Mini Reviews

I bring you the first edition of "Arda watches things long after they are released and decides to talk about them after many people stopped being interested in them."

Broadchurch

Broadchurch is an 8-episode British drama about a close-knit community that suffers the tragedy of the murder of an 11-year-old boy and how it affects the family, friends, media, police, and community as a whole. It stars David Tennant as DI Alec Hardy (so it might be a bit obvious why I watched this in the first place) and Olivia Coleman as DS Ellie Miller, both of whom are fantastic. The show is really intriguing and sad, and really gets into how devastated the boy's parents are. Every episode kept me captivated with the emotion and the mystery - eventually, I wasn't sure if I wanted them to solve it or not. It's rated TV-14 and has some heavy issues, so if you're interested but want to know about the content, let me know. Definitely recommend.

 

Mean Girls

The 10th anniversary of Mean Girls was April 30 so I watched it to learn the context of the many lines I heard. It was pretty good, and I enjoyed the coming of age theme. I guess I didn't find it as funny as most people, but I tend to take things seriously and get second-hand embarrassment, so although I like comedies, very few actually make me laugh. But nice to get the references now at least.

The Clone Wars season 6

Watching new TCW episodes reminded me how much I loved this show and I'm sad that there will be no new episodes to look forward to after this. In many of these Palpatine has been looking really sinister and I kind of wish I could forget the movies for a while and be able to speculate about what the heck is going on. While these haven't been my favorite episodes of the series (there are a few in seasons 1, 2, and 3 that are pretty hard to top for me), and they've been kind of sad, I've enjoyed them. The Clovis arc had some interesting interactions between Anakin and Padme, and one scene with Anakin and Obi-Wan that I really liked. I just have the final three episodes left, and I cannot wait to see any bit of Qui-Gon that might be in them.

Frozen

After months of people telling me I have to watch it, I got a chance to see Frozen and really liked it! I had already heard a couple of the songs (Love is an Open Door and Let it Go, which are probably my favorites) and loved the others. Frozen Heart was a surprise but it was so cool. Besides the songs, I really like how they portrayed Elsa, and Anna and Kristoph were great too. Now I must learn all the songs!

From these things that I have watched and the parts that I liked, I can conclude that I like sad things.

In the category of possibly sad things, the Once Upon a Time season finale is tonight. I am not prepared for this.

What have you all been watching lately?

Stormtrooper post #1

I don't know why we have to do this. No one oversees the posts, no one really cares about this division, no one really reads the blogs once we take them over, and it's just more work for us.

So...

I'm so bored.

What time is it when an AT-AT steps on your wrist chronometer?
Time to get a new wrist chronometer.

Why should you never tell jokes on the Millennium Falcon?
The ship might crack up.

Why is a droid mechanic never lonely?
Because he's always making new friends.

You guys know any jokes?

I hit my head on a doorway this morning and it still hurts. Blast these helmets and lack of peripheral vision.

Hey look, I took a selfie:

These filters are awesome.

This job may be boring but at least there's good coffee in the break room. Out of cookies though. You all like to joke about "Dark Side" cookies, but the Empire does provide some really tasty treats.

Uh, what was that noise? Something just fell behind me.

Eh, it's probably just a drill.

Imperial regulations state that this post must be at least 200 words long so I'm just going to write a little longer so I can reach the word count that this post must be as dictated by Imperial regulations that I must follow so I can keep my job. You know, in addition to keeping the galaxy in order.

Okay reached 200+ words! Goodbye to all the people that probably aren't reading this anyway.

-TK482

THIS BLOG IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE GALACTIC EMPIRE

This blog has been confiscated by the Galactic Empire for failing to abide by multiple Imperial cyber laws. 

Imperial Edict OB-1KN3 - propaganda statements regarding the Jedi Order, a cult which attempted to overthrow the government and destroy peace by gaining full power.
Instances of this offense:
"one thing I love [...] is the Jedi Order"
"I've been fascinated by their culture and teachings, and most of my favorite characters are Jedi.  I love reading about them, lightsaber techniques, and the Jedi Way."
"I kind of like the Jedi."

Imperial Edict EP-2C4U - impersonation of an Imperial official.
Instances of this offense:
"Palpatine: Did you say Order 66?  *evil cackle*" 

Imperial Edict RA-1GD0 - propaganda statements regarding rebellion against the Galactic Empire.
Instances of this offense:
"Also in the Rebel Legion area. It's so cool..."
"Luke is so great"

Imperial Edict TS-7VI2 - defamation of high ranking Imperial officers.
Instances of this offense:
"So I'm definitely not crazy about [Panaka]"
"[Tarkin's] the guy I love to hate."
"Vader appears regretful of his past choices"
"Darth Vader's ship gets knocked away by Han"
"Palpatine is lying - he's been lying for a long time."
"[Palpatine's] not trying to make the galaxy a better place"
"Palpatine's charade of righteousness"
"I thought Vader had some vacuum cleaner in his helmet" 

His Excellency Emperor Palpatine gave these remarks regarding the New Imperial Cyber Protection Act:
The cyber world is one of our greatest sources of information, but so often this information is inaccurate, misleading, or outright lies. Our young people are significantly affected by this, and we owe it to future generations to give them an educational resource that is up-to-date, accurate, and beneficial to their lives as faithful citizens of the First Galactic Empire. Let us give them the tools they need to develop their world view in a safe environment, free from bias and falsehood.

Because the author of "In Western Lands" failed to uphold these principles, this blog will now be under control of the Galactic Empire. TK482 has been assigned to the maintenance of this blog and posting of Imperial-approved content so that the damage the previous owner caused may be reversed and readers may continue to be entertained.

-TK482

---

UPDATE: I've got my blog back! Apparently there are some good galactic lawyers out there. Here's a screen shot of the blog for the memories:

-Arda

Cabin Pressure

"The thing is, we've taken away all the things that can't possibly have happened, so I suppose the only thing that's left, even though it seems really weird, must be the thing that did happen in fact!"

"...Snappily put."

This is Cabin Pressure.

Cabin Pressure is a BBC audio sitcom about a tiny airline and their adventures, or misadventures, as they fly to various locations around the world.

And yes, that is Benedict Cumberbatch. But he is only one of the four principle characters:

Carolyn Knapp-Shappey (Stephanie Cole) owns MJN Air which consists of one plane, nicknamed Gerti. But since you cannot put one jet in a line, if anything it's an air dot. She has what it takes to make it successful however - if only her crew did as well. Despite her fearsome demeanor, she enjoys some of the games that the crew gets up to during boring flights, such as the traveling lemon.

Martin Crieff (Benedict Cumberbatch) always wanted to be a pilot despite everyone who told him he couldn't, including examiners. Once he finally passed, he was lucky enough to get a job as a captain with MJN Air. Much to his exasperation, he's often mistaken for a steward, baggage handler, or anything but a professional pilot (let alone a captain). He's a stickler for doing things by the book, but still isn't the most competent pilot.

Douglas Richardson (Roger Allam), however, is a seasoned pilot oozing with confidence, charm, authority, and smart comebacks. Although he used to be a captain with Air England, he now finds himself as the first officer for MJN after "a difference of opinion with Hong Kong customs about whether having seven silk kimonos stitched inside one's jackets indicated one was a smuggler... or simply a lovable eccentric." With schemes often up his sleeve, he enjoys being right and teasing Martin.

Carolyn's son Arthur Shappey (John Finnemore, the creator/writer of the series) is enthusiastic to be working with Martin and Douglas as a steward. Like really enthusiastic. About everything. Innocent and optimistic, he may not be the best steward but he will always try to help. His favorite word is apparently "brilliant."

Now that I'm done sounding like an official website, I found out about Cabin Pressure from some clips with Benedict. It's really cool to hear him in a comedy, since it seems closer to his real life personality and a lot of his characters in dramas are opposites of him. But then I was introduced to these other great characters, and a really fun, light-hearted show (it's pretty clean to and I'd probably rate it PG). I'm still pretty new to it, but have really enjoyed the episodes and clips I've heard. Here are a couple fan videos you can try to get an idea of it:

(Sherlock fans, search "cabin pressure sherlock" on youtube - there are some hilarious ones)

If you want to hear more, right now you can listen to an episode on the BBC Radio 4 Extra website. Right now they have one episode available a week, which they post online sometime Sunday evening. This next week is Ottery St. Mary, which from the clips I've heard of it, sounds brilliant.

Hope you like it if you give it a try!

by nzlioness

Scarves, Problem Solving, and Photobombs

Haven't known what to write about for a while, so here are a few cool things I've come across lately.

Anyone play Super Mario 64? That will always be one of my favorite games, so it was really cool to find this Princess Peach stained glass window that apocaknits made! Makes me want to jump into it and go down a giant slide, if you know what I mean.

Set to Stunning is an awesome blog about geek chic fashion, and their diy Fridays posts are my favorite. This week they posted instructions to make a Star Wars infinity scarf, but you could use any fabric - licensed, patterned, or plain, - and just follow the simple (from first glance at least!) instructions. I love the look of scarves and found a make-shift infinity scarf really comfortable, so this would be fun to make sometime. If you're looking for a wider variety of fandom fabrics than you would find locally, I've heard Spoonflower is really great - though the fabrics are expensive, they have some really cool designs (I'd love a few yards of that Sherlock wallpaper!).

Random, but this gif really makes me laugh.

Self-explanatory and completely accurate.

If you saw Benedict Cumberbatch's photobomb at the Oscars, you probably thought how great a bookmark he would make. Whether you had such an inspiration or not, you can print and cut out the ones that mizjimmy created. Stick them in books or have them photobomb your own pictures.

This wasn't much of a post, but it was still something! That is all - have a good week!

Happy New Year!

source

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great Christmas. I return to do the same New Years post as always, starting with some good things that happened the past year.

And they mostly have to do with fandoms.

I started Doctor Who late 2012, but mostly watched it this year and it's been an amazing ride. The stories and especially the characters have supported and inspired me a lot. It's been great to talk about it with friends and meet whovians. My cousin and I saw The Day of the Doctor in the theater and that was a really fun experience. I put together a Tenth Doctor cosplay which I've gotten a lot of use out of already.

Also watched Sherlock but that's less of a story of inspiration and community and more just fangirling.

Another cosplay I made was Luke Triton from Professor Layton. I wore it to a con for a day and that was really fun. Several people stopped me which was cool, and I finally got to meet some Professor Layton (and Ace Attorney) fans in person. I want to go again this year but there's like five cosplays I want to do so I'll have to narrow that down.

School went really well this year - had some difficult subjects to tackle but met some nice people and have that behind me now.

We went on a family trip this summer to visit my grandparents - it was a really nice, relaxing time and nice to connect with family again that I rarely see.

Got introduced to the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Love the books, and the movies are good too. Just finished reading The Half-Blood Prince.

Still in the same choir as last year which has been even better. I know everyone a lot better now, we have a couple new members, and had some really great times singing and hanging out together. Thank God for this group.

So a pretty good year.

Let's look at my list of thing I wanted to do in 2013 and see how badly I did...

Watch The Avengers, Doctor Who, Sherlock, more Once Upon a Time, Star Wars 3D movies, and The Hobbit part 2

Did all of these! Like extremely on the second and third. Except Star Wars in 3D which was postponed.

Costuming - fixing my Jedi costume, and I'd love to do an Ace Attorney cosplay (specifically Maya Fey who I think wouldn't be too hard), and maybe LotR-ish cloaks.

Weeeell I cosplayed Luke and the Doctor. Still thinking of doing Maya and got the clay for her necklace, so that's one of the cosplays I'm considering. Still want to fix my Jedi costume.

Write - blog posts, stories/fan fics, and lyrics.

Hm. A bit, but not too much on any of these.

Better manage computer time - drag myself off Tumblr more in favor of sites where I talk to friends and/or have way to improve myself (through writing and some reading).

Haha. Hahaha. Eheheheheh. I thought I was on tumblr a lot then. But in my defense, I talk to friends on tumblr now, and read/write some things.

Try to exercise once in a while, eat a bit more healthily, and get to a place where I'm healthy and feel good about my body.

I did okay-ish and on the feeling better about my body. Not the others.

Work on my spiritual life. Way.

This didn't really change but maybe that never goes away.


So let's try some more reasonable goals for next year:
Figure out, prepare for, and possibly take the next step in my life
Cosplay at least once
Be more comfortable with myself
Post at least once a month here, and keep Gollum to the same
Make a video
Work on instead of surviving until good days (the weekend, events, etc) finding the good in ordinary or difficult days.
Every day put a slip in a jar of something good that happened that day

If you have any goals or resolutions for 2014 you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!


Thank you all for sticking with me all this time, and I wish you all the best this next year!

Scurvy Sherlock and the Piratey Scandal in Belgravia

Avast! It be that time o' year again, methinks! Aye, it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Don't forget to use yer "savvys" and yer "yo ho ho's" today! Thinkin' o' last year, we be doin' another script 'ere to celebrate! This time we 'ave from BBC's Sherlock, Buckingham Palace: Pirate Edition!

(Long Jawn Silver enters to see Scurvy Sherlock sitting wearing only a sail wrapped around his body. He shrugs and sits down beside him.)

Long Jawn Silver: Ye be wearing knickers?

Scurvy Sherlock: Nay.

(They are silent, then start giggling.)

Long Jawn Silver: At Buccaneer Palace, fine. Arrr, I be fightin' an urge to commandeer an ashtray. What be we a'doin' here, Scurvy Sherlock? Mayhaps 'ere to see a bonny lass?

(First Mate Mycroft enters.)

Scurvy Sherlock: Aye, that be true!

First Mate Mycroft: Just once, can't ye scallywags act piratey?

Long Jawn Silver: Arr, we sails the high seas, I keep me log, 'e forgets his knickers. I wouldn't have a prayer, laddie.

Scurvy Sherlock: I be in the middle of pillage, First Mate Mycroft!

First Mate Mycroft: There be little booty, ye must've known.

Scurvy Sherlock: Aye, crystal clear.

First Mate Mycroft: Then ye need a new pillage.

(Picks up clothes from table.)

First Mate Mycroft: We be in Buccaneer Palace, the heart of the Brethren Court. Scurvy Sherlock, put yer breeches on!

Scurvy Sherlock: Belay that.

First Mate Mycroft: But yer client?

Scurvy Sherlock: Who be that?

Quartermaster (entering): I 'ave to tell, ye, 'e be anonymous.

First Mate Mycroft: Arrg, I apologize fer me wee brother.

Quartermaster: A right bilge rat, I assume. And ye must be Long Jawn Silver, former captain o' the HMS Shire.

Long Jawn Silver: Ahoy, aye.

Quartermaster: And Scurvy Sherlock. Ye look taller on yer wanted posters.

Scurvy Sherlock: Aye, by keepin' me good hat and me short matey. (He glances at Long Jawn Silver and turns back to First Mate Mycroft.) Yarr Mycroft, I need to know me clients. No landlubber be hiring me. Gangway!

(Scurvy Sherlock walks away but Fist Mate Mycroft steps on his sail, keeping him from leaving.)

First Mate Mycroft: This be vital to the Brethren Court! Grow up!

Scurvy Sherlock: Get off me sail!

First Mate Mycroft: Or what?

Scurvy Sherlock: I sail without it.

First Mate Mycroft: I'll let ye.

Long Jawn Silver: Arr mateys, there be a time and a place.

Scurvy Sherlock: Who is me client?

First Mate Mycroft: Use yer head, figure it out. Now blimey! Put yer clothes on!


The Sherlock screens be from here and Scurvy Sherlock's hat from here. Thanks for reading mateys, and fair winds to you lot!

First Mate Mycroft via twitter