| Snape on the Screen |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|04:32 pm] |
I created a wallpaper from that recent HBP still of Snape's home at Spinner's End.
The text I used is Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et decorum est", which might not be entirely fitting, but I liked the idea nonetheless.
Be cautious. This fits my screen, which is 1680 by 1050. If you want to resize the wallpaper for your screen, go ahead. If you want me to do it, I'll give it a try but won't promise anything. |
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| Seltenheitswert |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|12:29 am] |
This short interview from my TV magazine, which is about the release of the DVD Bottle Shock, only rehashes what has been said in many interviews about the film. But I thought the fact alone that an interview with AR is printed in a German magazine, which happens very rarely, is worth mentioning.
And they chose a really nice photo. :) |
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| On Labelling Fanfics; or On What and How I Read and Write |
[Jun. 28th, 2009|01:08 pm] |
Some of you will have seen all these posts about warnings at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) metafandom, where people discuss whether yould should warn your readers that your fic contains rape, other kinds of violence, character death etc because these things might trigger people. I do understand why people are in favour of these kinds of warnings, but at the same time I balk at the idea of warning for “art“. I don't really regard fanfics and fanart as art (and of course some are purely pornographic), but it can be only a small step from a fanfic to an original story, and the idea to warn for one of them (in advance) is just alien to me.
But that's not what I really want to talk about. While perusing the posts at metafandom, I came across this post, which intrigued me because it discusses the different things readers and writers expect of fanfics – to be exact what people expect who are (not) interested in genre literature and its usual characteristics.
( I actually replied to the post but decided to post a longer version of my thoughts about labelling here. ) |
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| I Climbed a Mountain Last Night. |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|08:00 pm] |
At least, that's what both the actors and the audience do when they produce respectivly watch Othello, director Peter Sellars said afterwards in a Q&A.
I wasn't that thrilled with the production. At times it dragged a bit, but for several reasons it's an intriguing production nonetheless. The cast consists of actors of several different races so that Othello isn't the only non-white character. I also liked the sparse set production that mainly consists of a bed, which itself is made of 45 TV screens that constantly show pictures. And I liked that rather often the characters didn't leave the stage but remained. This was particularly effective when Iago spoke about Othello and Desdemona, and we could watch them at the same time – a bit like a split screen.
I always find it hard to understand Shakespeare's language, and I took me quite some time to get accustomed to the American accents, but for me the real problems were the microphones. Sometimes the voices appeared very low, flat and therefore almost emotionless while at other times they echoed through the auditorium when one of the actors spoke louder or even shouted. It was a pity because I thought that particularly John Ortiz as Othello and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Iago were really good, but their acting was diminished by the poor sound.
Peter Sellars admitted that he himself was happier with the sound during the second half of the play and told us that they were still working on it. He also explained why he used the microphones in the first place, namely because he tries to create something like a film soundtrack for his theatre productions, and because he's not fond of actors declaiming and opts for a more natural voice. He told us that e.g. the microphones make sure that the actors are able to play the many intimate scenes that exist in Othello.
The latter reason is the one thing he explained during the Q&A I definitely disagree with because ideally actors can whisper and still be heard in the entire auditorium. First, that's what actors (should) learn in drama school and second, that's what theatre auditoriums are built for.
Still, while the production wasn't the most fascinating one I've ever seen, I'm happy that I did see it. And I'm particularly happy that I stayed for the Q&A because Peter Sellars turned out to be a very intelligent and witty man, and it was refreshing to see a director who actually thinks about what he's doing and why he decides for the actors to do certain things on stage. Not that I get to see directors at a Q&A all of the time, but it happens often enough that I read an article about a particular production, and it becomes clear that the (German) director didn't think very much. I'm glad to see that there are still other directors around. |
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| Not Writing Yet |
[Jun. 17th, 2009|12:03 am] |
I haven't written one word for my severusbigbang story yet. All I did was jotting down some short notes for a little scene that popped into my head the other day and might end up in the story. Unfortunately, if I get an idea for a scene at all, it's usually in the morning when I'm having a shower, and since I always run late in the morning, I never have the time to actually write down the entire scene. The short notes make sure that I won't forget about the scene in the first place, but the characters' voices I could hear in my head are gone by the time I sit down again and try to write the actual scene. Oh well.
I saw that there are nice banners over at severusbigbang now, and if someone will inspire me it's ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sigune's Snape.
Apart from that, I received some nice reviews for a couple of older fics. That should help as well. :) |
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| Danke, Herbert! |
[Jun. 7th, 2009|01:03 pm] |
(Note: This is not my photo. I didn't take a camera with me.) |
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| Autograph and DVD |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|12:50 am] |
(Found at Ebay.)
Is it a sign of Alan Rickman having a great sense of humour that he signed this caricature, or being a graphic designer himself does he appreciate the artist's work?
***
In other news there's someone (not me!) who sells Nobel Son DVDs (region 2) here on Ebay. Apparently, the "Irish Mail" included the film as a promotional DVD. |
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| Commitment |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|07:08 pm] |
I just signed up for the severusbigbang. Since having read Deathly Hallows, I felt that I should write one (final) Snape story that means some closure for me. I've played around with ideas, took notes, researched a little bit, revisited certain scenes in the books, but in the end I never came close to writing the story. I hope that having signed up now makes me feel committed to finally write it.
I know that it's possible to bow out of the severusbigbang - at least if one does so timely enough - but I really hope that I won't do so. I signed up for a short fic at colourful_bat last winter, which I never finished and still feel bad about. Since it wasn't an exchange, I "only" let down the organisor and the potential readers, which is bad enough, but the one person I truly let down was myself. I feel bad for not reaching a goal I set for myself.
This time it just has to work. I haven't written any fan fic or original fic for ages, and I start getting the feeling that I will never do so again if I don't manage to write and also finish some story soon. |
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| So good |
[May. 31st, 2009|09:54 am] |
Some months ago I saw the recorder player with some other musicians, but this is his regular "band" called Wildes Holz. I wish I could play like that. I know I'm pretty good for someome who plays the recorder as a hobby only, but I'd never be able to come close to what he does - even if I had the sheet music. |
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| Nine Icons |
[May. 21st, 2009|12:42 am] |
01  02  03 
04  05  06 
07  08  09  |
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| I'm not particularly fond of muscials ... |
[May. 15th, 2009|01:37 am] |
I've never seen Fellini's 8 1/2 ...
This trailer looks more like a porn film than anything else ...
But I'm going to watch it anyway ...
... because when has Daniel Day-Lewis ever looked better? |
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| The Winter's Tale |
[May. 13th, 2009|11:52 am] |
I went to see William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. I just can't resist if it's Shakespeare and if it's an English-speaking production performed somewhere in the vicinity. Apart from that it meant an opportunity to see Simon Russell Beale again, whom I had seen as Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 13 years ago.
This production was directed by Sam Mendes and starred Rebecca Hall as Hermione, Sinéad Cusack as Paulina, Ethan Hawke as Autolycus and Simon Russell Beale as Leontes.
( What's my verdict like? )
In case you're interested in a professional review here's one from the New York Times, published when the production was shown in New York a couple of months ago. It very much expresses what I thought as well.
A few production photos, which offer an impression of what the production looks like, can be seen here. |
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| HRF Keating? |
[Apr. 30th, 2009|11:13 pm] |
Are there any fans of detective stories on my f-list? Have you ever heard of HRF Keating? He seems to be very well-known and popular but I only stumbled over his name today. I saw a few of his books about Ganesh Ghote at the library but they were all translated into German whereas I'd prefer to read them in English. Now I'm wondering whether I should buy any of his books. |
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| "You play, I dance." |
[Apr. 17th, 2009|07:06 pm] |
Either British students are really careful when it comes to handling books, or they don't care for Truly Madly Deeply. I couldn't resist and bought a copy of Anthony Minghella's screenplay, which a German antiquarian had on offer. It's in an astonishingly good condition for a book that once belonged to a school library - to that of St George's English School in Cologne, to be exact.
There's an inscription that reads "and (name I can't make out), with love and hugs Anthony". I have no idea whether it's for real, and the antiquarian didn't advertise it as Minghella's autograph either.
Anyway, I'm happy to own it now and look forward to reading it. Seeing how thin the book is, it won't take more than 30 minutes, but I'll make sure to cherish them. |
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| Iconic Detectives |
[Apr. 15th, 2009|04:04 pm] |
Here are some more icons based on the TV show Lewis. This time they all taken from the third series.
( Fifty-four icons ) |
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| A Matter of Perception |
[Apr. 5th, 2009|12:22 am] |
I've been following a SS/HG WIP, which I've enjoyed quite a bit. There were some obvious Americanisms but they didn't really distract me. The latest chapter, though, struck me as rather unbelievable, and I had trouble recognising Severus Snape and Hermione Granger. They have come to admit that they care for each other but Snape doesn't want a relationship because 1) he's a bad man and 2) he believes that Hermione, despite the fact that she is 20, has no idea what sex entails and would be shocked to know that he desires her.
I have to admit that I groaned when I read those paragraphs, and I'll also admit that I thought that this stage of mind appeared to be more American than British to me. Of course, that's not a nice thing for me to say and I might be horribly wrong, but then I had a look at the reviews for the latest chapter and saw that someone had commented by saying that it all was terribly British. I really had to laugh at reading this. It seems it's all a matter of perception. |
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| Books! |
[Mar. 25th, 2009|07:12 pm] |
I saw this book meme over at tudorpot's LJ and instantly liked it because it actually asks questions and not just expects you to bold book titles.
1) What author do you own the most books by?
William Shakespeare (15), followed by Agatha Christie (the sins of my youth!), Elizabeth George and Anne Perry (8 each).
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
There are a few books of which I own a German translation and the original, but that's it.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Now that you mention it... No, not really, although I can be picky about correct grammar.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Apart from Severus Snape? I can't think of any character who only occurred in one book and fascinated me enough. Okay, I was quite taken with Vicomte Valmont in Laclos' "Liaisons Dangereuses" although I didn't want to. As for more likable characters, I'd choose Tony Hill (by Val McDermid) and Roderick Alleyn (by Ngaio Marsh).
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Probably Erich Kästner's "Das fliegende Klassenzimmer" (The Flying Classroom) when I was a child. Nowadays I rarely reread books.
( Read more... ) |
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