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Aurealis Awards [May. 23rd, 2013|08:06 am]

catsparx

sparks-forsyth-freeman
Last Saturday night the 18th annual Aurealis Awards were held at North Sydney's Independent Theatre. Margo Lanagan scooped the pool. Check out my Flick set.

pictured: me with Kate Forsyth and Pamela Freeman

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Pets, continued [May. 23rd, 2013|07:36 am]

satyapriya
Toyah, Gingy, Meep. Toyah and Meep were our house cats for many years. They saw both kids born. The look on their faces those first few nights when we'd get up to heat a bottle at 3am for our daughter. Kitchen lights on, and two cats, staggering blearily from the bedroom, or kitchen chairs, wondering what the hell was going on, and why was that squishy thing making all that noise.
The look on Toyah's face when we brought home the safety capsule, ready for TB's birth. She knew, she was almost sure she'd seen one of these before and it boded ill. She looked at it and walked off in disgust, obviously thinking 'Oh crap, another one of those noisy proto-humans'.
Meep loved TB. Or rather, his cot. All those bunnies rugs and soft blankets. As soon as he went in there for a sleep, she'd hop in and cuddle down at the far end of it. TB's feet flexed and waved like a flag even in his sleep. Maybe she got a back massage while he slept.
She quickly learned that when he started making his wake up noises and twitches, it was time to get out. We never had a baby monitor for TB. We didn't need one. We only had to see Meep shoot out of his room to know that he was waking up. She knew that if she didn't leave, he'd abruptly roll over, sit up, and grab, with a delighted: "Aaaaahhhh!" as though he'd just discovered a new periodic element.

The kids were pretty good with the cats. Both learned that if you grabbed or pulled, you got scratched. TG would howl and show me her boo-boo.
"So, don't grab the cat," I'd tell her. "It's your own doing."

Toyah and Meep grew into their teens with us, until we lost both of them within a couple of years of each other. Toyah to cancer, and Meep of old age. I came home one day to find her curled up in a cooling ball in the front yard, Spring sunshine streaming down on her.
TG was at school camp. The first thing she asked her father when he collected her off the camp bus that day was "Is Meep okay?" He didn't know. He said yes.
They came home. I had to tell her Meep had died, and that I'd buried her in the garden.
She cried a long time, for her beloved animal who'd become friend and confessor, secret keeper and sleeping companion.
A cat, who after many years of quiet aloofness, became her lap cat.

We were suddenly without cats. This could not last long, and thus began a long period of kittens and cats through the house before we settled on our current mob. Why so many? Several died. We had extraordinarily bad luck with black cats there for a while. Buffy was hit by a car, and Cherry managed to tip a stone bird bath on herself. Tishy escaped while at the local vet, and was never seen again, although we suspect she'd been two-timing us with an old lady who smelled of lavender.
Giddy, a beautiful grey, and brother to Tish, was hit by a trailer.
There are a few years there that seem populated by death, by loss. Hard on all of us, but TG was desperate for a companion animal, and amidst her own dreadful crises, needed something to hold on to. To have Tishy, her particular favourite, run away like that, my guilt knew no bounds. It was me who took her to the vet that morning. It was me who didn't notice the vet's back door was open. I let her out of the cat carrier blithely, and too late saw the open door. Even then, I did not grab her. She was out the door, and over the fence so quickly, she was like dark lightning.
I asked the vet to put out food for her.
"That attracts strays," he said.
"That's kind of the idea," I said.
He refused.
We called, we searched, we did a Lost Cat letter drop for streets around.
When we moved from Fankhauser Drive, TG broke down.
"Now Tishy will never find her way home to us," she said.
I had to be strong, to say that she had likely found a new family and was cuddled up with them right now. Inside, I cried too, because new tenants would not know a skinny black cat, if she ever turned up, belonged to us. Tish was gone.
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Spectacles: The Adventure [May. 23rd, 2013|07:12 am]

satyapriya
My life has become the search for the perfect pair of specs, and the perfect haircut.
After the blue and pink glasses fiasco, which only lasted a year, I retreated into non-statement gold metal rims and stayed there a good long while, probably until university, when large frames became de rigeur, and I rigeured along with them.
I have unfortunate photos of me with huge plastic frames, and a short poodle perm. Oh, how I wanted to be Debbie Hancock on 'Young Talent Time', who sported a perm that started only partway down her head. Straight on top, then poodle perm. She was young and thin, and could sing. Yep, I'll have that hairdo, thanks, and magically transform into her.
I trooped through the mid-eighties with that 'do, and those glasses. The 'do grew out, and I became less and less able to afford the perms, but the glasses remained. The photo of I have of me holding my daughter, a day or so after she was born, I'm wearing a huge, white plastic pair of specs that come out in a sort of Elton John wing. They flatten my face and make me look like Atom Ant.
Metal rims kept me a comfort zone for many years after that until rimless came into fashion, and my then-current partner, now known as XP(Ex Partner), said I shouldn't hide behind glasses, that they shouldn't be a feature on my face. He, meanwhile, sported half-frames of black metal.
Now, as women get older, one of two things happens. Either the skin around our eyes darkens and we looks like pandas, or it fades and we look like owls. I'm an owl. I was getting older. The rimless spectacles faded me out to non-entity. I thought I looked great.
I experimented with contact lenses. Worst decision ever, apart from the poodle perm. 1: I had to touch my eyes. I can barely stand to put eyeliner or mascara on. 2: the amount of fiddling about with lens solution, and whatnot drove me crazy. 3: I had to touch my eyes. 4: the one time I got the lenses in correctly, and I went walkabout in Vermont South, I discovered that there was NOTHING between me and world. There was no nice barrier. There was me out there, with my bare face. Most unpleasant. I felt naked.
Back to the rimless glasses, and the safety barrier of specs.
Since then, I've been through black rims, tortoiseshell, brown, and back to metal frames. The search continues for the perfect pair.
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Question about the latest episodes [May. 22nd, 2013|04:25 pm]

doctorwho

[velannacousland]
[Tags|]

Cut for those who haven't seen the newest episode
At the beginning of the episode when the Doctor is stealing the TARDIS, who is he escorting into the room, right before Clara says "You're making a big mistake"? Is it supposed to be Clara? Also, I'm assuming that they took footage from another episode. Is there footage online somewhere?
Thanks!
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Шаблончик [May. 23rd, 2013|12:24 am]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, ]

Всю суть общения в камментах ухватили! )))

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Народное творчество [May. 23rd, 2013|12:22 am]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, ]

Зажигаем!

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(no subject) [May. 22nd, 2013|11:58 pm]

zakkusufair
Если человек начинает думать, это со стороны всегда выглядит немножко как депрессия.
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Swarm of drones to give early warning of flash floods [May. 22nd, 2013|07:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c4558aa/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291850B50A0A0Eswarm0Eof0Edrones0Eto0Egive0Eearly0Ewarning0Eof0Eflash0Efloods0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829185.500

A drone monitoring system that tracks flash floods in real time can buy time to escape before the waters hit
    


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Earth's tides are shoving the moon away faster [May. 22nd, 2013|06:30 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c451ffe/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291840B70A0A0Eearths0Etides0Eare0Eshoving0Ethe0Emoon0Eaway0Efaster0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829184.700

The North Atlantic is now wide enough to create exceptionally high tides, making the rate of the moon's retreat faster now than it was 50 million years ago
    


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String theory may limit space brain threat [May. 22nd, 2013|06:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c443015/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291840B40A0A0Estring0Etheory0Emay0Elimit0Espace0Ebrain0Ethreat0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829184.400

Hypothetical conscious entities that randomly pop into existence may undermine our view of the universe – string theory may banish these Boltzmann brains
    


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Drake equation for alien life gets an upgrade [May. 22nd, 2013|05:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c445b4d/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291840B0A0A0A0Edrake0Eequation0Efor0Ealien0Elife0Egets0Ean0Eupgrade0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829184.000

The planet-spotting Kepler telescope seems doomed, but its discoveries along with a new version of the famous Drake equation will sharpen the hunt for ET (full text available to subscribers)
    


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Google Glass apps show off what headset can really do [May. 22nd, 2013|05:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c445b4c/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291850B40A0A0Egoogle0Eglass0Eapps0Eshow0Eoff0Ewhat0Eheadset0Ecan0Ereally0Edo0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829185.400

A raft of new apps and hacks for Google's forthcoming device show us life beyond the smartphone
    


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Early weaning suggests Neanderthals matured faster [May. 22nd, 2013|05:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c445b4b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg218291840B90A0A0Eearly0Eweaning0Esuggests0Eneanderthals0Ematured0Efaster0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829184.900

The barium levels in a Neanderthal child's molar indicate its mother stopped breastfeeding at 14 months – more than a year earlier than modern humans
    


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Today on New Scientist [May. 22nd, 2013|05:00 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c4427e7/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn235810Etoday0Eon0Enew0Escientist0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23581

All the latest stories on newscientist.com: watching your mind in action, Drake equation rebooted, new apps and hacks for Google Glass, and more
    
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Пинать непрестанно! [May. 22nd, 2013|11:42 pm]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, ]

Во! Это мой подход! )))

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Детишкам за жизнь [May. 22nd, 2013|11:38 pm]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, , , ]

Дмитрий обратно отвечает на вопросы подрастающего поколения.
В принципе, достаточно уже первого ответа, чтобы взяться за ум )))

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Титаны [May. 22nd, 2013|11:26 pm]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, , ]

Олег Белаковский. Легендарный врач ЦСКА и сборных страны по хоккею и футболу.
http://www.sports.ru/football/148999186.html

Медицинскому штабу ЦСКА Белаковский отдал больше полувека и на пенсию вышел только прошлым летом – в 90 лет.

- Помните свой первый стрессовый случай в качестве врача ЦСКА?

– Был у нас такой защитник Миша Ермолаев, крестник мой. В 1957-м Миша столкнулся в Горьком с нашим же нападающим Германом Апухтиным и получил локтем в почку. После игры команда улетела, а мы остались в Горьком. Если бы я взял Мишу в Москву, он бы мог умереть в дороге и мы бы сейчас с вами не беседовали – меня бы засудили. По пути в военный госпиталь Миша стал тяжелеть, я делал ему уколы. Почка развалилась на две части. Он проявил колоссальную волю и продолжил играть с одной почкой, дорос до олимпийской сборной – как и Валера Минько в девяностые. Одна почка справлялась за две и мы предохраняли ее специальным фибровым корсетом.

- На Олимпиаде-1956 в Мельбурне тоже хватало работы?

– Толя Порхунов из ЦДСА слег с аппендицитом. Накануне полуфинала с болгарами жаловался: «Подходят какие-то люди, сулят богатства, предлагают остаться в Австралии». Они даже собирались забирать Порхунова, но мы увезли его из больницы раньше. А в начале второго тайма игры с болгарами столкнулись Коля Тищенко и болгарин Янев. Поднявшись, Коля побрел в мою сторону: «Вправьте мне руку». Смотрю, а у него все плечо в крови. Разрезаю майку, а там ключица торчит наружу. Коля торопит меня, ему не терпится вернуться в игру. Замен тогда не было. Я вправил ему кость, нанес фиксирующую повязку и Тищенко побежал на поле. В овертайме Тищенко дал на ход Рыжкину, тот прострелил, а Татушин забил победный гол. Мы вышли в финал и стали олимпийскими чемпионами.


Олег Белаковский и врач ЦСКА Игорь Силин оказывают помощь Валерию Харламову

ДалееCollapse )
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Кругом одни враги! [May. 22nd, 2013|11:11 pm]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, , ]

Хе-хе )

1366347409_576141897
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Mylène Farmer - Peut être toi [May. 22nd, 2013|11:08 pm]

zakkusufair
[Tags|, , ]

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booklist 2013: LIVING IN THE END TIMES, Slavoj Zizek [May. 22nd, 2013|06:00 pm]
warrenelliscom

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14950

Forgive me for not using the correct symbols  – they always get munged somewhere between Windows Live Writer and WordPress. </p>

This is catch-up reading.  I’ve read a few shorter pieces by Zizek in the past that I never found completely compelling – he has, in general, passed me by, and I never really got the adulation.  So I bought a couple of his books, deciding that I really needed to give him a go in longform.  I got a chapter in and then realised I’d already highlighted a dozen phrases and passages, as well as having seen him wander down a somewhat decadent and relativised cul-de-sac and given me the finger.  I kind of get him more now, and the book is remarkably hard to put down.  He’s all over the place, but he’s hugely entertaining and his writing is delightfully pyrotechnic.  I’m having fun with it.

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Well, I’d Like To Write A Thing About UPSTREAM COLOR, But… [May. 22nd, 2013|04:18 pm]
warrenelliscom

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14956

upsc

…this would be that revolutionary self-organised distribution process I’d been reading about.  I’m geolocked on all services: even using my Amazon.com account fails.  This would also explain why I saw more than a dozen different streams of the film on movie2K the other week, when I searched for curiosity.  (I was going to double-check that today, but my ISP has now blocked movie2K and I can’t be bothered to run a VPN.)

This is apparently down to Carruth selling the UK distrib rights to a company who doesn’t intend to do a UK cinema release until autumn and presumably doesn’t want DVD or download to dilute cinema takings.  They must be expecting to absolutely mint coins out of the twenty screens they’ll squeeze the film on to here.

So it seems I might get to buy a download in October.  Which I find kind of amusing: when I was a kid, I would read about films in American comics and magazines fully four-to-six months before they made it over the ocean to Britain.  And, in those days, of course, films would open in London first and make their way to the regions over a period of weeks.  Warm memories of seeing a tv ad for a film playing in London and working out how long it’d take to reach the Southend cinemas (the old Rayleigh Regal was gone by then). 

Well done to Shane Carruth and his distribution partners for allowing me once again to experience the film distribution methods of the 1970s.

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Who put the bomp [May. 22nd, 2013|08:20 am]

doctorwho

[jeffxandra]
[Tags|]
[Current Location |Baltimore, MD]
[mood |playful]
[music |Ray LaMontagne - How Come]

This came up in my thread yesterday but, because I'm self-aggrandizing, I felt it was worth posting as its own separate discussion topic. Thanks to, jadedanielle, who crystalized the question for me. Who wrote The History of the Time War?

There are any number of candidatesCollapse )

I'm sure I've missed some options. Who do you think wrote it?
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Twenty - Five Amy Pond icons [May. 22nd, 2013|03:29 am]

doctorwho

[juliet316]
[Tags|]

Twenty - Five Amy Pond icons for doctorwho20in20

Comments are good, credit is appreciated. Hotlinking is not, please don't do that. Blanks are not bases.
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River Song is Queer [May. 21st, 2013|09:43 pm]

doctorwho

[shadowbrookwho]
[Tags|, ]

. . . and I'm not just talking about her being bisexual. "Queer" also refers to "people whose sexual orientations or activities place them outside the heterosexual-defined mainstream." I discuss her sexuality in my post:

Just as Captain Jack Harkness is flamboyantly gay, River Song is flamboyantly queer.

That's why I like her.
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FIC: Smaller on the Inside [May. 21st, 2013|07:18 pm]

doctorwho

[charlottetrips]
[Tags|]

title Smaller on the Inside
author charlottetrips
characters Clara Oswald, Eleven, River
pairing Clara/Eleven (squinting)
rating, word count PG, 499, SPOILERS
genre character study, introspection
an I have Eleven/Clara feels following the series finale so beware…that’s mainly what I feel like writing right now. I feel like this is the first in a few to come
summary He was larger than life. Most times.
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Question [May. 21st, 2013|08:16 pm]

doctorwho

[pinkuro]
[Tags|, ]

Hi! I remembered Bells of St John and remembered Clara said something about a nice woman giving her the Doctor's phone number. Now if I remember correctly, it was never mentioned who she was, right? After the finale, and what happened with her (and after River's little comment) does it mean the woman is actually an older scattered Clara or was it actually River?
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Who Fanfic on LJ? [May. 21st, 2013|05:07 pm]

doctorwho

[mmorgan317]
[mood |Unsure]

Is there a place to post one's DW fanfic on LJ? I've tried searching but I haven't really found much... If not, I may just create a comm if I can. If we're allowed to here, sorry for the post; obviously I didn't know we could, lol.

M
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What is the worst thing that the Doctor could do? [May. 21st, 2013|03:55 pm]

doctorwho

[glowing_fish]
[Tags|, ]

Spoilers ahead for those who still haven't seen "The Name of The Doctor" (which you should really see soon if you haven't already!)

Read more...Collapse )
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Bees start to buck trend of decline in UK wildlife [May. 22nd, 2013|04:10 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c431e9b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn235780Ebees0Estart0Eto0Ebuck0Etrend0Eof0Edecline0Ein0Euk0Ewildlife0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23578

The UK's wildlife isn't faring too well, but lost and new species of wild insects and plants are appearing there and elsewhere in Europe
    


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Carefree leopard makes screen debut [May. 22nd, 2013|03:40 pm]
new_scientist

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2c431e9c/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn23580A0Ecarefree0Eleopard0Emakes0Escreen0Edebut0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23580

This brazen, beautiful, evidently male Javan leopard doesn't show obvious signs of stress – despite being recently added to the Red List of endangered species
    


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