Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.

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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
yonmei	12:46a	Via Whatho: Womens' Team Read their latest newsletter: Our purpose is to work as a team to help women help others and themselves to create a better world. Currently, we are mainly focused on women in northern India. But, everyone is welcome to join and help. We are new at websites, so please be patient with us. Also, for most, English is not the primary language. We would greatly appreciate any help you can offer. At the moment, we do not have internet access so it is difficult to update this website. But we will find a way! Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Gandhi I am only one, but still I am one; I can not do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do! - Helen Keller Please reach out and lend a hand :-) We would appreciate your help. I remember whatho discussing this when they had a major shortfall in income and it turned out to be horribly very difficult to raise money properly for a charity without any real links to the UK. :-( Suggestions at whatho's journal maybe? Current Mood: tired
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
selenak	4:03p	Me, having issues As there isn't a German release date for the film Me and Orson Welles yet, I caved and bought the book by Robert Kaplow. Which is an amusing coming of age story, captures the spirit of the era very well, manages to bring a theatre production to life for the reader... and yet had me grumbling about something major. Either I developed double standards for historical fiction that is close enough to present day so that there are still some participants alife, or fanfiction has influenced my reading habits. Or both. I mean, I didn't use to object on the basis of "he took out a canon character and replaced him with his Gary Stu and totally rewrote the relationship!", did I? ( My spoilery problem was the following... ) Current Mood: cranky (Comment on this)
yonmei	9:59a	Five years? I guess so. I moved here in February 2004. In doing so I moved more than a mile away from Tattie Shaw's, easily the best greengrocers in Edinburgh, and shortly afterwards my place of work moved addresses too, so that I wasn't conveniently handy to Tattie Shaw's either living or working, for the first time since Tattie Shaw's opened in the 1980s. (It was founded by a couple who used to work in the financial sector in London, and who were prudent enough to sell their house in London at the top of the boom and move to Edinburgh, where the property boom had not yet really begun. Obviously when I lived in Reading and in Basingstoke I didn't shop in Tattie Shaw's, but aside from those times...) [In May 2004] Sometime in 2004 - if you asked me when I could not tell you, but I'm fairly sure it was before I did the stint in Cambridge, too - a fruit'n'veg cooperative opened in the local primary school's community hall. The prices were not much different from Tattie Shaw's, but much cheaper than supermarket fruit and veg, and I thought it was ideally positioned to take advantage of the housing estate over the road from the primary school. The coop provided work experience for several people with a learning disability, and got a certain amount of basic income from the Scottish Government's subsidy of five-a-day fruit packs for primary school children. The man who ran it - who left for another job a couple of years ago - used to run events like baking competitions (I won a prize for my scones once!) and have special offers. The housing estate over the road is gradually being closed down - as tenants move out, they're not being replaced - and this must have cut down on customers: and the Scottish Government decided they were not going to subsidise fresh fruit for schoolchildren past primary 2 (and Edinburgh City Council declined to do so either). The supplier changed its "sale or return" policy - which had enabled the coop to lay out a massive array of fresh fruit and vegetables and look as welcoming to customers at 9am or at 11am. And Asda opened up a 24-hour superstore fifteen minutes walk away. Today was the last day of the coop. I told them I was sorry to see it go, and so I am: but they've been providing a less and less suitable service for some time now - buying only what they know they can sell, and so if you come in late there's likely to be not much left. I've been buying some fruit from Tattie Shaws on Saturdays anyway. I shall just have to figure on buying my whole week's supply. Or getting a fruit bag when I get my organic vegetable box. Also, my period started. PS: Two Christmas flashfics left... Current Mood: sad (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 14th, 2009
lavendertook	11:15p	Project Kitty Smial A belated Happy Birthday to aprilkat!!! And thank you to rubynye for the terrific self-designed card and to annwyn55 for the lovely card and bookmark I get to plant in the spring. (-: I spent most of Saturday working on making the extra booda litter box into a kitty shelter for the garage strays, and brought it out there Caturday night, since it was supposed to rain all day Sunday. I wasn't sure if they would find where I put it, so I trailed treats from the garage to the shelter. When I turned back to the garage, I saw these 2 little faces watching me. "WTF is the hoomin doing now?" So yeah, they definitely saw the new shelter. And keep in mind there is a trail of treats on the ground they haven't touched yet because the entertainment value I provide takes priority for these two. I couldn't tell this morning if they had used the shelter yet or not, but I can guarantee these two checked it out after I left. The blankets inside were dry, so it's working. Once they get used to it, I'll put some tarp over the entrance for better protection from the weather, but I don't want to make the entrance smaller yet until they've claimed it. ( Stray along here . . .  ) (Comment on this)
yonmei	6:30p	Hey! I have an idea: if you don't want to be called pro-rape, don't vote against prosecuting rapists angiepen, two months ago: Is YOUR Senator Pro-Gang-Rape? Yeah, that's pretty inflamatory. I'm feeling pretty damn inflamed right now, so I think that's appropriate. In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones, a twenty-year-old employee of KBR -- at the time a subsidiary of Halliburton, and hey look, they're hiring -- was working in Iraq. Her co-workers drugged her, gang-raped her, abused her so badly her breasts were disfigured permanently, then locked her in a shipping container for twenty-four hours without food or water. She was told by her employer that if she left Iraq to get medical attention, she'd be fired. (more...) The co-workers who drugged her, gang-raped her, mutilated her, and imprisoned her, could not be brought to trial, because Jones' employment contract with KBR required victims of sexual assault to surrender the right to have a rapist prosecuted: her co-workers could only be dealt with before a private arbitrator, without any transcript of the proceedings, and no public record, and no prison time. In October 2009, Senator Al Franken brought an amendment before the Senate to change the law so that companies with this kind of damaging requirement in their employment contract could not get a government contract: Franken wanted to ensure that if someone is raped, she hasn't been made to sign a contract that says her rapists can't be prosecuted. Thirty Republican Senators voted against this law: they wanted companies that employ rapists and protect them against prosecution to continue to receive lavish government contracts to pay their rapist employees and their pro-rapist arbitration schemes: they wanted rapists to be protected from prosecution. Those Senators were Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; John Barrasso of Wyoming; Kit Bond of Missouri; Sam Brownback of Kansas; Jim Bunning of Kentucky; Richard Burr of North Carolina; Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; Thad Cochran of Mississippi; Bob Corker of Tennessee; John Cornyn of Texas; Mike Crapo of Idaho; Jim DeMint of South Carolina; John Ensign of Nevada; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Judd Gregg of New Hampshire; James Inhofe of Oklahoma; Johnny Isakson of Georgia; Mike Johanns of Nebraska; Jon Kyl of Arizona; John McCain of Arizona; Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; Jim Risch of Idaho; Pat Roberts of Kansas; Jeff Sessions of Alabama; Richard Shelby of Alabama; John Thune of South Dakota; David Vitter of Louisiana; and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Now they are complaining that this vote of theirs is being held against them - that some people in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming would actually rather their Senator had not voted to protect rapists at government-funded companies. They think that just because they voted against a law which would do something to ensure the employees of government contractors can't be raped by their co-workers, it's unfair to describe them as pro-rape: "Senate Republicans are outraged at Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) due to their votes against an amendment he introduced, to crack down on the rape of employees of military contractors, now being used against them." Current Mood: angry (8 Comments |Comment on this)
selenak	1:14p	Dexter 4.12 The Getaway ( God has send you to me ) Current Mood: indescribable (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
metafandom [ lovelokest ]	8:54p	Sunday, December 13, 2009 vito_excalibur: from the point of view of a lay user who knows very little about anything - The problem with trying to improve social media is that the important part of that noun phrase is the social.... So DW improves the medium part of the LJ clone social medium, and it doesn't matter that much, because the social part is much worse. - (tags: fandom blogging LJ dreamwidth) traveller: so you want to write fanfictions on the internets - A loosely organized and certainly incomplete manifesto for you, Dear Writer, containing advice, suggestions, tips, positive affirmations, and a great many four letter words. - (tags: writing fanfic) (Comment on this)
selenak	6:24p	Christmas Tales (Torchwood, Fanfiction) Title: Christmas Tales Fandom: Torchwood Disclaimer: Characters and situations owned by the BBC. Rating: PG 13 Spoiler: For Children of Earth and the background of one character from DW's The Waters of Mars Characters: Bridget Spears, John Frobisher, Alice Carter, Lucia Moretti, Clement MacDonald, Lois Habiba, Gwen Cooper, Johnson, Adelaide Brooke Summary: Five Christmas experiences before and after Children of Earth. ( Aims to be like the show that inspired it: dark, with a dash of hope ) Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
yonmei	12:46p	Royal Infirmary photos, taken yesterday Yesterday was the first time I'd been there in daylight when visiting my dad. ( Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh ) Current Mood: artistic (Comment on this)
yonmei	11:35a	Pit o'voles reviews: Bibliotherapy by JuliaBohemian Bibliotherapy: One of House's therapists at Mayfield challenges him to express himself through poetry. YAY!SYMBOLISM! See if you can tell what each poem is about. Some are obvious and some are not. Some have multiple meanings. Bear in mind that House would have written these under the impression that no one would ever see them. JuliaBohemian is easily my favourite House MD writer. She has written 98 stories (some of which are multi-chapter novels) but this one is just a set of 19 sort of poems: ( the review ) Current Mood: dorky (Comment on this)
yonmei	10:17a	Ten things to say a month before my birthday 1. I'm celebrating my birthday by getting my hair cut. I'm tired of having long hair. It's been interesting for 3 years but that's it. 2. My dad's doing well! I got there at 2pm and stayed till nearly four and we were both talking a lot and it was great. The staff nurse robot I spoke to last night said robotically that she could not possibly give me even a ballpark estimate of when he would be discharged to the Astley Ainslie, because harrumph, what did I expect, they had no idea when a bed would become available there, but it does sound like that's all they're waiting on. Also, he reports, he's got his appetite back (and apparently hospital food has improved a lot, also you get a card the day before to choose your meals from). 3. And this is an example of why I plan to never visit the US* again. Peter Watts: Along some other timeline, I did not get out of the car to ask what was going on. I did not repeat that question when refused an answer and told to get back into the vehicle. In that other timeline I was not punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, shit-kicked, handcuffed, thrown wet and half-naked into a holding cell for three fucking hours, thrown into an even colder jail cell overnight, arraigned, and charged with assaulting a federal officer, all without access to legal representation (although they did try to get me to waive my Miranda rights. Twice.). Nor was I finally dumped across the border in shirtsleeves: computer seized, flash drive confiscated, even my fucking paper notepad withheld until they could find someone among their number literate enough to distinguish between handwritten notes on story ideas and, I suppose, nefarious terrorist plots. I was not left without my jacket in the face of Ontario’s first winter storm, after all buses and intercity shuttles had shut down for the night. In some other universe I am warm and content and not looking at spending two years in jail for the crime of having been punched in the face. But that is not this universe. *Now that would be an interesting googlebomb tactic, wouldn't it? 4. I found out about what happened to Peter Watts via Avedon at Sideshow, who found out via BoingBoing; I found out about what happened to Shah Rukh Khan via every news source in India and quite a few others round the world on Google News and Bollywood fan sites; I found out about what happened to Emily Feder via Sideshow, and she's the nearest I can think of to an ordinary person who nonetheless managed to bring her experience about being harassed by the authorities at border-crossing to widespread public attention. Most of the people who are harassed in this way by the US Department of Homeland Security do not have the same kind of resources as Peter Watts or even Emily Feder to make their story widely known - and certainly not the kind of governmental protection that Shahrukh Khan has, as Khan himself has pointed out. (Example from my own online acquaintance.) 5. The ACLU has a $20M shortfall in its funding - it lost a major donor thanks to the financial crisis. Glenn Greenwald has a well-documented post about the importance of the ACLU: while I would not normally urge non-Americans to donate to any US charity, the ACLU has defended the rights of the many non-US citizens who have been kidnapped by the US, held for years, and tortured: indeed, is still doing so under the new Obama regime as it did under the old Bush regime. You can donate to the ACLU here. 6. This list of ten things has got a lot more complicated and less lighthearted than I'd originally planned. So, er: ( illegal immigation kitteh style! ) 7. There are still 3 Christmas flashfiction offers open! 8. Royal Infirmary photographs: need to get flickr-pro, soon, I guess. 9. First, second, and third generation eggs: 10. Two more first-generation eggs: Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
selenak	11:12a	Sunday Links... ...of both serious and funny nature. A new Patrick Stewart interview, in which he talks about MacBeth, Hamlet, domestic violence, Star Trek and British politics, not necessarily in that order. And is awesome, as is his want. Doctor Who: Absolutely gorgeous meta - or rather, a poetic contemplation - of the themes of Waters of Mars. Spoilers for that special, obviously. Hilarious preview clips of the British show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, with David Tennant hosting and Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins both being guests. Cribbins is adorable, and DT and CT play their sci fi fanboy/ what's sci fi? double act to the hilt. It's the perfect way to start your day with a huge smile. And lastly, still on a DT-as-fanboy note, here he is singing with his favourite band, the Proclaimers. For such things was the term "adorkable" coined. Current Mood: pleased (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
selenak	12:25p	Star Trek commentaries, fanfic recs and SWORD review Before I get to the review part of this entry, some other things: 1.) I listened to the audio commentary for ST XI by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. Highlights: ( Spoilers are still giggling ) 2.) Apparantly John Simm went all fanboy about David Tennant in DWM 416, swearing, among other things, eternal masterly fidelity ("David is my Doctor"). Quite right, too; I think if and when they bring the Master back for future incarnations, whether for Eleven or subsequent Doctors, he should mirror/contrast that particular Doctor and be played by a different actor. IMO John Nathan-Turner did Anthony Ainley no favours by giving his Master Roger Delgado's look. Different incarnations of the Master should be as different as different incarnations of the Doctor are. One of the reasons why Simm!Master works so well for me is how he specifically mirrors the Tenth Doctor. 3.) Fanfic recs: Being Human: Everything arrives at the light is a lovely, lovely OT3 friendship story about George, Annie and Mitchell. No spoilers. Astonishing X-Men: Gravity. Covering the transition period between Joss Whedon's run and Warren Ellis' for my favourite couple, Hank McCoy and Abigail Brand, from Hank's pov. I love this story quite a lot. Which brings me to: 4.) Review! ( S.W.O.R.D. #2 ) (Comment on this)
Friday, December 11th, 2009
lavendertook	11:04p	Tree-lined Path Happy Chanukah!!! I skipped over photoing the southwest branch this round, and now we're on the south side heading east and back to where we started. The last of the afternoon sun lights the trees on this part of the path. There are some houses off to the right side, so it's not quite as secluded as the view looking toward the lake suggests. ( Along the last stretch of the walk . . . ) (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
yonmei	12:22a	Flashfics for Christmas According to a long-standing tradition from 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008: I'll write flash fiction on any fandom I know enough about to write in for the first ten people to comment here. Name your fandom*, give me a word to include, and (optionally) state a theme. Stories will be posted on my journal on 25th December. *If you name a fandom about which I know nothing, you can still get your flash fiction - you'll just have to switch fandoms. Current Mood: festive (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 11th, 2009
selenak	9:35p	<a href='http://www.dreamwidth. Five canon moments that turned a casual fandom into a hardcore fandom for you. 1.) Star Trek: The Next Generation: actually, there are three candidates here, but the last one settled my fate, moving from a TOS-but-willing-to-give-the-new-guys-a-chance to ZOMG!TNG!Fan. The first season of TNG was, err, extremely uneven. The second season had several episodes I liked quite a lot, notably Measure of a Man and Q Who, but I was not yet won completely over. Though scenes like the is-Data-a-toaster debates or Q and Picard in a shuttle certainly helped the process along. Then, however, came season 3 and the episode Sarek. And with it, in addition to a great mix of nostalgia and present day characterness, the scene where Picard channels Sarek's unfettered emotions. Let me tell you, I was glued. And from this point onwards watched every single TNG episode. 2.) Sandman: Neil Gaiman famously remarked that he was still experimenting in Preludes and Nocturnes and didn't really find his narrative voice until issue #8, i.e. the epilogue of the first Sandman trade volume, which introduces Death. This sibling encounter between Dream and Death is what did it for me, too. Until then, I wasn't sure I would continue reading; then, I knew. (In addition to making me a Sandman fan, it made me a Neil Gaiman fan, as it turned out.) Death in her perkiness and slapping-sense-into-her-brotherness was a perfect counterpoint to Dream, I believed these two as siblings, and at the same time, the mythic part of their nature wasn't neglected; Death keeps taking people through this sequence, and it's at the same time scary and comforting. So yes, it was a fandom, here I come moment. 3.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: so several Highlander fandom friends kept raving about this show. I watched a few season 1 episodes which were amusing, but I wasn't yet hooked. It all seemed pretty black and white, for starters. Season 2 comes along, and I'm still just a casual watcher, not catching every episode. (Though I did see School Hard, as every fandom friend insisted I should. And while I was suitably entertained by the arrival of Spike and Dru, I didn't become really fannish then, either.) No, the episode which made me into a fan, as in, not missing any more episodes from this point onwards and really caring what became of these people was Lie to Me, specifically Buffy's last scene with Giles. (And of course the story leading up to it; Buffy's old friend Ford was until that point the most shades-of-grey villain the show had offered.) To this day, Buffy's last word - "liar" - remains one of the crucial BTVS moments for me. From this point onwards, the show would grow into something fantastically layered. 4.) Angel the Series:: I was mildly curious about the spin-off, especially since Cordelia, who by season 3 of BTVS had become a firm favourite for me, was going to be in it, but I wasn't sure whether Angel himself would be able to carry a series. Angelus aside, BTVS hadn't really presented him as more as Buffy's brooding love interest, plus I had seen Forever Knight. Did there really need to be another vampire detective? So I didn't yet know whether or not I'd watch until the point about 10 minutes into the pilot where Angel, in pursuit of the villain of the day (or rather, night), heroically jumps into the wrong car. (Which sort of cancels the heroic pursuit.) This simple gag not only reassured me the spin-off would have a sense of humour, but also that, by the way he reacted, that Angel did. So this was when I knew I would watch more than the pilot. 4b) AtS when I went from liking to loving: the end scene of Expecting, actually. I was in the very tiny minority of people who had liked Wesley in season 3 of BTVS and who reacted to the news he'd be back in AtS with joy. (*cue Selena's usual "I liked Wes before he became fashionable and when he became fashionable, I didn't like him quite so much anymore" snobbery.*) That last scene, when Wesley is about to leave but desperately wants to stay, and Angel and Cordelia invite him to share breakfeast, made me feel all fuzzy and glowy inside. I think, looking back, the Angel-Cordy-Wes dynamic from the second half of season 1 is my favourite AtS team relationship and -constellation. (Though in terms of storytelling quality and favourite characters, I like later seasons better.) And that was when it came together. 5.) Battlestar Galactica: near the end of the miniseries that serves as a pilot as well, Laura Roslin, secretary-of-education gone president, has a showdown with William Adama. In which she tells him that fighting heroic last stands is really stupid when you have the survival of what's left of humanity at stake, and instead they should hightail it out of Dodge. And he listens. I had seen the pilot and the Pegasus episode of the original BSG, and it hadn't exactly captured my attention; second rate Star Wars, I thought. (And SW hadn't exactly captured my attention the first time around, either, not until ESB really.) Basically the only reason why I watched this new version was that Ron Moore, whom due to his work on both TNG and DS9 - which hadn't been that long ago at that point - I was majorly impressed with, had written it. I found the mini captivating and full of iinteresting elements, plus I loved Roslin pretty much from the get go, but this scene was what settled it for me and pushed it into "awesome! Sign me on! I'll so watch this show!" territory. (And yes, I'm pretty much sighing at the thought of a certain 4.5 storyline now.) Current Mood: nostalgic (Comment on this)
yonmei	5:14p	I don't like to brag, but... I had lunch with threeoranges today, and you didn't. I win. And she gave me a copy of Affinity, so I win a bit more, too. Also, it is Friday, and I get to leave the office now, and this week is almost justabout nearly over. ( lj cut for silly surrealist lyrics meme ) First generation egg: Second generation egg: Third generation egg: Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
selenak	10:16a	These were the adventures.... Odd thought of the day: does Galaxy Quest count as the film version of a roman a clef? Because much as Primary Colors was obviously inspired by Clinton and American Wife by Laura Bush, Galaxy Quest doesn't just reference Star Trek (with some other sci fi thrown in as well). The early section, with the actors making the rounds in the convention circuits and the hostile relationships between them and their former leading man is instantly recognizable as specifically the TOS crew and William Shatner, if you've read any of the memoirs by people other than Shatner and Nimoy. Of course, in Galaxy Quest by the end we've arrived at a new "he's an egomaniac but we love him anyway" status quo, whereas in real life, not so much. Though the reactions among the supporting cast aren't uniform. You have loathing from the start (Jimmy Doohan), first dislike, then loathing (George Takei), first sympathy and admiration, then indignation and dislike (Nichelle Nichols), and exasparation mellowing in a mixture of pity and amusement (Walter Koenig). Incidentally, I've always found the supporting cast's memoirs to be the most readable, not because of the common "Bill Shatner is a bastard" theme but because these people had interesting lives beyond Star Trek. In the case of Nichols and Takei, you get a perspective of what it meant to be an actor of colour in the Hollywood of the 60s. One of my favourite stories comes when Nichelle Nichols describes the filming of Porgy and Bess (directed by Otto Preminger), where she had a small part. "Fed up with Preminger's condescending attitude toward everyone in the all-Black cast, Sidney Poitier called a full cast meeting. He carefully planned it for a time when Dorothy Dandridge was noton the set. She was a delicate, beautiful woman who deserved far better treatment than Preminger (who had an affair with her) gave her, and Sidney didn't want to cause her further problems with our director. As Priminger stood there baffled, Sidney expressed his annoyance in no uncertain terms. "Otto! We are not Stepin Fetchits. We are artists!" he roared. "And we will not tolerate your bullying white slavemaster tactics!" "Hear! Hear!" Brock Peters growled. "You do not listen, Otto," Sammy added, somewhat more gently. "Otto, baby, you gotta listen, man." Surprisingly, Preminger did listen without arguing. But to make certain that he fully understood the problem, Pearlie Mae settled it once and for all. "Look, Otto, honey," she began. "There ain't no use going through this over and over. You've got professional people here, from the stars to the singers and dancers, even the extras. We know our business and we're all working hard, but you are not giving us the respect that is due us. And the way you're treating that poor child Dandridge is disgusting, with her her breaking down every day in tears and holding up production. You better figure this out, honey: we are human beings, not slaves! If you don't, you ain't gonna have no picture." "Miss Bailey, what do you want from me?" Preminger finally asked. Pearlie May's eyes narrowed. "Darlign, I know you ain't stupid, and I know you know what respect is. But just in case, I'll tell you. You can start with this damned script. It's written by some silly-ass white boy who's trying to write colored. It's insulting. First, he's written all these "dees" and "dems" and "dose" and "Ises" and "weeses" and "beeses". Well, we've tried to act this dumb crap, but it's all ridiculous. Besides," she added, chuckling, "they're all in the wrong places!" "What do you suggest, Pearl?" Preminger asked, truly befuddled. "Honey, just let them write the script in plain English without your white version," she replied. Lapsing into a stereotypical Southern dialect, she quipped, "Wese knows where dem deses and doses and 'i's 'sposed to beses, Mr. Charlie. We don't need no white boy tellin' us how to be cullud...suh!" George Takei spent part of his childhood in the camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II (Rowher and Tule Lake), which among other things ensured a life long interest and engagement in politics. He campaigned for and was friend with first councilman, then Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley (the first black mayor in a major American city) and ran for office at the Los Angeles City Council himself. The passage where he explains what playing Sulu meant for him is typical for the larger-context-awareness of his book: "Throughout our theatrical history, Asians had been visible on American stages and screens from the time immigrants first becan arriving from Asia over a hundred and fifty years ago. In times of prosperity, the depiction of Asians had been benign - usually as quaintly charming or romantically exotic. IN times of stress - of economic hard times and social tensions - Asians and other minorities became scapegoats. The images became darker, depraved, dangerous. Chinatowns were transformed from quartrs of captivating exotica to ominous places of white slavery and opium dens. Quiet, servile Japanese became inscrutable and shifty. At tiomes of war, with Japan, with Korea, or in China, Asians were transformed into deadly omnipotent foes - the personifications of evil. The images of Asians were reduced to politically incited, media-manipulated stereotypes. We were again engaged in a hot war in Asia. Vietnam was raging. Every night on the six o' clock news, we saw the enemy - deadly, black-pajamana-clad threats in the jungle. It was kill or be killed. These cunning foes had to be destroyed. Bomb them! Burn them! Napalm them!! They had to be wiped out. These enemies in black pajamas... looked like me. But every night, a little bit after the six o'clock news, the Star Trek reruns came on. There on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise we saw our heroes, the good guys. And there at the helm console we saw Lieutenant Sulu, a crack professional, a swashbuckler, one of our good guys - one of us. ANd he was Asian; his face looked like that of those wearing the black pajamas on the six o'clock news. For the first time in the history of the American media at a time of war in Asia, there was a regularly visible counterbalance to the pervasive image of Asians as evil, of Asians as nemeses. Sulu was on "our side", he was one of the heroes. And his face was mine." As far as Star Trek is concerned: what everyone's books agree are that DeForrest Kelley was a sweetheart and the nicest guy imaginable, Leonard Nimoy was remote but impressive (and came through for the supporting cast by insisting they should voice their characters in the ST cartoons instead, as the network had originally planned, being replaced by other actors while only the trio was kept, which made a difference to everyone's income)... and, err, that Bill Shatner was something else. Not coincidentally, by the time the books get to Wratch of Khan there is very pointed Ricardo Montalban praise, along the lines of "and then we saw it was possible to be a star and not be an asshole at the same time", or, as Takei puts it: "Ricardo felt he was there to serve the script. If an angle that favored another actor made sense, he deferred. If a scene needed to be tightened and his line of dialogue was slowing the action, he considered eliminating it. (...) Walter, who had many scenes with him, would come off the set marvelling. 'I can't believe it. Ricardo Montalban, this legendary star, is so generous! He's incredible!' Ricardo was a big star in every sense. THere was size to his presence. There was grandiloquence in his speech. And ther was bigness in his spirit." Walter Koenig, the only one of the TOS supporting cast for whom lightning struck twice, so to speak (i.e. he became part of another cult tv show, Babylon 5), is probably the most self-critical of all the TOS memoirs writers - his memoirs read a bit like an early Woody Allen movie, Koenig as the entertainingly kvetching narrator - , which also contributes to the conciliatory tone towards William Shatner. Case in point, the description of shooting Generations, with which I shall conclude my overview: "I braced myself the first time Carson offered an alternative approach to ta scene Bill had been rehearsing. (...) Shatner had no problem trying it a different way and brought to his lines the same dedication he ahd done previously. It didn't require great insight on my part to see what was happening. He admitted to me that for the first time he didn't feel like the star of the production. Not carrying all that baggage did wonders for his sense of proportion. He was much more a regular guy than I had ever seen him before. In the absence of Leonard and De he also turned to me for the small talk around the set. I kidded him a lot. Particularly in his efforts to establish some kind of rapport with Jimmy Doohan. Jimmy was always professional but remained distant. Jimmy has spoken a thousand times about his differences with BIll Shatner. He wasn't about to have a change of heart now. Now I'm going to relate a story with a one word punchline. THe reader might well wonder why I have included such an apparently innocuous incident here. Innocuous to you, maybe. To me it was historic. We were setting up the scene just after I introduce Sulu's daughter to Captain Kirk. We are both standing on the bridge, the Captain above and slightly behind Chekov, as we watch the young woman move away. The camera is facing us. 'I vas neverr dot young," says the wistful Russian. We rehearsed it a couple of times looking out past the camera, as was natural. Then Bill quietly suggested that, instead, I turn to him while saying the line. It doesn't take Ansel Adams to figure out that if I do that my back is to the lens and there is only one face in the shot. "No," I said. I can't ever remember saying "no" to Mr. Shatner before. That it took twenty seven years and was such a big deal to me probably says more about my character flaws than his." Current Mood: curious (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
lavendertook	11:00p	Kissing the Treetops Goodnight The treetops, together with their reflection in the lake, look like fiery lips, the setting sun kissing the tops of the trees goodnight. We're looking from the southwest corner of the lake back toward the stone landings. That red ball in the middle is the sugar maple I showed you a few entries before. It don't need no stinking sun touching it to shine brightly. I only wish we had some blue sky in this shot. ( Come see the trees the sun has kissed . . . ) (Comment on this)
Friday, December 11th, 2009
yonmei	12:29a	Bob's been reading... moar funny pictures Current Mood: amused (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
yonmei	12:00p	International Human Rights Day "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of sisterhood." When you see this in your friendslist, quote from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sexual Minorities Uganda asked for people all over the world to make today an international day of protest against the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill: You Cannot Tell Me You Will Kill Me Because I’m Gay. Today at noon in London activists will gather in front of the Ugandan High Commission in Trafalgar Square. The original text says "in a spirit of brotherhood", and to note again how often human rights for women are regarded as optional. Current Mood: contemplative (3 Comments |Comment on this)
yonmei	8:56a	Vote Doodle 4 Google! British schoolchildren doodle for Google... (And consider, if you will, how very few of them have any idea there are women in British history. ...bah.) Current Mood: awake (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
lavendertook	10:37p	From the setting sun's point of view Here's the view walking south along the western bank of Greenbelt Lake, looking eastward as the sun heads towards the horizon. On a windy day, this stretch picks up nice breezes and scents off the lake with an ocean flavor. The water mallows and passion flowers that grow along the bank here come to full bloom in August and September, and I'll show you some pics I took of those as the winter deepens. On the down side, you can hear a fairly constant buzz of traffic from the intersection of the interstate and the parkway nearby. ( Looking back toward where we started . . . ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
yonmei	11:34p	Imaginary friend meetup Managed to miss two work-related events that I'd wanted to go to, but in compensation, I met threeoranges, who is lovely. (Both in personality, which I knew about, and gorgeous, which I didn't.) I bought her a coffee. She bought me a beer. Just for a change, I caught the 24 all the way to the Infirmary. (It's 35 minutes, give or take, from Lothian Road: quite quick, compared to the 21.) My dad was doing well (though his cheerfulness may have been because they forgot about his evening torture session physiotherapy) and I had found him a couple of Stephen King books to read. Which is slightly unique, really, my dad is so not the horror novel type. I have run myself a hot bath. That's nice, too. Current Mood: pleased (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
skywardprodigal	11:37p	100 Days of Color @ choc_fic Pleases me. :) (Comment on this)

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