trancer21

ARGH!! I've spent the better part of the last two days removing a particularly nasty Trojan virus from my laptop. The only good thing is this happened *after* I'd gained employment because I can't imagine the hair-pulling and screaming I would have done being without a computer for hours on end. Word to the wise - if you're searching for torrents DO NOT use torrentreactor.net. I don't know why I clicked the link, since this wasn't the first time I'd become infected with malicious malware from their site but it was definitely the last.

I should be good as new soon but I've still got a bit of cleaning up to do... and backing up. I was soo worried I'd lost the 8,000 words I've already written on my Michelle Rodriguez story! Whew, dodged a bullet on that one!

I think fembuck's pretty much covered the Rachel/Ivy fuckwittery that goes on in this book. So I'm going to talk about the plot of 'White Witch, Black Curse'. And what do I think?

LLLAAAAMMMMEEEEE!!!

( Follow Me For White Witch, Black Curse Spoilers, aka, the LAME-O-LYMPICS! )

To the jackass sitting in front of me during The Dark Knight who kept checking his messages on his Blackberry, even after I told him to knock it off? Be glad I'm a pacifist 'cuz I came about *this* friggin' close to kicking you in the neck!

Hopefully those of you who haven't seen it will get the opportunity to see it in an audience *not* filled with jackasses too inconsiderate to be raised in a barn because it really is a *great* movie. But, be warned, it's *long*. Or maybe it just felt longer because I kept getting knocked out of the movie going experience by some jackass who thought a darkened movie theater is an appropriate place to check his messages!

Seeing as how this jackass's jackassery is making the rounds on LJ, I thought I'd pass the news along. Heads up by ripley78. PSA copied from elke_tanzer, stuff in ( ) from me:

LJ has a feed for the latest images posted publicly here: http://www.livejournal.com/stats/latest-img.bml

Someone has set up a community with an automatic script to scrape off any image that is posted publically that meets LJ icon requirements and post them to that community iconscraper (there's also a companion comm for animated icons animgifscraper). The posts in the community hotlink the original source of the images.

However, you can opt out your journal, and prevent images you post publically in your journal from being included in iconscraper and similar scripts that are scraping from the latest-img LJ feature. You can also protect communities you mod. All you have to do is opt out of the latest-img thing.

Make sure you're logged into LJ as your journal. Go to the Admin Console at http://www.livejournal.com/admin/console/ and input set latest_optout yes and click on the execute button.

To protect a community, type set for communityname latest_optout yes and click on the execute button. (Although, I'm not sure if you type the word 'for' or leave it out).

**

Apparently, the opt-out feature does work seeing as how the mod for iconscraper made a post bitching about the reduction in icons caused by people opting out, heh.

I would note that it's not just iconscraper that's posting LJ image feeds. I found a number of sites that post just plain old images and I'm not sure if flocking a post keeps images from showing up in the feeds. Either way, I recommend *everyone* opting out of this.. unless you don't wanna.

In case you haven't heard - Stargate SG-1 has been cancelled, and Atlantis was renewed. And I've finally written down my thoughts on the subject but, I honestly have to say, if you're a fan who *really* loves this show you probably don't wanna read what I have to say because this more of a rant than anything.

( Wish I was more upset but I'm not )

On the whole, PotC is flashy, bright, loud with a couple amazing action sequences. It's everything I want in a summer blockbuster. It's fluffy fun. Except, it's one of those movies that falls apart the moment you start thinking about it.

And all I can say is - why the fuck didn't anybody *warn* me?

( Detailed Spoilers and Rant Ahead )

*sigh* I should have stayed home, saved my money and watched my Murder in Suburbia DVD's!!

I'd like Grey's Anatomy back on please. No, I don't wanna to watch What About Emo-Boy, aka, More Pretty White People With Problems. No, I don't care that it was created by JJ Abrams 'cuz unless it involves an island, or spies, I don't care. So, please, please put back on Grey's. I need my Addison fix. I'm starting to go into detox here, people!

I'm waiting in Dallas for my next flight and the tv screen in the gate lobby has CNN on, and the current topic is Brokeback Mountain which, although I really wanna see but not as much as Transamerica, I'm really fucking tired of hearing about. It's got gay cowboys, okay, can we move on please!!

But there's Paula Zahn, who I can't fucking stand, and if she said the phrase "gay lifestyle" one more fucking time I was gonna probably get arrested. Then, there's Michael Medved who used to be kinda cool and has now turned into some kind of Conservative patsy mouthpiece brandishing the phrase "Liberal Hollywood" like a sword. Because, as we all know, if you say it enough times then it must be true. If Hollywood's soo damn liberal, why isn't there a series on one of the major networks with a lesbian lead? Or a gay lead outside of an asexual Will?

And the slugline reads "Is Middle America Ready for Gay Cowboys?". And I'm seething in my seat, grinding my teeth to bloody nubs because I'm soo fucking tired of people asking what Middle America is or isn't ready for. Hey, why isn't anyone asking if "Outer America" is ready for Conservative Oppression? 'Cuz I sure the Hell am not.

But, what really bugs me is the condescending tone of the question. I admit, I am not a Middle American but I was raised in Middle America, my family still lives there, and I get really fucking tired of the "Conservative Media" portraying Middle America as if it were populated with barely functioning, wide-eyed and innocent naifs who, were it not for the Conservative Watchdogs telling them what to think, would accidentally walk into a movie about Gay Cowboys. What bugs me is these Conservative Pundits act like *choice* isn't an option. That were it not for them, OH NOES, Middle America might actually go see a movie about gay cowboys - and like it!! What bugs me is it's not really about what an individual wants or does not want to watch, but the need to decide what *everyone* should or should not watch. It's about Conservative Pundits using hyperbole, fear, and hysteria to leap frog their way up the power structure for no one's benefit other than their own.

The good news is - I'm up to 16,000 words. The bad news - I'm woefully behind, by about 9,000 words, and going into that depressive stage where I feel I'll never catch up and should just stop while I'm ahead.

Plus, it's kinda depressing when you're writing a story about a lesbian detective and the character she has the most UST/chemistry with is the creepy incestuous cousin who wants nothing more than to get into her pants. But, on the good news front, my detective's already gotten laid by sleeping with the client who's case may or may not have something to do with the murder of the detective's father.

I got this info from the Mariska boards, thru TWoP, thru Gateworld, thru a con report somewhere in England.

( Pull Up A Chair and Watch the Flames Burn Bright )