random acts of kindness, senseless acts of beauty

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! And to everyone else- happy Sunday/Monday! It's been an absolutely beautiful 20+ degree weather this week in London (heh, back in Canada they had snow) and I spent most of this afternoon on a rooftop garden after being stuffed full of delicious food. Also, way too many chocolate eggs.

I was going to post a couple of pretty London photos... and just realised that I have none, as my camera broke last week and I haven't managed to get the photos off the memory card yet. So, in the meantime - how about a London photo plus a few other pretty pictures? ( Collapse )

Trying to get better at this updating thing... but it's been a crazy sort of month, starting a new part-time job and a new internship as well, am hoping this is one of the last times I have to work for free... but we'll see. Other stuff happened as well, but nothing I feel like going into at the moment.

It's past midnight and while I have tomorrow off (thanks to the UK's amazing bank holidays, of which I have another 2 coming up in the next couple of weeks week, with the Royal Wedding and May Day), I feel like going to bed now, because I know that means that when I wake up, the new Game of Thrones episode will *cough* magically make its way here.

I found the books for a few pounds at a charity shop so I'm now re-reading ASOFAI, and an about halfway through Game of Thrones now, and I've realised it's actually been about 10 years since I first read the series. Tangentially related- I am now 24. Odd in a way, I don't really feel like I should be in my mid-20s but I am. But getting back to Game of Thrones... I think I am enjoying the series a lot more this time around than when I was 14. And the tv series has definitely peaked my interest, although time will tell if it will actually turn into anything productive. Hopefully will talk about it a bit on my journal though.

Fandom-wise, I also watched the new Doctor Who this morning! And found it very exciting, although thoroughly confusing in the paradox-causing time-travelling sense. And that was an evil cliff-hanger to end on. :/

4 a.m. and I've just sent my supervisor the draft for my lit review/theory portion of my dissertation.

6,000/15,000

As a reward I'm going to sleep go look at posts of Tom Hardy and his camwhore days. He's embarrassingly captivating. *chinhands*

Yeah, my dignity is around here somewhere... but whatevs, more than a third of the way done!!

Status of dissertation: 3,000/15,000 words
Days until dissertation is due: 27

Hours of television watched in the past two days: 8 1/2 hrs, or the whole first season of Community

Shows I have started watched since September: 15
- Burn Notice
- Sons of Anarchy
- White Collar
- Being Human
- Weeds
- Band of Brothers
- The Pacific
- Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
- Spartacus
- Justified
- Dance Academy (Australian teen show)
- Glee (but only half the season)
- Vampire Diaries
- Community
- Misfits

Continued shows: 8
- Skins, Merlin, Leverage, Doctor Who, Chuck, True Blood, Greek, Gossip Girl

Conclusion: Not sure whether to feel accomplished or worried I'm addicted

Also: 27 days to figure the next step after my masters degree :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/

To start this post off correctly: This is building on an extremely important discussion going on about a recent spn_j2_bigbang fic that used the recent Haitian earthquake as a backdrop to a love-story between two white characters, with racist caricatures of Haitians and thoughtlessness about the entire history of Haiti and its people. If this is the first you’ve heard about it: please do go and read this round-up post first before contributing to this discussion. In my mind, this is distinct but connected issue related to it and one that comes second to that first discussion linked above.

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Things that make me happy

- In approximately 24 hours, I will be finished with the taught section of my masters, and all I'll have left is my dissertation and 3 months to write it

- Despite ash-clouds and airport closures, my parents have still been able to land in Edinburgh and I should see them in about two hours!

- The beautiful cinematography and equally beautiful cast of The Pacific. Only up to episode five, but ooh, soo good! In a different way from Band of Brothers though, definitely.

Things that make me unhappy

- Less than two weeks of term left and then half my friends (the undergrads) leave. :(

- My Security and Conflict in Africa exam that I wrote on Saturday. I don't think I even knew what the first question was asking. :/

- The academic arguments between structure and agency that I need to have memorised for tomorrow

- Job-seeking and figuring out my life after September is streessssful. I don't wanna be a grown-up yet.

In conclusion:

I HEART baby sloths a whole lot as distraction

Tomorrow when the War Began trailer is now out! Okay, I knew the film was happening but now there's an actual trailer for it and I am SO excited. :D This was one of my all-time favourite book series as a teen and it's the one Yuletide request that I ALWAYS ask for, although it's not been filled as of yet. Hopefully the film coming out will generate more interest in the series.

For those of you who don't know, "Tomorrow when the War Began" - first book in a seven book YA series that follows a group of Australian teenagers as they return from a camping trip to find Australia invaded and they gradually become a guerilla/resistance group to survive. I've heard it compared as an Australian "Red Dawn" but not having seen that movie, all I'll say is that the series is seriously good - it balances wartime trauma and being a solider with everyday teenage life like first love, sex and complicated friendships really well.

After seeing the trailer... to be honest, I'm not quite sure about some of the actors but of course, you have to give them a chance to see them in action. Don't mess it up writers/actors/directors of this film!

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mybabyangel, labellementeuse, other LJ antipodeans on the flist... what kind of reaction/advance press has the trailer received? I know the books were/are pretty popular in your neck of the woods. :)

One of these days (possibly tomorrow) I am going to make a proper update post but tonight it's going to be another collection of links and other happy-making things.

1. Last Olympics hurrah - Fantastic, awe-inspiring pictures here at Big Picture Olympics, Part Two (and Part One)

Oh, and if this picture of Jaysey-Jay Anderson hugging his daughters after winning his medal doesn't melt your heart... well, you have no soul. ;)

2. I wrote a story last week, for the occasion of dotfic's birthday! It's a Band of Brothers ficlet and so apparently even though I can't write recent semi-RPF (like when it comes to Generation Kill), I have no problem with historical semi-RFF? Heh.

Title: A Hunter's Moment of Weakness
Fandom: Band of Brothers
Characters: Ronald Speirs, Eugene Roe
Rating: G
Wordcount 500 words

Summary: A vignette set post-Bastogne, where Eugene Roe’s powers of observation bring him into close contact with Captain Speirs. (otherwise known as Speirs is badass in his usual disconcerting fashion and Roe is the best at comfort of the platonic sort)

Growing up, Gene remembers his granpa’s old hunting dogs limping off to lick their wounds after tangling with the wrong hog in the woods.


3. like a lot of people, I have fallen in love with Florence and the Machine's music and although I love Rabbit Heart and Dog Days are Over, the two songs of her stuck in my head at the moment are Cosmic Love and My Boy Builds Coffins

Other songs I'm enjoying at the moment

- Kid Cudi ft MGMT - Pursuit of Happiness
- Passion Pit - Moths Wings
- AR Rahman - Roobaro (from the film Rang De Basanti (Paint i Yellow) - as soon as I track down a copy of it - I saw it with an Indian friend - I'm spamming you guys with screencaps because aahjgaaakhj, such a good movie and it's definitely going on my Yuletide list for next year)

4. And via ignipes - HBO is commissioning a full series of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series. Yay, epic, dark fantasy! I read the first three books a long time ago, so I think a reread is in order, plus actually reading A Feast For Crows.

5. .... erm, I may have started watching The Vampire Diaries. Like I need another show *headdesk* In its defense, it has good female characters, snark about Twilight and a smirky, remorseless vampire played by Ian Somerhalder.

OMG, Olympics! I haven't posted about them because, well, I suck at updating these days but I have been obsessed, staying up to watch them on BBC iplayer, usually until ridiculously late into the early morning. But then again, not a surprise, since I've grown up in a family where when the Olympics are on, Summer OR Winter, they are on 24/7 and conversation revolves around them - case in point, my mom is talking to me on Skype and I can hear the tv on in the background, with the crowds cheering and usually the first thing she says is an update on how Canada is doing.

They are in my country this year. SADNESS that I can't be there to celebrate in person - until I decided on going to grad school, I was totally going to try to fly out and bum a place to stay in Vancouver with friends, as many of them have done (sooo jealous) . But at least BBC is providing good coverage even if the timezone isn't exactly ideal.

In the winter olympics, I don't have really have a sport to follow like swimming so I watch 'em all, sometimes pretending I know something about them and sometimes just sitting back and enjoying the fantastic athleticism. Have watched figure-skating, bobsled, skeleton, short-track speed-skating, long-track speed skating, aerials, grand slalom, cross-country, moguls, ski-jumping, curling, hockey... so much fun! I can't believe it's over tonight

I apologize for the rest of the post (heh, just like the national stereotype) but I'm going to take a moment and squee over Canada's results because WE HAVE BEEN AWESOME. \o/ 13 gold medals (and maybe 14 depending on how the men's hockey game goes) and 25 overall.

Some of my favourite events...
- Alexandre Bilodeau for moguls, of course (first Olympic gold on home soil ever!)
- Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue's ice dance (so beautiful!)
- Jaysey-Jay Anderson's gold run on snowborad parallel-giant-slalom (4 olympics and never a medal until now!)
- Gold-silver women's bobsled run! (and one of the women representing my tiny home province!)
- Men's short track team final, such an exciting race (I have now watched live all the times Canada has won in this event - in 1998 Nagano, 2002 Salt Lake, and now 2010 Vancouver)
- Women's hockey! (GOLD)
- Our women athletics in general, who have been rocking these Olympics with more medals ever before and more than the men for the first time (as a result of funding - such a shock, that more funding for women's sports equals better results, right? *rolls eyes at commentators surprise*)

Now on to the gold medal hockey game tonight and even though the media might make seem that it's the only important event for us Canadians, there's more than a few of us (I'd say) who are extremely happy that with the rest of Games as well. But... of course, it wouldn't hurt if we win gold again tonight. :P

And I leave you in the shallow end because Olympics is also about the celebration of athletes amazing feats bodies, am I right?

Hot Canadian Olympians Part One and Part Two

Oh, and an adorable picspam and video of ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (hearts in eyes guys, seriously. SO CUTE!)

Band of Brothers ♥! I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally watch this series! I've had it on my external harddrive since the summer. Now I'm one episode away from the end and I'm almost hesitant to watch it - I don't want it to be over already! And after the pounding Easy Company had over the last few episodes... and them being so close to war's end, I'm not sure I could handle watching another death/horrible injury. Maybe tomorrow I will watch it.

But I'll be back to flail once I'm finally done and probably picspam too because damn, this series has beautiful cinematography. As well as gripping writing and fantastic characters.

I know dotfic was just watching it recently... any other fans on the flist? :D Come share the love!

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The most adorable thing I have seen so far this week (from Being Human's latest episode) Embedded beneath the cut.

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