One of those 'picture is worth a thousand words' picture, er, comic. Maybe just a good LOL. Got this via a friend and I'm guessing it's just floating through the internet. Luckily, my cat has yet to do this, but he's scratched up some furniture instead!

Ah, nice to see the Stargate gang getting back to work, although I STILL want Stargate Atlantis revived, with cast intact, but with new producers who know how to write. Anyway, here's the poster for Michael Shanks' new series, Saving Hope.



Okay, he's in the background, but at least he's there. Sorta reminds me a reverse of sorts of CBS's A Gifted Man, with Patrick Wilson, which will probably get axed because I watch it. I'm the kiss of death, I swear... Oh, big thx to @stargatezone on Twitter for posting it.

Cool. New series/novel/whatever with David Hewlett, Jewel Staite and Rainbow Sun Francks!

( Read more... )( Read more... )

It's April Fool's, you're stressing out over pranks about show renewals, or worse, show revivals without the cast members you so loved, so sit down, cross  your legs into that pretzel position that may cut off blood circulation or turn your limbs to pins and needles, leaving you at the mercy of your pet cat, and listen to Doctor Who's Daleks embark on a new career: relaxation/meditation tapes! ;)

I like Doctor Who, and this is just icing on the cake! You'll recognize Ben Browder when you see him. Now to get the rest of the Stargate gang on it. Surely they need an evil villain with a good cackling laugh (aka David Hewlett)

Yes, such a droll topic, but the wry sibling banter between David and Kate Hewlett makes up for it, and wow, cool Dalek shirt. Looks nice and shiny!

Nothing to do with media or sci-fi but a really beautiful video on "The Beauty of Pollination"

Yes, David Hewlett is letting us fans in on his utterly fantastic life after the demise of Stargate Atlantis. Be jealous viewing his massive swimming pool, the incredibly unique toys he has, and that mysterious connection to the Dalek...

Some excerpts: The Feb. 8 PC Perspective show on TWiT will feature special guest host David Hewlett.... David is a self-proclaimed nerd and geek with a keen interest in technology.  In his misspent youth he would build his own computers and attempt some assembly coding (with limited success).  After achieving much greater success in the acting world he switched over to Macs once they adopted their current Unix/BSD based operating system.  A proud owner of a Macbook Air, iPhone, and iPad, ...

David will be sharing his opinions and insights on the changing focus of technology in an increasingly mobile and connected world.  He will be piping in on several of our articles, especially that of AMD's changing focus for their upcoming products.  He might even chime in on the plight of Matthew in Season 2 of Downton Abbey.  That's just the way he rolls.

So join us all at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT at http://live.twit.tv on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 for this very special show!  DH-Day -1!

REST at http://www.pcper.com/news/Editorial/David-Hewlett-Joins-PCPer-Evening

Saw this big bad bird outside in the tree today. Had to be 18" tall, if not more. They grow big here due to all the bunnies and squirrels they're always picking off.



And it looked fat, too, but I'm sure part of that is fluffed-up feathers because of the cold, but it's also a big bird...

Meanwhile, I am watching the Superbowl because I'm not sure if anything else is on and I'm on the computer and I just look up for the ads. I have no idea who is winning the game but I should pay attention so I don't seem stupid when I go to work tomorrow ;) So far the ads are very uneven. A few fun ones, but mostly unmemorable. I mean, would it kill them to use a cute squirrel or other rodent in an ad?


( More under the cut )

I seem to be in a rut posting links to videos, but this one is too beautiful not to pass on. Probably the closest I'll get to seeing one of these...

The Aurora from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Ah, the Hewlett siblings are fiddling around with a YouTube web series.  To see the weirdness, just click on the picture below :)

Ooh, see the state of Oregon in just a few minutes!

I succumbed to another LJ thing that tells me all about myself ;)

I want to thank everyone who left condolecenses in my previous post. They were very, very much appreciated. I have not yet had the time to reply to them all, but I do plan to.

The house still feels empty, and way too large, now that my mother is gone. I've been going through papers (important for probate, etc.) and some closets - some of which have unopened sheets dating back to the 60s. The Mad Men set decorators would have a stroke looking at all the old stuff in this house! I found a heating pad cover from the 60s/70s, with this 'flower power' green power design. Very retro.

I got up two Christmas trees - tiny ones. Alas, the Dalek remains undecorated this year. Hopefully next year. Here's just a sampling of some of the decorations. I need to find mini-Dalek globes. Alas, the Godzilla ornaments are too big/heavy for the Christmas tree, which is one of those tiny table-top varities.

On the good side, the two Stargate Atlantis (one's a Stargate Atlantis/SG-1 crossover) novels I ordered from Fandemonium arrived! I just may take a break from cleaning/probate stuff and read a book!

I've been pretty absent on LJ this past year, mostly due to co-sharing caregiving duties for my elderly mother. Sigh, last Monday very early in the morning, my mother woke up, as she was prone to do but this time she fell and struck her head. EMS took her to the hospital but after the CAT scan, she never woke up. She died several hours later of brain trauma, and there was nothing they could do. Fortunately she was on a morphine drip so she passed away peacefully, with nice music playing on the ER TV... Ironically she passed away almost to the day that Rory, our dog, died last year. They were constant companions.

So, it's only been now I've really gotten back on the computer, with the exception (one tweet) and doing bills, emailing folks about the memorial service, which was very lovely. Had she been alive, I know she would have said so. Still pretty sad, and the house is so quiet without her. I feel sort of empty... and there's so much to do. My mother was a hoarder, but not hideously like that show. She was neat, but not so much toward the end (Alzheimer's, which is a horrible disease) but she saved a lot of stuff. In going through her drawers I found a shirt made in "British Hong Kong"! I'm thinking the packrat thing must be genetic since I save way too much stuff too.

Tha'ts it for now.

Just in case you want extra copies of seasons. www.deepdiscountdvd.com is selling each season of both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 for just $10.05 each. That's the cheapest I've seen in a per-season price yet. And that's free shipping too :)

This is a really cool video from the BBC. Oh, pardon the bad pun ;)

It's at http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835014 ... Couldn't figure out a way to embed here.

Houston, we have power! Yes, at nearly one week to the hour, our power has been restored., It's not perfect (in other words, we now have the new phone poles and the old ones next to them; they will get to them later this year).

I woke up early, figured I"d get down to the laudromat at eight a.m. as I just couldn't deal with the mountain of wash anymore. As I was about to leave, I hear the beep-beep-beep of a truck backing up. I look out window and through the trees I see a big truck. It was the crew there to put in the last pole. So I watched the whole process, chatted with the lead guy (he was from North Carolina) and he said the utilities people should be out in a couple hours to hook up the wires. And yup, this time a crew from West Virginia was there. I pointed out the new phone - which alas no one had really informed them about - so instead of 2-3 hours for power, it would be 4-5. No bother.  If we were getting it back today I would not complain. The crew guys were very nice!

So once I got power I did the dishes, vacuumed, did two loads of wash, and then got about to decorating for Halloween, well, finishing what I started. Our Halloween was postponed. Alas, half our neighborhood wasn't there, so it was sorta dark, and it was COLD outside. I got maybe 20 kids max. The last kids loved the decorations I put up. I actually carved a pumpkin (and left all the gunk inside, as now it's on the patio as a sacrifice to the great chipmunk god) ;)

Meanwhile, I tripped over a log and killed my camera (insert long pause for pitiful whine). Luckilly I figured out how to get the photos off the 4gig card. You have to put it in the computer and then start the computer. Didn't want to lose the vids I made as I recorded some of the crew digging the hole and setting in the pole.

It sucked not to have regular power. We did have power part of the time via the generator, but it's NOISY and since we have a well, we can't run water. Not having running water sucked. However, the local YMCA offered free hot showers. I LOVE hot showers. And the town gave free drinking water and if you brought containers as much water as you need for washing/flushing, and later, MREs. We did not have to open them so now have some. I'll have to try them out, but not immediately as heck, they're very high in calories (they're meant for soldiers, not office workers) ;)

So now that Storm Alfred is done, I'm wondering what disaster will hit on Thanksgiving, since Hurricane Irene hit Labor Day. Hmm, hurricane? earthquake? plague of locusts? As long as I have internet....

The huge honking tree is still in the road, no sign of the power company. The local tv news came yesterday and sat there for six hours for that story and froze their butts off. Now they're talkling virtually full restoration by Sunday nght. Sunday?! ARGH!  Day 5 and I'm starting to get testy.

Yup, for Labor Day, we had Hurricane Irene, and for Halloween, we got Storm Alfred (yup, that's the name!) On Saturday, October 29th the snow came in... pretty fast, and VERY wet and heavy. Add 5-7" of that rather quickly and I stood outside just listening to the trees snapping off branches and alas, one very very big tree snapping off at the roots and falling across the road and taking out the power lines. And several phone poles are now cracked at the base so will need to be replaced. Sigh. They say we'll have power back by Saturday, they hope. ARGH! If not for the generator, we'd be sitting in cold and dark. Luckily, AMAZINGLY, actually, Cablevision came back tonight. I was shocked. As long as I get to see all of Flashpoint tonight on ION TV....

A favorite shot. Fungus on a tree in the snow.



( And here are some snowy October photos )

Email, shamelessly snerched from my email box, on the Stargate Atlantis / Stargate SG-1 novels:

( Novel news )

Every time I read that title, I think of a robot about to throw up. But anyway, here's the press release on the series. Joe will be in episode #6 :)


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Great interview with Joe Flanigan from recent convention in London. Wish I’d been there!  He talks a lot about Stargate Atlantis.

Set your VCRs, er, DVRs, etc. ;)
 
CHRISTMAS MAGIC
Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere
Sunday, December 18 (8p.m. ET/PT, 7C)
Starring: Lindy Booth, Paul McGillion, Derek McGrath, Kieara Glasco
Carrie Bishop (Booth) lives for her successful career as an event planner in New York City, but her life changes in an instant after a nasty car accident in a snowstorm. Carrie suffers head trauma and regains consciousness in Central Park with an older man, Henry (McGrath). Henry is Carrie’s spirit guide and is there to help her “pass over” to Heaven. But before Carrie can move on, she must fulfill one last task on Earth—a type of Angel Duty. Henry tells Carrie that she must help guide a widowed, young restaurant owner, Scott Walker, (McGillion) who has recently considered suicide because his beloved restaurant/catering business is utterly failing. Carrie befriends Scott and his 8-year-old daughter (Glasco) and immediately displays a knack for promoting the restaurant. But time isn’t on Carrie’s side on this mission. She has until midnight Christmas Eve to turn the eatery around. As friendship grows, romance blooms, and Carrie finds it a struggle to keep business and pleasure separate. Will the heat in Scott’s kitchen be all about the food? Or is one Angel on a meteoric rise to earn her wings?

An absolutely incredible timelapse video of night skies and landscapes. Made me think of Stargate Atlantis...

Landscapes: Volume One from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

You got click and expand it to full screen. Beautiful...

Oooh, a second one!

Landscapes: Volume One from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

The only real spoilers will be for FRINGE....

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This is just one of those "awwwwwww" moments you can trip over on YouTube. Alas, we have no moose here. Man, the whole video just looks gorgeous (that sky, those moose young'uns) :)

Ah, survived another hurricane!  Like I said in a previous post, it’s not if you lose power, but when, so…. We prepared.

- Filled the bathtubs with water, along with every pot and the four camping containers for water (two 7.5 and two 5 gallo- n containers).-
- Left out wheelbarrow in garden (no way could it fly away) along with two metal tubs.
- Broke out the Y2K candles. It’s gonna be the next century before we finish ‘em off!
- Got two lanterns at wallyworld (aka Walmart): small yellow LED one, and a larger LED one that takes 4 D cells and can run over 100 hours.
- Already had matches so no problem there
- Munchies. Detailed in other post. ;)

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I turn on the computer this morning to check the news and twitter, and it's just seconds before I find out that Andy Whitfield ("Spartacus") lost his battle against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He leaves behind a wife, two small children and a sister.

Ah, sigh. Sooo darned sad. I'd been worried that this cancer was aggressive because they'd cleared him at one point but then said it had come back. When cancer comes back that fast.... :(

Here's the snake that I almost stepped on the other night, down in the basement. I stuck it in a cooking pot, as it was handy, and it was tiny, a young hatchling. I put on plastic gloves cuz I know from experience as soon as you pick up a snake, they exude this awful stench (aka piss) all over your hands. Yech! It was cute, and good thing to know, non-venemous. I released him in the pachysandra patch.



Meanwhile, I spied a young buck in the backyard.  He glared at me, of course, although I was a distance away.



Now to sort out and load up my Hurricane Irene pictures...

Yes, I survived Hurricane Irene. Now to find some time to write up the fun stuff (not) and post pictures. High winds, rain, snakes! Tonight, I hope...

Plus, since there are soooo many computer-savvy folk out there... I need to get a netbook, or a PC that small. My laptop is nice but it's breaking my arm. I need more portability. I like to type, which is why I'm not into a tablet. My main goal is web access, working in Word / Excel.

Any suggestions?

...tonight, that is, because it's not a matter of if we'll lose power when Hurricane Irene plows through, but when. We always lose power. It never fails.  Heck, we got a light spring rain and some twig fell on a power line and poof, or everybody wakes up and  turns on their big screen tvs and blows the power doohicke on the phone pole. Although it's weakened to a category 1 storm, that's still up to 90 mph gusts. OMG, there goes the driveway. It's gravel. It's gonna turn into Grand Canyon. Drat.

The real beginning of the storm should arrive in about 5 hours, when heavy rains, then REALLY heavy rains around 1 a.m., then heavy rains and wind go throughout the night. But, having been through this hurricane stuff before, we knew what to do.

1) mow the lawn. Yes, god, mow the lawn. Otherwise by the time you get back power it will be a foot high and evil squirrels will be living in it.

2) get water and batteries. I got all that last weekend. I know how people panic. And the panic really hit Thursday where not a single D cell batttery was to be seen. I don't really need those, as I have C cells for the radio, and AA for the tiny flashlights. I also picked up (over the course of the summer) several large solar things-you-stick-in-the-ground-next-to-patio lights, and have them charged up. They last about 8 hours of semi decent light, or enough to highlight the halls, and then recharge during the day. As to water, I filled everything I could with water (we have a bunch of bottled water as well) because if power goes, we have a well, we can't get water. I left the wheelbarrow outside to collect water, plus some big metal pails, which will be so heavy the winds won't knock 'em over. Filling up the tubs in a few hours so we have water for toilets (yes, the joy of not having city water).

3) charged up the laptop, just in case, although if power goes, no internet connection. ARGH! charged up rechargeable AAs for walkman. charged up cellphone. Walkman also has radio in it so if power goes, I can listen to that.

4) got an audiobook from library (C.J. Box) and have several C.J. Box novels to read, plus lots of paperbacks.

5) cleaned house. nothing worse than dirt in house and no way to vacuum.

6) got my new car in the garage! Yes, it takes a hurricane for certain people in the family to move all their crap out and get my car in! Now as long as a tree doesn't fall on the garage...

And here are some of my emergency rations: book to read, Cheetoes (crunchy kind, the ONLY type to eat), Y2K (as in Year 2000 we're all going to die and the power will go out forever candles, and of course, nothing happened, so now I have lots of 120 hour candles for power outages), matches, and fresh baked brownies, which I burned a bit and my brother said oh  yeah, I could smell them burning and I said why didn't you say something and he said I like burned brownies. argh.... And birch beer, which looks better than a bottle of sherry. I mean, if the power stays out for a week, then I WILL be drinking the sherry I got for cooking chicken. I've been eating frozen food all week so all that's really left is chicken and some veggies, all barbecuable if necessary and oh yes, half a dozen Ikea sticky buns. Those are definitely emergency rations. Yum!



And that's about it. Hoping that it's not a horrid hurricane, but the local power company sent a notice out, which the towns distributed on their emergency lists, of the potential of power outages for a week, if not longer. The problem is this is the worst time for a hurricane to come. It's not that there's a good time, but if comes later in the fall, the trees are denuded. Right now, they're full of leaves. Not good.

And oh yes, I have two bitty frogs in the window well, I think they dug in, so I gave them a piece of wood in case water gets in. Don't want the little guys to drown. Meanwhile, we have covered several window wells with metal panels, but do expect some water  in the basement, but not a lot. The wet vac is waiting, and I've saved several old phone books to use as 'water dams' just in case.

Wow, just saw footage of Grand Central Station in NYC. Empty! oooh, ooh, great time to wax the floor!

Anybody else in Hurricane Irene's paths?

I realized I've probably seen more movies this summer, than I have in the last three years (in the theater, that is)...



Super 8 - attracted by Kyle Chandler and the retro plot. It worked well. Nothing too deep, but it was fun.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 - since I missed part 1 in the theaters, I had to borrow friend's DVD so I could remember the plot. So watched that on a SAturday, and saw part 2 on a Sunday. The HP series is great. I remember when the books first came out I was like, 'eh, no thanks' but then my friends ranted on about them and I figured, hmm, I should just check it out and got hooked.

Cowboys & Aliens - basically, that's it. Cowboys vs. aliens. Nothing at all deep but whoa, Daniel Craig can rustle my cows any time. Woof! It was sorta like the old Gary Cooper movies (the ending).

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - total mindless drivel. However, both my friend and I wanted to see something that fell into that category and it fit the bill. I'd never buy the film, heck no, and it's weird to say that the new vapid girl-of-the-movie is a better actor than Meghan whatsername.

Captain America - never read the comics, but the movie was good. Nothing earthshattering, nothing deep, but it was fun.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - okay, I saw this one mainly because I wanted to see David Hewlett in it (hear that, David, I spent $8.50 to see  YOU!) And oh hey, Ty Olssen (1st Deputy Andy on Eureka) and Mike Dupod (bounty hunter on SG1) were in it. It was fun to see them, but alas none of their characters fared very well. In fact, not well at all. Ouch. The special effects with the chimps, etc. was very well done. The plot holes/ logic flaws were big enough to drive Donald Trump's ego through.


Overall, I enjoyed them all. Saw trailers for Battleship. OMG, they've made a movie out of a *board game*! I snorted, thinking, eh, it's like Transformers (probably is) but wait, it has Liam Neeson. Okay, I may check it out. The Apollo 18 film looks interesting, but.... on DVD. The Debt looks like a meaty film, but it also looks dismal. I'm undecided on watching that, despite Sam Worthington being in it. I'd be tempted to watch Brad Pitt's Moneyball because the trailer looked good, even though I couldn't give a rat's patootie about baseball. Oh yeah, there was Shark Attack 3D or something/whatever, in which stupid young people go to a remote island for the weekend (and I'm sure they have NO cellphone reception) and are promptly harrassed and devoured by an evil shark in the lake, lagoon, whatever. It's just a higher production quality SyFy flick in 3D.


I did see Unstoppable on HBO (although I will probably ditch the movie channels - too pricey now). Great flick! Makes me wonder when on earth they'll get around to make Star Trek 2. I hear they want to; just have to get the cast together. Anyway, Unstoppable was great and I really liked the one supporting character, Ned, the guy with the long blond hair, sunglasses, who helped save the day at the end. I'm surprised this film didn't get more press as it was very entertaining.


Meanwhile, my pumpkin is no more (waaah!) but the gourd vine has two gourds on it! Of course, this probably means I've cursed it. The tomato plants may be done. The bean plants are GONE. Something ate them before they could even sprout a single pod. Bummer. The zinnias, however, are growing. I have two HUGE zucchinis to eat. I can always count on squash to grow.


As for TV, let's see, Flashpoint ended its run. CBS is still undecided on more episodes while CTV will debut new season in September. I'll get copies *somehow*. Um, um, Eureka will be toast soon (sigh). Haven is okay, but better than Warehouse 13, because, alas, I'm getting tired of young geeky know-it-all females with colored hair (perhaps I've watched too much TV). I would love to see Gibbs from NCIS come in and slap DiNozzo, I mean Pete, across the head ;) Alphas hasn't warmed to me yet. Darn.


But....! A friend introduced me to the Joe Pickett novels by writer C.J. Box. I started with listening to some audiobooks, so of course I'm reading it all out of order, but it's okay. I'm now starting with the first novel (library has them all, thank you thank you!). If they ever made a movie out of one of these novels, Joe Flanigan would be *perfect* as Joe Pickett. I could see him as the game warden, with conflicts, with marital problems, kids, a friend whom the Feds want for several crimes, and of course, in blue jeans :)

it's dead, Jim.

Yup, SyFy has pulled the plug on Eureka, and it's not even going to get those six episodes of a sixth season, as they first talked about.

The whole debacle is detailed at http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/08/08/eureka-cancelled/.

Sucks. It was a fun series. Now SyFy has what left? Nothing that I can think of!

These two are becoming regulars at the squirrel, er, birdfeeder...

Remember my pretty sunflower (pictures at http://wraithfodder.livejournal.com/476361.html) ? Well, it got a little old.


and then....

I can only assume a deer did the evil deed, as it must have reached over the fencing, broke the stalk and then ate the flower down to this.

( Sniff )

Adorable....

Yeah, Joe Flanigan tweeted the other day he's working on FRINGE, that show on Fox, Friday nights me thinks, that I watched an episode or two of but never got into, but now, I guess I'll have to watch, if just to see Joe!

And for those with no idea of FRINGE (uh, like me) here's their official website: http://www.fox.com/fringe/. Oh, I'm behind. They're in season 3...

Here are some shots of the one (1) sunflower that popped up in my garden. All the ones I planted? Nada, zilch, but this sucker grew up on its own. I figured I should take a picture before some wild animal destroys it (more on that later).





And here is a video of my arch-nemesis, the chipmunk. I suppose it doesn't help I feed the critter sunflower seeds... I suspect our house will collapse into a massive sinkhole one day, and billions of chipmunks will pour out. Yeah, they're EVERYWHERE. A couple years ago one chewed the bottom of my remaining sunflower plant - TIMBER - and then ate just a tiny piece out of it. Grrr...

Now I knew the squirrels and chipmunks dined regularly at the bird feeder - heck, they're waiting on the patio every morning for me to refill the feeder, but tonight I caught this litlte guy (gal?) helping itself to the feed.

 

THIS is probably the critter that keeps trashing the garbage cans but it's so cute I can't throw rocks at it. Flashlights scare it off anyway.

I love jellyfish. They're so beautiful (except when they're eating up the entire ecosystem)....