Month: April 2013

  • Please Don't Bring Merlin Back

    I'm growing very impatient with the Bring Merlin Back groupie thing. I joined to watch what's going on partly out of morbid curiosity, because I have a sociology degree heavily anchored with anthropology and psychology. I've never observed a live cult group before, although I've seen a few from a distance. And I have to say, this one comes as close as any to weird obsession. I have bets on that if someone instructs them to drink the koolaid, a few of them just might.

    In the real world, one fan does not hold the power to make a staff of hundreds of people do his or her bidding. The group leader ~seems~ to understand that millions more dollars would have to be dredged up and a number of lives would have to screech to a halt and go in reverse to get back to an intersect point where they could pick up where they left off. But the group leader also seems to epic fail to see that playing fan politics like this looks like a mental affliction gone wildly awry. To expect the world to behave this way because a very few people (compared to the entire fandom or world audience) 'work hard' to make it happen isn't much different from a toddler throwing a tantrum or a teenager manipulating relationships or an adult refusing to deal with reality.

    I'm not wanting to be mean. I love Merlin so much that I spent good money procuring all 5 seasons, plus a calendar and a t-shirt. There are other fans out there spending much more than I have, buying collectible toys and apparel and traveling to film sites and conventions. IF these kinds of things are what keeps a show from ending, then Merlin would never have ended. Its international success exceeded so many expectations, and most of us feel so lucky to have seen it or been a part of it. But c'mon. Investing one's emotional belief system into remolding a television show via a fan army of swooning believers isn't how the rest of us want it to go. I do NOT want Merlin back if it means a handful of fans become the boss of everyone who ever created Merlin, and I especially do NOT want those fans to be the boss of Bradley and Colin.

    I love the way Merlin ended. I bawled my eyes out, yes. I've seen a lot of Arthurs and Merlins come and go, and this creation was such beautifully crafted story about such a deep friendship, and how that friendship survived through thick and thin and eventually led to the United Kingdoms. We watched a core belief system rebirth through the seasons and in the end came down to a serving girl on a throne because of the utter kindness of her king. THAT is what Albion is all about. Albion is a dream that we are ALL equal, that we ALL matter, and that we treat each other with respect and courtesy, not drawing lines at status. Because Arthur had such good friends, he was a good king.

    I do not want obsessive fans to change that. Arthur dies in all the legends, and I think this version of his death is fantastically beautiful and symbolic. Everything in the last two episodes is very symbolic- Merlin stuck in the dark cave while the battle begins in the dark, brother and sister both dying by swords forged in the dragons' breath, an actual dragon being Arthur Pendragon's pall bearer, and much more. I wept not just for the death of Arthur, but for how absolutely beautifully done that entire last stand was executed in film, how wonderfully uplifting the entire series was, how much it has actually helped me in my personal life to believe in good things during rough times.

    I thank Bradley and Colin very much for being Arthur and Merlin. But I never want to see them do those roles again any other way. I vehemently do NOT want obsessed fans to change what is in MY head by bullying the market with faked email accounts and spamming. I'm sorry those fans need that to hang onto, and I do understand that sometimes we really do need something concrete when our lives need meaning. I don't want to make anyone feel like I am making fun of them, because I'm not. I have observed and not said anything for a long time. But as an American who has watched this 'international' group execute 'actions' to bring Merlin back before some of us have seen season 5 aired in our country (or even season 3 in some countries), I think they do the rest of us fans the discourtesy of not caring what WE want.

    I want Arthur to rest in peace for awhile now. I want to make up my own fantasies about him rising out of Avalon again to join Merlin. I want that sparkling effervescence of 'maybe'. I want to move on and become the sort of person who would also be noble and patient and true like the rest of the supporting characters in Merlin.

    I have been part of a number of fandoms, and while I appreciate that fan support can sometimes bring a show back long enough to bring a little closure, I also understand that sometimes a show really is simply over, at least in the real world. In my mind I carry on to my own amusement, as is should be. Stories give us something to occupy our thoughts while we get through mundane or difficult stuff, and stories can even help us with problem solving our own relationships and decision making. To turn a story into a production on demand taints the joy of those creating the story to begin with (after all, it WAS someone else's idea), and neglects the feeling of pride in their accomplishment.

    I would invite the fans who demand a different sort of closure to create and publish their own stories. Instead of just demanding that everyone else drop whatever they're doing to please them, grow up and put the work into it yourselves. Invest your own money, dedicate your own hours of labor, form your own teams and produce something wonderful for the rest of the world to read or watch. The whole Merlin and Arthur field is wide open, anyone can interpret it any way they want. But don't think you can dare to turn our Colin and Bradley into puppets that you pull the strings on. Not cool. They have so much potential to go on and do so much more, and I want to see them continue to excel in other work. Please accept that they are actors, not dolls, not the real characters, not enamored of themselves as the fans are. They are simply men who get paid to fill roles. And we love them, that's ok.

    I rarely cross post my stuff, but this one is going on multiple blogs I have strewn across the ethernet. Those of you wonderful lurkers who stalk all my stuff, sorry for the redundancy, but this feels important. Thank you for your time.

     

  • Do People Really Know You survey

    Once in awhile I run into a survey that looks like a confession to all kinds of things, via the kinds of questions the survey creator asks. A couple of my favorites are the one who practically admitted to having interracial sex in church on drugs, and another who I'm pretty sure was part of an accidental murder and hiding the body. This one is the saddest one I've ever run across. If this person hasn't lived this in real life, he or she at least knows someone who has. I don't usually run a disclaimer before a survey, but I just wanna say every answer I give on here is a big hug to all the people out there who can probably answer yes to all these questions. I have been there, too. And I'm glad to say I persevered and survived and actually thrive now in a beautiful way of life, so hang in there all y'alls, it doesn't always suck, and we can recreate ourselves into powerful wondrous creatures. "Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter." -Yoda

    Have you ever been yelled at?
    I have baditude and way too much ego. People generally don't bother me much.

    Has a close friend or family member died?
    I love the way really old lady skin feels soft, like rose petals. You can't see me eating chocolate pie while I'm typing. I'm starting meringue experiments. Every time I make a pie this year I'm going to color the meringue differently and try to make cool shapes or patterns. I was struck with the idea a little late into this one. Scott got really excited when he saw that it was yellow.

    Have you ever been to jail for something you never did?
    Ooh, this one is kinda freaking me out. I'd probably normally ignore something like this, but since a couple grandkids are on the way now, it totally got my attention. Is it weird that she assumes she'll never get to talk to the kid? Like a Logan's Run kind of thing, kill people off young or something? Watch with caution, this song super sticks in your head, I've never seen anything so addicting.

    Have you ever been jokes about because of the color of your skin?
    Bradley looks like that last video kind of surprised him. Sorry, needed a brain cleanser. When I was a kid I was ticked off that I didn't have blue skin or pretty fur like a cat. The only time I turn truly white is my first day on a big dose of prednisone, kinda scares people.

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    Have you ever been on drugs and not known why?
    I rewatched the Matrix movies a couple weeks ago, and you know how people get all funked out thinking what if and stuff, but I'll go you one better. How much you wanna bet the soul mate thing you feel with someone is because your body is really next to theirs, but you never know it because you're plugged into a simulation. How do you know this world isn't a big experiment and the whole Matrix story was someone having premonitions about there really being a world outside this one? Did you know some physicists are postulating that what we think is real might really be a holographic projection? I've watched others, like The Thirteenth Floor, Dark City, Harsh Realm- how do we KNOW this world is a big accident? I feel like gaming is just an inside-out version of ourselves. I'm not entirely sure my brain is self contained and autonomous. I have ~always~ felt like I should be able to plug into an outlet like R2D2 and just know stuff, and I think the concept of the existence of magic is an indicator that what we perceive as limitations and rules (physics) doesn't come naturally to our perceptions of how the world should work, which is pretty odd if you insist that we are merely evolved material by happenstance. I need to stop before I plunge headlong into writing a book right here right now. Very exciting ideas in my head.

    Have you ever been scammed by someone you loved?
    Actually, I'm blown away by all the cool people I meet on Twitter, like Diddy Wheldon. It all started with one of my major Bradley days on twitter (I use Bradley James pix to cheer myself up on rough days, some of my tweeps love it) , one thing led to another, and anyone who's been around me even a little while knows I bumble around with my brain in 50 different places (aspie, #4 cracks me up ) and then I discover later how cool it was. So this was awesome and perfectly timed for grandkids being born this summer, because she has a Diddy By Design Shop full of the cutest little clothes, and I was browsing the net that very day for baby showers. Next thing you know I'm gaping over the Gems-Stones-studs Gallery full of sparkly high heels and christening shoes and nail gems...  Pix click back to their shops. The big pic is the christening shoes that arrived in my mail today. heart 

      

    The first couple of dots in my head connected after Diddy yapped with me a little bit on twitter about Bradley being hot, and I'm like, wait... her real name is Margaret and she's on IMDb ... So I checked her site again and dang if she didn't have WAY better info in her own film credits, so I'm all like Hey, your IMDb page sux, ur site is way better, etc., and she yapped back with me, which was fun and cool. A big game on twitter is to get celebs to follow, kind of like collecting #getglue stickers or something.

    But of course I'm doing 50 things, right? I eventually got around to showing Scott a couple weeks later how prolific her life is, one of those high energy people doing so much stuff like producing music, I'm clicking around and are you KIDDING ME, she does Spiderman art too??? (I tend to notice Spiderman stuff, there is a LOT of other art there.) Among a million other things that Diddy Wheldon does, like her YouTube channel. And she still talks to me on twitter.

    But by far the coolest thing you need to check out is her Serenity Talent agency site (also on Facebook and Myspace) and follow SERENITY TALENT on Twitter plus you can friend her as Margaret Wheldon on facebook. She's got so many ways you can contact her and get hooked up if you are an industry professional looking for work or in between jobs.

    I'm doing all this for fun, because I don't mess around with getting paid to link, but I do have to blame this one on Bradley James, I think. He seems to be my best common denominator with people around the world, and retweeting fan pix cheers me up on rough days, so I tend to do it a lot. So the secret word is "Bradley", and if you're nice to me I just might tweet a link for you.

    Have you ever been betrayed?
    My droid has been auto correcting my tweets behind my back ~after~ I choose the spelling I want, then I respell it when I notice it auto corrected after I chose the spelling I want, choose the spelling *again* I want from a list, and even add the new spelling to the internal dictionary. This recently escalated...

    Have you ever been beat up because you wernt cool enough?
    There's no such thing as not cool enough anymore. Anyone can be an Idiot Subbont-

    Have you ever been brought down by a friend?
    I've upped the ante so much in a Follow Friday poker showdown with this guy on Twitter that I now owe him really super big time, and let's see him top THIS, getting immortalized into a survey, HA! >=D Click that banner to get to his cool site. 

    I personally give him 5 stars for raising his kids RIGHT.

    Have you ever lost a friend because of a crush?
    This was my fave Superbowl commercial this year.

    Have you ever been told you could never do something?
    All my life. And then I did stuff anyway, and I'm glad I did. I didn't used to think like that. I was in my 30's taking a basic chemistry class with a bunch of much younger people, and the teacher asked what I'd been doing up to that point. At the time, I thought I was a loser because I had never stayed in one place long enough to make the kind of money that people always said I was smart enough to make, but as I rattled out a few jobs I'd had, that teacher almost swooned with jealousy and blurted that he wished he'd had the guts to go try other jobs. All he'd ever done was teach chemistry, the same classes, over and over and over, year in and year out. He made more money than me and had a stable job, sure, but that single moment turned my whole perspective around. I really have had a cool life, an interesting life, sometimes pretty scary or ridiculous, but sure as heck anything but boring. They say variety is the spice of life.

    I'm lately noticing that the Wormhole Riders don't have a Lexx category in their drop down menu. I might have to look into that.... you know, being's how I have a Lexx blog.

    If yes to 11, did you ever show them they were wrong?
    Since when were we numbering these??? That made me go back and count.  And whenever something goes wrong, just meme it and get famous. When memes collide... Click the pic to get info on the creators.

    Have you ever not had a roof above your head?
    I mentioned in another post that I slept in a car at one point in my life, for about a month. I didn't mention that I didn't want to sleep on the floor of a house a woman had died in and no one found her until after her cat had also died and decayed so badly that its skin stuck to the bathtub like it had been glued. I know this because I helped scrape it off. But there were people who did sleep in the house... it's in the book. I'll let you know when it's available.

    Have you ever have to not eat because you did not have the money?
    Ok, ok, I'll actually answer this. Yes. One week was so bad that all I had was what was left in a jar of peanuts and half a hot dog bun. Stuff like that is a good motivator and clears the cobwebs out so you can get priorities straight. No, it was a different year from the cat skin thing in the last question. Entirely unrelated, while my fave chefs on the food channels have been Two Fat Ladies, Nadia G, and Chef Anne Burrell, I get the biggest kick out of the Israeli Spice Agent and wish he had his own show.

    Have you ever been forsed into a relationship?
    This was kind of an accident, more like I was showing off when I cross tweeted this Dr. Who fan art over from facebook and made it about a book I'm reading myself which was written by a physicist. Well, guess what. He's on twitter. Click the pic to get to it, and from there you can click to his website and see the cool books he's written.

    You know what, it's getting really late, I'm floating on a pain pill, let's get naughty and deal with this question the right way. Close your eyes if you're sensitive to suggestive material.

    What was the worst mistake of your life?
    I'm refusing to regret my Team Hatter t-shirt, the most expensive t-shirt in my house. I got it from Keychain Productions | LINKS SHOP that supports projects Andrew-Lee Potts is working on. I think the biggest stumper to international fan support either way is probably shipping fees. If I had known shipping on that shirt would triple the total cost I'd never have ordered it. As it is, they sold it only for a very short time, so it's super rare, and I guess that makes up for it. Still going to wear it like all my other t-shirts.

    Who is the person who brought you down the most?
    There's a new book out I'm really wanting to read called The Universe Wide Web: Getting Started by Simon J. Morley, but it can only be read through devices, I can't get hard copy. I'm one of those unfortunate people that gets nasty headaches if I look at illuminated screens too long, thanx to some nerve damage, plus I can't sit in one position very long at all with a  laptop or device. With a book I can roll around my couch and hold my page at a moment's notice, etc, and I'm sad I can't get this book in hard copy because the idea sounds really awesome. If I ever do cave to Kindle or Smashtowers, it'll be because of this book. Click the pic to go to his website.

     

    Did you ever have to live without seeing one or both of your birth parents?
    This is a couple of other things I got for one of the baby showers. The pix click to where I got them.

            

     

    Have you ever been called Fat?
    For being the shortest kid in the second grade and having the smallest feet in my whole extended family, I kind of am. But no one has ever pointed it out for some reason. It's really just a rope... 

    Have you ever been made fun of because of your sexuality?
    People always want to fix asexuals. It's nobody's business what my sexuality is, and I don't need to be fixed.

    What is it really like to be you?
    You could never possibly know how truly evil I am until I lure you into a body swap and go skipping off in your body while you lay twisting in contortions on the floor from shock. >=) heh heh The evil villain I most identify with is Elijah Price in Unbreakable. While others work on solving time travel, I will solve the mystery of soul travel. Ok, I'm not as bad off as 'Mr. Glass', but I totally get that nudge over to the dark side, which is probably why I'm so aware of how important surveys like this really are in the long dark night. This video will spoil the ending for you, so don't watch it.

    And why is it like that?
    In keeping with the theme of these questions, how about an angsty parting vid.

    Ok, I can't end on that, must have some joy!

     

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I've started transferring my survey posts over to Surveypalooza so people coming in from search engines on mobile devices will be able to see the surveys.

surveypalooza

Apologies for the missing vids, another upgrade during the server migration swept through like a scan sweeping through the Enterprise. I'll fix those later, kinda busy...

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