Just a quick post to say Happy New Year to everyone. It seems so close all of a sudden - or is that just because I seem to know quite a few Aussies? My news years resolution is to make 2004 better than 2003 and also to make sure I stay in contact with friends I haven't spoken to/e-mailed for ages.

For tonight though, I hoping for: a) lots of alcohol and b) some good-looking blokes. I'm taking a, so that's fine. b may well depend on how much of a I drink

Interesting:

Eowyn If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Eowyn, Woman of Rohan, niece of King Theoden and sister of Eomer. In the movie, I am played by Miranda Otto. Who would you be? Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

Eowyn If I were a character in The Return of the King, I would be Eowyn, a Woman of Rohan and niece of King Theoden and sister of Eomer. In the movie, I am played by Miranda Otto. Who would you be? The Return of the King Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

I've now sorted my website out so it's hosted elsewhere, so now all addresses beginning with paranoidangel.me.uk will work and you should be redirected there, if you're getting to this page via mayer.dsl.pipex.com/diary.htm

And here's a Lord of the Rings meme, from fileg:

1. When did you first become a LOTR fan?:
I first read the books six years ago but that was as far as it went until a year ago

2. Have you read the books?:
Yes. I've read FOTR three times, TT twice and I'm on my second reading of ROTK

3. Seen the movies?:
Yes, FOTR once at the cinema and once on DVD, TT twice at the cinema (but I will be getting it on DVD) and ROTK once at the cinema (but I will be going again in February)

4. What is it that you love about LOTR?:
The characters. And, in the films, the swordfighting

5. How many times did you see each of the movies:
See above

6. Times you've read the books:
See above

7. Just how obsessed are you with LOTR?:
Not that obsessed with LOTR, just with Elrond

8. Can you speak elvish?
I have difficulty just pronouncing the elvish words in the books, even when I've heard them in the films.

9. Did you dress up for any of the movie premieres:
No, I didn't go to any of the premieres - I tend to be at work Wednesday mornings

10. Most memorable moment as a fan:
Not so much as an LOTR fan, but when I came out of FOTR with a friend who had never read the books she had guessed Gandalf wasn't dead. I was impressed she'd watched enough Buffy (and other stuff, through me) to know.

11. Favorite of the books:
FOTR. I seem to have something about always preferring the first book in a series.

12. Favorite of the movies:
That would be FOTR as well.

13. Favorite overall character:
Pippin

14. Character you find most attractive:
Aragorn

15. Favorite couple:
I'm not sure I really have one

16. Favorite hobbit:
Since I've already said Pippin, I'll say Sam here

17. Favorite elf:
Elrond, of course!

18. Favorite man:
Aragorn

19. Favorite dwarf:

20. Favorite wizard:

21. Favorite orc:
Don't have one for any of these - there aren't enough to choose from and those that we know about we know some better than others, so it's a bit difficult to compare

22. Favorite villian:
In the film, Galadriel scared me

23. Favorite horse:
Bill the Pony. How can you even ask that question?

24. Favorite scene from the books:
The point in Rivendell in FOTR when Frodo meets up with Bilbo again

25. Favorite scene from the movies:
I think it's a tie between Bilbo's birthday party and Aragorn's fight on Weathertop - sword in one hand and flame in the other.

26. Coolest creature:
None of them, especially

27. Scariest creature:
Actually, the Argonath scared me shitless

28. Cutest creature:
Not sure here either

29. Favorite quote:
From FOTR, Boromir: "They have a cave troll" (it was the way he said it)
From TT, Faramir & Sam: "Your bodyguard?" "His gardener."
From ROTK, Gimli: "That only counts as one!"

30. Where would you want to live in Middle Earth?:
The Shire, or perhaps Rivendell

31. What kind of creature would you be?
A hobbit. I'm nearly there with the height part

32. What's your weapon of choice?:
A sword. What a stupid question.

33. Are you good/evil/somewhere in between?:
That depends on how cool a sword I get...

I actually got to see Return of the King yesterday. I can't say that sitting in a cinema seat for 3.5 hours is a particularly pleasant way to spend the time - especially for my back - oh, how I long for L3 again. Anyway, here there be spoilers if you ain't seen the film - and specially if you haven't read the book.

I'm just remembering Elrond smiling at the end, when Aragorn and Arwen reunite. Yes, it was cheesy, but at that moment I forgave the scriptwriters for making him look like a complete bastard and reminding us he loves his daughter. I don't know whether it was just the way he holds a mug or whether Sean Astin did it deliberately to show us he is a different class from Frodo, Merry and Pippin, but I did like the way the others held theirs by the handle and he didn't at the end, in the Green Dragon.

The film did remind me why Pippin is my favourite character as well. He just looked so scared at being parted from Merry and everything he saw - which is pretty much the same way the rest of us would be reacting in the same situation. And he's now even a grown up yet.

And Faramir, poor Faramir. Why did you ask that question? When the orcs were complaining about the Corsairs being late I was almost expecting them to say "bloody pirates" but that's because I watched Pirates of the Carribbean a few days ago.

I now feel the need to go and download the games (well, demos) now I actually have a computer good enough to play them.

Edit: Elrond and Aragorn quoting Gilraen: "I gave hope to the Dunedain; I have none for myself" (not an exact quote, can't be bothered to get the book out at this moment). They could have capitalised the word hope though.

Now I have new computer I can actually look at Blogger in hi-res mode - which looks like it used to. Very strange.

I've been playing about with this computer since Sunday, along with dad. We were doing really well until I plugged the mouse in on Monday. For some reason this computer doesn't have an ordinary mouse port, even though it has loads of others I'll never use. So we got an adaptor to plug it into the serial port. Which completely failed to work, so we installed the software. Big mistake! The drivers for the mouse and the trackpad conflicted so I couldn't use either, or the keyboard. This was after tech support had gone home, of course. In the end we had to reinstall Windows and start again.

Monday was an eventful day - I also couldn't find my wallet. In fact, I still can't. If I lost it on one of the trains I got on on Saturday and someone's handed it in it will eventually make its way to London. The people I've been ringing up there have been really unhelpful. And don't work weekends so I probably won't get an answer till Monday. And Smiths didn't have The Two Towers DVD, which was very annoying.

Anyway, I am now watching The Phantom Menace on ITV in the corner of my very wide screen (actually, its another ROTK trailer at the mo) and trying to decide on a new wallpaper. Very hard decision to make! I'm off to see Return of the King on Friday so I'm looking forward to that. I'm almost looking forward to going back to work and getting everything back to normal!

I've got out of work on time twice in two days now. I almost don't know what to do with my long evenings. The best thing about ADSL - downloading the new episode of Stargate in about 10 minutes. And it kept on going really slow. The episode seemed to go really slow although I remembered why I love Teal'c - he does come up with the best lines.

Return of the King come out tomorrow. Just as I wrote this the trailer for it came on the radio! I'm not going to see it until Boxing Day, which is probably just as well because I still can't decide whether I'm excited about it or not. I will be once I get in there, I'm just really worried about what they're going to do to Elrond.

Ewan McGregor seems to be doing a whole load of films lately - on Saturday I saw a trailer for one coming out in January. It didn't look that exciting though so maybe I'll wait and see what the reviews say about it first. I still haven't seen the last two he did.

It's really odd that people are talking about queuing up to go to the cinema. I remember thinking the same thing when people in America queued for weeks to see The Phantom Menace. There's this wonderful new invention called booking in advance - through the internet, the phone or simply going there. Admittedly I don't go and see many things on opening weekend and those I do I book in advance. And Warner Village do annoy me by being expensive and not having reserved seating, even for busy films, so you still have to get there 15 minutes in advance.

I know this is the extended LOTR films people are talking about. Even if they were on I wouldn't go to see them - I have to work for a start. I also can't sit in cinema seats for that long. Warner Village do have very comfy seats but even then spending three hours sitting in one on Saturday was plenty. It's odd that L3 was the most comfortable. It didn't seem it in lectures.

OK rant over - I left work on time today! Actually I left early but that was to go to the doctors. And I did work through half of lunch but that was probably just because I was so used to having a short lunch. An hour suddenly seems like such a long time! It was very nice to be home in time to listen to I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and catch up on last week's Buffy.

I went to see Love Actually on Saturday, I ended up accidentally downloading it last night, and tonight I printed the cover. That must be the fastest turn around ever! I'm going back to watching it now and writing some Elrond & Arwen bonding stuff. My hand's going to drop off - but in a good way (ie it has nothing to do with work for a change).

And yes, I have given in and copied this to my livejournal. I realised it had a use - the friends-locked (and other-locked) posts which I may use. Possibly. But if you're reading this in lj and I refer to a link on the left - that means its in my blog ok?

Greetings from an internet cafe in Reading! This is from fileg's journal:

I know very little about some of the people on my friends' list. Some people are real-life friends who I see frequently. Others I know relatively well: I read your fic, or we have something else in common and we chat occasionally. Some of you I hardly know at all. Perhaps you lurk, for whatever reason. But you friended me and I thank you.

I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. Yes, even you people who I know really well. Then post this in your own journal.

So here's my piece:

I was born two days after the election in which the Conservatives won. The next election they lost was four days before my 18th birthday.

I have learnt to drive but have never driven since I passed my test - I hate driving and I hate the idea of having to.

When I was younger I wanted to go to Mars.

I'm crap with all technology and am usually years behind everyone else - except when it comes to computers when at least money is an excuse.

My all-time favourite film is 2001. My favourite TV series is Red Dwarf.

I never moved house until I went to university. In fact, most of my stuff is still there since I don't have enough space for it all until I can afford a house of my own - which won't be anytime soon with the current house prices.

Anyone who wants to write something about themselves either in the comments here, or you can comment in my livejournal if that's easier. Don't feel obliged but it would be cool.

On an entirely different subject Love Actually is good. I mean you have to suspend your disbelief but its still funny and you come out feeling good (trying not the use the phrase feel-good movie here). Plus you can spend your time spotting people you've seen in other stuff - certainly that bloke from The Office and Rob from The Bill I didn't know about.

There was also the trailer for Return of the King. I was getting worried about what they've done to Elrond in it but then I realised there would be some Elrond & Aragorn interaction, which would hopefully be good and loads of decent Frodo & Sam stuff - which is what I always thought Lord of the Rings was all about until I discovered Aragorn. There's definitely something about him opening the doors - that seems to be when everyone who fancies him realised they did.

Random thought - I forget, when I haven't seen it for a while, just how good Dead Like Me is. And since SFX put Mason opposite Trip on their Top 20 pages I'm suddenly seeing him in a whole new light. It's weird.

I've also just found out that Blogger decided to publish me trying to publish my old post. Isn't it helpful. I've discovered the beauty of my friends page on livejournal - I can read it, even if people have picked realy light colours that don't show up on my computer! I'm almost tempted to copy my posts onto there again but then I look at my blog and it's just so much better for less money.

Anyway, the Friday Five:
1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?

What snow? I come from the South Coast - it only snows every few years and that's usually January/February. I don't mind the cold weather too much - in fact I like it when it's cold and sunny, not so much when it's cold and rainy and windy though. The cold isn't pleasant when you're waiting for a bus though.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?

I'd be quite happy not bothering, to be honest. It seems that Christmas seems to start in about October and this year I was fed up of it by November. And I felt certain we'd already had Christmas by the end of November.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?

We do puzzles in front of the telly. Or we did when there was anything on. The past two years I've gone to the cinema on Boxing Day, which is nice. I tend to feel that Boxing Day is quite special because that's when we used to go to my grandmother's for Christmas dinner when we were younger. Up until I left uni Christmas Day was great for getting work done (I don't have any now). In my third year I wrote two 3000 word essays on Christmas Day.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?

Not specifically at Christmas but generally all year round, yes.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?

You mean I can only pick one?

And the fannish five, now linked on the left:
1. How many and which of your fandoms do you own on DVD?

My first DVD was The Phantom Menace. Then there's a free Red Dwarf one I got off a magazine (well, since I didn't really want the mag that much it was really a �3.99 DVD, but still). Fellowship extended edition, various Farscape and Stargate ones I got cheap/free (really free this time). Oh, and The Bill for one episode I missed the last 2 minutes of. So that's six then. Actually, just remembered I have a Star Trek DVD from America that hasn't been released over here. Haven't watched it, mind you.

2. If you had tapes, did you toss them when you got the DVDs?

There's nothing I have on both video and DVD.

3. What are your favorite extras (commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, foreign language dub, interviews with cast, etc.)? Generally and specifically.

I quite like the behind the scenes stuff, like how they did things. Commentaries bore me. I've never managed to get any decent foreign languages to work, although hearing Teal'c in Spanish was quite funny.

4. What do you view first: the episodes, commentary, extras?

The extras. Sometimes I don't make it to the episodes/films and the only commentary I've ever listened to was on Fellowship and that was only because I was determined to listen to the whole thing. There's only so much sucking up I can cope with.

5. What fandoms on DVD do you not yet own or are not out yet?

Everything. Especially Red Dwarf, Hitch-hiker's, Farscape, Babylon 5, Buffy, Angel, Smallville, Alias. The list could go on, frankly.

I can't believe it's nearly midnight and I've achieved practically nothing this evening. I did make an lj icon for myself last weekend though:

Here's my post from 26th November that Blogger is refusing to publish for some unknown reason:

Ah, the combinations I had to try to get this and not cheat:

Which LOTR man were you stalking? by LadyBella
Name (user or otherwise):
Age:
Who you were stalking:	Viggo Mortensen
Purpose:	You want his autograph. Badly.
Result:	Bumped into him when you weren�t prepared for it.
Created with quill18's MemeGen!

Age: 24
Where did you grow up?: Poole, Dorset (South Coast of England)

What do you call ...

1. a body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks?

stream

2. the thing you push around the grocery store?

shopping trolley (or just trolley)

3. a metal container to carry a meal in?

The closest thing I can think of is lunchbox but they aren't metal, they're plastic or tupperware

4. the thing that you cook bacon and eggs in?

frying pan

5. the piece of furniture that seats three people?

settee at home, sofa everywhere else

6. the device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof?

guttering

7. the covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening?

The closest thing would be the (back) garden, if you have one, but it certainly isn't covered

8. carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages?

fizzy drinks collectively, but known by their actual names (ie Coke, Lemonade)

9. a flat, round breakfast food served with syrup?

pancake, I imagine, although I've never had one for breakfast

10. a long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself?

baguette

11. the piece of clothing worn by men at the beach?

swimming trunks

12. shoes worn for sports?

trainers

13. putting a room in order?

tidying (up)

14. a flying insect that glows in the dark?

firefly

15. the little insect that curls up into a ball?

The only one I can think of is an earwig - I don't take that much notice of insects

16. the children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down?

see-saw

17. how do you eat your pizza?

If it's take-away, then with my fingers, otherwise I use a knife and fork

18. the act of private citizens putting up signs and selling their used stuff?

sale

19. the evening meal?

dinner

20. the thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are?

cellar or basement - although judging by the ones I've seen I wouldn't go down there, never mind have a room in one

Note to Blogger: please at least publish this one, pretty please?

I actually managed to write drabbles this weekend. One for TPM100's elements challenge - Rain and one for LOTR100's on contentment - Beloved

It's odd, I have this tendency to write angst for LOTR, but when it comes to TPM, certainly as far as the drabbles are concerned, it's been happy stuff. There are plenty of people writing Obi-angst and I'm really enjoying writing Qui & Obi training/bonding sessions.

I saw the extended TT in town at the weekend. The ordinary one is �27.99 and the one with an extra disk and a Gollum to dust is �44.99. Given I don't even have space for the 4 DVDs, I know which one I'll be buying once I get the annual gift voucher from work.

I also had a bit of a film session this weekend. Went to see the Matrix. Some girl's phone went off and she answered it! Admittedly it was only to see she was in the cinema. I didn't mind because it was in one of the sappy love scenes they really could have done without. I'm left with all these questions now - like what happens next - but then you're talking about a never-ending story. This one was better then the second - the action was better and a lot less gratuitous.

Then there was One Hour Photo, which was good and not scary at all. Michael Varta had really dodgy hair in it but since we also got pretty much a full frontal shot I'll forgive him. Shallow Hal was good and funny. Blue Juice was okay, despite Ewan McGregor having long hair and doing a London accent in it.

I realised last night, while watching The West Wing, why I trust the new VP for no reason whatsoever, and also think he's a bit of a twit. Then it occured to me that was because he was the captain in Crusade! And for another West Wing connection - the old VP was in One Hour Photo. I never trusted him and that really was for no reason. But I think I was right to given what I've vaguely heard about what happens at the end of the fourth.

You are a Teleri of Aman. You are a mariner with
great love for the sea. You are dear to Ulmo
and all things considered he is a great Valar
to be dear to. Thou you followed the summons of
the Valar to Aman you really do not concern
yourself with their business. You just want to
enjoy the safety they provide, but otherwise be
free from their interference. Nevertheless you
belief in the Valar is unshakable and you are
very content with your life and lot.

(Image: Finrod by Kasura, Finrod's mother is a
Teleri of Aman and he himself is more akin to
the Teleri than the Noldo)

Which kindred of Tolkien's Elves are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Friday Five:
1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
Get up-to-date on my downloads, back-up, finish my Christmas shopping, see The Matrix and Love Actually, catch up on my videos and DVDs.

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.
Denise, Marian, Cassie, Debbie, Lisa

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
Speak French (preferably by next Friday!), survive on less sleep, play a nice small, cheap musical instrument, IT tech support stuff, write better

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
Buy a house, buy a new mini, pay off my friends debts, go to Australia, get a better job

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
Read, cross stitch, play music, listen to music (as long as its reasonable slow), swim

And the Fannish Friday Five:
What fandom did you get into that you were absolivity and posiloutly sure, you were never going to get into, but you did.
Lord of the Rings. I never really knew it existed, to be honest but I certainly didn't envisage myself getting into it.

What made you think you would never get into it? What tipped you into it?
I think it was just that I didn't think there was anything in it for me. I also didn't need another one! I saw a couple of recs on Celli's livejournal, one for Baylor's The Care and Feeding of Hobbits and one for a multi-fandom elves thing (Elves! Elves! Elves!). It all went downhill from there.

Did you start to write/vid/archive/dub/(fill in fannish creative activity) in that fandom? Do you still?
Yes and yes.

Have you ever pimped someone into a fandom without trying? Which fandom, and what did it?
I don't think so. Unless you count my dad now downloading Stargate when I had just discovered it and was watching season 1 on the Big Breakfast. He wasn't even in the room for most of the episodes.

Do you have a fandom where you do not read the fic? Why not?
Buffy. Not sure why but I think its because none of the characters grabbed me enough to want to read about them.

You are a Maia of Ulmo, Lord of Waters

Whose Maia are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

A couple of recs:
History Lessons: The Second Age - it's only just started by, judging by the quality of History Lessons, it's got to be good.
Further to Fly - I'm on a bit of a West Wing kick at the moment and this one is long and good with lots of people having crises.

This weekend I spend just over �2000 on a new computer and various accessories. The computer itself is arriving on Friday, although sadly it's being delivered to my parents house. Which means I won't get to see it until Christmas and won't get to use it much until the end of January. On the plus side I am getting broadband! It only works out as a few quid more a month than I'm paying now and freeserve is really quite amazingly crap. I had 303 ZoneAlarm alerts in half an hour last night and I wasn't even doing anything!

Highlights of America:

Big. Everything is big. The houses are big, the cars are big, the roads are big (I saw very few single lane roads), with loads of intersections, the food portions are big, the hotel room was big. The only thing that was small was the plane and the airport (at least in comparison to Heathrow).

I have to admit hearing all the American accents started to drive me mad after a while. I was actually glad to be back in civilisation by the time I got home. I mean it was good fun, and it was interesting to see how much of America is exactly like in films and on TV, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I did see Alias and Angel while I was there but I might have to watch them again - there were so many adverts I never actually got into them and therefore can't remember any of it.

I was very impressed with the live episode of The Bill last night. Since it was done in real time it made it seem so much more real. It's a shame that the storylines meant that not everyone could have been in it though. There was lots of action, I was practically glued to my seat! And that hasn't happened for a while, usually I have to be doing something else at the same time, otherwise I get bored.

The most annoying thing though, is that usually I put the TV or video on at 7.59 and get 'previously on The Bill'. I was out Wednesday so I switched the tape over at 9pm for Teachers and it cut off the end of The Bill! The tape started and I got the end of Coro, so I wasn't impressed. Especially as I put the TV on Thursday and just missed the 'previously' bit. Just when I needed it as well...

On the police topic though, I saw two mounted policemen in Oxford on Saturday. I've only ever seen them in Trafalgar Square at New Year (and it didn't half make the place stink of horse shit).

Some interesting links:
Google has a Halloween themed logo today.
The Drink-o-meter

Temperature here: between 2 and 10 degrees
Temperature in New York: between 13 and 19 degrees (although Thursday's max is 9 degrees)
Temperature in Las Vegas: between 14 and 27 degrees

Guess where I'm going next week.

Haven't updated for a while because I've been busy. Not sure what I've been busy with mind you...

A couple of angsty twins recs: The Search and Lost

Neither finished, but a nice bit of angst over missing Elrohir's. I've also been discovering the Stories of Arda site, which is nice and quick, has a search function and you can leave and reply to reviews.

I went to the Lord of the Rings exhibition at the Science Museum yesterday which was very good. Made me want to watch the films again to see all the things in the exhibition! It was good to meet up with people I'd only met online as well.

I'm going to America in two weeks! I'm starting to get excited, think about packing, and its kind of scary at the same time. I've never been on such a long flight before. I think going to SG6 and meeting up with people the night before will help and take my mind off it. And it'll be good to see my friends again as well.

First up a rec: How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Elladan son of Elrond. Its completely ridiculous and very funny.

I finally saw the new episode of Angel the other night. Looks okay so far - not enough Wesley though!

I've started watching Dead Like Me as well, which is really good. Its funny, although its possibly slightly worrying when you find yourself laughing when someone dies and their blood gets splattered over George's shirt.

I was going to get all sorts of things done tonight but I ended up reading the sequel to the above rec instead. And now I only have half an hour until Taggart, Wife Swap and (at 9.30) They Think It's All Over is on. Thank goodness the latter is repeated so I can safely tape one of the others.

I've just taken a survey about Blogger. The last question they ask is whether you live in the US. The second to last question is household income - in dollars. Well, that is helpful. It's just as well I know that college means university as well, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to answer the education question.

Anyway, I was really here because I don't have to leave for work for 20 minutes and I've been ready to go since 10 to 8. Which is when my alarm goes off. I keep waking up at 7am and it's doing my head in now. Except for tomorrow, which is roughly when I have to get up.

I'm now simultaneously watching The West Wing series 3, 4 and 5. Yes, I am confused. But then I'm confused watching one at a time anyway, so no change there then. I have an episode of Dead Like Me that I'm sure worked fine when I checked it at work yesterday on an old version of media player. Here though, I've tried media player, three versions of DivX player and real player and it won't show me a picture. Which really doesn't make sense.

I have to say though how funny Wednesday's Teachers was. How married are Kurt and Brian (or is it Briony)