You had plenty money 1922

Saw Shrek.

It's... hmm. one of those ones that varies enormously. Some parts, utterly hysterical, audience nearly dying laughing (any time Lord Farquard is onstage) good (Princess Fiona's stuff - gets a lot of the better songs) and horribly, horribly mediocre with a side order of polite clapping. (anything about friendship, the chorus as fairytale characters singing about how everyone's special in their own way)

The design is *amazing*. Great costume work, the dragon is a combo of chinese lantern style wire-paper work with added puppeteering, the set design is fab - some lovely work with cut-out flat colour but using layering to give depth. (other moments: Pied Piper wanders along trying to get rats, they raise the curtain six inches - and a bunch of people are in rat slippers doing a soft-shoe shuffle. Raise the curtain fully, dancers in full white tie and tails with ears and noses doing a full Busby Berkley.) Oh, and the occasional other-musicals sight gag.

Story: mostly identical to the film, aside from greatly expanding Lord Farquard's (Nigel Harman) part to a piece of genius, camp, and Producers-level piss take during his songs. Up to and including some *fab*ulous vamping on the level of Kenny Everett. And oh my god, you don't realise just how much extra funny you can get out of the fact that the role of a dwarf is played by someone *obviously* on his knees, complete with mad scrambling to get into position. And minions. He has wonderful minions. And a horse. And an executioner.

Donkey is... you know how it's a joke about how irritating he is in the film? Some good moments (especially reaction shots) but unfortunately due to not having a screen between you and the character, a lot of the comedy-irritating is ...just irritating. However, small blessings: Richard Blackwood was off. Delroy Atkinson instead. Who, y'know, can sing, has charisma, etc... (interesting thing about mr. Atkinson: everyone I spoke to was going 'no, seriously, the name and face are familiar, what the hell have I seen him in?' Checking the programme, the only thing I could see was Enchanted Pig at the Young Vic. Got into an 'ooo, what shows have you seen/what do you think' goss with one of the ushers and she had the same problem...)

Shrek: great performance from Nigel Lindsay, just not unfortunately given much good material unless he's against Fiona. in theatre the role pretty much acts as a straight man everyone else plays off.

Fiona: HEE. the role: Funny, bossy, spoilt, having a lot of fun, gets several good songs. Kimberley Walsh is utterly charming, in good voice, and can dance a bit. And special mention to the little girl playing her in flashback. So. Cute. Also very fucking talented, that kid.

So, in conclusion: It's okay, but take a book for about 1/3 of it. And don't pay full price.

And in other news: you know how I managed to get an electric shock off a banana a few weeks back? Did it again yesterday. Then at 4pm managed to get a shock off myself.

Is this a clue from the universe that I need to just start wearing white all the time and submit myself to a govt experimentation program?

Nanowrimo as of last night:

Word count: 1,842
Target: 1,667

so, that's sort of okay for Day 1. Had a complete whatsit of terror when I realised I completely forgot which sites early rumours would most likely surface on. Stocked up on discounted Hallowe'en chocolate to keep me going. Evening, I went and googled 'game of thrones 2010/2009' to check where most announcements/statements of greenlights etc are most likely to be made... (using GoT as a template for this stuff due to it being giganticor HBO show of similar-ish genre) and oddly enough, it seems Collider is the place most likely, or at least the most detailed. Went and read several reports to get ideas for further reports, as so far what I've written is the early rumour on Bleeding Cool that it's in the 'possible adaptation' bucket (and yes, I did have the comments section with 'Wonder Woman. Just saying.'), and actress playing Jenny being called by her agent about it, then her boyfriend's reaction.

Today's goals are... her audition, her boyfriend's audition (he's going up for Jack, Midnighter and Apollo), the OMG I got it flail, and hopefully the next statement of 'picked up by HBO/BBC', then follow that with the comic site flail and the ONTD bitching. (ONTD and the later ONTD_Authority would be so much more satisfying if I had an lj-format generator, really it would. But I can boost word count by going '_insert gif of Arrested Development trouser drop_')

today is clearly a day of 'sit down before you hurt yourself':

I cut myself on a banana.

Really. I'm not kidding. Banana.

Picked up banana, dropped it, the brown crusty end hit my arm, next thing I know it's bleeding. Stopped fairly quickly and cleaned it, site is now just mostly red. But still. BANANA. my workmates and friends will not stop snickering.

But let this be a lesson to you: bananas are not just deadly in the 'drank too many daiquiris' or 'skidded on the skin'. They are also edged weapons.

The problem with my muses is that they like fixating on the ongoing MI-13, weird happenings organisation soap opera rather than stuff I can post. Just when I think I'm done with it for the now and can concentrate on something else, it jumps up and wants an AU. Or the POV of a different character. Or changing who they got involved with.

(quick run-down of base characters:

Keira Brennan, psychic but passes it off to most as Holmes/mentalist/conman skills, employed/raised by the agency on an unofficial basis since age 10.
Gwen Davies, earthborn avatar, polyglot
Alistair McAvoy, werewolf

Ben Cooper, actor. Keira's boyfriend and very quickly husband. (srsly, something like 4 months)
Dmitri Kamarov, earthborn avatar, works for the Russian version, has had a messed up fight/fuck relationship with Gwen since 16. Father of her two kids.
Joe Westall, movie star. Did the Notting Hill thing with Alistair.

you'd think this was enough to be going on with and has been for years, but noooo, a couple of months ago, a gardener called Jake started going out with Gwen, met Dmitri, started cheating on Gwen, she found out and due to her interesting relationship with Dmitri, went 'fuck it, threesome' after ripping them a new one. And somehow this made the entire relationship stable. GAH.)

Recently just finished a bit of AU where Gwen got tapped for undercover/MI6-ish stuff soon after kid #1's birth, so Dmitri transferred and got custody, and met Jake soon after that.

You'd think that would be enough. But noooo, yesterday, my brain (which should be working on stuff that isn't this sodding eternally twisting cliche soap opera which is mostly the 'many ways outsiders go WTF') wanted to know how it would change the entire thing if Ben was a copper. or a paramedic. Seriously. He's been an actor for ages in this. it defines his first meeting with Keira. ARRRGH.

working from home, and for some reason i'm getting quicker loading times for web pages through the remote desktop (have to access through IE. :shudder:) than I am on the stuff that's actually on my laptop. In other news, started forcibly introing one work mate to firefox yesterday to see if that would make any difference to crashing issues.
Me : you will learn to like it. And you will never go back. IE IS BAD FOR YOUR SOUL.

In other news, listening to radio 1 because i can't be arsed to go into my music store on my work computer (how many musicals can you fit on one pc). Had slightly weird experience of 'this dj is slightly annoying but tolerable, voice is familiar, but can't figure out who it is...' then she mentioned her name a couple of hours in. Sarah Cox. My god. The person I wanted to stab through the eyeballs for being such a complete twit a few years back? Huh. Appears that having two kids has mellowed her 'I'm mad, me' tendencies...

gah. someone tell me a decent program/service that teaches you accurate typing. Mavis Beacon? Another one? Seriously. I have had perfect spelling since birth, it's just the typing gods deem that I mis-spell really simple words like 'the' and get anything ending in '-ng' as '-gn', and constantly hit the ';' instead of the ' when doing contractions.

Lost in Austen was spent with hands over mouth. completely. either squeeing or going 'eeeep!' Everyone is utterly awesome. Script is pure gold. Could not believe the ending because she'd made such an effort to fix it and... :flaility:

:pokes stomach: You're fucking weird.

Seriously. Last night, woke up, went '....great, what cat/milkman/random noise was that?' then suddenly realised I needed to throw up. Worshipped porcelain god. Brushed teeth. Discovered it was 3:30 when I went back to bed. Cannot figure for the life of me *why*. Because seriously, it can't have been food poisoning. My body is very specific about food poisoning or disagreeing with something (normally overly oily stuff) - I feel horribly queasy about an hour after I've eaten, then am fine once I've thrown up. This time, no queasiness whatsoever, I felt utterly fine even when I realised I was about to throw up. So what the hell, body?

Though this did result in a really weird sensation in my mouth when I did get up with the alarm. Minty-fresh teeth and tongue, but still with the horrible taste in my throat.

Some bastard appears to have earwormed me with Tori Amos in the last couple of days. And my brain has random scenes from Gangster no. 1 running through it (which I still can't quite get the casting of Malcolm McDowell as the older Paul Bettany).

I want Number Two from Austin Powers fic. Someone rec me some. Oh shit, I really shouldn't have said that. Because Jack Harkness has just popped up in my head and is eyeing Young!Number Two... and Rob Lowe and JB when they were last on stage? Their characters were terribly flirty and slashy. AUGH. No Torchwood/Austin Powers crossovers! NONE, DAMMIT! MARTHA AND TEN, STAY AWAY EVEN IF YOU DID SPEND TIME IN THE SIXTIES!

Figuring out whether I can be arsed to go to Schuh in my lunchbreak and see if those skechers are in yet. Most of the purpose for this is so I can have shoes for the Wienerlicious outfit, with added justification of 'practical and yet can pass as smart!' but now I have little voice in brain going 'wait for the new series and see if Sarah is still working there. After all, she may have moved and that way you can get out of re-making the outfit of humiliation. If you really want that style, wait until they have non-black ones in a style you like.' (I possess two items of black clothing and all my shoes are brown or other colours)

friday : inal + ozi's leaving drinks. Where we made the discovery that £3 is too much to pay for the Slug and Lettuce's cocktails. Diluted and mostly foul-tasting. Not to mention due to their tequila promo, they were trying to flog tequila mojitos. Er. What? And the service was so slow that me and Lissy only bought one drink - some people even started going over to pub over the road and bringing drinks back.

saturday : one sundress purchased in river island sale. Could probably have gone for a size 10, but there wasn't anything smaller than a 12. If in doubt, can take it in at the side seams (will definitely be shortening the straps - I always have to do this on river island dresses). Purchased cloth + zip + pattern for sundress. Also t-shirt material and ribbon to make another greek-style dress.

Read way too much Narnia fic at weekend. I love my twisted fandom. Where most of the fic you read is ever-so-slightly fucked up and mostly adult as hell even when it's PG. Bless you, CS Lewis, for creating a world where when you think about it you come to so very many nasty realisations. And we love you to pieces, Walden Media, for actually delving into this.

dduane is reporting on the various california towns' new restrictions on plastic bags over here. Dammit, UK shops, can you please start charging for the damn things? It's all very well having the reusable bags on sale, but when you have to tell the checkout person three times to take your stuff out of the plastic bag because you don't want one, I'm not seeing much progress.

Sunday : laundry. sunbathing. Finishing off the Economist. My life : so hard. (I meant to start on the sundress, but too bloody hot) Pondering if this is what the weather's going to be like for the rest of the summer - ie, when at home, you do not wear anything more than a bikini because it's too bloody hot.

And tonight? I go see Zorro the musical with dario006. I feel I may have to sit on him very hard after we get out. (for those of you who do not know Dario, a quick run-down of costumes this boy has worn : Han Solo. Captain Mal Reynolds. Jack Harkness. Zorro. Prince Barin from Flash Gordon. What trend?)

:tilts head: huh. Just taken note of advertising for the wizard of Oz revival at the Royal Festival Hall. The Times mentioned everyone *but* Adam Cooper (adult Billy in Billy Elliot film, the swan/stranger in the dvd of Swan Lake) who's playing the Tin Man in their article on its revival on saturday. seriously, Times, what gives? He's the biggest name on the bill.

after telling him no and making the mistake of actually replying to his email, it appears Graham went and read that entry, revealed himself to have the maturity of an _insert epithet here_, and said that from the first time he saw me around the office he felt that I was the kind of person he could have a serious relationship with, and justified this because he'd felt the same way the first time he saw his ex. Honey. that's not love. That's lust turned into obsession and fixation. And that he'd only ever gone to shows with me because he wanted to spend time with me. We're talking shows that sometimes cost £30-40 a ticket.

Whole bunch of other stuff.

But yep, told him 'don't ever email me on this subject again'. Essentially he's dead to me.

And bear in mind he still hasn't said word one to my face about this.

And here I thought Brian was a one-off of that type.

:headdesk:

Gah. What is it about some people? They ask you out. You say 'no, thanks, I prefer friends' because you don't fancy them. Simple as that.

...And for some reason, instead of accepting this and moving on, some people see this as a cue to pour their hearts out in an email or letter and say how much they love and adore you. And are pining something chronic. In excruciating detail.

See other person go :'SHIT!' and scramble backwards, preferably as far away as possible.

Seriously, in what universe do they think that will help their cause? At the very least it causes intense embarassment and discomfort on the part of the person who said no, which as we know, screws up the normal friendship.

I ignored the email and acted like everything was normal. and then got follow-ups with 'I didn't say anything the other day but _even more detail, including past relationships_' (which I only read so far and then closed before reading any more) Cue me attempting world record for scrambling backwards and sending polite reply of 'look, I said friends, I don't fancy you, please stop sending me the emails NOW.'

Please god let that stop it there. And not go any further down the path of certain previous whatsits like that.

:headdesk: it's at times like this you want to retreat into Austen or Shakespeare speak about unwelcome attentions and 'I have not encouraged your attentions with one look or glance' type phrasing. I can understand misreading someone's behaviour as flirting, but surely the initial 'sorry, no' should put paid to that? It normally does. Maybe we just need a large sign saying 'No means no. In every sodding possible social situation.'

once again I managed to get a bunch of Torchwood readers with an 'augh, totally unexpected!' end line. (see Dinosaur) ...I thought it was fairly obvious and just amusing/standard trope end when it came to Dinosaur. And I got the 'bwhahahaha' comments again when I wasn't *meaning* to be funny, or at least was only going for a 'satisfying nod at end/vaguely enjoyable'.

:scratches head: perhaps my sense of humour detector when it comes to my own stuff is flat. And I'm too well-versed in 'shock' endings. Even though I'm normally one of those people who rarely gets the end of the detective story, or only vague inklings when the author dropped anvils early on.

Fandom : telling you you're funny when you didn't mean to be.