The other week my older sister Kate, who knows some people in movie production, emailed me to say, "Here's your chance to send naked pictures of yourself to Tobey Maguire!"

What she meant was, they're shooting a film here in Seattle, currently titled The Details, in which Tobey plays an OB/GYN, and they needed photos of newborns and new parents in the hospital to decorate Dr. Tobey's bulletin board on set. Kate had a bunch of me, Steve, and baby Toby (how about that name coincidence?), so with my permission, she sent a few to them. (None of them were actual naked photos, I hasten to add, though when you're wearing a hospital gown and giving birth, that's always a risk.)

Today Kate received confirmation that two of our photos--one of me with baby, and one of Steve with baby--are on the bulletin board and are official Set Dressing! She sent a photo of the bulletin board, and yep, there we are. I don't know a) if I'm allowed to show you the Set Dressing Bulletin Board photo, otherwise I would, or b) if you'll even be able to see it in the finished movie. But I thought it was a fun piece of news. My son made it into a movie when he was barely one minute old!

As it happens, my regular babysitter is currently working on that film too, as a costume assistant. My degrees of Kevin Bacon are skyrocketing lately.

This all makes it sound like I totally know people in Hollywood. I totally don't, and I don't even really know people who know people. Which is why such small events, like becoming Set Dressing, make me happy.

Ordinarily celebrity baby news doesn't merit posting with me, but when it's Buffy gals, that changes things:

I just found out I was sharing pregnancy time with Alyson Hannigan, who has recently given birth to her first baby (a girl), and am still sharing pregnancy time with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who's due in the fall! Congratulations to Alyson & Alexis and Sarah & Freddie. Young babies, your parents shall know how to kick butt.

...none of you posted about Robert Pattinson kissing another man and doing gay sex scenes for an upcoming movie. It's called Little Ashes, and (making matters substantially odder) he plays a young Salvador Dali, and I bet I'll be able to keep from snickering right up to the moment when he starts wearing the crazy up-swooped mustache. But in that kiss photo linked above, at least, and thus presumably in some of the film, he's clean-shaven.

I just have to chuckle, since a role like that is such a perfect way to discombobulate shallow teen fans. They're used to their heartthrobs doing predictable chick-flicks, action films, and heartwarming family dramas, not moving straight from Twilight to a biopic about an eccentric Spanish painter. For that, RPattz, I give you bonus points.

One little post here, separate from the upcoming perfume drawing, to simply say that these two photos are making me fangirlishly happy. ( Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. as Watson and Holmes )

Slash possibilities completely aside, they just look so dapper! And a little Victorian-seedy, which is kind of hot too.

Having been listening to another Holmes story on The Classic Tales podcast, I've been thinking the casting of Robert Downey Jr. is not as weird as it seems on the surface. Holmes has a quick, rational mind, yes, but he's also got a lazy way of tossing himself into armchairs and leaning back with his eyes closed to listen to people, plus that whole wild cocaine-taking side. The role fits pretty well, I'd say. (Plus, he's a good actor, so I think he can tackle it.)

1. A pretty darn impressive bunch of Photoshop jobs melding Star Wars themes/characters into classical art. Weirdly good, and probably even more so if I knew a bit more about art. Thanks to naill_renfro for finding those.

2. Heard on NPR's "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me," when Carrie Fisher was a guest and in a mood to share gossip: "Alec Guinness once gave Mark Hamill 20 pounds to go away." She added that Mark was a movie buff and kept pestering Guinness with questions. And yes, he apparently took the money and went away.

I'm taking this space to pay tribute to Modern Male Actors Who Can Sing. Women are encouraged to take voice lessons, and are less shy about singing, so it's no surprise when they turn out to sing well. But men have to get past that whole "singing is for sissies" stereotype, especially in recent decades (unlike the '40s and '50s when, like, every movie was a musical), so I want to salute the ones who have made the biggest impression on me.

In this list I'll only include instances where I've seen the whole movie or play in question, not just YouTube clips. For example, I know Hugh Jackman has sung on stage many a time, but I've never seen one of his performances, so I can't really say I've formed an impression there.

However, I will provide YouTube clips for each of these men so you can enjoy them yourselves.

1. Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge. Ewan won me over as a lifelong fangirl through this film. The tragic love story and glittery sets would have been enough, but the heartfelt, skilled singing clinched it.

2. Neil Patrick Harris, Dr Horrible. Neil's a Broadway actor and singer, too, but this is the first time I was treated to his talents. So sweet, so funny!

3. Billy Boyd, The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings films were full of great music, but Billy's a cappella gave me the biggest goosebumps.

4. James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More Whedonverse here. God love the man for encouraging singing. Not only is James, as Spike, witty and sexy, but he can sing a mean Goth-rock, too.

5. Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And while we're on "Once More With Feeling," I can't omit Giles and his golden English voice. *sigh*

6. John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He's adorable in drag, and the movie is ten times sweeter and more clever than you expect going in. Plus, could the music rock more? I thought not.

7. Guy Pearce, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. For the most part, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving, and Terrence Stamp don't do any actual singing in Priscilla, just lip-synching. But they're so fabulous that I had to find a way to include the film. So here's a clip of Guy singing for a few seconds. (Warning: some cheeky profanity in this one.)

8. Rick Moranis, Little Shop of Horrors. Reaching back to the 80s for this one, but what the heck. I sure hope Rick's gotten a chance to sing more than this one part, because he totally rocked it.

9. Tim Curry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Reaching back even further for this one, but how can I not include Tim Curry in Rocky Horror? I rather doubt anyone else ever took camp so far, so successfully.

10. Gerard Butler, The Phantom of the Opera. Okay, not everyone can live up to Michael Creighton, but Gerard did a fine job trying, and is a fine man as well. Way too good-looking for the Phantom, actually.

It occurs to me that I could go on way too long with this list if I wanted, so I'll stop at ten. And I'm sure I'm forgetting someone obvious, so remind me.

Thanks to mosellegreen for linking this earlier...

Robert Downey Jr. to play Sherlock Holmes, with Jude Law as Watson, in new film(s).

Yum, yum. I love both those guys, and have lately been reading and enjoying more of Doyle's Holmes stories as well. Sounds like fun.

And yes, we will need a new library in Slashland to house all the fics that will get written.

In other news, thank you to those who have signed up so far to read aloud a line or two of "The Raven." There's still plenty of time, so if others are interested, come sign up here!

The Perfumed Court, the subject of my last enthusiastic entry, has lived up to my gushing hopes. Less than a week after my order, all the little sample decants are in my hands. And they came with candy! Just one Hershey's Kiss or coffee-flavored hard candy per package, but still, a lovely customer service touch.

As for the scents, what can I do but swoon?

Cannabis Santal blends beautifully on me, still rather manly but in a sweet, earthy, delicious way. I notice the patchouli more this time around, but it's not at all overpowering as it can be in some blends. The various notes just sink into my skin and get comfortable, sending out a tendril of vanilla and fresh tobacco every so often when I move. Smells fabulous under my leather jacket. Ahhh.

I have sampled Creed's unisex Millesime Imperial as well, which according to rumor is worn by royalty and celebrities all round the world, including Harrison Ford. It's a clean, fresh, expensive scent, but (thankfully, given the expense) isn't for me. I want to love lemony aquatic fragrances, but they don't want to love my chemistry. Unlike scents that blend well for me, scents that don't blend well--like this one--seem to just sit on top of my skin, gradually growing thin and stale and not doing anything interesting. I'm pleased to know what Harrison Ford smells like, but am sort of bummed, too. I hoped he'd smell like a smoky leather jacket. Oh well; he probably does when he's in his Indy costume.

I've sampled a bit of Donna Karan's Black Cashmere too, and definitely must try it by itself, full throttle, tomorrow. The bit I dabbed on my hands is fascinating me. It smells like at least three different scents that have enchanted me in nature: rockrose (labdanum), Russian olive trees in bloom, and the juniper/sage/pine campfire-like incense of the American Southwest. Cinnamon is definitely in there too. Dry, yet saved from desiccation by just that hint of blossoming desert trees and their exotic fruits. Totally unusual. Definitely not for everyone. Got to try some more to see if it really works for me, or if it's too good to be true. Am knocking on a chunk of aromatic wood.

Seriously, someday I might just plunge into the aromatherapy and perfumery worlds, and abandon this writing thing. Except when it comes time to write scent descriptions, of course.

This morning I dreamed I kissed Jared Padalecki, who I really only know as Dean from Gilmore Girls. In the dream I was thinking, "He's way too young for me. And I have braces; he probably doesn't like that. And he dated my little sister, which makes this weird." (I got him confused with someone else there for a second.) All the same, it was nice, so I went to Netflix and moved Supernatural, season 1 disc 1, to the top of my queue.

Yeah. Do anyone else's fandoms start this way?

If you're wondering why I've been oddly quiet about perfumes lately, it's mainly because I have been happily faithful to my regular fragrance, Chanel No. 19, for some time now. It's working beautifully for me: green without being astringent, floral without being cloying, and highly unlikely to be discontinued.

It is a touch on the "girly" side, though, so to tilt the scales toward the androgynous center I've been adding a little men's cologne to my skin along with it. Namely, I've been using varieties from the Royall Lyme Bermuda line. This pack of miniature bottles gives me four options (Lyme, Mandarin, Muske, and Bayrhum), all of which are simple and natural enough scents to blend well with No. 19. On their own, they've got a light, pleasant "your dad's aftershave" impression, and good staying power for a mere cologne.

Here's a new scent I'm curious about, though: Cumming, the fragrance, a tongue-in-cheek celebrity perfume created for Alan Cumming. Quoting the website: "Base notes of leather, peat fire, highland mud, burnt rubber and white truffle ground the scent with rugged sensuality, while the core notes of cigar, heather, Douglas fir and rubber contribute to its sharpness. The fragrance is completed with spicy top notes of bergamot, black pepper, Scotch pine and whiskey." I've never seen Douglas fir listed in a scent's notes before, though I've always thought it should be used in perfume. Must see if I can sample this one somewhere. If nothing else, Alan Cumming is hilarious and talented (check out the ad photos on that site--hee!), and I would like to support him.

By the way...in the Cumming video commercial on that site, is it just me, or does Alan look kind of like circa-1983 Robert Smith, with the eye makeup and the tousled hair and the pretty grin? Dang...sexy and goofy at the same time. That is talent. If he weren't gay, I'd totally call him and ask him out! ;)

Finally, I have up for grabs a 1-oz bottle of lotion and another of shower gel, in Bath and Body Works' Coconut Lime Verbena. I sampled both, but they're mostly full otherwise. On me the scent became a dreadfully overpowering tropical fruit salad, as if someone had spilled concentrated margarita and pina colada mixes all over me. Remember, self? Fruity perfumes, on the whole, are a bad, bad idea for you.

So, if you like this scent, say the word and send me your address, and they're yours.

1) Finished watching Doctor Who, season 3. ( spoilers )

2) I would be remiss as a linguist if I didn't link to this story: students in Baltimore (and elsewhere) are using "yo" as a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun. Examples include "Yo threw a thumbtack at me" and "Yo looks like a freak." In short, these kids have managed to do what no well-meaning politically correct language fashioners have been able to do in centuries. Not sure it will catch on everywhere, but it shows there is hope for that cumbersome he/she/one/they business in the third person singular. I think it's great. Oh, come on, it's fun! No, the language is not collapsing. Languages never collapse. Stop being so stuffy.

3) Farewell, Heath Ledger. I am saddened, as I was only just beginning to appreciate you. Also, I have a two-year-old child myself and it breaks my heart to think of your girl growing up without her daddy. So this better not have been intentional or I'll be really angry with you.

4) I'm off to get braces. I'd be apprehensive about the pain, except that the spacers they put between my molars have already inflicted pain upon all four quadrants my jaw for the past week, rendering the eating of crunchy things impossible. So I feel prepared. And you may call me Titani-M* for the next nine or ten months, or however long it takes my little crossbite to straighten out.

*The brackets and wires are a titanium blend nowadays. Stronger, smoother, smaller, faster, sexier, etc.

...that I have lived up to my own prediction and already fallen into belly-tingling crushhood with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. I would like to blame this shameful fangirliness on my female LJ friends (I'm lookin' at you, dirae, modmerseygirl, and sopdetly, among others) who primed me for the Ten Love, but really nobody else can cause me to crush on anyone. I've only seen two full episodes of season 2, but have come to the inescapable conclusion that he is one lickable hunk of geek-chic manliness (really, does it get any geekier than playing The Doctor?)--chirpy voice, silly facial expressions, horn-rims and all.

So I'm now in that annoying spot where I want to see all kinds of fanfic, videos, photos, and icons (I did pick up three new ones already) but have to be careful not to spoil myself on later episodes; yet I also don't want to rush through the remaining episodes because I must savor them. They are of limited quantity and the first time is always so precious.

No double entendres consciously intended in this post. They just crept in by themselves.

All righty, I'm hooked! Sometimes takes me a full season to see how they round things out and maximize the drama, but I do get there if the show's worthy, and I call the new Doctor Who worthy. ( spoilers )

It was a real treat to get a glimpse of David Tennant at the end there! I was fond of Nine and his loverly accent, but I got over my minor parting sadness when Ten-Nant arrived and ran his tongue around his new teeth. Let's face it, he is totally my type, what with the wide eyes and untamed hair. Lest you need convincing of this being my type, let's review a photographic sampling of just a few of the many Boys I Have Obsessed Over In My Lifetime:
The Monkees
Robert Smith of the Cure
Elijah Wood
Toby Stephens, especially as Mr. Rochester
And of course my husband.

Yeah. No hope for me. Bring on the Ten!

1. Things that amuse me, part one: The Vatican ought to have a pastry shop called "Donut Nobis Pacem," don't you think? (See Dona Nobis Pacem to get stupid joke.)

2. Things that amuse me, part two: Jim Carrey on how his union with Jenny McCarthy has been dubbed "Jimeny": "To be part of that tradition is amazing, to be TomKat and Brangelina, and going back to Markapatra and Napolephine. So, it’s not such a bad thing, really!" Hee hee.

3. Doctor-definitely-not-Dr-or-Il-Dottore-or-Doc Who: Have watched the first Eccleston/Piper disc so far, all of three episodes. I like it! I don't love it yet, but of course I need to time to get invested. Still, Simon Callow as Dickens was a treat; and as to "The End of the World" all I can say is: They had me at "Tainted Love." That's the kind of irreverent silliness I can approve of. (And it's probably the exact point at which several of you decided the new series sucked, which is your right, but I do love me some off-the-wall dorkiness.) Anyway, neither of the leads bother me, but Eccleston does look a lot like a former boss I had, which is disturbing, so I won't mind Tennant taking over.

4. I have this sort of ambitious Halloween idea of getting you guys to send me little sound files of you reading a pre-assigned line of some traditional ghostly tale like "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", which I would then splice together into a cool LJ-people Halloween voice montage. If interested and able to record your voice into a tidy mp3, go ahead and comment and we'll see if the idea flies. [Edit: Voice posts work. I think this can fly!]

Today my husband was flipping through a magazine with our son, and when they encountered a photo of Winona Ryder, baby Z pointed at it and said, "Mama." He was insistent about repeating it even when Steve tried to explain that it wasn't actually Mama.

(By the way, Steve thinks maybe it was this picture.)

So there you go: to the baby who spends all day with me, I look just like Winona Ryder. Sweet!

In case you don't read my fandom journal, I'll mention that I have gotten deeply into "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" lately. We're on season 6 at the moment, so no spoilers, mmkay? Anyhow, I thought the time was ripe for some picspam of pretty much all the guys who have been major characters so far, since, goodness, aren't they lovely?

( Read more... )

To be cross-referenced, though not entirely cross-posted, a couple of places.

Trying out this embedded YouTube thing...



And I suppose the fact that I chose this video, and that I find Weird Al a brilliant lyricist, means I, too, am white and nerdy.

Remark on the song: the Gap is nerdy? I suppose it is, compared to where gangstas shop, but I bet Target, Wal-Mart, and Big K have outfitted a lot more nerds than the Gap has.

And, dude, was that Seth Green in the action figure shot?

Grr. Amazon.com is delaying my shipment of the new Masterpiece Theatre 'Jane Eyre' DVD. I caught only a bit of it on PBS, am totally satisfied that it shall rock, and eagerly await seeing the whole thing. But I guess I have to wait another week or two.

Jane Eyre is such a beloved book that its many film adaptations have tough critics among the fans. I'm a huge fan myself--Jane Eyre is one of those love stories I imprinted on, having first read it when I was about 14 and never having dislodged Edward Rochester from my heart since. The Timothy Dalton film version is generally respected for its faithfulness, but it has a very low-budget look about it, and one criticism is that Dalton is too good-looking to play Rochester. In the BBC's latest version, the delectable Toby Stephens plays the part, and on the question of whether he's too handsome to play Rochester, I say: hell yes he is, and I have no problem with that.

I mean really: watch this clip and tell me your pulse doesn't pick up a little. Just look at photos if you want. The Jane Eyre book fans are embracing this adaptation and swooning over him, and it's gaining mainstream popularity too. I predict it will do for our dear Toby what the Beeb's Pride and Prejudice did for Colin Firth. And I have to say, I was drooling over Toby years and years ago when most people had never heard of him. But I'm willing to share him with you if you insist. ;)

So while waiting for the DVD's, I can continue to watch grainy videos on YouTube. *sigh*

(Cross-posted to two of my LJ's.)

I love my friends list. When wars start somewhere in the world, I *might* see mention of it on one or two journals. But when Pluto is demoted to dwarf planet, or--to take today's case--when poor ol' Croc Hunter Steve Irwin dies--at least five of you post about it. We have our priorities straight around here, darn it. :)

That said, I really do feel bad about Steve Irwin. I loved watching him be his insane self, holding furious writhing snakes at arm's length and assuring them, "Yer awright! Yer awright!", or body-slamming crocodiles into a boat and then gently re-releasing them somewhere less problematic. I would never have thought a stingray, which people say are mostly harmless, would be the end of him. Well, possibly it isn't the career one should choose if one wants to live a long time, but all the same I feel bad for his wife and kids. Good on ya, mate.

Poll #797111 Pointless poll du jour
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54

What is it that's so unsettling about spiders?

Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't think Angelina Jolie is the epitome of female hotness?

Philosophy and food:

OMG, Lance Bass is gay! Who's coming out of the closet next?

Knowing that www.ChuckNorrisfacts.com exists makes my life just a little brighter.