the night has a thousand saxaphones

Point the First: I am having good luck with obscure movies lately. Where the Heart Is was almost embarrassingly adorable (not to mention surreal, bizarre, hilarious, and highly entertaining). Treed Murray was actually quite good- good in a very particular, writerly, theater-feeling kind of way. Actually, it reminded me of nothing so much as Twelve Angry Men, though I'd have a hard time justifying that comparison. In any case, the script was good, I enjoyed the one-set feel, and Hewlett absolutely carried the movie... except for the times when he was outshone by the startlingly magnetic, charismatic, powerful Cle Bennett as Shark the gang leader. And the last Hewlett thing I grabbed, Cube (which has been on my "SF cult movies" to-watch list for years) was creepy as fuck oh my god. So, all in all, I'm liking my movie-picking mojo right now.

Point the Second: In twelve hours, bdblack will be here. With luck, this will help immensely with the current funk.

Point the Third: wyomingnot talked to me about Leverage.

This makes me think: Surely somewhere out there is the crossover/fusion/AU that puts Alec Hardison and Rodney McKay in a room together. It must exist. Think about it.

(Seriously, if Rodney's life had taken only a slightly different turn, he could totally have become a brilliant cyber-criminal. And Rodney would be, like, the old acknowledged master, and Hardison would be the up-and-coming arrogant pup with no respect and they would totally hate each other and then somehow the Leverage team and the SGA team (Spies Getting Awesome! Because John thought the acronym sounded cool. Rodney cannot remember why they ever started letting John name things, but Ronon and Teyla don't care what they're called) end up working the same job. This has the added advantage of having Eliot and Ronon in the same room too, possibly beating each other up. While Rodney and Hardison snark a lot.

If somebody gave me the plot for the job, I would totally write this, but I can't imagine somebody hasn't already)

The thing about SF fandom, sometimes, is that the porn is hilarious. And I don't mean this in a bad way at all- not even a teeny-tiny bit. It's great.

I am speaking, you see, of john_farr, the multiple-AU built around that time John Sheppard went into Ponn Farr (subtitle: because mating cycles are hot!). Or at least, it starts that way (you should start here, which is short and sexy), and then balloons out into no less than four interconnected AUs where, due to Goauld manipulation, human physiology is very different. As an open 'verse the writing is inconsistent, of course- but might I recommend the sequel Skin Hunger, the John backstory Battlefield, and the Uni!John and Virgin!John AU branches?

And the thing about this is that I honestly have no idea if I have to hit my bunk or if I am just going to sit here giggling wildly. Because seriously: shit like this only happens in SF fanfic. Aliens make them do it! Ancient tech gives them telepathy/tentacles/an insatiable sex drive/whatever! Sex pollen! Elaborately constructed plotty setups that boil down to, "due to the applied phlebotinum, you must have sex or die. Get to it." And, seriously, it's ridiculous but it really hits the Id vortex buttons, doesn't it?

And just then I saw that paian posted fic, which always sends me into raptures of joy- but it turns out to be a double whammy. A sex pollen (in her warning, she says: aliens-gave-them-an-excuse-to-do-it. Truth in warnings! ♥) but also an alien-tech SF plot device that is on the face of it sort of ridiculous (in the best possible way) and yet allows for this intense, desperate, bizarre and disorienting non-con voyeurism thing that is hot as fuck and Jesus, I will be in my bunk.

Oh, science fiction. *rueful headshake* Ever since the original Star Trek writers came up with Ponn Farr, the descendants of which are God's gift to porn, I tell you. My love knows no bounds.

(And yes, I've been reading this stuff for a LONG TIME. I have no idea why the ridiculousness of it all hit me so hard just now)

( Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? )

( The Watchmen )

Appaloosa

This whole "resurrection of the Western" thing we're doing right now? I LOVE it. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. This movie? Is slashy like an astonishingly slashy thing, and is gorgeously shot with beautiful landscapes and sets, and moves with gorgeous, deliberate, careful pacing, and has some of the most beautifully perfect, stoic, quiet, funny, understated dialog of all time, and the most interesting characters, and the most intensely sexy alpha-male face-off I've ever seen, and centers around an intense, complex, difficult, painful, heartbreaking, beautiful relationship of devotion and unspoken understanding between two gorgeous men.

Every slash fan on my flist? Needs to watch this YESTERDAY.

Freakishly enough, despite wasting five solid hours today on way too much driving and poor planning and people who don't keep appointments (grrr) I was able to knock out my whole to-do list by 7:00 and watch some TV.

( I am thinking about starting a blog series entitled 'sexism at the Home Depot.' )

( So I finally got to finish that Stargate movie! )

( Doctor Who and Captain Jack )

Just finished "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" for the third time. I am Gene Wolfe's bitch. The man is a genius and I want to fall down at his feet and intone "I'm not worthy." More than that, I want to watch him in some kind of gladiator-pit to-the-death brain-match against Umberto Eco. With Thomas Pynchon coaching. And Jorge Luis Borges judging. Okay, shutting up now.

Random: Last night was the first time since I moved to California that I've been able to lay in bed at night listening to the rain. It was wonderful.

So dad sent me Red River and I finally watched it.

( I enjoyed that so much more than I expected even )

Anyway, desertport , I know you expressed some interest in this one so I put it up on Megaupload:
part 1
part 2

That's open for anyone who wants it- I recommend it, obviously, though you have to have a certain level of tolerance for the inherent cheesiness of the genre. Grab it now, since I don't know how long those links will work for.

Next up on the Western obsession: Tombstone! And them hopefully The Magnificent Seven. Though I see the guy who played Cherry was in Rawhide, so I might have to get that...

Aaaaaaaand, now I have the Rawhide song stuck in my head. Right on cue, there.

ETA: On the list of life lessons learned, I'm gonna file "go shopping right before the Superbowl" under things NOT to do again. That said, I got some awesome deals on candy. Momma's eatin' good this week!

Justine,
Thank you for all your help with the sales conference. I really appreciate your efforts. The band was PERFECT...I'm so glad you found them. You did so much of the detail work...sometimes redoing...but it all made for a better product. I know I drive you crazy, but I want you to know I genuinely appreciate your help.
S

You know what's really annoying? When people make it SO HARD for you to keep hating them!

( Until yesterday, I had not actually watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid )

Random: Today, the cat stepped on the on/off switch to my power strip and I lost an amount of work that might be roughly estimated at "a whole lot."

Grr.

( My life. Ask yourself, 'how much do I care?' )

So I have read and watched a ton of stuff recently, and I was just blown away by a lot of it.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

( Chalk another one up under 'things that make me sob in inappropriate places.' (I'm sorry, random man who had to sit next to a sobbing woman on an airplane!) )

I Am Legend

( Wow. )

3:10 to Yuma

( Oh holy god, the slashy vibe )