32750 at last count)

Yeah, I'm contradicting myself, but thousands of names and e-mail addresses on some petitions might help. Okay, so probably not, but I can't find any postcards up here. Smalbany sucks.

Little gold man for Captain Jack?

I'm all happy.

Hollywood observers are shocked that Johnny Depp walked away with the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards at the weekend, and there's now a strong feeling in the film industry that he could well surprise everyone and take the home the best actor Oscar on Sunday.

The rest of the tiny article goes on to explain that Sean Penn was the favorite to win the Oscar before the SAG Awards were given, with Bill Murray in second running.

First off, Huzzah for Captain Jack! That movie was fabulous, but Johnny Depp's Captain Jack was the centerpiece of the film. If it had been anyone else in the role, I don't think that the film would have held up. As it was, it was one of the most enjoyable films of the past year. That's the difference his role made.

Secondly, I'm not so hot on Sean Penn. Not so much the personal foilbles, being that he's a violent arsehole, but that I can see his acting when he's acting. He never embodies a role. He always shows the seams of his performance, letting you know he's using his craft, rather than just bloody acting. Also, I'm sick and tired of people crediting dramatic roles over comedic. It's a butt-load harder to pull off a comedic role than it is to lament over the death of your fictional daughter. The Academy is perfectly happy with drama that goes over the top, but they get all snobby once they're confronted with comedy (or SF/F, for that matter).

Which leads me to Bill Murray. He's had the performance of his career in Lost In Translation. I've always enjoyed his performances, but this is the one I knew he had in him since Groundhog Day and even more so since Rushmore. My trouble is deciding between Murray and Depp, but I still lean towards Murray. I loved, loved, loved Depp, but Murray's performace was brilliant. I'd be happy with either winning. Just so long as it isn't the overrated Penn or anything from that gawdawful Cold Mountain.

Quick! Before Maggie moves!

From a mailer I get from RightStuf.com:

*** Enlightening Young Minds... With Manga! ***
Set to appear in children's museums around the country, "Jump to Japan" is an
exhibit that teaches Japanese and Asian culture through popular art. Among the
displays will be areas for anime and manga, featuring video and print media from
titles like Pokemon, Yugioh, Shaman King, Nausicaa - there are even plans for a
life-sized Cat Bus from Totoro!

At the moment, "Jump to Japan" is running at the Children's Museum at the Seattle
Center in Seattle, WA. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by with your junior
otaku! And for more information, visit the Children's Museum homepage.

I hope it comes to the Children's Museum in Philly. ... There is a children's museum in Philly, right?

... Cat Bus! There's gong to be a life-sized Cat Bus! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

tee hee!

"Almost Boobs." Tee hee!

Whoops. Okay. Got that fixed.

Hey. Remember this post? Apparently there was some sort of server issue at Enetation.co.uk, which they insist they've since cleared up. I went to one of my commenting links and it seemed to be functioning. So, um, comment away.

Please note I've continued to refrain from saying anything about the A-Rod/Yankees thing.

p.s.

Thank you for the valentine, Halifax. I laughed and laughed....then Mom told me to shut up making so much damned noise, can't I laugh quieter, dammit, and I was sad.

p.p.s.

Thank you, Joss Whedon, for the image of puppet-Angel totting a big-ass sword over his shoulders. I laughed and laughed....then my mom told me I laugh like a horse and what the hell is wrong with me, laughing like that, I must've gotten that from my low-class father, that sunovabitch, and I was sad.

A joke for your five-year old cousin/nephew/niece/child

Q: How does the man-in- the-moon cut his hair?
A: Eclipse it!

"Family-friendly" joke care of The Prarie Home Companion Newsletter.

In other news

However, I did find this amusing. Anyone seen it before?

What do you do with a show bringing in target viewers? Dump it, apparently.or the a$$holes at FOX followed in suit by the d!cks at The WB

This is what the official WB website said about Angel: "ANGEL is currently The WB's second highest-rated series with adults 18-34. And yet what has The WB decided to do now that their number two show has hit 100 episodes? They're cancelling it. As the monster says over the Mutant Enemy card, Grr! Arg!

I'm posting the following here which I found on one of the response pages at Peter David's blog:

*
Quick Postcard Campaign to Save Angel

Unfortunately, emailing networks or posting in online petitions is a waste of time. As soon as they start getting emails, they set up spam filters to delete the mail and they don't ever see what comes in. Waiting around for somebody to organize something is wasting precious time--organized campaigns are going to be great but here's something you can do NOW.

If you want to actually do something that actually might--MIGHT--help to get another season for Angel...

DO THIS TOMORROW

1. Go and buy some postcards that show scenes from your city. Tourist postcards. Postcards that have the name of your town or city or area of the country on them. You don't need anything fancy, just something that will show immediately where you are located so they know this is coming from all over.

2. Write a short message on the postcard in your own words saying that you want Angel to be renewed and support the show. Keep it positive. Don't be insulting. Don't be abusive.

3. Address the postcard to one of the people on the list of addresses in this message. Levin may ignore the cards coming into the WB, but the media outlets will see there's a story in this and publicize it. The names on the list are in order of importance so start at the top and send as many postcards as you want to (or can afford to send).

4. Go and get at least six friends who probably aren't reading this on the internet but would be willing to send postcards, and get them to do the same thing.

5. DO IT TOMORROW! Speed of response is what counts along with the size of the response. Don't wait for instructions from some group. Just DO IT.

Here are the addresses to mail your cards to:

Matt Roush
TV Guide
Box 500
Radnor, PA 19088-0500

The Hollywood Reporter
Attn: Cynthia Littleton
5055 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-4396

Entertainment Tonight,
Paramount Pictures Domestic TV
Roddenberry Building
5555 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90038

Extra
Warner Bros
4000 Warner Blvd.
Triangle Building, 4th Floor
Burbank, CA 91522

Entertainment Weekly
1675 Broadway New York
NY 10019


TNT is the best possibility to pick up Angel since they've gotten good ratings with the reruns and do some original programming.

Turner Network Television
Attn: Robert DeBitetto (pres, original programming)
1888 Century Park East, 14th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Turner Network Television
Attn: Julie Wietz (exec vp. original programming)
1888 Century Park East, 14th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Turner Network Television
Attn: Attn: Mr. Jamie Kellner, Chairman and CEO
1050 Techwood Dr. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318

Turner Network Television
Attn: Garth Ancier, Executive Vice-President, Programming
1050 Techwood Dr. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318


Rumor is that Levin doesn't accept cards or letters and they get returned, but a flood of mail might make news even if it doesn't get through

Warner Brothers Network
Attn: Jordan Levin, CEO
4000 Warner Blvd., Building 34R
Burbank, CA 91522
(818) 977-5000

*

And, if you want to send cards to Joss to express support and let him know the level of interest, here's where to send them:

Joss Whedon
C/o Mutant Enemy Productions
PO Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213

And to send cards supporting the cast and crew:

Angel Productions
20th Century Fox
PO Box, 900
Beverly Hills
CA, 90213-0900


Now, if you actually want to accomplish something, make some news, and maybe, just maybe, get a sixth season for Angel...

DO THIS TOMORROW AND DON'T PUT IT OFF!

Also, permission is given to repost this message to other lists, message boards and other places that are interested in supporting Joss and Angel. Spread the word and let's do something quickly. Speed counts.
*

Not that I expect anyone reading this to do anything, but I thought I'd try.

How are you?

I've become an especially shitty e-mail correspondent. I've sent letters to folks, but few e-mail. No one who reads this blog has received either from me in a while (outside of birthdays). I actually do care how things are going for my friends, but I'm crap at writing e-mail. I just can't do it anymore. Feels so damned, I don't know, shallow, like I can't write with the right combination of casualness and gravitas required. I can't explain, really. I just can't think of anything to write which fits. So I write occasionally (more than occasionally of late) in my blog, as shallow and inane is fine for a blog. This means I have to rely on my friends sending me e-mails, to which I may or may not eventually send a response (not likely as I've been having trouble with my accounts), or on their posting responses in the comments on my blog, which no one has of late, to find out what's going on, as I'm completely incapable of sending out e-mail. Or calling. Lord forbid I pick up a phone when I'm not stuck on campus, bored out of my mind (when most everyone is at work).

Okay, so, how is everyone? If you are alive, please post as much in the comments. No further detail necessary, unless you're inspired. You can even tell me off on being such a lazy beeyatch that I can't even send e-mail to friends. Not like I don't deserve it.

Please note the complete lack of posting on the whole A-Rod/Yankees thing. cough

CATBUS!

You might remember, way back, I ranted about my lovely new Catbus bag which my buddy, C--, sent to me. He picked it up in Hong Kong, where he's been on assignment for his job at Toilet Paper (not its real name). He came back for winter break and shipped this over to me. I opened the package on the road to NYC and fell in love with my beautisimous Totoro bag and my snazzy Totoro cell phone mascot. Anyway, I'd promised I would post a picture of my bag on my phlog, so here's the picture. I took it just after I'd taken the bag out of the package and stuck my cell phone (bemascoted), my notebook, a pen, my wallet (Kerokerokeroppi), my lip gloss and face powder into the bag.

I looooooooooooove my Catbus bag! (I keep calling it my Totoro bag.) My nephew, P--, is a little jealous of it. He keeps asking me where I got it, as if trying to hint that it might be a good idea if I were to get him something like it. Fat chance, kiddo. I love you, but all catbus items are mine, mine, mine!

What a boring life I lead, Part II: travels of a sheltered American infidel

I've visited 5 countries and live in 1, which totals out to 6 nations, or 2% of the nations of the world of which I have seen a small part.


Create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide on World66.

What a boring life I lead, Part I: these united states

19 out of 50 (37%). That's just sad. Especially when you consider that they're counting D.C. for some reason and that I've lived in three states counted (NY, MD, CT).


Create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide on World66.

Oh, yeah, now I remember. I was f*cking miserable.

Okay, so I've been whining in my posts lately about how much my life sucks, blah, blah, blah. But going through my e-mail has provided me with this insight: it could be worse; I could still be working for corporate lawyers.

The following is from an e-mail I sent a week before I left my last job. Please note the bitchy tone. See? I've always been this annoying. Please note also that what I wrote in this bitchy e-mail was true. Truth in bitching. Aah.

Subject: corporate lawyers have no work ethic

I know this because I work with them and for them and deal with the ones in other companies. The one who will do his job thoroughly, actually perform the requisite due diligence, is the exception that proves the rule.

They are not scum. They are lazy. They are overpaid. If four people look at a document, all of them highly-paid lawyers with much experience and training and industry respect, and it's a flipping college drop-out who catches the error which invalidates the contract, I think there's an issue. I think there's a problem. I think I should be paid a HELL of a lot more, 'cause I'm doing their flipping work FOR them because they feel they're far too important to do the grunt work that is required of them.

I hate these people for their condescension and their excuses and their laziness. The ones here and the ones we deal with. I hope [my brother] never sinks so low as to pretend to practice law in a corporate environment. Because that's all they're doing: pretending. These people are as far away from actual law as I am. They're pathetic, and I have no respect for them.

Dubyah gets a groove on

I'm going through old e-mail (obviously). Found Dancing Bush sitting in an obscured spot. I'd forgotten how much I liked playing with it. Go, Georgie! Go, Georgie! You go, White Boy!

>> > Subject: [ Bra Sizes]

>>> >
>> > Finally...........there is a rhyme to the reason of the strange
>> > designation
>> > given to bra sizes:
>> >
>> > Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E and F are the letters
>> > used to define bra sizes?
>> >
>> > If you have wondered why, but couldn't figure out what the letters
>> > stood for, here is the answer...
>> >
>> > A - Almost Boobs...
>> > B - Barely there.
>> > C - Can't Complain!
>> > D - Damn!
>> > DD - Double damn!
>> > E - Enormous!
>> > F - Fake
>> >

My favorite's "A - Almost Boobs...". It makes me laugh. Ha ha ha. ...Because of this I know I am a terrrible person. Still, "Almost Boobs." Tee hee!

Reading list

The following is a list of books I was required to buy for this semester's courses. This list was inspired by thecomicman's, which is better than mine as he is smarter than I am and a better student and therefore going to a better school and taking better classes. Also, I've been informed by a little roachbird that TCM can swear up a bluestreak which flames and sears the very heavens above. I've been informed by no less an authority than my younger brother that I sound like a complete and utterly dorky (in a bad way) ass whenever I attempt to swear.

Oh, yes. The list.

EAJ102 - Elementary Japanese II:

• nothing, just the textbook, workbook from last semester and a packet with extra assignments in it


ENG341 - Chaucer:


• The Riverside Chaucer
  plus A Chaucer Glossary for idjits like me who have trouble with Middle English


ENG450 - Images of the Writer in U.S. Culture:


• Reading Desire: In Pursuit of Ernest Hemingway by Debra Moddelmog


• Hemingway and His Conspirators: Hollywood, Scribners, and the Making of American Celebrity Culture by Leonard Leff


• Writing in the Real World: Making the Transition from School to Work by Anne Beaufort


• Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath by Kate Moses


• The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway


• On Writing by Stephen King

and a packet filled with badly written scholarly texts


EAJ385 - History of Japan II:


• Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai by Katsu Kokichi


• Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu translated by Donald Keene


• Harp of Burma by Takeyama Michio


• Modern Japan: A Historical Survey by Hane Mikiso


• Botchan by Natsume Soseki

Bad student, good napper

Of late I have not been able to keep my eyes open.

That statement is not entirely true.

Of late I have frequently not been able to keep my eyes open. When I can, I can't ever close them. I am alternating between pseudo-narcolepsy and insomnia. Mostly it's the sleeping and sleepiness. I can barely get myself to awlk up and down the basement stairs to get to my study spot.

My study spot is by the basement stairway, on the huge architect's table my eldest sister left behind when she moved to France. Ithas many sources of light and many Lord of the Rings action figures, including two Legolases, one six-inch, one twelve-inch, and teeny, tiny Merry and Pippin. Treebeard is going to come to the table soon to hold the teeny, tiny hobbits in his branchy hands. In the organized chaos there are: two Japanese dictionaries and a Japanese phrasebook; ten overdue library books; a candy jar filled with "Creme" Starburst; more index cards than I know what to do with; various items made of paper; two mugs of writing implements, one with Tigger and Pooh, the other with the Yankees logo; notebooks with last semester's notes; a giant dictionary I took home in an attempt to get some payback from a particularly nasty office; a globe; a Woody figurine; an electronic encyclopedia which no longer works; a photograph of my eldest nephew one Halloween about ten years ago when he was the kid from Where the Wild Things Are; and the books assigned this semester.

I am behind in my reading, as the books I needed to read arrived late (shakes fist at sky a la Jon Stewart on The Daily Show "Damn you, Powells.com!") and have had this irresistable urge to sleeeeeeep. When I have managed to get some studying done, I go to bed late, about 2:30 to 3 o'clock in the morning, and have trouble going to sleep. I can't stop worrying about everything I'm screwing up (credit card debt, familial relationships, friendships, academic standing, health, etc.) of late. Mostly I can't help but think that I just don't have time to go to sleep. I need to study. Study. Stuuuuudyyyyyy. This insomnia, naturally, aggravates the supreme sleepiness from which I've been suffering.

Oh, and there's the Incompletes I have to make up. Soon. Like, practically tomorrow. And I haven't done a damned thing except accrue overdue fees on library books.

I'm whining a lot. This is stupid and my fault and I don't know why I'm doing this to myself. It's bizzare. I've been given this second chance after fucking up so royally seven years ago. Maybe it's knowing that even if I get stellar grades and graduate with honors, I'll still have to be a secretary. I'll be heading straight back to the place from which I was desperately trying to escape by going back to school. Why oh why couldn't I be even slightly interested in being a comp sci major or a business major? Something which could get me a real job? Still, this is a stupid reason for being stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Entrails! Whale entrails!

Here's a picture. Here's another. Here's the story. Here's the story with more detail and a slightly better picture, what with the stuff pouring out in a wave. Enjoy!

Holy... Did you see that?

Um, two-headed baby. Seriously. Look: "Yahoo! News - Surgeons to Operate on Baby With 2 Heads".

Rather, look here. I mean, um, hey. Ear next to the mouth. Another ear on the chin. Nose, two eyes. Mom always told me that fetuses can absorb their twin. Sounded like something from an X-Files episode. Turns out, while rare, it's true, sort of. Really, the one fetus just stops growing, fused to the other. There's even a name for it: parasitic twin, craniopagus parasiticus, meaning the partially developed twin is parasitically dependent upon the fully developed twin.

"The head on top is growing faster than the lower one," said Dr. Jorge Lazareff, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the University of California at Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital. "If we don't operate, the child would barely be able to lift her head at 3 months old."

I can't help but think that it looks like something ...oh, crap. The super-famous Hollywood prosthetic guy. One of his jobs. Or...remember the scene in Alien: Resurrection where the previous Ripley-alien merging results are kept in giant test-tubes? Like that. But, for real. Geezie creezie. The baby with the full body, Rebeca, is actually cute in that sweet, sleeping baby way. Will her parents ever tell her that she started off with two heads and that she wound up with the smaller one?

Although the second head is only partially developed, its mouth moves when Rebeca is being breast-fed.

Um. Oh. Eesh.

"You know, just off the top of your head."

quotes from AP article by PETER PRENGAMAN

Update

Poor little Rebeca died from a heart attack after the sugery. She lost a lot of blood, and her doctors believe that the stress of blood loss caused the heart attack. Poor little thing. It was pretty much an impossible procedure, but it had to be done. That second head would have destroyed hers in the growing process.

Second head. Oof.

Oh, my!

Just thought I'd show you how Blogger.com greets me every time I go in to edit my blog.

Welcome back, Sugar.

Every time I read this, in my head, I hear it read in the voice of the venerable Barry White.

Auuuugh! I hate not having money!

I found a present for Angry Rabbit. It would wait until, like, Christmas or something, as I just sent her stuff for Christmas and birthday and such. But it's, like, so Angry Rabbit circa 1998. Auuugh! I want to get it for her, but I can't afford it! This...this makes me so...I dunno...PMS-y. Grr. Whine. Stomp. Desire chocolate. Mm! Chocolate! Oh, yeah. Grr! Whine! Stomp!

I know it's just a stupid gift that I wouldn't be able to give in forever, but it's perfect. But too much for me to spend. It's $35 over my adult family member Christmas present limit. It's too much.

'Sides which, I still haven't made up for the Amazon address snafu with Sam not getting her present this Christmas.

But you know what I mean, right? You see that perfect gift and you think, That's it! and then you look at the price tag and say, Ah, shit. When I was working, I didn't care so much, but being unemployed and living off my mother and loans is a real drag on random purchases.

Please note I've yet to have that moment with a present for Halifax as the inspirational That's so Halifax! presents never cost so much that I worry about buying them. SheepBoy, yes. Maggie, Sam, D---, S---, T---, yes. But never Halifax. I wonder why.