Boppy's Journal

Real life is still beating up Boppy, so I'm keeping this short. :)

Quick reminder that the Character Study Challenge closes this Saturday October 6. Today we got the first vid entries which was very exciting! There's still time to contribute and so as to be fair to all of you not first into the future like us Australians, I should clarify that the competition will close at midnight LA time (which is actually 5pm on Sunday here in Australia). Hopefully that little extra time will help any of you running late. ;)

( quick TV thoughts )

See you on the flipside of Smallville!

The much-promised vid rec posts begin... I'm starting with vids in a new fandom: Heroes. The first season is still airing, but there have already been dozens of fanvids, most of them--it must be said--shipper vids for the Peter/Claire (Paire) pairing. This is not a pairing I'm particularly interested in so it's not represented below, but if you do want Paire vids, check out the fandom newsletter ninth_wonders for listings.

My Top Five
1. King Tide was one of the earliest Heroes vids, made after the first couple of episodes. It's an ensemble vid which does a good job or promoting the show as a show. If you've never seen Heroes and want an introduction, this is a good place to start. (Warning for violence.)

2. The Wreckoning is a Niki & Jessica vid by charmax. It's fast, sexy and edgy: just like Jessica! It's slickly edited, well-paced and makes great use of effects. At just over two minutes, it's a fast watch that successfully explores the relationship between Nikki and Jessica in the first season of Heroes. Anyone who reads my Heroes meta will know I'm not a great fan of Niki (Jessica's a bit more fun), but I thoroughly enjoyed this anyway. (If only her plot on the actual show was so tightly edited!)

Note: These two vids make up the entirety of my Heroes playlist on imeem: as far as I could see they are the only Heroes fanvids on imeem to date. If you do watch them there and enjoy them, please be sure to drop by the vidders' original posts and let them know. :-)

3. Desert Rose is a powerful, sophisticated and accomplished vid, which is set to become a classic of the fandom. It explores Peter and Sylar and their connection to Mohinder and Suresh. Among its strengths are the ways it explores the connecting forces between the heroes, and the way longing and danger are interlinked in the Heroes universe. If you watch no other Heroes vid, watch this one.

4. From the intense, to the humorous... Re: Your Brains
shati has made a comic Sylar vid that is an absolute delight. With spoilers through 1.14, the song choice is perfection. Want a giggle?! Watch this!

5. All Over the World Tonight is a fast-paced, fun ensemble vid that makes use of some of the most visually dramatic scenes from the first eleven episodes.

Honourable mentions
6. Out of my hands is a slow, reflective vid by a first-time vidder, Exploring the Peter-Nathan relationship with subtle power, it should be of interest to anyone who likes the Peter-Nathan relationship, not just the Petrellicesters.

7. All These Things I've Done (spoilers to Godsend), on the other hand, is for the Petrellicest market. The opening verses are the strongest part of the vid, imo, beginning with Peter's point-of-view, then shifting to Nathan's perspective. At five minutes in length, it's a bit of a stretch, but if you enjoy the Petrellis, you'll get a kick out of it, and I enjoyed the sense of balance between the brothers in the resolution.

8. Be Happy is another Petrelli vid, slightly AU and angsty in focus. It makes great use of the song and is gentle and tender in tone.

9. Hem of Your Garment is a Sylar & Mohinder vid, with the spoilers up until around 1.17.

10. Day One is a Peter-centric vid which charmed me despite the prominence of the emo-fringed-one! ;-) It's a charming and upbeat look at Peter at the start of his journey, with cameos by Mohinder and Nathan, predictably.

As always, recs and self-pimping are welcome, so if I've missed some gems, please let me know. And if you enjoy the vids, let the vidders know.

Thank you for icon, norwich36!! *giggles evilly*

I'm in a pre-Christmas frenzy of activity, so this is going to be brief, but a few updates that you may or may not be interested in:
- for now conditions in Melbourne have improved (smoke cleared, temperature lowered), but the fires are still threatening to join up and form one massive front. The danger if this happens is that they could head for our water catchment areas and spoil the remaining water we have. Thursday's forecast is bleak--as bad, or worse than the weekend. The volunteers must be exhausted--they're backburning and trying to strengthen containment lines while they can. If it comes down to it, they'll abandon defense of settlements to defend the water catchments. It's that bad. *sad*
- Casino Royale! Helllooooooooo, Bond! I finally saw it and have to add my voice to all those squeeing over the extreme hotness! And the cheese was just ERASED from that movie! *reels* Favourite Bond ever.
- I have been reading. Hahum. Yes, truly I have, though I have not updated my book journal in eons. That's because I'm been re-reading so much and then OD-ing on froth in the form of Georgette Heyer novels and such nonsense. Evidently my brain is already on holiday.
- To my SV people: please do not give up on teh Clex before I make my first Clex vid. *puppy eyes at you* 'Tis in slow-but-satisfying progress, with an estimated arrival date of early Jan. It will break my heart if noone watches it. *pulls emotional blackmail on you* :-p
- Apologies to everyone who receives Xmas cards from me in January... I'm trying, really... I'm just, in Australia hopeless.

ETA: Please let this be true!