Ha Ha, I Have the Floaty Now!
Dec. 9th, 2025 11:18 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
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Photo by Helen Pinchin, via New Forest Wildlife Park
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Revealing our dark pasts
Dec. 9th, 2025 10:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lokifanI went to a bi speed-friending thing on Sunday (it was great) and one of the conversations I had there reminded me of this weird, hilarious moment of fandom-meets-normal-people I had a while ago.
So there were six of us sitting at a round table in a restaurant, having just done a fun activity forsodsta’s birthday. Me, sodsta, januarium, Januarium’s husband A, and our friends L and F. Importantly, L is a uni friend of A’s, and F is her partner. We’re definitely all big nerds together but I’m not sure even L knew that Januarium, Sodsta and I all met through Harry Potter fandom.
We did, though. And we’re part of a group of 11 friends who all have a lightning bolt tattoo - mostly about two inches long, on the inside of our wrists. They were drawn for us originally bylizardspots, because she wasn’t gonna get a tattoo herself but she was part of the group. None of us, I think - including the 4 or so of the group who are trans - regret the tattoos, because they’re a symbol of friendship rather than Potter in itself.
Sooooo like two years ago, we’re sitting around having dinner and F starts excitedly talking about how she’s reading HP for the first time, and really enjoying them. She’s very offline and you can tell from how she’s talking that she has no idea about JKR’s fall off the deep end - and her girlfriend L, who 100% knows, is trans. So she’s happily talking, and L is looking at us in desperation, clearly hoping we’re not about to burst F’s bubble with any information about JKR’s transphobic activism. And I think we all silently decide that if L doesn’t wanna have that conversation, we won’t inflict it. But we’re all kinda like ‘hmm, interesting’ lol, not really engaging about HP, more drawing the conversation towards like reading in general. You’d have no idea any of us had even read those books.
And then F goes something like ‘and the red dragon, the - I can’t remember, the - ’
Januarium: the Norwegian Ridgeback?
F: ???
Sodsta: the Chinese Fireball, wasn’t it?
Me, joining in for the fun of it: or the Welsh Green?
F: …wait…
Januarium, sodsta and I: :look at each other, then slowly slide our wrists onto the table and pull back our sleeves to reveal our tattoos as one:
So we basically did a big reveal that we’d secretly been in a cult the whole time, lmao.
So there were six of us sitting at a round table in a restaurant, having just done a fun activity for
sodsta’s birthday. Me, sodsta, januarium, Januarium’s husband A, and our friends L and F. Importantly, L is a uni friend of A’s, and F is her partner. We’re definitely all big nerds together but I’m not sure even L knew that Januarium, Sodsta and I all met through Harry Potter fandom.We did, though. And we’re part of a group of 11 friends who all have a lightning bolt tattoo - mostly about two inches long, on the inside of our wrists. They were drawn for us originally by
lizardspots, because she wasn’t gonna get a tattoo herself but she was part of the group. None of us, I think - including the 4 or so of the group who are trans - regret the tattoos, because they’re a symbol of friendship rather than Potter in itself. Sooooo like two years ago, we’re sitting around having dinner and F starts excitedly talking about how she’s reading HP for the first time, and really enjoying them. She’s very offline and you can tell from how she’s talking that she has no idea about JKR’s fall off the deep end - and her girlfriend L, who 100% knows, is trans. So she’s happily talking, and L is looking at us in desperation, clearly hoping we’re not about to burst F’s bubble with any information about JKR’s transphobic activism. And I think we all silently decide that if L doesn’t wanna have that conversation, we won’t inflict it. But we’re all kinda like ‘hmm, interesting’ lol, not really engaging about HP, more drawing the conversation towards like reading in general. You’d have no idea any of us had even read those books.
And then F goes something like ‘and the red dragon, the - I can’t remember, the - ’
Januarium: the Norwegian Ridgeback?
F: ???
Sodsta: the Chinese Fireball, wasn’t it?
Me, joining in for the fun of it: or the Welsh Green?
F: …wait…
Januarium, sodsta and I: :look at each other, then slowly slide our wrists onto the table and pull back our sleeves to reveal our tattoos as one:
So we basically did a big reveal that we’d secretly been in a cult the whole time, lmao.
A Private Life, Pillion, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Chronology of Water, Shelter
Dec. 9th, 2025 11:20 amtrailer_spotA Private Life - Vie privée HD1080p 22MB
Slyly comic psychological thriller in which an American psychoanalyst (Jodie Foster) in Paris, is devastated to learn that her client Paula (Virginie Efira) has taken her own life. Or has she? Visits from Paula's furious widower Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and taciturn daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami), along with the discovery that files have been stolen from her office, suggest that Paula may have fallen victim to foul play. Assisted by her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), she undertakes some amateur sleuthing.
Pillion HD1080p 26MB
A bit of an unusual British "rom-com" about a timid man (Harry Melling) who is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker (Alexander Skarsgård) takes him on as his submissive.
Festival reviews are very favourable. If you would like to watch the trailer without German subtitles. And an earlier teaser trailer: HD720p 18MB.
The Magic Faraway Tree HD1080p 39MB
Family movie based on Enid Blyton's novel about Polly (Claire Foy), Tim (Andrew Garfield) and their three children - a modern family forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. As they adapt to their new lives, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents including treasured characters Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Silky (Nicola Coughlan), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning) and Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns). Rebecca Ferguson and Jennifer Saunders are also part of the cast.
The Chronology of Water HD1080p 51MB
Intense, autobiographical drama about Lidia (Imogen Poots) who only feels whole when she’s in the water. Kicking through lap after lap, she can temporarily float free of the cold, rageful father who sexually abused her and her older sister (Thora Birch) while their apathetic mother turned away. Out of the pool, she flounders, ruining her college swimming scholarship with booze, drugs and reckless sex and lashing out contemptuously at anyone who shows her kindness. But when she joins a collaborative creative writing class led by "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" author and countercultural hero Ken Kesey (Jim Belushi), Lidia finds the same fluid escape in writing.
Marks the directorial debut of Kristen Stewart that was very well received this year in Cannes.
Shelter HD720p 29MB
Action thriller about a reclusive man (Jason Statham) who rescues a young girl from a deadly storm on a remote coastal island, drawing them both into danger. Forced out of isolation, he must confront his turbulent past while protecting her, sending them on a tense journey of survival and redemption. Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, Harriet Walter and Daniel Mays are also part of the cast.
Doesn't look any different than about a dozen films Statham has starred in (who can keep them apart?). But it's been a while since I posted a trailer for one of his action vehicles, so I thought for a change I'll include it.
Slyly comic psychological thriller in which an American psychoanalyst (Jodie Foster) in Paris, is devastated to learn that her client Paula (Virginie Efira) has taken her own life. Or has she? Visits from Paula's furious widower Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and taciturn daughter Valérie (Luàna Bajrami), along with the discovery that files have been stolen from her office, suggest that Paula may have fallen victim to foul play. Assisted by her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), she undertakes some amateur sleuthing.
Pillion HD1080p 26MB
A bit of an unusual British "rom-com" about a timid man (Harry Melling) who is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker (Alexander Skarsgård) takes him on as his submissive.
Festival reviews are very favourable. If you would like to watch the trailer without German subtitles. And an earlier teaser trailer: HD720p 18MB.
The Magic Faraway Tree HD1080p 39MB
Family movie based on Enid Blyton's novel about Polly (Claire Foy), Tim (Andrew Garfield) and their three children - a modern family forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. As they adapt to their new lives, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric residents including treasured characters Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Silky (Nicola Coughlan), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning) and Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns). Rebecca Ferguson and Jennifer Saunders are also part of the cast.
The Chronology of Water HD1080p 51MB
Intense, autobiographical drama about Lidia (Imogen Poots) who only feels whole when she’s in the water. Kicking through lap after lap, she can temporarily float free of the cold, rageful father who sexually abused her and her older sister (Thora Birch) while their apathetic mother turned away. Out of the pool, she flounders, ruining her college swimming scholarship with booze, drugs and reckless sex and lashing out contemptuously at anyone who shows her kindness. But when she joins a collaborative creative writing class led by "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" author and countercultural hero Ken Kesey (Jim Belushi), Lidia finds the same fluid escape in writing.
Marks the directorial debut of Kristen Stewart that was very well received this year in Cannes.
Shelter HD720p 29MB
Action thriller about a reclusive man (Jason Statham) who rescues a young girl from a deadly storm on a remote coastal island, drawing them both into danger. Forced out of isolation, he must confront his turbulent past while protecting her, sending them on a tense journey of survival and redemption. Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, Harriet Walter and Daniel Mays are also part of the cast.
Doesn't look any different than about a dozen films Statham has starred in (who can keep them apart?). But it's been a while since I posted a trailer for one of his action vehicles, so I thought for a change I'll include it.
Finished a relisten to Wolf 359
Dec. 12th, 2025 10:25 amconulySo much awful stuff happens to the protagonists in the last third of the show that I often don't make it all the way through. It's worth it, though - my favorite character suddenly gets enough growth to become my favorite character, and the villain dies in a very satisfying way, allowing me to say ( Read more... )
******************************
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Famous by Naomi Shihab Nye
Dec. 11th, 2025 04:14 amconulyThe river is famous to the fish.
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
*********
Link
The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
Link
But the soft and lovely silvers are now falling on my shoulder
Dec. 8th, 2025 07:29 pmsovayIt feels like cheating for the air to taste so much like the sharp tin tacks of snow when the sky is so clear that even through the white noise of the streetlights Cassiopeia comes in like pointillism and Polaris as bright as a planet. I saw none of the phi Cassiopeids, but the Geminids peak at the end of the week, with any luck on a night that cloudlessly doesn't make my teeth feel about to explode in my mouth. On that front, may I commend the attention of people in frozen boat fandom to this early twentieth century hand-painted stained glass window depicting Shackleton's Endurance? I spent my afternoon on the phone making sure of our health insurance in the bankrupt year to come: the customer service representative was a very nice science fiction person who agreed that it was time to reset this worldline on account of stupidity and for whom I apparently made a pleasant change from all the screaming and breaking down in tears, even more so than usual this year that never need have happened. I've been sent photographs of some really neat letters. Two cards arrived in the mail. My digital camera is showing further signs of deterioration, but a few evenings ago I caught one of those scratch-fired sunsets it's hard to wreck. I am aware of the collapses in the world, but I don't know what else to love.
Learning that shapes the Internet: Highlights from APNIC 60 Academy training
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:27 pmapnic_blog_feedAt APNIC 60, over 80 participants took part in training that made a direct link between an individual engineer's skills and the resilience of the regional and global Internet.
more IRA paperwork
Dec. 8th, 2025 05:45 pmredbirdI went out in the cold today, took a shuttle buses that was replacing the central part of the green line, and walked into a Fidelity office to get the medallion signature I need on the BNY form.
They provided the medallion for my signature, but the woman who handled that told me she thought I would need to redo the _Fidelity_ forms once BNY had transferred the funds, because the inherited IRA would need a brand-new account, not the one I created for the purpose a few weeks ago. Having printed and signed those forms, I asked her to keep them, in case they are usable. (She may have been thinking I'm trying to move the money into an account that already has money in it.)
She also said I do need to put the form with the medallion signature in the mail to BNY, Fidelity can't send it to them electronically. I brought the medallion-ized form home with me, but before I put it in the mail I'm going to scan it and upload the scan to the Fidelity website, in case the previous advisor is right and they can do this electronically.
So that will be another outing in the cold, to a post office, in the hope the letter gets to BNY in good season despite both Christmas packages and the Republican effort to destroy the postal service. Fortunately, there are post office branches at this end of the green line, the part that's still running trolleys.
ETA: I scanned the document, and just uploaded it to the Fidelity website, with a message explaining that I will be mailing the hardcopy to BNY tomorrow.
They provided the medallion for my signature, but the woman who handled that told me she thought I would need to redo the _Fidelity_ forms once BNY had transferred the funds, because the inherited IRA would need a brand-new account, not the one I created for the purpose a few weeks ago. Having printed and signed those forms, I asked her to keep them, in case they are usable. (She may have been thinking I'm trying to move the money into an account that already has money in it.)
She also said I do need to put the form with the medallion signature in the mail to BNY, Fidelity can't send it to them electronically. I brought the medallion-ized form home with me, but before I put it in the mail I'm going to scan it and upload the scan to the Fidelity website, in case the previous advisor is right and they can do this electronically.
So that will be another outing in the cold, to a post office, in the hope the letter gets to BNY in good season despite both Christmas packages and the Republican effort to destroy the postal service. Fortunately, there are post office branches at this end of the green line, the part that's still running trolleys.
ETA: I scanned the document, and just uploaded it to the Fidelity website, with a message explaining that I will be mailing the hardcopy to BNY tomorrow.
Good things about my train journey
Dec. 8th, 2025 09:13 pmcosmolinguistI had a lot of them today and they were mostly exhausting, but
The train manager on the train to Euston told us what platform we'd come in to (making it clear that there might be a last-minute change!), what side the doors would open on, how to get to the Underground and even buses and taxis. Since it's a station I know well, I could verify that everything he was saying was the right amount and kind of information that would've helped me if I hadn't known that and needed to.
I'm not sure this is what was going on because it might not have been working that way but... I think that there was a new feature over the two accessible toilet doors in Euston: there were big lights over the doors, one was red and one was green, so I assumed this meant one was locked and one is open. Like I said my experience made this kinda confusing but it at least made me think it'd be a really good idea! At the moment I have to look for a teeny circle near the lock/handle of the door and determine whether it's white or red. Which, in dim locations like you get at Euston, can be surprisingly difficult! And I feel like an idiot trying my key in a locked door and I don't like to stress out the occupant -- I at least find it stressful when I'm in there and hear someone trying the door, suddenly unsure that I locked it or that it has stayed locked. If a big red or green light over the door could be relied on and rolled out, that'd be great.
Winter Solstice Haunting TTRPG Game Jam
Dec. 8th, 2025 09:20 amradiantfractureHey, I made a little game jam, mostly so that I had a jam whereat to submit my own game:
https://itch.io/jam/winter-solstice-haunting-ttrpg-jam
Make something and I'll try to round folks up to play it!
https://itch.io/jam/winter-solstice-haunting-ttrpg-jam
Make something and I'll try to round folks up to play it!
Holiday Romance Recommendations?
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:24 amoracneAnybody have any recommendations for recent Romance novels focused on holidays, specifically winter-type holidays?
Health and stuff
Dec. 8th, 2025 10:46 amflaviomataniIt's been a rather strange week.
Winter finally coming, what gets to me is not the cold (and it hasn't been _that_ cold) but the darkness, the short days, it becoming pitch black night in the middle of the afternoon.
And then there's been the health issues. Or rather, the not knowing what's going on.
A few months ago I started having back pain. I also noticed that I had tingly feet and my ankles were a bit swollen. This can be caused by various alarming things so went to the doctors. They said it could be one of various alarming things and sent me for an ultra-sound scan, which was inconclusive. Then to a CT scan, a PET scan and finally an MRI scan, the results of which were never released to me or to the GP. I insisted and they sent me to UCLH for further checks - blood and urine tests, then a cardio echosonogram, then a full body MRI. Appointment to discuss whatever comes out of those, next week. On a day, of course, I had told them I would not be available so I had to scramble to sort that out.
The worst bit, thus far, is not knowing what's going on. But then, thus far, neither do they know what it is, so just a matter of patience. Wait and see.
Winter finally coming, what gets to me is not the cold (and it hasn't been _that_ cold) but the darkness, the short days, it becoming pitch black night in the middle of the afternoon.
And then there's been the health issues. Or rather, the not knowing what's going on.
A few months ago I started having back pain. I also noticed that I had tingly feet and my ankles were a bit swollen. This can be caused by various alarming things so went to the doctors. They said it could be one of various alarming things and sent me for an ultra-sound scan, which was inconclusive. Then to a CT scan, a PET scan and finally an MRI scan, the results of which were never released to me or to the GP. I insisted and they sent me to UCLH for further checks - blood and urine tests, then a cardio echosonogram, then a full body MRI. Appointment to discuss whatever comes out of those, next week. On a day, of course, I had told them I would not be available so I had to scramble to sort that out.
The worst bit, thus far, is not knowing what's going on. But then, thus far, neither do they know what it is, so just a matter of patience. Wait and see.
Put your circuits in the sea
Dec. 8th, 2025 02:58 amsovayAfter years of not even being able to pirate it, spatch and I have finally just finished the first series of BBC Ghosts (2019–23), during which he pointed out to me the half of the cast that had been on Taskmaster. I recognized a guest-starring Sophie Thompson.
This article on the megaliths of Orkney got Dave Goulder stuck in my head, especially once one of the archaeologists interviewed compared the Ring of Brodgar to sandstone pages. "They may not have been intended to last millennia, but, now that they have, they are stone doors through which the living try to touch the dead."
I wish a cult image of fish-tailed Artemis had existed at Phigalia, hunting pack of seals and all.
Any year now some part of my health could just fix itself a little, as a treat.
spatch and I have finally just finished the first series of BBC Ghosts (2019–23), during which he pointed out to me the half of the cast that had been on Taskmaster. I recognized a guest-starring Sophie Thompson.This article on the megaliths of Orkney got Dave Goulder stuck in my head, especially once one of the archaeologists interviewed compared the Ring of Brodgar to sandstone pages. "They may not have been intended to last millennia, but, now that they have, they are stone doors through which the living try to touch the dead."
I wish a cult image of fish-tailed Artemis had existed at Phigalia, hunting pack of seals and all.
Any year now some part of my health could just fix itself a little, as a treat.
21 years and counting of ‘eight fallacies of distributed computing’
Dec. 8th, 2025 06:45 amapnic_blog_feedEight long held and common beliefs about the network have been shown, time after time, to be false. What are they, and what do they mean?
[ gaming ] The Best-Laid Plans of Kobolds and Men
Dec. 7th, 2025 10:34 pmkiyaDramatis Personae
Viepuck, quiet due to player absence
Izgil, unfortunately the only one who can see in the dark
Celyn, who did a lot of rogueing
Robin, prepared to do a great deal of dragon-thumping
When we concluded last session, we were about to be attacked by a dragon.
( So we set up for that. )
(Combat sessions are easy to summarize.)
Viepuck, quiet due to player absence
Izgil, unfortunately the only one who can see in the dark
Celyn, who did a lot of rogueing
Robin, prepared to do a great deal of dragon-thumping
When we concluded last session, we were about to be attacked by a dragon.
( So we set up for that. )
(Combat sessions are easy to summarize.)
The final stretch: APNIC statement on the WSIS+20 Outcome Document Revision 1
Dec. 7th, 2025 10:45 pmapnic_blog_feedAPNIC welcomes the publication of the WSIS+20 Revision 1. APNIC remains committed to inclusive, sustainable digital development through responsible stewardship of Internet number resources, technical capacity building, and active participation in multistakeholder governance.
"mom's friend a long time ago."
Dec. 7th, 2025 10:53 pmcosmolinguistMom and Dad told me tonight about two friends of my brother's, and one of them's mom who was the school nurse at the time so knows all of us as well as being the mom of his friend, who she's run into lately who told her they always remember Chris at this time of year.
Two of the three apparently said especially that it was twenty years this year, and my mom was surprised that they remembered that specifically. But I have a couple friends about my age who had schoolfriends die when they were in school or soon after, and they certainly remember the person and how long it's been. We are lucky enough to live in an age when child/young person death is rare enough to stand out.
The school nurse mom even told my mom about how her daughter's kids know about him because the daughter has a Christmas ornament with a photo of my brother on it which my parents had made and handed out to people the Christmas after (I got one too, in my terrible flat in West Didsbury, but I never really wanted it and lost it along the way). The kids know about all the ornaments on their tree so they know this one is for "Mom's friend who died a long time ago." I love that.
On a kinda rough day, before two days in London for work that I'm dreading, this was a nice moment.
Their mom and my brother had been friends since kindergarten, when she was one of the girls who called him Kissyfur after a cartoon of that time, and who he used to entertain by doing stuff like pretending not to notice when the girls put snow in his hat and he put it on anyway so they could all laugh.
She sang at his funeral, which is such a gift to be able to offer a peer, when you're only twenty-one.