somniloquence

Hello, my Festividding friend! This is my first year participating, though I am a looooong-time vidder. So I am very excited about this! As you can probably tell from my grotesque overuse of exclamation points!

I honestly don't have a lot to add to my information on the fandoms that I haven't already included in the details. I hope that the information about music ideas or the kinds of things I like in that fandom will be helpful, but most importantly, I hope you will have fun and put your squee for the fandom in the vid. That's what will make both of us happy! I am excite!

( Some stuff about me and vids and my fandoms in case you want it )

I've been waiting for months for Discover magazine to put up this fantastic, utterly fascinating article on a possibly viral connection to schizophrenia (and maybe some other illnesses such as MS), and they have finally posted The Insanity Virus online.

If this pans out, it could be one of the most groundbreaking mental health developments ever. In the same magazine a few months before, they posted a long interview with the guy who discovered that almost all cases of stomach ulcers were in fact caused by a bacteria, not stress or spicy food, and the incredibly difficult battle he had convincing people of the viability of his research. I'm really curious to see where this virus thing for schizophrenia goes, and if it will have a similar resolution.

I'm sort of a ... geek about this topic, I guess, because I wanted to work with autistic children and schizophrenics when I was younger; that was my goal when I went to college, but I quickly learned I would never be a good scientist. But I've never stopped being incredibly interested in the topic; I watched the HBO movie Temple Grandin tonight, in fact, and was reminded that in the '60s, they called autism "infantile schizophrenia" and of course that was when they still blamed it on "refrigerator mothers." We've come a long way, but if there's a virus connection, that could change everything we think we know.

And even more than that, I'm watching it because of the MS connection -- the Northwest, where I live, has the highest incidence of MS anywhere, and an awful lot could be done if we can find out more about it. I was a caretaker for a woman with very advanced MS once, and it was devastating to watch; to have something we could hold on to, identify and deal with... it would make such a huge difference.

BTW, if you haven't seen Temple Grandin, I highly, highly recommend it. Claire Danes is stunning, and it moved me to tears a number of times -- including one part where she's explaining her humane slaughter ideas, where I very nearly sobbed. I've followed her career since she pretty much became known, and they did a magnificent job of translating her books and explanations of how autistic people think into an easily relatable film for people who aren't familiar with the issue. Incredible movie.

I owe a dear yuletide author letter soon, but I'm still having a funk about the whole thing since Charlie Jade the character was deleted from the Charlie Jade the fandom nomination form. It's going to take me a few days to get over my snit. I watched the first two eps with belmanoir the other night, and it made me feel intensely fannish for it again, and it was hard to lose that -- it's left me feeling really uninterested in participating. I'm going to have to snap out of it soon though. And man, watching CJ on the plasma... I have no idea why the hell it's taken me so long to rewatch it on the plasma hi-def, but wow, wow, wow.

Would anyone be willing to beta a Charlie Jade vid for me? You don't necessarily have to know the show, since it's not a real story telling vid per se, but I'm sure it would help. I don't think even someone familiar with the series would be able to parse anything out of this; I think it makes sense only in my own head. It's for Club Vivid, so, you know, not a lot of attention will be paid if there's a story anyway. I would need any feedback soon, because the deadline is May 1 and I have to get a bunch of tweaking done, not to mention prep the files for transmittal.

Feeling much better today. I started doing the exercises the ear specialist had given me the last time and it seemed to help, as did the Dramamine, possibly also because I can tell it dried up some of the fluid in my ear. So after diligently doing the exercises every few hours, sleeping as upright as I could (which was not easy), and all that, so far I have not barfed today at all. I still have a lot of trouble standing from a seated or supine position, but it's not as bad as before, where I had to clutch anything nearby and walk with my hands against the walls. I've even bent over and picked up the cats, who I think they were grateful for not having to deal with that the past few days.

Blues seems to find throwing up totally fascinating when I do it. He has to get on the counter and get right there and investigate. I think he would change his mind if he ever got hit with it, but I try to swoosh him away. He just keeps coming back.

From maechi, apparently Sci-Fi Channel has picked up Charlie Jade.

I just. I don't. WHAT.

They rejected it before, at least once, possibly multiple times. Enough time has passed that there's really not a second series in the picture at all, largely because the showrunners couldn't get funding, and Sci-Fi's support would have helped obtain that. But noooooo. It was too complicated. Too smart. Not appropriate for their Mansquito loving audience.

Why now? I feel like I should be excited, because maybe there will be more fans for me to play with, but... I don't know that their audience is going to embrace it, since they seem to be doing this as an afterthought. And it will be butchered -- of the language, of the violence, and the stories cut down to fit more advertising in, making them even less comprehensible than they are now. By toning down the sexuality, they'll remove a lot of what makes 01 Boxer interesting in his freaky way.

I really don't know what to think.

Ooo, sdwolfpup had a great TV meme today that I am gakking and filling out, because I don't want to think about things like impending joblessness and etc. I'm sure it will contain spoilers because so many people think even your opinion is a spoiler, so you are warned.

Also, there is still time to send me anonymous comments in her vidding truth meme -- you can say nice things or tan my hide, or both, and stay hidden!
http://sdwolfpup.livejournal.com/406338.html?thread=8385090#t8385090

( TV watching memes are always fun )

ZOMG, you guys! strangefandom Stranger in a Strange Fandom (a community where people watch certain vids of fandoms they don't know, and then post their synposes of what they think the fandom is about based on the vids), has posted their latest round of strange fandoms, and two vids I worked on are included. And they are so fun and interesting to read!!

They used I Remember, the Charlie Jade vid feochadn and I made, and keiko_kirin's wild Lack, for the Charlie Jade signup, and they also had one for Keen Eddie, with my Too Bad, one of the funnest vids I ever made. The vids are linked at the communities above, and it probably helps to watch the vids if you haven't seen them, just to understand what the strangers who write the synopses are looking at. Some of them are just so funny. There were ten (!!!) strangers synposizing the vids for Charlie Jade, and OMG, I had tears in my eyes from laughing. It's amazing what people come up with -- watermelon drinks! drains in the ocean! yay! Really, I just could not be happier, and I can't wait to see who wrote them.

And the Keen Eddie ones are great at picking up the tone of the series (although, sniff, someone called Monty Fugly Guy, which hurts my Monty-lovin' heart -- see icon), and I can't believe eight people were willing to write the synopses.

This really came at a good time -- I've got a cold, I'm depressed (it's November, I hate it now), I'm lonesome without my sister, and I needed such a pick me up. You Stranger mods, you are my heroes. Thank you so much for allowing me to participate.

And the rest of you, go read! Fun! There are a bunch of other fandoms, too, and I can't wait to read the rest of the synposes.

For those of you who haven't found methods yet for obtaining episodes of Charlie Jade, the incredible series feochadn and I made our VVC premieres vid for, she's got new torrent info and also has volunteered to make discs for those who can't torrent. The discs will be high quality avi files, I believe. See her post here for info.

You want to do this, trust me! It's worth it. Just last night we were watching it and all deeply admiring Charlie's actor's crying skills. He is a perfect man-crier.

I was very bummed that ABC, those craphounds, pulled The Nine again after promising to let us see the rest of the episodes. Jeffrey Pierce, Charlie's actor, was in it, and it was cool to see him play the thug after having seen him in CJ. This guys needs a show.

I wasted an enormous amount of time tonight making Charlie Jade icons. I don't even have enough slots for all these, but I made them anyway. If the five people who know the show want any of them, please feel free to take. I am not much of an icon maker, but every once in a while something jazzes me enough to make them on my own, even with my extremely limited (Mickey Mouse) resources.

( Charlie Jade icons )

The vid feochadn and I made for the Vividcon premieres show is to an incredily obscure fandom, Charlie Jade (no, you don't get to see it till after the show). It was a Canadian/South African co-production (yes, believe me, I know how weird that sounds) featuring a number of Canadian, American, and South African actors, and probably people from elsewhere -- it's so sprawlingly multiculti that it's almost hard to define all the different aspects. It's also the best science-fiction/noir/speculative fiction/cyberpunk/whatever you want to call it series you will never get to see. Unfortunately it ran for only one season on a lone Canadian channel and in a few other parts of the world; the only place you can get DVDs right now is Japan (which I was more than happy to pop for, even though I can't read the menus!).

One of the many, many wonderful aspects you won't get to enjoy unless you can DL the episodes that will soon be appearing online (koff, really, I know nothing about this... it's just a rumor I've heard) or come to my house or visit keiko_kirin, who has the only other CJ vid I know of, is the incredible music by FM LeSieur. I've been trying to find out if he has made this music available, but what little I can find in English (he's French Canadian, I believe) doesn't look like it.

The series is so stunningly gorgeous I almost don't know how to pimp it to people other than to show them bits. It's just... it's magnificent. And it is packed to the gills with characters and storylines, but the visuals are never a flashy way of getting around the plot or anything like you so consistently see in American TV. It reminds me a great deal of Life on Mars in that the series has a distinct style and tone, and it's often breathtaking, but never at the expense -- or to divert your attention away if something is lacking -- of the people whose stories it is telling.

I did find LeSieur's official site, and he has a clip of the music he created for a scene from Charlie Jade (you may have to scroll to the far right, and click View on the "Charlie Jade prison scene"). Charlie is explaining something to a friend he loves but who, because of him, is in prison. You can also find a little taste of the series here, though the site is woefully out of date because the series was live then. The two main actors in the series did a tour trying to drum up interest in it and for a possible second season, but of course, that hasn't materialized, and good old Sci-Fi Channel, always determined to cater to the lowest common denominator and who are convinced that BSG is the epitome of smart and edgy TV, turned it down. I can only hope Jo's and my vid will do the series justice and possibly drum up some interest; ever since I found out about this series from macha at Tea at the Ford, I've been gaga for it and I feel like I need to become an evangelist and wander the wilderness, preaching it.

In other news, I've been adding and uploading and all manner of things at Imeem. If you see me suddenly commenting on older vids or something, it's because I have pretty much ignored the site completely since I opened it. I just am not totally convinced there's any point to it, but since I don't do much with it, I figured I'd get more linky and see if that helps. I doubt it will. It seems as if it's more of the same -- if you're not a BNV or in the superpopular fandoms du jour, you're just treading water in the same way you are with a regular site. As a way to share vids more and get the product out there to more people, it doesn't appear to me to have any advantages.

But I'll upload this week the Professionals vids that justacat has been remastering for the Media Cannibals, and probably put a few other vids up. I'm not sure if quantity or who you're connected to matters more, and I wish there were better ways to organize one's own content throughout. It seems so counterintuitive, most of the time. One improvement, though, is that they finally allow you to delete spam and chain letter content and all that other bullshit. That was a tad depressing -- although apparently you still can't remove tags other nimrods put on your videos.

And now, I realize, I desperately need some Charlie Jade icons. He has such exquisite man-pain, does Charlie, that there should be plenty to work with.