Laura: Oh, this takes me back.
Billy: Don't start. Seriously. I haven't finished this coffee.
Laura: No, really. Doesn't it take you back?
Billy: *waits for it*
Laura: LIKE TO THE INCINERATOR WITH THAT SHIRT?
Billy: ...

( I'm not finished with my coffee either, Boyd. )

Three happy little things.

1) The trailer for Jusqu’à toi is out, with minimal Billy footage, but I'm happy nonetheless because he's, you know, acting. Which is nice.

2) Turns out Orlando Bloom can be an utter pleasure to write.

3) Top Gear Thursday reruns. Oh! It's the one with the tiny Peel car! That's the first episode I ever saw in this country! \o/

And then it took me more than half an hour to actually post this, because I became distracted by James May's hair. AS YOU DO.

It's Friday, babes. Let's do this.



Liv: Even back then, being the only girl ruled.
TBC: I'M REALLY CUTE. GET USED TO IT.
Dominic: And me? I'm hotter than the fire of a thousand suns. It'll just take most of you four years to realize it.
Elijah: I REALIZED IT FIRST, MY BITCHES.

( Didn't take us quite that long to catch up, actually. )

Yes, just like that; that works for me, thank you. Teaser for The Prisoner miniseries.

And now, lunch.

David Tennant reprises role in RSC Hamlet for BBC Two.

Dear Royal Shakespeare Company: When I was a teenager, I wanted to edit and design programmes for you. That didn't happen. How about now I offer you virtual babies for pushing out the DVDs of McKellen's Lear and this? <3

Oh god, it's so early. *shambles*

Happy 70th birthday, you beautiful, astonishing man.

Please also see Suite #4 in D Minor (Ian/Dominic) by Dani. ♥

Monday morning mocha and mini-bagel, mmm.

So remember those gorgeous black and white shots taken by Sarah Dunn for Empire magazine's LOTR special edition issue? Voila some small but very sweet behind the scenes shots. Not outtakes, and no Billy or Dominic, so there, I've spared you the click if that's what you're here for, which many of you are, hello.

( Three of Liv, one each of Viggo, Elijah, Miranda, Orlando. )

Lovely. I love her work, especially with Dominic.

I'm trying to keep a good mood today, but for some reason it's already becoming a problem. I'm tired and writing is slow and difficult. Really, Monday, come on, help a redhead out here.

Both of Us Never Tiring; Dominic/Hannah, +/- 1,400 words.

( Dominic’s arrival on her doorstep and his bouncing march through the house and to the back had caused only a ripple in the little pond of her life, the tiniest wave she was pretty sure she knew how to surf. )

First, Happy Mother's Day to all the mummies, mommies, meres, mütters, and annes on the flist! May you all have peaceful, faffing days today.

Second, housekeeping: I've just updated pocketfuloposes; apologies for the little attack there if you've also friended the community. Over the past few days I've also remembered some older spams I'd done, and I really need to get about finding them in this journal again, augh. I mean, the Let Me Entertain You one was really good fun! I need that found! Or if not, I'm going to just rebuild it with different pictures. Anyway, moving on.

Third, three hours of Top Gear repeats on BBCAmerica on Sundays makes me happy.

Right, carry on. :)

You know, I knew it, I'd seen it—at one point my brain refused to process that it actually wasn't a manip; that's how jaw-dropping it was—I thought I'd absorbed the full staggering reality of it, but then I had to trip over it larger, didn't I.

( And it didn't get any better. )

Two things I never want to see in the same picture are Billy Boyd and a white cowboy hat. This must never be allowed to happen again. Even Dominic agrees with me.

( He just expresses it differently. )

Anyway, it's Friday, and I still have some crackacino left. Let the healing begin.

1) In honour of a celebration of all things OTP, I have committed spam: OTP Dressed Up and OTP Dressed Down. Not so much with the funny, either of them, but appreciations nonetheless.

2) Less honourably but even more enjoyably, I have also committed OTP fic: Pulling at the Loose Threads (NC-17); set at the Berlin premiere of ROTK.

3) There is sugar-free syrup in my coffee. I know for a fact that I didn't request this, and if I didn't have a writing hangover headache the size of Dominic Monaghan's 2001—2002 lapels, I'd be headdesking and possibly weeping, too. A co-worker just came into the Cubicle of Vast Doom and cooed over my drink, but after I explained this crime against caffeine, even she was like oh, hell no. Disclaimer: I totally understand the various needs/wants for s-f syrups/flavourings, etc. I just don't need them in my caffeinated life.

4) And now we revise a textbook glossary. I know, I know; things can't get much more exciting here. \o/

eta 5) I don't have PMs (or comments) emailed to me, so I've missed several PMs left on LJ for me in the last few months, apologies. The best way to contact me is through email, though I'm not really brilliant at responding there either, more apologies, this time in advance. Something to keep in mind, though, if you're trying to reach me or point me toward items on the intertubes. Merci!

So what's a good way to start a Friday? How about by wanting to virtually punch historian David Starkey in the face? That works for me. Oh, and coffee. That works, too.

Gah, last days of work before a holiday are always the longest or shortest days ever. I have a meeting in the middle of the day, but in the meantime, I'm distracted like Billy in a room full of beer. WHAT TO ATTACK FIRST?

I open the floor for the quarterly catharsis and/or foolishness. Anonymous posting is on; IP logging is off. Bring chitchat! Tell me a secret. Tell me anything. Something you've never told anyone, or just something you think I might like. Be brazen, be anonymous, be porny, be silly, be anything. Talk to Auntie Laura.

eta: thanks for playing; anon commenting now off. :)

You may have seen several links over the last two days about Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent. While I haven't watched any of the footage leading up to her actually singing—I have a horror of reality shows, especially talent shows, and I can't bear the interaction of hosts/audience/competitor—she does pull off "I Dreamed a Dream" beautifully, and I echo some other comments I've seen hoping that she won't be exploited too much by the results of her performance and the way her voice pretty much forced Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan to basically eat it.

What I wanted to call attention to was that the producers of Les Miserables (from which the song comes) are not idiots. In 1988, a young woman named Paula Simpson performed "On My Own" from the show on another British TV talent program (I wish I could remember the name—Marti Webb hosted it, I think, and there was some kind of "spaghetti junction" system of lightbulbs to show how high a competitor's performance was rated), and she scored quite highly. I don't think it was even a month before she joined the London cast of Les Miz, as a member of the ensemble and understudying Fantine (she wasn't the physical or vocal type for Eponine, who actually sings "On My Own" in the show) and I think eventually taking the role, too. Susan Boyle is never going to play Fantine—again, not the physical type, and she's past the age of all but the most, ahem, perfectly-preserved (either naturally or otherwise) Fantines—but I would be surprised if Cameron Mackintosh didn't grab this opportunity for her, himself, and Les Miz, and get Ms. Boyle in the cast of Les Miz as soon as possible. It's an easy jump to Madame Thenardier, for certain, if she were willing to play her, and even if she weren't, there are definitely roles for her in musicals out there. She clearly has a great voice, and from what I've read of her story, she's more than earned her shot.

*Disclaimer: while I never really knew Paula, she was extraordinarily kind to this little backstage interloper bint, and so I remember her and her story fondly.

You may have seen these links all over the place today, but it cannot hurt to link them again. FAIL, AMAZON. FAIL. Of course, one can apparently still see sales rankings for some of those books when they've been purchased for that hideous Kindle thing. Fail, fail, fail.

I'm not in the office tomorrow, so why not play today instead.



Billy: It's too early for this!
Laura: I'm inclined to agree, but you know, I'm going to hit post and then get some coffee, and then everybody's happy.
Billy: EXCEPT I HAVEN'T HAD COFFEE EITHER, AND—dammit.

( So while I'm getting my coffee, let's roll this thing. )

Quick drive-by reminder for those in the States: check your local PBS affiliate listings, as tonight we are scheduled to get McKellen's King Lear.

I, for one, plan to silence my house and sit and gaze and hold my breath and let it go again many, many times. I cannot wait.

Hi, hi, hello. I have been sent and/or pointed toward the pictures of OTP being an utter delight; thank you to those who wondered or wanted to check in. I'll see you all at the end of the week, as there are things to share and remember. *wave*

The American Future: A History by Simon Schama :: BBC America this coming Monday and Tuesday nights, 8:00-10:00.

Mrrrrr professor. I'll be there with bells on. Oh, and the eighth and ninth pictures in the Photos section there? Yes, please; I'll happily have more of that.

Update to the Recs List :: 14 Lotrips, three Master and Commander, three Doctor Who, and nine Other. I may go back in to add some descriptions/background (and Yuletide author's names omg!) later, but I thought it was more important to just update the thing! Enjoy.