Land of the mildly insane

Saturday was a full day but a bloody brilliant one.

First stop was rolling into London to meet-up with rivier for a tasty brunch of croissants and tea (though she was mildly seething after her first-choice cafe turned out to be 'Closed for refurbishment'). We alternated between food, cocktails, gratuitous talk of Merlin and more music, along the way picking up princess_s. A special mention has to go to The Weather, which excelled itself, defying the forecasts by remaining bright and sunny throughout, amazing!

( As for the bands themselves... )

Post the gig we bid farewell to rivier and trundled down to South Bank to meet-up with another mate and her sister. The weather continued to hold in spectacular fashion, although the wind was cold and I got soundly mocked by all for my wrapping up in coat and woolly hat. We briefly watched some dude playing pretty flamenco guitar before dipping into Waga-mamma's for supper. I haven't been for a while and I have to say I'd forgotten how tasty and how reasonably priced that place is, I feel we shall be visiting again if possible! :)

By this point the sun had set, the woolly hat was out again as I proceeded to drag everyone round Leicester Square in search of a cinema showing In The Loop, a film I've been itching to see ever since I heard it was being made. I adored the series In The Thick of It, in particular Malcolm Tucker and his psychotic second-in-command Jamie as they terrified Whitehall. Thankfully the search was successful, and I know I'm incredibly biased, but I thought the film was excellent :) ( More thoughts on the film, but going behind a cut for vague SPOILERS... )

And thus ended my Saturday. Thanks to all for making it such fun, and closing with a few pics :) ( Eliza Carthy and Seth Lakeman & band sneaking behind a cut... )

Work continues to sap any goodwill I have towards humanity in general. So it's good the sun is out as evening trips up the hill are doing wonders for cooling the homicidal rage, as is the old faithful LJ *pets* Here be some tidbits that have made me smile over the past week.

Empire Awards
x. Russell Crowe's acceptance speech - for 'Best Actor of Our Lifetime'. It causes a faint chuckle but the main reason it cheered me was because of what later followed, namely...
x. Viggo Mortensen's acceptance speech - for the 'Empire Icon' award, presented by Sean Bean. I don't know if Mortensen was truly, honestly that drunk or whether he just is that wonderfully without limits. In any case, it's entertaining stuff as he happily waves his award and a bottle of wine around :)

Merlin Fanvid: Closing In - a slightly Life on Mars-esque spin on the idea of Arthur being reborn in the future. But my main glee comes from how it points out all the various Dis/Connected stars who came with Bradley into Merlin.

New Torchwood pics (Jack and Ianto) - so there I was happily scrolling down LJ, scrolling past what I thought was just another Jack/Ianto manip. Until I scrolled back, reread and realised that, no, it is actually a new proper promo pic that apparently is in the latest Torchwood magazine. Not entirely sure what's supposed to be going on, maybe they were attempting for 'sultry', but it's nice to have some new pics to mull over.

Well that was a lovely lovely Easter. You can tell the family, and specifically the spawn, have been here by the empty fridge, the mound of linen to be washed and the way the windows rattle every time you turn on some music due to the bass being turned-up to full whack.

We watched The Butterfly Effect, a fun time-y wime-y film whose ending had us crying with laughter, I'd recommend it if you need an easy evening's entertainment. The spawn also introduced me to some programme called 'Spotify' which I may have to look into as it looks very cool. Oh, and the Doctor Who special was also good fun; Ryan wasn't as terrible as I dreaded, and yes the ending has me hedging my bets as to possible future guest-stars in the remaining specials :)

Anyway, hope you've all had, are having, a very good and sunny long weekend. I think I may try to strike across a hill to enjoy the sun before it vanishes. In the meantime, yet more fic recs:

x. An Ancient Tale May Later Words Retell [Merlin - PG-13] - so you have Vivienne listening to tales told by an old man. What follows is a great case of hearing how chinese whispers can eventually lead to legends we're familiar with (and continue doing so with current events, as anyone who remembers 'Vivienne' may pick up on by the end). Naturally it's very bittersweet. King Arthur and Queen Gwenivere are the 'official' pairing, but there's the understated acknowledgement of the importance of Gwen/Morgana and Arthur/Merlin in how things finally turned out.
x. Truth is a Whisper [Merlin - NC-17] - firmly back in TV canon, with eventual Merlin/Arthur. What initially seems a bit of harmless if embarrassing piece of gossip is revealed as something far more deliberate, with the power to sway the decisions of kings. Yes, it's all about marriage prospects, and no prizes for guessing which royal is the subject of it all. Nice mix of humour, wee bit of angst, and of course steamingly hot *ahem* plot development.
x. Teaching the Indie Kids to Joust Again [Merlin RPS - R] - "There goes the third season." Of course it's Colin/Bradley. Eventually. In the meantime there's misunderstandings, arguments, ASH and McGrath being brilliant, and of course the show itself with its phallic beanstalks and 'meaningful looks'. Great sense of humour, be sure to scroll down to the epilogue linked at the end.
x. Marry, Shag or Cliff? [Torchwood - PG-13] - lovely, lovely fic set post-Exit Wounds. What we effectively have is the last case Jack, Ianto and Gwen will deal with as a trio before the new folks move in. Obviously there's still grief but it's great to begin to see the team they will be starting to show itself. Technically it's Gwen/Rhy and Jack/Ianto although one reason I like this tale is the way you can have the acknowledgement of the closeness between Gwen and Jack (and indeed Gwen and Ianto) without it detracting from the importance of the established relationships. Plus of course it is funny seeing Gwen and Ianto react in different ways to the different consequences of fiddling with alien tech.

So, I was watching Law & Order UK this evening. Only frankly it got utterly upstaged by the advert for Lewis that came on towards the end. I mean, I'm sure part of it was down to the good ol' slash goggles but I don't actually watch the show and even I was left a bit stunned by the massive Lewis/Hathaway ark that steamed past on my TV screen.

In other words...

*~*~*HAPPY BIRTHDAY darkhavens !!!!!*~*~*

Hope you had a fabulous day that was full of sunshine, pretty people and plentiful gifts!! *hugs*

Life is a bit mad at the moment but pointing out two things that continue to make it rather enjoyable.
x. Burn Gorman attending The Hub 2. It's only for a day, but still, Burn Gorman! *geeks out*
x. These Things, I Thought They Only Happened In Movies With Arnold Schwarzenegger - AKA RPS/fanfic - AKA Bradley/Colin, Merlin/Arthur - AKA crack - AKA the one where the boys have varying reactions to discovering the show's latest storyline will be that old chestnut MPREG.

So, on the bright side, the boiler was repaired very quickly and the house is nice and toasty.

On the bad side, I have discovered one of the cons of being a very very shallow fangirl. As I've said often, when you're shallow it doesn't take a lot to make you happy. Angel giving Wesley a pretty dagger. Colin and Bradley being utter dorks. Ianto telling Gwen "He always cheats". All these will leave me happy and content.

On the flip-side. When you steamroll through a rewatch of The Dark Knight and watch a city's hero get destroyed along with all the potential, newly found faith and hope, and then crash into a prettily read and soundtracked audiobook of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (where Morgana is evil, Nimueh lives in a lake, Lancelot winds up a monk and f**k knows what happens to Gwen), it does leave one feeling mildly crushed. There are times when I wish I could forget that my fandoms and favourite characters tend to wind up six feet under (or in Avalon, or in a rainy alley, whatever, you get my drift).

*sigh* I suppose this is where they say, 'Ah, but that is what fanfic is for...'

Ah Merlin, you make me smile. Don't stop, please.

Translation: There's been the first report on the 2nd boxset commentaries. "I love you, Merlin." Yep, even the cast are at it :)

Winding up the weekend by passing on some fic recs.

astolat's Beltane Cycle. Technically gen, or rather only as slashy as the show itself.
x. Beltane - short but effective, the fic that starts it all. Lovely, lovely slightly eerie tale. Gathered round the proverbial campfire a storyteller entertains the masses with a myth of wild hunts and wild magic. He also, unwittingly, finally sheds some light onto Merlin's heritage.
x. Coming of Age - And so it came to pass... There is Wild Magic, and then there is Old Magic. And it's time for Merlin to choose between the two.
x. That Shall Achieve The Sword - AKA the one where the shit hitteth the fans. The focus shifts to Arthur and the choices he has to make. I particularly like how the ending is left open enough that you can see how events might eventually segue into something like the legend of the sword in the stone.

Now obviously I don't read RPS, it would be wrong given that the lads have probably only just grown into the need to shave. BUT, hypothetically, if I did, I might point out these two:
x The Consequences of Playing Pranks - technically more RPF than RPS. Deals with the amusing aftermath of the cast learning about slash fiction. If I'd read this I would have been won over by the throwaway mention of ASH's reaction to the discovery of Uther slashfics.
x Getting to Yes - RPS like hell. But very funny as the two parties concerned attempt to figure out the logistics of, erm, well, yes *ahem*

Due to work changing the regular timetable I keep on catching myself being convinced that today is Thursday. The result being that for one glorious, heart-stopping moment I was also utterly convinced that in just a few minutes I would be able to go and catch the new Torchwood trailer on the Beeb website.

Only of course, it's Wednesday *sulks* Still! Glass half full! I did get to get reaquainted with the pretty pretty website, and of course now it's less than 24 hours till new glimpse of team Torchwood!! *dances*

My good, optimistic approach was promptly rewarded by the unexpected discovery of two new pics of Colin Morgan and Bradley James at the 'Radio Times' Cover Party. Ah LJ, ah fandom, today you have been very kind to me :) (There are more pics of other folks at the party here)

ETA: I... I have no words. Unless you watch Gladiators you simply cannot understand how much emotion was generated by my discovery of the Gladiators Christmas photoshoot. Oldschool and new-school glads, from Panther and Oblivion to Wolf and Scorpio, all unleashed with reindeer antlers, santa hats and tinsel. I've yet to decide whether I'm scarred or merely incapacitated by laughter...

Last week at work was yet again mad but was brought to a very satisfactory end when I came home to find the parents had arrived early and were cracking open their food supplies. Their advice was "Shut up, get changed, then come have some champagne."

It is an amazingly effective way to de-stress.

I've finally managed to get my mitts on the the two specials of In The Thick of It, there is something quite inspiring in watching Jamie and Malcolm terrify the underlings of Whitehall, they may be borderline psychotic and laugh at the idea of 'scruples', but even at their worst you can't help but root for them. It's a shame we won't see more of these two, they were a hell of a pair :)

And on that note, I am looking forward to tonight's Lark Rise to Candleford. You can always rely on it to bring Sunday to a warm fuzzy close before the knives are out again for Monday.

And the weekend is almost here again, thank f**k for that, I need a holiday...

Fandom highlight of the week was when some blameless individual inadvertently caused the asking of the question: 'So, if you had to, Jensen Ackles or Bradley James?' A question that should have posed me no problems since I don't actually watch SPN. But then again I am not blind, I remember most of the first series fondly. Still, dude, Bradley James. Teh dilema! Fortunately the same blameless individual (who, purely for the sake of argument, we'll call moonlettuce) offered up the compromise, i.e. not to think of it as Ackles vs Jame, more Ackles and James. 9 times out of 10 I couldn't quite get my head round this, the 1 time I could the mental visuals melted my brain.

Back to the other half of the coin and I was intrigued to see old-school pics of Colin Morgan during his 2 years at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. It amuses me that although he must have been younger then than now, he actually looks older. Just. The attempt at facial fluff helps. It's also interesting because, with the facial fluff, I can actually imagine that, one day, maybe, yes, he would make a convincingly impressive older!Merlin. I wonder how old Merlin and Arthur will be when the BBC series finally comes to a close. *muses*