NEW AND UNIMPROVED FRIENDING POLICY

Like my bio says, I'm a 30-something fangirl that lives and works in the DC 'burbs. I'm currently pretty darned happy with my life, and have a lot of people that enrich it (in addition to my dogs).

With regard to stuff here. A good number of my fandom posts (BSG rewatch, con reports (without real names or pictures of me), some of my meta/thinky posts) and a fair number of my political posts will be public.

If it's fic, or vids, or something else that you want, I've got a whole journal set up for that over at innerdiction.

I'm open to meeting new people, and anyone's welcome to friend me. I may not friend everyone back though--depends on how out-going I feel at the time, how busy my f'list is, and whether or not my shoes pinch. In other words, it's entirely arbitrary. I'm not out to be snobby, or exclusive, or anything like that--more a sense of wanting to really know those who are reading me and whom I'm reading.

I screen comments from people not on my friends list. It cuts down on trolls.

Seriously, I love this show beyond all telling. I'm just grinning at all the dogs and their antics. Also, compared to some owners, I'm really rather non-neurotic.

So it looks like EJO and Mary McDonnell aren't going to be at any JumpCon events. I'll now be sitting back and waiting for the whole thing to implode. ETA: didn't take long.

I'm kinda glad I trusted my instincts to sit back and wait on this one (even if EJO wound up canceling Birthday!Con, at least I know the whole con won't implode) . . . I think though, the thing that REALLY aggravates me about this is that this is now two really high profile cons (the other being FedCon USA (not to be confused with FedCon in Germany)) that have massively imploded in the last little bit.

I wonder how much of that gets out - how much will it scare actors and other talent off of doing anything - or only doing "big name," professional cons as opposed to fan run things.

I hope not much.

So, in spite of our low badge numbers and in spite of it being Sunday, the autograph lines were still insanely long. em_meredith was getting David Hewlett to sign something for a friend of hers, and although he seemed really nice from his Q&A yesterday, I don't know him from anyone and so was glad when they let me skip his line and had George Takei sign my copy of the Heroes DVDs.

However, even with that added benefit, I still missed part of the Q&A with Mark Sheppard (and his father W. Morgan Sheppard). Which was really rather a bummer because I'd already missed his panel the day before (to do "my" panel).

But, I got in there toward the second half of the panel and em_meredith assured me there hadn't been any questions about Romo - so I was all set to ask my question about Romo's motivations.

What made it better was the someone preceded that asking about why Romo had fought so hard to get Gaius off - and so he talked a bit about how Romo was truly probably the only person in the fleet that believed he was innocent (and some guy said something about how yeah, he's slept with the wrong girl before, but it never led to the annihilation of the planet (to which I grumbled - it wasn't that he SLEPT with her; it was that he gave her the security codes)) - and that he (Mark Sheppard) used to get into arguments on set about that. And then mentioned that when you start disenfranchising people (which he repeated 3-4 times b/c he was enjoying trying to trip up the sign language interpreter) it's a slippery slope toward complete tyranny.

So, then I was able to ask a follow-up about that and said that Romo seems very nihilistic in what he says, and yet, what he does runs counter to that because his actions seem so rooted in optimism and the betterment of mankind. To which he said that Romo was a romantic, and that he really wants to believe that things will work out for the best. That he doesn't have a lot of experience in it actually going that way, but that's what he wants to believe. And then I yelled, "Will he be back?"

[white text for the truly spoiler phobic]He said, "Yes. They can't just leave me with the dog!" I hope he wasn't just goofin' on me.[white text]

Anyway, what was really neat was that his dad picked up on that conversational thread and they had a great side discussion about how moral ambiguity (which started in the Berliner Theatre in the 1960s) had now become something "Grown Up" and rich on television (and there was a side thing even there about Olivier and Brutus in Julius Caesar and ZOMG! I love smart men))

So they talked a bit about X-Files after that and some about insane characters and then they were done and I went out to get him to autograph the photo I had taken with him (He called me "darlin'" and I had to explain a bit about the whole BNF thing, and he was cool with it).

Then I went back into the Q&A Room where Malcom McDowell was on stage. It took about 30 seconds for me to ask, "Is he in sweatpants?"

He was occasionally witty, and had some good stories about Peter Sellers and some of the other people with whom he worked (P.S. em_meredith - Mary Steenburgen), but mostly, he was just an arrogant ass hole. To the point that I never once felt like snapping a photo of him.

After him, Jewel Staite came back. She was slightly better dressed than yesterday's shorts that really could've been bikini bottoms, but I'm reasonably certain her jeans weren't zipped all the way.

She does enjoy working the crowd though, and is really very sweet. She does like to rag on Nathan Fillion, which is quite amusing. Also, she has nothing but good things to say about Summer Glau.

Then David Hewlett came back on. He's a very nice guy, really, very nice. And I took some photos for those of you that like him.

ETA: Note re: the Jewel Staite photos. 1) I was too tired to actually go through and cull the bad ones, so you get them all. 2) I'm clearly still learning my camera and how to balance zoom w/ clarity, so some are a bit blurry. 3) some others are weirdly colored or whatever as I had fun playing with the settings and going "oh, I wonder what THIS button does.

em_meredith and I got to the con at about 11-ish and it was so very, very packed. I don't think I've ever been to a Shoreleave or Farpoint (though they're not the same con, I still think of them as such) that's been quite this busy.

We wanted to hit the dealers' room but it was soo very busy that we just found an un-used room and chilled for a while. Shortly thereafter others' followed suit. That is, of course, because we're such trend-setters. (/irony)

( summary of the panel )

( the part where our heroine is stunned speechless-STUNNED!!! )

And I really think that's all . . . more on David & Kate Hewlett (she sang), my photo op with em_meredith's BFF (very quick - and I know EXACTLY what I want him to write on it tomorrow), Jewel Saite - quite a sweetheart, and George Takei (AWESOME!!!) at some other point, but I've gone from adrenaline high to crash and em_meredith is already mocking the length of this post.

Because I would be busy updating it include this picture from Feministing as the introductory slide.

(of course I'm being all ironical and all)

(and how sad is it that Firefox's built in spell-checker thinks that "ironical" is a word)

I'm offering a fanvid of the winning bidder's choosing (BSG or BTVS preferred, but willing to negotiate) at livelongnmarry - here.

Don't know if my vidding skills are worth all that much, but hey, it's going to a good cause! :-)

Okay . . . I've agreed to do the panel. (Though I fear there may not be enough Bach's Rescue Remedy in the world . . .)

There's another person who the programming organizer is trying to get to lead this with me, but said other person hasn't agreed yet. I've asked that if she does agree that they give her my contact info so I can hash things out with her.

But, in the mean time, as I try to prep and get my thoughts in order - hit me with your thoughts. Both on the subject and on panels in general.

Who do you consider to be strong female characters? What makes them so? Do you have to be kick-ass like Starbuck & Buffy, or would spines of steel (e.g., Roslin) also qualify? Do you see them evolving - and is it fair to judge Dr. Crusher and Troi by today's standards, or are they better viewed in the context of the genre's evolution? Where do we put Xena in this - campy, yes - but she predated Buffy (the TV series)? What other things should I be thinking about? Does making Cain a lesbian add depth to her character, or play into the "ball-busting"-lesbian stereotype?

And speaking of Sarah Conner Chronicles - does it matter how strong she is if her sole purpose is really to keep her son alive so he can save the world?

[post is public, so feel free to point other experienced panelists, con-goers, and feminist critics here]

Meanwhile, it's all I can do not to suggest a panel on robots in Sci Fi from Metropolis through Sarah Conner Chronicles including, of course creatures from The Day the Earth Stood Still, Stepford Wives, Data from TNG, and the Cylons. (and perhaps Wall-E)

So, back at Farpoint (James Callis con with the Jesus fish), they were doing registrations for Shoreleave (the con I'll be going to this weekend - where Aaron Douglas was last year). When em_meredith found out her BFF was going to be there, she registered, and I registered with her because, well . . . I'm easy like that.

So, on the registration form, they had a little spot where you could put down panel suggestions.

I think context is important here, when I explain that I (in spite of the very sage advice provided by em_meredith and dianora2 to the contrary) actually made some suggestions for panels.

And that context is that I'd walked out of the Razor/future of BSG panel at Farpoint when the first panelist started the conversation off with, "let's talk about how much it sucked last year." And here I'd been hoping for a conversation about the nature of humanity, survival, imperatives, morality vs. necessity, etc. I'll also note that there wasn't a single panelist that wasn't male and didn't in some way remind me of Comic Book Guy.

So, I was a little bit disappointed, and there's a possibility that when you have something like BSG and Razor with Starbuck, and Kendra, and Cain, and, and, and, and the first conversational thread is about how much it sucked, that my feminist hackles had been raised just a wee bit.

So, the first panel suggestion I put down was "Strong Female Archetypes in Science Fiction," it's entirely possible that in a nod to em_meredith's sheer joy in Star Trek: New Voyages as well as the radio shows that are done at both Farpoint and Shoreleave that I put down something regarding the "Fanfic, Fanart, and Fanvids: Derivative Works and the Fan Creative Process," and then, as a result of my conversation with zine lady and her incredulity that I might actually not only be a fan, but be a fan that knows what slash is, I added a line about "The Changing Demographics of Fandom."

So, anyway, I picked up my cell phone this morning to see that I'd missed a call. The call was from the programming organizer at Farpoint, and she'd seen that I was interested in a panel on . . . ( I'm sure you've all guessed, but I'll cut it just for the suspense )

So among the many other things that pocketwitch and I watched (we were such TV nerds this weekend) . . . was the extended cut of Unfinished Business.

( cut for some screen grabs )

it should taste good though

Dreamwidth is looking for mood themes.

Quick Rules

• You can't use any images for which you don't own the rights (no screen caps, no publicity photos) (I'm thinking art in the public domain is okay, and I'm going to check on it, b/c I may actually have an idea of my own).
  
  
• You would have to provide an open license for your work
  
  
• Images should be reasonably sized (30x30 but exceptions will be made) and animation (if used) should be smooth.

The link above will tell you more.

Thanks to dianora2.

( commentary with photos (and links to photos) on accessory choices )

Okay, what the fuck, ya'll?

Two people on my f'list in as many weeks dealing with abandoned PUPPIES in their neighborhood??

Not that any of ya'll would do it . . . but dude, if you have a dog, and you're not in a position to care for it anymore, you bring it to a rescue or a shelter. Don't just let it out into the big bad world. There's a special place in hell for people that mistreat and abandon animals.

(And to those of you that are caring for the puppies in the short term . . . there's a special place in heaven for you - because regardless of whether you believe in the rule of three, or mitzvahs, or "whatsoever you do for the least of these" - the central message is the same.)

So, I decided to do a "Christmas in July" gift exchange over at adama_roslin - just a little thing to make the hiatus go a little faster . . .

And I got a lot of people to sign up, and that was awesome.

And then I spent a few frustrating hours with an Excel spreadsheet trying to match people up based on what they wanted and what they said they could give - and a few times if I knew people had an interest in something or other - or would be really good at a prompt, I assigned them there, and I tried really hard to give people stuff I knew they'd like or could do . . .

And what's made me really, really super happy? The number of people that have come back either asking for clarification (I can't wait to do this, could you ask the person x, y or z) or expressing excitement over their assignment.

HOW FRAKKING COOL IS IT that people are sooo excited and revv'd up to create something about their fandom for someone else??

It just makes me all giddy and warm & fuzzy to have people excited about the opportunity to be creatively generous.

That, boys & girls, that's why I love fandom.

(uses Kara/Lee icon just to keep dianora2 and em_meredith off balance)