1) It's Friday night. This is reason alone for rejoicing... but!

2) Top Gear is on. We're nearing the end of Season 2. YAY!

3) So many of my absolute favourite fics have been updated. My recs... let me show you them.

+ Coming to Terms by ginny_weasley31. Very possibly my favourite AU-AH fic in the fandom.
+ Innocent, Vigilant, Ordinary by oxymoronic8. Very DEFINITELY my favourite AU vamp fic in the fandom. Possibly my FAVE fic in the fandom. Period.
+ Trust in Advertising by vjgm. At the moment, definitely in my Top 5. I don't know why I love it so hard!
+ Stay by crimsonmarie. *le sigh* This is getting to a really good point. ♥

Randomly, we all have our favourite cars on Top Gear. Mum's is the Koenigsegg (which is on at the moment) and mine's the Lamborghini Murcielago. Mm-mmmmm. Oh, and I thought of Twilight last night when we saw one of the old eps on Porsche 911 Turbos. Alice! :D

Tags: fanfiction, fic recs, shippy: edward/bella, tgif, tv: top gear, twilight

Here's the unlocked fandom-related post.

( cullenswan newsletter )

( new moon )

( star trek )

( other movies )

( tee vee )

And that brings fannish life up to date. Oy. Let's hope I never leave it that long again.

Tags: fandom, fangirl, lj: cullenswan, movies: general, movies: star trek, movies: twilight, movies: x-men, ppl: nathan, shippy: edward/bella, tv: castle, tv: lie to me, tv: life, twilight

One last check of email before bed and Mum had sent a link to this article:

Equality Bill could force Top Gear to drop the boys' club attitude

POPULAR boy-racer TV show Top Gear may be forced to hire new presenters as part of a government push to make the show more gender and ethnically balanced.

This week the Equality Bill was introduced into Britain which encourages employers to take "positive action" to widen diversity in the public sector workforce.

WTF. Seriously, NO. I can understand how it would work in some avenues and I'm all for equality and whatever but the Boys Club attitude (as they call it) is one of the best things about Top Gear! The way the guys play off one another is brilliant!

As I said on Twitter, of all the people I know who watch Top Gear well over half (probably over 3/4!!) of them are female! I know of ONE male at work who watches it, and another male's brother watches it. But it was my female friends and their raving about the show that got me to check it out and then the show itself was what hooked me!

Why on earth would you mess with a good thing? "If it ain't broke" and all that...

"I actually believe these sorts of mandates are patronising to women viewers, because they assume that women can't enjoy a show's presenters on merit, but can only appreciate a program if spoken to by one of their own sex."

Hear, hear. What's wrong with an all-male presenting team when they're so easy to watch? :)

I really need a Top Gear icon.

Tags: tv: top gear
Current Mood: sleepy

After looking at a mini picspam of Syd & Vaughn, I am really in the mood to rewatch some Alias. Particularly the early stuff - seasons 1 & 2.

*le sigh*

Tags: shippy: syd/vaughn, tv: alias
Current Mood: nostalgic

Huh. I've never actually read the words to God Bless Australia (which, for those who didn't know, is sung to the tune of Waltzing Matilda) but I find it really patriotic. I wonder why it was never chosen as the anthem?

Don't get me wrong, I love Advance Australia Fair and when I hear it (especially at things like ANZAC Day or at sporting matches) it gives me chills and makes me feel proud to be Australian... but I think I might actually like the sentiment behind God Bless Australia more.

The words to God Bless Australia (and other Anzac Day hymns/songs) can be found here.

Tags: australia, music

As taken from The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits by Australian Women's Weekly. These are the Anzac bikkies I grew up with as a kid. Best. Ever.

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup coconut (desiccated)
125g (4oz) butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon boiling water

Method:
Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut. Combine butter and golden syrup, stir over gentle heat until melted. Mix soda with boiling water, add to melted butter mixture, stir into dry ingredients. Place teaspoonfuls of mixture on lightly greased oven trays; allow room for spreading. Cook in slow oven (approx 150°C / 300°F) 20 minutes. Loosen while warm, then cool on trays.

Makes about 35.

Tags: cooking

ALSO.

( Spoilers! With capslock-y flailing )

I am so up for a S1 & S2 Life rewatch (especially knowing now what we do). I ♥ my show. I want it to come back! *tears*

I am deadly serious when I say that if you haven't been watching this show, YOU SHOULD. IT IS TEH AWESOME.

Tags: fangirl, flail, tv: life

I just have one thing to say about the season 2 finale.

I WILL BE FREAKING CRUSHED IF THE SERIES IS NOT RENEWED.

*wibble*

Tags: tv: life

Okay, this is driving us NUTS.

What's the music that plays in the Ch 10 MasterChef promo? We've got bets that it's a piece from Bizet's Carmen but I'm not 100% sure... and if so, which piece it is.



HELP?

(I realise I'm going to friggin' KICK MYSELF when I find out what it is...)

Tags: music, tv: general

I've been contemplating the possibility today of making a slight change to pianist_singer.

At the moment, the community is strictly for E/B fic recs (and it's also very quiet).

My question is, should I open it up to ALL E/B recommendations? That would mean not just fanfiction recs but also recs for fanart, fanvids and maybe even fanmixes.

Thoughts? Yea or nay?

BTW, I know I have E/B fic readers on my list. If there's something out there you think deserves recommending, please post to the comm! ♥


ETA: God I'm an idiot. I meant pianist_singer, NOT cullenswan! Talk about a brain fart.

Tags: lj: pianist_singer

Just finished watching Castle 1.04 - "Hell Hath No Fury". Have the BIGGEST grin on my face.

THE CUTE! THE AWESOME!

( The spoilers! )

In short? LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE. Oh show. ♥♥♥

Hands up everyone who loves this show hardcore like I do. :D


ETA: Ooh. And I must say one of the biggest things I adore about this show? That Nathan gets to show his comedic side. Great, great stuff. :D

Tags: tv: castle
Current Mood: giddy

I'm just posting this everywhere tonight but I DON'T CARE because it's NEW WHO OMG and I am flail-y happy! :D

Below we have the teaser trailer for the new Doctor Who special, "Planet of the Dead" (in case you were wondering what POTD stood for).

Tags: fangirl, flail, tv: doctor who

Having seen the news about the casting of Caius in New Moon, I have a question for the Twilight fans on my f-list:

How did you picture the Volturi when you read the books?

By that, I mean... I know we were given certain characteristics (eg Caius was blond (I think?) and Aro had black hair?) but what age did you picture them. Obviously they're ancient by vampire standards but in physical appearance?

I'm just curious to see how people have imagined them. :)

Tags: movies: twilight, twilight

I'm currently buying one of the 'Small Fish' on CatchoftheDay.com.au - specifically, the 320GB pocket size USB portable HD. I'm finding that my 16GB USB stick just isn't cutting it so I need something with a bit more space. Considering the space this offers and the reasonably decent price, I thought I'd jump at it. Plus I'll get to use it with my media centre! :D

The real reason for this entry, though, is to let fellow Australian geeks-who-love-their-toys of the City Software deal today. Every day they have a 'Mega Deal' which is usually something computer related - software, hardware, etc. Today they're actually offering over 70 of the best PAST Mega Deals. There is some very good stuff there. So check it out if you might be interested! :)


ETA: Sorry for the early posting. I hadn't finished typing the entry. Oops!

Tags: shopping, technogeekery
Current Mood: geeky

I need some ( SPOILER! ) icons from the latest LotS episode because it ROCKED!

( Fangirling of the spoiler-filled variety )

Tags: shippy: richard/kahlan, tv: legend of the seeker

LOVED the Castle pilot! Absolutely LOVED it.

It's super fun and a bit cheesy but as assassin_chick said, Nathan totally has the charm to pull it off.

I got all stupid and giggly at the end when ( not really a spoiler but anyway... )

Seriously can't wait to see the next episode of this. In comparison to Dollhouse (the other 'new' series I started watching) I MUCH preferred this pilot over that one.

Bring on more Fillion! \o/

Tags: ppl: nathan, tv: castle
Current Mood: chipper

Bloody idiot tourists. I just watched a few tourists on the news, complaining about being TOLD to leave Fraser Island - they were upset that their SAFETY was put ahead of their HOLIDAY PLANS.

It's a FUCKING CYCLONE, morons! It is not a gentle breeze accompanied by a sun shower!

Is it just me, or is the world really and truly full of STUPID PEOPLE.

Tags: australia, rants, weather
Current Mood: irritated

Why are people such asshats?

Some of you may have heard there are hackers (or possibly just one? I dunno) going around and gaining access to communities & LJs (mostly large, high-traffic ones), deleting all the comm and/or journal content and saying the comm/LJ has been 'closed'. You can see more information here @ lion_lamb (who are at something of a risk considering their traffic and member count).

copperbadge had already been hit and provides some good advice/information on how to protect yourself here (in particular if you have large f-lists or run popular communities. Mine are neither but I'm not taking the risk!).

I've just gone in and deleted a whole heap of my lapsed email addresses (I had no idea there were so many!) and added a security question. Hopefully it's all good now. *crosses fingers*

Though I should probably do another update with LJ-Sec or LJArchive...

Tags: lj, lj: comms

*cries* This is such an awesome vid! I'm going to miss this whole cast (and some of the behind-the-scenes people) once they (and the series) have moved on. :(



littlenell really summed it up: I know the show will go on.. but not *that* show, not that cast. *sigh*

Tags: tv: doctor who, vids, youtube
Current Mood: nostalgic

I just found a thing of awesome via richard_kahlan - silentwilight has created Richard/Kahlan picspams of all the eps!

I'm linking them all here so I can go back and ogle the pretty whenever I want. :D

Also, for any who have so far missed this delightfully cheesy show - CHECK OUT THE PRETTY. There's plenty of it.




God. Bridget Reagan has the most fantastic hair. And Craig Horner has one hell of a set of abs. ♥

Tags: picspam, shippy: richard/kahlan, tv: legend of the seeker