These three interview clips with Alan Rickman at the Hudson Union Society last week are just so wonderful and that's all I can say about them! In the first one above the cut he says that he is about to shoot a scene for Deathly Hallows in which he talks to 300 kids, so I presume that is all about Snape being Headmaster at Hogwarts. He also talks about shooting a scene with just himself and Ralph Fiennes ~ the scene in the Shack perhaps? That makes me sad.





Alan Rickman Answers Yet More Harry Potter Questions from Katie Benedict on Vimeo.


( Two More Videos Under the Cut )</center>

Tweaks and enhancements

• As a number of you reported, a service interruption impaired sending and receiving notifications for a couple of days. This was due to an avalanche of snowflake cookies. We've removed the free snowflake cookie and unclogged the pipeline. Timely notifications should resume shortly. Please note that there's a backlog in our queues, so you'll be getting earlier notifications first. For more details, check out this post at lj_maintenance.
• In anticipation of the new year, we've embarked on a self-improvement kick to boost our backend (pun semi-intended). This will allow us to offer you a holiday promotion in the next few weeks (yes, we're listening and working very hard to make it happen). We sincerely appreciate your continued patience and support.

Holiday vgifts are here!

We've added some fantastic new vgifts to help you spread holiday cheer. We also hope you'll honor AIDS Awareness Month by purchasing virtual red ribbons. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to support the development and global distribution of an affordable HIV vaccine.

Introducing: LJLimericks

We cordially here do invite you
To craft a fine limerick. Might you?
Each week, a new theme,
Then a poll, that's our dream
Winner posted on news to delight you!

In honor of all the brilliant writers on LiveJournal, we've created a brand new community: ljlimericks! Each week, we'll enter a handful of limericks into a poll (which we'll tuck snugly under an LJ-Cut). The winning poem will be published in the following newsletter. In addition, the author will receive a virtual blue ribbon! If you have the time, come drop us a rhyme. Please keep the "Nantucket" stuff on the downlow, since this is a youth-friendly community. Our first prompt is: Insomnia in winter.

Photos of the week

We're back with more incredible images from our global photography community. Congratulations to sempre_marseeya, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our second lj_photophile poll.

We hate to squelch your creativity, but, as a courtesy to other users, please post only one photo at a time and keep the main photo no larger than 350x350 (so images display properly via mobile and on friends pages). You can link to a larger image and/or post photos under a cut. Just so you know, we select photos for the poll blindly, based on user comments and staff feedback. Please continue to vote, comment, and, of course, enjoy. You can check out the week in pictures and view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Stay warm and safe out there!

doorwindowwall
A stunning collection of images sure to delight anyone with a penchant for architectural elements, this talented community, largely from New York, is hoping to attract new members from around the world. Featuring an eclectic variety of photos depicting doors, windows, and walls, there's an interesting balance of interior and exterior shots, many from urban streets, some from ramshackle rural farmhouses. Wonderful!

For the good wishes. For the lovely snowflakes decorating my profile page. Now the page looks like outdoors, as we're finally having our first snowstorm.

Dinner last Friday was lovely and I very much enjoyed the company. Not so much the noisy kids in the restaurant, though. Seriously, if your toddler spends his/her time screaming, please leave. These folks were finished dinner, too. And the grandmothers thought it was cute to let them run around the restaurant. A very busy restaurant with multiple Christmas gatherings happening.

Have not even started my cards for this year. This is good. It means if you forgot to give me your address, you're still in luck. Oh, who am I fooling? The darn things will probably not get mailed until about 3 days before Christmas! Anyone who missed my call for addresses can go here: http://sheryll.livejournal.com/163804.html Comments are screened, of course. Don't hesitate to leave an address, even if you're not sending cards my way. I just like to send something to brighten up everyone's day. If you want a card, please speak up.

We have to inventory the whole store this week. Yes, Christmas around the corner and we're counting stuff. Oh yay. NOT. Will be working 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday. I'm the on call Saturday night. Might consider homicide if someone calls in sick. :)

Treated myself to a Christmas present and bought the Wii Fit. Have all my presents bought except 1. Go me. Now to find a nice chunk of time, dig out wrapping paper and gift bags, pop in my Love Actually DVD and get them wrapped.

The tree is, of course, up and decorated. Three batches of cookies are made. Five more batches to go, I think. Should do another today while I have the day off. Not really going to feel like baking on Saturday if I get home around 4.

This is a real treat! An interview with Alan Rickman on the Deluxe SS DVD. Chris Columbus talks about hiring Rickman, and being afraid that he would say no to the role.

Rickman: "I don't think I had much choice in the matter. Lots of godchildren, nephews, and nieces were, um, not only excited - I think insistent (laughs). When you see this movie you're not going to see all of these huge mechanics and the months of editing. You're just going to watch a close-up on two little boys and a little girl's face. The center of the story. And unless that reads, the film won't work.



( Several Screencaps Here )

I'm a cynical person by nature. I view sarcasm, wry humor and irony as indicators of God's sense of humor and as marks of intelligence in the average human. However, I think that, during Christmas, people should stop being stupid and make extra efforts to not provide others with things about which to bitch in their blogs, or encourage cynicism or sarcasm.

More to the point, people should not do things like try to scam folks out of money -- especially if those persons happen to be me.

...And, for the record, grifters do not always look like this:


Sometimes, they look like someone's grandma, and they stalk people at gas stations during rush hour. They drive SUVs, and they dress in a fairly snappy manner. This is because they have been getting cash handouts from distracted moms and guys who drive trucks and have cash on hand. Let me enlighten you how it works (and I know because it happened to me just the other day).

The minivan was running low on gas, so I pulled into the nearest gas station and immediately noticed a HORRID smell, as they were cleaning out the pipes in the car wash and because it was very windy and blowing my way. This is probably a good thing because it meant that most people there were getting only the smallest amount of gas they needed and not the $40 they might have otherwise.

I finished pumping my ten dollars worth and started closing up shop, when I was approached by Innocuous-Looking Old Lady. She says, "Excuse me, but I just noticed you pumped $10 worth of gas in that pump. Well, as it turns out, I paid for my gas at the pump you're using, which would have been $10, but my car is over there... I was confused (so, naturally, she's driving a car???). I think maybe you'll see what happened...(HINT: YOU JUST GOT THE GAS I PAID FOR. IT WAS A MISTAKE. BE A NICE GIRL AND GIVE ME THE CASH FOR IT)"

So instead of smacking her upside the head, I take out my receipt, which got her a bit nervous.

"Well, that's an interesting story. See, I have a receipt for this gas, because, unlike a lot of people, I insist on one every time. Let me show you this one. See this name here? It says, 'Morgan, Kimberly' -- that's me. That means I paid for the gas. So I won't be giving you any cash for the gas I just pumped, because I, not you, paid for it."

She's good. She says, "Well, I'm not questioning you, dear..."

This pisses me off, because I know she's probably doing this all over town, is probably working with someone else, and in all likelihood, there are harried moms and working stiffs who hand over cash left and right because they have no proof they paid for the gas and wouldn't question a woman who looks like she works at your church.

"It would be absurd for you to question me. It would also be a bad idea for you say one more word to me." <-- that's me, right before I level a Look Of Death at her and drive off.

Interestingly, she does not get upset. She looks surprised.

I know, I am a bitch. ( Bad copy of "Bitch" video )
(AND I HAD TO WATCH AN AD FIRST???)

There are a million reasons she could have needed to scam people out of money. Or, maybe I am imagining things and she was just a confused woman who could drive a car, present a logical argument and just happened to have made a really weird mistake involving money and a gas pump.

But I doubt it.

'Tis the season to be jolly...

Yum! Thank you for the cookies, trystings, xparrot, and beth_soprano. Delicious and pretty. :D

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!

Hi guys,

This gentleman was one of the russian generals fighting French army during Borodino battle. I highly suspect that I am just not doing the search correctly, but I just cannot hit on his detailed biography no matter how hard I try. There are plenty of russian and french sources about Borodino, but this guy is not the most famous one apparently and I just want to do a head desk.

Okay, I at least figured out that he died next year (boy I hope not in captivity, will not do any good for what I am writing at all), but that is about it. UGH.

Any internet wizards or deeply knowledgeable people about russian generals during Napoleonic campaing in Russia help please?

http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/plots/?id=306

Pretty said that even the dates I could only find on postal stamps site.

Do you want a card from me?


If you want to see if I'll send one, leave a comment with your address (I will properly screen comments this time), then go about your business. No breath holding. No checking the mailbox every five minutes to see if the card has arrived. It's not healthy, and I wouldn't want anyone to die of heartbreak.

Food & Holiday

I'm feeling pretty good of late about me and my mad cooking and baking skills. I'm sitting here with a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream, both of which I made all by myself. I am usually a mix and can girl.

For Thanksgiving, I made a cheesecake to share with the diners at Uncle Billy's house. This cheesecake. I was really nervous about it since I've made cheesecake just once before and the results were edible but nothing to dance about. This one came out well. It looked AND tasted great! (P.S. Thank you extemporangle both for linking to the recipe and for helping me with the orange juice panic)

I also made my single serving meatless Thanksgiving dinner a couple days before. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for pumpkin ravioli with this cream sauce. I went for easy and did what the commenters suggested, making stuffed shells rather than wasting time with ravioli (been there, done that, too much work). It also tasted amazing. Even though it didn't really go with the stuffed shells, I also made stuffing of the usual sort, because, what is Thanksgiving without stuffing?

I'm also feeling pretty good about being prepared for Christmas (mostly). I have finished all my shopping, and dragged all my decorations from Waterbury to New Haven. I even got batteries for my dancing santa Homer Simpson. All that is left is to assemble the tree and go nuts. My roommate is pretty excited about it, too, so I'm being nice and waiting for her to get back from her outing with her mom and sister-in-law. One thing I have not done is send out Christmas cards. That might get done, it might not, but if you want to see if I'll send one, leave a comment with your address (I will properly screen comments this time), in the very next post, NOT this one, then go about your business. No breath holding. No checking the mailbox every five minutes to see if the card has arrived. It's not healthy, and I wouldn't want anyone to die of heartbreak.

I was going to give a gift card to one person this year, but I got around that by buying a green styrofoam cone. I am sticking it with toothpicks, to which will be attached one dollar bills. A money tree is more fun than a gift card, right?


TMBG

I saw TMBG the day after Thanksgiving at Mohegan Sun for their annual Audience Appreciation show, though it was a bit late this year. They're usually held in July/August. I'm going to say, ungratefully and dickishly, that when I heard it was a Flood show I was disappointed. You see, I'd already been to THREE Flood Shows. I'm such an ungrateful snot. This did not deter me from going, though, because it was 1. Free 2. In Connecticut 3. still TMBG 4. a new stage set-up, with puppets. Sadly, they did not stray from the Flood content often or for long. Two Avatars of They performances and the occasional Doctor Worm and such were the only deviations. That said, the show was a lot of fun. I got to share it with Mary and Geoff and some fellow TMBG travellers. Marty's electronic drum kit is great and I LOVE what they've done with James K. Polk. The Avatars performance is hilarious. So is Marty's with those bells during Shoehorn. My favorite part of the Avatars was seeing Linnell's silly grin in the background while the puppets performed.

Near the start, Flans assured us they would do all the Flood songs and if we didn't, we could contact them at their website, www.huffingtonpost. Before Someone Keeps Moving My Chair, Marty had problems with his snare drum, and was signalling to someone to fix it. Linnell said that it was "like in baseball when the catcher is holding a snare drum, it means the snare drum is broken." Flans asked Marty to give the steal second base sign when he was ready and Marty made baseball-signal-like gestures back at him. It was happy.

In introducing James K. Polk, they talked about the NY Times book reviewer who referenced their song in a review of a book on Polk, which Linnell found flattering and sad. Flans found the description of their song as "accurate" to be "faint praise." Then they bounced off each other for a moment saying that they had a lot of accurate songs and that the reviewer hit it on the nose. Flans: Some big facts coming at ya. Linnell: Some realistic sounds. Afer which, Linnell went back to the initial topic, which was that they had released an EP with James K. Polk somewhere around the time Flood was released. This prompted Flans to ask, "Have you been drinking?" Linnell replied, "Have you not been drinking."

I bought an 8-bit Rock tote bag because I thought it would be more useful to me than a t-shirt I never wear outside my house. It came with a free bumper sticker. I still have not been charged for the tote bag, by the way. I'm concerned it's going to come out at some very inconvenient time.

They also had a shirt for this tour that I found a little bizarre. It was black and had a cassette tape with cross bones under it and the words, "Home Taping Is Killing Music And It's Illegal." The back had all the cities and dates.

I got made fun of by venue staff for showing up early. I got a set list. I gave away the set list to a friend of a friend who had never had one. It was a good night and worth it even with all the Flood-ing.

I am going to see them in Northampton on New Year's Eve. I'm pretty confident they won't play Flood since they did so last year at the Calvin. I'm excited for the show and for New Year's fun and friends, and because it should be (hi weather, are we finally ready to concede it's winter?) cold enough that I can buy a pint of Herrell's ice cream and store it in my car for transport home. It's almost worth driving to Northampton just for the ice cream.

Here's a video montage:



The Rest

I got nothing. I continue my boring existence.

As usual, hubby spent Sunday evening glued to the television, watching one talk show after another. To give him credit due, it's political talk shows he watches so I can't really complain much. What triggered the incident (and the subsequent screamfest) wasn't his choice of weekend entertainment, but rather the show host's choice of topic...

( The confrontation )

There are times when I could gleefully throttle the fucker...